2-18 Opening
Big Steve
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2019
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Teaser
There was a moment of quiet in the Torchwood testing range.
The quiet ended when Lucy's left hand shot out. An object that Jackie Tyler and Yvonne Hartman mentally filed under "flashlight" flew through the air… and into the extended right hand of Meridina. An electronic snap-hiss filled the air and a shining blade of blue light surged from the object, matching the one in Lucy Lucero's right hand. She dashed forward as the Cybermen opened fire. Pale red energy zipped through the air at a speed no Human could conceivably evade or deflect.
But that is precisely what Lucy and Meridina did. Their blue blades moved in blurs of light that intercepted the energy blasts and sent them back toward the Cybermen. One hit the leg of one of the robots directly, causing red light to flicker over the limb and leave the metal blackened.
A blast of energy struck the Cyberman a moment later, courtesy of the weapon in Yvonne Hartman's hands. Another Cyberman moved up to the gap, revealing that there were more on the other side of the wall. When it tried to shoot her, Lucy's lightsaber sent the pale red light back into the Cyberman's head. It collapsed.
And then Lucy and Meridina were in range of the line of Cybermen. Their lightsabers cleaved through the metal skin on their foes easily. Severed limbs hit the floor. Sparks came to the air from the moments when the lightsabers were making contact with the electrical systems within the armored beings.
We will fight our way through here, Meridina informed the others telepathically. Get Captain Dale to safety!
Jackie's eyes widened. "How did they…"
"She has mental powers." Yvonne stood and motioned to Robert, still on the ground and looking completely disorientated. "Help him up."
Jackie took a moment to work the confusion out of her response before nodding and helping Robert to his feet. Pain filled his green eyes and his hand was over his forehead, as if that could banish his pain. "C'mon, now," Jackie urged him. "We've got to go."
Her voice helped Robert to push through the terrifying image in his head. A future was forming, a future where something of incalculable malevolence was free to destroy as it desired. Something worse than the Daleks themselves. He took control of his own walking by the time they got to the door.
Behind them, the buzz of lightsabers and the electric spurts of Cybermen weapons fire continued.
The Doctor stood in the door of the Sphere Chamber, hands in pockets and looking fairly nonchalant about things despite facing down four angry Daleks. He was wearing his pair of cheap-looking 3D glasses. With measured movements he casually strolled toward them.
"Alert!" shrieked one of the Daleks. "You are the Doctor!"
The Doctor kept moving toward them without a word.
"Sensors report he is unarmed," stated one Dalek.
"That's me, always," the Doctor said happily.
"Then he is powerless," insisted the lead, black-armored Dalek.
"Not me, never." The Doctor yanked his glasses and looked at Rose. "How are you?"
"Oh, same old. As always," Rose said cheerfully.
"Good. Cat?" he asked next, looking to Caterina.
She was still pale with fear, a fear that was starting to subside. "Oh, I'm… I'm fine."
"Hrm, you look like you need some more color to your cheeks. I'll have to fix that for you." The Doctor now seemed to notice Mickey. "And Mickety-Mick-Mickey! Nice to see you!"
"And you, boss," Mickey answered, smiling and accepting the Doctor's proferred fist bump.
One of the gold Daleks declared, "Social interactions will cease!"
The lead Dalek asked, "How did you survive the Time War?"
"By fighting," the Doctor answered. "On the front line. I was at the Fall of Arcadia. Some day I might even come to terms with that." He grinned at the Daleks and added, "But you lot ran away!"
"We had to survive," the lead Dalek answered defensively.
"And now here you are, the last four Daleks in existence." The Doctor spun around, looking at them. "What's so special about you?"
Rose quickly offered, "Doctor, they've got names. They're… not supposed to have names, right?"
"Normally not." The Doctor looked at them with interest.
"I am Dalek Thay," one gold one stated.
"Dalek Sec," said the leader.
"Dalek Jast."
"Dalek Caan."
"Oh." The Doctor's smile was strangely giddy. "We meet at last. The Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."
"Who are they?" asked Rose.
The Doctor stepped away to walk around the Genesis Ark, looking at each Dalek in turn. "A secret order. Above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their task was to imagine. To think like the enemy thinks. Even dare to have names." The Doctor stared down Thay and then Caan. "All to find new ways of killing," he added in disgust. "So, what's this here?" He indicated the Ark. "What are you doing? What's this for?"
"They say it's Time Lord," Caterina said. "Don't you know?"
"Never seen this before in my life," the Doctor said.
Mickey asked, "But it's Time Lord stuff. Shouldn't you know what it is?"
The Doctor's face betrayed grim thoughts. "Both sides had their secrets." He faced the nearest Dalek again. "So, what's it for?"
"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy!"
"What does that mean? What Time Lord science? What do you mean?!" the Doctor demanded.
Rose stepped up behind him. "They say one touch from a time traveler will wake it up."
"Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do." The Doctor nearly sneered. "Touch." He turned to face the nearest Dalek and brought his face right up to its electronic eye. "Sealed inside your casing, never feeling anything. Ever. From birth to death, locked inside a metal cage. Completely alone. That explains your voice. It's no wonder you scream."
Cat nearly shivered. Not at the Daleks, but at the sheer contempt dripping from the Doctor's voice. She hadn't imagined him capable of it.
"The Doctor will open the Ark!"
The Doctor laughed at that. "The Doctor will not," he said jovially, stepping away.
"You are powerless to resist."
At that he tilted his head, as if nearly surrendering the point. "Oh, you've got me there. Although…" He dug into his suit jacket and pulled out his blue-tipped device. "I always have this."
"A sonic probe?" Sec asked contemptuously.
"That's screwdriver," the Doctor corrected.
"It is harmless."
"You're right. That's what I like about it. It doesn't killl, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But there's one thing it does very, very well." He tossed it from his left hand to his right and held it vertically. "It's very good at opening doors." He activated it, causing the blue-tipped head to light up.
Thunderous explosions filled the Sphere Chamber.
In the Aurora medbay Leo lowered his forearm. Doctor Lumenaram stepped up beside him. "What are you doing?" he asked in a low voice.
"What I have to," Leo responded.
Lumenaram's eyes met Leo's. He didn't have to ask what Leo meant by that. He could tell. Rather than continue the conversation, Lumenaram stepped away. This allowed Leo to continue his work. He knew the others would get here eventually, but he had no way of knowing how close they were, if they were tied up in fights in other critical areas or if they'd already taken numerous casualties… any possible reason that might see their relief delayed.
Leo's eyes scanned his patients. Some of them were going to die if they didn't get sufficient care soon. And all of them were faced with being fed into a machine and turned into another tromping robot. The eyes of those conscious sometimes came his way, as did those of his nurses and other doctors. They were trapped in the same circumstances he was, but as the head of the medbay, he felt responsible to them. He didn't think he could stand letting one of them be taken.
A final button press confirmed what he needed to do. It had taken every bit of Leo's ingenuity and passing familiarity with computer systems to make his solution possible. But it was all he could do in the situation, and he hoped and prayed it would accomplish the task.
The Cyberleader emerged from the OR. "The cyber conversion chamber is ready to begin emergency upgrading. Commence upgrades immediately."
The Cybermen in the medbay began to seize some of the wounded and nurses. The latter fought back where possible. Nasri looked ready to see her own arm pulled off rather than go, forcing the Cyberman holding her to drag her. A look of utter despair now appeared on her face, despair and, Leo realized with horror, recollection. She had been taken against her will in her homeland in Darfur as well. The Cybermen were not repeating that violation, but they would impose another, more total violation of her very being.
The others were out of time. He had to act. Leo stepped up to the OR entrance. The Cyberleader faced him. "We can't stop you, can we?"
"Upgrading will commence. Hostile elements will be deleted."
"Alright." Leo sighed in resignation. He took in an extra breath and made his choice. "I'm the Chief Medical Officer of this ship and thus the head of the medbay. If someone's going into that machine first, it's going to be me."
"Doctor, no!" shouted Nasri.
Leo looked to her and shook his head. "I'll go first. It should be me." He swallowed and steeled himself. It was likely he would only have a second to do what he had to.
"No," said another voice.
Leo turned his head in time to see Doctor Lumenaram approach the entrance to the OR. "I will go," he said. "I am not Human. You should know if your upgrading process will work on me first. You may have to reconfigure the device."
"We have already accounted for your species," stated the Cyberleader.
"Maybe, but that's assuming you can account for all possibilities," Lumenaram stated. "If there is an unforeseen element you did not calculate, all of your work will be for nothing. You will have to rebuild your chamber."
The Cyberleader seemed to consider this. Ultimately it said, "It is irrelevant which order is taken."
Leo and Lumenaram both went for the door. Leo would have likely made it first had not Doctor Singh reached out and grabbed him. "Your turn will come later," she whispered to Leo.
"Dammit," Leo hissed back, but it was too late.
Lumenaram stepped into the OR. For several moments there was nothing. They didn't see him reaching for his omnitool, having done the same thing Leo did to its settings.
There was a bright burst of light from the OR joined by the roar of an explosion. It was not a major explosion. It didn't rattle the deck. It didn't knock anyone over.
But the effect was clear a moment later when a Cyberman emerged from the OR. "The cyber-convertor has been sabotaged," it said.
"Commence repairs immediately," answered the Cyberleader.
"You know, some of these patients won't make it that long," Leo said to him. "If you want them to survive long enough for upgrade, I need to treat them."
"You will be watched," the Cyberleader stated.
"I hope so," Leo replied with a grim expression on his face. "Maybe you'll learn what compassion is."
In Engineering the Cybermen fired another volley into the forcefield surrounding main control. "The shield is down to fifteen percent," Yi said.
"Tom, how're ye comin' on that plan o' yer's?" Scott asked Barnes.
Barnes looked up from his controls. "I've got everything I need done on this end, I'm just waiting for Jarod to get transporter control."
Scott nodded. And as he did, he got an idea. "Lads an' lasses, we're goin' t' reinforce that field an' buy time for th' others. Use yer omni-tools an' siphon power for th' field."
"Aye sir," a number of them replied.
Ensign Yi gave Scotty an uncomfortable look. "But sir, that's not possible, omnitools aren't designed to…"
"Ye just keep readin' those numbers off, lad, let me worry about what I can or cannae do," retorted Scotty.
Yi saw the intensity in the old engineer's face and swallowed, returning his attention to the display. "Field is now at thirteen percent…"
Between sealed off sections of the ship, Cybermen concentrations, and other battle damage, the closest Transporter Station that Jarod and his escort could find was Station 4. A pair of Cybermen were outside the door. Lieutenant Seldayiv raised her rifle and fired, hitting one directly and causing it to fall. Her initial volley also grazed the arm of the other.
It brought up its weapon to fire. Before it could Jarod's omnitool became active and he held it forward. Orange light surged from it and exploded into flames when it struck the chest of the Cyberman. The Cyberman lost its balance and stumbled partially. Seldayiv followed the movement with her rifle and put the robot down with her second volley.
They entered the room together. Again Seldayiv's gun barked out, joined by Jarod's pistol They caught the two Cybermen watching the inside and mowed them both down.
Jarod went for the transporter controls immediately. They were completely offline, unfortunately, and he saw why when he reached down and pulled the cover off the interior. "The console was damaged by the disruption event," he said to Seldayiv. "I'll need some time."
Seldayiv crouched beside him and kept her rifle ready. Jarod returned his attention to the damaged console. His omnitool came back on fully, both the main body around his left forearm and a modular element over his hand. Said modular element activated and he started applying it inside of the console to fix up the internal parts.
The thunder and power of the explosions that blasted open the Sphere Chamber was only the start. A second after the explosions cleared Humans in black combat suits entered alongside Cybermen, who called out, "Delete! Delete!" Some opened up with assault rifles, the Cybermen and others were firing energy weapons. The lightning-like beams started striking the Daleks.
Energy started surging over Dalek Caan. who shook. "Alert! Casing impaired! Casing impaired!"
"Firepower insufficient!"
The Doctor shouted, "Rose, Cat, run!" Rose scrambled away at that before stumbling close to the Genesis Ark, nearly touching it in the process. A dark-suited man with a balding head moved in and helped her up. She stared at him in shock. Caterina and the Doctor followed.
"Mickey!" Rose shouted as they got to the door.
Mickey was in the process of reclaiming his weapon. Dalek Sec's voice echoed in the Sphere Chamber. "Adapt to weaponry! Firepower restored!" An energy blast claimed one of the Cybermen.
Mickey got past the Daleks as and the Genesis Ark. As he tried to slip around the last Cyberman it turned suddenly. Its arm smacked into Mickey and sent him falling backward. His hands flailed and his right hand moved back in an attempt to find something to hold himself against.
Something like the Genesis Ark.
Mickey realized a moment later what he'd done. It was too late to do anything about it, however, and he scrambled back to his feet and continued running to join the others. He didn't have time to pay heed to the glowing red imprint of his hand left on the Ark, or the steam now coming from the openings in the bottom.
By the time he reached the door, the other fighters had as well. Only the Cybermen remained behind. As the Humans treated Dalek Sec's order of "Cybermen are primary target!" followed behind.
While Mickey stared at his right hand in frustration, Cat asked the man in the black suit, "Who are you?"
"Pete Tyler," he answered.
"He's a parallel version of my Dad," Rose explained. "So are the others."
The Doctor finished closing the blast door to the Sphere Chamber with the help of the sonic screwdriver. "Jake, secure the stairwell! Everyone else with me!" When he took off running, everyone followed save the armed men.
Mickey finally found the breath to say, "I just fell, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"Mickey, without us they'd have forced the Ark open anyway," the Doctor said. "And to do it they'd have blown up the sun. You've done us a favor." He gave Mickey a peck of a kiss on the forehead. "Now run!"
In the Sphere Chamber, the last Cyberman fell to the Cult of Skaro's energy blasts. "The Cybermen are exterminated! Daleks are supreme!"
"Genesis Ark is primed," stated Dalek Thay.
"The Genesis Ark requires an area of thirty square miles," said Sec. "Move."
As they began to do so, Dalek Jast added, "Genesis Ark mobile."
On one of the floors above them, the sounds of Cybermen energy blasts were matched by the buzz of energy blades. Lucy and Meridina moved side-by-side, guiding their blades to intercept the shots coming for them to deflect them back into those firing said shots. As they had done before, the two closed the distance and sliced through the Cybermen until the entire squad had become a number of disembodied pieces on the floor. Neither lost sight of the fact that these were human beings enslaved inside of robotic bodies. "We've got to stop this," Lucy insisted.
"The machine they use to hack up Human beings is nearby," said Meridina. "I know the way."
As they continued through the white corridors, Meridina asked, "Why did you come down instead of helping to secure the ship?"
"Because I sensed you would need me," she said. "That something horrible would happen if I didn't."
"I see." Meridina accepted that argument. "What you have sensed… it is dark, isn't it?"
"And bad. Dripping with evil bad." Lucy glanced at Meridina as they rounded a corner. "And I don't know if it's any of the Cybermen."
"There are also Daleks," Meridina said.
Lucy stopped for a moment. "What?!" she demanded. "Holy crap, those things?! How many?"
"Four according to the others. "
"Four too many."
Before the conversation could continue they arrived at the renovation site the Cybermen were using. Screams echoed from within the plastic.
The two began cutting right through. They got to the opening just as the Cybermen were about to feed a young woman into the machine. She screamed as she was brought to the threshold of the machine by a pair of Cybermen.
Meridina threw her lightsaber and guided it. The blade spun in the air and sliced through their necks before returning to Meridina's hand. They collapsed, freeing the woman. Lucy's weapon deflected shots from two more Cybermen with a line of prisoners back into them. She, and a line of other prisoners, ran to get away.
Other Cybermen emerged from around the machine. "Hostile elements will be deleted."
"I'll wreck that thing if you can hold them," Lucy said.
"Agreed."
While Meridina's defensive techniques held the Cybermen off, Lucy ventured to the opening of the conversion machine. Multiple robotic arms approached, ready to weld metal to her body. Lucy's lightsaber was a blur, slicing the arms as they approached. Restraint devices came next and were thwarted in the same fashion. With the rest of the machinery out of reach of her blade Lucy switched to using her life force power, namely by gripping parts and ripping them from the chamber. Sparks flew and metal shrieked.
When she was done, all that was left was debris.
Yvonne led Jackie and Robert to the stairwell leading through Torchwood Tower's floors. Robert's attack had ended, or at least subsided enough he was functional. "The Doctor and the others must have attacked the Sphere Chamber," Yvonne was saying. "Are you alright?"
"Feeling better," Robert said, and it was mostly true. He was even starting to regain his abilities to a degree, even if they still seemed to thrum with anxiety. "I don't think…"
From below there was metallic thumping. Yvonne stopped, prompting everyone to do the same, and the squad of Cybermen moving up the staircase was noticed. Robert said, "This way" and went back up the steps to the door.
This led them into the halls of the Tower. They ran to escape any detection from the Cybermen.
That didn't quite work, given two Cybermen met them in the hall. They raised weapons and demanded, "You will be taken for upgrade."
In the fear of the moment Jackie forgot the device with her. "No! Please don't, you can't…"
Yvonne didn't. An energy blast from her particle gun blew apart one of the Cybermen… while a shot from behind claimed the other.
The smoke cleared to the sight of the Doctor, with Rose, Caterina, Mickey, and a balding man nearing middle-age with an energy rifle similar to the one Robert had intended to carry.
Jackie stared in surprise at the figure. "Pete?" she asked, incredulous.
Pete Tyler nodded. "Hey, Jacks."
"I said I wanted to believe in ghosts, but that's not fair…"
While the two conversed Robert rushed up to hug Caterina. He could sense her terror and fear was still strong… and he didn't mind admitting, "I was afraid we'd lost you" at the embrace. "I could never have faced Angel again if you'd been killed."
"It's them," she squeaked. "It's the Daleks again…"
"I know."
"They… they want something from me," Caterina continued. "It's something bad, I know it!"
In the background, Jackie was apparently indecisive about the matter of the alternate timeline version of her husband having wealth, with an exchange of "'Rich'. 'That doesn't matter… how rich?' 'Very'. 'It doesn't matter… how very?'"
Yvonne stepped up to the Doctor and Mickey. "You're Samuel, right?" she asked. "What happened to Rajesh?"
"The Daleks killed him," Mickey informed her somberly. "And the name's actually Mickey, ma'am. Mickey Smith."
"Oh?" Yvonne curled her forehead. "That name sounds familiar."
"I came from the parallel world to fight the Cybermen, but I'm originally from this world."
"He's Rose's ex-boyfriend," the Doctor clarified.
Mickey gave him a resigned look. "I really hate that 'ex' part there."
"Ha." Yvonne chuckled bitterly. "Well, you did quite well infiltrating my organization, Mister Smith. Between you and the Cybermen, I have to wonder how many other agents have infiltrated Torchwood."
"Well, we had the advantage of coming from the Torchwood in the other world," Mickey explained. "They have the breach there too."
"And your traveling around is going to ruin both worlds," the Doctor said. "Which is why we have to close it, and why I need everyone to come with me now."
The Doctor led them down toward a stairwell. As the group walked, Pete looked at Yvonne and blinked. "Yvonne Hartman?" he asked. "It's really you, isn't it?"
"It is," she replied. "I take it you know of my counterpart on your world?"
"She's hard to miss," Pete said. "My world's Yvonne Hartman is the Home Secretary. Everyone thought it strange that she got a Cabinet post."
"Oh?"
"She's the first avowed monarchist to hold a Cabinet post in the Republic in decades," Pete explained.
"I can't imagine myself a poli-..." Yvonne stopped and looked at him again. "Wait, Republic?"
Leo finished securing one of the critical cases in the medbay and moved on to the next casualty. Doctor Singh arrived at the same time he did. "Why did you stop me?" he asked Singh.
"Because Lumenaram would have punched you senseless," Singh answered. "He was determined that you be protected."
"Why?" Leo asked, almost demanded given the tone of his voice. "He's just as good a physician."
"He is… was… also a believer, Doctor. He believed in what the Gersallians call the Prophecy of the Dawn. And that you had to be protected." Singh checked the patient's vitals.
Leo, in turn, checked the scan results on the specific problem. "Dammit," was all Leo could say to Singh's explanation. "I'm still going in next," Leo insisted. "I'll do the same thing. It was my plan."
"We all had it. But I suspect our captors have adapted to it."
"Probably," Leo agreed. "We have to leave this to the others. I just hope they hurry."
"Field down to five percent, cohesion failing!"
Ensign Yi's voice betrayed just a little bit of fear at that report. "The system is taking from the omnitools all it can, but the enemy fire is too much," he added. Indeed, to him it seemed like the number of Cybermen had increased.
"Tom, are we ready?" Scotty asked. "We cannae hold 'em much longer, lad!"
Barnes looked up from the console. "We're all ready on this end, this is down to Jarod." He tapped his omnitool comm button. "Barnes to Jarod. C"mon, buddy, tell me you've got that Pretender magic going!"
"Working on it!"
Jarod was indeed working on it. And being a savant, while it had many advantages, did little to deal with the physical limitations of burnt out circuits or how many of them could be switched out and fixed or bypassed with the help of an omnitool.
Worst of all, the Cybermen were onto them. The door swished open again and several more entered, firing as they came in. Seldayiv had to duck behind cover before returning fire, taking out one. Jarod was forced to stop working and shoot another before it got a shot off at him. The WHOM WHOM WHOM of pulse fire was further distracting. "Jarod to Richmond. Have you been able to get me any help?"
"Unfortunately, no, Commander. I sent Teams D and N toward your position, but they're busy keeping a concentration of Cybermen from reaching you. I've got nothing else. You and Seldayiv are on your own."
"Right," Jarod grumbled before getting back to work. "Why do people think that because I'm a genius I can do anything?"
"Because you seem to be capable of that, sir," Seldayiv said in an honest tone.
"Don't remind me," Jarod grumbled while working to repair another circuit he couldn't replace.
The pile of Cybermen in the room had become impressive. Another stepped over some of said pile and reached for the table. Angel popped up and shot it point blank. "Two percent," she noted. "This is probably my last shot. Maybe one or two more. These things get unpredictable on low battery charges."
Julia nodded before popping off what quickly proved to be her last shot. "Well, that's it for me."
"Delete! Delete!" came the Cybermen response.
"Maybe if we rush them, we can get through to another lift," Angel proposed. "There can't be that many left."
"And what about you?"
"I'll limp along. Draw their fire."
"They'll mow you down in an instant, sir," al-Rashad pointed out.
"Then I guess we're down to prayers."
"I doubt Allah listens to me much," al-Rashad stated. "I am agnostic."
"But doesn't that mean you don't believe in God?" asked Angel.
"It means I don't think the existence of the divine can be proven," al-Rashad corrected. "I'm a scientist after all. Proof is something we like to see on these matters."
Angel looked at her with curiosity. "I'd think that would make you an atheist."
"I'm not more an atheist than your sister," al-Rashad guffawed. "Besides, I can't ignore the possibilities of the supernatural when my Captain can throw giant gene-engineered soldiers around a circle with the power of his life force."
"Yeah, I suppose…"
"Shhh!"
Julia's shushing made them go quiet. Doing so immediately revealed why she wanted the quiet. "I don't hear them," said al-Rashad.
"Maybe we got them all?"
The door slid open again. Even though her pistol was dead, Julia still turned it toward the door… before lowered it. "What the… Hargert?!"
The old cook had a pulse gun in his hand. He smiled at them, as did others the three recognized: Albert, Olujwe, and Hasters. Each was also armed.
"You should be with the other civilians," Julia charged, although there was little heat in her voice and some barely-constrained joy.
"We heard what these 'Cybermen' want to do, Fraulein," Hargert answered. "Aboard Aurora right now, there are no civilians. We must all fight to save ourselves from these tin monsters."
"Did you fight your way to the bridge?" asked Angel.
"Partly. We had assistance from other crew on the other decks," Hargert said. He noticed Angel trying to stand and frowned. "Lieutenant, you need medical attention."
"I need to get back to my station," Angel growled. "Besides, these assholes hold the medbay."
Olujwe stepped up. "I have medic training."
"Do what you can," Julia ordered. SHe looked to Hargert again and said, "Thank you, everyone. If you wouldn't mind staying here until we get this situation resolved?"
"We are your disposal, Commander," Hargert pledged.
In Transporter Station 4, Seldayiv fired off another volley. "I'm on my last charge clip," she warned Jarod.
"Almost done…"
Barnes' voice came back over the radio. "Jarod, you've got maybe ten seconds!"
"Not helping!" Jarod shot back while using his omnitool's built-in hardlight machinery to repair the last circuit vital to their plan. He watched his work carefully to keep from any slip, since such a slip would require even more time to fix. He wanted nothing more than to move, to stretch his legs or shift his arm, but even the slightest movement could cause just such a disastrous slip. "Almost there…"
In Main Engineering, the forcefield around the main controls collapsed.
The Cybermen kept their weapon arms up. "You will be taken for upgrade," one announced.
"Jarod…" Barnes said through clenched teeth. The Cybermen started to move toward them to seize the engineers.
"...we're out of fracking time, man!"
As Barnes made that announcement, Jarod finished the circuit repair. He quickly stood up and made absolutely sure he was done by hitting a key. "Now Tom!" he shouted into the comm link.
Ensign Yi shouted and tried to pull away, to no avail, as a Cyberman grabbed him.
Barnes, meanwhile, input the final commands into his console as soon as he confirmed Jarod's success. He quickly hit a number of keys, culminating with a final activation press.
Half of the Cybermen in Engineering disappeared in bursts of white light.
"Yes!" Barnes crowed, already inputting new commands. "Suck vacuum, you fracking toasters!"
The remaining Cybermen all started to point their weapon arms at him, but they were too late. With another button press they too were swept off the ship.
"There ye go, lad! Brilliant!" Scott stepped up beside him. "Where are ye beamin' th' scunners too?"
"Low orbit," Barnes replied, still busy at the controls. "They can suck vacuum until they make re-entry."
Leo sighed with resignation after another Cyberman emerged from the OR. "Repairs complete," it said. "Ready to commence upgrades."
"Any further sabotage will result in immediate deletion of the personnel in this facility," the Cyberleader warned them all.
Leo swallowed at that. No matter what happened, his people would die. But at least we don't be slaves, he thought to himself as he stepped forward. "Then I'll go first," he said.
The Cyberleader considered him. He raised his arm. "Take this personnel first."
There was a cry as one of the Cybermen grabbed Nasri and pulled her away. "No! God no!" she cried.
A curse in Punjabi came from Doctor Singh. "If you must take one of us, take me first you tin-plated…" Leo didn't recognize the word that came afterward, but could guess it was a nasty one to come from the Sikh doctor.
Leo's muscles tensed. He was prepared to charge ahead and rush into the door just before Nasri got there, if only he could slip past the Cybermen…
He took his first step while, around his forearm, his omnitool appeared, ready for him to give the final command for the overload that would turn it into a bomb.
Unfortunately the Cybermen were ready. The Cyberleader stepped up and grabbed Leo by the arm, hard enough to nearly crush bone. Leo cried out in pain. "No!" he shouted. "Nasri!"
"Please, no! Don't do this to me!" Nasri struggled in vain against the robot.
And then white light whisked away her captor. Nasri stumbled to her knees and looked up, wide-eyed and surprised.
"Warning, warning, unknown effect is removing Cybermen. All units, prepare…" Before the Cyberleader could finish, it too was whisked away, causing Leo to nearly lose his balance. His left arm hurt from the grip that had now disappeared.
Within seconds, all of the Cybermen in the medbay were gone.
Jarod would have gotten shot by the Cybermen in the next moment if not for Seldayiv. She jumped at him and knocked him to the floor. In the process her rifle was knocked loose and clambered just out of reach.
"Delete," another incoming Cyberman stated. "Delete!" It swung its weapon arm to bear on them. Jarod tried to scramble to get his omnitool control active, but he already knew it would be too late.
Seldayiv uttered something in her native Lushan that Jarod didn't catch and threw her hand up in desperation, as if the shot might at least only ruin the limb.
Instead the Cyberman toppled backward, as if hit by a blunt force. It fell into another Cyberman coming up behind it and knocked it over in the process. Before either could untangle themselves, white light surged around them and they were whisked away.
Jarod got untangled from his protector and looked at her with interest. "I hadn't heard we had another metaphysical specialist aboard," he remarked.
Seldayiv was too busy staring at her hand. Her light teal eyes were wide open with shock. "I… I didn't know I could… the Eternal Goddess has Gifted me…" She swallowed and looked at Jarod. "It was not my imagination?"
Jarod shook his head. "I'm guess this is the first time?"
Seldayiv nodded quietly. "Yes. Yes, I never imagined I…" She remained quiet while Jarod helped her stand up before she pulled down a breath and straightened her spine. "I'm sorry, Commander. I am overwhelmed by this, but we have more important matters. I am ready for orders." Words aside, Jarod didn't need mind-reading or sensing to tell that Seldayiv was completely stunned by this development.
"Well, we don't have Cybermen shooting at us, and that's the important part," he said. "You can discuss this with Captain Dale and Commander Meridina when this is all over. Until then, we need to get back to Science Lab 1."
The door to the Torchwood storage bay flew open. Dalek Sec screamed, "Exterminate!" as pale red light washed over his protective shields.
"Delete!" was the retort of the line of Cybermen awaiting the four Daleks and their cargo. Behind them the camo-wearing troops of Torchwood had taken up defensive positions; for the moment the two sides were continuing to cooperate against the greater threat of the Daleks.
The Daleks moved toward them and the center of the storage bay. Bullets and Cybermen blasters and the energy guns of the alternate Earth's commandos struck their protective shields with virtually no effect. Even the Genesis Ark was protected, with much the same effect.
The Daleks returned fire with ruthless efficiency and even more ruthless effectiveness. Cybermen started dropping all over the chamber. Blasts that hit Torchwood soldiers resulted in bursts of X-ray light so intense that skeletons were briefly visible; such hits were generally as fatal for them as they were for Cybermen.
The Cyberleader observing the fight activated his communications channels. "Emergency. All units will converge on the Torchwood Tower. Repeat, all units to Torchwood." His orders spread, sending every Cyberman in London marching toward Canary Wharf.
As the fighting continued, none of the combatants seemed to notice one of the double doors opening. The Doctor appeared, with Rose, Pete, and Robert looking in with him. He dashed ahead without a word, hitting the ground and making his way underneath all of the energy fire and bullets toward a crate.
"I need to rally my people," said Yvonne. "I'm not sure what good it will do, but Torchwood will not go down to the Daleks without a fight."
"The Doctor will have a plan," Rose said, never turning. She was too busy anxiously watching the Doctor evade the firefight. "Let's see what it is before you go off to get people killed in unnecessary last stands."
Yvonne shot a look at her over that, but said nothing.
From the crate, the Doctor lifted two large objects, composing of black bottoms with silver handles. Robert had seen Jackie and Yvonne fiddle with them during the prior tour. "Magna-clamps, right?" he asked Yvonne.
"Yes." Yvonne looked bewildered. "But why would he want, or need, those at a time like this?"
"I think we're going to find out," said Cat.
On his way back with the items, the Doctor tripped on a fallen Cyberman and dropped the devices. He scrambled to pick them up and continue while Rose urged him on with, "Come on, please."
The Doctor finally made it. "Here we go."
"Where to next?" Jackie asked.
"First things first. I need to see something." He whipped out his cheap-looking 3D glasses and peeked back through the door.
"At a time like this, you're going to keep watching that? With those silly looking glasses?" protested Jackie.
In the room the Daleks continued to shrug off the fire of their enemies. They made it to the center of the room as ha evidently been their goal. Dalek Sec looked up and said, "Override roof mechanism."
Above them, the roof started to slide open.
"Elevate," Dalek Sec said.
The Genesis Ark, Sec, and Thay began to rise in the air. As they flew up toward the opening roof, a confused Rose asked, "What are they doing? Why do they need to go outside?"
"Time Lord science," said the Doctor. From his tone of voice he was bewildered and frustrated. "What Time Lord science? What is it?"
Sec, Thay, and the Ark accelerated as the roof fully opened.
The Doctor pulled back from the door, grabbed the two magna-clamps, and started running. "We've got to see what they're doing! We've got to go back up!" he shouted at the rest of them. "Come on, all of you! Top floor!"
"That's 45 floors up!" Jackie protested. "I know because I did them all!"
As they ran past, the lift door opened. Jake, the leader of Pete's commando unit, leaned out of the door. "We could always take the lift," he offered.
No more needed to be said. Everyone squeezed into the lift.
The two Daleks and the Genesis Ark flew upward until they had nearly reached the height of Canary Wharf. "The Genesis Ark will open," said Dalek Sec.
One quarter of the Ark slid open slowly.
The lift had been a quick trip despite the weight in it. The Doctor ran ahead of everyone, getting to Yvonne's office first and placing the magna-clamps on her desk before going to the window. The others moved in behind her.
They watched, wordlessly, as the Ark door finished opening… revealing a gold-plated Dalek inside.
The Ark began to spin. As it completed its first spin the Dalek within it shot out. Just as the door left sight again, another Dalek shot out as well. And another… and another…
"Holy crap," Robert said. Beside him Caterina watched with wide, terrified eyes as more and more Daleks were thrown from the Ark.
"Time Lord science," the Doctor said in a low tone. "It's bigger on the inside."
"The Time Lords put those Daleks in there?" asked Mickey. "What for?"
"How many Daleks?" Rose asked nervously.
The Doctor took a moment to respond, but he eventually did.
"Millions."
The Ark continued to spew out Daleks, now one every second. The Daleks gathered into formations in the air and began to spread out over the skies of London.
Below, formations of Cybermen marching in the street stopped and turned. They raised their arms skyward and opened fire on the Daleks.
"Exterminate all life forms below!" ordered Dalek Sec. "Exterminate!"
The Daleks immediately swooped in and began firing at everything in the street.
"Dalek Thay." Sec swiveled its eye to face its comrade. "Assume command of assault force. Complete your mission."
"I obey," Thay answered. Wordlessly, he sent the commands to bid many of the emerging Daleks to follow him. They began to coalesce around him, numbering in the dozens within moments.
And as one, they rose skyward.
This did not go unnoticed to the group watching with horror from the top floor of Torchwood Tower. "Wait, where are they going?" Jackie asked.
The Doctor swallowed and turned away from the window. His eyes met Caterina's. "They spared you," he said. "Even though you couldn't open the Ark. Why?"
"They… th-they sa-said I'd b-be nec-necessary," Caterina said, stammering her way through the answer. Robert could feel realization dawn on her, but he would have realized it just by the way her face completely paled. "N-no…"
His face did the same thing as he put two and two together.
The Doctor nodded solemnly. "They kept you alive for the only reason they would keep any non-Dalek alive. They thought you might have been useful to them."
"In what way?" asked Yvonne.
"Yeah, if they just wanted to know what she knew, they would have sucked it from her brain like they did to Rajesh," Mickey pointed out.
"Because it's not about what's in her head, not exactly," the Doctor said. "Their priority was the Ark, and they didn't want to muck up anything by rushing things. But now that the Ark is open, they've got another goal in mind."
"Y-you don't th-think…"
The Doctor nodded at Caterina and at Robert. "The Daleks aren't after Earth," he said.
"They're after the Aurora," Robert finished for him.
There was a moment of quiet in the Torchwood testing range.
The quiet ended when Lucy's left hand shot out. An object that Jackie Tyler and Yvonne Hartman mentally filed under "flashlight" flew through the air… and into the extended right hand of Meridina. An electronic snap-hiss filled the air and a shining blade of blue light surged from the object, matching the one in Lucy Lucero's right hand. She dashed forward as the Cybermen opened fire. Pale red energy zipped through the air at a speed no Human could conceivably evade or deflect.
But that is precisely what Lucy and Meridina did. Their blue blades moved in blurs of light that intercepted the energy blasts and sent them back toward the Cybermen. One hit the leg of one of the robots directly, causing red light to flicker over the limb and leave the metal blackened.
A blast of energy struck the Cyberman a moment later, courtesy of the weapon in Yvonne Hartman's hands. Another Cyberman moved up to the gap, revealing that there were more on the other side of the wall. When it tried to shoot her, Lucy's lightsaber sent the pale red light back into the Cyberman's head. It collapsed.
And then Lucy and Meridina were in range of the line of Cybermen. Their lightsabers cleaved through the metal skin on their foes easily. Severed limbs hit the floor. Sparks came to the air from the moments when the lightsabers were making contact with the electrical systems within the armored beings.
We will fight our way through here, Meridina informed the others telepathically. Get Captain Dale to safety!
Jackie's eyes widened. "How did they…"
"She has mental powers." Yvonne stood and motioned to Robert, still on the ground and looking completely disorientated. "Help him up."
Jackie took a moment to work the confusion out of her response before nodding and helping Robert to his feet. Pain filled his green eyes and his hand was over his forehead, as if that could banish his pain. "C'mon, now," Jackie urged him. "We've got to go."
Her voice helped Robert to push through the terrifying image in his head. A future was forming, a future where something of incalculable malevolence was free to destroy as it desired. Something worse than the Daleks themselves. He took control of his own walking by the time they got to the door.
Behind them, the buzz of lightsabers and the electric spurts of Cybermen weapons fire continued.
The Doctor stood in the door of the Sphere Chamber, hands in pockets and looking fairly nonchalant about things despite facing down four angry Daleks. He was wearing his pair of cheap-looking 3D glasses. With measured movements he casually strolled toward them.
"Alert!" shrieked one of the Daleks. "You are the Doctor!"
The Doctor kept moving toward them without a word.
"Sensors report he is unarmed," stated one Dalek.
"That's me, always," the Doctor said happily.
"Then he is powerless," insisted the lead, black-armored Dalek.
"Not me, never." The Doctor yanked his glasses and looked at Rose. "How are you?"
"Oh, same old. As always," Rose said cheerfully.
"Good. Cat?" he asked next, looking to Caterina.
She was still pale with fear, a fear that was starting to subside. "Oh, I'm… I'm fine."
"Hrm, you look like you need some more color to your cheeks. I'll have to fix that for you." The Doctor now seemed to notice Mickey. "And Mickety-Mick-Mickey! Nice to see you!"
"And you, boss," Mickey answered, smiling and accepting the Doctor's proferred fist bump.
One of the gold Daleks declared, "Social interactions will cease!"
The lead Dalek asked, "How did you survive the Time War?"
"By fighting," the Doctor answered. "On the front line. I was at the Fall of Arcadia. Some day I might even come to terms with that." He grinned at the Daleks and added, "But you lot ran away!"
"We had to survive," the lead Dalek answered defensively.
"And now here you are, the last four Daleks in existence." The Doctor spun around, looking at them. "What's so special about you?"
Rose quickly offered, "Doctor, they've got names. They're… not supposed to have names, right?"
"Normally not." The Doctor looked at them with interest.
"I am Dalek Thay," one gold one stated.
"Dalek Sec," said the leader.
"Dalek Jast."
"Dalek Caan."
"Oh." The Doctor's smile was strangely giddy. "We meet at last. The Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."
"Who are they?" asked Rose.
The Doctor stepped away to walk around the Genesis Ark, looking at each Dalek in turn. "A secret order. Above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their task was to imagine. To think like the enemy thinks. Even dare to have names." The Doctor stared down Thay and then Caan. "All to find new ways of killing," he added in disgust. "So, what's this here?" He indicated the Ark. "What are you doing? What's this for?"
"They say it's Time Lord," Caterina said. "Don't you know?"
"Never seen this before in my life," the Doctor said.
Mickey asked, "But it's Time Lord stuff. Shouldn't you know what it is?"
The Doctor's face betrayed grim thoughts. "Both sides had their secrets." He faced the nearest Dalek again. "So, what's it for?"
"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy!"
"What does that mean? What Time Lord science? What do you mean?!" the Doctor demanded.
Rose stepped up behind him. "They say one touch from a time traveler will wake it up."
"Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do." The Doctor nearly sneered. "Touch." He turned to face the nearest Dalek and brought his face right up to its electronic eye. "Sealed inside your casing, never feeling anything. Ever. From birth to death, locked inside a metal cage. Completely alone. That explains your voice. It's no wonder you scream."
Cat nearly shivered. Not at the Daleks, but at the sheer contempt dripping from the Doctor's voice. She hadn't imagined him capable of it.
"The Doctor will open the Ark!"
The Doctor laughed at that. "The Doctor will not," he said jovially, stepping away.
"You are powerless to resist."
At that he tilted his head, as if nearly surrendering the point. "Oh, you've got me there. Although…" He dug into his suit jacket and pulled out his blue-tipped device. "I always have this."
"A sonic probe?" Sec asked contemptuously.
"That's screwdriver," the Doctor corrected.
"It is harmless."
"You're right. That's what I like about it. It doesn't killl, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But there's one thing it does very, very well." He tossed it from his left hand to his right and held it vertically. "It's very good at opening doors." He activated it, causing the blue-tipped head to light up.
Thunderous explosions filled the Sphere Chamber.
In the Aurora medbay Leo lowered his forearm. Doctor Lumenaram stepped up beside him. "What are you doing?" he asked in a low voice.
"What I have to," Leo responded.
Lumenaram's eyes met Leo's. He didn't have to ask what Leo meant by that. He could tell. Rather than continue the conversation, Lumenaram stepped away. This allowed Leo to continue his work. He knew the others would get here eventually, but he had no way of knowing how close they were, if they were tied up in fights in other critical areas or if they'd already taken numerous casualties… any possible reason that might see their relief delayed.
Leo's eyes scanned his patients. Some of them were going to die if they didn't get sufficient care soon. And all of them were faced with being fed into a machine and turned into another tromping robot. The eyes of those conscious sometimes came his way, as did those of his nurses and other doctors. They were trapped in the same circumstances he was, but as the head of the medbay, he felt responsible to them. He didn't think he could stand letting one of them be taken.
A final button press confirmed what he needed to do. It had taken every bit of Leo's ingenuity and passing familiarity with computer systems to make his solution possible. But it was all he could do in the situation, and he hoped and prayed it would accomplish the task.
The Cyberleader emerged from the OR. "The cyber conversion chamber is ready to begin emergency upgrading. Commence upgrades immediately."
The Cybermen in the medbay began to seize some of the wounded and nurses. The latter fought back where possible. Nasri looked ready to see her own arm pulled off rather than go, forcing the Cyberman holding her to drag her. A look of utter despair now appeared on her face, despair and, Leo realized with horror, recollection. She had been taken against her will in her homeland in Darfur as well. The Cybermen were not repeating that violation, but they would impose another, more total violation of her very being.
The others were out of time. He had to act. Leo stepped up to the OR entrance. The Cyberleader faced him. "We can't stop you, can we?"
"Upgrading will commence. Hostile elements will be deleted."
"Alright." Leo sighed in resignation. He took in an extra breath and made his choice. "I'm the Chief Medical Officer of this ship and thus the head of the medbay. If someone's going into that machine first, it's going to be me."
Undiscovered Frontier
"Choices"
"Choices"
"Doctor, no!" shouted Nasri.
Leo looked to her and shook his head. "I'll go first. It should be me." He swallowed and steeled himself. It was likely he would only have a second to do what he had to.
"No," said another voice.
Leo turned his head in time to see Doctor Lumenaram approach the entrance to the OR. "I will go," he said. "I am not Human. You should know if your upgrading process will work on me first. You may have to reconfigure the device."
"We have already accounted for your species," stated the Cyberleader.
"Maybe, but that's assuming you can account for all possibilities," Lumenaram stated. "If there is an unforeseen element you did not calculate, all of your work will be for nothing. You will have to rebuild your chamber."
The Cyberleader seemed to consider this. Ultimately it said, "It is irrelevant which order is taken."
Leo and Lumenaram both went for the door. Leo would have likely made it first had not Doctor Singh reached out and grabbed him. "Your turn will come later," she whispered to Leo.
"Dammit," Leo hissed back, but it was too late.
Lumenaram stepped into the OR. For several moments there was nothing. They didn't see him reaching for his omnitool, having done the same thing Leo did to its settings.
There was a bright burst of light from the OR joined by the roar of an explosion. It was not a major explosion. It didn't rattle the deck. It didn't knock anyone over.
But the effect was clear a moment later when a Cyberman emerged from the OR. "The cyber-convertor has been sabotaged," it said.
"Commence repairs immediately," answered the Cyberleader.
"You know, some of these patients won't make it that long," Leo said to him. "If you want them to survive long enough for upgrade, I need to treat them."
"You will be watched," the Cyberleader stated.
"I hope so," Leo replied with a grim expression on his face. "Maybe you'll learn what compassion is."
In Engineering the Cybermen fired another volley into the forcefield surrounding main control. "The shield is down to fifteen percent," Yi said.
"Tom, how're ye comin' on that plan o' yer's?" Scott asked Barnes.
Barnes looked up from his controls. "I've got everything I need done on this end, I'm just waiting for Jarod to get transporter control."
Scott nodded. And as he did, he got an idea. "Lads an' lasses, we're goin' t' reinforce that field an' buy time for th' others. Use yer omni-tools an' siphon power for th' field."
"Aye sir," a number of them replied.
Ensign Yi gave Scotty an uncomfortable look. "But sir, that's not possible, omnitools aren't designed to…"
"Ye just keep readin' those numbers off, lad, let me worry about what I can or cannae do," retorted Scotty.
Yi saw the intensity in the old engineer's face and swallowed, returning his attention to the display. "Field is now at thirteen percent…"
Between sealed off sections of the ship, Cybermen concentrations, and other battle damage, the closest Transporter Station that Jarod and his escort could find was Station 4. A pair of Cybermen were outside the door. Lieutenant Seldayiv raised her rifle and fired, hitting one directly and causing it to fall. Her initial volley also grazed the arm of the other.
It brought up its weapon to fire. Before it could Jarod's omnitool became active and he held it forward. Orange light surged from it and exploded into flames when it struck the chest of the Cyberman. The Cyberman lost its balance and stumbled partially. Seldayiv followed the movement with her rifle and put the robot down with her second volley.
They entered the room together. Again Seldayiv's gun barked out, joined by Jarod's pistol They caught the two Cybermen watching the inside and mowed them both down.
Jarod went for the transporter controls immediately. They were completely offline, unfortunately, and he saw why when he reached down and pulled the cover off the interior. "The console was damaged by the disruption event," he said to Seldayiv. "I'll need some time."
Seldayiv crouched beside him and kept her rifle ready. Jarod returned his attention to the damaged console. His omnitool came back on fully, both the main body around his left forearm and a modular element over his hand. Said modular element activated and he started applying it inside of the console to fix up the internal parts.
The thunder and power of the explosions that blasted open the Sphere Chamber was only the start. A second after the explosions cleared Humans in black combat suits entered alongside Cybermen, who called out, "Delete! Delete!" Some opened up with assault rifles, the Cybermen and others were firing energy weapons. The lightning-like beams started striking the Daleks.
Energy started surging over Dalek Caan. who shook. "Alert! Casing impaired! Casing impaired!"
"Firepower insufficient!"
The Doctor shouted, "Rose, Cat, run!" Rose scrambled away at that before stumbling close to the Genesis Ark, nearly touching it in the process. A dark-suited man with a balding head moved in and helped her up. She stared at him in shock. Caterina and the Doctor followed.
"Mickey!" Rose shouted as they got to the door.
Mickey was in the process of reclaiming his weapon. Dalek Sec's voice echoed in the Sphere Chamber. "Adapt to weaponry! Firepower restored!" An energy blast claimed one of the Cybermen.
Mickey got past the Daleks as and the Genesis Ark. As he tried to slip around the last Cyberman it turned suddenly. Its arm smacked into Mickey and sent him falling backward. His hands flailed and his right hand moved back in an attempt to find something to hold himself against.
Something like the Genesis Ark.
Mickey realized a moment later what he'd done. It was too late to do anything about it, however, and he scrambled back to his feet and continued running to join the others. He didn't have time to pay heed to the glowing red imprint of his hand left on the Ark, or the steam now coming from the openings in the bottom.
By the time he reached the door, the other fighters had as well. Only the Cybermen remained behind. As the Humans treated Dalek Sec's order of "Cybermen are primary target!" followed behind.
While Mickey stared at his right hand in frustration, Cat asked the man in the black suit, "Who are you?"
"Pete Tyler," he answered.
"He's a parallel version of my Dad," Rose explained. "So are the others."
The Doctor finished closing the blast door to the Sphere Chamber with the help of the sonic screwdriver. "Jake, secure the stairwell! Everyone else with me!" When he took off running, everyone followed save the armed men.
Mickey finally found the breath to say, "I just fell, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"Mickey, without us they'd have forced the Ark open anyway," the Doctor said. "And to do it they'd have blown up the sun. You've done us a favor." He gave Mickey a peck of a kiss on the forehead. "Now run!"
In the Sphere Chamber, the last Cyberman fell to the Cult of Skaro's energy blasts. "The Cybermen are exterminated! Daleks are supreme!"
"Genesis Ark is primed," stated Dalek Thay.
"The Genesis Ark requires an area of thirty square miles," said Sec. "Move."
As they began to do so, Dalek Jast added, "Genesis Ark mobile."
On one of the floors above them, the sounds of Cybermen energy blasts were matched by the buzz of energy blades. Lucy and Meridina moved side-by-side, guiding their blades to intercept the shots coming for them to deflect them back into those firing said shots. As they had done before, the two closed the distance and sliced through the Cybermen until the entire squad had become a number of disembodied pieces on the floor. Neither lost sight of the fact that these were human beings enslaved inside of robotic bodies. "We've got to stop this," Lucy insisted.
"The machine they use to hack up Human beings is nearby," said Meridina. "I know the way."
As they continued through the white corridors, Meridina asked, "Why did you come down instead of helping to secure the ship?"
"Because I sensed you would need me," she said. "That something horrible would happen if I didn't."
"I see." Meridina accepted that argument. "What you have sensed… it is dark, isn't it?"
"And bad. Dripping with evil bad." Lucy glanced at Meridina as they rounded a corner. "And I don't know if it's any of the Cybermen."
"There are also Daleks," Meridina said.
Lucy stopped for a moment. "What?!" she demanded. "Holy crap, those things?! How many?"
"Four according to the others. "
"Four too many."
Before the conversation could continue they arrived at the renovation site the Cybermen were using. Screams echoed from within the plastic.
The two began cutting right through. They got to the opening just as the Cybermen were about to feed a young woman into the machine. She screamed as she was brought to the threshold of the machine by a pair of Cybermen.
Meridina threw her lightsaber and guided it. The blade spun in the air and sliced through their necks before returning to Meridina's hand. They collapsed, freeing the woman. Lucy's weapon deflected shots from two more Cybermen with a line of prisoners back into them. She, and a line of other prisoners, ran to get away.
Other Cybermen emerged from around the machine. "Hostile elements will be deleted."
"I'll wreck that thing if you can hold them," Lucy said.
"Agreed."
While Meridina's defensive techniques held the Cybermen off, Lucy ventured to the opening of the conversion machine. Multiple robotic arms approached, ready to weld metal to her body. Lucy's lightsaber was a blur, slicing the arms as they approached. Restraint devices came next and were thwarted in the same fashion. With the rest of the machinery out of reach of her blade Lucy switched to using her life force power, namely by gripping parts and ripping them from the chamber. Sparks flew and metal shrieked.
When she was done, all that was left was debris.
Yvonne led Jackie and Robert to the stairwell leading through Torchwood Tower's floors. Robert's attack had ended, or at least subsided enough he was functional. "The Doctor and the others must have attacked the Sphere Chamber," Yvonne was saying. "Are you alright?"
"Feeling better," Robert said, and it was mostly true. He was even starting to regain his abilities to a degree, even if they still seemed to thrum with anxiety. "I don't think…"
From below there was metallic thumping. Yvonne stopped, prompting everyone to do the same, and the squad of Cybermen moving up the staircase was noticed. Robert said, "This way" and went back up the steps to the door.
This led them into the halls of the Tower. They ran to escape any detection from the Cybermen.
That didn't quite work, given two Cybermen met them in the hall. They raised weapons and demanded, "You will be taken for upgrade."
In the fear of the moment Jackie forgot the device with her. "No! Please don't, you can't…"
Yvonne didn't. An energy blast from her particle gun blew apart one of the Cybermen… while a shot from behind claimed the other.
The smoke cleared to the sight of the Doctor, with Rose, Caterina, Mickey, and a balding man nearing middle-age with an energy rifle similar to the one Robert had intended to carry.
Jackie stared in surprise at the figure. "Pete?" she asked, incredulous.
Pete Tyler nodded. "Hey, Jacks."
"I said I wanted to believe in ghosts, but that's not fair…"
While the two conversed Robert rushed up to hug Caterina. He could sense her terror and fear was still strong… and he didn't mind admitting, "I was afraid we'd lost you" at the embrace. "I could never have faced Angel again if you'd been killed."
"It's them," she squeaked. "It's the Daleks again…"
"I know."
"They… they want something from me," Caterina continued. "It's something bad, I know it!"
In the background, Jackie was apparently indecisive about the matter of the alternate timeline version of her husband having wealth, with an exchange of "'Rich'. 'That doesn't matter… how rich?' 'Very'. 'It doesn't matter… how very?'"
Yvonne stepped up to the Doctor and Mickey. "You're Samuel, right?" she asked. "What happened to Rajesh?"
"The Daleks killed him," Mickey informed her somberly. "And the name's actually Mickey, ma'am. Mickey Smith."
"Oh?" Yvonne curled her forehead. "That name sounds familiar."
"I came from the parallel world to fight the Cybermen, but I'm originally from this world."
"He's Rose's ex-boyfriend," the Doctor clarified.
Mickey gave him a resigned look. "I really hate that 'ex' part there."
"Ha." Yvonne chuckled bitterly. "Well, you did quite well infiltrating my organization, Mister Smith. Between you and the Cybermen, I have to wonder how many other agents have infiltrated Torchwood."
"Well, we had the advantage of coming from the Torchwood in the other world," Mickey explained. "They have the breach there too."
"And your traveling around is going to ruin both worlds," the Doctor said. "Which is why we have to close it, and why I need everyone to come with me now."
The Doctor led them down toward a stairwell. As the group walked, Pete looked at Yvonne and blinked. "Yvonne Hartman?" he asked. "It's really you, isn't it?"
"It is," she replied. "I take it you know of my counterpart on your world?"
"She's hard to miss," Pete said. "My world's Yvonne Hartman is the Home Secretary. Everyone thought it strange that she got a Cabinet post."
"Oh?"
"She's the first avowed monarchist to hold a Cabinet post in the Republic in decades," Pete explained.
"I can't imagine myself a poli-..." Yvonne stopped and looked at him again. "Wait, Republic?"
Leo finished securing one of the critical cases in the medbay and moved on to the next casualty. Doctor Singh arrived at the same time he did. "Why did you stop me?" he asked Singh.
"Because Lumenaram would have punched you senseless," Singh answered. "He was determined that you be protected."
"Why?" Leo asked, almost demanded given the tone of his voice. "He's just as good a physician."
"He is… was… also a believer, Doctor. He believed in what the Gersallians call the Prophecy of the Dawn. And that you had to be protected." Singh checked the patient's vitals.
Leo, in turn, checked the scan results on the specific problem. "Dammit," was all Leo could say to Singh's explanation. "I'm still going in next," Leo insisted. "I'll do the same thing. It was my plan."
"We all had it. But I suspect our captors have adapted to it."
"Probably," Leo agreed. "We have to leave this to the others. I just hope they hurry."
"Field down to five percent, cohesion failing!"
Ensign Yi's voice betrayed just a little bit of fear at that report. "The system is taking from the omnitools all it can, but the enemy fire is too much," he added. Indeed, to him it seemed like the number of Cybermen had increased.
"Tom, are we ready?" Scotty asked. "We cannae hold 'em much longer, lad!"
Barnes looked up from the console. "We're all ready on this end, this is down to Jarod." He tapped his omnitool comm button. "Barnes to Jarod. C"mon, buddy, tell me you've got that Pretender magic going!"
"Working on it!"
Jarod was indeed working on it. And being a savant, while it had many advantages, did little to deal with the physical limitations of burnt out circuits or how many of them could be switched out and fixed or bypassed with the help of an omnitool.
Worst of all, the Cybermen were onto them. The door swished open again and several more entered, firing as they came in. Seldayiv had to duck behind cover before returning fire, taking out one. Jarod was forced to stop working and shoot another before it got a shot off at him. The WHOM WHOM WHOM of pulse fire was further distracting. "Jarod to Richmond. Have you been able to get me any help?"
"Unfortunately, no, Commander. I sent Teams D and N toward your position, but they're busy keeping a concentration of Cybermen from reaching you. I've got nothing else. You and Seldayiv are on your own."
"Right," Jarod grumbled before getting back to work. "Why do people think that because I'm a genius I can do anything?"
"Because you seem to be capable of that, sir," Seldayiv said in an honest tone.
"Don't remind me," Jarod grumbled while working to repair another circuit he couldn't replace.
The pile of Cybermen in the room had become impressive. Another stepped over some of said pile and reached for the table. Angel popped up and shot it point blank. "Two percent," she noted. "This is probably my last shot. Maybe one or two more. These things get unpredictable on low battery charges."
Julia nodded before popping off what quickly proved to be her last shot. "Well, that's it for me."
"Delete! Delete!" came the Cybermen response.
"Maybe if we rush them, we can get through to another lift," Angel proposed. "There can't be that many left."
"And what about you?"
"I'll limp along. Draw their fire."
"They'll mow you down in an instant, sir," al-Rashad pointed out.
"Then I guess we're down to prayers."
"I doubt Allah listens to me much," al-Rashad stated. "I am agnostic."
"But doesn't that mean you don't believe in God?" asked Angel.
"It means I don't think the existence of the divine can be proven," al-Rashad corrected. "I'm a scientist after all. Proof is something we like to see on these matters."
Angel looked at her with curiosity. "I'd think that would make you an atheist."
"I'm not more an atheist than your sister," al-Rashad guffawed. "Besides, I can't ignore the possibilities of the supernatural when my Captain can throw giant gene-engineered soldiers around a circle with the power of his life force."
"Yeah, I suppose…"
"Shhh!"
Julia's shushing made them go quiet. Doing so immediately revealed why she wanted the quiet. "I don't hear them," said al-Rashad.
"Maybe we got them all?"
The door slid open again. Even though her pistol was dead, Julia still turned it toward the door… before lowered it. "What the… Hargert?!"
The old cook had a pulse gun in his hand. He smiled at them, as did others the three recognized: Albert, Olujwe, and Hasters. Each was also armed.
"You should be with the other civilians," Julia charged, although there was little heat in her voice and some barely-constrained joy.
"We heard what these 'Cybermen' want to do, Fraulein," Hargert answered. "Aboard Aurora right now, there are no civilians. We must all fight to save ourselves from these tin monsters."
"Did you fight your way to the bridge?" asked Angel.
"Partly. We had assistance from other crew on the other decks," Hargert said. He noticed Angel trying to stand and frowned. "Lieutenant, you need medical attention."
"I need to get back to my station," Angel growled. "Besides, these assholes hold the medbay."
Olujwe stepped up. "I have medic training."
"Do what you can," Julia ordered. SHe looked to Hargert again and said, "Thank you, everyone. If you wouldn't mind staying here until we get this situation resolved?"
"We are your disposal, Commander," Hargert pledged.
In Transporter Station 4, Seldayiv fired off another volley. "I'm on my last charge clip," she warned Jarod.
"Almost done…"
Barnes' voice came back over the radio. "Jarod, you've got maybe ten seconds!"
"Not helping!" Jarod shot back while using his omnitool's built-in hardlight machinery to repair the last circuit vital to their plan. He watched his work carefully to keep from any slip, since such a slip would require even more time to fix. He wanted nothing more than to move, to stretch his legs or shift his arm, but even the slightest movement could cause just such a disastrous slip. "Almost there…"
In Main Engineering, the forcefield around the main controls collapsed.
The Cybermen kept their weapon arms up. "You will be taken for upgrade," one announced.
"Jarod…" Barnes said through clenched teeth. The Cybermen started to move toward them to seize the engineers.
"...we're out of fracking time, man!"
As Barnes made that announcement, Jarod finished the circuit repair. He quickly stood up and made absolutely sure he was done by hitting a key. "Now Tom!" he shouted into the comm link.
Ensign Yi shouted and tried to pull away, to no avail, as a Cyberman grabbed him.
Barnes, meanwhile, input the final commands into his console as soon as he confirmed Jarod's success. He quickly hit a number of keys, culminating with a final activation press.
Half of the Cybermen in Engineering disappeared in bursts of white light.
"Yes!" Barnes crowed, already inputting new commands. "Suck vacuum, you fracking toasters!"
The remaining Cybermen all started to point their weapon arms at him, but they were too late. With another button press they too were swept off the ship.
"There ye go, lad! Brilliant!" Scott stepped up beside him. "Where are ye beamin' th' scunners too?"
"Low orbit," Barnes replied, still busy at the controls. "They can suck vacuum until they make re-entry."
Leo sighed with resignation after another Cyberman emerged from the OR. "Repairs complete," it said. "Ready to commence upgrades."
"Any further sabotage will result in immediate deletion of the personnel in this facility," the Cyberleader warned them all.
Leo swallowed at that. No matter what happened, his people would die. But at least we don't be slaves, he thought to himself as he stepped forward. "Then I'll go first," he said.
The Cyberleader considered him. He raised his arm. "Take this personnel first."
There was a cry as one of the Cybermen grabbed Nasri and pulled her away. "No! God no!" she cried.
A curse in Punjabi came from Doctor Singh. "If you must take one of us, take me first you tin-plated…" Leo didn't recognize the word that came afterward, but could guess it was a nasty one to come from the Sikh doctor.
Leo's muscles tensed. He was prepared to charge ahead and rush into the door just before Nasri got there, if only he could slip past the Cybermen…
He took his first step while, around his forearm, his omnitool appeared, ready for him to give the final command for the overload that would turn it into a bomb.
Unfortunately the Cybermen were ready. The Cyberleader stepped up and grabbed Leo by the arm, hard enough to nearly crush bone. Leo cried out in pain. "No!" he shouted. "Nasri!"
"Please, no! Don't do this to me!" Nasri struggled in vain against the robot.
And then white light whisked away her captor. Nasri stumbled to her knees and looked up, wide-eyed and surprised.
"Warning, warning, unknown effect is removing Cybermen. All units, prepare…" Before the Cyberleader could finish, it too was whisked away, causing Leo to nearly lose his balance. His left arm hurt from the grip that had now disappeared.
Within seconds, all of the Cybermen in the medbay were gone.
Jarod would have gotten shot by the Cybermen in the next moment if not for Seldayiv. She jumped at him and knocked him to the floor. In the process her rifle was knocked loose and clambered just out of reach.
"Delete," another incoming Cyberman stated. "Delete!" It swung its weapon arm to bear on them. Jarod tried to scramble to get his omnitool control active, but he already knew it would be too late.
Seldayiv uttered something in her native Lushan that Jarod didn't catch and threw her hand up in desperation, as if the shot might at least only ruin the limb.
Instead the Cyberman toppled backward, as if hit by a blunt force. It fell into another Cyberman coming up behind it and knocked it over in the process. Before either could untangle themselves, white light surged around them and they were whisked away.
Jarod got untangled from his protector and looked at her with interest. "I hadn't heard we had another metaphysical specialist aboard," he remarked.
Seldayiv was too busy staring at her hand. Her light teal eyes were wide open with shock. "I… I didn't know I could… the Eternal Goddess has Gifted me…" She swallowed and looked at Jarod. "It was not my imagination?"
Jarod shook his head. "I'm guess this is the first time?"
Seldayiv nodded quietly. "Yes. Yes, I never imagined I…" She remained quiet while Jarod helped her stand up before she pulled down a breath and straightened her spine. "I'm sorry, Commander. I am overwhelmed by this, but we have more important matters. I am ready for orders." Words aside, Jarod didn't need mind-reading or sensing to tell that Seldayiv was completely stunned by this development.
"Well, we don't have Cybermen shooting at us, and that's the important part," he said. "You can discuss this with Captain Dale and Commander Meridina when this is all over. Until then, we need to get back to Science Lab 1."
The door to the Torchwood storage bay flew open. Dalek Sec screamed, "Exterminate!" as pale red light washed over his protective shields.
"Delete!" was the retort of the line of Cybermen awaiting the four Daleks and their cargo. Behind them the camo-wearing troops of Torchwood had taken up defensive positions; for the moment the two sides were continuing to cooperate against the greater threat of the Daleks.
The Daleks moved toward them and the center of the storage bay. Bullets and Cybermen blasters and the energy guns of the alternate Earth's commandos struck their protective shields with virtually no effect. Even the Genesis Ark was protected, with much the same effect.
The Daleks returned fire with ruthless efficiency and even more ruthless effectiveness. Cybermen started dropping all over the chamber. Blasts that hit Torchwood soldiers resulted in bursts of X-ray light so intense that skeletons were briefly visible; such hits were generally as fatal for them as they were for Cybermen.
The Cyberleader observing the fight activated his communications channels. "Emergency. All units will converge on the Torchwood Tower. Repeat, all units to Torchwood." His orders spread, sending every Cyberman in London marching toward Canary Wharf.
As the fighting continued, none of the combatants seemed to notice one of the double doors opening. The Doctor appeared, with Rose, Pete, and Robert looking in with him. He dashed ahead without a word, hitting the ground and making his way underneath all of the energy fire and bullets toward a crate.
"I need to rally my people," said Yvonne. "I'm not sure what good it will do, but Torchwood will not go down to the Daleks without a fight."
"The Doctor will have a plan," Rose said, never turning. She was too busy anxiously watching the Doctor evade the firefight. "Let's see what it is before you go off to get people killed in unnecessary last stands."
Yvonne shot a look at her over that, but said nothing.
From the crate, the Doctor lifted two large objects, composing of black bottoms with silver handles. Robert had seen Jackie and Yvonne fiddle with them during the prior tour. "Magna-clamps, right?" he asked Yvonne.
"Yes." Yvonne looked bewildered. "But why would he want, or need, those at a time like this?"
"I think we're going to find out," said Cat.
On his way back with the items, the Doctor tripped on a fallen Cyberman and dropped the devices. He scrambled to pick them up and continue while Rose urged him on with, "Come on, please."
The Doctor finally made it. "Here we go."
"Where to next?" Jackie asked.
"First things first. I need to see something." He whipped out his cheap-looking 3D glasses and peeked back through the door.
"At a time like this, you're going to keep watching that? With those silly looking glasses?" protested Jackie.
In the room the Daleks continued to shrug off the fire of their enemies. They made it to the center of the room as ha evidently been their goal. Dalek Sec looked up and said, "Override roof mechanism."
Above them, the roof started to slide open.
"Elevate," Dalek Sec said.
The Genesis Ark, Sec, and Thay began to rise in the air. As they flew up toward the opening roof, a confused Rose asked, "What are they doing? Why do they need to go outside?"
"Time Lord science," said the Doctor. From his tone of voice he was bewildered and frustrated. "What Time Lord science? What is it?"
Sec, Thay, and the Ark accelerated as the roof fully opened.
The Doctor pulled back from the door, grabbed the two magna-clamps, and started running. "We've got to see what they're doing! We've got to go back up!" he shouted at the rest of them. "Come on, all of you! Top floor!"
"That's 45 floors up!" Jackie protested. "I know because I did them all!"
As they ran past, the lift door opened. Jake, the leader of Pete's commando unit, leaned out of the door. "We could always take the lift," he offered.
No more needed to be said. Everyone squeezed into the lift.
The two Daleks and the Genesis Ark flew upward until they had nearly reached the height of Canary Wharf. "The Genesis Ark will open," said Dalek Sec.
One quarter of the Ark slid open slowly.
The lift had been a quick trip despite the weight in it. The Doctor ran ahead of everyone, getting to Yvonne's office first and placing the magna-clamps on her desk before going to the window. The others moved in behind her.
They watched, wordlessly, as the Ark door finished opening… revealing a gold-plated Dalek inside.
The Ark began to spin. As it completed its first spin the Dalek within it shot out. Just as the door left sight again, another Dalek shot out as well. And another… and another…
"Holy crap," Robert said. Beside him Caterina watched with wide, terrified eyes as more and more Daleks were thrown from the Ark.
"Time Lord science," the Doctor said in a low tone. "It's bigger on the inside."
"The Time Lords put those Daleks in there?" asked Mickey. "What for?"
"How many Daleks?" Rose asked nervously.
The Doctor took a moment to respond, but he eventually did.
"Millions."
The Ark continued to spew out Daleks, now one every second. The Daleks gathered into formations in the air and began to spread out over the skies of London.
Below, formations of Cybermen marching in the street stopped and turned. They raised their arms skyward and opened fire on the Daleks.
"Exterminate all life forms below!" ordered Dalek Sec. "Exterminate!"
The Daleks immediately swooped in and began firing at everything in the street.
"Dalek Thay." Sec swiveled its eye to face its comrade. "Assume command of assault force. Complete your mission."
"I obey," Thay answered. Wordlessly, he sent the commands to bid many of the emerging Daleks to follow him. They began to coalesce around him, numbering in the dozens within moments.
And as one, they rose skyward.
This did not go unnoticed to the group watching with horror from the top floor of Torchwood Tower. "Wait, where are they going?" Jackie asked.
The Doctor swallowed and turned away from the window. His eyes met Caterina's. "They spared you," he said. "Even though you couldn't open the Ark. Why?"
"They… th-they sa-said I'd b-be nec-necessary," Caterina said, stammering her way through the answer. Robert could feel realization dawn on her, but he would have realized it just by the way her face completely paled. "N-no…"
His face did the same thing as he put two and two together.
The Doctor nodded solemnly. "They kept you alive for the only reason they would keep any non-Dalek alive. They thought you might have been useful to them."
"In what way?" asked Yvonne.
"Yeah, if they just wanted to know what she knew, they would have sucked it from her brain like they did to Rajesh," Mickey pointed out.
"Because it's not about what's in her head, not exactly," the Doctor said. "Their priority was the Ark, and they didn't want to muck up anything by rushing things. But now that the Ark is open, they've got another goal in mind."
"Y-you don't th-think…"
The Doctor nodded at Caterina and at Robert. "The Daleks aren't after Earth," he said.
"They're after the Aurora," Robert finished for him.