TRONIK
Official Name: Tronik
Nature: Extraterrestrial world
Natives: Unidentified mechanical lifeforms
Population: Unrevealed
Capital City: Inapplicable.
Government: Unrevealed
Languages: Unrevealed
National Defense: Unrevealed
Places of Interest: None identified
Visitors: Ch'od, Hepzibah
First Appearance: X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1 (1990)
Features:
An alien biometallic substance literally covered the entire world; this
painfully reflected telepathic probes back into their source.
The lifeforms of the planet required a power source to remain active, otherwise they became dormant.
It sensed the presence of organic beings, considered them threats, and sought to destroy them.
Tronik could animate its walls and floors, project energy from numerous blaster weapons, release tentacles to bind and crush others, and release giant wheels to crush targets.
It could also release acid on its targets.
Hepzibah, at least, believed the metal could feel pain.
History:
(X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1 (fb) - BTS) - A comet passed closely by Tronik, drawing away its atmosphere.
(X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1 (fb) - BTS) - Only mechanical lifeforms existed on this world. It is uncertain that any organic life ever existed there.
The mechanical lifeform lay dormant until a new power source would come along.
(X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1 - BTS) - When coerced into revealing where his ship was headed by Corsair of the Starjammers,
000020, commander of an omega class freighter, unwittingly said
"Phalkon" (an archaic name for the Phoenix Force) without voicing the
proper codes. As a result, a quartet of map pods containing information
on how to locate the Phalkon were transported to four different worlds,
including Tronik; a fifth map pod containing a homing beacon was sent to
Chandilar (the Shi'ar homeworld), so that the Starjammers had to rush
to get the Phalkon before then-Shi'ar ruler Deathbird.
(X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1 (fb) - BTS) - The mechanical lifeforms of the planet utilized the map-pod as a power source and reactivated.
(X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1) - Ch'od and Hepzibah were sent to Tronik.
(X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1 (fb) - BTS) - Ch'od and Hepzibah were engaged by Tronik's robotic defenses. They found no lifeforms anywhere and also noted that the map pod was not at its landing site.
(X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1 (fb) - BTS) - Xavier/Waldo (Xavier had been rendered comatose but was able to project his astral self merged with the Starjammer ship's sentience, Waldo) attempted to telepathically probe Tronik but found its biometallic surface reflected its probes painfully back at him/it/them.
(X-Men:
Spotlight on Starjammers#1) - Ch'od and Xavier/Waldo shared their
findings, after which an entire wall attacked them; Hepzibah dodged the
assault but Ch'od was struck by it before tearing through it. A strip
of flooring then began undulating, knocking them both into the air,
after which a series of blasters assaulted them. 
While Ch'od was struck by a few blasts, Hepzibah dodged again; sensing pulsing energy beneath a floor panel, Hepzibah tore through the panel with her claws and disabled that group of blasters. Soon enough, a new, improved batch of blasters assaulted the pair.
(X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1 (fb) - BTS) - Examining the map pod recovered by Corsair from a moon (or planet(oid)) in the Grof system, Xavier/Waldo determined how to aid the pair on Tronik in finding the map pod.
(X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1) - As Ch'od used a chunk of flooring to shield himself and Hepzibah from the blasters and then to smash that group of blasters, Hepzibah sensed the alien metal shudder in pain.
Xavier/Waldo then contacted Hepzibah and telepathically imparted to her the scent of map pod. As she tried to locate the map pod, however, she sensed the preparation of an acid spray weapon, and she pushed Ch'od through a portal and then dove after him. The visitors were thus protected from the "acid rain," but completely cut off from Xavier/Waldo.
Ch'od was then bound in tentacles, through which he tore, after which he narrowly avoided a giant metal wheel. Tentacles will drills and other attachments next assaulted Ch'od.
Meanwhile, Hepzibah avoided rising platforms, trap doors, and energy
fields, trying to make her way to the pod. The tip of her tail was
smashed in a door that slammed shut.
As she located the map-pod, she was joined by Ch'od. Determining the planet's nature and its utilization of the map pod, Ch'od argued they could not deprive the mechanical lifeform of its power. However, when she grabbed the map pod anyway, the planet acted in self-dense, releasing a powerful electrical into her.
In order to save Hepzibah, Ch'od activated the device to teleport them both back to the Starjammer; the map pod came with her, and Ch'od lamented that a whole world had to die.
Comments: Created by Terry Kavanagh, Dave Cockrum, and Jeff Albrecht.
I don't see that the whole world died...it would have just gone dormant again. If the map pod could power it, it would seem that it didn't require much, and it could have been easily replaced with an alternative.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Tronik has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1
Appearances:
X-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers#1 (1990) - Terry
Kavanagh (writer), Dave Cockrum (penciler), Jeff Albrecht
(inker), Kelly Corvese (assistant editor), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Last updated: 05/15/17
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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