It hits the grass and immediately bounces back upwards of fifty feet, spinning to the right and left, its controls long since fried. As it nears the ground once again...BOOM! It hits wing first, sheering it off completely, causing the ship to spin and slide to the right, coming to a jarring, shaky halt against another line of thick oak trees.
Dust, smoke and fire fill the air. For a moment, nothing but the crackle of sparks and the hiss of flames is heard until...BANG! BANG! BANG! The hatch pops open, and through the smoke clouds, a man appears to be sitting in the cockpit. Then...
"Blank to Red Leader. I repeat, Blank to Red Leader. What's happening up there? Over."
He waits for a response. Nothing. He bangs on the console of the cockpit a few times, then...
"Come in Red Leader. Took a hit from a Tie Fighter. Disabled controls. Crash landed on...well, I don't know where I am. Over."
Nothing. He carefully climbs out his seat and looks back at his co-pilot R2 unit. It is completely fried and sparks fly from its remains. The pilot gives the broken droid husk a few light taps of "sorry, pal" before jumping down off the ship.
As he stumbles into the field, he drops to his knees and looks around at the trees, the grass, the field, then at the sky from where he fell, noticing the smoke trail from his crash still lingering amongst the clouds. He sees a line of ship wreckage and debris strewn across the field that lead his eyes back to the crumbled X-Wing.
A thought begins to form. He stands back up and starts to walk towards the debris spread out across the grass. He collects some pieces, others he takes note of. He sees the remains of a tractor left in his ship's wake...with all four wheels still intact. He pulls a scrap piece of paper from his pocket and a pen, beginning to draw something.
****
Hours later, the sun begins to set as the man finishes tinkering on his invention...an ATV vehicle made from scrap parts of his X-Wing. He smiles and runs his hand along the sleek body of it as he hops behind the controls. A quick punch of some buttons and...VVRRROOOM! VVRRROOOM! The engine fires up and the ATV begins to move.
He tests it out across the field, speeding around in circles, checking for maneuverability and steering sensitivity. All in all, the ATV drives like a dream. He drives back over near the wreckage and parks. The cold evening air has set in.
Looking up at the darkening sky, he begins to drag a loose hull piece over to the ATV, leaning it against the handlebars, as a sort of makeshift canopy for the night. It isn't much, but it's something.
He crawls underneath the hull piece and wads up his pilot's jacket for a pillow. He begins to wonder how he is ever going to get back home, and about what brought him to this unknown planet.
****
"But how can I beat them? Their army is massive."
The pilot wakes up the next morning to the sound of a man talking in the field. He peeks his head out from behind the hull canopy, careful not to be noticed. He sees a man, dressed in robes, speaking into the wind.
The pilot slowly gets up and calls out to the man in the field.
"Are you talking to me?," the pilot asks.
The man in the field replies, "I'm talking to my friend here. See?"
Both he and the pilot look to where the man is pointing, but no one is there.
The man exclaims, "Someone was just here. I just saw them. I'm not crazy."
The pilot sarcastically smiles and nods, "No. Of course not...the name's Zip Blank, what's yours?
The man replies, "My name is Gideon."
****
(Check out Issue #2 for the conclusion of Zip and Gideon's adventure!)
****
(Check out Issue #2 for the conclusion of Zip and Gideon's adventure!)
