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The Voyagers

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Daitō:
Part Six — DiscoveryShackleton Crater
UTC 0800
Flight Day 5

   "Tengu, Shinkyo, go for descent, over." CAPCOM said over the comms loop. The crew had spent the last day readying for this part of the mission, with a winch being set up on the crater edge to allow for the mission specialist, Taeko Akiyama, to climb down into the crater and perform a survey. With any luck, she would find evidence of ice—frozen water, as opposed to other kinds— down there past the frost line.
   "Shinkyo, Tengu. Go for descent, roger." Eijiro responded before passing on the message to his compatriot. "Taeko, Shinkyo says you are go for descent."
   "Got it, cap." Taeko said as she backed up towards the edge of the crater, her suit strapped to the rig by a harness so that, should she lose her grip, she wouldn't be lost. "Beginning my descent, over." She said as she activated the lights on her helmet. Below stretched the crater, 4.2 km deep and about twenty-one in diameter. It was like staring into a great void, owing to its location on the south pole.
   "Just a reminder, you've only got enough cable to go 200 meters down." Isao remarked over the comms. "Enough oxygen for it and the trip back to the lander too."
   "I know, I know. No need to remind me." Taeko retorted as she began her descent. It was a long way down, but if successful, the results would be well worth the risks involved.

Several minutes passed as she continued her descent into the crater. One wrong move was the difference between success and having to call it off for the day. There could be future efforts to head down into the crater; the crew still had three more days on the surface, including a mandatory rest period on the final day, so while it would be inconvenient, it wouldn't be disastrous. No, it would be disastrous if the suit got damaged... or the tether was severed. Only the light of her helmet allowed Taeko to see where she was. That and the silhouette of the crater against the stars above.
   "Taeko, Shinkyo wants you to know you are now about 185 meters down." Isao reported as he looked down into the crater, seeing the faint light of his fellow Uchūnaut.
   "Roger, 185 meters down. Continuing my descent." Taeko said as she scanned her surroundings, tool at hand just in case. After a moment, she would resume her descent. As she descended, she would keep her comrades informed of her situation. "Alright, should be reaching 190 momentarily."
   "Copy, 190 meters. Get ready to head back. We can try site B tomorrow." Eijiro said as he watched the instrumentation panel on the winch.
   "Roger, preparing for return." Taeko said, making one more sweep of the crater. "Beginning ascent." She said as something caught her eye; a reflection from her light not too far away. "Wait... What is that?"
   "What was what, Taeko?" Eijiro responded over the comms loop.
   "I... I'm seeing what looks like some kind of ice." Taeko said, making her way horizontally towards the tube. "Shinkyo, Tengu. Looks like we found what we came for. Proceeding with sample retrieval, over."
   "Roger, Taeko, discovery confirmed. Go with sample collection." CAPCOM responded over the loop.

A few seconds would pass, during which time Taeko would preform the sample collection. A quick strike with the back of the scoop to loosen up the site before actually collecting it. According to surveys taken in years passed, there was likely more further down, but it'd require more equipment to reach than could be provided for the mission. Still, this was undoubtedly a momentous discovery by the crew, confirming what had previously been speculated to exist in the crater and others around the moon. Once the collection was done, the sample would be stored in a specialized bag that would, upon return to the lander, be placed in a cooler to keep it from heating up.

   "Shinkyo, Tengu. Sample collection complete. Returning to the crater edge." Taeko said as she finally began her return.

Daitō:
Part Seven — Final Day on the MoonShackleton Crater
UTC 1000
Flight Day 8

It was the final day at Shackleton Crater, the final on the moon. Only a few hours remained before the crew of three would lift off from the surface, returning to Hinode and then to Mundus, to home. But even as the crew undertook the final procedures to ready for takeoff, there were a few things left to do. They had about nine hours before they had to leave, before they would rendezvous with their spacecraft and its sole occupant for the last five days. Most of the crew had their own tasks to complete, some required by the mission, others by their own will, after all, this could be their only chance.

Before they could actually do anything relating to their own personal tasks, however, they had to secure several experiments placed upon the lunar surface in the days prior. These would continue to perform their tasks even after the crew had departed, providing invaluable data about the lunar surface both for future missions and for the simple purpose of furthering mankind's pursuit of knowledge. When this was done, the crew would go their separate ways, although none of them would stray far from the LSAM.The Photograph
UTC 1322

Eijiro, the mission's commander, had long been looking for opportunities to take a picture that would, in theory anyways, be seen as emblematic of the mission as a whole. While he wished his crewmate's descent into the permanently-shrouded Shackleton Crater could've been fit for it, that simply wasn't an option as if it were taken, it would only be a picture of the void, no better than the sky above. While Taeko had gotten footage of her discovery of ice in the crater, and it would undoubtedly fit the bill, he wanted something more... personal, in a way. Something that would speak to the great journey that they had undertaken, even if they weren't the first by a long shot. He spent some time thinking it over, looking up into the void and back at Mundus.

That was it. He could try and get a photo of Mundus from the surface. He would make his way to some of the equipment left over, the central station in fact, from which he would attempt to line up a good shot of himself. It took several tries, but eventually, he would produce the results he was looking for, a photo which captured the immense scale of the undertaking his crew had set out on and of mankind's place in the universe. Behind him, as he looked down at the central station, hung Mundus, so small, looking like a crescent moon. Part of the equipment reflected in his visor, which had a golden polish as was the standard. This. This moment encapsulated the mission for him; it gave him a newfound perspective on the world at large. So small, so fragile. It needed to be preserved, protected, with every single person who lived upon it.

He had found a new reason to live, more than just for discovery, but for humanity as a whole.
The Pin
UTC 1351
Taeko, for her part, spent the next few hours in quiet contemplation, reflecting on the events of the past eight days. Of how she and her crew had lifted off from the pad, of the voyage here, of the precarious landing that had brought them down. Quite the story for a first flight, she figured. She was sure everyone else back home did, anyways. She looked down at her hand, where a small silver pin attached to a piece of cloth rested in her grip. It was her "badge", something given to every uchūnaut upon their selection, something to be replaced upon their first flight. While many of her colleagues kept their original ones as a memento, she figured she would, at least for the time being, do something more unique than that. When it came time for her to be given her golden pin, recognizing her as having flown before, her old one would, like her old life, be left on the surface of the moon.

As she knelt to the lunar surface, she thought, for a moment at the very least, about everyone who had worked to get her and her crew here today. The hundreds of thousands who had worked on the program over the last eight years, who gave everything they had so that the crew of Ryū M-3 could spend but eight days on the lunar surface. She thought of her crew, most of whom had slipped the bonds of Mundus before and certainly would again. Yet here she was, on her first spaceflight, standing on the surface of the moon. In a way, she felt as though she didn't belong, as though she was unworthy of this position. And yet, she had made history by descending into Shackleton Crater and confirming the presence of water, albeit frozen, on the lunar surface with her very eyes. Her mind soon turned to the future, to missions within and beyond Mundus's sphere of influence. One day, a landing on Nergal may prove possible, but more pressingly given their location, she contemplated the future of the lunar program. While the technology was still years away, if there was to be a site worth establishing a base on the lunar surface, she thought, this would be the place for it. And as she placed her old pin on the surface, she figured that, when that day came, maybe she would come back to recover it.

Maybe one day.

Ascent
Tengu, Shackleton Crater
UTC 1900
With the crew now aboard the LSAM, they began preparing for takeoff. As one would expect, tensions were running high at this point, given that if they failed, they were pretty much stuck on the lunar surface with no chance of resupply for some time. While there was a vehicle in development to ensure that, should the engine fail to ignite, the crew would have the option to return home, it was still at least a few months away from being ready. For now, they just needed to focus on actually getting off the surface.
   "Tengu, you are go for liftoff." CAPCOM said over the comms loop as the crew made their final checks on the spacecraft prior to ascent. It was certain to be a bumpy ride, but that came with the job.
   "Roger, Shinkyo." Eijiro said before turning to Isao. "Alright, Isao. You ready?"
   "Yeah, I'm ready." Isao replied as the commander turned to a panel on his left.
   "Right, engine arm on." He said as he flicked a switch on a panel. "Hiroki, if you're reading me, we'll be seeing you soon. Mind keeping the lights on?"
   "Roger, Ebashi-san." Haruki, who had remained in the Command Module, said in a light-hearted manner over comms.
   "Alright, abort stage." The commander said as he pressed a button on the panel in front of him. While it was used during descent to, as the name suggested, abort the landing and return, once on the surface it'd allow them to separate from the descent stage.
   "Got it, engine arm ascent." Isao said as he checked the flight plan.
   "Engine arm ascent. Lets light this candle." Eijiro said as he flicked the switch for it. Now, for the moment of truth. He held his breath for a moment as he looked at the lever to actually start the engine. "Ignition." He said, pushing the lever. The cabin began to rumble as the engine started to burn, and soon, they were in flight. "Tengu has wings, over." He said over comms. Within a few hours, the spacecraft would dock with the command module and the crew would be on their way home.

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