Penciler.................Dick Giordano

Colorist..................Ian Sokoliwski

Writer/Inker................Bob Layton

Letterer.....................Sorah Suhng

Letterer...............Austin Janowsky

Colony is suggested for mature readers only

STORY II

What has transpired so far...

The story of COLONY, originally written to be an ongoing television series, was broken into three, separate tales that interconnected through the main characters. The first story takes place in the facility of the Colony prison itself.

In that part of the saga, our lead character, Scott Landus, discovers the harsh realities of life in the 'ass end of the universe'--convicted to hard labor, without hope of parole, for a crime he did not commit.

Most who encounter Scott Landus think of him as a loser.  However, the truth lies much deeper.

Landus has a secret that he shares with no one. Scott suffers from an incurable genetic disease that will eventually take his life. Every male member of the Landus family has died while still relatively young.  As a result of this, Scott Landus is the ultimate pragmatist. Without a cure and without much of a future to look forward to, Scott tends to be reckless, forming attachments to nothing and no one.

In 'Story One' of Colony, Landus begins to accept that fate and searches for something meaningful to him with his life with the little time he has left. The irony is that a life sentence on Colony might have been the best thing that ever happened to him. The prison planet's indigenous race of beings are known as the Taul.  However, under the thumb of Con-Fed rule, they have become little more than second-class citizens, conscripted as servants to the ruling class on Colony. Brought into the Colony facility as maintenance workers, Landus eventually befriends the Taulians and their tribal leader, Feu.

In the months that follow his initial incarceration, Landus learns much of Taulian culture through Feu, including their most guarded secret, their spiritual devotion to their ancient god, Erus--The Immaculate Consciousness. Meanwhile, Confederation President Alexander Wayne, in a move designed as a show of strength, has ordered the execution of all political prisoners on Colony in order to dishearten the growing underground movement on Earth.
In order to thwart the executions of the political prisoners, the first Colony prisoner uprising begins and an unwillingly Landus finds himself  thrust into the center of the conflict.

The Colony uprising continues for several weeks. Chaos envelops the entire facility as hundreds on both sides are killed. Eventually, the Confederation army regains control of Colony from the rioters.
During the confusion, with Feu’s help, Landus and a eclectic band of human and alien prisoners succeed in a daring escape from the Colony compound.

Back at the Colony facility, Con-Fed Governor Artis Mason, a inept, career officer whose punishment for his last transgression landed him in the unenviable position of overseer of Colony, is working against the clock to restore order before word of the rioting reaches Homeworld.

Hunted by roving Con-Fed Death Squads, unarmed and facing the elements of a hostile alien world, Landus and his five companions run blindly towards a date with a destiny that will change life in the galaxy forever.

Colony's Governor Artis Mason briefed the military on the identities of the escaped prisoners, only to be relieved of command afterwards by Con-Fed Field Marshal Stanton. In the meantime, Landus and his band of fugitives seek shelter from the harsh elements after the crash of their escape craft which took the life of their companion, Feu.

Taking shelter in a cavern, the band discovers two startling facts: Feu, their native guide on the planet Erus, has survived the crash of their escape craft  AND that that they've inadvertently taken refuge in a secret Con-Fed ammunitions depot.

Their presence in the facility sets off a silent alarm that alerts the Con-Fed Death Squads to their location. Pinned down , with seemingly no avenue of escape, Noblan decides to surrender. Unfortunately, since the troops are under orders to shoot on sight, the Bal Traphu priest is ruthlessly murdered. Using Noblan's sacrifice as a diversion, the others split-up and make good their escape.

Back at the Colony prison facility, after receiving news of Noblan's death, Governor Mason curses fate for forcing him to pronounce a death sentence on Dr. Orina Zon, the woman he secretly loves. Unfortunately, death would be preferable to the fate in store for the Pyresian physician after she's captured and repeatedly violated by Field Marshall Stanton's troops.

While Landus and Feu took shelter in underground caverns, the Crall warrior Faz succeeded in a daring rescue of Orina Zon from the clutches of the Con-Fed death squad in Sector 12...

Back in the caverns, Landus suffers a debilitating attack from Hobson's Syndrome--the genetic disease that will eventually kill him. Feu, in an attempt to ease his friend's discomfort, gives him a strange substance that causes Landus to experience vivid hallucinations. In his dream state, Scott witnesses past and future events on Erus.  When he awakens, he discovers that all of Feu's race, the Taul, have had the exact same dream--every night--for the last thousand  years!

On the outskirts of Sector 12, Faz and Orina Zon attempt to make their way across a perilous plain to the relative safety of a nearby mountainous area.  During their trek, Faz reveals that he was sent to Colony by his people to evaluate the "moral compass" of the human race.  But, before the two can reach their goal, they are intercepted by a Con-Fed tank.  To their good fortune, they discover that the vehicle is manned by their fellow escapee--Perry Callisto!

Meanwhile, Scott Landus emerges from safety of his underground hideaway.  He follows his trusted companion, Feu, to the hidden sanctuary of Professor Marcus Wallace--the Galactic Confederacy's Chief Archeologist who first discovered the planet Erus and who knows it's most guarded secrets.

Landus learns some startling revelations from Professor Wallace,  including the fact that Feu's race, the Taul, share a collective consciousness. Many miles away, Orina, Faz and Callisto happen upon a Taulian village.  Feu's people recognize Orina from their shared vision.  The Taul  agree to lead her and her companions to Landus--unaware of the potential danger that looms for everyone if the reach Wallace's lair.

Back at Wallace's lair, the Professor reveals that the element, which he dubbed “Erusite”, is a combination organic/mineral that contains many of the building blocks of life.  In fact, the very planet, as Wallace discovered, is saturated with Erusite. Scott learns that Erusite is the proverbial “fountain of youth”.  It is something that men will lie, cheat, steal…or kill to possess. And it’s something that President Wayne intends to control—exclusively.  Wallace also states that the Taul are not true biological forms, but are instead living extensions of the planet itself—much like antibodies in the bloodstream of a living organism.  In fact, they are manufactured by the planet Erus itself, which is actually a long-dormant sentient being—a living planet.  Erus’ consciousness has been comatose, due to the catastrophic asteroid impact that the planet experienced a thousand years ago.  That collision threw the entire ecological system into shock--as well as creating the element Erusite in the searing heat of that conflagration.  

The Professor ends by telling Scott that his destiny is to awaken the planet!

Scott is in denial concerning his being the fulfillment of some alien prophesy.  In a flashback, Scott relays to Wallace the story of how he wound-up on Erus and why he’s hardly a candidate for Messiah. Landus reveals that he suffers with an incurable genetic disease, Hobson’s Syndrome, which will eventually take his life.  His parents kept Scott's condition a secret—until fate insured that they couldn’t conceal it any longer--namely the death of Landus' father from the same malady.  Once Scott reached adulthood and began to show symptoms, his life turned to shit!  Scott fatalistically wandered through life, unable to hold down a serious job or relationship.  But one night, while working at a dead-end job as a night watchman for a Bio Tech company, Scott is assaulted by a mysterious assailant—who knocks him out cold.

When he wakes up, outside the facility,  the place is burning to the ground.

Accused of starting the fire himself, Scott is brought before a Con-Fed Tribunal.  The owners of the company had torched their own facility and planted evidence to implicate Landus as the perpetrator of the crime. The Bio-Tech board had found a perfect patsy in Scott Landus…a man with a dubious past and with nothing to lose.  Landus is sentenced to the Colony facility--his new home for the next thirty years.

Once Scott finishes his tale, he and Wallace are startled by the professor's perimeter alarms and rush to investigate.  Meanwhile, back on Earth, President-For-Life Alexander Wayne awakens from his tortured sleep--having experienced the same prophetic vision shared by Landus and the Taulian race on Erus. The President has become obsessed with discovering the meaning behind the vision and, in particular, Landus' role in it.  So much so that he kills his 'companion for the evening' once she overhears his rambling about the fugitive and the life-prolonging Erusite that he been ingesting.

President Wayne, fearful of the prophetic vision of Scott Landus caused by his use of Erusite, decides to kill Landus and his companions rather than allow destiny to run its course.  He contacts Governor Mason on the Erus Colony and orders him to nuke the sector that the fugitives are hiding in. Fearful of the ecological consequences of such an action and clinging to the slim hope of reuniting with Orina once more, Mason disobeys the President's direct order. The Governor tricks the new military commander into following the homing beacon in Callisto's stolen tank and to make an attempt to apprehend the escapees alive.   Meanwhile, the Taulian villagers have guided Orina Zon, Faz and Callisto to Marcus Wallace's lair where they are reunited with Scott and Feu.  Marcus becomes angry when he realizes that the tracking systems in the stolen tank will bring the Con-Fed Death Squads with it.  The Taulians, in spite of their good intentions, have inadvertently led the enemy to his hiding place.  With the threat of an imminent attack looming, Marcus convinces the crew to ready themselves for a standoff while he makes preparations for their escape.

Acting on the false orders of Governor Mason, Colonel Mayhew and a squad of Con-feds have tracked Callisto's stolen tank to Professor Wallace's lair.  Believing the tank to be unoccupied, the troops attempt to re-acquire it.  Unfortunately for them, the armored conveyance has been booby-trapped to explode.  The ensuing blast kills Mayhew and most of his Death-Squad, leaving a raw recruit, Corporal Dayn Westly, in charge of the surviving soldiers.  Fearing punishment for failure, the remaining troops press on--only to fall into the trap set for them by Scott Landus and his Taulian warriors.  Preparing to evacuate Marcus' lair and begin the underground journey to the mind of Erus, Landus take Westly as a prisoner.  It is Scott's hope that the Corporal can inform the fugitives of what has transpired on Earth, and of the machinations of President Wayne in particular, in the years since their incarceration.

Fearing the onslaught of more Con-Fed troops, Marcus activates a self-destruct mechanism that destroys his hideout and the remaining sensitive materials it contains.  With the prisoner Westly in tow, the fugitives begin the long  journey into the depths of the planet to find the mind of the sentient world and revive it.  But, unbeknownst to them, the Con-Feds have already begun digging through the rubble of Marcus' lair in pursuit of the escapees.

While the fugitives continue their perilous journey towards the planet's core, Cpl. Westly reveals that Governor Mason's father has become the leader of the resistance back on Earth.  This revelation makes clear the reasons for the warden's recent fall from grace with the Con-Fed hierarchy.  Tensions develop between Callisto and Landus concerning the fate of the young soldier, with Callisto urging the group to execute the Confederate recruit.  When Landus refuses, Callisto takes matters into his own hands while the others sleep.  Shortly after Landus discovers the raped and mutilated body of Westly, he rushes to confront Perry, hell-bent on avenging the boy's ghastly fate--

---but, unfortunately for Landus, he quickly discovers that he's no match for the hardened career criminal.  In fact. Callisto humiliates Scott by revealing that he has been using Landus as a pawn in order to control the other escapees.  The confrontation ends with murderous Callisto issuing a chilling threat for Scott to comply to being his pawn or  he, and his companions, will face the horrible, bloody consequences. Knowing that he must live to fulfill the greater mission to revive the consciousness of the living planet, Erus, Scott swallows his pride and bitterly accepts defeat...for the moment.

Moving into a narrow corridor and forced to wear re-breathing devices to deal with the contaminates from super-heated water vapor, the fugitives are ambushed by the Con-fed troops who have followed their subterranean trail.  A blast from an enemy pulse rifle rips through the corridor wall, blocking the convicts escape.  Suddenly, issuing out of that fissure, a protoplasmic body lands with a sickening thud in front of Scott Landus and company.  It is an misshapen humanoid that looks to be a Taul...not fully formed!

Pinned down in a narrow passage of their subterranean trail, the fugitives escape path is blocked by a cave-in caused by the pulse fire of Con-Fed troops.  With no alternative, Faz uses his unique Crall ability to increase his mass through metabolic conversion.  With incredibly fury, Faz mercilessly destroys the Con-fed scouting party, pulling down a large section of the cavern ceiling with his prodigious strength to crush them.

Faced with no other means of escape, the fugitives enter the conduit which the Proto-taul emerged from—in a desperate attempt to finally reach the Mindsphere of Erus.

Crawling for hours through the conduit that the proto-taulian emerged from, the fugitives make their way to what Marcus Wallace refers to as “The Seat of Life”. Inside of what could best be described as a ‘planetary womb’, they witness the process of creation—with hundreds of Taul in various stages of formation. However, their fascination is cut short by the sudden intrusion of a Con-fed Death Squad who has blasted through the cavern wall and sends the group sprawling into the protoplasmic pool.