"Back to the Tardis. Quickly! She can shield us!" the Doctor commanded, forceful. He didn't care that Bill started from his tone, just that she understood his urgency.
"What's happening?" she said but at least she was running when she said it.
"The drones. They're scanning for life signs." It was Cassian who answered her. He seemed pretty clever for a human.
The Doctor's mind was racing. It was only a matter of time before this ship was scanned and they were found. And then what? Captured? Blown up? If the condition of the planet was anything to go by, he'd assume the latter. And then there was the issue of those larger ships. He'd seen one himself, a long time ago and had hoped never to see one again.
He hated so much that what the Sorcerer had said on Scarif was true.
The lights flickered and went out, plunging the corridor into darkness. Of course the power would fail. He whipped out his sonic screwdriver and set it to the flashlight setting, bathing them all in a soft blue glow.
At the end of the corridor, Cassian was already trying to pry the door open, but it was no use, sealed shut and out of power.
"Damn it," Cassian said and slammed a hand against the door. "There has to be another way."
The Doctor was already on it, aiming the screwdriver at the door. It warbled and everyone stumbled as something jostled the ship.
"Is your plan to rupture that door? Because it's not working."
The Doctor adjusted the screwdriver's settings. "I suspect that was the drone latching onto the hull and preparing its scan." He aimed at the door again.
The next jolt almost sent them off their feet.
"And that would be it realizing we're here."
"Can you do that any faster?" Bill said.
"The sonic has at least ten thousand settings, three hundred and forty of which are for doors. This one is being stubborn." He tried another setting, wondering what the original crew's plan had been should the power fail. There was such a thing as too much security after all.
"And you don't have a setting for wood?"
"I'm a little busy at the moment."
The ship continued to shake and it was getting hot in here. If there was still power, an alarm might have gone off.
With a hiss, the door sprang open.
"Go, hurry!" They all ran, reckless in the dark and if the situation weren't so stressful, the Doctor would have been curious about the energy readings, the drone communicating with the engine and overheating it.
But for now, it was best to run. The air was becoming unbearably hot, stifling. There was the roar of an explosion behind them.
The Tardis doors slammed, closing them in safety and the Tardis jerked and then went still. The Doctor ran for the console to confirm what he already suspected. The ship was gone. The Tardis floated freely in space but they were safe for now, thoroughly shielded from the drone's scanners.
As soon as the danger had passed, Jyn rounded on the Doctor. "What do you know about this?"
The Doctor frowned. He should be used to human ire by now, but it only ever frustrated him and slowed things down. "Hardly more than you."
"I'm not blind. Those vessels we saw, those were Death Stars. An entire fleet of them. How did the Empire build so many without us knowing it?"
"It's not the Empire," the Doctor said. "Those drones are Hvroivian technology. I'd say we're dealing with technology thieves here."
Jyn marched right up to him and though he was quite a bit taller than her, she didn't seem at all fazed by it. "We did what we could to ensure the Death Star's destruction. My father died to get us that information. All of our friends are dead now because of it. And now there are more of them? Our mission was a waste and all those deaths were for nothing."
"Jyn."
"She's right, though," Cassian said. "How long did you know about this? Were you going to tell anyone or let them find out like the Kaleesh did?"
The tension was palpable and Bill shifted her attention from Jyn and Cassian to the Doctor and back again.
The Doctor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not from this galaxy," he said. "I was not aware of the current state of things. I am not a part of your civilizations or anyone's. I was lured here with the promise of such a threat and it's as much a mystery to me as it is to you. One which I intend to solve. That is the truth of the matter and it's up to you whether you believe me or not." Though truthfully, he didn't really care.
"Either way, we need to get to Yavin 4," Jyn said. "We need to warn the rebellion of what's coming."
"It won't do any good."
"We have to at least try," Cassian added.
"You lost a lot of people to destroy only one of them." The images from Scarif were still fresh, as well as the smoke and the smell of burning flesh.
"Our cause was always a lost one," Jyn said. "That will never stop us from trying."
So the Doctor took them back home. He had to admit, at least to himself, that he admired them. The perseverance of the human spirit never ceased to amaze him. How even during the lowest of lows, they could still rise again and on nothing more than hope. Hope, when other races would have given up long ago.
Hope would not help them. Not this time.
The Tardis was unusually quiet on the journey. Bill kept casting him glances as if she had something to say but didn't want to break the quiet.
And when the Tardis finally materialized on Yavin 4, the silence remained for a few moments longer as if no one was quite sure how to break it.
"Home sweet home," the Doctor said though he figured it was anything but. The Tardis kindly opened the doors for them.
Jyn hesitated. "Thank you again for saving our lives," she mumbled. "And good luck."
"Yeah," the Doctor said. "To you too." It would be a relief when it was just him and Bill in the Tardis, but he sincerely hoped the two of them would be alright. They were strong. Brave. They might have made fine companions if they hadn't been born in war, too confrontational. Though in some way, they reminded him of Leela and so could maybe be forgiven for that.
"Bye." Bill waved. "It was nice meeting you. I mean, woulda been nicer if we didn't almost die," she said in an attempt to lighten the mood.
And then they were gone and the Tardis was back to normal.
The first time the Doctor had ever seen a Death Star, he'd been inside of it. That had been two incarnations ago and he'd never witnessed its power firsthand though he'd learned enough to know what a threat it posed. And now there was an entire fleet of them. One that had managed to stay unnoticed until now. Imperial technology outside of their control, organized by a race the Doctor knew nothing about. A race the Sorcerer obviously wanted him to stop.
"So…what now?" Bill said.
The Doctor ran a hand over the Tardis controls.
"Do you have a plan? About the Sorcerer?"
"The Sorcerer's going to have to wait" As much as he didn't want to give up that search, as much as he wanted answers, there were more pressing matters at the moment. "We can't let that fleet destroy another planet." He'd seen enough death and destruction in his long life.
"So you do have a plan."
"The Tardis was scanning the whole time we were on that ship. It doesn't matter where they are now or when. We're going after that fleet."
The Tardis knew where to take them so all he had to do was pull the lever. And the Tardis groaned and wheezed and eased them into the time vortex, leaving Yavin 4 and the sole survivors of Rogue One behind.