Captain James Anchor is on his way back to the bridge of the Kodiak with a fresh coffee. On his way, he stops by the medical bay to check up on Vera. Fiona has stabilized the sleeping Vera, and is confident that her lung cancer can be cured. James also asks for a status update on the blood tests that Fiona has done on all three of the Zernabian passengers. Sure enough, the divergence of the Zozians from the rest of the human species over the last thousand years has resulted in some new pathogens and viruses for which the Zozians have no immunity.  Fiona is working on it, though, and it won’t be long before she can create a vaccine!

Next, James Anchor stops by the hangar bay, where an off-duty Jason is teaching Trent more about how to use firearms. This time he’s holding it safely! Not with his finger on the trigger like before! Although, in Trent’s defense, he had never held a gun before and there wasn’t time during the riot to teach him properly. But that’s being remedied by Jason now! Jason is just as impressed at Trent’s innate shooting accuracy as Zik was.

Meanwhile, Emma is busy sifting through the battle data from their encounter with Queen Elcyra. She seems to be onto something unusual, but what could it be?

So ends Part 1 of Forging The Defender! We’ll dive straight into part 2 next week! See you then!

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.

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!

James Anchor is addressing his crew, but who is this mysterious Tanaka? And who or what are the Chadee? Are they mighty warriors? Maybe James has a secret weapon in case Queen Elcyra decides to attack! Stay tuned, faithful readers, because there’s a lot of excitement and action coming this year!

Allow me to introduce Zik’s buddy James Anchor! James is the brain-child of my seven year-old son Vincent (hence the cute pet mouse on the shoulder of a seasoned warrior). His ship, the Kodiak, was a collaborative effort we did with Lego, the prototype for which I will see if I can find a picture of and post in the Members Area. With that kind of firepower, will he be able to give Queen Elcyra a run for her money?