Posts Tagged ‘gas giant’

A Strange Scene

Posted by Victor on .

Defender Zik and the intrepid crew of the Temerity arrives at Gamma Apodis 3 and scans its second moon for the crew of the captured ZEMM cargo vessel.  But the evil Jairians have destroyed the ship! Trent asks why they keep doing that, when they could be salvaging the ships they capture.  Defender Zik explains that the Jairians are obsessive about hiding themselves and striking from the shadows, and keeping the ships intact would allow the Zik to track them to their elusive base of operations.

As they approach the landing zone, Zik asks Francisco if there are any traces of the Jairians indicating where they might have gone, such as an ion trail.  Francisco replies that yes, an ion trail exists, and it’s fresh enough to identify the type of vessel they used! Zik decides to let him and Amelia investigate the trail further, because it’s imperative that the Jairians are located in order to negotiate some kind of peace.  The rest of the crew disembarks and examines the wreck of the transport vessel.

A sharp-eyed Trent Quickdraw spots the crew of the transport in the distance, at the central peak of a nearby crater. Defender Zik tries to call out to them, but receives no response. This whole thing isn’t adding up, but since the Jairians seem to have left, Zik calls for the team to head over to the crew to see if they’re all right. Be he warns them to be cautious, because his instincts are telling him something’s not right!

Setting A Trap

Posted by Victor on .

Meanwhile, on distant moon Gamma Apodis 3B, the Jairian raiding party is busy transferring all the medkits from the ZEMM transport to their Hammerhead cruiser. There are only a few cases left, so Flynn, the Jairian commander on this raid, orders the rest of his comrades to prepare the explosives to destroy the transport.

From the Hammerhead cockpit comes an urgent alert: The Temerity is inbound! Flynn orders everyone to redouble their efforts, because they need every last case!  He then taunts Morren Mallor, who is holding his firearm to the head of one of the ZEMM pilots, with the approach of his old foe Zik. Morren vows to kill Zik the next time he meets him, so Flynn seizes the opportunity to rid himself of the burden of his company.  He gives Morren the chance to fulfill his vow by leaving him behind! But just to even the odds a bit, he offers to leave two Jairian thugs and the hostages for good measure.

Getting in Morren’s face, Flynn tells him to kill Zik or never return. It’s on!

Xenocide Survivor

Posted by Victor on .

The alien crystal continues its story, revealing how the explosion of the gas giant tore the crust off this moon.  Most of the crystal’s home was incinerated by the immense cataclysm, which completely destroyed the gas giant.  The moon itself then flew right out of the solar system, and headed out of the galaxy as it cooled. The crystal was able to conceal itself from discovery by the aliens that tried to kill it.

Appalled, Defender Zik realizes that he’s hearing a story of attempted xenocide! As everyone continues to help move the crystal into the cargo hold of the Temerity, the crystal explains that it went into hibernation for tens of thousands of years until the moon was pulled back into the galactic rim by gravity.

Suddenly, Amelia interrupts to warn everyone that the leading edge of the meteorite storm is here! An early meteorite is about to hit nearby– take cover!!

Collecting The Crystal Companion

Posted by Victor on .

Defender Zik and the crew of the Temerity have a short window of time to help the living crystal of Planet Hypnos escape the impending meteorite storm! The crew hustles outside, with the exception of Amelia, who remains in the cockpit to keep the ship ready to fly out of danger.

Outside, Dakaasin puzzles over how to cram all that mass of crystal into the hold. It doesn’t look like it will fit until the crystal offers to make itself denser, thereby cramming itself into a smaller volume.

It explains that it is a singular being, and its consciousness splits and merges as it fragments and recombines itself.  When Zik organizes the crew into a human chain to relay the crystals into the ship, the crystal is confused by the term “human chain.” Zik explains that humans can’t split and combine the way the crystal can, but that they often work as a team to accomplish a common goal. Once again, the crystal brings up a mysterious other alien life form it has encountered, which was like humans in that each individual had its own consciousness.

While they work, Zik asks the crystal about these other aliens, wondering whether it was they who stranded the crystal on the rogue planet.  As it turns out, Zik is partially correct.  The aliens are the cause of the stranding of the crystals, but that Hypnos was actually once a moon orbiting a distant gas giant.  However, in a stunning act of attempted xenocide, the aliens detonated the gas giant!

Gas Giant

Posted by Victor on .

James Anchor has arrived in the system where Zik is, and he’s wisely hiding near the north pole of a gas giant, hoping its massive magnetic field will hide him from scanners.
Aurorae are very huge things on gas giants! Take a look at this one on Jupiter! Keep in mind that Jupiter is 11.2 times bigger than earth. That’s a huge aurora!

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!