In the hangar control room for Bastion Station, Defender Zik and Dakaasin go over the characteristics of the shuttle prototype while they wait for Tanaka. It’s a candidate for an upgraded shuttle for both Kodiak Planetary Security  and Zik Enterprises Merchant Marines (ZEMM), and it’s been created to be heavily modular at the request of James Anchor. The ship can be quickly converted to serve many functions, from cargo and crew transport, to search and rescue, and can even be outfitted for combat situations.

Tanaka arrives and wants to know if this is a live fire exercise. Dakaasin lets him know that they’re only doing an atmospheric flight test, with the modular repulsor wing arrays attached. As they enter the hangar, she explains that the extra-large repulsors are for rescue or escort missions where a larger bubble of debris repulsion is required. When a ship is in trouble in space, there’s often a lot of debris zipping around that needs to be brushed away!

They arrive at the shuttle to find Miki, Ryan and Sten, who’s doing some calibrations. Mikigaazo, as an alien new to the human world, has more questions than can be handled by an exacerbated Sten. Everything’s ready to go, so it’s time to get this test underway!

Not long after the adventure at Planet Hypnos, Bastion Station is alive with activity. It’s always a busy place, but Tanaka, visiting the station, has taken a moment to have a talk with Mizhakwan. She’s been concerned for his wellbeing after the explosion that wiped out the Kodiak Chadee clan, and Tanaka is opening up about his grief and his sense that he no longer has a purpose. As Shogun of the Kodiak Chadee, he was respected and had the duty to safeguard his family. Now that they’re all gone, he feels lost in failure. He describes himself as Ronin.

Mizhakwan suggests that perhaps founding a new family, or carrying on by founding a new clan might help, but Tanaka doesn’t see that as a path for him. He finds himself just watching other people as opposed to taking action himself. He says that nothing is worth doing, which alarms Mizhakwan. She cautions him against the dark path of nihilism, which can only obliterate the soul. In stead, she suggests the happiness of pursuit; Tanaka should find a way to help someone close to him, even in a small way. That will help him find his emotional footing again.

Just then, Zik sends Tanaka a message about being ready for him to come to the hangar. Mizhakwan suggests that this is a great opportunity to try finding joy in helping. Tanaka is skeptical, since he’s really just here for work, but Mizhakwan insists that he can find purpose and joy in the act of helping his friends.

WELCOME BACK, DEFENDERS! After a short break to get things prepared, we’re in full swing on production for Episode 5: Endarkenment! Sorry for the grim opening, but it gets lighter very quickly! I promise to give you a LOL on the next page to make up for it. Speaking of the next page, I’m going to get to it right away! See you soon!

Now that it’s a little calmer, Zik reiterates his admiration for Amelia’s flying, because she really saved their bacon!  He even gives her the name Amelia Firebird to commemorate her great deed!  Amelia thanks him, and timidly asks about how Zik can so readily charge forward when there’s danger, especially when it involves falling rocks! The trauma of the factory explosion caused Amelia to freeze up when the meteorite nearly crushed Trent.  Zik explains that he faced the trauma of his mother’s death in the avalanche head-on by learning to do the very thing that killed her: rock climbing.  In fact, it was during those rock-climbing lessons that Zik met Dakaasin, who was in the same class!

Just then, Trent and Francisco enter the cockpit, wondering if they’re out of danger from the meteorite storm.  Zik assures them that the danger is past, thanks to Amelia, and asks how everything is going elsewhere on the ship.  Trent explains that there were some messes made as things fell down, and he may have learned some new Zozian swear words from Sten in the process!  Laughing, Zik asks them to get ready to shoot their way through the asteroid cloud orbiting planet Hypnos, because it’s time to head home!

But first things first.  Zik sends a priority message to James Anchor, because unlike the last time when it was merely Clonoids, Zik has found aliens first! Time to settle the 50 Z-buck bet!

The alien crystal continues its story, revealing how the explosion of the gas giant tore the crust off this moon.  Most of the crystal’s home was incinerated by the immense cataclysm, which completely destroyed the gas giant.  The moon itself then flew right out of the solar system, and headed out of the galaxy as it cooled. The crystal was able to conceal itself from discovery by the aliens that tried to kill it.

Appalled, Defender Zik realizes that he’s hearing a story of attempted xenocide! As everyone continues to help move the crystal into the cargo hold of the Temerity, the crystal explains that it went into hibernation for tens of thousands of years until the moon was pulled back into the galactic rim by gravity.

Suddenly, Amelia interrupts to warn everyone that the leading edge of the meteorite storm is here! An early meteorite is about to hit nearby– take cover!!

Defender Zik and the crew of the Temerity have a short window of time to help the living crystal of Planet Hypnos escape the impending meteorite storm! The crew hustles outside, with the exception of Amelia, who remains in the cockpit to keep the ship ready to fly out of danger.

Outside, Dakaasin puzzles over how to cram all that mass of crystal into the hold. It doesn’t look like it will fit until the crystal offers to make itself denser, thereby cramming itself into a smaller volume.

It explains that it is a singular being, and its consciousness splits and merges as it fragments and recombines itself.  When Zik organizes the crew into a human chain to relay the crystals into the ship, the crystal is confused by the term “human chain.” Zik explains that humans can’t split and combine the way the crystal can, but that they often work as a team to accomplish a common goal. Once again, the crystal brings up a mysterious other alien life form it has encountered, which was like humans in that each individual had its own consciousness.

While they work, Zik asks the crystal about these other aliens, wondering whether it was they who stranded the crystal on the rogue planet.  As it turns out, Zik is partially correct.  The aliens are the cause of the stranding of the crystals, but that Hypnos was actually once a moon orbiting a distant gas giant.  However, in a stunning act of attempted xenocide, the aliens detonated the gas giant!

A discussion has begun with the alien crystal on planet Hypnos! Defender Zik begins to interact with the crystal, who is picking up English very quickly.  It already understands that meteorites are common, which is why it took up residence in the cave, and it offers to have the crew of the Temerity join it in there to stay safe from the impending strike.

Zik says that they can’t afford to get stuck in the cave if there’s a direct hit (not to mention that the ship would never fit in there). When Zik explains that they live on another planet far away, the alien crystal already seems familiar with the concept! A shocked Francisco realizes the huge implications that there is yet another species of aliens out there – humans are not alone in this galaxy!

The crystal is adamant that it no longer wishes to be all alone in the cave, and it awkwardly asks to come with them.  Zik agrees, and the Temerity lands to pick up its newest passenger!

The decisive Defender Zik announces that they’re going to presume the crystals on Planet Hypnos are alive, and begins to get on top of the situation. He starts by asking a flustered Francisco for the exact time the meteorites will present a danger to the ship.  Amelia asks if she should land, but Zik wants to be certain of the intentions of the crystals before risking getting too close. He directs a now-rebooted Zoot to begin establishing a dialogue with the crystals.

Francisco reports back with an estimate for the meteor strikes, prompting Zik to tell everyone to set a 45 minute timer so they all know when to leave.  Always eager to help, especially when it comes to using guns, Trent Quickdraw offers to shoot the meteorites as they approach. Zik replies that it would just rain smaller debris down on them, which could be even more dangerous. Instead, they should max out their repulsors to deflect anything they can.

Dak, Sten and Mizhakwan are asked to make room in the cargo hold, in case they’re leaving Hypnos with a guest. Then Zoot announces that he’s already established communications with the crystal, because it’s copying and rearranging the words he sends in an intelligent way. It’s time to make formal contact with an alien life form!

Emerging from the cave, Defender Zik and Mizhakwan are amazed to find that the crystals have grouped themselves together and are merging into one giant mass! The crystal grows as the Temerity pumps out the radio waves at full power.

Once back on board, they head straight for the cockpit, where a concerned Amelia asks if they’re hurt. Francisco urges Zik to consider leaving at their earliest opportunity. When pressed for a reason, he explains that his study of the orbiting debris field has revealed that the passage of the ship caused a great deal of disturbance in the cloud!  Some of the debris is now falling to the planet, and the Temerity itself is in danger of getting flattened!

While Trent Quickdraw tries to get a message back to the Temerity, Amelia coaxes the crystals out of the cave. But there’s a problem with each plan: the ship still isn’t responding, and the crystals have balked at the cave entrance!

Even though there are some crystals outside of the cave, the bulk have moved to the cave entrance and seem to be unable to leave. Frustrated, Amelia starts to go back into the cave to find Defender Zik before the crystals grow too thick to pass. But Trent tries to stop her from rushing back in.

Amelia’s temper flares, and she rounds on Trent.  She indelicately reminds Trent that the two of them survived the factory explosion because Zik decided to move an unconscious Trent out of the riot. She refuses to abandon Zik to the crystal-filled cave!

Trent finally gets a word in, and explains his plan to use the Temerity’s much stronger broadcasting abilities to lure the crystals out of the cave. Realizing she was wrong to assume Trent was giving up, Amelia apologizes for her short temper and jumps on the new strategy.. but will it work?

Now that it’s clear that the crystals are reacting to the signals the crew are emitting, Defender Zik has gotten everyone to switch to a compressed burst transmission setting, so that they are only broadcasting a small amount of data instead of a full audio stream. Next, they step away from the edge of the crevasse that Mizhakwan fell into, because the last thing they need is another fall! Then Zik explains that he’ll lure the crystals on one side of the cave while Amelia and Trent Quickdraw quietly make an escape from the other side.

When Amelia asks what he’ll do, Zik explains that he intends to help Mizhakwan out of the pit. While he’s doing that, he asks the other two to lure the crystals from outside the cave in order to facilitate Zik and Mizhakwan’s exit. A nervous Amelia follows Trent as he picks his way through the lengthening crystals.  As they proceed, Zik switches off his burst transmission and begins luring the crystals towards him.

The plan works! Trent and Amelia make it out of the cave, but the crystals have grown so thick behind them that they can’t see Zik anymore! Worse, they’re absorbing nearly all of Zik’s broadcast signal, and they can no longer make out what he’s saying!