On the elevator to the bridge of Bastion Station, Zik asks Zoot to send a get-well-soon message to Tanaka. Zoot can be summoned as a holographic image now, which is something Zik still has to get used to. The colony computer’s sarcasm remains intact, however!

Arriving on the bridge, Zik asks what the new discovery is all about. Francisco, the science officer for the Temerity, explains that he’s found an unusual rogue planet not too far away. The planet’s readings on the scanners are diffuse and fuzzy, as if it were a comet with a tail.  However, the drifting planet is to far away from any stars at the moment, that the evaporation process that produces a comet’s tail would be impossible here.

Trent, still new to living in space, asks Zik’s brother Todd what a rogue planet is. As someone always enthusiastic about scientific discovery, Todd gives Trent an explanation: it’s a planet drifting alone in space, orbiting no stars, just drifting through the galaxy.

This space oddity is an excellent first target for exploration, Zik decides. He clears a departure time with orbital traffic controller Jolene, and sends word to the rest of the crew of the Temerity to prepare for their first adventure! Set your azimuth, Defenders, we’re off to Planet Hypnos!

Our intrepid space hero Defender Zik has apologized for getting his old friend James Anchor into a bit of a mess with a prison-rescue side-quest that turned into a huge space battle. But James isn’t too mad about his capital ship the Kodiak getting bloodied in the fighting. After all, getting into space battles and blowing up bad guys is the whole reason Captain Anchor and his crew are in the security industry!

But Zik has larger ideas: the Jairians, who attacked with a much larger fleet than the Zozians usually face, as well as Queen Elcyra and her hostile Zernabian Clonoids, both present a new and larger threat to peace on Zoz! To counter this new set of threats, Zik proposes that Captain Anchor expands his operation – instead of merely repairing the Kodiak, he should expand his capabilities to offer planetary-scale security!  To James Anchor, the opportunity to use bigger ships with bigger guns and take on bigger missions sounds like a dream come true.  In the face of such adversity, they have to think bigger to meet the challenge!

But then Zik’s colony computer, Zoot, interrupts with an important message.  He has decoded a message in the cryptic statement made by the Jairian fleet coordinator, Rachelle! The message, delivered in anagram form with some knuckle-tapping to indicate the order of the words, reveals that not only is James’ long-lost uncle still alive, but that Rachelle herself has taken the same last name, implying marriage! This is a shocking revelation to James, who is left speechless!

Who is the uncle of James Anchor? How did he meet this strange destiny? Find out in a future episode of Defender Zik!

Next: a brief epilogue!

Zik tosses the Jairian helmet down the hall on top of what’s left of his three attackers.  After lowering the gravity again, he continues escorting Travis to the infirmary to get his broken leg fixed up.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, a frustrated Trent tells Gerald that one of the cannons isn’t responding.  Gerald checks the cams and discovers that a Jairian is on the hull of the ship!  The Jairian has removed an access cover and is smashing the rotation mechanisms inside!

Gerald calls up to Tanaka, who is on the roof blasting away with his sidearm.  Once he sees the Jairian saboteur, Tanaka promises to take care of the problem…

Defender Zik is charging into action! The gravity of the hallway rotates sideways suddenly, allowing Zik to swing and making the Jairians fall!

One tumbles back down the hallway he came from, while the other two fall onto walls.  As one struggles to regain his footing, Zik’s swing ends in a boot to the head for the other!

Now confronting the last Jairian, Zik steals the thug’s helmet and uses it like a club!

Defender Zik is still taking the time to help crewman Travis, who has a broken leg, to the infirmary! He has reduced the gravity in each hallway so that Travis can move without putting strain on his injury, and it seems to be helping.

But they’re interrupted by Jairian raiders! The thugs have come from the very intersection that has the infirmary door, so there was no avoiding this encounter. The Jairians ready themselves to attack!

Thinking quickly, your favorite space hero tells Travis to brace himself, and launches himself at the armored invaders. He tells Zoot to rotate the gravity in the hallway so that the new “down” is the way the Jairians have just come from. Just as he grabs a handhold, he tells Zoot to engage the gravity! What will happen?

Zik looks through the window into the room with the fire.  His trusty colony computer Zoot informs him that there’s still someone in there, stuck under a bulkhead! Your favorite space hero adjusts his visor to display a light wavelength that can help him see through the smoke, and he enters the room.

Inside, he stares out into open space through a big hole in the hull! Uh oh!  He grabs Travis and gets him out of the room.

As he exits, Leslie and Saeki come charging onto the scene. Zik allays their fears for their fellow engineer Travis, and informs them of the hull breach. Saeki dashes into the room to fix the hole while Leslie helps Zik set the fracture in Travis’ leg.

Once the splint is in place, Zik helps Travis to the infirmary while Leslie stays behind to help repair the damage to the Kodiak.

Zik is on his way to the bridge of the Kodiak, but he hears the rumble of the guns! The ever resourceful Zoot informs him that the ship is under attack, so Zik decides to don his helmet and search for his Zernabian friends.  They’ve never been in a space combat situation and he wants to make sure they’re safe!

Outside, the battle continues, as the Jairian fighters get to the ship and are engaged aggressively by the Chadee.

On the bridge, Captain James Anchor orders Weapons Officer Jason to target the next Jairian boarding vessel. He’s locked on and ready to go!

But at that moment, a Jairian fighter is shot down. It makes a surprise turn right at the howitzer! The Jairian collides with the howitzer right as it fires, and there’s a huge explosion!

Zik is in the hallway right outside the stern howitzer maintenance access chamber, and sees the flames through the window!

Amazingly, Zik gets back up! It takes more than an exploding oxygen tank to keep our hero down. A relieved Amelia, noticing that Trent is also still alive, tosses the power cable into the now-open water tank. Meanwhile Zik taunts the Clonoid with a line from Lord Of The Rings! No, Clonoid, YOU SHALL NOT PASS! Slamming the pole onto the catwalk as hard as he can, Zik hears a satisfying CRACK! as the catwalk gives way…

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope you have a fun time tonight, whatever your plans are. Stay safe if you’re out trick or treating! Oh, and don’t dress up (or down) as a giant, naked Clonoid Supersoldier; you’ll probably get arrested.

Trent and Amelia catch up with Zik and help him out of the pile of boxes the giant Clonoid threw him into. So now what, guys? It’s time to come up with a plan! The good news is that Zoot has calculated a possible avenue to subdue the giant – electrical overload! Perhaps a massive shock will cut the giant Clonoid off from the central hub that all the Clonoids share information over, rendering it (hopefully) confused and unable to act independently. Zik has a way to make that happen!

It seems like even though Zoot is the computer and Zik is the user, Zoot knows how to push Zik’s buttons! It seems like Zik isn’t too keen on discussing how he feels about Amelia quite yet!