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!

After several jumps through hyperspace to conceal their approach vectors, the Zozian fleets arrive in the Zernabian prison system! Dead ahead of the Temerity is the infamous prison planet where Zik encountered the Clonoids for the first time. Tanaka gets a tactical report from Francisco; their fleet, Blue Squad, has all arrived safely. The other Zozian fleets are also reporting in as they arrive, and the massive Kodiak 2 dominates the scene. The Zozian fleets outnumber the token Clonoid sentry, and their capital ship, while large, is dwarfed by the Kodiak 2.

Upon receiving a similar keep-away message as Defender Zik received when he stumbled on the system, his father Mitch takes to the radio. He announces to the Clonoids that the Zozians have arrived to offer transportation and safe harbor to anyone who wishes to leave the planet. The Zernabians respond with a terse warning, claiming that the slaves are owned by Queen Elcyra and any intruders will be fired upon. Taking the high road, Mitch retorts that there can be no legitimate claims of ownership by one sentient creature on another. The Zozians will not be dissuaded and leave the ball in the Clonoid’s court. Tanaka, of course, hopes they choose battle.

The answer is soon given in the form of a stream of massive plasma bolts from the Clonoid capital ship, which detonate on the hull of one of the Makwa corvettes escorting the Kodiak 2. Mitch gives the order to all Zozian fleets: Engage the enemy!

A gleeful Tanaka guns the engines, eager to catch up to the Sharktooth, who jumped ahead. The Battle of Prison Planet has begun!

As Mikigaazo rushes out of hiding to try and rescue the hostages, the nearest Jairian takes the easy head shot right away.  Defender Zik and Dakaasin watch in horror as Miki’s head explodes in a shower of sparks. But Zik remembers that this is just a mech frame for the crystals inside, and calls out to see if Miki is okay.

Sure enough, the crystal pod located in the torso of the Mikibot platform is unharmed, and Miki is able to get back up, reassuring the humans looking on.

This apparent resurrection comes as a complete shock to the Jairian watching through his scope! He jumps up in surprise at his now headless yet animate target.  Unfortunately for this Jairian, Trent Quickdraw was watching him through his own sniper rifle’s scope, waiting for just such an opportunity! And unlike the crystalline Mikigaazo, head shots on humans are fatal!

Defender Zik and the intrepid crew of the Temerity arrives at Gamma Apodis 3 and scans its second moon for the crew of the captured ZEMM cargo vessel.  But the evil Jairians have destroyed the ship! Trent asks why they keep doing that, when they could be salvaging the ships they capture.  Defender Zik explains that the Jairians are obsessive about hiding themselves and striking from the shadows, and keeping the ships intact would allow the Zik to track them to their elusive base of operations.

As they approach the landing zone, Zik asks Francisco if there are any traces of the Jairians indicating where they might have gone, such as an ion trail.  Francisco replies that yes, an ion trail exists, and it’s fresh enough to identify the type of vessel they used! Zik decides to let him and Amelia investigate the trail further, because it’s imperative that the Jairians are located in order to negotiate some kind of peace.  The rest of the crew disembarks and examines the wreck of the transport vessel.

A sharp-eyed Trent Quickdraw spots the crew of the transport in the distance, at the central peak of a nearby crater. Defender Zik tries to call out to them, but receives no response. This whole thing isn’t adding up, but since the Jairians seem to have left, Zik calls for the team to head over to the crew to see if they’re all right. Be he warns them to be cautious, because his instincts are telling him something’s not right!

While Tanaka bars the door, Zik tries to ride history’s first centaur rodeo. Misha the gorillaur grabs your favorite space hero off her back and flings him across the room. Recovering quickly, Zik squares off with the giant creature, while the holographic dragon continues to distract it.

Meanwhile, Tanaka finishes with the door, effectively blocking the much larger Marco from entering, and he leaps up onto the steel frame which surrounds the lab.  He gazes down on the chaos and hesitates. Does he really want to help Zik stop the singularity machine, or could this be an escape from the pain of his lost clan?

There’s been a mighty explosion just outside the Sendlinger Hill Pub! The whole front wall has been blown in, and poor Tanaka has been knocked nearly senseless to the ground!

As the building groans, from outside in the smoke, a figure appears. Is it someone come to help look for survivors? Yes, but not to render aid!  The stranger grabs Tanaka gruffly and shoves a pistol against his head.  He wants Tanaka to know the horror of what has happened before he pulls the trigger.

The Jairians have taken a gruesome revenge on the Kodiak Chadee clan! While they all waited in the shuttle outside for Tanaka to talk to the pub owner, the Jairians snuck up, planted explosives, and blew them all sky high!  The brutal massacre was in revenge for the huge toll the Jairians suffered during the recent battle with the Kodiak.

Outside, someone calls to the stranger to warn him of the unstable building, foolishly shouting his name. Johan flees, laughing at Tanaka’s imminent demise. Just before the building collapses on him, Tanaka repeats Johan’s name, committing it to memory forever…

And there you have it! The end of Episode 3! Will Tanaka survive? What will happen next?  Find out soon, when we begin Episode 4: THE HYPNOS HIATUS!

Thinking quickly, Zik dons his breather mask and turns back to the ship.  The force of the wind could easily blow him too far away to get back on board in time, so he hustles to deploy his EVR system.

Back on board, he sees that Amelia is stuck in the doorway, holding on for dear life! Morren broke off her breather, so if she gets spaced, she’s a goner!  Zik plugs the giant hole with the only thing at hand – two tables!

As the wind diminishes, Amelia regains her footing.  Zik asks her to hand him the Hull Putty™ canister so he can plug the remaining holes between the tables.  Amelia, like Trent, has never been in space before, and this kind of battle is all new to her, so she’s understandably confused as to why there was a sudden explosion.  Zik deduces that someone blew up the Jairian Hull Breacher vessel that was attached and plugging the hole with its breaching dock, and he guesses that a rookie mistake like that is sure to anger his buddy Captain James Anchor!

Trent Quickdraw has lived up to his name! As he fires on the Jairian breacher ship attached to the Kodiak, there’s a huge explosion! Defender Zik and Morren, in the galley right next to the breacher, are blown off their feet!

Worse still, that breacher was the only thing plugging the hole in the Kodiak’s hull that it made when it attached itself! Zik and Morren are quickly blown into space, and both of them forget their battle in a desperate scramble to fix their face masks.

Inside, at the doorway of the galley, Amelia grabs on for dear life as the air swoops out of the giant hole in the hull!

Zik tosses the Jairian helmet down the hall on top of what’s left of his three attackers.  After lowering the gravity again, he continues escorting Travis to the infirmary to get his broken leg fixed up.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, a frustrated Trent tells Gerald that one of the cannons isn’t responding.  Gerald checks the cams and discovers that a Jairian is on the hull of the ship!  The Jairian has removed an access cover and is smashing the rotation mechanisms inside!

Gerald calls up to Tanaka, who is on the roof blasting away with his sidearm.  Once he sees the Jairian saboteur, Tanaka promises to take care of the problem…

Meanwhile, outside the ship, Tanaka’s fighter has taken critical damage! He ejects in the nick of time, and his ship explodes behind him.

Trained for just such an emergency, Tanaka engages his EVR system. He uses his grappling hook and rocket boots to get to safety. Landing on the roof of the Kodiak’s bridge, he draws his pistol, and prepares to continue the fight!