Immortal

Prologue

Year 21XX - The Moon

The ground shook as if a thousand nukes had all gone off at once. News had rapidly spread both on the moon and Earth itself. A large interstellar object had managed to avoid detection and struck the dark side of the moon. Large chunks of the lunar surface had quickly been sent into orbit. Dust and globs of magma going along with the blocks of moon rock into the void of space.

It wasn't very long before forces from the nearby sovereign colonies to investigate the disturbance. It wouldn't be long before the news of a crater of insane size was reported back to their respective headquarters. Cautiously groups of people would enter into the crater, their views heavily hindered by the thick fog of lunar dust.

Squad Leader of 4 People - Crater

All that could be heard was the gentle whirr of the hovercraft. We were travelling deep into the center of a crater. The hot glow of magma below us being the constant reminder of how even with the current state of technology, we were very lucky that whatever had hit us wasn't enough to tear the moon apart.

I turned to the quiet muttering behind me, watching as one of the persons in the quickly formed squad narrated the surroundings. I internally shrugged, knowing that each of the space suits we wore were equipped with cameras livestreaming to our colony.

Looking downwards I began to idly tense my hands around the grip of a modified carbine. It helped me stifle the uncertainty of what might happen. And as if I had manifested it, the craft quickly jerked to the right, my body almost being flung over the edge. I could feel my feet hold me down, courtesy of the magnetic boots the suits were equipped with.

"Watch it-" I could barely get my words out before a large rock slowly flew past us.

I held my tongue as I remembered how difficult it was to see through the thick dust littering the air. I then recalled what we were sent out here for. Nearly all astronomical satellites in the solar of notable size were under constant watch to alert nations of a possible crisis. Yet something able to cause this much damage while going undetected. This was a cause for concern, because it would bring suspicion of the effectiveness of satellite tracking technology and will strike fear into the several populations inhabiting the moon if we can't find an explanation.

We had been travelling for hours, the crater was believed to have a radius of roughly 450 miles, and it was still growing as we went deeper. The thickness of the debris clouds only increasing as we got closer and closer to what we believed to be the center. I had zoned out multiple times as we continued on, we were now approaching a diameter of nearly 950 miles.

Around ten minutes later the dust quickly faded. My eyes widened as I couldn't believe what I saw. Tendrils of blue light whipped around us as we slowed our speed significantly. They all seemed to be extending out from one spot.  It was hard to look straight towards it without squinting and shielding my eyes. At the center of the clearing was a concentration of light. 

"Is that a person...?" I muttered weakly to myself.

The shape of a figure just barely able to be made out. I then was able to distinguish more features of the person, the light dimming a bit as we got closer. I wasn't sure if I should raise my weapon, only moving up an arm to caution the squad as we slowly got closer.

"HQ...are you seeing this...? The driver of our craft said.

"ghzzt...pro..ed.....captu..re." Buzzed my helmet as a transmission from headquarters came through.

Concerned glances were exchanged between the four members of us, the hovercraft beginning to speed up. The objective blinking several times as it appeared on the heads-up display in my helmet. The words 'Capture the target' now appearing in the top left corner of my visor, a red marker appearing above the glowing figure in the middle of the clearing.