"Hey! Stop poking!" complained Sarah as one of the Sontaran troopers finished searching her for hidden weapons. Satisfied that the female was unarmed, the Sontaran began going through the Doctor's coat pockets, extracting a number of objects that left the trooper baffled as to their purpose.

"What is this device? Some kind of grenade?" he demanded, holding up a small disc-like device with a piece of string woven around it's centre.

"Oh no, that's just a yo-yo," said the Doctor with an innocent smile. "Very useful for testing gravity on planets. You can do all sorts of performing tricks with it too. Would you like me to try out a flying saucer trick?"

"You have a scout craft in orbit?" exclaimed the trooper, thrusting the nozzle of his blaster under the Doctor's nose.

"I believe this humanoid is making a joke at your expense, trooper," clarified Vaux wearily, before addressing the Doctor. "I would advise you to be less flippant. One command from me and these troopers would blast you two to plasma! Is that clear?"

"Oh absolutely, Colonel Grumpy," muttered the Doctor.

"I am not a Colonel nor is my name 'Grumpy'," said Vaux patiently. " I am Field Major Vaux of the 15th Sontaran space squad and I would know what you two are doing on this benighted rock."

"We were just looking around, that's all," said Sarah. "I mean, this is a museum after all. Bound to have visitors every now and then."

"Be silent boy!" snapped one trooper. "You'll only answer direct questions from the Field Major."

Vaux held his face in his left palm, embarrassed by his subordinate's ignorance. "That is a female, trooper. You really should pay more attention to the field handbook on alien species."

"Apologies Sir," said the trooper, before turning to Sarah again. "Be silent, girl. Sorry about that, lad."

"I think I can guess why you're all here," said the Doctor. "Here to nick some of the Deathsmiths' weapons are you? That's a bit of a comedown for the mighty Sontaran Empire, isn't it? Grave robbing the worlds of dead civilisations, hardly honourable behaviour is it?"

"You dare put stain on my honour?!" spat Vaux. "You do not seem to comprehend the treasure trove this world holds."

"I assure you, I do," said the Doctor seriously. "This planet harbours some of the most destructive devices ever constructed, enough to waste whole galaxies to dust. Do you seriously think you can handle all that power without totally mucking it up?"

"Of course we can handle it," retorted Vaux. "What do you take us for, simpletons?"

"Oh, of course not," said the Doctor, crossing his fingers behind his back. "But you should know that someone else has tried to make off with the Deathsmiths' inventions and they didn't get very far with their ambitions at all."

"If you are referring to the Cybermen, we are already aware of this," said Vaux. "We discovered their pitiful remains on the way here."

"And you're not at all worried that whatever killed them might still be around?" interjected Sarah. "Aren't you the least bit interested in what happened to the Deathsmiths all those years ago?"

Vaux glowered at her angrily. "I warn you, girl. One more word from you and I'll..."

But before Vaux could complete his sentence, there was a sudden beeping noise from his communicator. Grateful for this distraction, he took the device from his belt and switched it on.

"Field Major Vaux here. Report!"

A weak, but determined voice cam through on the speaker. "Sir... under attack... require... reinforcements..."

Vaux began bellowing urgently into the communicator. "Is that you Quaarl? What is happening? Report. Report!"

Vaux's demands were met by nothing but the sound of static from the communicator.

"It would appear that Sergeant Quaarl is dead, sir," remarked a trooper.

"Perhaps so," said Vaux. "We had best return to camp at once. And bring these aliens along, I may wish to question them further."


It took an hour for the transport to reach base and as soon as they were parked, the Sontarans quickly began the search for their missing comrades. Two troopers kept a close eye on the Doctor and Sarah, who were busy taking in their surroundings.

"Doctor, you don't think that whatever happened to the Cybermen is now happening to the Sontarans, do you?" whispered Sarah.

"I'm very much afraid so, Sarah," said the Doctor darkly. "And if I'm right, it could also be the key to how the Deathsmiths died out as well."

Vaux could not help but overhear this and he eyed the Doctor suspiciously. "You seem to know a great deal for someone just visiting. What exactly are you suggesting?"

"Oh come now, Field Major," said the Doctor. "You must have noticed the empty vault with its door hinges rotted through. And the spaceships apparently destroyed by the Deathsmiths themselves. I think that there's something on this planet, a weapon so deadly that even the Deathsmiths could not allow it to be set loose on the universe. Whatever it was, it wiped out the Deathsmiths, took out an entire group of Cybermen and now it seems to be out for your lot as well."

There was a sudden and urgent call from within a nearby cluster of dead trees. "Field Major! Over here!"

Gesturing to the guards to bring the two prisoners along, Vaux headed off towards the call of his trooper. It took a few minutes to clamber through the grey and rotten branches, but at last he managed to reach the clearing where he found his soldiers looking over a most unpleasant sight.

"Quaarl? By the moons of Sontar, what has happened to him?" exclaimed Vaux as he looked at the pitiful remains of Quaarl and trooper Stol who were laid out on the ground before him, both quite dead. The two Sontarans' battle armour had been torn apart to shreds and their skins seemed to have been eaten away as though they had both been sprayed by coronic acid. Deep green blood poured out of various open wounds and Quaarl had lost one eye.

"I'm unsure what has happened, Sir," reported the soldier who had found them. "They both seem to be rotting away. Trooper Reck is still alive, but unconscious. He sustained some serious wounding, but does not seem to be in any immediate danger."

"Have him sent back to camp immediately," ordered Vaux. "As soon as he is awake, I want a complete report from him on what has occurred here!"

There was a sudden rustle from the branches behind Vaux as the Doctor and Sarah were marched into the clearing with their guards close behind. There was a gasp of horror from Sarah at the sight of the two corpses.

"Oh, that's horrible. Is it the same as what happened to all the others, Doctor?"

The Doctor knelt down to examine the bodies more closely. One trooper started to move to pull the Time Lord back, but Vaux quietly held up his arm to indicate to the trooper to let the Doctor carry on with his examinations. The Field Major wanted to study the reaction of these humanoids to all of this in order to establish if they were in any way responsible for Quaarl's death. This was the main reason why he had them brought along in the first place. Judging from the girl's shocked expression and the Doctor's grim look, it strongly suggested that they were as much in the dark as the Sontarans. Of course in no way did this mean that the Field Major could trust the two travellers. It simply established that the Sontarans had another enemy to contend with.

The Doctor finished his examination. "Yes, they've been eaten away, poor fellows. Hard to be sure, but it looks like some kind of virus attack. There are small puncture wounds on them, as though they had been bitten by something." He turned to Vaux. "Do you have a portable medical unit here by any chance?"

Vaux glowered at the Doctor. "This is a military expedition, not a hospital service! We Sontarans do not bother ourselves with the weak and infirm."

"Oh come on, you must have some kind of medical kit," retorted Sarah.

"Some small supplies for emergency situations," admitted Vaux. "We also have a range of survey equipment for examining the organic and molecular structure of this planet."

"Well, that should suffice," said the Doctor as he got to his feet. "It will be quite useful for my investigations."

Vaux could not believe his ears. "Your investigations?"

"Well of course my investigations!" snapped the Doctor. "What we're dealing with here is a danger to us all, Field Major. And if I don't get the answers to all this quickly, we may all end up dead. Now you're an intelligent chap. Surely you wouldn't want to throw away a valuable resource like myself would you?"

Vaux considered for a moment. For all his insolence, this Doctor displayed some level of intelligence and his statements were quite logical. If there was indeed an deadly predator loose on this planet, than there may be advantages in co-operation.

"Very well, Doctor," Vaux said at last. "You may proceed with your investigation."

"Sir! You cannot possibly be willing to trust this alien!" protested one of the guards. "For all we know, they could be behind all this!"

"You do well to remember to whom you're addressing, trooper!" snapped Vaux. "I do not need to trust this alien. Should he prove unreliable, his female comrade will be executed before his very eyes, in the most excruciatingly and undignified way possible."

"Charming," muttered Sarah.


From the shadows, the Apocalypse Device watched the small band of creatures carry their wounded trooper and the two corpses back to their encampment. It regarded the aliens curiously. The troll men are pitiful excuses for invaders and could be easily dealt with, just as it had once dealt with the men of steel. But the man, he was different. He displayed an unusually high level of intelligence and when the device softly tried to telepathically probe the being's mind, it found it could not penetrate his thoughts. There was a mental barrier of some kind, blocking the Device's attempts to read his mind. Furthermore, this Doctor seemed to be quite close to establishing the truth of what was happening here.

The ultimate weapon considered. This traveller could be a danger, yet he could also be the key to the Apocalypse Device's salvation...