Planet Master

About three months ago, the spaceship North Heaven was launched from the Cerulean Planet to the Red Moon for scientific and exploration reasons.

When the crew of the spaceship saw the big Red Moon in front of them, they were drawn by its color and a certain emotion engulfed their mind.

“Everyone, please calm your mind in case you feel certain emotions surge.” The captain of the entire crew reminded them through the loudspeaker.

The entire crew then tried to calm their mind. It had some effect but it could not completely nullify the effect the Red Moon had on them.

‘I see. The closer we are to the Red Moon, the stronger its effect on the mind.’ The captain thought while also not forgetting to decelerate and prepared to land on the surface of the moon.

“Landing on the surface…calculating the trajectory.”

Then the spaceship entered the gravitation well of the moon and did some maneuvering to make sure that the landing was as smooth as possible.

The landing was fortunately smooth enough that the crew did not even realize that they had already landed on the ill-omened Red Moon.

“Did we land?” one astronaut crew asked.

“From the looks of it, yeah.” His comrade answered.

“Alright, prepare to get out of the spaceship. Don’t forget to bring your suit; otherwise, prepare the consequences yourself.” The captain reminded the crew responsible for going out.

“Yes, captain!”

-

The signal from the North Heaven was received by the Cerulean Planet. They were livestreaming the entire process of the North Heaven going from the Cerulean Planet to the Red Moon in twenty-four hours to the landing section.

Lots of ordinary people could see that the North Heaven spaceship had finally landed on the moon.

K.L: They did it? Really!?

Ghostwriter: I can’t believe they were there. Are they suicidal or is the Aerospace Division crazy?

YTTA: If you know, you know. If you don’t, then you don’t know.

Geton: They finally landed on that moon. Finally, the time has come.

Comments in the livestream in the official channel exploded when they saw the red surface around the spaceship. The spaceship’s camera was designed to capture things inside and outside.

Currently, the cameras outside were capturing the scene. Desolate, with a small wind forming in the distance and some small-sized crater as not to bore the one who visited.

Then the camera shifted to the astronauts who were wearing their protective suits, ready to go out to the Red Moon.

The moment was quite palpable to the viewers as their hearts were beating against their chests, threatening to go out. They were curious as well as cautious regarding the Red Moon.

Through the radio channel, the captain of the crew was among those who would go out to the surface of the Red Moon.

According to the scientists on the Cerulean Planet, the atmosphere of the Red Moon was only half of the Cerulean Planet. Furthermore, there were effects on the emotions of those who were connected to the Red Moon.

“Prepare your meds as well as checking the suit's functionality. I don’t want any of you to be affected by the Red Moon’s condition.” The captain said through the radio channel while hoisting a Hinon Federation flag.

Currently, the landing crew was together at the bay, ready to go out.

“Understood!” The landing crews did a check procedure before confirming that they had done so.

“Done, sir!”

“Good. In three, one, two, three! Open the hatch!”

As the captain said that, the air in the bay was absorbed into the inner part of the spaceship. Currently, the Bay Area was a vacuum before the hatch to the outside opened.

Air flowed in but it was quite normal. As the hatch opened more, the crews could finally see the red surface of the moon. Anger slowly filled their heart but they resisted by drinking the medication fluid.

It caused them to feel calm and happy. The captain felt that the effect of the Red Moon was quite strong on the crew, despite him being the least affected.

“Move, move, move!” The captain gestured with his hand to go out and scout the surface of the moon.

Most of the moon’s surface was flat ground, with only a small crater in the distance as well as a small wind that flowed near them.

Then the first person to step out of the bay realized that the ground was quite strange to step on.

The captain also noticed the anomaly and then looked under the shoes only to see something gruesome. A small tentacle began to come out from the ground they stepped upon. The edge of the tentacle was actually a small eye which had a black pupil and red sclera, rotating and mesmerizing.

“Careful! Something is coming out of the ground!” the captain shouted on the radio.

“Will this affect us?” one of the landing crews asked the most critical question.

“Don’t look at the eyes!” one crew member quickly reminded when one of them went into a frenzy. Several of the crew members had to bring him back to the spaceship for diagnosis.

“For the rest, let’s continue to near the crater. We will plant this flag there.” The captain said while pointing at the edge of the crater.

Despite their step causing those strange things to appear on their footprints but as long as they were not looking at the eyes, they would be fine.

Artisanmaster: Something went wrong with one of them!

Gamemaster: Look at the footprints, there are tentacles!

Transformationjunior: The Red Moon has its wonder too, I guess.

Comments were updated so quickly as the camera from the spaceship and the landing crews showed the current situation to the civilization.

Some of them even questioned whether it was fine to livestream the entire landing to the civilization since it looked like something dangerous could happen.

Then the camera flickered whenever it showed the tentacles as if broken. But when it did not, the feed returned to normal.

As for the landing crews, they finally arrived at the edge of the small crater.

“Look at this. The crater is quite recent.” The captain told the crews through the communicator. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novęlfire.net

“Yeah, we should bring whatever landed here as a sample.” One of the crew said.

With that, the landing crews started to grab their equipment and started to dig for the stones from the meteorite that landed as well as the soil on the Red Moon.

When one dug up the soil, the tentacles appeared so they looked at the ground without looking at the eyes. It was only with this difficulty that they managed to get some samples from the Red Moon.

The captain, on the other hand, finally put the flag of the Hinon Federation on the surface of the Red Moon. Several tentacles appeared at the place where the flag landed but they did not cause anything to the pole itself.

“This part of the moon now belongs to the Hinon Federation.” The captain said proudly. He then looked up and saw the Cerulean Planet in the distance.

The color of the planet reminded him of the lives that live there, along with the civilization that appeared on the surface of the planet.

“One small step for me is actually a big step for not only humanity but the rest of civilization.” The captain murmured before he looked back at the crews who had gathered some samples.

-

In the North Heaven spaceship, the navigator was resting for a while since the spaceship would not move for a while.

Some of the crews even enjoyed delicious food that was stored. Although it was more convenient since the food was nutritious and could make one feel full for a whole day.

There was also a crew who was responsible for communicating with the landing crews as well as preserving the connection they had to the Cerulean Planet as well as the livestream.

They were trying to process the feed, but so far, the eyes on the edge of the tentacles were obstructing them as if they could affect their cognition. That was why the camera that faced the tentacles would change its focus so that it would not hamper the process of sightseeing the Red Moon.

“Finally done.” An astronaut said while stretching.

“Yeah, it is unexpected that the tentacles that appeared look so gruesome. The Red Moon really is an ill omen.” The one beside him commented while shaking his head.

“From the looks of it, that is not completely false.” The astronaut had to agree since the event proved that case to be true.

“The Captain followed the landing crews outside to plant the Hinon Federation’s flag. Will there be more landing operations on the Red Moon?”

“Maybe. I mean, this is the first step toward the starry sky. Look at the violet sun in the distance; we have managed to send probes there. I heard that we will make a swarm to extract energy from the sun directly and send it to the planet. I wonder if that's true.”

“Probably. If all of that is true, then we are planning to expand beyond our home planet! Isn’t that exciting?”

“Haha, yeah. That would be great to visit another planet.”

As the two discussed the topic, a third person entered, making their presence known.

“Are you done?” It was surprisingly a woman with silver hair tied up so that the hair would not hinder her work.

“Done for the moment. Is there any new order?” the astronaut asked.

“No but it would be better for us to watch out.” She reminded them which the two immediately agreed by nodding their head.

“What even are that gruesome tentacles? Can it be safely brought back?” the astronaut asked with a hint of fear in his eyes.

“I don’t know so don’t ask me about them.”

“It could be some sort of living beings or it could be a part of a larger organism. Who knows?” The woman shook her head despite her extensive knowledge. She had seen some strange things on the Cerulean Planet before but not these tentacles with eyes on them.

“A larger organism? If that was true, then we are in danger, aren’t we?” The astronaut gulped hard as he thought about that terrifying possibility.

“The possibility is low. It could also be that they gathered together to form a big cluster of themselves.” The woman spoke of another possibility.

The two clearly had turned white imagining such a thing.

“Alright, time to switch shifts. It’s my shift next, so rest properly.” The woman reminded.

The astronaut then got up from his sitting position near the large devices that monitored the spaceship and its exterior. His friend also stood up and left together.

-

The Captain and the rest of the landing crews were bringing with them samples from their surroundings. Whether it was a small stone or soil dug up from the surface of the Red Moon, they brought them all to the spaceship.

A queue had to happen since what they were carrying was quite a lot and needed some time to sort and store it in the spaceship.

Although there was air on the moon, the concentration was lower than that of the Cerulean Planet by quite a lot. It was better to wear a suit to keep the air they breathe manageable to the body.

“Alright. Be careful in treating those boxes. They contained the soil dug up from the surface. The scientists back home would likely be interested in them. Even those on the spaceship have already tried to determine what kind of thing the tentacles are.” The Captain said through the communicator.

The people who were carrying the boxes nodded and carefully placed them in the bay before being sorted out inside the spaceship.

“Where should we store this sample?” After going through the procedure of filling the bay with air, the two finally opened their suit and carried the boxes inside the spaceship and asked the nearby people for guidance.

“To the storage room. You know the way, right?”

“I know. This way!”

The two then carried the box to the designated storage room. One after another, boxes were carried to the storage room where the samples would be stored properly and safe from most harm that could happen, as it was near the center of the spaceship.

The last to enter the spaceship was the Captain.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, looks like our first moon landing has been successful.” The Captain said after putting the suit back in its place and went to the crowd that waited for him.

“Captain, the tentacles are gruesome.” One of the crew protested.

“Haha, although they have some effect on our mental faculty, they are nothing much of a problem, I hope.” The Captain said while tilting his head.

“Don’t jinx it, Captain. You’ll regret it if it becomes worse than your estimation.” Another crew joked.

They laughed not only to put their mind at ease but to relax after doing an important mission.

Even the viewers from the civilization clapped their hands as the landing operation was successfully done.

Then the Captain returned to the bridge, where he could receive most of the news on the spaceship from navigation to the communication received from the Basset Space Center.

The crew that handled the spaceship’s function then looked at the Captain and saluted him with respect before they went back to their station.

The captain nodded as an acceptance of the salutation.

“What are you doing, trying to activate the spaceship’s weapon system?” the Captain asked the officer at the panel where the weapon system operated.

“Captain, the tentacles outside in the Red Moon could be a threat so for safety purposes, we had no choice but to activate the weapon system.” The officer replied.

“Wrong. Have you considered that our aggressive action could be the very reason they need to attack us?” the Captain said.

“I was wrong.”

“It is not wrong to be careful, I understand. But don’t even point the spaceship’s weapons at the tentacles. I am afraid of something beyond our control happening.” The Captain said before he ordered to make contact with the space center.

“This is North Heaven Captain speaking. We have successfully landed on the Red Moon and acquired several samples for further research and identification. We have spent…twenty hours moving the samples and going to the spaceship to restore the air we inhale. Permission to return. Over.”

The Captain used the quantum entanglement communicator to connect with the Basset Space Center.

“This is Basset Space Center. Permission to return allowed. Please be careful on your way home. And the people on the Cerulean Planet are cheering you on! Please…return safely.”

The people in the control room wished so too. They wanted to reveal the mystery behind the Red Moon phenomenon and put the minds of the civilization at ease.

Then the Captain ordered the spaceship to go from the surface to orbit the moon first. It was because the necessary moon surface mapping had not been done yet. They had to encircle the Red Moon even to go as far as to its dark side.

The spaceship then used its propulsion to take off from the surface and it produced some small winds due to the propulsion’s thrust.

After gaining enough distance from the surface, around 100 km from the surface of the moon, the spaceship began to orbit the moon.

“Please proceed with the mapping. This would be the reference for the future expedition.” The Captain ordered.

As expected, the progress of the mapping was smooth and uneventful. But the crew still looked at the surface of the moon and could see the small contour of some valleys and craters from the meteorite that was attracted to the gravity of the Red Moon.

The more the mapping process was done, the happier the crew was. It was because they finally could see the full surface of the moon. They also started to notice that at the two poles of the Red Moon was a small amount of white, indicating something like an iced part of the celestial body.

“Look at this. This indicates that there are presence of water even though it is iced.” One crew commented.

“But it is at the very pole of the moon. I feel like there is more to this but for now, our landing operation and mapping the surface of the Red Moon should suffice.” Another added.

“Alright, there is no need for you two to worry. At least we have successfully done our part. As for the future…let’s leave that to our progeny.” The Captain commented while sitting in his exclusive seat.

“Yes, Captain!” The two saluted before resuming their mission.

The Captain then turned to look at the view outside. He could see part of the Cerulean Planet as well as the violet sun in the distance.

Countless thoughts passed through his head; sometimes it was a consideration of the future, sometimes it was his own fantasy to fly to the star in the distance.

He was also concerned about the strong feeling he had when on the surface of the moon. The feeling of anger, hatred, and rage was twisting and mixing in his heart, and he barely managed to compose himself.

‘Fortunately, the worst has not come yet. But according to the attending doctors and nurses, those who made contact with the eyes had a problem with their mental power. The scientists at home should look into it with interest since the tentacles are the living beings on the Red Moon.’

The Captain thought and was glad that he managed to suppress his feelings and his mind power was still intact which helped him regulate his emotions.

He also felt like the eyes were triggering the emotion inside which was already stirred by the Red Moon.

Whatever the case, the mystery of the Red Moon still continued.