Welcome to the third and final part of Forging The Defender, the second Defender Zik episode! We’ve been learning about how humble asteroid miner Zik came to be known as Defender Zik on his home planet of Zoz. In this part, we will learn how he got the last part of his nickname: Zik the Gallant Defender of Zoz!
It all starts with Amelia asking if Zik’s fame has extended to a lot of attention from the ladies of Zoz. He admits that it has, although he’s single right now. Could Amelia have a motive beyond curiosity for wanting to know that?
Zik wraps up the story of the attack of the space commies! Amelia has decided to make herself comfortable, pulling her chair right up to Zik’s and using your favorite space hero as a couch. He doesn’t seem to mind too much.
Meanwhile, over on the Kodiak, James has brought Trent Quickdraw onto the bridge to show him some of the features of Trent’s new battle armor. The visor has a bunch of cameras on it, one of which will allow Trent to see through walls! There’s a limited range, and he can’t see too much detail, but he can see enough… Enough to see that Zik and Amelia are a little closer than he’s comfortable with! While Jason may be jealous of the cool view settings in Trent’s armor, Trent is preoccupied with what he sees on board Zik’s ship!
So ends part two of Forging The Defender! There’s one more part to go, where Zik describes where the “Gallant” part of his name comes from. Tune in next week for that!
The Zozians have started expanding to nearby star systems in search of resources. In the case of Baker Mine, they have found a nice deposit of palladium, among other things on the same planet. One terraformed atmosphere later, the mineral rich planet is ready to be mined! Why terraform the atmosphere? Well, Delta Mining Systems, who run this mine, plan to be working here for a very long time, and it’s inevitable that a deadly atmospheric accident of some kind will occur eventually. It’s also far cheaper to terraform an atmosphere over that length of time than to pay the extra insurance rates it would cost to have such a complex running in a vacuum. It’s just safer and cheaper to make sure walking outside doesn’t kill you.
While a drone unloads Zik’s asteroid rubble into the processing plant, your favorite space hero hangs out in the security office with his pals Tanaka and Arata for a spirited game of dutch blitz, a card game popular among the Chadee.
But they’re interrupted by the station chief Frank, who sees something alarming on the news!
Welcome to Part 2 of Forging The Defender! For those of you just joining us, we’re on the way back from the Zernabian prison planet with some refugees of Queen Elcyra’s despotic reign. One of the refugees, Amelia, is flying with your favorite space hero Zik, and is getting him to tell stories from his past!
In this part, we will learn how Zik became known as a defender of justice on his home planet Zoz! What are Jairians? Stay tuned to find out!
Defender Zik wraps up his first story about how he became so well known on his home planet of Zoz! With all the preparations complete, he launches his escape pod and leaves the asteroid behind. It’s all in the hands of fate, now!
He lands the pod in the middle of Zoz’s largest ocean, the Mirabilic, close to where the asteroid will be passing by. Sure enough, as he emerges from the escape hatch, the asteroid streaks by overhead, exploding with a giant sonic boom!
Amelia is pretty impressed with the tale. No wonder Zik became so famous! Few people have ever saved an entire planet before. Zik tells her that this wasn’t the first time he made headlines on Zoz. What will be the next tale?
As Zik and Amelia finish listening to Metallica, they get back into Zik’s story about the deadly spinning asteroid and it’s direct trajectory towards his home planet Zoz.
Zik’s strategy to spin his ship to match the rotation of the asteroid and land at the pole worked! He was able to land safely, anchor his mining ship, and fire up the powerful engines to begin pushing the asteroid on a new trajectory to hopefully nudge it away from Zoz.
In the meantime, though, his friend Ramesh is in serious trouble after that crash landing! Zik is unable to get into contact with Ramesh, meaning that he’s incapacitated somehow. Quickly donning his breathing and grappling gear, Zik prepares to save Ramesh!
Just in case his mining ship gets dislodged from the asteroid, Zik anchors himself to the hull. He carefully makes his way across the surface of the asteroid. It’s spinning so quickly that the stars appear to be whizzing through the heavens! Indeed, the closer he gets to the equator, the faster the rotation is, and eventually there isn’t even any gravel or stones left on the ground.
By the time Zik is near Ramesh’s ship, the force of the spin pulling him away from the asteroid is greater that it’s limited gravity, and up and down have reversed themselves! Zik is now fighting to stay attached to the asteroid, hoping that his grappling gear is strong enough to hold him!
Your favorite space hero Zik pauses in his narrative of the tale of the spinning asteroid because this part of the story reminds him of a song. He’s twisting, turning through space trying to land on an asteroid, and the lyrics to an Old Earth song by Metallica fit quite nicely! He sets the ship on autopilot and loads up the tune so that Amelia can hear it.
For those curious, here’s the song:
Meanwhile, on the Kodiak, James Anchor is on the bridge watching Amelia’s flying lessons with amusement. She certainly seems to be having fun out there! Gerald, currently at the helm, agrees.
Tactical officer Emma has been busy analyzing the recent battle with Queen Elcyra in the hopes of discovering all she can about Zernabian technology. She gives Captain Anchor an update, and he asks her to focus on the torpedoes for now. It’s very odd that guided torpedoes could miss the only target in the area, and James wants to know why.
But first, he needs coffee! Incidentally, coffee is a great beverage to enjoy awesome space adventure comics with! Grab a cup with me! Mmmmm, that’s good stuff.
Zik is helping Amelia learn how to fly! He instructs her on how to ease out of the barrel roll she was just doing. She’s certainly having the time of her life!
The two ships are heading back towards Zoz, and Amelia wants to know how long it will take to get to her new home. Zik tells her that it’s pretty far, so it’ll take a couple of days to traverse all those light years. Plus, they’re not heading straight to Zoz – they need to make a stop somewhere else first.
Changing the subject, Amelia asks a personal question. She’s noticed that the other Zozians treat Zik as if he’s really famous, and she wants to know if she’s imagining it. As it turns out, Zik is quite famous back home! He begins the story of the time he saved the entire planet…
Look out, universe! Amelia is behind the wheel of Zik’s ship and she’s having a blast! Flying is awesome!
In the distance, the Kodiak also makes its way back to Zoz. It’s a long trip, and a perfect opportunity for Zik to give Amelia her first flying lesson. She looks like she was born flying!
WELCOME TO ZIK EPISODE 2! And look at that! Zik is in full color now! That’s right, from this chapter onward you’ll get to enjoy the adventures of your favorite space hero in color. The first episode was in greyscale because I’m still learning the craft of comic making, and I wanted to focus on other aspects first without having to learn color on top of it. It’s also cheaper to print, so that will allow me to get episode 1 into a book sooner!
Buckle up, let’s get this episode soaring into the stars!
Zik turns to James Anchor and thanks him again for arriving in the nick of time. Our heroes seem to have gotten away! But Zik thinks it may have been too easy. Think about it: Queen Elcyra wasn’t aiming her torpedoes properly, and she all but ceased fire right after the Kodiak landed its first shot. Zik thinks she let them go! But why?
Meanwhile, Trent and Amelia have arrived on the bridge in their new space suits! This will keep them much safer while traveling in the dangerous environment of space! (Seriously, why the heck do people on Star Trek wear pajamas to work?)
And, clinging to the hull, deader than a doornail, is the clonoid that Queen Elcyra planted on the hull of the Kodiak…
WOW! It’s the end of the first chapter of Zik, The Gallant Defender of Zoz! Prison Planet has been quite an epic tale, clocking in at 147 pages! I’d like to take a moment to thank the people who have supported me in getting here, especially Adam Black and Raven Perez for their art and story-writing advice. These guys are great coaches! Also, all the great readers who have been tuning in every week to see the continuing adventures of their favorite space hero, and especially the awesome site members who have signed up to get the extras. And lastly, my awesome family for being supportive as I spend countless hours drawing and drawing and drawing. Thanks!
Episode 2 starts very shortly! Next week I will be featuring some amazing fan art that up until now has only been available for site members. The week after that, a whole new Zik adventure begins, along with a major shift! Stay tuned, you’ll be blown away!
