Seven masked gunmen claiming to be members of an environmental group called Meltdown have seized the Raleigh B Nuclear Power Plant in North Carolina, threatening to blow the reactor and release lethal radiation into the atmosphere unless their demands are met. Watching the news coverage at Fresh Air's research center, The Habitat, in Big Sur, California, Charles Sutton and Jack Hudden recognize the threat — and its potential to tar all environmental groups with the terrorist brush, including Fresh Air. Sutton urges Surfstreek to infiltrate the plant through its water intake system while the rest of Brute Force approaches overland. At FBI regional headquarters in Manhattan, Agent O'Donnell is under pressure to explain multiple incidents involving armored animals, and privately considers releasing Randall Pierce to help prove his claims about Adam Frost and Heavy Metal.
Brute Force enters the plant. Surfstreek discovers that the explosive crates are empty — the Meltdown attack is a sham. The team subdues the gunmen quickly, while Lionheart, Wreckless, Soar, and Hip Hop handle the exterior guards. Hudden radios Sutton: the explosives were fakes. But why did Meltdown stage the attack? Sutton pieces it together — the plant is owned by Multicorp, and the attack was designed to discredit the entire environmental movement.
Meanwhile, aboard the Armadillo — Heavy Metal's giant armored transport — Frost berates his team for their repeated failures and resolves to take personal control. He instructs his assistant Jennings to alert the FBI and fly them to California, intending to silence the captured Meltdown terrorist before he can testify. At the Habitat, Brute Force interrogates a Meltdown member with Lionheart's help, extracting a full confession: Frost orchestrated the attack. Agent O'Donnell, now persuaded, secures Pierce's release and flies with him to Big Sur.
Heavy Metal attacks the Habitat. Frost, arriving by boat with armed men, intends to abduct the Meltdown member and eliminate the evidence. Brute Force engages Heavy Metal on the beach in a fierce rematch — this time with better coordination. Sutton's training has sharpened the team's tactics: they execute a hit-and-run strategy, swap opponents mid-battle, and exploit Heavy Metal's weaknesses. Soar removes Uproar's neuro-enhancer helmet, stripping him of his intelligence. Armory is finally taken down by Hip Hop. Lionheart, driven berserk by his instinctive hatred of water, nearly kills Uproar — but pulls back at the last moment, mastering himself. Surfstreek defeats Bloodbath alone. Tailgunner and Ramrod are dispatched by Wreckless and Hip Hop working in tandem.
With Heavy Metal defeated, Frost attempts to escape with his men and the captive terrorist. Pierce, newly freed and arriving on the scene, confronts him directly — and Lionheart's roar sends Frost's guards running. Soar prevents Frost from shooting the terrorist. O'Donnell arrives by helicopter and places Frost under arrest. Frost's own scheme has backfired: the Meltdown stunt, financed by Multicorp as a publicity ploy, has provided the very evidence needed to destroy him.
In the aftermath, Hudden — now a convert — offers Brute Force the use of the Habitat as a permanent base of operations. Pierce and Sutton reunite, and the series ends on a note of cautious optimism: with Frost in custody and a whole planet left to clean up, Brute Force's work is just beginning.
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