Hellfire

December 31, 2019

Hellfire 1

Ink, Letratone and gouache on illustration board.

The third story, the "Hellfire Projegt" (see Ziks) was in colour, and I struggled more with this than the two black and white stories.

The Hellfire project was a spaceship under construction in orbit above the Moon. Health problems among personnel and widespread malfunctions have caused the termination of the project. The last remaining staff on board the spaceship attempt to find a way to shut down the runaway reactor.

Simon works in the control room of the Moon base (Tranquility) that is monitoring the shut down. On a break, he has gone for a drive to find some peace and quiet among the turmoil. Parked on the lip of a crater, taking in the view.

Hellfire 2

Ink, colour pencil and gouache on illustration board.

It has been decided to abandon attempts to shut down the reactor to focus instead on rescuing the remaining crew. Docking the tug is now the problem, so the crew prepare for a spacewalk to reach it.

Hellfire 3

Ink and gouache on illustration board.

The Hellfire reactor was designed by the eccentric Alej Malchevan (no relation), who has gone missing. Secrecy surrounding the design means that no one else knows how it works, if in fact it does.

Hellfire 4

Ink and gouache on illustration board.

His break over, Simon returns to Tranquility base, built within a lunar crater.

Hellfire 5

Ink and gouache on illustration board.

Simon is back at his workstation when a message is received from the Hellfire. The statements made are too incoherent to derive any understanding of what is going on, but clearly the speaker is still onboard.

Hellfire 6

Ink and gouache on illustration board.

An instant later the Hellfire explodes. Other explosions rock Tranquility base. None of which are very well drawn. The technical gremlins on the Hellfire had long ago spread to the Moon base, as if it had been bathed in the strange energy of the ship. So now they sought to shut down their malfunctioning mainframe and depend upon basic local systems instead.