On the bridge of the Kodiak, James Anchor gets an update from Emma on the status of the fleet – and it’s dire! Many Zozian ships have escaped the system, but over a fifth of the entire fleet has been destroyed, leaving masses of twisted wreckage in decaying orbits around the prison planet. Admiral Anchor gives orders that the massive Kodiak capital ship is to remain in the fight until every survivor has fled.
Meanwhile, in the thick of the dogfight, Defender Zik’s Temerity receives a mayday from Ramesh, who is getting swarmed by Clonoids after being savaged by Queen Elcyra’s massive ship, the Varanus. The Temerity and Ron’s Revenge rush to help, but Ron’s Revenge is hit badly by a Zernab patrol ship’s plasma bolts! As the Temerity rushes around destroying Clonoids, Mitch watches in horror as his old friend’s ship is torn apart by a Zernab ripper ship. The vessel is lost, but in one last act of defiance, they set their reactor to overload, heroically taking the breacher out with them!

Queen Elcyra’s withering attack on the Zozian war fleet is claiming one victim after another – even the civilian transports! Defender Zik enters the cockpit of the Temerity to witness a grim scene: with every powerful blast emanating from Elcyra’s mothership, another Zozian vessel is disabled or destroyed, and the space around the prison planet is growing thick with twisted, burning debris. It’s a slaughter!

Aboard the Vigilant Gaddi, calculations for the jump into hyperspace are nearly complete; so far so good! But nothing seems to escape the baleful beams of withering death slicing through the dark. Just as they’re ready to jump, the Varanus strikes! Both of the starboard cargo containers on the Gaddi are immolated, along with all the former prisoners who were in them!

As sirens blare and a red alert is engaged, Captain Ramesh demands a status report. A frightened David gives the update, but he’s shell-shocked trying to wrap his head around the scale of the mass murder Elcyra just committed. Ramesh reminds him that they still have to rescue the other half of the prisoners – this is no time to lose your cool!

Fortunately, the engines weren’t hit! They can still jump! But will the Varanus hit them again?!

The villainous Queen Elcyra launches her final assault on the Zozian fleet! A single, massive laser blast shears right through one of the Makwa corvettes escorting the Kodiak! Francisco is rightfully shocked at the sheer power of Elcyra’s capital ship, but Mitch keeps his cool and gives the signal for a full retreat.
On the Kodiak 2, Admiral James Anchor gives orders for his fleet to protect the transports while they make preparations to retreat. However, word starts coming in that the Clonoids have now engaged some kind of energy shielding! This whole battle was a trap!
It’s a full rout! Will Defender Zik and the rest of the war party make it back to Zoz?!

With everyone aboard, Defender Zik and the Zozian war party head back to orbit. Mitch congratulates the team for successfully getting the refugees to the transports, with losses kept to a minimum.
Once in orbit, the squad reunites with the Vigilant Gaddi and reports in to Admiral James Anchor’s Kodiak 2 capital ship. Things are calm as they patrol, with all orbital opposition eliminated. The fleet begins preparations to scatter to the multiple jump points required to cover their tracks.
Suddenly, an enormous, immense, gigantic spaceship drops out of hyperspace directly in their path! The shocked ship crews hear the sinister, sultry voice of Queen Elcyra floating over the radio waves…

Defender Zik’s Temerity crew charges into a one-on-six confrontation with a squadron of Clonoid snub fighters! Dodging as many plasma blasts as it can, the Temerity plays a game of chicken with its foes, reducing two to scrap metal in its first pass. But the Clonoids get some shots in and Sten is dispatched to fix the resulting problem with one of the Temerity’s engines.

As the dogfight continues, Sten gets the engine back into phase, and another two Clonoids bite the dust! One final pass, and the enemy is vanquished! The Temerity crew heads back to the landing zone as the Zozian rescue party disembarks, keeping a sharp eye on their scanners.

The battle against the Clonoid garrison rages all around the prison planet! Even though the Zernabian fleet is light, the fighting is ferocious. James Anchor’s Kodiak takes on the largest Zernabian capital ship directly, and after a direct hit from the dorsal railgun, the Zernabian ship explodes! Firing superheated shells at relativistic speeds is marvelously effective!

A few sectors are having a harder time clearing the orbital opposition, but after some judicious redeployment, the Zozian position is secured. Landing transports begin their decent to the surface while the larger cargo ships like Ramesh’s Vigilant Gaddi remain in orbit to collect the refugees. What awaits the landing parties on the surface? Stay tuned, Defenders!

After several jumps through hyperspace to conceal their approach vectors, the Zozian fleets arrive in the Zernabian prison system! Dead ahead of the Temerity is the infamous prison planet where Zik encountered the Clonoids for the first time. Tanaka gets a tactical report from Francisco; their fleet, Blue Squad, has all arrived safely. The other Zozian fleets are also reporting in as they arrive, and the massive Kodiak 2 dominates the scene. The Zozian fleets outnumber the token Clonoid sentry, and their capital ship, while large, is dwarfed by the Kodiak 2.

Upon receiving a similar keep-away message as Defender Zik received when he stumbled on the system, his father Mitch takes to the radio. He announces to the Clonoids that the Zozians have arrived to offer transportation and safe harbor to anyone who wishes to leave the planet. The Zernabians respond with a terse warning, claiming that the slaves are owned by Queen Elcyra and any intruders will be fired upon. Taking the high road, Mitch retorts that there can be no legitimate claims of ownership by one sentient creature on another. The Zozians will not be dissuaded and leave the ball in the Clonoid’s court. Tanaka, of course, hopes they choose battle.

The answer is soon given in the form of a stream of massive plasma bolts from the Clonoid capital ship, which detonate on the hull of one of the Makwa corvettes escorting the Kodiak 2. Mitch gives the order to all Zozian fleets: Engage the enemy!

A gleeful Tanaka guns the engines, eager to catch up to the Sharktooth, who jumped ahead. The Battle of Prison Planet has begun!

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…