– by Czar Marcus

I was only fourteen the day they took my father away. Angels from the sky they were called; bringers of hope to a ravaged world in desperate need of saving.

They lied.

For hundreds of years our planet was fraught with war and strife. Brothers would kill each other over it, fathers would abandon families in search of it, and hope was forever lost because of it. What is this strange affliction that struck our planet one might ask?

Zydrine. Like the ancient blood diamonds of a lost era our planet was being driven to the brink of destruction over a simple mineral. Millions were lost due to both war and famine. The dream of making a quick fortune if one could find even a fist sized nugget was enough to drive an entire population to madness.

When it became too dangerous for even Concord to keep the peace it was determined that these “Angels” would be allowed to descend upon our world to restore order. To reward them for their aid it was determined that they would be able to mine for that rarest of minerals. It was a win-win for both Concord and our government. Concord was finally free to leave our world and the capsuleers promised our nation peace.

We would have been better off dead. These “Angels” showed their true colors as nothing, but demons.

It started off with a smile and ended with a massacre. The first act of this new era was complete dissolution of our government. It was for our own good they said, to protect the people. What government could be allowed to remain if they had failed to prevent war? The officials that dared protest were executed.

Then they came from the sky in their ships en-masse. At first it was a simple message urging our people to cooperate during this tough time, with the promise that things would get better. We saw propaganda on our screens day and night. It showed happy families living in peace. A loving father greeted his children, a happy child going off to school instead of wondering where his next meal would come from, and it ended with a message, “Cooperate and this can all be yours too!” What they forgot to mention was that cooperation meant slavery and resistance meant death.

At first there were a few cities that attempted to raise arms against our so-called saviors. They were quickly made examples of. A meager rebellion amounting to nothing more than a few laser pistols and hope was put down by a torrent of hell fire from an orbiting capital ship.

What happened next was worse. They came for us during the night. Anyone that spoke ill of the mine was grabbed in their sleep and forced to work in it. Children never saw their fathers again and sometimes even the children were taken. High walls and force fields prevented anyone from seeing what happened, but they could not prevent the screams from telling us.

Those that were lucky enough to volunteer to work the mines weren’t much better off. They weren’t beaten to death, but they were given barely enough food and water to survive. We were considered an expendable resource. Medical care was almost non-existent. The lucky ones were told they might live to see 30, but what did they care about us? They were the immortals for who time no longer held meaning.

I am now barely fifteen and learned that tonight they would take me to work in the mines for my inquiries on the whereabouts of my father.

I have nothing left that they can take from me except my life and I’ve chosen they can’t have it. I was hoping to end my life as an old man recounting my cheery youth. It seems a far cry from the pistol I now have in my hands. In one final act of rebellion I’ve placed this note on an old probe and sent it deep into space.

If you’re reading this, I’m already dead, but there are still others like me. Please help us.

– The boy that just wasn’t strong enough.