- Dread, ordering Soaron to stop the incoming Icarus platform.
Having successfully neutralised the Icarus platform, Power and his team head for the Jumpship. There,Scout monitors the progress of the falling platform and informs Power that their 'little gift is right on time'. Hawk idly wonders if this will do the trick and Power responds with a reminder that Dread is going to have '200 tons of smoke and metal' deposited at his front door.
Preparing for the impact, Dread orders priority shielding to the Prometheus section and despatches Soaron to intercept the incoming mass of metal that once was the Icarus platform. Soaron valiantly tries but his blasters are powerless against the sheer mass of the platform. The platform smashes right through the Bio-Dread, rendering it disfunctional indefinitely.
Through Mentor, Power discovers that Dread has managed to evade major damage to the Prometheus section. He orders Pilot to head for Volcania.
At Volcania, they battle their way through the troopers into a control room. There, Scout and Pilot access Volcania's schematics to find their way to the Prometheus controls. Another contingent of troopers arrives and an Overunit informs Dread that Captain Power is inside. Before he can complete the transmission, Hawk threatens him with a very large gun. The overunit breaks contact but Hawk is shot in the back by a Bio-Mech. His Power Suit, already low on power, deactivates, leaving him vulnerable to the Overunit. Fortunately, Tank arrives in the nick of time to stop Hawk from being killed.Refusing to let the team be hindered, Hawk insists they go on. Tank will escort him back to the Jumpship.
Meanwhile, Dread has dispatched Blastarr to deal with Power. The Bio-Dread is impervious to the team's weapons and without Tank's superior fire power, the team fall back. Noticing some wall circuits, Power hits upon a plan to get the Bio-Dread out of their way. With cunning and a little bit of bravado, they manage to lure the Bio-Dread to an electrified section of the floor. Pilot turns on the power and Blastarr overloads completely,self destructing to bits.
Charging to Dread's main control room, Power and the team are confronted by a hologram Dread. One by one, Dread knocks out Pilot and Scout, setting the scene for a one to one battle between himself and Power. Armed with power staffs Dread and Power battle. While Dread is distracted, Scout recovers from the laser shot and begins to override the computer controls for Prometheus. A horrified Dread manages to land a crucial blow to Power and escapes. His powersuit deactivated, Power helps Pilot up and watches as Scout induces premature implosions in all the Prometheus stations, scuppering the project.
Power records in his log a triumph over Dread as all four phases of Project New Order have been neutralized and Volcania has been severely crippled. It is their first decisive and real victory over Dread.
Comment
The second part of New Order continues to be action packed with some witty dialog. This is the battle we've been waiting all season for, the assault on Volcania. The episode doesn't and cannot stand alone - it sets the scene for the spectacular end to the season that comes in Retribution. Soaron's valiant attempt to stop the Icarus platform is intriguing I think because it demonstrates his devotion to Dread/the machine. When combined with how Dread has treated Soaron (tending to favour Blastarr) its not hard to see how DiTillio might conceivably be able to carry off a second season plot of having Soaron defect to the side of the resistance/Soldiers of the Future.
Inexplicable Oddities
©Copyright Bernice Low