The "Pioneer Project" - A plan born of desperation, conceived in response to the imminent destruction of their home worlds.

As plans for the evacuation began, unmanned probes were sent into deep space to find a habitable planet.
When a potential site was discovered, the first interstellar transport ship, Pioneer 1, was sent to establish a colony.

Pioneer 1 confirmed that the Planet Ragol was a suitable location, and the initial colonists started preparing the planet
for the main wave of refugees, beginning with the construction of the Central Dome.

7 years later...

Pioneer 2 completed its long voyage with the main wave of refugees aboard.

But as Pioneer 2 entered orbit and opened a communications link with the Central Dome, and enormous explosion shook the entire planet.

All contact with the thousands of men and women of Pioneer 1 was lost...

Chapter 1: Landing

One way or another, the end is the end, that is it.
If everything were to cease now, how would it be
any different? It would feel the same, look the same,
smell the same. All that is left, would be gone, along
with everything else...and once more begins anew,
fresh. A cycle. So how would this time be any different?

Almost silent, there is a hum. A tingling sensation.

Although nothing new, there remains senses, telling us we are not meant for such things. A cold rush, and no more.

Slowly warmth returns. A voice, a recording...monotone and devoid of feeling, announces our arrival. Another voice, new, at my side. I turn to it. There rests a hand on my shoulder.

"Wow, no matter how hard I try, I just can't prepare for that sort of thing. Teleporters are crazy, real crazy, I tell you. Hey, how you holding up? You look more out of it then usual." The hand pats my back as the voice continues. I smile, ever slightly.

She is, has been, and no doubt always will be a very beautiful person, with a fantastic personality. Despite our obvious racial differences, we get along fine, something I'm sure those back home didn't anticipate.

"Fine, I suppose," I motion, dusting off my hands slightly. "Cold, though."

"Oh no," she replied, 'don't you go off on your creepy negativities and depression. You can't be making yourself a liability," She winked.

"You make it seem like I have nothing going for me." My small smile remained, as she may or may not have realized just what I was talking about. When all was said and done, I'm not so sure it mattered. I was about to turn back around, ending the little conversation, when an all too familiar voice chimed in, loud and clear.

"Alright now! Everyone accounted for? Roll call!"

"There's only four of us, ma'am, including yourself."

"Humor me the best you can, miss. I didn't have to take this job, you know."

"I understand."

"Glad to hear it," the leader took out her notebook with everyone's name and status. 'Singe!'

"Here, ma'am."

"Fyrefly!"

I responded, "Here."

"Pogue!"

The human hunter standing near the back came closer, "Accounted for."

"Very well. As you may or may not know, my name is Serasta. It would do you folks good to remember that. Now, get your belongings. We are heading out immediately."

A loose formation was maintained as the group continued on through the foliage and green grass of the planet's surface. Every so often the group leader, Serasta, would instruct the other members to search more thoroughly in smaller nooks and around various trees, for security measures. Overall the group was making decent progress.

Often times I would wonder about this mission. It seemed natural to form some sort of reconnaissance to scout out the area, but what they were doing now seemed a little out of place. The actions taken by the group were slightly out of the ordinary, almost too covert...

One time, when Singe and I were off searching alone, I decided to share this odd sense with her. It also seemed a little abstract to herself that it would require a trained party of four people with a leader to scout out the area.

"Perhaps they just want to be extra careful," she said, "After all, it's for Coral. The people need a place to live, to call their own."

"It just seemed like an awful waste last time, from what I heard."

I always had this somewhat skeptical outlook on the Pioneer Project and its chances of success. She seemed to pick up on this. "You are always so down," she said, slowly, as if she felt she might break glass by breathing on it, probably concerned about hurting someone's feelings, although not necessarily mine in particular. She continued, "Are all newmans like that?"

"Huh?" I was, to tell the truth, caught off guard at that suggestion.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything bad about you." She did seem genuinely sorry, and I wasn't even really angry, so I told her as such.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," she smiled at me and walked back towards the way we came, back towards the group. After thinking a while, I also went back, still wondering the real reason why we were here.