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!

Everyone scrambles for cover as an incoming meteorite interrupts their rescue operation! Hiding under the Temerity, the shocked away team watches as a meteorite impacts the cliff wall next to them.

Sten asks Francisco about his 45 minute estimate for the arrival of the meteorites, since it’s only been about 20 minutes since they got outside.  It seems that everyone misinterpreted Francisco’s math; he meant that every minute they stay increases the chances that they’ll be hit during that minute! By this point, they have a 25% chance of getting hit right now!

Zik rallies his friends and gets them to really hustle to get the last of the crystal onboard the Temerity. They start tossing the crystal from one to another, which proves to be a completely new experience for the crystal! Despite the danger, they’ve shared the concept of fun, and let it experience flight (albeit briefly) for the first time.

Amelia, in the cockpit keeping the ship primed to skedaddle, sees another meteorite hit the next valley over on her sensor display.  She urges everyone to really hurry, because they could get pulverized at any moment!

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!

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!

Defender Zik, now alone in the cave and out of contact with the others, gets his rock climbing gear ready.  Reasoning that using his jetpack is too risky under the circumstances, he unwinds the carbon fiber nano-mesh cable in his gauntlets and prepares to descend into the tunnel Mizhakwan fell into.

As he rappels into the crevasse, he calls out to Mizhakwan, who is finally able to answer! She assures Zik that she’s fine, it just took a few moments for her to figure out her burst transmission settings.  Not only is she okay, she’s ecstatic!

Zik discovers the reason Mizhakwan is so overjoyed as he reaches the bottom; there’s a cavern absolutely packed with glowing crystals! Sitting cross-legged in the back of the cavern, Mizhakwan cautions Zik to be careful where he steps, to avoid damaging the crystals. Mysteriously, several crystals are pointing spikes directly at Mizhakwan. When Zik enquires why, she replies with a confident “Watch!”

Further into the gorge, the away team encounters an area where the crystals have grown very tall, taller than Zik! Amelia asks if they can take some of the crystals with them, because they’re so beautiful, and it would be a shame to leave them on Hypnos where no one will ever see them again. Zik replies that while they can take a sample with them to study, it isn’t their way to take more than they need.

Just as Mizhakwan is about to elaborate on the importance of respecting a natural system’s integrity, Trent shouts out that he sees something moving up on the cliff above them!

They all pause silently to see what was moving, but all is still again.

A baffled Trent is certain he saw something move. Zik believes him, and asks everyone to keep an eye out, just in case!

Our hero Defender Zik descends into the nearby canyon with his friends, investigating a mysterious sensor shadow on rogue planet Hypnos. As they hike, Amelia notices that the regolith (space dirt) under their feet moves strangely as they kick it up. Zik reminds her that the planet they’re on has lower gravity than she’s used to; this is only the second world she’s visited!

Striking up the conversation, Mizhakwan mentions that she likes to keep her personal space suit’s gravity just a little less than Earth normal, to put a little spring in her step. Amelia loves the idea.

The team then notices that there are an awful lot of crystals growing along the floor of the canyon. They stop to inspect the delicate structures before noticing more of them further into the canyon.

As they pass by, the crystal… moves?!

Trent tries to come up with a reason to avoid having to open every cupboard and hatch on the Temerity, but Mizhakwan is quick to resolve his issue! With a promise of snacks, she makes sure Dakaasin can stay on the bridge until the smudging is done.

The news that there are baked snacks on the way is a welcome break in the cockpit. Amelia, still exploring how great food can taste when it’s not Clonoid gruel, can’t wait. Although, she’s still a bit puzzled as to why Mizhakwan insisted on being part of the crew, seeing as she’s retired. Zik explains that he’s known her for years; she was his mother’s medicine woman. This amazing lady goes wherever the energy feels like it’s moving, and we’ve already seen how Zik is like a lightning rod for fate!

Back on task, Zik checks in with Francisco, because the ship is getting close enough to get better scans of planet Hypnos. Francisco has determined that the tail they saw back at Bastion Station is most likely a debris field! This isn’t something they’ve ever seen before, and anything new to explore in space always inspires your favorite hero!