[Sorry for the delay, again. Combat scenes are not my forte, and it took forever to come up with anything at all, let alone something even remotely griping. Plus real life getting in the way, as it does all too often.]
For a few dozens of seconds, time seemed frozen as the mercury stream of Devourers glistened between the two wormholes and filled the air with their ravenous cries. Just as the planet defenders were lured into almost hypnotic negligence, a group of several creatures skewed away from the bulk of the flock and missed the exit portal. They immediately turned round and aimed for anything that moved, shone, or made some noise.
The Daleks, with their dedication to combat and general single-mindedness, were quicker to react. Shrill shouts of "EXTERMINATE!" pierced through the air –shilling the Latoshkians to the bone–, accompanied with a barrage of blue high-energy beams. Each time the streaks hit their target, it glowed against the night sky, squealing in agony, and fell like a dead leave.
The humans soon followed their allies of convenience. Though many were, against the lead Dalek's advice, equipped only with insufficient laser guns, rockets and missiles flew from bazookas and gliders. After a couple of minutes, the combined fire had dealt with the immediate threat and stingray bodies littered the ground.
The respite didn't last. The din had attracted the Devourers' attention and a second, larger wave eluded the exit wormhole. This time, humans and Daleks sprang into action without wait, shooting relentlessly at the flying aliens. Realising their helplessness, those of the Latoshkians having only lasers promptly retreated, putting their fate in the hands and manipulators of those armed with more suitable weapons. Like Lillian and Stephen, all they could do was watch and pray…
For every Devourer dropping dead, two more joined the fight. The air was acrid with smoke and deafening with voracious screeches, dying shrieks, Dalek battle cries, human shouting and incessant explosions. With the situation steadily worsening, the bellicose mutants in personal tanks had grouped into highly efficient attack formations, each dedicated to protecting a specific area. For once, the Latoshkians welcomed their ruthless warmongering, even if it also stirred bitter memories.
Despite the Daleks' might and the humans' deftness, the defenders could barely contain the flood of swirling Devourers. Suddenly, half a dozen creatures broke away and dived towards the wormhole control devices and their oblivious operators. The nearest Dalek squad interposed itself in front of the vital equipment and concentrated their fire; they succeeded in distracting the flying aliens' attention, but failed to exterminate them all in time. Two of their members were ripped to shreds, pitifully yelling their terror and their pain.
"Oh God," Stephen breathed in dismay, instinctively stepping back.
Lillian, however, remained stony in the face of the gruesome scene. "Don't waste your sympathy," she snorted. "They are Daleks; it's not even like they'll resent you for not caring."
"But I am not," he retorted, still shaken. "Isn't that the whole point? That we are human?"
She froze and her voice was chilly when she replied: "Never forget what we're dealing with. Open your heart to them and they'll just exploit it to find a way to wipe us out. We have no choice but keep them alive –under close watch–, but falling into the trap of sympathising with them would be sheer suicide. Just be glad there is two less of them and they can't accuse us of it."
Stephen stared at Lillian in silence, uneasiness and… a glint of fear in the eye?
The fight continued to rage for what seemed an eternity until, at last, the swarm's flow dried up and the first portal switched itself off. At once, the Dalek operators closed down the second one, leaving only a handful of Devourers stranded on Latoshk. The creatures were easily dispatched one after the other by weary, but relieved combatants: Even if casualties had been high among both groups of defenders, they had averted a calamity. The planet was safe.
Finally, a couple of blue death rays engulfed the last Devourer, and it fell to the ground, inert. The surviving Daleks regrouped at the wormhole control machine.
"ALL DEVOURERS HAVE BEEN EXTERMINATED," one of them reported. "DALEKS ARE SUPREME!"
"DALEKS ARE SUPREME! DALEKS ARE SUPREME!" they all joined in.
"Seriously?" Lillian snapped icily. "You'd do well to remember that without our help, you'd have been forced to abandon the planet and your precious chronilite mines, Daleks. Your technology might be light years beyond ours, we're still the ones with the clever tricks."
At that, she turned heels and left, inviting her own troops to return to the colony with a silent gesture of the arm.
"THE HUMAN CREATURES ARE GROWING ARROGANT!" one of the Daleks complained. "THEY SHOULD BE EXTERMINATED!"
"NO," their leader rebuffed, "LILLIAN ROBERTSON IS RIGHT. ASSOCIATING WITH OTHER LIFE FORMS DOES NOT DEMEAN THE DALEKS. IT MAKES US STRONGER! THE LATOSHKIANS ARE NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED; WE WILL SECURE THEIR ASSISTANCE AND BENEFIT FROM IT."
"ALIENS MUST BE SUBJUGATED! THEY ARE INFERIOR!"
"UNIMPORTANT! THEY ARE MORE USEFUL TO US WHEN ALLOWED AUTONOMY, AND THE THREAT THEY REPRESENT IS CURBED BY THEIR FEAR OF RETALIATION. LETTING THEM LIVE EXPANDS OUR OPTIONS AND WILL ENSURE DALEK SUCCESS!" He cast his gaze over the assembled Dalek crew. "RETURN TO YOUR DUTIES," he ordered. "YOU WILL RESUME MINING," he commanded a small group before swivelling his eye-stalk to the rest: "AND YOU WILL START PREPARING THE SHIPYARD."
The arguing Dalek was disturbed by his commander's reasoning, so against everything he'd always held true; but he knew his place wasn't to dispute his orders or to argue on strategy with his superior. He was a Dalek, a soldier, a cog in an unquestionable hierarchy. Upsetting their reassuringly stable organisation was even more frightening than having to put up with insolent and unpredictable aliens. His purpose was to serve the Dalek race faithfully, and if his commander thought it required sparing the human beings despite their provocations, he would abide by it. "WE OBEY," he replied along with the others.
