Meanwhile, on distant moon Gamma Apodis 3B, the Jairian raiding party is busy transferring all the medkits from the ZEMM transport to their Hammerhead cruiser. There are only a few cases left, so Flynn, the Jairian commander on this raid, orders the rest of his comrades to prepare the explosives to destroy the transport.

From the Hammerhead cockpit comes an urgent alert: The Temerity is inbound! Flynn orders everyone to redouble their efforts, because they need every last case!  He then taunts Morren Mallor, who is holding his firearm to the head of one of the ZEMM pilots, with the approach of his old foe Zik. Morren vows to kill Zik the next time he meets him, so Flynn seizes the opportunity to rid himself of the burden of his company.  He gives Morren the chance to fulfill his vow by leaving him behind! But just to even the odds a bit, he offers to leave two Jairian thugs and the hostages for good measure.

Getting in Morren’s face, Flynn tells him to kill Zik or never return. It’s on!

With Tanaka in the death grip of the female gorillaur, Defender Zik has no choice but to cooperate. As the male disarms Tanaka, Zik checks in with his friend. Both are embarrassed that such huge creatures could sneak up on them!

The male points into the jungle, and Zik gets the message to start marching.  The company heads off to who knows where, while Zik and Tanaka try to come to terms with the strangeness of their captors. Tanaka is wondering where they may have come from just as the trees give way to a parched clearing, in the middle of which stands an ominous house.

Not long afterwards, Rachelle the Jairian Fleet Coordinator calls for a stand-down of the remaining Jairian troopers and snub-fighters.  They have surrendered! Defender Zik and the crew of the Kodiak have won a hard-fought battle against a huge Jairian fleet and boarding party!

During the prisoner transfer negotiations, Captain James Anchor thanks Rachelle for calling for a cease-fire. He gives her an update on the status of the survivors and assures her that they will be returned safely.

Rachelle is a little concerned when she learns that some of her troopers hare returning in pieces, not all of which are accounted for with certainty! James explains that several troopers wandered into a Chadee barracks, and they didn’t last long against the legendary battle-fury of the Chadee!   Muttering a barely-intelligible curse in reply, Rachelle seems beyond furious, and soon signs off.

As they follow the remaining troops to oversee the transfer, James grumbles about how much of a mess the Jairians have made of the Kodiak. He tells Zik that he’s pretty sure the insurance will consider the mighty vessel a write-off!  Considering the Jairians blew up one of the two huge howitzers, and the giant hole Trent blew into the hull in the galley, he’s probably correct!

Zik, ever the gallant hero, offers to make it up to his longtime friend…

While Defender Zik battles Morren in the mess hall, down one level and all the way aft, James Anchor is waiting patiently in the engine room.  He knows that this is the obvious target for the Jairian raiders to capture, since they can’t get to the bridge.

Sure enough, the scallywags charge in, brandishing their weapons, ready to kill anyone in their way. But Captain Anchor has a little surprise for them – he draws his gun and points it right at them, finger on the trigger!

The Jairians are stunned. No one shoots guns on a spaceship, especially not in an engine room! Doing so is a really good way to blow yourself up! They call James’ bluff.

Except that James Anchor never bluffs! He explains that his gun isn’t loaded with bullets at all. Rather, the gun has small hunter-killer drones in it, and he’s now set them to target the unique bio-signatures of the three Jairians! James describes in detail how the drones, once launched, are a death sentence for anyone unlucky enough to be their target. Even if the Jairians somehow make it out of the Kodiak alive and try to disappear, the drones will hunt for them forever. And the worst part is that once the drones locate their target, they drill in a straight line to the heart. Depending on where they start, that could be quite an uncomfortable way to die!

The Jairians hesitate, and Emma emerges from hiding with a roll of space duct tape.  James Anchor instructs them to drop their weapons and let Emma bind them, and really, what choice do they have? It was checkmate the moment they walked into the room.