Billions love watching Moon-Sling, the world's 3rd most popular blood-sport. But few appreciate the unique origins of our amazing sport.

A Return To The Moon

Over eighty years ago Humanity returned to the moon. Unlike those ancient first small steps made for the sake of scientific exploration, the enrichment of humanity, and a nation's pride, these missions were made in the name of growth and profit. The Earth's five Mega-Corporations banded together in search of a way to economically transport a supplies to the Moon, and riches back home to the Earth.

This first ever global collaboration of the five Megas was the genesis of the Space Train, a series of large vessels that maintain a constant figure eight orbit between the Earth and her moon. As each train approaches Earth, a vessel is launched to rendezvous with it, offloading supplies and personnel and picking up rare and precious minerals. The same process takes place on the far side of the Moon. The window for these maneuvers is short and the margin of error practically non-existent. From these operations was born the world's best pilots, able to thread the orbital needle time and time again, without fear or fail.

The Birth Of Slingers

In their day these pilots were revered. The media coined them "Slingers" and followed their outrageous Earthly lifestyles in lurid detail. But, while the Slingers on Earth lived it up, those pilots living on the far side of the Moon were lacking for off-duty sources of adrenalized entertainment.

These bored Slingers turned to what they knew best for thrills: piloting ships to the edge of their capabilities. Of course they could not use their corporations' transport vessels for their personal enjoyment as they were far too valuable. Instead, these bored Slingers turned to lunar scrapyards for their inspiration, fixing up derelict mining vessels and turning them into speed machines.

For nearly two decades Slingers held unsanctioned races on the far side of the moon using their souped up mining vessels and no one on Earth was the wiser. Champions were crowned, and glory was paid for in sweat, and sometimes, blood.

The Fun Turns Bloody

As the years went on and the popularity of these unsanctioned races grew, so too did the spoils of victory. What once was a fun way for bored pilots to kill time turned into a high-stakes business. Pirate feeds of the races were sold to Earth and the events garnered a small following. It wasn't until the now infamous Lunar Duel that the whole world took notice.

Most who are old enough know the story: Chip Sannes accused Mille Beaupré of knocking Chip's ship off course. Beaupré felt that Sannes had recklessly blocked his course through the next set of pylons. Neither would win the race. It is not known who retaliated first, but by the time cameras were on them, Beaupré and Sannes were ramming each other's vessels to pieces.

The silence of space only highlighted the drama of the moment as each pilot's bespoke and beloved space hot rod shed pieces into the dark lunar sky. It was impossible not to watch in awe at the deadly dance unfolding.

Eventually Beaupré's ship relented, venting atmosphere, and leaving him exposed to the deadly vacuum of space. The moment went global, and the Megas were forced to respond.

The End Of An Era

The Megas saw this as a black eye on their reputation. They had already bristled at the free-wheeling public image of their Slingers, but were willing to tolerate to keep their valued pilots happy. This incident was the catalyst for the Megas to phase out human pilots for all intra-lunar freight operations, and gone was the era of Slingers

At the same time, however, the Megas did not want to miss out on an opportunity to capitalize on the fame and attention caused by the Sannes-Beaupré incident. The immediately set to work formalizing and organizing a series of space-vessel related challenges. The most logical starting point was racing that used much of the courses, rules, contestants, and vessels already established by the Slingers. Thus began the Formula L series.

While Formula L would eventually find a devout fanbase, it was not the immediate global sensation the Megas had hoped for. They started many of other competitions and sporting formats, most of which were short-lived and forgotten to history. There was Slinger-Wing Olympic Jam, where pilots would navigate their craft though complex obstacles in dramatic fashion in attempts to win over the favor of fans. There was Spaceball, where two teams of ships, fitted with lasers and targets that, when hit, would demagnetize their carrying probe, were tasked with transporting an iron sphere into the other team's goal zone. And finally, there was Lunar Dual, a contest where two ships rigged with extended target pods and lances would attempt to strike the target on the opposite ship.

The Dawn Of A Treasure

Still, nothing captured the imagination of the public the way the Sannes-Beaupré incident had. After years of waning interest and billions spent, the Megas hired entertainment icon Baighleigh Hayden Moss, founder of the Moss Entertainment Group who were responsible for such smash hits as Run n Gun, Brawldown, and Knifight. In his now famous memo to the Megas, Moss advised: “Spaceflight is boring. Blood is cool. Get over yourselves.”

On Moss’s advice the Megas embraced the drama inherent in violence. Fleets of lunar mining vessels were outfitted with guns. The Arena was constructed. A new group of pilots were selected from the mining workforce. The Leage was established. Squadrons were formed. The stage was set for the historic first season of Moon-Sling!