An Eagle Riders Episode Guide

X43 Catastrophe

[G-II #48: The Greatest Tidal Wave in History]

The team is sitting around at Kelly’s snack bar, and Ollie is telling bad jokes. Mickey is frustrated that they can’t go defeat the Vorak, but Hunter reminds him that Dr. Keane is working on a special radar system, which will neutralize the Vorak’s thermal beams. The Eagle Riders have orders to stay close to home until it is finished. However, a short while later, the team goes out on patrol of the area in the Ultra Eagle.

Dr. Keane, Dr. Aikens and a number of other researchers are in the data center on the 31st floor of the ISO building. Reports of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are coming in from around the world. Their only hope to stop them is to finish the radar and destroy the Solar Shifter Beam Cannons.

An earthquake occurs in the middle of the ocean, creating a tidal wave that is headed for the city. The civilians are evacuated, and Dr. Keane, Dr. Aikens and their men are considering doing the same when the ISO building is breached from underneath. The Vorak have invaded with some kind of Mole robot, and they quickly and easily bypass the security guards in the basement parking garage. This is the second episode in a row where the Vorak have managed to bypass the security on an Eagle Rider/ISO ‘base’. You would think that Dr. Keane would have learned to upgrade his defenses by now!

Mallanox and his men quickly head up to the 31st floor of the ISO building.

When the Vorak arrive, Dr. Keane warns Mallanox of the coming tidal wave, but all Mallanox wants to hear about is the location of the radar. Mallanox prematurely broadcasts a television signal to the world, declaring himself the leader of the planet. The Eagle Riders pick up the signal in the Ultra Eagle, and quickly head back to the ISO building to assist Dr. Keane.

The tidal wave hits, and the city is rapidly flooded. In the confusion, Dr. Aikens grabs a gun and is able to chase Mallanox away, but not before she and Mallanox experience their feelings of psychic mutual recognition yet again.

A window breaks, and water floods into the data center. Dr. Keane informs Dr. Aikens and the other researchers that they must go up ten floors through the ventilation shafts, to the air tunnel test room, which should be able to withstand the waters.

The wave calms, but the ISO building is now flooded to the 68th floor. Mallanox has escaped with the Vorak to the watertight Mole robot, and orders his androids to start searching the building, from the top down, for the radar. This sends them up to the 96th floor. Searching from the top down doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me. Shouldn’t they search from the bottommost dry floor, going upward, so that they have the most chance of finding the radar undamaged (as the waters are still rising)? I guess this is Mallanox we’re talking about, and Mallanox isn’t exactly known for his well-thought-out plans.

Meanwhile, the Eagle Riders have also arrived, and they jump down the elevator shaft to the 31st floor, attempting to reach the Data Center. When they realize that it is flooded, they guess that Dr. Keane and his staff must be in the air tunnel on the 41st floor.

However, the ventilation has just shut off in the air tunnel, and the oxygen is beginning to run out. Mallanox arrives and is thrilled to see the radar device in the room. Just as he is about to finish off the ISO personnel, the Eagle Riders burst into the room, coming in with a rush of flood waters. Ollie leads the researchers (including Drs. Keane and Aikens) to safety while the others fight the Vorak. Mallanox manages to get the radar device into the Mole robot and takes off, but not before Hunter, Joe, and Kelly sneak aboard. They confront Mallanox in the robot’s control room, only to have Mallanox get away using a special force field escape platform.

Hunter, Joe, and Kelly return the radar device, but everyone is sad to see the ISO building destroyed.

Cybercon lectures Mallanox on his failure to recover the radar, but informs his minion that he has discovered the human identities of Hunter and Joe. Now the Vorak can attempt to get to them in their weaker human states (as opposed to in their Eagle Mode states). Um, didn’t Mallanox discover Hunter’s true face/identity a couple of episodes ago? Seems Cybercon has conveniently forgotten that. But regardless, this doesn’t bode well for the Global Good.