Will Riker dove beneath some enemy blasts and his back slammed into a steel barrier.
"Hey!" the original occupant of the barrier protested, "Get your own shelter, Riker!"
She was a blonde Romulan with ice blue eyes. Her usually neat uniform was torn and stained and she had green blood stains in a few places. Her hair was ragged and her face was covered in dirt and soot. Commander Sela favored him a nasty glare.
He sat up quickly, "Wish I could. You look like hell, by the way."
"Yea, tell me something I don't know!" she snapped furiously as she popped up and blasted the Cybermen headed towards them.
"Why are you here, anyway?" she asked as she ducked back down, "I thought Starfleet wasn't involved in this."
"Captain Picard threw their orders out of an airlock and came here at top speed," Riker explained quickly, "Besides, I heard your call for help."
She looked away quickly, but Riker still caught the angry blush that colored her face.
"Well, you better start shooting if you want to live much longer," Sela snapped, ending the conversation right there.
! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !
"Fifth floor!"
Jean-Luc Picard yelled the command even as he launched himself through the 'lift doors. The 'lift obeyed instantly.
At the top, he was met by a Romulan woman, who led him to a room where Commander Tomalak was, loading EMP rounds into an old shotgun.
"Hello Picard," the older commander greeted him snidely. A subcommander nearby muttered something, causing Geordi LaForge to snicker slightly, earning them both a glare from the woman.
"Subcommander Donatra! Where's Commander Sela?" Tomalak asked as he stood and walked over to a screen on the wall.
"Pinned down about 3.2 klicks north, on the northeast barrier system," Donatra reported, "She's calling for reinforcements. Apparently, a Starfleet officer responded, but is trapped there as well."
"Well, let's leave command to the ships in orbit and go kill some Cybers!" Geordi jumped in.
"I'm with him," Subcommander Bochra seconded.
"Against my better judgment, they're right, Commander. We have to go now, before it's too late. Hopefully, more people will arrive soon," Donatra chimed in.
"You all are like children!" Tomalak groaned. Picard looked at the trio.
"Well, at least we're better behaved," Bochra shot back.
"If it helps you sleep at night, go ahead believing that," Tomalak replied quickly.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hearing some kind of odd wheezing noise," Geordi reported.
Vworp. Vworp. Clang. Vworp. Whoosh.
A blue box materialized in the corner.
"Oh hell," Donatra muttered, "Here comes the cavalry."
! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !
Ianto Jones was rather enjoying the peaceful day. So far, not even a single Weevil had come through the Rift. So, Cardiff was actually boring today. Gwen Cooper leaned against a wall nearby, sipping a cup of coffee. Captain Jack Harkness was nowhere to be seen currently. Probably off romancing some poor sucker.
Gwen looked up as a slight breeze fluttered some of the papers on Ianto's desk.
"How's there a breeze in here?" she asked as a blue box materialized in the middle of the Hub.
"That's how," Ianto replied easily, standing up and pulling his phone out.
A man with a bowtie and an odd hat stepped out of the box, followed by a woman with dark hair.
"Hullo. Has anybody seen Captain Jack?" he asked, "Why, hullo Gwen! And you, Ianto! I didn't know you were still keeping the old job!"
"Someone has to run the Hub when Jack's away doing stuff," Gwen said.
"And who else makes actual, decent, coffee?" Ianto stated.
"Right then. Well, you know who I am," the Doctor said, "And this is Clara. Clara, these are Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones. They work with Jack."
"What about me?" an American voice jumped in. Jack Harkness appeared, his RAF coat slung over a shoulder.
"Hullo, Jack," the Doctor greeted the Torchwood operative.
"Hello, Doctor. And hello, lovely," Jack smiled at Clara.
"Stop it!" the Doctor warned him.
"Can I not say hello to anyone?" Jack demanded.
"No. Anyway, the Cybermen are messing with the future, so I need some help. Who's in?"
Jack stepped into the TARDIS, followed by Ianto. They turned to look at Gwen.
"Sorry boys. I've got Rhys to worry about. Don't worry, I'll mind the Hub," she said with a small smile.
"Okay. Well, come on, Doctor. We've got Cybers to kill," Jack said.
Their next stop was to the backyard of Martha and Mickey Smith, both of whom jumped at the chance to help. Their daughter, Rosetta, went and stayed at a friend's house for the time being. Then, it was off to the 24th century.
! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !
Tomalak gave Donatra an odd look as he aimed his disruptor at the box. A man's head popped out.
"What is it with people and guns?" he snapped as he stepped out, followed by three men and two women.
"Sorry we're late. Had to make a few stops," one of the other men said, "Hi, Captain Jack Harkness."
"Stop it!" the first man warned.
"Can I not say hello to anyone?" Harkness complained.
"Not in this universe," the first replied, "I'm the Doctor, and these are Clara Oswald, Martha Smith, Mickey Smith, and Ianto Jones. You've already met Jack. We're here to stop the Cybermen."
"Get in line," Donatra replied.
"Oi! I've been in line long before you lot," the Doctor replied.
The Romulan woman rolled her eyes, "Don't I know it. You mention it enough."
"Right. Anyway, hello Picard."
"My God," Picard muttered, "Not again."
"You know him?" Tomalak asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. Just the Doctor, but that's bad enough," he replied.
"Hey!" the Doctor protested.
"He's right," Martha said.
"Not helping!"
"Well, they're not wrong," Donatra added.
"The only people in this room that have legitimate reason to possibly say that would be you, Jack, and Mickey. Maybe you Clara. But not any of the rest of you!" the Doctor defended himself.
Hearing that, Tomalak turned his gaze to Donatra, "You know them?"
She nodded, "Yep! Did some time-traveling once. The TARDIS has changed, but the Doctor hasn't."
"Oi! I have too! Look, my face changes!" the Doctor protested loudly. The 'lift door opened to emit a group of mixed Romulans and Starfleet officers.
"Well that was fun," Beverly Crusher said. Doctor Venora leaned against a crate by the wall, setting her med-kit down. Two injured people were set down. The pair of Romulans were seriously wounded, so Geordi tagged them with the appropriate isolinear tags and they were beamed up to a warbird in orbit. Beverly sagged against the wall in the corner, where the damaged roof allowed sunlight to stream softly in.
"Casualty counts?" Picard asked.
"About thirty dead Romulan personnel and ten of ours dead. Too damn many," Beverly reported, lying down on the floor and closing her eyes briefly before sitting back up, "But there's more to treat now. Shouldn't delay much longer."
Martha stepped over, "I'm certified as a doctor by UNIT. Maybe I can help. Just give me some tools and point me towards the wounded."
"Feel free. The crate Venora's propping up is the one with the medical supplies," Beverly said, earning her a glare from Venora.
"I am resting. If anything, the crate is propping ME up and keeping me from falling over and passing out," Venora retorted.
Martha nodded and walked briskly over to collect a med-kit. Mickey and Ianto chatted on their way over to a stack of crates that were the weapons cache in this sector. Jack and Clara went back into the TARDIS to do something. Meanwhile, Tomalak favored the Doctor with a glare. Donatra murmured something to Bochra, who smirked and nodded in reply.
"Who are you?" Tomalak demanded.
"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time-Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I know the Cybermen a little too well, as they keep trying to kill me via various methods and universes. Speaking of Cybermen, Jack!"
"Yes?" came the muffled reply.
"Grab Handles for me, would you?" the Doctor asked.
"Already got him!" Clara yelled back as she ran out of the TARDIS, carrying a Cyberman head.
"Ah, there you are. Commander, Captain, meet Handles. He's a very good friend and actually listens to me," the Time-Lord said, giving Clara a look. Martha looked up from treating some wounded Starfleet officers. Mickey and Ianto stared at the Doctor and Jack could be heard cussing inside the police box.
Bochra muttered something to Geordi, who laughed before turning bright red as Picard and Tomalak stared at him. The engineer cleared his throat and moved quickly away.
Tomalak asked the question that Picard had been dreading, "Why don't you just shoot the damned thing?"
Bochra swore loudly and pressed something into Donatra's hand. The woman smirked and sauntered off to talk to Venora.
"You made a bet?" Tomalak asked, as one of his eyebrows shot so far up his forehead, it nearly disappeared onto the top of his head.
"Well, I just agreed to the bet," Bochra said, "But I can see now that I fell for some trick."
"Damn straight you did!" Donatra said from the other side of the room, "Next time, check who you're talking to first. You forget, Bochra. I can read people like books. Well, anybody except Vulcans and Time-Lords."
"No one can read a Vulcan," Beverly said, "Only they can read themselves."
"And this just got rather awkward," the Doctor said, "Anyway, Handles is a very good friend and he isn't one of the mainstream Cybermen, seeing as he's just a head and all. Well, I do believe that he can help us neutralize the Cybermen here."
"Has it ever occurred to you that they may have this under control?" Mickey chimed in.
Venora and Beverly looked at each other and laughed.
They were still laughing when everyone turned to stare at them.
Venora cleared her throat, "Well, Mister Smith, you couldn't be more incorrect. We have nothing under control here, except for this little building that's structurally unsound and liable to fall down around our ears any moment."
"Unfortunately," Tomalak muttered, "She's not wrong. The Cybermen have over-ridden three defensive positions in the last hour. That make twelve in the past day."
"So you do have a problem," the Doctor said, "And I'm here to help."
AN- Good God, here I am again. Bet y'all are just thinking, what is with the mass updates? Well, I made a goal to push at least one mass-update a semester, so here's the one for second semester so far. I may do two, it just depends. I have two classes this semester that are in computer labs and in one of them, I've been known to type fanfictions while the teacher talks. So, yeah. More updates, I think.