"At first, we were worried that the alien rock might not show up at all. After all, Chang'e 3 Satellite was just a lifeless object. But fortunately, the alien rock did arrive," said Chief Engineer Yang.
"This suggests that any electronic device has a high likelihood of attracting the alien rock," he continued.
Most people were still in shock at the news of the aliens and weren't paying attention to Chief Engineer Yang's words.
"Oh my god, there really are aliens…"
"So, this tentacle-like thing is a jammer that can block the electronic signals?"
"It seems so, otherwise we can't explain why the camera got cut off," replied someone else.
"Does that mean the signal interruption of White Rabbit Nine was caused by this tentacle thing?" asked a curious audience member.
Everyone in the audience was discussing and speculating non-stop.
However, some representatives from smaller countries were skeptical and turned to Thomas for answers. "You guys in Meine also have a moon satellite and a landing site. Are you sure you didn't see White Rabbit Nine?"
"No, we did not," Thomas replied honestly before turning to Chief Engineer Yang, "Chief Engineer Yang, do you have any additional information besides what you've already shared with us?"
Chief Engineer Yang shook his head, "After confirming signs of alien life on the moon, we immediately informed you guys. This is all the information we have at the moment."
Thomas nodded and asked, "So why did you call us here?"
Chief Engineer Yang remained silent, but Colonel Chu stepped forward.
"We want to unite with the global community and send probes to the moon to search for signs of aliens," he explained.
Thomas and his team exchanged glances. The discovery of aliens would be the top priority mission for any country.
Therefore, they assumed that once the news reached their home countries, their leaders would respond to Great Xia's call and participate in the moon exploration.
Colonel Chu was aware of this and continued, "Based on the characteristics of this alien rock, we have determined that it will release tentacles between 15-50 meters from the target."
"So, we suggest that the probes traveling to the moon should be grouped in pairs with a certain distance between them. This way, they can serve as bait and gather more information about the alien rock," he concluded.
..
The first meeting to defend against alien invasion officially ended, leaving all attendees excited, nervous, afraid, and curious.
Many internet users were intrigued by the government's mysterious actions and left comments asking for an explanation. Unfortunately, the government didn't respond to any of the requests. They just left the people to imagine what really happened.
After a full day of discussions, the hype about aliens started to die down. But just when everyone thought the issue was over, a new announcement reignited everyone's curiosity.
"The Great Xia Space Agency reports that the White Rabbit Nine has disappeared on the moon, and the fate of the three astronauts on board is unknown. Multiple spacecraft will be launched in three days to search and rescue the team..."
"The Meine Space Agency will launch the first phase of their preliminary exploration plan to establish a moon base in three days..."
"The Five Eye Space Agency will launch their preliminary exploration plan to establish a moon base in three days..."
"The Northern Bear National Space Agency expresses regret over the loss of the White Rabbit Nine and will send all available rockets to assist in the search and rescue of the astronauts..."
The world was taken by surprise when the four most powerful nations on Earth made simultaneous announcements. Though the content of each announcement differed, they all agreed to launch rockets to the moon in three days.
"I'm telling you, something's not right. Aliens, they could be real..."
"Don't say 'could be.' Aliens definitely exist. After Great Xia held a meeting to discuss alien invasion, why did the other major nations all take the same action?"
"I remember the last time the four major powers worked together was a hundred years ago, and that was because they had a common enemy at the time."
"Exactly...So, what did the White Rabbit Nine encounter on the moon?"
Aliens became a hot topic again, causing a frenzy worldwide
In addition to announcing the moon landing plan together, countries also held two meetings during this period, each lasting from morning until late at night.
A lot of small decisions were made. This included the dispatching of small and simple equipment for the moon rovers to maximize the number of probes that could be loaded onto a spacecraft. This moon landing mission was solely to collect information from the alien civilizations and had no other scientific objectives. Many unnecessary devices could be streamlined to make more space available for the rovers.
After deep discussion, the four nations on Earth signed a contract and agreed to share any discoveries related to the aliens. They knew that they couldn't take any risks before they knew more about the aliens' strength
To better prepare for the mission, the four nations formed a secret department called the Alien Affairs Division. The department recruited top experts from various fields to research and analyze the aliens' origin, behavior, motivation, level of danger, and civilization level on the moon.
Three days passed like an eternity under the attention of everyone around the world.
On September 28th, 2028, at 9 a.m., the rockets of the four nations launched to the moon at the same time.
The interstellar era had begun!
Many people didn't sleep that night as they pondered on what the alien civilization on the Moon was up to. They wondered where humanity would go from here. It was just like when the colonisers first discovered the continent of Meine and its indigenous inhabitants. However, if the same tragedy that happened once in history were to happen agin, the earthlings would be the indigenous people and not the colonisers.