Red Moon

## Red Moon by Avenging Angel

On July 18th, 2020, NASA launched a new vessel. Six astronauts boarded Goliath I and set off to prepare the first human colony on the Moon. The preparations were expected to take a year, but the vessel carried six months of additional food past that expectation in case of emergency. Radio communication was possible only on the side of the Moon facing the Earth. The astronauts were told to stay in this area to maintain radio contact.

The astronauts had landed on the eastern border of the Serenitatis. This lunar mare was largely covered in basalt and held few craters, making it perfect for colonization. The goal of the astronauts was simple: map the area for colonization and blueprint the construction of buildings. The only real danger on the Moon was meteors striking it, as the Moon was devoid of any atmosphere. An electronic journal of the day’s event was to be sent back to NASA, along with any interesting photos or videos. Although, it was to be seen if anything exciting could happen. It was the Moon, after all.

The first few months of journals were fairly normal. The astronauts were right on schedule with the predicted progress. They wasted no time to blueprint the area. Everything in a normal town was to be in the future town; a grocery store, a school, a hospital, among other things. Of course, these supplies would need to be sent by other vessels. It wasn’t their mission to build anything. Then, on the 17th of September that year, the daily report had not come. It was speculated that it was forgotten, but didn’t come the next day either. Radio communication was not successful with the astronauts, and was only met with static. The radio tower was seen as working perfectly. It seemed that the astronauts were simply not within range of it. Several missing videos were later recovered from the site. The following is a description of each video.

The astronauts were told to label their videos by date, using numbers following the date if more than one video was recorded that day. The first video was labeled appropriately as “SEPT 16 2020.” It is around 10 minutes long and is mostly spent examining small craters near the border of the mare. Near the end of the video, the astronaut talks about hearing scratching noises from the crater, but this wasn’t audible. The journal sent to NASA for the 16th of September did not mention this noise.

The second video is labeled also labeled appropriately as “SEPT 17 2020.” This video was also focused around craters, specifically the nearby Bessel crater. This is an exceptionally large crater, over nine miles across and a mile deep. The plan was to eventually build a bridge across the crater. This video is roughly the same length of the previous video. The astronauts begin to make notes of the crater, when the scratching sound is heard again. This time, however, it is quite audible and appears to be coming from the basin of the crater. The sound becomes so loud it begins to irritate the astronauts. One of the men looks down over the edge to find the source of the sound. A force unseen by the camera suddenly pulls the astronaut into the crater. His screams are heard briefly before the camera is cut short.

The third and final video is labeled “CODE 7700 PLEASE HELP.” The date is unknown, but it can be assumed it is probably the next day. It begins with an astronaut in an oxygen tent, talking to the camera. He explains in a calm voice that he has been unable to contact the radio. He also explains about how two of the astronauts have been “horribly slaughtered.” At this point, tears start to roll down his face, but he continues a calm tone. The scratching noise from the previous videos is heard suddenly and sharply. The camera is knocked to an adjacent wall of the tent and we listen to the astronaut pleading followed by a heavy thump.

The man continues to plead and cry out for help, stating that he can’t breathe. The camera is completely turned away from the man, so it is not seen what is attacking him. We see blood begin to splatter the adjacent wall. The man continues to scream for help and is now completely bawling. Blood splatters against the wall for a second time against the wall alongside the sound of bones snapping and flesh being torn from them. His pleas for help suddenly stop and are just reduced to inane screaming and crying. As blood spatters against the wall again, a bit of brown liquid now mixes in with the bright red liquid. The tearing sound has since been replaced with that of squishing and sloshing. The only sound the man makes now is a quiet death rattle. Suddenly, the man goes silent and several of his organs are tossed near the direction of the wall.

Coincidentally, the night of September 18 was a red moon. None of the bodies of the astronauts from Goliath I were ever fully recovered. Colonization of the Moon has been postponed until further notice. The team sent to investigate the radio communication problems the astronauts were having refused to talk to the public. Of the four-man repair team, two have committed suicide since returning to Earth. While the three videos were recovered, a photograph was also recovered. It is still unknown as to what the photograph is.