The security team were gently dragged into the recently functional medical base in which Dr. Singh prepared for the worst while Arjun stood in place staring off into the distance.

"Commander, comms are down and we need to alert ISRO. What should we do?" Sara asked in panic after catching her breath. 

Arjun was transfixed on the the white of the lunar surface which had transformed into violet particles that floated off into the atmosphere. Swirling individually in chaos they slowly came together to form an Ellipse. The particles remained opaque but a 20ft structure now loomed over the base gradually pulsating a darker tone of violet.

"Code red! All crew members to battle stations immediately" Arjun hesitantly ordered picking up his plasma rifle from the floor and holstering it. 

"What do you mean Arjun? What's happened?" Sara comforted her friend unaware of the ellipsis that loomed over the lunar base. "Your heart rate is elevated and your stress is high, you need medical attention. Come on" she attempted to guide him to the medical bay where the security officers were being treated. 

"I know I can be selfish sometimes. But I'm really trying not to be." The ellipsis stood still pulling in particles of Arjun that were swept in like sand in the air. Arjun instinctively closed his eyes as he felt Sara's hand leave his shoulder. It was dark. It was quiet. Then suddenly there was rain that washed over his face and and he saw the dusk of a foreign environment.

"The commander just vanished! I repeat the commander just vanished! We are in code red protocol, everyone arm yourselves immediately" Sara cried into her intercom while searching her surroundings for any sign of Arjun. 

In the empty plains of violet grass a foreign beast sat at a distance observing Arjun through its piercing yellow eyes. The closest comparison that could've been made would be to a lynx. Two antennae emerged from its temple as it shifted its weight from left to right drawing closer and closer to his prey. Its feline advance toward a worried Arjun prompted him to look around for a weapon or tool he could use. He found nothing.

"You think you can take him?" Apollo commented having teleported next to Arjun.

"Hand me your blaster and I might have a chance" Arjun pleaded having lost his confident demeanor in an instant.

"Try taking out its canine when it pounces at you" Apollo suggested before distancing himself from the ordeal and becoming a mere observer.

The creature drew closer to Arjun with each passing second, feeding off the aroma of fear that he emitted. Every step closer it took it became scarier in demeanor. Its fangs grew larger, its body more muscular and its muffled growl more harsh. Arjun looked into the face of the creature and could not help but be consumed by terror. The creature suddenly leapt towards him with its jaw so wide it could consume his entire head whole. Instinctively, Arjun caught the lynx's jaw mid bite and with all his strength yanked out a canine tooth. The bloodied tooth blended with his own as the lynx took a step back in pain and recomposed itself.

"And now we have a fair fight" cheered Apollo jubilantly from a distance.

The now mutated lynx retaliated immediately leaping from a distance of 20ft straight at its prey. Arjun leapt to the left and landed on his face. The violet grass caressed his fall as he gripped the canine of the beast tightly ready for an opportunity to strike. The beast encircled Arjun's still body judging the damage it may have inflicted. It cautiously approached the limp body about to feast on a successful hunt when Arjun suddenly turned around and reflexively caught the lynx's paw. He drove its own canine into its heart repeatedly until he felt the body go limp. Covered in crimson blood he stood up to his feet exhausted but alert. He approached the lifeless body of the creature and felt relieved.

"Always confirm your kill." Apollo said shooting his blaster at the mutated lynx to uncover another nested creature waiting inside for an opportunity to attack. "Not bad though. You definitely have more potential than I thought" he said walking off into the distance. Arjun limped towards the blurred indigo hue he saw disappearing into the violet grass. 

"What do you want?" Arjun croaked. Apollo smirked and pointed up at the baby blue sky with silky clouds masking the twinkling stars. 

"Whatever that is. We all want it." He paused distracted by the beauty of the sky. "You're mission currently entails you establish a lunar base in cooperation with other agencies to begin your race's exploration of the stars. I'm here to tell you you're not prepared. What lies ahead isn't exploration, it's war." he switched to a somber tone. "This was merely a simulation, you can't actually pull out a monger's tooth that easily, but understand that fear will be the precipice of your success or failure. So fight." 

A sudden flash of cyan emanated from Apollo, blinding Arjun. A tunnel of turquoise, azure and teal transported him out into a new environment. As his vision returned from the bizarre transportation he felt the familiarity of the lunar surface once again. He knelt down and touched the moon with loving tenderness. After a deep breath he looked up at a lunar base that had visibly progressed. How long had he been gone he questioned himself. 

____________________________________________________________________________

"We take you now to an inside look of the Chandrayaan-10 crew. Their days at ICSRO's space academy shaped them into the pioneers you all love today. But what were they like before they embarked on their groundbreaking journey to the moon. Let's have a look."

ICSRO's logo of the Apollo 11 encircled by all their member countries transitioned the screen to footage from November 2, 2029. In front of the camera sat three candidates happily whispering amongst themselves. To the left sat Arjun Sher with his hair a mess, cleanly shaven and a mischievous smile engrossed on his face. Underneath him the title of commander was written in bold letters. In the middle sat mission specialist Sara Shah upright looking directly at the interviewer. To her right sat flight engineer Saghir hunched in his chair aloof in his own mind. His slim frame and tight clothing contrasted against a loosely fitted Arjun and a well tailored Sara. The female interviewer made a final adjustment to her hair and prepared herself to start reciting from her pre-approved questions.

"So glad to have all three of you here. Let's start with something easy, why the desire to go to the moon?" The interviewer put bluntly to the laughter of the trio. The candidness of the question had surprised them but it was an inevitable question.

"You know, the Moon sounds good, but the mission to Mars is what's really going to change everything. This is just a small step in that direction." Arjun spoke first, smiling with his eyes at the interviewer.

"Arjun's right, the implementation of the lunar base is essential in order to travel around the solar system. Our training here is just the beginning. Humanities home will be the stars." Sara happily responded. They both looked over to Ahmed in anticipation of his response.

"My desire of travel in general stemmed from when I was a kid. I loved planning routes to my destination to minimize time. Those dreams just extended to space one day and here I am preparing for the moon." Ahmed replied to the friendly teasing of his team members. The interviewer could tell that this was not going to be as serious in tone as expected.

"Are you prepared for all the challenges that establishing a moon base may present?"

"We're here at the academy to prepare for the challenges we can foresee," Ahmed continued while being pushed around by Sara, "but the real challenge will be the situations we were never prepared for" he ended to the appreciation of Arjun who gave him a silent clap.

"He's wise beyond his years." Arjun mentioned at the end of Ahmed's reply. "Our training persists of challenges we will face as a team and in our personal positions. We can only hope we're prepared. The rest really relies on how stubborn we are in the face of duty. I for one will not tolerate these two slacking when I'm commander." Arjun jested as Sara hit him over the shoulder.

"As long as we stay together, we should be fine." Sara ended the question, while the boys on either side of her extended out their arms and put her in a combined hug.

"Was this meant to be a serious interview?" Arjun jokingly asked as the telecast faded to black

________________________________________________________________________________

"ARJUN!" Saghir screamed over the comms rushing towards his depleted commander. The rest of the crew immediately left basecamp to confirm the news of their returned commander.

"He's back, get him to Dr. Singh immediately" Sara ordered the crew member next to her who rushed behind Saghir to get to the commander. Arjun checked his vitals on his heads up display, all of them were below base level. He pushed himself to get off the ground when a hand put his arm over his over their shoulder, followed by another. Saghir in all seriousness slowly guided Arjun towards the medbay while Pilot Amir smiled widely as both made eye contact.

"You went on quite a holiday, commander." he jestingly said over the comms.

"How long was it?" Arjun hoarsely questioned Amir.

"1 week, 3 days, around 8 hours" He responded calculating the math in his head.

"That's impossible" Arjun said with a final breath before going completely limp and beginning to faint on Saghir and Amir. 

"We got you Arjun, just a few more steps" Saghir reassured Arjun as they got to the medbay doors. Dr. Singh had already prepared the diagnostic tests for Arjun's arrival as he was gently placed on a metallic table and carefully stripped off his equipment by Saghir and Amir. Dr. Singh initiated the diagnostic extending out a curved glass that encompassed Arjun. His vitals were on display. Sara burst into the medbay and immediately began examining the vitals she was aware of. 

Heart rate: 45 bpm LOW

Temperature: 30 Celcius LOW

Oxygen Saturation: 75% LOW 

PH: 6.3 LOW

"That doesn't look good at all" She said with her hand balled into a fist.

Arjun lay on the diagnostic table in a trance trying his best to wake up from the apparent paralysis his body had put him into. Sara calmly put her hand on his chest and spoke almost in a whisper, "fight". Arjun began to convulse to the shock of the crew members. As a result, Dr. Singh had no other choice but to administer a sedative. The syringe entered Arjun's forearm and and his movement stopped. 

"A sedative to a medical anomaly such as this is not protocol procedure doctor" Sara scolded Dr. Singh. 

"There's no 'protocol' for this Sara. My best guess is he's travelled through some quantum tunnel, explaining the time dilation he's facing right now. He needs rest regardless." Dr. Singh pragmatically proposed his hypothesis.

"What are we reporting to ISRO" Saghir asked in concern.

"War" mumbled the commander.