Steve Zodiac

Colonel Steve Zodiac was the captain of Fireball XL5. He played a key role in ensuring the solar system's 2065 Space War against Astra remained short-lived.

Early life
Steve first came to fame in 2059 when it was announced that he would pilot the new XL patrol ship. While still a young man, he learnt to overcome the disadvantages of being the son of his famous father, (PROSE: Mars Ship Hi-Jacked) Air Marshal Steve Zodiac. (PROSE: World Mourns Dead Space Hero) With his "dashing" ability, he founded his own reputation and eventually became among the best known of all the World Space Patrol's astronauts. (PROSE: Mars Ship Hi-Jacked)

Early 2065
In January 2065, Fireball XL5 was ordered to investigate an automatic space mayday from Area 4 of Sector 25. Discovering a space freighter with open bay doors, Steve told Mat and Venus to stay with Fireball while he approached on his own with a thruster pack. Steve was ambushed by a group of Batmen but they fled after Steve hit one with his stun gun. Steve followed them inside the ship and found the unconscious crew of the freighter, though he was again surprised by the Batmen, who were able to shoot him this time, with Venus pronouncing him dead at the scene. (COMIC: The Batmen) News of Steve's death quickly reached Space City. Asked by reporters about the astronaut's condition, Commander Zero stated "I am completely confident in Dr. Venus's ability to deal with the situation". (COMIC: Genesis of Evil) However, Mat noticed the stiffness of Steve's body and the ice on his face, clues which enabled him and Venus to to revive him by warming him with blankets. Steve immediately radioed Commander Zero, who updated him on the freighter's location, allowing him to pursue the craft to an asteroid in hyperspace. Steve and the crew began to search it on jetmobiles but Venus was captured by Batmen when she stopped to examine a piece of metal. Steve and Mat attempted to follow the Batmen but were led into a cavern which turned out to be a trap and were themselves captured. At this point the leader of the Batmen gave Steve an ultimatum: either disarm Robert and surrender Fireball or see Venus dropped into a deadly lake. Steve agreed to save Venus and told Robert to stand down. (COMIC: The Batmen) This decision, which spawned concern for the safety of passenger flights throughout the universe and led to Space City's combat ships being placed on Emergency Red, was reported on the front page of TV Century 21 on 13 February. (PROSE: Fireball Surrenders!) Later, as the leader celebrated his victory after taking Fireball for a test-run, Steve ordered Robert to grab the leader, with the robot's grip tearing off his wings and exposing the Batmen's leader as a human wearing a spacesuit. Not wishing to risk the wrath of the World Space Patrol to protect the impostor, Valeen took Steve to the crew of the freighter and awoke them from their "frozen sleep". Valeen then explained to Steve how the human had convinced the Batmen that he had transformed into one of them before he allowed the Fireball crew to leave peacefully, bound for Earth, with Steve jovially requesting that Valeen call Space City the next time he found someone in space. (COMIC: The Batmen)

In March 2065, Space Station M5 launched an emergency rescue ship in a desperate bid to save Steve, Venus and Mat. At that moment they were stranded in space with only the life-giving effects of their oxygen pills keeping them alive. (COMIC: Power Play) Zodiac's plight was also mentioned in a report printed on TV21's front page on 13 March which revealed Venus had finally collapsed from a lack of oxygen. (PROSE: Superjet Shot Down)

In April 2065, Space Station K17 reported the total destruction of the planet Saharis, causing fears to grow for the Fireball crew, (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks) though they were unharmed. Steve was later able to locate the dangerous Omega-Minus device, (PROSE: Zodiac's Rescue Bid) which had last been plotted by Jodrell Bank Observatory as it approached the Eros Asteroid Belt, (PROSE: Stingray Hunts Aliens) bolted beneath the space liner W.S.W.193 after recieving no reply to a search request. He gave Mat orders to destroy the ship with all aboard if he failed to release the device before it re-entered Earth's atmosphere, which was conveyed on the front of TV21's 24 April edition. (PROSE: Zodiac's Rescue Bid!)

The Space War and the Ant War
After the Tenth Space Fleet and the Astran space fleet engaged each other on 1 May 2065 thus beginning the Space War, (PROSE: Battle in Space) it was believed that Zodiac had been called to Unity City to see the President. Official rumours indicated that the Astran ambassador had also been called to Unity House. (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks) Around this time, Zodiac was pictured at the controls of the XL5 alongside Robert the Robot in an article with the headline "Space Battle - Cease Fire". (PROSE: Atlanta Kidnapped!) Also during the Space War, he was pictured in an article with the headline "Astran Leader Shot in Unity City". (PROSE: Kaplan Assassinated!)

Indeed, Zodiac was tasked by the President and the ambassador to take a message, inviting peace negotiations, directly to the Astrans' Kaplan. He accepted the mission in the knowledge that it might mean his death, asking that his companions Matthew Matic and Venus be told to stay aground while he and Robert flew the Fireball XL5 to Astra alone. (COMIC: Ceasefire — But War Tension Mounts..., President Offers Peace...) Encountering Astran ships, Zodiac surrendered and convinced the Kapt to take him before the Kaplan. Despite the mistrustful Kaplan Minus's attempt to execute him before he could reach the actual Kaplan, Zodiac survived and made it to the Astran leader, who agreed to come to Earth to sign a peace treaty. (COMIC: Colonel Zodiac Disappears)

However, the Kaplan was assassinated during his visit to Unity City. The Kaplan Minus-turned-611th Kaplan, who had remained deeply mistrustful, challenged Zodiac to find and punish the culprits within thirty-six hours. If he failed, the new Kaplan would blame Earth's government for the assassination, and, on those grounds, restart the War, which he said he would now fight "to the end". (COMIC: Assassination!) Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, having witnessed the ultimatum on television, decided to investigate herself, and forced a confession out of the murderer, Count Lugosti. She left him tied up in an alleyway for Zodiac to find. (COMIC: On the Trail of the Kaplan's Killer...) Zodiac and Commander Zero received and believed the call, but, after taking custody of Lugosti, they were attacked by his employers, who knocked out the both of them and killed Lugosti, deeming him a liability. (COMIC: Zodiac Makes An Arrest)

The two made a personal report to the President and the ambassador before heading to the casino where Penelope had originally encountered Lugosti, and where his underground hideout had just been located. Using shredded silver-paper to trick the visual sensor of the automated machine gun guarding the entrance of the lair, Zodiac climbed into it to see if any evidence could be found that would help them find the other assassins. (COMIC: Army In House To House Search)

The press learnt a great deal about Colonel Zodiac during the Astran crisis and his "brilliant" handling of the investigations helped to spotlight the World Space Patrol, the third section of the World Security Council. (PROSE: This is 2065)

After the Ant War
In September 2065, Zodiac and Fireball XL5 were sent to Uraniture to unravel the mystery behind the disappearances of five pairs of surveyors from missions spanning 2062 to the present day. (PROSE: Ice Planet Mystery) After landing on the planet, Steve reported that Robert the Robot had been smashed in an attack by strange snowmen. (COMIC: Plague of Death)

In October 2065, Zodiac reported that an explosion occurred in the atomic booster motors when he cut-in the main booster motors to push the ship to its space cruising speed of Velot 1. He further noted that he was limping XL5 towards a giant asteroid where Professor Matic would be able to perform repairs. (PROSE: Fireball Explosion!) After being marooned, Zodiac went missing despite contact with the ship not being lost. Commander Zero later clarified that the three XL5 crew members initially split up to investigate the asteroid and that Matic and Doctor Venus had already radioed in their reports with no news yet received from Steve. (PROSE: FAB1 Back in Action!)

In 2066, Zodiac and XL5 were ordered to investigate the missing ten man construction crew on Syntex with Captain West. They quickly found nine of the men on the brink of insanity and the tenth dead with lash marks. After transporting a "mysterious membrane" Matic had found back to XL5, they left Syntex. Discovering the cause of the carnage to be the aggressors in a fleet of meteor-like spacecraft, Zodiac attempted to destroy them with XL5's interceptors to no avail and was ordered to return to Space City after Earth battleships and a barrage of plutomic missiles had no effect. After Matic discovered that the creatures might be helpless if they could jam their method of thought transference on the master ship by being on the same frequency, they went on the mission to do just that. Entering the ship through the airlock, Zodiac carefully navigated around the paralysed creatures to find the main control room, following Matic's instructions to disable the system. He able to escape the ship just before it flew directly into the Sun and was subsequently picked up by Matic before confirming with Zero that the creatures on Earth had also died. (COMIC: The Syntex Mystery)

In June 2066, Steve and Mat responded to the mayday call put out by Freighter 203 as it was under attack from the Black Ship. When they arrived Mat boarded the space freighter to investigate while Steve attempted to pursue the Black Ship, although he ultimately failed. He returned to the freighter to pick up Matic and the unconscious crew and set course for Space Station Velnar, where he and Mat analysed an attack on a Flame King space liner. Soon after leaving, XL5 was ambushed by Damacles and the Black Ship but Steve was able to force him to retreat. When it was revealed that Venus had been abducted by Damacles to trade for XL5, Zero initially rejected his pleas to agree to the deal but Zero was eventually overruled by the World President. Steve was taken prisoner and taken to the base on VA 17 after reaching the rendezvous point. Once at the base, Steve secretly told one of the abducted scientists to use ordinary tin instead of stronger metal for the Fireball fleet that Damacles was constructing and after multiple days performed an act of sabotage which required the volcanic planet to be evacuated. Steve left in the Black Ship with Damacles although he later joined him in his personal ship Rapier after a damaged Fireball crashed into them. He was taken to Damacles' base in Brazil where he was subsequently able to rescue Venus moments before her execution. They investigated further and found Damacles' lifeless corpse with evidence that Bereznik were the true instigators of the chaos. Steve, Venus, Zero and Matic convened in Space City to discuss the fact that there was not enough to try them. (COMIC: The Black Ship) While XL5 underwent repairs for "minor structural complications", Zodiac and his crew were said to be enjoying a well-earned local holiday. (COMIC: Legacy of Yesteryear)

While on a good-will mission to Styrax in October 2066, a death sentence was passed on Colonel Zodiac and his crew. (PROSE: Time Runs Out For Thunderbird 3)

Behind the scenes
Colonel Steve Zodiac originates from the television series Fireball XL5.