The Boy From Planet Zi

Summary written by John (Channel Zi) . He has graciously given me permission to post several of his summaries.

Intro...the open desert of the planet Zi. In the distance, the peace of the sands is broken by a cloud of dust. Van, a 14-year-old youth from a nearby village is flying across the desert on his hoverboard minding his own business when he is suddenly attacked and pursued by a rogue blue Guysack. Van speeds away, and the Guysack disappears. Van think it's gone but it suddenly reappears from beneath the sand in front of him. He quickly dodges the Guysack and continues flying through the desert. Spying fortress ruins in the distance, Van starts heading that way, hoping to find shelter from the attacking Zoid. They Guysack, as Van discovers, is not a rogue (wild Zoid) but has a pilot: Bull, a young mercenary gang member who has captured the Guysack and decided to harass Van to test it out (only because Van happened to be passing by at the time Bull captured it). Bull begins firing on Van, and forces Van off of his hoverboard. But Van still has hold of the safety line, so despite falling off the board, Van lands on his feet and begins to run while being dragged by the hoverboard.

Still approaching the fortress ruins, Van is dragged past the burned-out hull of a shield liger as Bull continues to close in. Van quickly approaches the base of the ruins, yelling, and is promptly dragged up the side of a Gojulas hull that had fallen against the front of the ruins. His hoverboard had enough momentum to carry him to the top of the Gojulas corpse, where he lands, turns, and looks down to see Bull attack the base of the Gojulas. Ban yells at the Guysack pilot, wishing he would leave him alone. Bull continues to attack, and eventually fires his cannon at Van. This breaks the sand and dirt loose that has collected on the front of the fortress. The shifting sand also breaks the Gojulas hull away from its resting place, and it begins to topple over onto Bull. Van jumps on his hoverboard and attempts to ride out the landslide, and very nearly makes it, but ends up overcome by the falling rock, sand, and Gojulas.

When the dust clears, Bull is buried under the Gojulas hull, and can't free himself. Ban finds himself okay, but his hoverboard is severely damaged. Knowing that fixing the board is the only way he will be able to get back to his village safely, Van notices that the collapse of the Gojulas has opened a doorway into the fortress ruins. So, he heads inside to hopefully find parts to repair his hoverboard (and to get away from Bull).

Watching this activity from the distance are two of Bull's fellow gang members, Nero & Bianco, who both pilot desert-color Command Wolves. Both of them condescendingly condemn Bull's rash actions between themselves, then decide that they should go dig him out. They contact Bull, berating him for wasting his time pursuing Van while they slowly approach the fortress. As Van searches the inside of the fortress ruins for parts to repair his hoverboard, Nero and Bianco repeatedly fire on the fortress, hoping to "take care" of Van, as they don't want anyone compromising the presence of their gang in the area.

After the dust clears inside the fortress, Van notices that a secret passageway has been revealed from the bombardment. He follows the corridor to a sealed door, and pries it open. Inside, he finds a light switch. Upon activating the lights, he finds two large pods. Inspecting the pod thoroughly, he determines there is some type of Zoid within the larger one. Thinking he may have found the Zoid partner he had longed for, Van opens the pod by pressing a button on its side. There is a hiss, and the pod begins to crack.

Maria and Priest interlude - Meanwhile, back in Van's home village, his sister has gone looking for him, as he has left home without doing his chores. Walking past the cemetery, Maria is called to by the village Priest, who is standing at her father's grave. Maria wonders where Van has gone, and the Priest reminds her that Van is probably out looking for a Zoid companion so he can be like his father. Walking up to speak to the Priest, Maria looks down at the fresh flowers on her father's grave, and wonders who could have left them. The Priest reminds her it was probably Van, at which point Maria recalls today is the fifth anniversary of their father's death.

Back to the fortress! The pod then bursts open, and out onto the floor falls...something Van has never seen before. Van isn't sure what to make of this creature, but he's certain it's a Zoid. He begins to touch it, but it awakens, and raises up on its feet and faces him. It's just slightly larger than a human, and looks very tyrannosaur-like, only mechanical. Van, not afraid, extends a welcome to this new creature, and offers to make him his partner. The creature expresses some apprehension, then spins and swats Van in the face with his tail. Van staggers backward, but retains his balance...and gets both feet back on the floor. Van laughs off the hit, and again extends a warm hand to his new friend, who he has decided shall be named Zeke, after his father's command wolf. Zeke also appears to have decided van is okay and begins to let Van pet him when...

Bull bursts though the wall in his Guysack. Threatening Van, Bull notices Zeke, and says he will take him for his own. Van steps back, noticing the active electrical cable on the floor. As Bull continues to mouth off, Van pulls up the cable, and detaches it, plowing the live end at Bull's Guysack. The electrical surge catches Bull off guard, and he is stunned. Van desperately tells Zeke to run, but Zeke appears confused. Bull regains control of his Zoid and swats Van aside. Zeke then tries to attack the Guysack, but Bull swats him around as well. Hard. After being slung around the room and landing next to Van, Zeke is near beaten. Van reminds Zeke that he's foolish to attempt to fight the Guysack, and begs him not to continue fighting, as he doesn't want the same fate to befall him as that of his father's Zoid.

Zeke responds by standing up to face the Guysack again. Just as Bull prepares to attack again, Zeke grabs Van by the collar and slings him up on his back. Armatures on Zeke's lower back raise to reveal rocket motors. Suddenly, Zeke powers up and fires off straight for the Guysack. Bull and his Zoid are slammed back though the wall and then through the outer wall of the fortress by Zeke. Once outside, Bull's Zoid falls away disabled and Zeke continues flying across the desert with Van holding on for dear life. He passes between Bianco and Nero, who aren't sure what they have just seen. They quickly turn to pursue Zeke into the desert.

Zeke carries Van to the hull of the old Shield Liger Van had passed on his way tot he fortress, and drops him in the cockpit. Van sees that Zeke wants him to pilot the Liger, but there is no way it's even close to combat ready. Then, Zeke's power is revealed. Glowing blue with an unknown energy, Zeke flies up into the air, becoming a bolt of pure energy, and then flies down into the Liger. Zeke melds with the Liger, and restores it to full operation. Van can't believe his eyes. At that moment, Nero and Bianco approach, and also can't believe what they see: a fuilly operational combat-ready Shield Liger. They decide to attack, and Van charges them. With Zeke assisting, Van manages to disable Bianco's combat system, which spooks both mercenaries into fleeing.

Afterward, Zeke prods Van into returning to the fortress ruins, in order to open the other stasis pod. Van readily agrees, thinking he is about to end up with another Zoid partner. But when the pod opens, they find...a girl?