Siege

Hammer, Vice and Wrench have found themselves in the deep jungle in search of an exotic breed of slither - tri-colour jumbucks. Lo and behold, they uncover a large herd of the oblivious beasts. Regular jumbuck skins already go for big bucks on the black market, but these rare ones will be worth an absolute fortune!

Unfortunately for them, Jack Tenrec has been following them and fires his rifle into the air, upsetting the jumbucks and prompting them to get out of there as fast as their stubby little legs can carry them. Blast the Terhune brothers with a smokescreen, he uses that distraction to then blow up their bikes, leaving them with a long walk back to their camp.
 

The walk gives the three of them a good long while to think about how much they hate Jack Tenrec's guts, and how he wouldn't be such a formiddable thorn in their side if it weren't for him having such lavish equipment. Hammer believes they should attack his garage, but his brothers remind him that plenty of people have done that with no success - that place is a fortress! Hammer merely believes everyone else has been doing it wrong.

Meanwhile, Kirgo is ferrying Hannah over to Jack's garage so she can send a message back to Wassoon via his carrier zekes, though naturally Kirgo believes she's heading over there for a bit of hanky panky. However, they observe a poaching boat sailing away in the distance, leaving someone adrift on a small raft...
 

It's Mikla, the girl from Hammer's gang! They drag her aboard the boat where she claims the poachers back there had blown up her boat; she has wanted out of the poacher gang and stole a boat to make her escape, but they don't approve of anyone leaving. She begs to be taken to a settlement to meet someone who knows Jack Tenrec - he's in great danger! Unbeknownst to them, diving poachers sneak their way onto the back of the boat and remain hidden.

The three of them eventually arrive at Jack's garage, though upon seeing Mikla he's in no interest to hear what she has to say. He's willing to give her a few provisions, but after that he just wants her sent on her way. In response to that, she grabs her bolas and swings them in Jack's direction!

However, it was actually aimed at a poacher climbing out of the ship! The rest of the poachers climb onto the docks and begin scuffling with Jack, though Mikla pulls her weight by toppling a few of the thugs on her own.

Mustapha, Hannah and Kirgo attempt to enter the fray only to get ensnared in a net. Jack and Mikla continue to beat up and disarm the thugs to the best of their ability, but a few of them manage to sneak into the garage...

Only to run into Hermes! The cutter chucks aside his chew toy in favour of some fresh meat, his badly-drawn hunger sending the bandits off in a hurry. With all of the poachers sent home crying, Mustapha tears the net and everyone can begin querying Mikla on why she wanted to see Jack Tenrec. She claims she had come here to warn him about this attack, but obviously her timing was lousy. Everyone seems to accept this without issue and they continue going about their business.
 

Hannah, however, is more than a little suspicious of Mikla's intentions and the impeccable timing of her arrival and the poacher attack, though Jack brushes it off as a coincidence. She also believes Jack is far too receptive of the former bandit, but Jack claims he never trusts anybody and Mikla is no exception.
 

The group settle for a coffee break, where Mikla details other things she overheard during her time with the poachers, that this first attack was merely a test and their next attempt will probably be from higher ground. Hannah deems this sharing of knowledge to be a little convenient, though Mikla claims she was hunted down by the poachers because she knew too much. This is interrupted by Mustapha, who informs them that who should be approaching the garage...

... but a few hundred poachers all armed with clubs, guns, cannons, mack, tanks and all manner of killing-you tools! Mikla states that the poachers had discussed means of bridging the garage's moat, so they'll likely opt for a direct assault. Time to take defensive measures!

Jack's garage is a huge place bristling with technology and gadgets all built by Jack's engineering skills, but is powered by a freakin' underground lava flow nearby. Naturally, when you've got a power source that awesome, it is only customary that your personal fortress comes equipped with lava launchers. The group prepare to merely lay a stream of the molten stuff in front of the poachers to ward them off...

... only for them to malfunction and merely dribble over the balcony. The lava flow's been cut off! Mikla deduces that it's because of Hermes tinkering wit the valves while playing with his chew toy, and indeed, the one for adjusting the lava pressure is twisted right out of alignment. There's only one solution now - to access the lava feed at the source.

Which involves literally stepping into a volcano in an armoured suit. It's ridiculous, but there's no other choice - if the lava flow is blocked then the entire garage could potentially explode. Mikla wants to know how she can help, but she's told to accompany Kirgo back at the lava launchers.

Entering the transporter platform, he's taken through a number of heavily-protected seals before finally being dropped off at the lava pressure platform, where all he's got to do is reach the console and adjust a few settings. Which, given he's in a humongously oversized suit with as much flexibility as a brick in baby oil, is easier said than done.

Things take a turn for the worse when Hammer's army begin attacking the garage with missiles, which by itself is bad, but when it causes stalactites to fall from the lava chamber ceiling and damage the walkway and shower his suit in molten lava, is doubly bad. Unable to see through the visor, Jack steps off the walkway and into the lava itself!

Blinded, confused and in a sticky situation, Hannah sees that the only solution now is to guide Jack by giving directions. The mechanic eventually makes it to the valve and can finally adjust the lava pressure, and just in time - Hammer's army have bridged the moat and are busting out the ladders!

The lava launchers now operational, Kirgo, Mikla and Mustapha lay loose with a stream of the stuff, burning the bridges and warding off the poachers. However, Hammer, Vice and Wrench managed to make it across before the bridge was burned, and squirm alongside the outer wall until they find an entrance.

Making their way into the lava launcher chamber, they hurl in a few grenades of knockout gas, rendering the three protectors unconscious. Jack and Hannah, having finally sorted the pressure issue, arrive back to witness Hammer and his brothers having taken the other three hostage! With no other option, the two of them lower their weapons...

... and summon Hermes. The Terhunes scatter, Vice and Wrench ultimately getting themselves cornered by the big lug, but Hammer uses this opportunity to steal one of Jack's Cadillacs and drive it full throttle at the beast!

... for the sole purpose of push a cage at it and trapping the slither against the wall. Look, Hammer's not the brightest bulb in the basket, just run with it.*

Jack and his chums plus Mikla are imprisoned in a chamber until Jack agrees to open the drawbridge, allowing the poachers to enter at will and pinch everything they want. Naturally, Tenrec isn't agreeing to that, so the Terhunes take Mikla with them and "torture" her until she spills the beans. Knowing that he won't give in, Hammer suggests a more entertaining way to settle the argument - send them to the lava pit!

Strapping the four of them to the inside of the transporter platform, the Terhunes (after some difficulty reading the labels) open the door to the lava chamber, and surprise surprise, Mikla accompanies them to watch the fun, having suggested this to the poachers in the first place. While she knew of the room and its function, she didn't know the correct usage protocol...

... and the seal closes before the platform goes through. The main room is meant to be sealed from the platform's tunnel to keep out the heat, and should the temperature rise too high then safety precautions will kick in - namely, a a freaking tidal wave.

Hammer, Mikla and the brothers are washed away into a drainage pipe, ending up in the moat outside. Jack, using a concealed knife, cuts his way out of the ropes and swims to the console, disabling the water pump, and all is well and merry. Hannah is not too impressed about how she wasn't informed of this plan beforehand.

Having successfully saved the garage from attack and warded off the invaders, Hannah finally gets to rub it in Jack's face about how he fell for Mikla's masquerade. He claims he knew about it from the very start and only showed her what he wanted her to know; making sure not to inform her of his safety measures. Meanwhile, Kirgo is heaving engine troubles with his boat - whatever could it be? Turns out Hermes got his chew toy wedged in there somehow. Oh, Hermes!

Written by Michael Part & Martin Pisko. Martin was one of several story editors for Cadillacs and worked on a few superhero shows, including Blackstar, Batman: The Animated Series, The Tick and Roseanne. The only Michael Part I can find is the guy who wrote A Kid In King Arthur's Court, and is also responsible for a movie about a crime-fighting cybernetic dog. I assume in their off-time Part and Pisko are also a crime fighting dynamic duo.

*I can't stress how wonky the scene is. You see what Hammer hits at Hermes for barely a second before he collides with it. This episode has some fairly nice long shots and goes out of its way to establish minor details that crop up in the story later, so this miniscule problem just bugs me.