When the first colonies were established on the moon they built them around the remnants of the first astronauts. Little cluster-bases were based around the "major" sites as though they were park statues, those empty lunar rovers and descent stage pods all so shiny still, though they were little more than relics to the modern world.
Each base was named after whatever descent stage pod was within its range (the multitude of Apollo's and Luna's were somewhat confusing but at least somewhat distinguishable) and armed with a crew of thirty each to begin the testing phase of the colonies. Should they prove habitable then swathes of the wealthy were eagerly awaiting their latest New Thing to hold over their social circle.
The daily logs they recorded showed progress was being made in leaps and bounds in terms of improvements to the building structures, gravity simulators, food production and general necessities for long-term survival on an otherwise uninhabitable ball of nothing.
It wasn't long at all before the crews began to report that people from the other bases were dressing up in old astronaut suits and stealing their equipment. Later that month the incoming logs reported that they'd tagged fifty individuals who were non-crew and all wearing the old suits. Without oxygen tanks or external oxygen supplying tubes.
From what the earth team could gather every base was planning to meet up at Base Apollo 15 to count and identify themselves as well as ganging up on whoever was inside the old suits. They were all fed up, scared and generally annoyed with the petty thefts from faceless people who refused to name themselves. They figured if they were all in an oxygen rich base then they can safely de-helmet one of the old suits and see who's behind the mischief,at least one of the persons.
Earth team tried to respond back to the news, asking for images of the suits to prove that somehow they'd been adapted to perhaps produce oxygen from the moon's atmosphere or so they could try to use image editing software to get a glimpse at whoever is behind the helmets. They received no response for almost three months.
When a response did come back it was a hastily written log full of spelling mistakes and ending with a photo that would circle the internet for centuries to come. It marked the beginning of an event known globally as "Homecoming Day".
The log read:
16/10/2254 22:36 Log number: 354 Crew member: Doctor Hilda Friis
We met with the suits. We met ith the bloody suits and we tried so hard to find out who they were but the damn things weren;t tlking. They just atared at us from behins those stupid helmets until Doctor Saito grabbed the release catch on the nearest one and popped it off. That thing wasn't even vaguely human it had so many eyes and no skin. Some kind of mucus membrane, bioluminescent like a cuttlefish. possible genetic ancestors?
The rest of the crew fled, we're trying to get bacl to earth but the suits have taken so much from the shuttles. We never realised they were using our access codes. How didthey learn the access codes and what are they trying to build? If you ge tthis do NOT trust any incoming shuttles from the moon bases. we are not on them.I repeat we are NOT ON THEM.
End of Log number: 354
The image attached was of the young doctor, seemingly hiding under a desk, her pocket camera set to automatically go every 10 seconds and upload it to the colony database to be transmitted to Earth when possible. It was like a movie depicting how she died as beings in old fashioned astronaut suits lifted up the metal desk and brought it down violently on Doctor Friis until all that was left of her was a muddle of viscera and heavily stained clothing.
The final few images showed the suited beings picking up the pocket camera, staring into it - their inhuman shape barely visible behind the thick tinted glass - and taking it when them to what could only be described as a spaceship built from the odds and ends of several colonies worth of detritus and technology.
The pocket camera lost signal as they left orbit, the final image clearly showing earth in their sights.
Each base was named after whatever descent stage pod was within its range (the multitude of Apollo's and Luna's were somewhat confusing but at least somewhat distinguishable) and armed with a crew of thirty each to begin the testing phase of the colonies. Should they prove habitable then swathes of the wealthy were eagerly awaiting their latest New Thing to hold over their social circle.
The daily logs they recorded showed progress was being made in leaps and bounds in terms of improvements to the building structures, gravity simulators, food production and general necessities for long-term survival on an otherwise uninhabitable ball of nothing.
It wasn't long at all before the crews began to report that people from the other bases were dressing up in old astronaut suits and stealing their equipment. Later that month the incoming logs reported that they'd tagged fifty individuals who were non-crew and all wearing the old suits. Without oxygen tanks or external oxygen supplying tubes.
From what the earth team could gather every base was planning to meet up at Base Apollo 15 to count and identify themselves as well as ganging up on whoever was inside the old suits. They were all fed up, scared and generally annoyed with the petty thefts from faceless people who refused to name themselves. They figured if they were all in an oxygen rich base then they can safely de-helmet one of the old suits and see who's behind the mischief,at least one of the persons.
Earth team tried to respond back to the news, asking for images of the suits to prove that somehow they'd been adapted to perhaps produce oxygen from the moon's atmosphere or so they could try to use image editing software to get a glimpse at whoever is behind the helmets. They received no response for almost three months.
When a response did come back it was a hastily written log full of spelling mistakes and ending with a photo that would circle the internet for centuries to come. It marked the beginning of an event known globally as "Homecoming Day".
The log read:
16/10/2254 22:36 Log number: 354 Crew member: Doctor Hilda Friis
We met with the suits. We met ith the bloody suits and we tried so hard to find out who they were but the damn things weren;t tlking. They just atared at us from behins those stupid helmets until Doctor Saito grabbed the release catch on the nearest one and popped it off. That thing wasn't even vaguely human it had so many eyes and no skin. Some kind of mucus membrane, bioluminescent like a cuttlefish. possible genetic ancestors?
The rest of the crew fled, we're trying to get bacl to earth but the suits have taken so much from the shuttles. We never realised they were using our access codes. How didthey learn the access codes and what are they trying to build? If you ge tthis do NOT trust any incoming shuttles from the moon bases. we are not on them.I repeat we are NOT ON THEM.
End of Log number: 354
The image attached was of the young doctor, seemingly hiding under a desk, her pocket camera set to automatically go every 10 seconds and upload it to the colony database to be transmitted to Earth when possible. It was like a movie depicting how she died as beings in old fashioned astronaut suits lifted up the metal desk and brought it down violently on Doctor Friis until all that was left of her was a muddle of viscera and heavily stained clothing.
The final few images showed the suited beings picking up the pocket camera, staring into it - their inhuman shape barely visible behind the thick tinted glass - and taking it when them to what could only be described as a spaceship built from the odds and ends of several colonies worth of detritus and technology.
The pocket camera lost signal as they left orbit, the final image clearly showing earth in their sights.
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