Space Ranger
Astronaut Chuck Shepard was part of an early orbital mission for the United States space program. Things went far off course when Shepard’s capsule encountered a “black hole”—later shown to be an unstable wormhole—and was drawn into it. After a rough ride, the space capsule was caught in the gravity of a planet called Korus. Marooned on a world light-years from Earth, Shepard discovered Korus was once home to an advanced civilization all but wiped out by a cataclysmic war centuries earlier.
The primary inhabitants of Korus are human offshoots (likely settled by The Preservers) although the planet has a number of alien and mutant life-forms as well. Shepard was able to use his training and salvaged equipment from his capsule to survive and make contact with a group of Koruan survivors, including a warrior-woman named Illyra. Together with the mutant shape-changer Groob, and assisted by Illyra’s father, the scholar Arran Vey, the new allies help the people of Korus to survive, reclaim territory, and rebuild their civilization.
By the time the “Space Ranger” regained contact with people from Earth, it was years later and he had made a home for himself on Korus. Choosing to allow Earth to continue to believe he was dead, Shepard remains Korus’ renowned champion, using little more than his wits, skills, and a few pieces of advanced technology. He has worked with space-faring heroes like Daedalus and even returned to Earth for the occasional visit, by way of a rarely used spatial gateway unearthed in the Koruan ruins.
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