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!

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!

Several light years away, Queen Elcyra is racing to the prison planet to see to the prisoner uprising personally! She gets a status report, and it seems that the massive Clonoid soldier has tipped the balance in the fighting firmly onto her side; there are only fifty-six prisoners left alive! This pleases her, but she wants to know specifically about Zik. Will he still pose a threat to her?

Meanwhile, many light years away, The surviving ships of a very recent space battle exit the debris field. There isn’t even a scratch on Queen Elcyra’s flagship! That should give you a hint as to its sheer destructive power. But whose fleet is now in ruins?

This does not bode well for relations between Zoz and Zernabia. The second ship hits the first, as Zik looks on in regret at a situation that spiraled out of control very quickly!

Those foolish Zernab Clonoids apparently assumed that Zik’s ship was an unarmed scout vessel! Unfortunately for them, Zozians enjoy arming themselves to the teeth, and not always in obvious ways.

Don’t try to back someone from Zoz into a corner! Especially not Zik!

It’s hard to read in the web version, but the words on the targeting computer read “Railguns Armed.” In the print version it should be easier to read. Yes, I plan on publishing Zik’s adventures in a book eventually.. in fact, they’re now available in the menu above!

Zik! Pay attention to your targeting computer, man! What’s going to happen to our intrepid hero? Tune in Thursday to find out!

Some things never change! Who knows if those guys understand it, but I think they can guess the intent! It’s not the best way to engage in diplomacy, but then neither is initiating communications with a series of deadly plasma blasts.

Well, not only are these new beings human, they’re pretty selfish about claiming open space as their own. Unless that’s their planet Zik was heading to? They’re a bit short on explanations and long on plasma bolt attacks!

I’d like to extend a special thank you to two of the nicest people in webcomics, Raven Perez and Adam Black, for plugging Zik on their websites over the past weekend. I’ve received a huge influx of readers because of those two guys, and I’m very grateful. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far!

See you Thursday when we’ll see just how Zik is going to handle these space cops!