It has been six months since you left for Mars and you are making sure that everything is secure for the belly flop entry maneuver. You are helping Cassidy with some of the science equipment. There is a lot of excited but nervous chatter. It's mostly about the belly flop entry maneuver.

"That's all commander," She double-checks her list. You are glad that everyone is helping. Ten minutes later you are back in the cockpit. You are all running through various checklists. You are hoping for a smooth landing but your hopes are shattered. Roman's screen turns red.

"We have a problem with the circuits of the landing computer. I'm going to fix it," Roman gets up.

"You have two minutes," You respond. Hopefully, he can do it. Kelsey takes Roman's seat so he can make sure that the problem is fixed. You have your hand over the manual guidance button just in case.

"I found the issue but I'm going to need another two minutes to fix it," Roman remarks through the comms. You switch to manual guidance.

"You have a minute and thirty seconds," you respond. You get to work on making sure the rocket is on course.

"Sorry Lilly but you are going to have to risk injury to me," He responds. Dang, it. You can feel the Gs pile on as the spaceship starts the maneuver. You hope Roman will be ok. After five painful minutes, the Starship has landed.

"I'm going to make sure Roman is ok," You quickly unstrap yourself but it feels weird being in a place with gravity after spending six months in Zero-G. You carefully make your way down to the electronics bay. Thankfully Roman is awake however he is clutching his shoulder.

"I got the thing fixed but I think I dislocated my shoulder," He is cheerful despite his injury. A minute later you are joined by Ivan and Kelsey. Ivan passes some painkillers and something to bite down on.

"What's this for?" He is confused.

"Do you want to cry like a baby?" Ivan teases him.

"Hey, Kelsey how far are we away from the cargo ships?" You decide to get the details while Ivan is making sure that Roman will be ok.

"The nav charts only say a couple of meters from the landing site. So we should be fine," Kelsey gives the report. At least you won't have to worry about supplies for a while. You hear a moan from Roman which means Ivan has finished. A minute later you have made it to the airlock and you are getting the EMU pack organised. Again you are impressed at how far the space suits have come. Dane is helping you.

"You are all good to go, commander," Dane remarks.

"Thank you, Dane," You respond as he double-checks everything. You head through the first door. You hear the mechanisms click into place. After thirty seconds of waiting you get the thumbs up from Dane. You sigh as you get the outer hatch open. You are awestruck at the red expanse that is sprawling in front of you. You double-check your comms system.

"I'm heading down," You remark as you carefully navigate the ladder. Ten seconds later you hear the familiar sound of dirt beneath your boots.

"We are finally here," You utter the first words to be spoken on another planet. It is an emotional moment for you. It is a pity that Neil hadn't seen this moment before he passed. You are soon joined by most of the team.

"commander we should get to work," Cassidy remarks, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"Yes let's go and set up everything," You reply. It has been a couple of days since you landed on Mars and the building of the habitat is going well. Roman's injuries have healed nicely but you have left him on light duties just in case. At least you have multiple engineers on the mission.

"Lilly, we are ready to switch the power and water generators on," Jay remarks.

"Do what you have to do," You respond. You are glad that you are getting this all done before the Artemis team joins you. A minute later the screens you are watching flicker. You are glad that you no longer have to rely on the Starship's batteries. You slump back into your chair.

"You look stressed," Kelsey remarks.

"Well until the Artemis team gets here I will be unable to relax properly if that's what you mean," You respond. You find yourself grinning from ear to ear for some reason. You hear excited yelling in Russian.

"Commander we have received a communication from Artemis nine," Roman comes crashing in. He is trying his best to be careful with his arm. 

"Thank you, Roman, for letting me know. What are the details?" You ask. You hope that it is only good news.

"Pierre wanted to congratulate you on landing on Mars and he also wants to know if there is anywhere nearby where the Orian capsule can land," Roman gives you a cheerful report.

"I'll see if I can contact him now," You respond. You will be glad to see some more familiar faces. You get to work on contacting him. The system is a bit sluggish but you manage to get it working.

"Armstrong base to Artemis nine do you receive?" You try to get their attention.

" This is Artemis nine we read you loud and clear what can we do for you?" Pierre remarks through the comms. You start to think about who he would be travelling with.

"I heard you need a place to land," You respond. You hear a chuckle from one of his passengers. You recognise the laugh but you can't think who it would be.

"We sure can. Do you have anywhere we can set down that won't bother you?"

"Yes, we have a field just next to the cargo ships," You respond.

"We will see you when you come crashing down," You end the conversation with an attempt at banter.

"I will see you then," He replies. The transmission soon comes to an end. Kelsey wraps you in a backwards hug. You can tell he wants to celebrate the successful start to the occupation of Mars. You start to have the internal debate as to whether or not occupation is too much of a military term to use. You giggle at the thought.

"Kelsey, should we call this an occupation?" You think out loud.

"That is a question that you will have to ask Benji but now I think you need to relax because Artemis nine won't be here for a couple of days," Kelsey responds.

"Sure I will relax when you've done the cooking," You retort. Thirty minutes later the crew has gathered for a communal dinner. To your surprise, Kelsey has actually cooked a decent meal with what he had. You are currently listening to Jay who is telling the story of how he convinced Benji that he needed to join the Spaceforce. You are suddenly hit by the realisation that it may be hard to live on Mars but you are lucky to have the support of the team. It has been two days since you made contact with Artemis nine. You have also made sure that you are ready to receive them. You, Benji, Roman and Ivan are waiting for them in the rover. At least Ivan cleared Roman for full duties.

"Artemis nine to Armstrong base do you receive?" It's Jess handling communication this time. It was her giggle that you heard the last time that the Artemis nine crew contacted the base.

"This is Armstrong base go ahead," You respond from the rover.

"We are about to hit the atmosphere," Jess replies. You can tell that she is tired of sitting in the upgraded Orion capsule. Ivan clutches his supplies with nervous anticipation.

"Roger that. Over and out," You respond. It's a good thing that Ivan is ready. Five minutes later you spot the capsule. It looks like a meteor. One of the view screens in the rover flashes.

"Looks like the ablative heat shield is causing some debris," Roman remarks.

"It's the fact that the ESM has been ejected," You respond. You both get up. A minute later you have made it to the capsule. Both you and Ivan fight to get the hatch open. When you do you are greeted by familiar faces. You all get to work on extracting them. They are joined by five new faces. Three minutes later they made it into the rover.

"So Lilly this is Connor the doctor, Lexi and Scott, the scientists and Liesel the flight engineer," Pierre gets to work on basic introductions while they are getting checked by Ivan. Liesel gives a timid wave. You can tell that they are very honoured to be here.

"I'm commander Lilly Moretti-Collins and if you guys have any issue no matter how stupid it is, come to me," You are glad that the rest of your team is now here. You input some commands into the rover control panel. You hear Pierre whisper something to Jess which causes her to lose it with laughter.

"Sorry Lilly it's just I bet her some ration packs that you would say something like that," Pierre explains. He knows you too well but he looks surprised that you hyphenated your name when you married. You throw in a light-hearted giggle because it makes you happy that you are untied with some more old friends. At least you know you can handle whatever the final frontier will throw at you. After all, you know the crew will be strong and supportive.