It’s the morning of the Great Raid on the Zernabian Prison Planet! Before heading into battle, the Temerity and the destroyer Ron’s Revenge land at the mountaintop monastery of St. Nicholas of Myra in order to let members of their respective crews prepare spiritually. Outside, Amelia is getting her first taste of winter; coming from a desert planet, she’s never made a snowman! As she and Zik finish their portly snowperson, Amelia asks about what’s going on in the temple. As it turns out, she never learned about God and religion; it didn’t exist in the prison camps.

Curious, Amelia asks about whether Zik believes in God. He replies that he doesn’t know anymore; his faith has been shaken following the death of his mother. Just then, the priest conducting the services steps outside, signaling its conclusion. Zik offers to introduce Amelia to him, to show her that it’s not so strange. Indeed, Father Nikko turns out to be warm-hearted and happy to meet the famous Zernabian Firebird. He inquires why Zik didn’t come in and join his father, Mizhakwan, and the captain of Ron’s Revenge for a blessing. Explaining his reticence, Zik mentions that he won’t turn down a blessing, but church is still too difficult for him.

A jolly Father Nikko teases his cousin Mizhakwan about her different views, something the two of them do to each other every time they meet. Turning serious, he gives a final formal blessing to the warriors and their ships before they leave. A curious and respectful Amelia watches as everyone bows their heads, and then it’s time to leave for battle!

Zoot projects a life-sized hologram of the Clonoid Super-Soldier that nearly crushed Defender Zik during their battle on the Zernabian prison planet. The audience gasps in shock, staring at the image in disbelief. Red Wolf voices that disbelief, but James Anchor steps in to back the word of his old friend. He offers the telemetry data from the Kodiak 1, and commends Tanaka for being the one who finally took down the beast.

With that settled, Heavy Club returns to the matter of whether this mission is an acceptable proof of bravery for Onawa’s hand. Given the size of this beast, is Red Wolf still up to the challenge? Red Wolf re-asserts his intention, saying he’ll face anything to convince her that he’s worthy. A skeptical Heavy Club questions Red Wolf’s judgement, but says that it’s a problem that solves itself either way it goes down, because if this mission is too much for Red Wolf to handle, he’ll be dead. Ultimately, it’s Onawa’s decision, and she accepts. Maybe her judgement is also misplaced, but that’s love for you!

The elder most against the war party makes one last appeal, reminding them that Elcyra will retaliate. Zik stands up and points out that Elcyra will eventually find Zoz no matter what they do, and has already announced her intention to subjugate them. Hiding is pointless. He also points out that their ancestors accomplished one of the bravest feats in history by being the first to launch themselves on an interstellar journey to find a new home. Their great grandparents risked everything to escape tyranny during a dark time in human history, and the least they can do as beneficiaries of that bravery is to offer the opportunity for others to share in the liberty they bought.

A question of the practicality of fighting Elcyra’s advanced ships brings James Anchor to his feet. He offers the assistance of his new fleet, including the newly constructed Kodiak 2 capital ship. To ease the concerns of the most skeptical elder, he proposes that the invading ships jump into and out of the prison planet’s system from random directions to help conceal the exact location of Zoz.

Mizhakwan has heard enough. She can see that there’s nothing that will change the minds of the youth who are hell-bent on carrying out this raid. She offers to go along with the raiders to keep them in line. Mitch, Zik’s father, also offers to accompany the raid, and between them represent the interests of the elders. The meeting concludes, and everyone who can fight is left to decide if they will volunteer to sign up for this historic mission!

As the debate in the Zozian longhouse’s aquatic auditorium continues, Defender Zik’s father Mitch brings up a sobering point. The proposed raid to rescue the slaves from the Zernabian prison planet will face stiff opposition, because Todd’s spy drones have witnessed a sharp increase in Clonoid activity.

Red Wolf vows to help the slaves or die trying, which confuses one of the dolphins in attendance. She asks why one should risk so much to help humans not in the same pod. Mizhakwan helpfully explains that the desire to help others is a strong human instinct, because we know that others of good will would help us if we were in the same situation. It’s just what good humans do.

Other elders bring up a strong point in opposition to the raid, however. This attack will cause Elcyra to retaliate, regardless of whether any slaves are rescued. As it stands, the evil queen has openly declared her intent to conquer Zoz, but that might have just been bluster. This attack would push her to retaliate directly.

With that point in mind, a Chadee elder asks Vera and Amelia to describe the Clonoids, so that everyone can better understand what their opposition is like. Vera describes how Clonoids are networked together, and that the most common type is the relatively weak Drone. Amelia covers the Soldier type, comparing them to a brave Sten.

Then Zik chimes in, describing the enormous Super Soldier type he fought. Red Wolf is skeptical, and voices the shared skepticism of many Zozians about the relative size of the largest Clonoid type. While James Anchor seethes at someone doubting the honesty of his oldest friend, Zik calmly asks Zoot to project a life-sized image of the Super Soldier to illustrate his point…

On Zoz, in the city of Edward’s Landing, a special gathering has been called at the Long House. In the newly renovated undersea auditorium, where the whales and dolphins can participate, a debate is being undertaken. At stake is the fate of the Zernabian slaves and the secret location of Zoz!

Red Wolf, a young Zozian brave, wants to show Onawa, the daughter of Heavy Club, that he’s worthy of marriage. To do this he’s hatched an audacious plan to conduct a rescue mission on the Zernabian prison planet. The idea is to go in, rescue as many Zernabian slaves as possible, and leave in a lightning raid.

But since the ramifications of this act would affect all of Zoz, especially if Queen Elcyra learns where the planet is, the Zozian elders have called Red Wolf to the Long House to see if this raid is a wise idea.

Welcome to Episode 7 of Zik The Gallant Defender Of Zoz! This one’s been a doozy to prepare for, but you’re in for a wild ride! Fasten your safety harness, we’re launching back into adventure!

A few hours later, the Temerity is screaming through space, heading back to Zoz. The injured are being looked after in the infirmary, and Defender Zik has gotten his suit cleaned up. He and Amelia are looking for Mikigaazo, to see how he feels about the Mikibot platform’s first real-world test. Despite the bot platform getting its head blown off, it still seems to have performed well, but Miki has the final say.

After looking throughout the ship, Amelia and Zik find Miki in the cargo hold.  He’s crouched on the ground next to the two body bags containing the bodies of the ZEMM pilots who were killed by Morren. Zik calls out in a friendly way, but it’s quickly evident that Miki is having a hard time with something.  Miki is trying to understand why he can no longer feel any energy from the two bodies in front of him.

Zik and Amelia explain that the two unfortunate souls have died. This is a new concept for Miki, who becomes alarmed at the prospect that every human will die eventually. Unwilling to fully accept being apart from his friends as an inevitability, Miki asks if a part of himself can remain with each of them all the time, so that he can absorb their energy and always remember it.

Honored to receive such a gift, the human pair agrees, although Zik advises Miki to be cautious about who he gives this gift to. Not all humans are worthy of such trust, and Miki agrees that the Jairians they encountered felt very different.  He could sense the darkness in their hearts, and comments that each human is quite unique, something alien to this creature who can divide and recombine itself.

Amelia gives Miki a little hug and assures him she loves him. Miki comments that love is the best emotion he can sense from a human, and reciprocates the feeling.

And that’s a wrap, Defenders! We’ve come to the end of Episode 6: Apodian Ambush! I have some preparations to make before beginning Episode 7, including finding a new web host for the site. But keep an eye out, Zik fans, because The War Party will be coming at you soon!

Defender Zik and the intrepid crew of the Temerity arrives at Gamma Apodis 3 and scans its second moon for the crew of the captured ZEMM cargo vessel.  But the evil Jairians have destroyed the ship! Trent asks why they keep doing that, when they could be salvaging the ships they capture.  Defender Zik explains that the Jairians are obsessive about hiding themselves and striking from the shadows, and keeping the ships intact would allow the Zik to track them to their elusive base of operations.

As they approach the landing zone, Zik asks Francisco if there are any traces of the Jairians indicating where they might have gone, such as an ion trail.  Francisco replies that yes, an ion trail exists, and it’s fresh enough to identify the type of vessel they used! Zik decides to let him and Amelia investigate the trail further, because it’s imperative that the Jairians are located in order to negotiate some kind of peace.  The rest of the crew disembarks and examines the wreck of the transport vessel.

A sharp-eyed Trent Quickdraw spots the crew of the transport in the distance, at the central peak of a nearby crater. Defender Zik tries to call out to them, but receives no response. This whole thing isn’t adding up, but since the Jairians seem to have left, Zik calls for the team to head over to the crew to see if they’re all right. Be he warns them to be cautious, because his instincts are telling him something’s not right!

After a few minutes, Defender Zik and the crew of the Temerity are on their way! Zik congratulates the team on an excellent scramble time, and lets them know that this time, it’s not a drill! There is a real mission afoot, with a good chance of combat! After months of playing cat-and-mouse with the elusive and violent communists, there’s finally an opportunity to confront them directly in an effort to foil their hijacking.  Francisco locks in the navigation to Gamma Apodis, and they hit the hyperdrive! It’s go time!

The infirmary celebrations are interrupted by an urgent call for Defender Zik to come to the bridge of Bastion Station. Zik gives the Zernabian siblings a congratulations and hurried off to see what the problem is. On the bridge, he finds Gordon Mises, head of the Zik Enterprises Merchant Marine division, with a worried look on his face. One of their light transports has been hijacked, and Gordon’s daughter is among its crew!

Taking stock of the situation, Zik asks if Jolene has sent for Kodiak Search And Rescue. She replies that she has, but that all the Kodiak ships are otherwise engaged in a large fleet exercise to test their integration as a planetary defense force. Zik decides that they won’t pull any of James Anchor’s ships from that effort, and that they can handle it themselves in the Temerity. Gordon insists on coming along to help his daughter, and the crew of the Temerity is scrambled to their ship!

Welcome to Defender Zik Episode 6: Apodian Ambush!

Our story opens in the infirmary aboard Bastion Space Station, with Doctors Taylor and Rundenfurt having called a little reunion to share some test results. Zik and Vera are already present as Trent and Amelia arrive, and are asked to have a seat.

Vera takes the floor to explain some very important news the new arrivals. She’s been a surrogate mother to both of them, taking care of them since they came to her from separate prison camps a year apart. Watching them as they grew, Vera was always struck by how similar they were at times. She asked Doctor Taylor to check, and her suspicions were totally confirmed – Trent and Amelia are half-siblings!

Amelia squeals in delight at the news and grabs Trent. She gives her stunned brother a huge squeeze and a big kiss on the cheek. Now she understands the way she’s always loved him! And for Trent, this explains his constant awkwardness around her – loving her deeply, but feeling strange about romance.

Our hero Zik inquires as to how this could have happened.  Vera explains, and with that, let’s have a…

I am a traveler of both time and space