In a simple room, two people in their forties, separated by a simple wooden table, were speaking.

“Well, Jul, we are all set.”

You can start now telling your story, don’t forget about the context, it’s important for the archives.

“Thank you, Charlotte. If you’re good to go, let’s begin my story then!”

…

That day, everything seemed fine. It was a day, not unlike the others. We were forty boarding the Pioneer, a small crew, for a big mission. Our role was important, finding out what had happened to this planet, a suitable replacement for the planet Earth, a few years ago.

Similar to the earth, but incredibly smaller, livable and not too far away, it took us only 5 years of planning and 20 years of light travel to reach it.

The Pioneer was one of Earth’s first lightspeed vessels with cryonic technology (We can be frozen up to 4 years at a time, and we need a 1-year break between each freeze) as such, those 20 years went by just like 5. I left earth at the ripe age of 28, now I have reached the not-that-good-looking age of 32, not that ripe, passed that fatidic thirty mark of old, but perfect for the expedition. My muscles melted a bit with all the time of inactivity we got, what a shame for a space marine, thank god we have a gym inside the Pioneer.

Landing is in 6 months now, and I have to be ready, especially with the unknown almost before us.

25 years before we planned to go, something happened here, on the planet we named Philae.

From afar we saw the planet shrouded by a red drape and blinded by an eclipse that stayed for weeks, scientists could never explain what was happening.

But since the plan to colonize this planet was almost ready and this was in Earth’s best interest, a mixed crew of scientists and soldiers was sent to investigate.

Now it has been almost 50 years since that event, none of us know the state the planet will be in once we land. To be honest, I’m scared, I don’t know how things will be once we reach that place, I used to be strong, but now I’m, but a shell of my former self.

My name is Kent, Commander Kent.

Brand new commander of the Space Marine’s third exploration force, tasked to keep the scientists safe in expeditions. I’m not a fighter, never have been, I kinda wandered there by accident, with nowhere to go, I got recruited, my superiors saw how expandable I was: Young, reckless, alone, with nothing left for me back home.

The only thing that allowed me to reach this position is my capacity at maintaining calm and to converse with others in all situations. No fights broke out on this trip yet, which was seriously unheard of before. I guess that’s my skill, if I really have one, I guess that accounts for something, right?

My name is Julius, Julius Kent.

But now it’s just Sir or Commander Kent. That first name of mine seems to have been forgotten, as everything else.

I don’t have anything or anyone waiting for me back home, I don’t have any future on Earth. The place wasn’t for me, so I left this world behind.

Perhaps my place could be there? If there is anyone, anything, that could give me this place.

That long cycle of abuse, that madness of thinking I could start over and over again, doing the same old things… It did get old after a while.

An endless loop: find a new lady, an abusive one (I like them), fall in love, get hurt, run away, start again.

The toxicity I’m longing for, those one-sided relationships, the inability to build something.

I don’t know how I first started to be ensnared in it.

Trapped by my own volition, in this endless cycle, repeating the same mistakes.

When I look back, it was obvious. But I guess I’m (I was ?) too young, I preferred getting abused than being alone, preferred staying in situations where most would have run away long ago…

That’s why when I finally stopped searching for ways to be a victim, I found my place in the Navy.

I was already working in my country’s military for four years, mostly doing intelligence stuff, nothing incredible, always moving out to new places.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Then I got approached by a high-ranked marine, who told me I wasn’t at my place in this section of the army and that I could join their family.

I did.

My name wasn’t Julius Kent.

That was a lie. Same as the existence of this world, we were built around lies.

It’s a dramatic way of saying things, perhaps a bit harsh… But it’s spot on, clear-cut. 

I don’t like my world. Not enough honesty, but who am I to say that, as I’m not even honest myself?

It may be why I really left this planet and everything else behind, no strings attached.

The important thing is not really who I was or what I am.

It’s: Who am I going to become?

Maybe that’s why I’m here. New world = new life, just like those manga and manhwa that were so popular years ago. Today, when it was announced that the landing would happen soon, I felt like a teenager again, ready to enjoy some Isekai fantasy one could dream about when they are fifteen. It wasn’t a dream, even if there wouldn’t be magical powers, demons and damsels in distress, it would still be a world of fantasy filled with wonders never seen before.

Except for that little announcement that wasn’t even surprising (everybody already knew that info), the day went fine, I pursued my training, like I do six days out of seven, ate a meal in the small common room when there weren’t many crew members here. 

I ate my meal, checked with the crew, went back to sleep.

And it was the same actions on repeat for the next 5 months and a half. Then as days went by the excitement increased.

Everyone was on edge. Two weeks left. We had no clear visuals yet, we traveled too fast, even if we were slowly decelerating. 

I felt like I was getting younger and younger, with each day passing by, my mind devolved. When there were 5 days left I was a kid, discovering a brand-new toy.

We saw the planet for the first time in twenty-five years.

Our first visual, from up close and almost showing the present time.

A faraway planet, mostly blue, with one big landmass and a few smaller frozen ones.

“This confirms what we saw back on Earth, there are land masses around the poles, just like Earth’s southern pole, and their continent is still in a Pangea state, slowly separating. Soon there will be two main land masses. As we get closer we will have more details on the specifics of the planet.”

Told an eager scientist.

Nothing really new so far, but we were all excited to speak about this planet and to learn more about it.

“What else can you make out with our current imagery ?” asked the General.

“I’m pretty sure there is a sunken continent as well, do you see the color of the water near this island, north of the main continent? It’s super shallow, you can almost see the shape of what’s underneath”

“How do you know it was sunken? If you look at our planet, you will see the same at places where nothing was sunken” replied another scientist.

The first scientist then went on to explain this planet’s possible natural warming that melted the poles and drowned the coasts.

We learned a lot of things that day, it wasn’t my field but it was still very much appreciated.

When we were two days from landing, we saw the planet getting surrounded by red drapes of fumes.

Mystical, strange, eerie.

It was a small-scale version of the phenomenon we saw back home.

What was even weirder is that some crew members reported seeing a ring surrounding the planet appearing and disappearing.

We started using thermal imagery to get some reading on what was on that supposed ring position.

It was warm. It existed.

An invisible ring, with a temperature around 20°C, high up in the air.

The General even proposed to try to see if there was really something invisible on which we could land.

Bad idea, according to our scientists, it could just be a hot air current. I think all of us, marines, hoped to find something magical here. Sadly magic does not exist, and science is here to explain everything, what a joy killer.

A few hours before landing we got shot.

As we got close to Philae, something came out of nowhere to hit us, without any warning.

We rushed to the escape pods, what remained of them.

Only a few of us would be able to make it, there was no time to think.

An old man, the oldest crew member, directed us for the time being as even the general wasn’t calm enough.

He was a soldier as well, but his age seemed upwards of his seventies, he pretty much knew everything and always reacted accordingly, fit for his age and of incomparable skills, he was our most valuable crewmember.

Sadly he got left behind, only ten of us escaped, a mix between high-ranked marines and scientists. I was lucky to be one of them, as the Pioneer would crash on the planet, probably leaving none alive.

We were launched in different directions so we could escape all the missiles fired at us.

What a strange world. Hostile, advanced, threatening.

I don’t think many of us survived the salvos of missiles they shot at us, they weren’t allowing anyone to survive, but I’m sure some did, we had shields on the ship and escape pods, one of the best pilots in this division, good commands, fast ships and god on our side.

While I was escaping I couldn’t see what was happening, who survived and what happened to the Pioneer.

All I know is that I landed alive. Hurt and confused but alive.

I made it to Philae. I survived.

When I got out of the ship, I saw it: it was still going down. The Pioneer was almost nothing but smoke, so far away… But they probably made it. I had hope for them, even if only one or two people made it, it would be enough, we would group together and then get a chance to survive. I had to find the remains of our ship.