—Major D'ArkSpare no one—man, woman or child!
Appearing in ""Defeat!""
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Baron Karza
- Major D'Ark
- Prince Shaitan
Other Characters:
Locations:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for ""Defeat!""
Karza, atop his flagship, holds up Rann's limp body. Marionette aims her fighter at Karza but is shot down by a missile from his midsection; his detachable gauntlet drags her in. Microtron hears her yell and turns his fighter toward the flagship. Bug jumps off Microtron's fighter to attack a Phobos; his rocket-lance ignites its fuel pods and he's caught in the explosion. Microtron hears him yell and (unaccountably ignoring Marionette) flees to the surface of Spartak.
Karza, now inside the ship, throws Marionette against a wall and tells her she's not worth further abuse. He has what he came for: Rann. Major D'Ark reports. Karza says that he's returning "to Homeworld to pry the secret of the Enigma Force from Commander Rann."
The last of the Acroyear fleet goes down. In the palace, Shaitan suggests that Cilicia surrender, but she scoffs at the idea: death is better than slavery. Below the palace, Acroyear has melded physically with the Crystal Chamber and mentally with the very planet. His face appears on the viewscreen of D'Ark's ship, but D'Ark dismisses it as some kind of trick.
Back on Homeworld, Karza finds the rebels burning his Body Banks and freeing his prisoners. The appearance of his ship gives heart to his Dog Soldiers, who regroup and prepare to put down the rebellion for good.
The Worldmind of Spartak joins the battle against Karza's fleet. Giant boulders fire into space, forcing the ships to move in. Cliffs rise from flatlands. Magma jets upward from rents in the surface. Chasms open up and swallow ships whole.
As bad as it looks, D'Ark knows he can expect worse if he returns to Karza without the victory. He orders his troops to massacre the Acroyears.
'nuff said
But the Acroyears have the Dog Soldiers right where they want them. No one beats an Acroyear in hand-to-hand combat. The Surface War of Spartak is bloody but brief.
Cilicia, according to Acroyear tradition, passes judgment. When D'Ark is brought before her, he begs for mercy. "We are soldiers—merely carrying out the orders of Baron Karza." She gives him the only mercy he deserves: a quick death.
Acroyear passes Shaitan on his way to the throne room and says, "From this day forward, I have no brother." He thinks, when he was part of the Worldmind, "I found myself desperately desiring peace! How then can I lead? How can I be king?"
Biotron realizes that he has lost his telepathic link with Rann. It could mean that Rann is dead ....
Notes
- A letter in MicroMails asks an interesting question: did Mego, the maker of the Micronaut toys, have any input into the comic book? The answer is no, not beyond creating the toys in the first place.