BotP Close-up 043

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Bobkat
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BotP Close-up 043

Post: # 498Post Bobkat »

It's a day early but since it's a holiday in the US tomorrow, it's appropriate. :)

This week we have Victims of the Hawk - Orin and Diane, a pair of newlyweds, are the only survivors of a Spectran attack. I've remembered this ep for years because the entire team tried to save the pair and they all paid a price in one way or another. :) Enjoy!

The Other Jason's write-up is here: https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/ep43.html

E43: Victims of the Hawk

Act One

7-Zark-7 is at Nerve Center Control is bursting his Digital Ions and straining Laminal Utications: up to his FOSDIC with problems. Zark flies to his monitors saying Zoltar has attacked an important Solar Energy Center on a barren asteroid called Cretola. Fortunately, everyone was evacuated except for two young technicians who volunteered to stay behind to protect the energy center. The attack has set off magnetic storms and torrential rains on the asteroid. 1-Rover-1 wants to play fetch but Zark is too busy. He tells Rover to go to the other room and Zark will be in when he can but not to chew the wall – they're underwater! After Rover leaves, Zark turns his attention to Cretola.

The rain pours down on a young couple who can barely see one another. However, they're reunited after being separated during the attack. They thought the other dead but now embrace in the rain. Orin and Diane are husband and wife. They stayed behind but the energy center is lost and Diane is upset they couldn't do more. She wonders why Spectra hates Earth so much but Orin tells her they did everything they could. He reassures her that they'll never be separated again. He also says they're going back to Earth and have a second honeymoon even if the first was last year. The rains finally stop.

At Center Neptune, Chief Anderson briefs the team that Diane and Orin are on their way back to Earth. He's greatly concerned about their security for two reasons: they were eyewitnesses to Zoltar's attack and they have parents who hold high political office in the Federation. Mark says Zoltar doesn't want them to get away with Jason adding it's up to them to make sure Zoltar doesn't succeed in getting them. Chief Anderson tells them that's the nutshell of the mission. He wants the team at the airport where Diane and Orin are due to arrive to a much-deserved hero's welcome. The team runs out of Chief Anderson's office.

The team launches out of Center Neptune to their mission. They arrive at the airport and split up to cover Diane and Orin. The PA system announces Intergalactic Flight 12 to Persus, Komedra, and Tryptor is now boarding. Flight 81 to Moon Base Delta is delayed for 35 minutes and those with standby tickets need to go to the customer counter. During the announcements, G-Force signals to each other providing complete coverage over Diane and Orin. After the announcements, Orin sees his friend Gino and Orin greets him enthusiastically. Orin introduces Gino and Diane with Jason watching from the level above them.

As Diane and Orin board the plane, a large crowd cheers while Gino sneaks off. Jason follows him even stealing a car to figure out where Gino is heading. Mark immediately calls on the wrist communicator wondering whom Jason is following. Jason answers that he's tailing Gino because he's got a funny feeling about him. Mark tells him to stay in contact.

Jason chases Gino into the desert but crashes the car into a fireball! Jason isn't happy about losing Gino. Meanwhile, Diane and Orin are on a DC-9-like airplane with the Phoenix right behind them. The problem is already on board with a robotic stewardess. She pushes a service cart to them and turns her pin. She transforms into a rocket kidnapping Diane and Orin! The rocket blasts off the plane but nothing is said whether the plane blows up (it probably does, nothing is seen of the fuselage implosion). G-Force watches in horror as the rocket takes off for parts unknown but they follow it.

Act Two

Zark paces, talking to himself in order to boost his confidence. It's not working this time because somehow, Zoltar has managed to snatch Diane and Orin from under G-Force's noses despite all their careful planning. Zark says the rocket is on a trajectory for Cretola where it's believed Spectra has established a base.

The Phoenix keeps following with Tiny increasing speed to try to catch it. Princess confirms the rocket is heading back to Cretola and they follow it there. Upon landing, Jason says they need to find Spectra's headquarters. Princess says the task should be easy because the asteroid is fairly barren. Keyop and Tiny walk back to their teammates over a ridge saying they've found the hideout.

The whole team investigates what Keyop and Tiny have found. Mark tells them to stay together for now. They close in on the structure with Mark and Jason leading the way. They meet and stand back to back. When it's all clear, Mark signals the rest to join them. Keyop notices that it's quiet with Tiny remarking, "Yeah, too quiet." Suddenly, panels start moving under their feet trying to separate the team. The team takes flight to avoid the hidden sharp implements. They then hear someone's voice taunting them.

Out of nowhere, a mech shaped as a hawk. The talons grow and are super sharp and it takes some low fly-bys of the team. Mark and Jason take particular notice of the talons. This isn't the only weapon it has. The hawk then throws several lethal feathers from its wings that tack themselves into rock and brick. Keyop's wings are caught by three of these feathers and he can't help his teammates. Princess destroys some with her yo-yo but there are thousands heading toward the team. Mark and Jason are even forced to the edge of the opening holding the sharp nail-like weapons. Jason aims his cablegun at it but the hawk cruls its talons and knocks him down with brute force possibly breaking his hand.

The hawk circles back with Princess and Tiny ducking out of the way. The hawk fires lasers from its eyes cutting a perfect circle under Tiny, forcing him to fall a story down. Princess then runs to Keyop to try to free him but the hawk fires its laser on a brick wall causing it to collapse and it throws her forward knocking the wind out of her! A compact falls out of her uniform. The hawk isn't done spitting flames out of its mouth. These flames cause the feather to catch fire making a real mess.

Keyop is every which way ticked off but he is able to warn Princess to move when the hawk fires a mini-rocket from one of its talons. The explosion causes the compact to flip open. It contains a mirror that reflects sunlight into the hawk's eyes causing the head to blow up. The hawk goes down in flames as the team regathers including Tiny who has climbed up from the hole. Mark orders them to spread out to find Orin and Diane.

The team runs in several directions searching for the couple. Mark goes one way with Princess and Keyop running the opposite way. Jason and Tiny take yet another route. Mark makes his way down a walkway inside the base and into a room where Gino greets him behind glass. The sonic boomerang is useless against the barrier. Gino tells Mark that he's surprised the commander doesn't realize who he is and hopes this is the last time they'll ever meet. Gino reveals himself to be Zoltar who makes a quick getaway. Mark tries to get at him but it's too late.

Mark searches the base and breaks into a room where Orin and Diane stand. Orin tells Mark to stay back with Diane saying they can't be helped now. Diane can't explain but can only say they're not what Mark expected to find and that they've changed. Orin again tells Mark to stay back when the commander steps toward them. Orin says they will handle this the best way they know how. Mark tells them that whatever Zoltar did, it's now over and they can go home. Orin explains it is impossible for them to go home. What Mark is actually seeing is their spirits in humanoid bodies that Zoltar built to look like them. Orin goes on to say their bodies are in the laboratory and what Mark is seeing is actually an illusion. The base shudders as Diane says they need to try to reverse the transference but it may be permanent. Orin adds that it's dangerous for them and they're running out of time.

Orin and Diane approach one another and kiss turning into robots. The love they feel for one another is undying. Then a flash of light happens where they disappear! Later, the team stands by some rubble as Zark natters on about love and believing deep down in his Vertical Integrator that the couple is still together. He goes on saying Orin and Diane were star-crossed lovers and while Zoltar took their bodies, their spirits will live on. Zark says love is the ultimate power in the universe, it'll defeat evil every time. A comet (meteor) passes by with Zark wondering if it's a vehicle to carry them to paradise, someplace completely new.

Zark enters his Ready Room still nattering about human love saying sometimes he gets a strong urgent need in his Vapacitors. Rover wonders if it has something to do with him and while Zark is fond of Rover, it's not what Zark had in mind. Susan then calls from Pluto and Zark now knows what he was thinking about – her! Susan gives an update on Diane and Orin as Susan verifies due to her Infraprobe Scanners that the couple was indeed on the comet (meteor) flashing across the sky. Susan says the couple went into Time Warp and flew to an unknown/unexplored region far beyond their galaxy. Zark tells Susan she made his day and she says he always makes her day. Zark then natters on about meeting Susan and wonders if she's tall. If so, either his legs can be extended or hers shortened. The prefect match for a robot is no big deal.

This plot summary Copyright Bobbi Baker ©2021. No reproduction of any kind without permission.
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