Mission to the Moon Read online

  Books by Mark Cheverton

  The Gameknight999 Series

  Invasion of the Overworld

  Battle for the Nether

  Confronting the Dragon

  The Mystery of Herobrine Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Trouble in Zombie-town

  The Jungle Temple Oracle

  Last Stand on the Ocean Shore

  Herobrine Reborn Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Saving Crafter

  The Destruction of the Overworld

  Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine

  Herobrine’s Revenge Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  The Phantom Virus

  Overworld in Flames

  System Overload

  The Birth of Herobrine: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  The Great Zombie Invasion

  Attack of the Shadow-Crafters

  Herobrine’s War

  The Mystery of Entity303: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Terrors of the Forest

  Monsters in the Mist

  Mission to the Moon

  The Gameknight999 Box Set

  The Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine Box Set

  The Gameknight999 Adventures Through Time Box Set (Coming Soon!)

  The Rise of the Warlords: An Unofficial Interactive Minecrafter’s Adventure

  Zombies Attack! (Coming Soon)

  The Bones of Doom (Coming Soon)

  Into the Spiders’ Lair (Coming Soon!)

  The Algae Voices of Azule Series

  Algae Voices of Azule

  Finding Home

  Finding the Lost

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB, or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  Copyright © 2017 by Mark Cheverton

  Minecraft® is a registered trademark of Notch Development AB

  The Minecraft game is copyright © Mojang AB

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

  Sky Pony Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected].

  Sky Pony® is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

  Visit our website at www.skyponypress.com.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover design by Owen Corrigan

  Cover artwork by Thomas Frick

  Technical consultant: Gameknight999

  Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-1888-3

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-1891-3

  Printed in Canada

  For my son, the strongest and bravest person that I know. You started this whole adventure with me, and look where we are now!

  NOTE FROM AUTHOR

  Well, here it is: my eighteenth Minecraft novel. Thinking back to the very first book, Invasion of the Overworld, I’m shocked that my characters have gone so far, and that all of you have really taken them into your lives. For that I will truly be forever grateful.

  I can remember thinking up Erebus and his battle with Gameknight999 and old Crafter in the first book. I didn’t really expect that book to be a success, so getting the opportunity to create Malacoda was really exciting. And then having the battle on the steps of the Source in the third book was such a great treat, for I never really expected all of you to accept my books as warmly as you did—too bad we didn’t have the End Cities back then. I think my favorite villain, other than Herobrine, of course, was Xa-Tul. I really love Erebus, and there was always a spooky kind of feeling about him to me, but there was something about Xa-Tul that really resonated with me. My favorite moment with Xa-Tul was probably when Ba-Jin confronted the zombie king; that scene gave me chills, and I hope it did for all of you, too. I’m a little surprised when I say Xa-Tul was my favorite monster, because I thought all of the four horsemen (Xa-Tul, Reaper, Charybdis, and Feyd) were really cool, and at one time, I would have said they, collectively, were my favorites. I particularly love the imagery of them riding their monster horses, but still, I think Xa-Tul is my favorite of the monster kings; sorry, Erebus.

  I had a ton of fun writing this series and diving into modded Minecraft. The Twilight Forest mod in Book One is fantastic, and I really enjoyed having Gameknight and his friends explore that world. Originally, I wasn’t going to use Mystcraft as the mod for Book Two, because I didn’t think it was a big enough change to the basic gameplay, but once I started messing around with it on my PC, I had a great time trying to build a stable Age. The different worlds Gameknight goes through in that book are the actual Ages I constructed when I was learning how to play that mod. I quickly realized there was much more to Mystcraft, and had to include it into the series.

  But now, we bring ourselves to Book Three, Entity303, and outer space. If you haven’t seen the Galacticraft mod—which enables Gameknight999 to fly into outer space—you should really check out some of the videos listed at the end of the book in the Minecraft Seeds sections. Playing it is super fun, and going to the other planets, especially Fronos, is super cool. I wish the bosses on the planets were different, though; I would have loved to see a space-wither boss. That would have been cool, but the mod is great nonetheless, and I hope many of you get the chance to download it (with your parents’ permission, of course) and play it on your computers.

  Through eighteen books, I’ve taken Gameknight999 through countless adventures, so after this one, I’m planning on giving him a little rest. In the next series, The Rise of the Warlords, I really want to bring you something new and exciting, and to do that, I think I need some new and exciting characters. There have been some new hero NPCs, with new skills and different characteristics, bouncing around in my head, and in Zombies Attack!, the first book of The Rise of the Warlords, you’ll meet a few of the new characters: Watcher, Planter, and Blaster. They all have some unique and surprising qualities that I think you will love as much as I do. (What’s happening between Watcher and Planter, for instance?) I’m looking forward to using them to explore some new areas of Minecraft, as you’ll see discussed at the end of this book.

  I’ve been developing these new characters while writing the eighteen Gameknight novels, but they never seemed to fit into the existing storylines. I really have been thinking about these characters a lot, though, and have written a few short stories about them; for example, some of you have already met one of them, Watcher, on my website at www.gameknight999.com. But I think it’s just about time to let all of the new characters get a little sunlight, and for all of you to meet them finally. So, sadly, after this book, we must let Gameknight999 and his friends take a little break while some new characters come out into the sun. I still have some great ideas for Gameknight, but they’ll need to wait for a while as Watcher and his friends take the stage.

  Thank you for taking Gameknight999, Crafter, Digger, Hunter, Stitcher, and now Weaver into your lives. The stories I’ve received from you on my website, www.markcheverton.com, have b
een fantastic. I love reading them all, and hope you keep sending them; it’s wonderful to see what you create and bring into the world. Some of you are becoming quite accomplished writers, and that warms my heart.

  Keep reading, keep writing, and watch out for creepers.

  Mark

  The choices you make will determine the trajectory of your life and the consequences you must face. Give thought to your choices and don’t act rashly out of anger or jealousy. Instead, think carefully and make the choices that are necessary to get you to your goal. Sometimes, these choices will be extremely difficult and require hard work, but in the end, they will give you the life you seek.

  CHAPTER 1

  THE MOON

  The cold vacuum of outer space wrapped around the rocket like a dark shroud. Stars sparkled in the distance, but they were so impossibly far away they seemed completely inaccessible. Gameknight999 couldn’t believe how vast—and empty—space was.

  Squawk, Tux, his pet penguin, said softly.

  “I know, Tux,” Gameknight replied. “I’m afraid too. I didn’t think it would be this scary when we blasted off in this rocket ship into outer space. But we had to follow Entity303 into space. He’s the only one that knows the location of the portal that’ll send Weaver back into the past.”

  He leaned forward and peered through the window into the darkness. He was stunned by the immensity of it.

  Squawk, squawk.

  Gameknight patted the tiny animal on the head, but his gloved hand just slid across the penguin’s square space helmet, doing little to reassure her.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve played this mod a hundred times and it—”

  The rocket was suddenly buffeted back and forth for a moment, as if they’d gone through something like space-turbulence. Gameknight’s heart thumped in his chest like a drum. It was terrifying.

  “Wow, that was … scary.”

  Squawk. The penguin glanced up at Gameknight, a look of fear in her little eyes.

  “Yeah, I’m afraid. Being inside the game, really inside, makes all this seem a little more dangerous than I thought. But if Entity303 can do it, then so can I.”

  Squawk.

  “I hope that means you have faith in me,” Gameknight said.

  Squawk, squawk! Tux replied.

  “If I remember correctly, soon the rocket should—“

  Their rocket shuddered again, as if some great space-beast had grabbed hold of it and was shaking it around. The ship then broke apart, the top and bottom flying out into space, leaving Gameknight and his companion in a square box he now remembered was called the Eagle. It was named after the landing craft from the Apollo 11 mission that actually put two astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon’s surface for the first time. And now, he and Tux were in Galacticraft’s version of the famous spacecraft.

  Squawk! Tux warned.

  “I know, I can see the speed indicator,” Gameknight said. “We’re falling faster…. How do I slow down? When I played this before, I just hit the space bar, but now, the controls seem totally different.”

  Tux jumped up, floating through the microgravity until she landed on the Eagle’s control panel. Waddling across the console, she started pecking randomly at buttons and lights. Her beak struck a large yellow button, and instantly a thruster fired, pushing upward on the craft.

  “Ok, I see it.”

  He pressed on the button as the little penguin floated back to the ground. With each touch, they slowed down just a little.

  Squawk, squawk.

  “I can’t just press it all the time,” Gameknight explained to the tiny penguin. “We have a limited amount of fuel. It needs to be used in spurts.”

  Over and over, he pressed the button, slowing their descent, then released it, allowing the speed to increase a little, then repeated the process. They sped up, then slowed down, then sped up again as they drew closer to the lunar surface. Gameknight knew that if they hit the ground too hard, they would not survive, but if they ran out of fuel, then they would likely perish as well. It was a tricky balancing act. He watched the fuel indicator as he activated the thrusters, doing the delicate dance between accelerating and decelerating.

  The ground was now visible. The surface of the moon was a gray expanse, devoid of any color. Nothing grew here, for there was no air, but he could see countless monsters moving about on the lunar surface. Craters covered the landscape, and although they seemed small and inconsequential from far away, Gameknight realized as the craft drew closer just how huge they actually were.

  Soon the ground completely filled the view out the window of the craft, the horizon and space no longer visible. Monsters moved about on the lunar surface, their space helmets occasionally reflecting the light of the sun like shining mirrors. He hit the thruster again and again, slowing the craft’s descent. Their landing site was now in view; the base of a small hill. A group of zombies shuffled nearby, but were moving away. Maybe they wouldn’t see the ship landing.

  Gameknight used the thruster again … and again … and … it stopped working. A red light indicating their fuel level was shining a bright warning; they’d run out. The Eagle drifted down, the gentle tugs of the one-sixth gravity pulling the lander closer and closer, its speed rising until … it landed with a rough jolt, kicking up a large puff of dust into the dark sky.

  Glancing out the window, Gameknight couldn’t see any monsters nearby … yet. Opening the hatch, he stepped out of the spacecraft and floated gently to the ground, Tux following close behind. He yanked open a side compartment to access the lander’s inventory and pulled out the landing pad and his rocket for the return trip. They also had the oxygen generation equipment and blocks of leaves given to them by King Iago back on the floating island in Mystcraft.

  “Come on, Tux,” Gameknight said, then stepped toward a small hill nearby. “We need to get our base set up.”

  As he stepped, he was instantly propelled into the air, his legs churning as he soared across the landscape. Next to him, Tux floated gracefully, flapping her little wings to control her motion. Gameknight reached out and did the same, flapping his arms like an awkward, featherless bird, but of course it did nothing. They floated higher and higher, drifting over a group of black space spiders, each wearing a space helmet and carrying oxygen tanks, their eyes colored a bright, angry green. The fuzzy monsters stared hungrily up at them, and as they floated back to the ground, Gameknight drew his diamond sword with his right hand, the iron blade with his left. As they touched down, the monsters attacked.

  Tux moved behind Gameknight, squawking in fear. A spider lunged at the little animal, but the User-that-is-not-a-user was there, ready. His diamond blade came down on the monster, tearing into its HP. The spider screamed in pain, its voice muffled by the space helmet. Spinning, the monster tried to face Gameknight, but it was too late—before it could turn to counterattack, he moved forward, slashing with both swords. The creature disappeared with a pop.

  Pain exploded across Gameknight’s back. Rolling to the side, he turned and swung his iron sword, blocking the wicked, curved claw that was heading toward his head. Two spiders were trying to attack, one in the way of the other. Gameknight shifted to the side, keeping one spider in front of the other, then attacked the closest. The monster swung with two legs, one from the right and one from the left, dark claws shining in the harsh sunlight. Gameknight deflected both away, then brought his blades down upon the creature. She screeched in agony and backed up. He glanced around and found the second spider gone … good. Advancing, the User-that-is-not-a-user attacked with a flurry of strikes, and though the monster tried to deflect them, she was not fast enough. His blade found her flesh over and over again, causing the creature to flash red as she took damage. And then finally, with a look of despair on her hideous, green-eyed face, the spider disappeared, leaving behind three glowing balls of XP.

  Tux screeched. Gameknight spun around. A spider was approaching from behind, ready to strike his exposed back, but
Tux was attacking it with her little yellow beak. She pecked and pecked at the spider while she screeched and squawked. The spider stopped her advance and turned towards its irritant; that was its first mistake. Tux pecked at the monster’s leg again and again, but her beak did no harm to the fuzzy creature. Annoyed, the spider raised a curved claw and swung it at the penguin; that was its second mistake.

  “Oh no, you don’t!” Gameknight screamed as loud as he could, then launched himself at the spider, barreling into the creature with his body. The spider was knocked aside, but quickly stood and attacked again. But the User-that-is-not-a-user was ready. He blocked an attack from the right, then two claws came at him from the left. Gameknight deflected the claws, his swords ringing with each impact. The creature tried to retreat, but he pressed the attack, his blades everywhere at once. He hit the beast on the side, then the head, then the legs, each time causing the monster to flash red and take damage. The spider looked around desperately, hoping for help from another monster, but there were none nearby.

  Making a carefully controlled jump, Gameknight came down on the creature, driving both blades at the monster and taking the last of her HP, finally causing the fuzzy giant to disappear.

  With a sigh of relief, Gameknight put away a sword and reached up to wipe his brow with a sleeve. His arm bumped up against his glass space helmet as beads of sweat trickled down his face, one of them tumbling to the edge of his mouth; it tasted salty.

  He turned toward his companion. “I guess we need to remember that monsters on the moon are just as dangerous as in the Overworld, Tux.”

  Squawk, squawk.

  Gameknight glanced around, making sure there were no other monsters nearby. There were none. Good. He motioned Tux to follow, and moved to a large crater. Jumping from the rim, he floated to the bottom of the recession.

  “This will be a perfect place for our base, Tux. Monsters won’t be able to see us from far away.”

  Squawk, squawk!

  The penguin moved to the rim of the crater and scanned the terrain while Gameknight pulled more equipment from his inventory. The oxygen collector was placed on a flat section of moon rock, followed by the coal generator. Around the collector, he started placing blocks of leaves, keeping them as close to the mechanical cubes as possible. Pulling a stack of coal from his inventory, he placed it in the generator. Small sparkles floated from the leaves to the collector as oxygen was collected from the leafy blocks.