Alone I Wander (The Explorer) Pt. 3 of the Continuing Adventure

Chapter 3: Planet Fall

It felt like only moments passed when suddenly the planet loomed before me, an angry looking hulk of red and black stone. Volcanoes appeared to be erupting from numerous points on the planet surface. Black clouds of smoke belching lightning as they whipped across the surface. I could make out several such storms waging a fierce battle in the skies. In short it was a place of violence and danger which my ship made clear with about seven different warning buzzers and alarms.

As if that wasn’t enough my suit also began chiming in with its own set of warnings and advice to avoid this place without more resilient equipment. If there were ruins here they were out as an option for my much needed ship components. I pulled up the scan from earlier and swept to the third entry since the first was the planet I had started out on. Apparently my scanner wasn’t as good as I thought so I was more cautious as I laid in a course for the next planet. I decided it might be prudent to read the scan a little more closely. According to the scans water was present as well as some minerals marked as potential fuel sources by the ships computer. The atmosphere also appeared to be able to sustain life if I was reading the elements correctly. I was still reading when my shipped chimed that we were in orbit around the planet already. I looked out the window at a small green jewel of a planet, smaller than the one I started on. It also appeared far more peaceful than the last planet I had seen. Oceans peeked out from beneath white clouds and land with lush blue-green foliage. I had a good feeling about this planet.

I put the ship in an equatorial orbit so I could get a sense of the planet before I decided to land. I was hoping to spot ruins my scanner may have missed from long range. “I should probably do a close range scan as well.” I thought to myself. I had almost forgotten to do so completely as I stared at the planet below me. I reached over now and reran the scanner. The scan completed in short order and I was presented with a sudden plethora of choices.

Different symbols of varying colors had burst upward from the surface, gleaming guideposts in the night, yet I knew nothing about what any of them were. “Only one way to find out.” I decided to play it safe and head towards a green one first hoping that meant safer. I abandoned the slow orbit I had been in and nosed the ship towards the point I had chosen, kicking the thrusters up to full I tore towards the marker as fast as I could. The atmosphere screamed as my ship dove through it like a a harbinger of extinction. I burst through the last layer into sky with a crack of thunder. The ground was rushing up fast as I threw the ship flat and surged against the seat, g-forces nearly causing me to black out. The ship fought me as I tried to slow it down but I needed to lose some speed and reacquire the marker.

Once the ship was under control I flew a small circle scanning the ground and horizon for any hints of the marker itself or what it had been marking. I could see forests below me that felt strangely familiar yet the trees here were bigger than anything I had seen before. A river meandered along one side of the forest below with a mountain range rising on the far side. Snow gleamed along the peaks in the light of the sun and I was caught up for a moment in how beautiful it all looked. Still no sign of the marker and I began to wonder if my scanner had let me down again. I noticed something in the trees below me as it also caught the suns brilliant rays, something unnatural. Something metal. I hurried to find somewhere I could safely bring the ship down mentally marking the location of that gleaming metal object. I had no idea what it was only that it looked manufactured or made, totally out of place in the natural abundance before me. I found a clearing a ways off, much farther than I had planned on, that looked suitable enough and gently brought my ship back down to earth. A gentle thud rang out through the hull as solid ground once more took hold of the ship. I paused and looked around before opening my hatch though, the scan had said life was possible and I wasn’t sure how dangerous that life might be. It was also much darker beneath the canopy of trees than I had anticipated. I popped the canopy and as soon as it began sliding out of the way sound assaulted me. A cacophony of strange cries drifted down from the trees above me. I climbed out of the ship and tried to get my bearings on the strange thing I had seen from the air. I only had a rough idea of the direction it lay in and the forest before me definitely complicated things. I paused a moment to see if my suit had a light of some kind, found one and switched it on. I also decided to set a compass marker for where my ship was so that I could find my way back. I stared at the dark forest before me with some apprehension. Tightening my grip on my omni-device, I set off in the direction I hoped would lead me to my goal.

Chapter One https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/44p2ko/so_i_wrote_some_fan_fiction/

Chapter Two https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/45y57b/the_explorer_pt_2/