Aboard the mighty Kodiak 2 capital ship, Admiral James Anchor gets an update from fleet officer Emma: most of the Zozian ships are either dead or have escaped the prison planet system. Gerald, at the helm, reports that the Kodiak is in position for the main cannon, a railgun so massive and powerful that to aim it, they have to rotate the whole ship! James gives the order to get it ready to fire, and Jason immediately gets the final preparations underway.
Before the Kodiak can fire, Queen Elcyra’s Varanus ship unleashes a withering laser blast which slices the starboard wing! Seamus gives a rapid damage report: the hull is breached right through the whole ship! Also, the rotational cannon controls are offline ship-wide! Until they can be swapped to the redundant control systems, they’re unable to fire!
The main cannon, however, was unaffected by the massive explosion, and Jason reports that during the chaos, his crew finished the massive energy ramp-up required to fire the weapon. James gives the order and the incredibly powerful quad-railgun unleashes its shells at sizeable fraction of the speed of light! The force is powerful enough that they manage to penetrate the powerful shields protecting the Varanus, and they score a direct hit on her port laser array! There’s a huge explosion as the entire array is obliterated!

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?!

Defender Zik remains close by as Amelia’s power suit comes back online. To ease her rattled nerves he jokes that they’re even, referring to the time they first met. Perhaps Sensei Adam can help the fierce Firebird learn some close combat skills, if he can be coaxed out of retirement!
But back to the task at hand, Amelia noticed that Red Wolf is in trouble! One of the giant Super-Soldier Clonoids has smashed him aside like he was nothing! Zik charges in, blasting a Clonoid Soldier that’s getting too close to the recovering Zozian. But Red Wolf doesn’t want any help conquering the big one — he’s got to do it himself to win Onawa’s hand! So Zik stands back and let’s him have his moment.
Red Wolf charges the Super-Soldier, proximity mine in hand. He calls his shot: the Heavy Club Slide. It’s a move his prospective father-in-law has made famous on the Coup field in countless playoff games, but this time it’s being done in a real battle instead of a sport based on ancient battles! He dashes between the legs of the enormous Clonoid, leaps up with his rocket boots, and slams the proximity mine to the Clonoid’s upper back! He finishes with a perfect Hollywood landing as the mine makes short work of the Super-Soldier!

Defender Zik and the brave Zozian warriors are charging into battle on the Zernabian prison world! The vile Clonoids are coming thick and fast, but curiously only armed with their taser guns. There are several of the huge Clonoid Super-soldiers in the fray as well, and their arm cannons deliver a much bigger jolt!
As the Zozian snipers get set up on the rocky outcropping, the main Zozian battle force starts filling the sky with bullets, tearing through the Clonoid onslaught. But there are so many Clonoids that they overwhelm the Zozians, and the two armies are soon fighting face to face! A few Zozians think it would be wiser to retreat, but Zik urges them on, saying they’ll never have another opportunity to rescue Elcyra’s slaves. Zik should know, he’s watch the vile Zernabian Queen blow up an entire factory full of innocents who were no longer useful to her!
An enraged Amelia sees only revenge as she slices through the Clonoid front ranks in her battle armor. These subhuman creatures obliterated almost everyone she knew growing up, so this is personal!

As the Temerity cleans up the last of the Zernabian snub fighters, Francisco reports that the ground team is facing heavy fire at the landing zone. Tanaka turns back to assist!
Sure enough, as they approach, they see a large unit of Clonoids charging the Zozian position, supported by two copters raining plasma bolts down in support! Red Wolf is having trouble establishing his planned formations under the withering assault.
But the flimsy patrol copters are no match for the Temerity, and Dakaasin makes short work of them on their first pass. Tanaka circles around for a couple more passes over the Clonoid charge, which quickly turns into a rout. Taking advantage of the reprieve, Red Wolf orders the Zozians to fall back to the LZ so they can get their troop formations re-established.

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 Temerity descends into the atmosphere of the Zernabian prison planet, along with the transports and other escorts. As they approach, they’re ambushed by a squadron of Clonoid fighters! The evil Clonoids score a direct hit on the Sharktooth, which erupts in flames.

Tanaka delegates the other escort, Ron’s Revenge to help Sharktooth out while he pounces on the Clonoid fighters, shredding them. By the time the Zozian transports are making their approach to the landing zone, the Temerity has make short work of its foes.

All is quiet at the LZ, and the Zozian troops start to disembark while the Temerity cruises overhead. But again, seemingly out of nowhere, another wing of Zernabian fighters shows up on a confounded Francisco’s scanners! How do they keep appearing out of nowhere?

The riddle doesn’t concern Tanaka, and the legendary Chadee bloodlust is in overdrive in him right now! All he sees is fresh meat! Time to feast!

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!