Thank you all for your kind comments, they are like Warp Cells to me, driving me onwards!
@toddumptious Really? You’ll have to share the link with me, will you be reading from the start? Wow I’m honoured! 
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Already read, dunno if you can scroll back to the start of the stream while it’s live, I just did the latest chapter but might do the whole thing next time
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Well done once again!!
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References to the Forum posts in regards to the long discussions deciding on the Hub location are entirely intentional.
@TravelEcho @Mad-Hatter @Xion4012 @toddumptious @MacForADay
Into the Aftermath - Part VI
I crested a hill in my Roamer and slowed at the sight before me, exiting the craft I noticed the cool breeze of the early evening blowing through the long grasses below as I looked out over the far reaching sea. The sun descended over the distant mountains, painting my home planet in pastel hues of ambers and reds, the vast sea glistening like jewels and mirroring the twinkling of the stars in the darkening sky. My eyes were drawn to what initially made me stop my Exocraft, there in the night sky high above I saw it, like pearls perfectly aligned I saw the star-chain. How many times had it been there just waiting for me to look up? It was only by chance I found it on the Galaxy map, but there it was, right in front of me, beckoning me.
Thoughts of once again exploring new lands and seeing new sights filled my mind, I had grown lazy and content, the call to explore grew once more within me. This planet was certainly beautiful, over the past few months I had taken it for granted and now, at the prospect of leaving and finding other worlds, it seemed to call to me again. That initial wonder I had when I first broke through the atmosphere and looked upon its shores had returned.
I had no plans to uproot and leave my home, but I wouldn’t be back for a while. I have a purpose, one perhaps more pressing than I have yet experienced thus far. And this was not for selfish gain or survival, this was the beginning of something larger, far greater than just my existence.
Time was running out, I had already uploaded my initial findings to the Mainframe and there was much enthusiasm for my near perfect chain of stars, but the hour was late and I knew it. Another chain of stars dubbed, “Firefly” had already been scouted and closely looked at. Playing catch-up I spent that night painstakingly going through the Galactic Map to view as much information as possible, Race, Star-Class and numbers of planets was all dutifully uploaded but I feared it was too late. I should have already been there to have any chance of getting my findings uploaded in time but a Thamium9 shortage meant my freighter was stranded high above me.
Snapping myself away from my thoughts I hunted around for the last of the precious isotope I needed and sped back to my base. As I bounced over the undulating terrain a storm came in which blew my light Exocraft around forcing me to swerve and slow to avoid the hidden mouths of endless cave systems below me, I had lost my way and many Exocraft to such surprises before. I finally arrived back at my base and immediately headed for the landing pad where my faithful ship lay idling and climbed into the familiar cockpit. I engaged the ignition procedure and the familiar uplift as she took off never failed to pin me in my seat. I fired the thrusters and sped away from my home base without so much as a glance back and set a course for my freighter. Once I landed I gave the Admiral the new Nav Data and we were off, speeding through uncharted space to uncharted lands.
I gave assurances to the new “Hub” that I would perform a non-intrusive survey of the worlds I would discover. It would take a while, I would drop in to a system, scan the planets to see what their biome was and any potentially habitable ones would be explored for Base/Portal compatibility. No fauna or flora was to be scanned, instead, pictures would be taken to be uploaded, viewed and debated upon.
The Virador dropped out of Warp space and I eagerly looked out the viewport to a new and unfamiliar sight. I had set a course for a lone system in the middle of deep space, it was through this gateway that the chain could only be reached. I didn’t plan on staying here long but I wanted some information from the locals in the spacestation so I headed down to the Indigo Rain and took off.
I spoke to a wise old Gek for what felt like hours, he told me many things regarding the chain, “The Gates of Aemilius” he said, is what it was once known as. Local star-maps had it down as, “The Arm of Romicin” but thousands of years ago, before the cataclysm I slept through, it was known by a different name I learned. He handed me an old stiff piece of cloth, it was tattered and stained with age but on it were strange markings next to a faded but still legible drawing of the star-chain. I wasn’t familiar with the medium but assumed it must be an ancient way of passing information over and upon inspection, could make out the names of long forgotten heroes who were now immortalised in the stars. Some of the names I recognised, Hirk and Nal for example, but there were others too I was unfamiliar with. Who or what was, ‘Aemilius?’
I left the Gek and hurried back to the Indigo Rain. I had tarried long but learned much and I was eager to see what sights awaited me and before long I was back on the deck of the Virador. I shared the parchment with the Admiral and his eyes widened at the mention of, ‘Aemilius’ it was clearly something he recognised. I pressed him but he was stunned into silent disbelief. On the parchment I saw that the nearest star was called, “The Mid Gate”, this would be my first destination and reluctantly, the Admiral engaged the Warp Drive with a fearful look.
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Ooh! Looking forward to more of this story!
Thanks for sharing. 
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Final installment before Next drops and this is now a semi-accurate representation of my experiences for the whole of Atlas Rises.
As always, references to people and forum activity is completely intentional!
Thank you all for reading 
@TravelEcho @Mad-Hatter @Xion4012 @MacForADay
Into the Aftermath - Part VII
As the stars around me began to take form again I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. We had arrived at the Mid-Gate. All was silent on the bridge of the Virador, only the slow descending drone of the warp drive cooling and beginning its power-down cycle could be heard, which seemed all the more louder. Gone was the usual chattering from the crew, something about this sector of space had them spooked and I was keen to know what it was. Again I pressed the Admiral and again he shut himself off and there was a fearful look in his eyes which was unusual to see in a Vy’Keen. I lost my temper and pinned him up against the wall to gasps from the flight deck, his expression changed to surprise at my strength and at last he relented.
“You don’t know what you’re waking…” was all he said fearfully. I released my grip and headed to my ship and regarded him for second. The sound of an incoming transmission from the Mainframe beeped on the bridge terminal but in my frustration and anger I ignored it. I fired up the engines of the Indigo Rain and blasted off into this new system.
The Mid-Gate, scanning the planets I saw before me revealed nothing of immediate concern. All worlds were habitable but I was looking for lush planets, there was none here. I felt within me a need to at least look at the surface of each of the worlds before me, I resisted the urge began my work. I warped to a system at the Northern end of the chain and at last found a lush world, descending through the thick atmosphere of the Gek planet I found a Trading Post and landed. I was soon joined my a multitude of Haulers and made my aging ship look even more obsolete. I was in desperate need of an upgrade.
The world itself was quite beautiful, rocky mountains, far oceans and purple grasses, it would make a fine home. I left without scanning any of the native wildlife and continued my search and sadly, a lot of the systems failed to contain worlds as lush as the first one. I did however manage to trade in my old fighter for a sleek black one with red accents.
I laboured long, travelling the length of the chain until I had visited every system. I had some very promising discoveries to share. Once I had visited the chain in its entirety I summoned my freighter to make contact with the others on the Mainframe only to discover that the Firefly chain had been successful and was now being colonised.
I decided to that I would explore my own chain in greater detail at a later date, right now I had to make preparations to get to the fledgling hub. I informed the Admiral that we’ll be returning to our homeworld and immediately his mood improved. Then something strange happened. The Vy’Keen received a distant communication from his kin in the far reaches of space, it seemed something was coming, something was changing. Again he looked fearful and advised we had a few months at best before the galaxy as we know it, changes.
He didn’t understand, but I had been here before, I lost many friends before but I survived. This time I would be better prepared. I put my Liquid Explosive operation back into full swing and began searching for a Gek Shipyard to upgrade my beloved ship. During this time I visited many bases, picked up a superior Multitool, met with a strange fey being who goes by the name of, Todd and finally visited the capital of Edison within the Firefly chain. I also found the shipyard but to get there, I had to abandon my home, I put the components into storage and disappeared through the portal, I claimed a base on the hostile world and brought my tired ship through. Finding the correct Trading Post, I landed and the Gek mechanic showed me what he can do, removing the four wing spheres and replacing them with the latest wing array which would give me more power. He would also extend the main fuselage and give it a brighter shade of blue paint. I was overjoyed with the work and quickly returned to my original homeworld and set up a new base closer to the shore.
I sat there on my rooftop terrace watching the sunset as I frequently did and remembered how much the galaxy changed before. I remembered waking up to find my lush world turned to ice and snow. I wondered what I would wake up to here. I decided that I would return back to that planet and take another photo of Mount Sirasil to see what becomes of it. I felt like I was waiting for the world to end, but after a few more Albumen cocktails, I had a revelation that I was waiting for the world to begin.
All the arrangements were made, now all I could do was wait and see what happens Next…
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I think I’m waiting for both. Waiting for cataclysmic change. Thanks for sharing the stories of your travels. Loking forward to the N E X T chapters! <3
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First chapter in the Next era. Hope you enjoy it.
@TravelEcho @Mad-Hatter @Xion4012 @MacForADay @toddumptious
Into the Aftermath - 2.0
I awoke in darkness. Was I awake? I could see nothing before me. I tried to move. I felt the cold touch of steel on my foot. How was that possible? I moved my hand and again felt the cold steel as I fumbled for a switch, a button, anything. As I clawed around I perceived that I must be in a steel box of some kind. I had no idea how I got here. Panic began to set in as I desperately searched the smooth surfaces I was entombed in for something, anything.
I tried to relax. I tried to remember. I saw the sun setting over distant shores. I heard the sea, rhythmically lapping upon the beach. I felt the breeze from… the roof of my home. Suddenly everything came back to me. The communication the Admiral received, the coming of the cataclysm, I remember organising and prepping as best I could, the upgrade to the Indigo Rain. Then it hit me like a speeding freighter. It’s happened again but where was I? When was I?
Then, something happened. I’m not sure if was from the depths of my imagination or if I was actually seeing it but a dull red light began to glow before me. It began to change colour to a vibrant green and the brightness intensified. I shielded my eyes and could perceive mechanical sounds moving all around me. I began to panic and then the seals broke with a hiss of escaping gasses and artificial light poured in through the steadily increasing gap, bringing a torrent of sound with it.
I could hear chatter in languages unintelligible to my ears, I could hear powerful engines, some powering down, some whizzing overhead and some increasing in thrust. I covered my ears and when I could finally see through the widening gap, I realised where I was, a Space Station. With my eyes slowly adjusting to the light, I looked around and despite the familiarity, no longer recognised what I saw anymore. The Station was larger and there appeared to be larger areas above, everything had been opened out more. Confused I looked around hoping to see something I recognised and directly above me, I saw a familiar blue ship with its distinctive wing array. The Indigo Rain! Just then a small lifeform approached me from around the ship. It stared at me for a moment but looked pleased to see me. It spoke in a language I could not understand, and then it began laughing to itself. And then it spoke in again but this time I could understand it.
It introduced itself as a friend of a Vy’keen Admiral. The Virador…? I wondered. It explained that much had changed in the last 16,000 years… What? Again? The creature could see I was clearly confused and gave me a long cloth to cover myself and urged me to follow it. He knew I had questions and would happily answer them. I climbed out the box slowly and glanced back at my ship and my jaw dropped, hardly recognising it. It still looked the same but there was an addition on the ship I had not seen before. I looked distraught, wondering what had happened to my beloved ship.
The Gek explained that the Admiral had worked hard in the last few days before the Second Cataclysm. The Admiral had the ship modified to accommodate a highly advanced Stasis Device under the cockpit, then he personally flew my ship to this Station from my home-world and recruited the Gek that was standing before me to also enter Stasis. He said that he has been, ‘awake’ for a few weeks now and was waiting to see if it was safe to wake me up. I pressed him about the ship, he assured me that it will be restored. He then explained that my suit would not have been compatible or necessary with the Stasis Device’s Life Support, and urged me to follow him.
He led me up some stairs I never knew where there, the Gek looked at me strangely and said the stairs have always been there. Once we reached the top I was greeted with the sight of a large open area with lots more merchants than I was used to seeing. He guided me to a vendor with a strange looking machine and bid me step onto it. Immediately I was greeted with a graphical representation of different suits and colours. I opted for a Black design with Red accents and the suit was made and presented to me in an instant.
Once I had put it all on I felt safe again, protected by the layers and its many suit modifications. Confidently, I took a few steps and found it was suddenly very hard to walk forwards, like I was carrying extra weight. The upgrades I installed had alleviated this? The Gek could see I was confused and explained that this wasn’t the same suit as the one I was wearing before and smiled sympathetically at my realisation. He told me that before he destroyed my old suit he managed to salvage some of the tech components and placed them in my inventory, hoping they would be useful.
Everything had gone. My Life Support, Jetpack, Stamina, Shields were all gone. My Multitool and Ship modules had also gone the same way. I was distraught. Suddenly I felt extremely vulnerable. I headed for a merchant and perused his wares, there was a multitude of items for sale, they all looked very similar and I felt lost. I browsed the Galactic Terminal and again, I was confronted with a list of items that only served to confuse me more. Where was Iron, Plutonium?
I turned and ran to my ship and again balked at its appearance. I fired it up and took off. Space greeted me, I hit the command to warp in the Virador and it had changed to Black with Green accents rather than the Sky Blue ones I was used to. The Admiral was pleased to hear from me and I sped towards the landing bays.
Upon landing I exited my ship and headed for the stairs, but there was nothing there. Confused I looked around and saw that they were on the other side of the hangar now. I covered the distance and raced up the stairs as fast as my inferior suit would allow and followed the new winding corridors around until I found the bridge. The Admiral had not changed and explained that he too took refuge in the on-board Stasis Devices. He then told me how he had the ship refitted which caused the loss of my farm and seeing my anger rising he assured me that all items were placed into storage before the refit.
He then went on to tell me that visiting the star chain known as the Gates of Aemilius, heralded the cataclysm, he told me there was a power there watching over it and now that intelligence is gone, sacrificing itself for our existence. The Admiral smiled at me and appeared more relaxed. He beckoned me to sit with him and showed me an image on a datapad. It was a snowy wasteland that I didn’t recognise. He told me this is what has become of my home-world and urged me to stay here and wait for the Indigo Rain to get restored. He said he ventured there once but the severe cold tested even his upgrades, mine would not last a moment. He advised I find my feet again, visit the merchants, get used to things again. He said all the planets in this system are now harsh worlds and not very pleasant.
I sat down, wondering where to start, it was all so overwhelming. Just then the starship communicator chirped and informed the Admiral that Cargo Ship Designation NXT1.51 was requesting to dock.
The Vy’Keen Admiral granted the ship permission and transmitted docking coordinates, he looked around at me again and smiled.
“Here we go again…” he said.
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@Oshoryu: I have changed categories for your wonderful series of stories to not be in the archive, but in the No Man’s Sky > Creative Mode instead.
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