New Targets

Posted by Victor on .

Zik tosses the Jairian helmet down the hall on top of what’s left of his three attackers.  After lowering the gravity again, he continues escorting Travis to the infirmary to get his broken leg fixed up.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, a frustrated Trent tells Gerald that one of the cannons isn’t responding.  Gerald checks the cams and discovers that a Jairian is on the hull of the ship!  The Jairian has removed an access cover and is smashing the rotation mechanisms inside!

Gerald calls up to Tanaka, who is on the roof blasting away with his sidearm.  Once he sees the Jairian saboteur, Tanaka promises to take care of the problem…

Gravity Hammer

Posted by Victor on .

Defender Zik is charging into action! The gravity of the hallway rotates sideways suddenly, allowing Zik to swing and making the Jairians fall!

One tumbles back down the hallway he came from, while the other two fall onto walls.  As one struggles to regain his footing, Zik’s swing ends in a boot to the head for the other!

Now confronting the last Jairian, Zik steals the thug’s helmet and uses it like a club!

Hallway Encounter

Posted by Victor on .

Defender Zik is still taking the time to help crewman Travis, who has a broken leg, to the infirmary! He has reduced the gravity in each hallway so that Travis can move without putting strain on his injury, and it seems to be helping.

But they’re interrupted by Jairian raiders! The thugs have come from the very intersection that has the infirmary door, so there was no avoiding this encounter. The Jairians ready themselves to attack!

Thinking quickly, your favorite space hero tells Travis to brace himself, and launches himself at the armored invaders. He tells Zoot to rotate the gravity in the hallway so that the new “down” is the way the Jairians have just come from. Just as he grabs a handhold, he tells Zoot to engage the gravity! What will happen?

Broken Leg

Posted by Victor on .

Zik looks through the window into the room with the fire.  His trusty colony computer Zoot informs him that there’s still someone in there, stuck under a bulkhead! Your favorite space hero adjusts his visor to display a light wavelength that can help him see through the smoke, and he enters the room.

Inside, he stares out into open space through a big hole in the hull! Uh oh!  He grabs Travis and gets him out of the room.

As he exits, Leslie and Saeki come charging onto the scene. Zik allays their fears for their fellow engineer Travis, and informs them of the hull breach. Saeki dashes into the room to fix the hole while Leslie helps Zik set the fracture in Travis’ leg.

Once the splint is in place, Zik helps Travis to the infirmary while Leslie stays behind to help repair the damage to the Kodiak.

Kamikaze

Posted by Victor on .

Zik is on his way to the bridge of the Kodiak, but he hears the rumble of the guns! The ever resourceful Zoot informs him that the ship is under attack, so Zik decides to don his helmet and search for his Zernabian friends.  They’ve never been in a space combat situation and he wants to make sure they’re safe!

Outside, the battle continues, as the Jairian fighters get to the ship and are engaged aggressively by the Chadee.

On the bridge, Captain James Anchor orders Weapons Officer Jason to target the next Jairian boarding vessel. He’s locked on and ready to go!

But at that moment, a Jairian fighter is shot down. It makes a surprise turn right at the howitzer! The Jairian collides with the howitzer right as it fires, and there’s a huge explosion!

Zik is in the hallway right outside the stern howitzer maintenance access chamber, and sees the flames through the window!

Another Red Alert

Posted by Victor on .

Zik is in the secondary hanger with some of the engineering staff of the Kodiak, working the kinks out of his newly repaired ship. The team solves the plasma imbalance problem Zik detected during his training flight with Amelia.

As they wrap up the repairs, the red alert alarm sounds for the third time in the past couple of days. As Leslie gripes, Zik decides to head up to the bridge.

Up on the bridge, Captain James Anchor gets a status report from Tactical Officer Emma. The ship is closing in on the convoy they were protecting when they left to rescue Zik, but Emma has seen another fleet on the scanners. It’s a Jairian raiding party!

A furious James Anchor can’t understand how the Jairians could have already found out that the convoy was unprotected.

Stowaway Disposed

Posted by Victor on .

Zik space-walks over to the Kodiak to help investigate the Clonoid stuck to its hull.

They scan it and determine that it’s dead, but still transmitting a signal to the Clonoid central computer. That means Queen Elcyra used her hapless drone as a tracking device!

James Anchor gives the order to float the Clonoid behind the main engines. A curious Trent is informed that once then engines are lit up, the Clonoid will be atomized!

Zik and Amelia rejoin the Kodiak, and they all set off again for the convoy that the Kodiak is supposed to be protecting.

And that’s a wrap for Episode 2 of Defender Zik! I hope you enjoyed these tales from your favorite hero’s past! Next week, we start the exciting Episode 3, where we rejoin the convoy only to find Ramesh… well… no spoilers!

Stowaway Discovered

Posted by Victor on .

The Epilogue of Forging The Defender begins! We have one loose end to tie up before the next exciting episode!

Tactical Officer Emma has discovered the Clonoid that evil Queen Elcyra has fastened to the hull of the Kodiak during their brief encounter. Captain James Anchor orders a full stop so that they can deal with the situation.

Zik and Amelia, once notified, circle back in their ship to help out.

Emma explains what she’s discovered to Captain Anchor, and Zik, listening in, is able to spot the Clonoid attached to one of the struts holding the bridge.

Captain Anchor informs Zik that they will be sending some crew members out to get the Clonoid off the hull, and Zik offers to help!

Space Is My Home

Posted by Victor on .

As they travel back to Zoz, Zik wraps up the story of how he met his ex-girlfriend Haven. Amelia is curious though: why is Zik no longer dating Haven if they got along so well? Zik explains that it’s because he and Haven live in different worlds; she spends her time under the waves researching, he feels more at home travelling the stars. Their day-to-day experiences couldn’t be more different!

Amelia tells Zik not to worry. He’ll find someone who shares his love of flying! Hm, I wonder if that reminds us of anyone?

So ends the third and final part of Forging The Defender! It was fun spending a bit of time on Zoz, and exploring the Zozian civilization a bit. I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane! We’ve got a bit of an epilogue coming up next, and then the gripping action of- well, no spoilers!

Gallant Defender

Posted by Victor on .

With the rescue balloon inflated, Zik and Haven begin a rapid rise to the surface of the water. The shark starts to follow, but Haven finally manages to activate the shark repeller!

On the surface, Zik spits out his breathing unit to tell Ramesh and Todd to help them out of the water quickly! There’s no holding back a great white shark, so they need to get into the boat pronto!

Once safe, they drive the boat to the dock on the island, and Zik helps Haven out of the boat. Todd’s call for help managed to attract some attention, and a transport ship from the University of Port Rothbard, Haven’s research sponsor, arrives to help. A journalist from Zoz Broadcast News arrives as well, drone camera rolling!

Haven tells the whole story of her discovery, the avalanche, and how Zik rescued her to the reporter. And then she says the fateful words that will cement Zik’s legacy for all time! Zik will forevermore be known as Zik the Gallant Defender of Zoz!

Later that evening, once all the excitement is over, Zik and Haven go for a romantic walk on the beach on Talia Island. The couple has strong feelings for each other, and they begin a relationship with a kiss at sunset.

That's right, Defender Zik is coming to a bookshelf near you! Two volumes containing nearly the entire story so far are now available for purchase!

Book 1 contains Episode 1: Escape From Prison Planet. It's 74 pages long and includes a map of Zoz and some guest art!

Book 2 contains 40 full-color pages, and includes Episodes 2 and 3, as well as some extra content that happens between Episodes 3 and 4!

Both books are printed on high-quality paper, and can be purchased as a digital copy as well. Give the gift of adventure!

Buy Books Now!