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Harvest's Fall: First Encounter
Posted By: Conrad Lauf<conniesworld_aka_hell@hotmail.com>
Date: 21 July 2004, 8:58 AM


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1st REPORT

Compiler's Note: Human technology is categorised into four levels:
Lvl. 1 - The humans in the area have basic tools such as spears and bows and arrows, but are the most primitive of the four levels.
Lvl. 2 - The humans in the area have adequate knowledge of firearms, electricity, and other relatively ancient forms of technology.
Lvl. 3 - The humans in the area have a good knowledge of technology, and have achieved space travel.
Lvl. 4 - The humans in the area are currently utilising the pinnacle of technolgy, and have achieved faster-than-light travel.


DIARY ENTRY No. 1
DATE: 08 / 06 / 2520
LOCATION: Uralan sector SCRIBE: Johan Black

Dear diary,
At approximately 6 p.m. today my village's population watched strange blue-green flashes in the dusk sky dart about like the fireflies that invade our homes. Immediately the village's communications adviser, Greg Noels, ran to his satellite radio, the only modern instrument in this small populace, to call Diemetus* for an explanation to this phenomenon. The reply was as follows:
"We have confirmation that these lights were made by spacecraft, and the UNSC has told us that they have not sent any vessels over to this side of the planet for weeks."
Many of the people in the village were horrified at this news, and two religious elders were put in the medical building after they passed out in shock.

*Diemetus is the global capital of Harvest




DIARY ENTRY No. 2
DATE: 11 / 7 / 2520

Dear diary,
I woke up this morning to find the entire village standing in the middle of the town square, murmuring and pointing up at the sky. I looked up and saw to my amazement a massive spacecraft hovering above the planet's surface, probably about five hundred metres above us.
Its size defied logic, its body a lush, radiant pink. It was a work of art, with its outer hull smooth and rounded, and I realized that there was not a single part that wasn't curved in some way. Along its midsection was a pitch black line, dotted with forever sparkling lights. For the rest of the morning, the spacecraft stayed above us, never moving. My seven-year-old daughter Cyan clutched me tightly, whispering: 'Daddy, I'm scared.'
Naturally I put her back inside my house, telling her that it was nothing to worry about...




DIARY ENTRY No. 3
DATE: 23 / 11 / 2520

Dear diary,
This morning Hans Kroefield, one of my neighbours, disappeared from his house. Apparently his wife and children woke to find his bed empty, with signs of a small struggle. Hans must have been gagged, as his family heard no sound at all during the night. Even more suspicious, the large spacecraft, which has now become a common sight, has vanished from our sky. I fear the inhabitants of the ship are intending to carry us all away, to perform bizarre scientific experiments on us like the now-extinct lab rat. But only time will tell the truth.




DIARY ENTRY No. 4
DATE: 31 / 12 / 2520

Dear diary,
Today at approximately 5 a.m., a large, purple, glittering, opaque beam was directed at the village square by the spacecraft, which returned three days ago. Hans Kroefield has not returned, however, and the village's population is filled with hostility towards the inhabitants of the craft. I too, am outraged that we be treated like zoo exhibitions, and am frustrated that my neighbour has not yet been returned.




DIARY ENTRY No. 5
DATE: 01 / 01 / 2521

Dear diary,
While I was tending to the wheat field which provides this village's food, I was alarmed to see humanoid beings descending from the beam in the village square. I gripped my harvesting scythe tightly with both hands, and walked slowly to the village centre, where all fifty-eight members of the village were standing in a loose crowd around the beam. I noticed they were also wielding various tools as though preparing to use them on the beings if hostility was present. Tools such as machetes, axes, scythes, pitchforks, shovels, mallets and even a few rifles were being held warily.
From the beam came first a group of five beings, which I must say were the most humanoid of the group. They had armour-plated bodies, topped off with chitterous mandible-lined mouths. In each taloned hand they held flickering blades, with burned with a searing blue light. They looked about them, as if making sure the area was safe, and then they moved outwards to create a perfect circle.
The village priest was heard to mutter, 'demons,' and I could see why.
Now a massive figure sitting in an elaborate throne drifted slowly down from the ship, its robes hanging over its body loosely. The throne did not reach the ground, but instead floated ten centimeters above the earthen floor. The figure, which I now came to acknowledge as their leader, looked about itself with an air of authority and curiosity. The last beings to descend were a pair of brutish beasts wielding glowing cannons on one arm, and an ornate shield on the other. Their flesh was a royal blue, with orange fleshy areas in between their joints, and they sported many towering spines on their hunched backs.
At that moment the being on the throne began to chant slowly, its voice deep and resonant like a great gong. It began to draw us forward, making us shuffle towards the purple beam in the centre of the square. Many of the armed villagers dropped their weapons, which were collected by the humanoid creatures carefully.
In a few minutes the entire village was crammed onto the circular area covered by the beam, and with a strange tingling sensation, we ascended into the belly of the ship. As we reached the hull the leader's voice rose sharply and then ended with a sharp click of its tongue. Immediately I, along with the rest of the villagers, passed out cold.
I have only just awoken from my slumber, and have found myself in a sickeningly pink room, its walls rounded and smooth. Guarding the only possible doorway is a pair of the humanoid creatures, armed with what look to be automatic firearms. The room is about ten feet across square, and there are nine other villagers in here with me, all still asleep. I am feeling extremely drowsy and will now end this entry, and try to sleep off this tiredness.





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