The planet was a hot, dead rock twelve thousand lightyears from Earth. The scientists who had picked it – picked it because it offered a chance at life. They didn’t imagine it would take over their minds as they built plants and a living space for themselves.
They had only brought one ship. Athena. It was a small ship, custom built to a precise set of specifications.
One of five, there were now only four left. Athena raced her engines, flung aside from the other four, hurtling at top speed away from the planet. The other four headed after Athena.
Without weapons, they were going to be easily defeated. It was a mission to try to find a new place with new mined resources, plants and animals from Earth. A new home for those who had lost so much.
Away from the dying world, they made it safely to where they could land. They made plans for future years; this time they would lay deep foundations, and the sun would be a key part of their lives.
The sun was a pinprick of light in the distance, a purple orb hanging in the sky. It was a new place that was an upgrade from everything they had previously settled on. The surface offered a better chance of life than the previous planets they had landed at.
It was the explorers that would tell the story of the rest of the crew’s worth. They thought that one person could do more good than a hundred.
The explorers had always done their job to the best of their ability. At the start, they would oversee the whole colony. Fluidly, they would observe other’s work, then make their recommendations and suggestions.
They would monitor the scouting teams and ensure that everyone was on the same page, then live with their families and work with the colony from behind the scenes. Now, they needed to make a more physical presence.
The explorers decided that they really had no choice but to leave their families in the colony and set off for the stars.
With their families set up, and a leader to oversee, they could leave and they knew that they would never be alone. They were an asset to the colony. They were a specialist to the leader.
They decided that they would return to the stars. The explorers left the colony and life on the planet. They knew that the colony was in good hands, and it was going to be a better place with their families there.
After years across the stars the starship Athena had been found by the planet that a scientist called ‘Earth’. Athena had been wearing a collar. The passengers were dying slow deaths, and they had been found by a creature that called itself ‘human’.
They were put in a hospital in a dystopian planet, and the humans took control of the ship and put the scientists into a facility.
After years of need, the colony was surrounded by humans. They were a strange, strange species. It was confusing, and the scientists were in distress. It was time for them to find out what the humans wanted with them.
The scientists, the explorers, and the crew regained consciousness. They were in bondage, and they were in prison. The doors were opened for them, and they were pushed out.
In the cell, with no windows, they were kept in darkness and there was no one to guide them. It was a strange feeling.
A human called security. The explorers looked at each other, and decided that they would do their best to fight back and find a way to escape with their friends and family who were in the colony.
The human didn’t get the hint. He didn’t understand the explorers intentions. He called more security, and more security. They were strong, and the explorers began to feel a compulsion to fight the humans.