Defender

Novel

The game was adapted into a cross-promotional novel by Tim Waggoner in September of 2004, Defender: Hyperswarm, published by ibooks, Inc. and distributed by Simon & Schuster. The back cover reads...

The aliens known as the Manti have been destroyed by Defender pilot Mei Kyoto when she helped the AI called Memory crash the moon into Manti-occupied Earth. The remnants of humanity that live on the Solar Colonies have been saved, but at the cost of their homeworld. Several years have passed, and Kyoto has become a controversial figure. While some view her as a hero, others demonize her as the destroyer of Earth. Kyoto would like nothing better than to be an anonymous rookie pilot again, but without the Manti threat to keep the Solar Colonies unified, friction has developed between the human outposts.

Detroit Adams -- now a general and head of the Galactic Stargate Authority -- has convinced Kyoto to use her celebrity status as a goodwill ambassador to the Colonies, in the hope of keeping them unified... or at least prevent open hostilities from breaking out...

References

In several of the missions, there is a mad scientist named "Dr. Mudo". This is a reference to the mad scientist "Dr. Muto", who was in the game of the same name, which was also released by Midway at roughly same time as Defender.

Information also contributed by Pseudfo_Intellectual