i was playing a 30k sector beta game, and this happened:

1.) i am comish'd and in a comish'd ship
2.) i am hiding at terra, waiting on the colonizer that is not fedsafe, i plan to attack
3.) the blue colonizer arrives, i take my shot, pod him and i go red.
4.) i mac back, deep into my home base to upgrade the ports and go comish again
5.) a few seconds later Zyrain shows up, adjacent and in my bubble
6.) Zyrain had to go thru my gate defences to get me.
7.) i have not finished upgrading my alignment
8.) Zyrain ptorps me and destroys my commish ship
9.) that he was there at all is a complete mystery... i have gone blue to red before and if i get hit it is in fed or open space.
10.) i did not loose any turns in the process

I have the pertinent screen cap that shows the above.

He doesnt care about your figs...Do an exit enter or move in or out of a sector and he can get u.

I have gotten away with it for 2 sector but never 3.

You need to move via planet if u want a red ISS

This is not unusual.

Zyrain is immune to game defenses. He has never had to move
thru them. While other feds can be locked in by figs, Zyrain can't
be.

If you are in a commish ship, then go negative, Zyrain will come
take your ship. He doesn't actually ptorp you, there's just some
in-game text about the experience and you end up podded. You
never lose turns from it. This is why you want to drop figs and
xport out ASAP, fix your align, then come back.

The actual check is triggered on sector entry. So if you move,
or exit-enter, or leave the game in a cit then lift, stuff like that,
he'll come and take your ship. Usually you get a warning first,
then he comes second. He does this regardless of sector, fed or
your base, doesn't matter at all. Zyrain has no limitations,
restrictions, he cannot be killed, cannot be podded, cannot be
stopped by cannons or base defense, and he can pass thru figs
at will without triggering any kind of fig message.

no wonder i like this game... been at it off and on since 1994.
"New things happen even now"
thanks for the explanation guys.

cc bee... out