Defender Zik flies with Lia back to the rill in the crater where the others are. As they approach, Lia catches the unexpected sight of her father lying unconscious, missing an arm. Understandably, she becomes very upset, and Mizhakwan, busy making a sling for Dak, reassures her that he’s just resting and will be OK. Zik asks Dak if she’s ok, and she reports that her dislocated shoulder is painful, but she’ll live. Mizhakwan reminds Zik that they need to get the injured to the Temerity’s infirmary as quickly as possible.

Depositing Lia in the rill, Zik takes off again, determined to shut down the jammer which is preventing them from contacting their ship. Reasoning that the jammer would’ve been crushed in the avalanche, he directs Sten and Tanaka to look for it at the far sniper position, while he and Trent Quickdraw will check the other one. He reminds his friends to be on the lookout for that final sniper, who is still alive and dangerous!

Trent is skeptical that the final combatant will keep fighting, and Zik agrees that if the Jairian is smart, he’ll be hiding somewhere, but you can never be sure what an extremist will do. Suddenly, Zik pulls up short, remembering that Chadee never take prisoners! If Tanaka happens to find that sniper, he’ll pull his trigger without pausing to consider how valuable a Jairian prisoner would be!

Just then, Sten finds the jammer, and asks Tanaka to cover him while he disables it.  Zik comments that the Jairian probably doesn’t know how lucky he is. Quickdraw counters with a bad pun about how Morren is flat out of luck, crushed as he is under tons of rock!

That brings our intense Episode 6 to a close, Defenders! Stay tuned, there’s an epilogue page coming soon!

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…

The hangar bays doors of Bastion Station open, and the new shuttle craft is launched! All systems are in the green, and Defender Zik and crew head down to the atmosphere of planet Zoz to conduct their atmospheric flight test.

As Zik hands over the scanner controls to young co-pilot Ryan, a mischievous grin creeps over Tanaka’s face. While Ryan is in mid-sentence, Tanaka suddenly jerks the craft into a precipitous drop followed by a tight loop back to level. A terrified Ryan cries out that Tanaka should have warned them, but where’s the fun in that?!

A large raiding fleet of Jairians is approaching the cargo convoy!  The Kodiak is finally in communications range, and James Anchor broadcasts an ultimatum: leave the convoy alone or face the consequences!

Rachelle, the Jairian fleet coordinator recognizes James’ last name. She tries to scare him off with an ultimatum of her own.

But James Anchor is a stalwart guardian! He gives the Jairians a final warning and then issues orders to prepare for battle!

The Jairians approach the convoy… will the Kodiak make it in time to save them?

Zik is helping Amelia learn how to fly! He instructs her on how to ease out of the barrel roll she was just doing. She’s certainly having the time of her life!

The two ships are heading back towards Zoz, and Amelia wants to know how long it will take to get to her new home. Zik tells her that it’s pretty far, so it’ll take a couple of days to traverse all those light years. Plus, they’re not heading straight to Zoz – they need to make a stop somewhere else first.

Changing the subject, Amelia asks a personal question. She’s noticed that the other Zozians treat Zik as if he’s really famous, and she wants to know if she’s imagining it. As it turns out, Zik is quite famous back home! He begins the story of the time he saved the entire planet…

Tactical officer Emma makes the urgent announcement: Queen Elcyra has launched a barrage of torpedoes at the Kodiak! Captain James Anchor gives helmsman Gerald and weapons officer Jason some quick commands, and then announces an alert to the rest of the ship! Zik gets his crash helmet ready and moves to the secondary weapons console.

Meanwhile, there’s nothing Queen Elcyra likes better than crushing her enemies! She cackles with glee, giving Zik’s nickname for her more truthfulness than he probably anticipated!

Down in the medical bay, Fiona is helping Vera into a medical diagnostic pod. It doubles as an escape pod in case the attack goes badly for our heroes! Trent and Amelia aren’t sure what the alarm means, but Fiona explains it quickly. She’ll have to get some proper space-worthy clothing for Amelia and Trent! You don’t want to get sucked out a hull breach wearing a t-shirt or a robe! Fiona has a spare flight suit that should fit Amelia, and she offers Trent some body armor. Will the Kodiak survive the onslaught?

Queen Elcyra has arrived! She opens her first official dialogue with a Zozian vessel by mocking the Zozians. Diplomacy isn’t important to a tyrant!

James Anchor gives a polite response with a stoney expression. Zik isn’t impressed either, but for him things are already personal – after all, Elcyra just killed a bunch of his new friends!

Elcyra introduces herself with the grandiose titles she has bestowed upon herself and tells the Zozians that they can have the honor of escorting her to meet with their leaders.

Zik and James look at each other with bemused expressions. Did she really just say “Take me to your leader” to a ship full of people with no rulers? The situation is too ludicrous for words, and everyone on the bridge cracks up laughing!

Our refugees board the shuttle and James Anchor gives the order to take off. The first stop: Zik’s ship! As the shuttle rises into the sky, Vera peers out of the window and bids her dear friends an emotional farewell. Soon, the shuttle and its Chadee escort arrive at the cave where Zik’s ship is hidden. Zik and Seamus, the Kodiak’s chief engineer, get out to go and inspect the ship. A curious Amelia tags along. Seamus pronounces the patch job to be good enough for now while Zik changes clothes.  Our hero steps out in his new (old) outfit, and Amelia praises his fashion choices!

Queen Elcyra is pretty confident that she’s got things under control! After all, she has an army of Clonoid drones and soldiers at her command. And as we’ve seen, she has a secret weapon that no one knows about yet! Can Zik prevail?

Whew! That was quick thinking by Zik! Good thing he’s got that emergency grappling hook! It certainly comes in handy! And nothing breaks the tension like a near-death experience. If you can’t laugh at that, you can’t laugh at anything!