- Jon after he and Pilot are shot down in the SkyBike by Soaron
Having stolen a data disk from Dread containing information about Project New Order, Pilot and the Captain are attempting to make an escape. But Soaron is ruthlessly on their tail and manages to cripple the SkyBike over the desert, forcing Power and Pilot to crash land.
After recovering from being unceremoniously thrown from the SkyBike, Power discovers that he has injured his leg and is unable to walk. He orders Pilot to go to a nearby town, Oasis, to seek help and gives her the data disk for safe-keeping. Pilot is reluctant to leave, but does so eventually, after helping Jon splint his leg.
Pilot makes it to Oasis, but before she can ask for help, she is attacked by one of the inhabitants, Randall, who accuses her of being the enemy. The manic Randall swings at Pilot with an axe but Pilot quickly ducks and disables him with a swift blow. The scuffle attracts the attention of the other citizens and Pilot finds herself surrounded by townsfolk as Randall accuses her again of having ordered the destruction of his home - Sandtown.
Pilot is momentarily stunned and she remembers what Randall is talking about, she remembers being there, ordering the destruction, the cleansing of Sand Town of it's traitors.
The townfolk are rapidly convinced and Arvin, their leader decides to hold a tribunal to judge Pilot.Pilot agrees but asks that they despatch help to the Captain. The townsfolk are skeptical but send two men out in a truck to find Power.
In the desert,Power is finding the heat overwhelming and resorts to cutting open a cactus to seek fluid. Yet unknown to Pilot and him is that Blastarr has been dispatched to find the two and bring them and the data disk back to Dread. Finding the damaged Soaron, Blastarr takes the opportunity to 'torture' Soaron and extracts Power's last location from him. On his way, he runs into the two men despatched to find Power. Blastarr disposes of them and continues to Oasis, but not before Power has surreptiously witnessed the event
At Oasis, the tribunal has convened and the townsfolk gather to hear the evidence against Pilot. Randall speaks first, relating how he watched Pilot order the destruction of Sand Town and his family. The attention then turns on Gaelan, his uncle and also a survivor of the Sand Town massacre.
As he speaks, his voice reminds Pilot the past. She remembers Gaelan because she overheard him being tortured into revealing the location of the secret radio transmitter.
The tribunal then hears evidence from Pilot, who explains that since Sand Town, she left the Dread Youth and now is with the resistance. Arvin decides that the final decision must rest with Gaelan. Gaelan is torn apart by his guilt and by the anger and vengeance his nephew demands. He choses to let Pilot go.
At that moment, Blastarr enters Oasis and the town scrambles to battle him. They are pitifully outgunned by the powerful BioDread and even Pilot, with her Powersuit is unable to stand the onslaught. Defenceless with her PowerSuit down, Blastarr prepares to deliver the mortal blow. Pilot is saved once by Gaelan, who leaps to her rescue, and a second time by Power, who comes in the truck despatched by the Oasis townsfolk to rescue him. Together, they manage to beat back Blastarr into retreat.
Pilot scrambles to examine Gaelan but it is too late.With his dying breath, Gaelan tells his nephew that he was the one who betrayed Sand Town and asks his nephew to be forgiving and understanding. Randall and Pilot bury Gaelan - they reconcile their pasts and agree that judgment is over.
Comment
This episode focused very strongly on Pilot's past and we begin to learn a little bit more about her past life, which till this point, is only fleetingly referred to. Some nice flashbacks in this episode to Pilot's Youth Leader Chase days. There's some really good dialog in there as well though Jessica Steen could be said to have overplayed the weepy bits.
We get a real taste of just how intense the rivalry between Soaron and Blastarr is with a torture session in store for Soaron by Blastarr. The writers took the opportunity also to develop the Power-Pilot relationship here and this is one of the few missions which revolve round the two of them.
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