The sto­ry reveals how the builders built the orig­i­nal habi­tats and why they still creak today.

When peo­ple think of Con­rad Sta­tion today, they pic­ture a bustling fron­tier out­post with Alex’s Bar, crowd­ed quar­ters, and the con­stant hum of life under the lunar sur­face. But it didn’t start that way.

The ear­li­est known ref­er­ence to the station’s found­ing comes from Year +17 (as men­tioned in Chap­ter 54 of Thun­der Moon Tus­sle). Con­rad Sta­tion com­prised just four pres­sur­ized habi­tats con­nect­ed by rudi­men­ta­ry tun­nels and air­locks. The set­up was sim­ple, func­tion­al, and built under harsh con­di­tions with lim­it­ed resources.

The Original Four Habitats

• Hab A — The social heart of the sta­tion. This is where Alex’s Bar was estab­lished ear­ly on. It quick­ly became the gath­er­ing place for prospec­tors, min­ers, and any­one look­ing for a straw-cup drink and a sto­ry after a long shift on the surface.
• Hab B — Pri­mar­i­ly liv­ing quar­ters. This is where most of the ear­ly crew and lat­er res­i­dents bunked. It was the first area focused on long-term habitation.
• Hab C — Like­ly served as stor­age, oper­a­tions, or sup­port sys­tems (pow­er, life sup­port, and recy­cling). Details are sparse, but it was essen­tial infrastructure.
• Hab D — The most mys­te­ri­ous of the orig­i­nal four. Nils Carmike was explic­it­ly told to stay out of Hab D. What­ev­er was (or is) in there has remained off-lim­its or high­ly restrict­ed since the beginning.

The Man in Charge

The lead fig­ure dur­ing this foun­da­tion­al peri­od appears to have been Avery Clarke. He over­saw the ini­tial con­struc­tion and ear­ly oper­a­tions — a tough, prac­ti­cal leader try­ing to keep a small crew alive and pro­duc­tive on a world that offered almost no mar­gin for error.

Why the Habitats Still Creak

The orig­i­nal habi­tats were built quick­ly with the tech­nol­o­gy and mate­ri­als avail­able at the time. They were designed for sur­vival first, com­fort sec­ond. Over the years, ther­mal cycling, microm­e­te­orite impacts, regolith dust infil­tra­tion, and con­stant low-grav­i­ty stress have tak­en their toll. The “creaks” that res­i­dents hear today are not just signs of age — they’re reminders of the com­pro­mis­es made dur­ing those des­per­ate first days when every seal, weld, and pres­sure door had to hold against the vacuum.

From those hum­ble four habi­tats, Con­rad Sta­tion has grown into the fron­tier hub we know today. But the spir­it of those ear­ly days — resource­ful­ness, cau­tion, and a healthy respect for the Moon’s unfor­giv­ing nature — still runs through every corridor.

Fur­ther Reading

• The Luna­dyne Inci­dent — Ear­ly cor­po­rate intrigue and the first cracks in the station’s frag­ile peace.
• Thun­der Moon Tus­sle — Nils Carmike’s sto­ries from Alex’s Bar and life in the orig­i­nal habitats.
• Mask of the Joy­ful Moon — How the station’s ear­ly foun­da­tions con­tin­ue to shape today’s conflicts.

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