[ WP ] A colony mission sent from Earth loses contact , discouraging further missions . Hundreds of years later , the colony has established a powerful interstellar frontier and has regained contact with Earth , pledging their allegiance to the world 's leaders .

T - 1 minute till launch. `` This is it guys. We are the pioneers of earth. We represent humanity.'' Matt said with an excited voice. The five of them were going on the most dangerous mission mankind has yet undertaken. Their calmness gave everyone hope this mission would be a success. 
 The spaceship launched exactly at 3 p.m. EST 2150. Everyone who witnessed the event celebrated as the launch was a success. Sadly, none of these people would be around to witness the success of the mission. 
 `` Is n't she beautiful? An innocent marble of green and blue, tiny enough to fit between two fingers.'' Matt was sentimental when it came to viewing earth from space despite him being a seasoned astronaut. 
 `` Focus on the mission Matt!'' Joe said slightly annoyed but with a hint of sarcasm. Joe and Matt have been on numerous missions together already. They knew each other pretty well and Joe did n't mind Matt's sentimentalism. 
 6 hours later and the spaceship was already out of the solar system. The ship's autopilot was advanced enough to navigate the ship away from the dangers of space which made traveling long distance possible. 
 `` Activate autopilot'' Matt said with a monotonous voice. 
 `` Autopilot engaged'' The ship's AI responded. 
 `` Thanks Sarah'' Matt made sure to always be polite to the AI. 
 
 `` These beds are super uncomfortable. I hate them. I can get beds for $ 200 that feel like luxury beds, why ca n't they spend just a *little* more money on basic equipment?'' Hans knew the bed from his training. 
 `` It's not so bad considering you're not going to be awake for more than a few minutes'' Matt reassured Hans. 
 `` Still. It seems like a weird thing to save money on considering that they could n't have saved a huge amount of money'' Once Hans found something intriguing he was quick to overthink it. 
 `` Beds created for cryostasis cost 30 times more to produce than household beds.'' Sarah interjected. `` And they are custom built to fit to individual ships. There is no stock of cryostasis beds. If you want one, you need to wait for production to finish.'' She continued. 
 `` Just go to sleep now Hans! Sarah will wake us when we arrive'' Joe said whilst getting into his bed. 
 
 Everyone was asleep in a matter of seconds and the ship shut most functionality down to preserve energy. That way the ship could survive for roughly 500 years, depending on how much maneuvering it had to do. Sarah's job was to keep the course steady and arrive at the destination unharmed. 
 On earth it was calculated that, if everything went according to plan, the trip should take about 270 years. In case anything was wrong at their destination they should have enough power to return to earth unharmed. 
 
 The trip was uneventful. A few burns to avoid asteroids were the most exciting things to happen. 
 `` Destination - Planet XR-3509-02 in sight. Finally the boredom ends.'' Sarah exclaimed, knowing she could n't be heard by the crew. 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - 
 
 `` This is it guys, we are now stepping on a planet no man has ever set foot upon.'' Matt's voice was now more excited than Joe ever heard. 
 The hatch opened and the planet appeared before them. It was the most beautiful thing the crew has ever seen. The lush fields, distant mountains and a nearby river made this planet feel like home already. 
 The crew hastily transported everything that was needed from the ship to the outside. Before shutting the ship down completely Matt ran a few tests and took a look at the logs to check if everything went well during the flight. Everything was normal except for one burn. It seems Sarah tried to burn away from a small meteorite but due to it's small size Sarah could n't maneuver the ship out of the meteorite's path. 
 The meteorite must have hit an antenna for the logs indicated that communication systems were disrupted 120 years ago. Matt quickly realized that due to the antenna breaking their ship had n't sent a beacon to earth which was used to indicate the current status of the ship. Furthermore Matt was able to assure himself that no further damage was done to the ship. 
 
 Matt rushed outside `` Guys, we've lost contact with earth. The antenna was busted about 120 years ago.'' 
 
 `` Shit, what does that mean?'' Jessica asked. 
 
 `` Well I can only speculate but I think that earth thinks our ship was destroyed. By now I'm sure we are only known in history as mankind's greatest failed attempt'' Matt seemed not too disturbed whilst delivering the bad news. `` But we should n't let this affect us in any way. Our mission is here. We have no reason to return home now, especially because everything is going as planned.'' He was a born leader and could keep people's morale high. 
 
 The first few weeks were spent building a shelter and getting to know the planet a little better. It seemed to be very similar to earth. Plants were beautiful and helpful. Some edible, some useful as medicine. The animals were like nothing that they had ever seen on earth yet they were n't too alien either. They had to watch their health closely which did n't allow them to eat anything they saw. The only animal they had yet been able to eat was cow-like, but longer. Jessica named it the `` Limousine Cow''. 
 The time had also to be adjusted, which was a simply thing to do thanks to their equipment. The days on `` New Earth'', as it was named by Samantha, were 22 earth hours long. The crew decided to use earth measurements of time on `` New Earth'', despite neither of the two moons having a 30 day orbit around `` New Earth''. The day of their landing was marked as January 1st, year 0. 
 
 A few New Earth months went by and the crew as self-sufficient and forming the base of a new colony. Building houses was not an easy task but thanks to their wrist-worn Datasets they had access to a huge variety of knowledge. Even the first houses built were already pretty good by earth standards. 
 
 One evening, when everyone was gathered in the town plaza, Matt seemed to be worried. 
 
 `` Hey Matt are you alright?'' Joe asked. 
 
 `` Yeah. Yeah! I'm fine. But there is something I have to talk to you about. I knew this day would come and the time seems to be right.'' 
 
 `` I hope it's not too serious'' Hans interjected. 
 
 `` No Hans it's nothing bad, if that's what you were implying.'' Matt answered, `` It is serious nevertheless. We have to talk about procreation. As you know Jessica and Samantha have joined us on this mission not only because they are excellent astronauts but because they are ready to have children. For this mission, and our colony, to succeed, we need to have sex with each other. And we need to have sex with each other's children. Keep in mind that you are doing this for humanity, not just for us.'' 
 
 `` We knew this day would come and we are ready.'' Samantha broke a long silence. 
 
 `` Good.'' Matt finished his drink and devised a plan which indicated who had to sleep with whom to avoid incest. 
 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - 
 
 70 years later everyone still kept track of who was and who was n't a sibling but the colony was steadily growing. There were already 38 people across all generations. 
 Matt, Hans, Joe, Jessica and Samantha were not having children anymore and rarely did any physical work but despite their age they still contributed to the colony with knowledge. Food, water, energy and medicine were n't even problems anymore. But the five were dying. Medicine had pushed the age at which humans die further but New Earth medicine was not on the same level as old earth medicine. 
 
 `` I love you guys. You were the best crew one could ever hope for. This was the best life anyone from old earth ever lived. Thank you!'' Matt said slowly. A tear visible on his cheek. 
 
 `` We love you too!'' Everyone else said in a unison voice. 
 
 Matt instructed the doctor to shut the life supply down, ending their lives. 
 The doctor had grown fond of the crew and it was hard for him to act professional. 
 `` Goodbye!'' The doctor's voice trembled. 
 
 The five were revered and never forgotten. 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - 
 
 But wait, the story does n't end here. [ Click here ] ( https: //www.reddit.com/r/PrydeRage/comments/461uk8/project_homecoming/ ) to read the full story ( it's longer than reddit's commend limit, sorry for that ). 
 
 Hope you enjoy `` Project Homecoming'': )
