Meanwhile, Pilot and Power are checking out a human settlement where the inhabitants all appear to be unconscious for some inexplicable reason. Pilot's scanner reveals that the inhabitants are alive, but in a deep coma.The sound of an incoming Bio-Dread puts them on the alert and the two make for the nearest tent in order to avoid detection by Soaron.
Power and Pilot watch haplessly as Soaron proceeds to digitise each and every one of the comatose inhabitants. Soaron reports back to Dread, revealing that the Styx phase of Project New Order has been successful. Dread orders Soaron to continue searching for 'the weapon'.
Elsewhere, Hawk watches from the skies as the troopers and Commander catch up with the young boy seen earlier. Stepping in to assist, he is beaten back by the combined firepower of the troopers. His flight stabilisers damaged, he lands on the ground with a bump. Powering down his suit, he spots the boy. Hearing the troopers and Commander closing in, the two hide it out in an abandoned music shop where Hawk learns that the boy has escaped from a Dread laboratory of some kind and that ‘others’ are dead.
Back on the Jumpship,the team are discussing Dread’s latest weapon when Hawk radios for assistance. On the way to Hawk’s rescue, Soaron arrives and the Junkship is damaged and forced to land. Intent on pursuing Power, Soaron is instead ordered to continue searching for the ‘target’. Hawk meanwhile begins to become fatigued and breaks out in cold sweat - he realises that the boy has infected him with some kind of illness in which he is a carrier. But he continues to reassure the boy that Power will come to save them. As he weakens, the boy doubts whether Hawk or his friends can save them. Hawk descends into delirium and begins to refer to the boy as ‘Mitch’, Hawk’s son who is presumed dead.
Meanwhile,Dread’s troopers close in. Hoping to flush them out, the human commander, Lorek, informs Hawk that the boy is a plague carrier, a new breed of biological weapon created by Dread. He offers the cure to Hawk in exchange for ‘Mitch’. The petrified boy grabs the weakened Hawk’s wrist transmitter and shouts a denial, giving away their position.
Forced to re-activate his Powersuit in order to stave off the troopers closing in on their position, Hawk is an easy target for the troopers and Soaron. His suit deactivates and Hawk is left at Soaron’s mercy. However, the Bio-Dread is confused momentarily when ‘Mitch’ steps in to protect Hawk since Soaron has orders to take the boy alive. The delay buys that little bit more time needed to the team to arrive and beat back Soaron.
A week later, Hawk comes to at the Power base to see a clean cut blonde haired young man sitting by his bedside. It is ‘Mitch’. Mentor has managed to synthesize a vaccine which cures Hawk and the team have once more neutralised Dread’s threat since without ‘Mitch’, he cannot create anymore plague carriers.
Comment:
Can’t really say this is a particularly gripping episode, though granted, there is a reduction in the level of robot bashing. A strong episode for Hawk who gets to do some delirium induced soul searching about his long lost son.The episodes do begin to pick up following this episode so perhaps it can be regarded, if anything, as the watermark indicating the start of better things to come.
The ‘walking human time bomb’ story line is tried and tested - and biological warfare is not new. Dread clearly has no qualms about using humans as test subjects but it’s hard to see how Mitch can be regarded as having escaped since only through releasing him could Dread actually determine how deadly ‘Mitch’ is as a biological weapon. This is an early episode and it’s possible there was still a bit of a muddle about what Project New Order was going to be all about. But since Dread indicates that Mitch is a variation of the Styx phase of Project New Order,this would still fit in with the subsequent development of the Styx project seen in the episode And Madness Shall Reign, which also involves biological warfare of a kind.
Watch out for..