Defender of the Earth

By Lumendea

Chapter Two: Horath Academy: UNIT Knocks

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

…..

It was early afternoon on the sixteenth of June and Rose was lounging in front of the television, waiting for her hair to dry with a fan blowing next to her. She had come home from sparring at the centre and taken a nice cool shower in hopes of beating the summer heat. Sadly, nothing seemed to be on the telly and Rose was making plans in her head of what to do next. Her mother was out shopping with Bev and wouldn't be back for hours. Outside the window, she could hear the shouting and yelling of the younger children playing football in the courtyard.

A knock on the door drew her attention away from the telly and she quickly hit the power button on the remote as she stood up. Rose straightened her shirt quickly as she walked over the door. Opening it up, she froze at the sight of a man in the black UNIT uniform with the red cap on his head. He was Caucasian with stern features who gave Rose a quick glance over before his face became even sterner.

"Good afternoon Miss Tyler," the man greeted. His tone was polite and he quickly presented her with his UNIT identification card. Rose recognized the uniform and the id cards from her last meeting them. "I am Sergeant Williams of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce."

"I know," Rose said. She looked around him at the stairwell to make sure no was watching, "I recognise the uniform."

"Colonel Adams requests your presence at headquarters," Sergeant Williams continued. He didn't at seem bothered at her uneasy. "I am to take you there are once."

"If those are your orders then it clearly isn't really a request," Rose said. She frowned, but the sergeant didn't say anything in response. "Give me a moment to put on some shoes." Down the walkway, Rose heard a door open. "And come inside. I don't need any more rumours around here."

Rose allowed the man to step inside the flat while she grabbed a pair of trainers and pulled them on. She quickly pulled her still slightly damp hair back into a ponytail and glanced at the mirror. Her jeans and long purple t-shirt with the periodic table on it were not going to impress anyone. Still, they hadn't exactly given her any warning. Shrugging, Rose quickly wrote a note to her mother that she had gone out and grabbed her phone and keys.

Sergeant Williams lead Rose down to the street where a black car was parked and another soldier sat in the driver's seat. He briefly glanced at Rose before a sharp look from the Sergeant made him turn his eyes forward again. The kids in the courtyard looked over at Rose and leaned closer to each other to start whispering. Rose held back a grimace and wondered just how she was going to explain this one. Enough people thought she was weird as it was.

"Do me a favour," Rose said to the Sergeant as she climbed into the back seat of the car. "Come in civilian clothing next time someone needs to talk to me or better yet just call."

The driver chuckled softly and gave Rose a quick smile in the rearview mirror, which helped her relax. The Sergeant climbed into the passenger seat next to the driver without a word. A moment later they merged into traffic and Rose sighed softly as she leaned back in the seat. It was a very comfortable car, honestly one of the nicest Rose had ever been in, but nerves were twisting in Rose's gut. Nothing weird had happened since Eve so why did UNIT want to see her?

Neither of the men in the front of the car said anything to her as they drove through the busy streets of London. Rose amused herself looking at the window and watching the people on the sidewalks going about their normal lives. They were completely unaware of so much of the world and she couldn't help but smile a little that she had been given the chance to understand more of the world than most.

After crossing Tower Bridge, they pulled into an underground tunnel near the Tower of London where another UNIT guard checked the car before allowing them entry. Rose recognised the parking area where she had been brought after the Mona Lisa Incident over two years ago. A woman in the UNIT uniform opened her door and gave her a nod.

"Welcome back to UNIT Headquarters Miss Tyler," the woman said. "I am Lieutenant Erisa Magambo, please follow me."

Rose followed the rather intimidating woman up the stairs, glancing back only once at the car and the Sergeant. Lieutenant Magambo led Rose into a different area than she had been taken last time and into a lift. The Lieutenant swiped a card and pressed one of the buttons before she folded her hands behind her and calmly waited for them to reach their floor. Rose shifted slightly, trying not to show discomfort at how quiet and formal everyone was here. The lift doors opened with a ding revealing a clean grey hallway with office doors. Lieutenant Magambo led her into the hall and took a sharp right before walking up to a door that had two guards, one of either side. The two guards saluted her and stepped aside as one of them opened the door and announced them to whoever was inside. Rose glanced quickly at the plate on the door before it opened the whole way for them, it read Colonel Jason Adams.

Lieutenant Magambo remained in the doorway but motioned for Rose to step inside. Rose straightened her posture and forced herself to relax her tense muscles, an act that actually got a small smile from the Lieutenant. She walked into the room trying to seem confident and politely greeted the man in uniform that rose from his seat. The Colonel was in his mid-forties with sandy brown hair that only had a few strand of grey in it. He was attractive, tall and was clearly comfortable in his uniform. Reaching out, he shook Rose's hand and introduced himself to her before suggesting that she sit down.

"I am sorry for calling you so suddenly and without warning, but I do not wish the information I am about to give you to go outside of UNIT." The Colonel paused and Rose nodded, detecting that it was the reaction he wanted. "The fact is that UNIT requires your assistance with an interesting and delicate matter." Rose raised an eyebrow slightly. "Now normally ordering the assistance of a minor would be out of the question, but the situation requires we take action."

"Hold on," Rose interrupted, "One what do you mean by order the assistance and two what is the situation?"

The Colonel frowned at her interruption but forced his features back into a neutral state before continuing, "The Unified Intelligence Taskforce has the power to order the assistance of any human on Earth in the name of Homeworld Security. It is the situation we find ourselves in that makes bringing a minor in necessary."

The Colonel stood and picked up a remote from a shelf near his desk and hit a button. The lights dimmed slightly the wall opened to reveal a screen. A moment later an image of an old and large brick building surrounded by trees appeared. There were a couple of outer buildings, a tennis court and what might be stables around the building.

"This is the Horath Academy, located a few hours outside of London," Adams said. "We've been receiving troubling reports from the area. However, we lack evidence to launch a full-scale investigation of the Academy. It is a sixth form boarding college and you are about to start your own sixth form in preparation for A-Levels. I want you to attend the Academy and report anything odd you find to us."

"What?" Rose blinked at him, the words echoing strangely in her head.

"Under the UNIT protocols I am ordering you to assist in an investigation Miss Tyler," the colonel said impatiently.

Without waiting for her to respond he started the presentation up again, going over the main staff of the school and explaining that UNIT had submitted her school records for consideration along with her artistic and work resume. He was confident that Rose's mix of excellent grades in math and science along with her artistic achievements would secure a spot for her at the academy.

Rose was frowning at the Colonel, in reality, she would have been glad to help if he had asked. Once the danger had passed, she looked back on her experiences with aliens as exciting and special events and frankly she had been bored since Eve left. Plus a boarding school might be just the key to acing her exams. However, this whole forcing citizens to travel away from their families was not giving her a good feeling about this situation or the way UNIT was handling it. Captain Mace may not have been the friendliest man she ever knew, but at least he had been respectful. She forced herself to remain calm while she took the file from the Colonel and flipped through it.

"So why do you suspect alien activity at the school?" Rose asked.

"The test grades of the students are at the top, the students they take it go from average to brilliant."

"Maybe it is just a good school," Rose suggested. "That is the point of attending an expensive boarding school."

"Perhaps, but this is a new school," Adams said. "It opened only two years ago. We believe the resumes and histories of the staff to be forged and shortly before the school opened there were reports of strange lights."

"Strange lights." Rose raised an eyebrow and gave him a doubtful look. "Is that all?"

"Our suspicions are based on many small things Miss Tyler. Students seem to be different to their families in addition to high test scores, the staff papers are forged and they are accepting an odd mix of students, but nothing is absolute." Colonel Adams said with a nod. "That is why our ability to investigate is so limited in this situation. Permission has been given for UNIT to pay for you to attend the school and give you some training before dispatching you."

"Whoa," Rose said. "Back up training?"

"Well, I can't send a teenage girl into a possibly hostile situation without some basic training beforehand." The Colonel flipped through a file in front of him, "Although you don't need too much. According to or file, you have successfully dealt with aliens before, you understand a great deal of technology and you are trained in self-defense. Those are the reasons you were selected for this assignment. Additional training would flesh out your current abilities to bring them into line with UNIT field agents."

"And if I don't want to go?" Rose asked.

The Colonel leaned forward and gave her a rather menacing smile. "Then we would have to discuss the penalties for assisting an unauthorised alien off Earth when she could have been valuable to UNIT." When Rose didn't say anything, the Colonel sat back and nodded. He gave her a rather smug smile. "I trust we understand each other. Lieutenant Magambo will give you your training schedule and will oversee your training. A location near your home has been acquired for the rest of the summer to prepare you for the mission without drawing too much attention. You are dismissed."

Rose opened her mouth but snapped it shut as she stood. Clenching her fists, she turned back to the door and stalked out of the room. Lieutenant Magambo was still standing in the hallway and frowned slightly at the sight of Rose's tense form, but said nothing.

"Please follow me, Miss Tyler," Magambo finally said. "I will provide you with the rest of the information you require to begin your training. I arranged for the training location to be close enough to your home that an UNIT escort will not be necessary."

Rose remained silent and accepted the information from the Lieutenant, nodding her understanding, but not saying anything. After what felt like hours, she was finally shown back to the car when the Lieutenant bid her a good evening. Rose glanced up at the driver and the Sergeant as she climbed into the car. She was quiet the whole way home and wondered briefly if this was the UNIT the Doctor had known.