The Story of the Moon Girls begins in the second half of the 20th century when the first reports of alien encounters begin. At first the encounters were few and far between. Even so, they were far from friendly. From the left-over human remains, it was obvious that the aliens were vivisecting their subjects. Also alarming was that the frequency of the encounters was increasing. To those who knew the facts, the implications were obvious - Earth was under attack!
Most of the (reported) attacks had occurred in rural parts in the US and Great Britain. The US and UK governments formed a secret organization to counter the attacks. This, in fact, was the true reason for the US race to put men on the moon. The Cold War provided a perfect cover for justifying the high costs of research and development of aerospace and energy technologies.
During the seventies, dozens of satellites of various purposes were built and launched into orbit. Some were alien intrusion detectors, others were weapons platforms, others still were for long range observation. Deep space probes were also launched. Humans needed to learn the secrets of the universe and they needed to learn fast. On earth, several communications monitoring stations were built. Missile silos and submarines were equipped with a secret complement of ground to space missiles deployed alongside the not-so-secret intercontinental ballistic missiles. But these proved expensive, and only marginally effective. The distances were great as were the speed of the incoming craft. What was needed was an advanced base out of Earth's gravity and atmosphere. By 1980, the first moon base was operational. After 1984, with the Space Shuttle program fully operational, the base expanded.
It was decided for practical reasons that most of the moon base crew would be women. The crews were selected to be of a similar size and build. This eliminated the need for various sizes of clothes and customized space suits. Women also burn fewer calories in a day than men, which meant less food was consumed. The standard uniform was a one-piece, anti-static jumpsuit to be worn at all times outside of the personal and recreational areas which helped to control harmful static electricity and suspended dust particles in the air. To further reduce airborne particles, the woman kept their heads and bodies as hair-free as possible. Wigs were provided as part of their uniform. Lavender was chosen as studies showed that it had a rather humorous effect on the crew and helped to ease the tensions of living in close quarters. Due to the prevailing sexist nature of the times, however, most trained fighter pilots (who were recruited to operate the interceptors) were men and so there were about six men also stationed on moon base at any time.
The moon base proved highly effective against the aliens. By the end of the eighties, most incoming spacecraft were intercepted far before they ever reached earth. The few that did succeed were easily dispatched by the Terran defenses - most notably that of the so called "Star Wars" system secretly employed by the Americans. Despite the effectiveness of the defense network, the frequency of the alien attacks continued to increase. In 1992, construction began on a second moon base. As the second base became operational in 1999, the bases were given names, albeit not very imaginative ones: The new base was Moon Base Beta and the original was Moon Base Alpha.
The fight continued into the next millennium. Captured alien technology was analyzed and assimilated. By tracking the trajectories of the incoming craft and using long range space telescopes, the location of the enemy space platform was finally detected. Plans were drawn up for an attack, but it would be years before a vessel capable of covering the great distance was ready; nevertheless, work went on.
Then disaster. The first apocalypse on Earth changed everything. The space program disintegrated over-night. The people of the moon were isolated. While the moon bases were a closed system and could sustain their crews indefinitely, weapons were another matter. Fortunately, the Americans were extremely good at making bombs and enough weapons had been stockpiled on the moon to last a century. But crews could no longer be rotated and all contact was lost with Earth. This presented a new problem. The life support systems limited the size of the crew. And yet reproduction would have to happen less the moon people become extinct. Strict controls were put in place and contact with the male members was rigidly controlled. The men were virtually enslaved. Another ugly manifestation of population control meant that the old and sick could not be accommodated. Love and joy on the moon was as forgotten as a summer day in the country. One's 35th birthday was far from happy.
Life on the moon was now very similar to an ant colony. Workers of various castes; A queen - who retained the title Captain; a handful of males. Everyone stoically performing their work for the greater cause: that being to save civilization.
In time the assault on the enemy base was ready. Given the primitive capabilities of Earth in the 50s when their invasion plans were made, the enemy had never even considered the possibility of a counter-attack and so had taken no precautions. The attack when it finally took place, was quiet and quick. The engagement lasted for all of about five minutes. The war, while perhaps not over, was at least put on hold for decades.
On the moon, there was no celebration. Earth civilization was still in peril. The stoic Moon Girls, as they now called themselves, began plans for the return to and rescue of Earth. The mission was partitioned into three phases:
Phase One has begun...