- Alan has a dilemma as he has been offered a job in America and feels guilty about taking Maria away from her mother and friends. Maria, however, is busy helping Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde investigate strange lights coming from the Tycho radio tower. They discover that Kaagh, the last survivor of an invasion of Earth by the Sontaran race, is planning his revenge and has taken over Professor Skinner and his computer,the plan being to bring down Earth's satellites onto nuclear power stations worldwide and cause an explosion. The professor's daughter helps them to escape the building and get out into the woods.—don @ minifie-1
- In the attic of 13 Bannerman Road, Sarah Jane Smith and Maria Jackson enjoy time watching the stars and reminiscing on their encounters with aliens since Maria's move to Bannerman Road. Across the country in a remote place called Goblin's Copse, astronomer Nicholas Skinner and his teenage daughter, Lucy, are operating a radio telescope to observe Rigel Beta V when the signal is disrupted, and strange noises come from outside. They go out to investigate, and see two glowing orbs flying around the telescope. Professor Skinner chases them when they fly into the woods, and Lucy runs after him into the night. However, Lucy loses her father, and hears something following her. She turns to see what it is, and screams.
The next morning, Maria finds a letter for her dad, Alan, in the post. It's a response to his job request and he is nervous about the reply, but Maria reminds him that after all the strange things they've seen and fought, a job can't change their lives much in comparison. Nevertheless, Alan is shocked by the result. At Sarah Jane's house, she finds her son, Luke Smith, and their friend, Clyde Langer, using Mr. Smith, her recently rebooted alien super-computer, as a glorified gaming console to "demonstrate battle strategies" for a homework assignment. She borrows Mr. Smith to ask him about reports of recent UFO sightings in Goblin's Copse. Mr. Smith has not detected any alien activity, but Sarah Jane decides to drive out to see if there is a story anyway. Across the street, Maria and Alan are reviewing the job offer Alan has received. Maria says it's a great opportunity, but Alan tells her the decision cannot be taken lightly, as it will mean the end of her adventures with her friends. She joins Sarah Jane and the boys to go to Goblin's Copse, finding the Tycho Project Radio Telescope deep in the country. The building is a large bunker, leftover from a Cold War listening station, and was designed to try and find friendly life in outer space. They enter, watched from the shadows by a rough skinned, three-fingered alien. They find the listening post deserted as if the inhabitants dropped everything and left. Luke hacks into the computer and finds the telescope in position to observe Rigel Beta V, and find the interference logged as well. Lucy suddenly runs inside and collapses after warning them about something in the woods. They revive her, and she explains what happened the other night. She fell and hit her head after being chased through the woods by something she couldn't see, and worries whatever it is may have taken her father. Clyde, who has an instant crush on Lucy, volunteers himself and Luke to try and find the professor. Sarah Jane reluctantly lets them go, but forbids them to go into the woods before they find out what they are dealing with. They agree, but upon finding no sign of Skinner on the telescope grounds, Clyde decides to nose around the edge of the woods, just in case, and Luke reluctantly follows. All the time, the alien is watching them, before turning invisible and stalking them.
After Lucy falls asleep, Sarah Jane finds Maria sadly contemplating at the observation control station. Maria asks if they should contact the police, though Sarah Jane suspects they would be out of their depth. She has also been picking up signs that Maria is worried about something, and Maria tells her that Alan has been offered a new job, one that would require them to move to America. Sarah Jane reacts somewhat coldly to the news, trying to imply that Maria should go, though Maria is upset at the prospect of having to leave behind her, Luke, Clyde, and the life she's been leading over the past year. Meanwhile, Alan tells Chrissie, Maria's mum, the news. Chrissie is obviously not pleased at the idea of her daughter moving so far away, though Alan says the decision is Maria's, since she has the most the give up.
Clyde and Luke are deep in the forest, lost, and Clyde is not enjoying it. Luke points out it could have been avoided if they had not gone in as per Sarah Jane's instructions, but suddenly they hear a twig snap as they hair on the back of their necks begins to stand on end. Clyde things it is because they are freaked out, but Luke suggests it's because of a nearby energy field. Sure enough, a distorted, invisible shape appears in front of them. After studying them for a moment, the creature deactivates it's cloaking field and draws a gun. The boys bolt, and the heavily armored alien runs after them. They manage to lose it by hiding under a brush pile, and try to find a way out of the woods. Clyde runs into another cloaked object, this one large and round.
Lucy wakes up and goes frantic again worrying about her dad, but Sarah Jane calms her and asks her to explain the things she saw last night. With Lucy's description, Sarah Jane concludes that the glowing orbs were alien drones. Just then, Professor Skinner walks in. He shows almost no emotion at reuniting with his daughter, and claims there is nothing in the woods but Lucy's imagination. He asks Sarah Jane and Maria to leave, and they do, but Maria points out that Skinner was definitely not himself. They get a call from Luke, and go to investigate. Inside, Lucy find's Skinner working on accessing satellites. When she asks him about it, he menacingly approaches her.
Sarah Jane and Maria drive down the road and meet Luke and Clyde at the edge of the forest. Though initially upset at them ignoring her instructions, she has them show her the cloaked object. She uses the sonic lipstick to make it visible, and upon seeing it, orders everyone to return to the car, and says they are out of their depth and must call in UNIT to handle the situation. The kids are confused at this, since Sarah Jane has never wanted to call in the military, and Sarah Jane anxiously explains that the object is a Sontaran space pod. She tells them that Sontarans are incredibly dangerous, as she knows from two previous encounters that she narrowly escaped from. Before they can leave the area, the Sontaran finds them and holds them as gunpoint. He introduces himself as Commander Kaagh the Slayer, though he soon intends to be called Kaagh the Avenger. He reveals it was he who sent the drones last night to lure the Skinners out of the radio telescope. Maria tricks Kaagh into a distraction long enough for the group to separate and make a break for it. Kaagh chases Luke and Maria, firing at them, but them manage to lose him. Sarah Jane and Clyde decide to go back to the telescope to check on Lucy and her father, and find him hacking into satellites in orbit around the world. They find a small device attached to his neck, a mind-control device. Before Sarah Jane can deactivate it, Kaagh appears, having anticipated their return. Outside, Maria has also deduced Sarah Jane and Clyde would come back, and Kaagh behind them. They find a secret way into the old bunker and watch from a ventilation shaft. Kaagh does not kill his prisoners, intrigued at Sarah Jane's apparent knowledge of the Sontaran race. Sarah Jane demonstrates she knows both the past and future of the warfarring species, and questions Kaagh about his intentions. He tells them he is the only surviving member of the 10th Sontaran Battle Fleet, a force that recently tried to take over Earth using the cars to release nerve gas, and Sarah Jane realizes the Sontarans were behind ATMOS. However, the gas was neutralized and the Sontarans defeated by the Doctor. When the mothership was destroyed, Kaagh's pod was damaged and he was injured and stranded on earth. After some time, he repaired his ship and set out to gain revenge. Sarah Jane warns Kaagh that the Doctor is her friend, though he merely uses this as an excuse to take Sarah Jane back to Sontar to suffer in the Doctor's stead. He used his special training to operate on earth in secret until the time came to take his revenge. Now he plans to guide the orbital satellites into nuclear power stations to set off a chain reaction and vaporize all life on earth, with this, he and his dead fleet will be redeemed for their failure at the hands of the Doctor. In forty-five minutes, the alignment will be complete. In the meantime, Kaagh plans to use Clyde in experiments to expand his knowledge of young humans. Sarah Jane steps in to defend him, and in retaliation, Kaagh shoots her.
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