PROLOUGE

Earth Year: 2002

Planet: Mirinoi

FILE CLASSIFIED

DEVICE FOUND IN WHAT IS NOW KNOWN TO BE THE RENMANTS OF A BASE BELONGING TO THE NATIVES

THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS A COPY OF AN AUDIO FILE FOUND IN A MILITARY RECORDING DEVICE. THE SOUND FADES IN AND OUT AND IS OFTEN INTERUPTED BY OTHER SOUNDS. AN ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY THE GARBLED WORDS AND OTHER SOUNDS HAS BEEN MADE HERE

File begins

(Heavy breathing)

I don't have much time, their coming, like I knew they would. I knew they couldn't resist what was down here.

(Distant gunfire followed by several explosions)

I suppose I'll have to start from the beginning. Mirinoi. That was where it had all began. We had left our (planet?) with such hope and such spirit that I would have found it laughable if someone had suggested that this would happen.

(A weak chuckle)

Well I doubt you're gonna catch me laughing now. I doubt you're gonna catch me doing a lot of things now. Anyway I'm wasting time.

When we arrived, our ship Terra Venture had been destroyed after colliding with the planet's moon. Over two thousand people were killed. The survivors made it to the planet's surface via shuttle after losing what was left of our craft. And we were happy. Happy to be alive, happy that there were people native to this world that could help us. Happy that despite all the cosmos had thrown at us, we had done what others had said was impossible: we had found the New World. That happiness hadn't lasted longer than six months when it was replaced with discontent. Remember these (static) had been modern day Americans who were not used to living in caves and tents. They wanted life to return to the way it had been and that's what our leaders tried to give them. A plan for a massive city had been drawn up by the settler's architects and the people of Mirinoi seemed interested as well as they could see the potential benefits that the city could bring to the planet. But then suddenly everything started happening too fast. Forests were devastated, lakes were drained, animals were left without a habitat and all the while, smoke rose up to blot out the sky. The people of Mirinoi protested what they called "The Rape of the Planet" but the settlers laughed at what they believed to be their neighbour's ignorance but when they destroyed an ancient historical monument sacred to the natives their gentle protests were whipped into a frenzy of heated words which eventually paved way for threats. The settlers responded in the same fashion and the tension between the two factions continued to rise and rise until on the twenty-fifth of October in the year two thousand and two. At precisely two o' clock a Mirinoian child was found riddled with bullets, quite obviously dead. The sight of her lying there is still with me even today. It couldn't have been someone native to the planet as they do not use guns so it had to have been a settler.

(Explosions sound nearer)

When the child was examined, it became apparent that it had been a military issue gun that shot her fifty-seven times. After that, there was no reasoning with either side. The settlers said they were innocent and the natives wanted retribution. Before anyone knew what had happened, there was suddenly a war declared on the once peaceful planet.

The native's elder Jera was a strong advocate for peace, he-he just could(n't?) stand and watch as his beloved planet became a battle ground. But when he organised a cease fire, he was shot in the head in front of both sides. The settlers lost the trust of the Mirinoians and the fighting intensified.

The settlers had thought that the war would be an easy one as they thought they were fighting with guns against bows and spears. They were only partly right. They were fighting with guns, their foes did have bows and spears but the war was not easy. The Mirinoians had so much more. The superstitions beings amongst the settlers believed that their foes were using sorcery and other forms of enchantment. The High Command issued an edict that warned those who spread such rumours would be executed on the spot. That should warned those people. Commander Stannon had always been a wise, caring leader. He never would have issued such a proclamation. The person who did issue it just happened to bear such a strong resemblance to the Commander.

(Explosion followed by what sounds like falling rocks)

I'm running out of time so I guess you'll have to find out the rest of the story from someone else. There're coming for coming for me. There is no way that I could survive if they caught up with me. They are stronger, more powerful and more numerous with a weapon capable of burning a continent. But there is something that my pursuers don't seem to realise; I have no intention of surviving. I am going to end this war once and for all. If that means another life has to be sacrificed it might as well be mine. I have to keep my voice down, if the others hear what I'm saying they will try to stop me. They're like that. Loyal to the end, they're that kind of people, all three of them.

Why am I doing this you might wonder. I am doing this for the most important person in my life. The person who made me what I am. The woman I loved.

I am doing this for Kendrix.

My name is Leo Corbett and I am the Red Galaxy Ranger. I fight for Mirinoi and her people. All of them, settler and native alike.

(Louder explosion, more falling rock. The speaker is now speaking softer so he is now barely audible.)

But most of all, I am fighting for the chance to see the woman I love once again.

This is the story of how I died.