I had a quick question about the location Penal Colony. The effect reads:

Terraform

As an additional cost to flip Penal Colony, discard a Kree character card.

Activate --> Return target character you control to the owner's hand.

Assuming I already have Penal flipped and the cost paid, can I activate the effect to avoid a possible KO effect that my opponent plays, such as Chopping Block or something similar? Even if it's not my turn?

Yes. You may use it anytime you have priority to put effects on the chain.

-Mike

Right, thank you very much!

I thought as much, but a friend and I argued over whether or not I was able to do that.

No problem. Unless there's some specific restriction you can always respond to effects with other effects.

You can't respond to costs, like exhausting Doom for Mystical is a cost. But KO'ing a character with Finishing Move is an effect.

-Mike