NMS: The Next Adventurer

NMS: THE NEXT ADVENTURER

THIRTEEN: THE HYPERDRIVE

Noma froze in the scarlet light of the robot’s gaze, wondering how best to respond. One option was to attempt to take it out with a blast from the multi-tool, but ve had a feeling that this machine could defend itself with lethal force. Noma remained motionless in the robot’s gaze. Its red light began to flicker rapidly, its crimson beams running down vis body. Noma felt as if the machine was cataloguing him and wondered who or what it was working for. Then, the light turned from red to blue and the robot floated away.

Noma continued on vis quest to gather the necessary materials to build the hyperdrive. Its construction also called from chromatic metal, which required copper. Noma set off once more across the sun-baked ground, heading for a small valley where strange plants grew.

Down in the relative cool of the valley’s shadowy floor, Noma spotted a group of animals. They were of the same species and ve wondered if they were a family. They certainly seemed comfortable with each other’s presence. They were quadrupeds, supporting their bulky bodies with four legs as sturdy as pillars. Noma observed as the docile beasts nibbled at flowers while strangely soothing purring noises emanated from their bony heads.

Making vis way along the valley floor, Noma caught the tell-tale glint of sunlight reflecting off of metallic material. There was a rich source of copper dead ahead. Noma stood on its shiny surface, looking out across the alien terrain. With the hyperdrive built, there would be many more worlds awaiting discovery. Noma got to work, using the multitool to gather sufficient quantities of copper.

By the time Noma had returned to the Radiant Pillar, night had fallen. Ve fed the copper into the portable refiner and set the device to work, converting the copper into chromatic metal. At last, Noma had the materials required to build a hyperdrive for the Radiant Pillar. Ve worked feverishly, working through the nights in order to take advantage of the cooler conditions, and sleeping in the protective, air-conditioned cabin of the Pillar during the day. Frequently, ships making for the outpost would fly overhead and Noma would wonder where they had come from and if ve would visit their home world when ve was a proper adventurer with a hyperdrive that could take vir anywhere.

After several nights of meticulous work the job was done. The Radiant Pillar now had a working hyperdrive, all fuelled up with antimatter-derived warp cells, ready to take Noma as far as the fuel would allow. Ve climbed aboard the Radiant Pillar and took off. Hyperspace awaited…

Thanks to Hello Games for the images.