I’ve done a lot of walking on foot, and that was about to change. Having a vehicle was going open a whole new world to me. There were large amounts of areas I knew I stood zero chance of crossing the gaps on foot.

I had been going on quite a few gathering trips around my base. Have only been killed a couple of times by the natives. Thankfully, not eaten by a sandworm yet. Most of the time, I've been able to recover any loot I've dropped. Other times, I knew it was not worth the run back to get it.

While my base still sat mostly empty. I have a couple of things, like a fabricator to keep running during the day while I wait for it to be cool enough to go on yet another resource run. It was sometimes fun watching the thing I was having it craft appear as this hazy collection of dust in the shame of what the fabricator was creating.

I was slowly manufacturing the parts I was going to need for a Sandbike. While at one point, I did have the option to just steal one. It was mostly damaged, and I wanted the self-satisfaction of building my own.

This was going to require making a few parts. You have the chassis that you need first to build the rest of it on. Along with a power supply, three tires, an engine, and a hull. For the most part, it was going to require copper ingots, servoks, and capacitors. Thankfully, I looted everything but the ingots out of that Imperial Testing Station. So, I was all set on those materials.

Once I had all the parts for it. I assembled it outside right before dawn. I was up all night smelting the copper into ingots. This Sandbike would require some small vehicle fuel as well, which I could make from fuel cells that were not that far from my base, which I had been looting.

It was then time for that first ride. I could feel in my hands as the engine ramping up and roaring as I sped off along the bottom of a cliff. Outside of getting around quicker. I was even more excited about putting some storage on the Sandbike as well. While it did not hold much, it would dramatically increase my resource run hauls back to base.

I’m also willing to admit that this first Sandbike I ran it into the ground, became just dust. I assumed if I parked it outside my base under the protective shields of the little area I've claimed. It would be fine.

Turns out you kind of need to park vehicles in garages, or they take a lot of damage just sitting out there. Between the sun and the sandstorms. I guess that should have been expected. My first base, however, did not have much room, and I was not looking to overstay my welcome in the south.

I was also just leaving this thing around while I went out and cleared different sites. I’m quite shocked it lasted as long as it did. It was thankfully just the lowest tier of Sandbike you can have, and looking back at it now, rather inexpensive. Once I had it, the cost to replace it felt like nothing. As the increased carrying capacity made the world of difference.

At one point, I came across this crashed Ornithopter. I got out to inspect it, hoping maybe there was some cargo to loot. It turns out I could dismantle the thing for salvage and actuator parts.

It ended up being a lot more involved than I was expecting. As I went around dismantling individual parts of the Ornithopter. The wings, different parts of the hull, and chassis. I’d be set for days on salvage after finding this wreck.

A big thing I could hit up now is outposts. They were usually not as complex as Imperial Testing Stations. They were often more difficult, however, since they had a higher density of enemies to take out.

While the smart play would have been finding a sniper rifle and picking off as many as I could from a distance. I just loved charging in with my dagger and getting as many take-down kills as quickly as possible.

I did have a sidearm just in case things became a little heated. Sometimes, when it was 4 verses me, I'd have to retreat and take some shots at range to put the battle back in my favor a bit more.

After a while, I had hit up a few of the major sites to see in the south. Sure, there were endless scavenger camps to find and raid. Along with a lot more outposts than I knew about that I'd later return to farm. I, however, felt like I was outgrowing the place a bit. I was also starting to want some higher-tier tools and armor. Those, however, required better materials that I simply could not find in the south.

Next up, I needed to cross a decent amount of sand where some sandworms lurked. Assuming I did not get eaten, I could set up a new home somewhere in the Vermillius region.

I say Vermillius, as it turns out, there are different sections of it. I was supposed to be heading out into the eastern section of it with plans to build a base there. Unknown to me at the time, there was also a western section of it.

After riding back and forth on my Sandbike for a bit. I found what seemed like the best place to cross it. The issue was that it was a lot more west than where I was instructed to go for a mission. I, however, felt more confident in the route I wanted to take.

Not knowing if I'd ever come back. I packed my Sandbike full of everything I could. The things I felt had more value, I carried in my backpack. I then took what felt like a risky ride across the sands. Knowing full well that if I did not make it that this would be a huge setback.

I then landed in Western Vermillius and put up a base rather quickly after exploring only a little. A large sandstorm was roaming in, and I did not even manage to get a roof over my head before it hit.

I’m just thankful it did not happen while I was making the trip over the gap. That would have been quite a disaster. This was, however, an omen of things to come for me in Western Vermillius. Life here would be a lot harder than it was in the South.

Final Thoughts

At least I was able to get a base up before disaster strikes. This would allow me to recover and attempt to further explore the Western Vermillius. I’d end up finding a massive advantage that would keep me coming back to what would end up being quite a small base, much later in the game.

You can see that the gap I ended up crossing was no joke. You can also see if I was just a little more east, I'd have landed where I should have gone instead. At least I was not that far from the border. I’d even try and make it work for a while.

Information

Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Dune: Awakening.

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