The silence inside Luna's Edge was quickly replaced by the absolute stillness outside. The only sounds were their own breathing, filtered through the helmet comms as the team stepped onto the lunar surface, one by one. Alex's heart raced as he took in the vast, desolate landscape stretching into an infinite gray horizon. The starkness of the Moon was overwhelming; even though they'd trained for this moment, nothing prepared him for how eerily quiet it was.
"Comm check," Colonel Torres's voice crackled in their helmets. "Everyone linked?"
"Linked and clear," came Raj's response, followed by confirmations from the rest of the team.
The team adjusted their footing, feeling the slight resistance of the lunar soil beneath them. Alex glanced at the shimmering horizon; despite the lack of atmosphere, he could feel the weight of the Moon's ancient mystery pressing in from all sides.
"The target entrance is 100 meters west," Raj announced, reading from his scanner. "We should be able to see it, but…" His voice trailed off, and Alex knew he was just as unsure of what they'd find as the rest of them.
The crew moved forward in a tight formation, every step deliberate. Even though the ground was solid, Alex couldn't shake the feeling that something beneath the surface was watching them, waiting. They navigated past low ridges and craters, each one seeming more ominous than the last.
"Scanners are picking up something," Mia said, stopping as her screen blinked with an unidentifiable signal. "It's faint, but it's coming from below us."
"That could be it," Elena suggested, her eyes scanning the flat, shadowed terrain. "If this ancient machinery is even partially functional, there might still be some sort of signal or energy signature we can pick up on."
But it was Alex who saw it first: a slight depression in the ground ahead, marked by what looked like faint ridges forming a massive, weathered circle. It was barely visible against the gray dust, but once he spotted it, he couldn't look away.
"Colonel, I think this is it," he said, his voice barely a whisper.
The team gathered around, each taking in the strange, circular formation that seemed so out of place. The depression was subtle, as if time itself had tried to hide it beneath layers of dust and rock. But there was no mistaking it—this was no ordinary crater.
Mia bent down, brushing away some of the dust to reveal faint metallic edges embedded in the rock, almost as if it had been fused with the ground over centuries. Her gloved hand traced the contours, and even through her helmet, Alex could sense her apprehension.
"This isn't just an entrance," she said. "It's like… a lock."
Colonel Torres nodded, as if he had expected something exactly like this. "Everyone, let's get the equipment ready. Mia, Raj, prepare to interface with it. We're going to see if we can trigger an opening."
Alex and Elena worked quickly to set up the gear they had hauled with them, a mix of scanners, power cells, and control devices. As they powered up the equipment, a soft hum began to emanate from the ground beneath them, growing louder with each second.
"Is that…?" Raj's voice was shaky as the hum became a vibration, rippling through the ground.
"Stay steady," Colonel Torres ordered, though Alex could hear the tension in his voice. "Let's see if we can establish a connection first."
Mia keyed in a command sequence, and a light on her screen flashed green. "We have contact. Sending a ping."
The vibration intensified, and suddenly, a seam appeared in the center of the circular depression. Dust billowed out in slow-motion, hanging in the Moon's weak gravity as a fissure began to open beneath them.
Alex felt his heart pound as the ground split, revealing a long, dark passage, carved from some strange metallic alloy that glinted under their suit lights. The temperature sensors in their suits began to blink, indicating a faint but rising warmth emanating from below.
"Something's active down there," Elena murmured, taking a cautious step back.
Colonel Torres looked down into the dark. "We don't know how far this goes or what's waiting for us. This isn't just ancient tech—it's operational, somehow. And that means we might not be the first ones to set foot inside."
A silence settled over them as each team member took in his words. This mission was already high-stakes, but if some hidden system inside the Moon was functioning—and actively responding to them—it changed everything.
Alex tightened his grip on his gear, feeling the weight of the unknown before them. Whatever they had just triggered, it had been waiting dormant for who knew how long. And now, it was awake.
Colonel Torres took a deep breath, his eyes locked on the passageway. "Team, get ready. We're going in."