TheDarkestDark

By the end of 23rd century, Earth civilization reached high technological level, while facing serious social problems. Resources became scarce following humanity growing in number five times in comparison to early 21st century. Despite scientists coming with various ways to save the world, including colonization efforts, degradation continued. Number one candidate for colonizing - Mars - required 300 years to be fully terraformed and only selected people could live under domes. Humanity needed a more solid plan - one that would bring results and bring them sooner. Following continuous surveys of space systems, a planet similar to Earth has been found - two times bigger than humanity's home, this new discovery was a true breakthrough. However, more detailed researched showed that about 20% of the planet is taken by an alien megacity surrounded by a powerful force field. New information caused a huge uproar among scientists involved, especially after no signs of life encountered and no response to various means of communication. After several years of observation, the city was considered abandoned. Having analyzed the data, numerous governments agreed on a joint effort to send and expedition to reveal the turth about the city and establish the very first colony on that planet. With the biggest ship made of five modules, over 5,000 strong crew set off on most important mission in humanity's history. John Marlow, a scientific officer and one of many deployed for the expedition, sets on a journey which will challenge his knowledge about the Universe and humankind's origin.

The New Gaia

A time has come for the very first entry in the last several days.


While I'm well aware keeping a proper journal during such expeditions is extremely important, it doesn't mean it's an easy task for me. After all, I'm just your everyday mechanic, coming from a family of farmers, and not some kind of novelist or journalist.


Back when I was just a kid, I would've never expect that tinkering with the machines will make me chosen for such an important mission.


Because expedition to New Gaia, which is the humanity's hope and our possible new home, should be considered important, right?


On the paper, when signing the documents, I thought everything looked perfect, especially the salary. But with time, it started getting worse. And I don't mean the money became the issue or conditions were bad - nothing of the sort. It's just that, from the very start, we were facing way too many problems, even losing the staff, our colleagues, our friends.


Obviously, faults are a common thing in the life of a mechanic, but complete breakdowns not so much. And the last failure was the worst thing possible to happen so far.


Following a successful exit from the jump, Future ended up too close to one of the system's planets, falling into its gravitational field. When that happened, I knew things will start to go south.


John was of the same mind and tried to do everything he could to take us out of this trouble. We even landed on this dead planet and were close to not return back to ship. Unfortunately, despite our efforts, further flight brought more tragedies.


The ship, deemed humanity's pride, even called an ark by journalists, did not hold through this situation well. Of course, I'm pretty hard on this evaluation, because Future was not destroyed, but brought to the brink of usability. We sure are lucky the ship was designed to allow a swift evacuation.


Sure, not everything worked perfectly during the evacuation and there were some people who did not manage to reach the pods on time, but majority left safely. Too bad our target planet did not welcome us with open arms. I've never seen such things in my whole life.


All these trainings and lectures we've been through were supposed to prepare us for what we were going to experience once we arrive, but - for fucks sake - what we faced in reality was way too much.


After landing, I thought I ended up in some kind of a warzone, and I'm just a friggin' mechanic, not some kind of experienced soldier. I've never been to war, never experienced such a situation - I grew up far from conflicts and dangers.


Now, that I think of it, I'm lucky growing up in such a place. Back on Earth, I didn't end up in any similar circumstances, seeing war and terrorist attacks only in news feeds, and through his father, who always wanted to be up-to-date with news from all over the world.


I can still remember how much pressure he was putting on being aware of what is happening outside your farm, state and country, because you could never know when potentially small conflict may grow into something big.


In his youth, my father traveled a lot, and also served in army. He never talked about details, but surely saw a lot through his whole life. He most likely wanted me to know how lucky I am to grow up in peace, without having to fear for my life or food.


Today, while I'm not happy about the fact, I can tell how hard the life can get. I grief for all those who died during this expedition, but also for those who lost their lives in Earth conflicts, because I understand this much beeter now.


Only after I have joined this expedition, I learned how fragile the human life is. Whatever tomorrow brings, I will fight with my whole might to survive, but also to protect others. I didn't travel a route this long, reached a new world, just to give up.


4th January 2297