Braxiatel gave up sonicing the door and he turned to his gun as the Ood advanced further towards them. "Open fire!" He ordered and he and Jefferson as well as the other guard fired at the Ood whilst Rose cowered beneath them. One by one the Ood dropped dead and Braxiatel lowered his gun slightly and looked at the Ood to make sure that they were all knocked down to the floor. "Clear." He told Jefferson as he eyed the bodies. Rose peered over his shoulder nervously.
"Open Door 25." Jefferson and Braxiatel and the other guard spun around, their guns raised and ready for whatever was about to come through the door but it was only Danny.
Danny raised his hands quickly in surrender. "It's me! But they're coming!"
"Close Door 25."
"It's the Ood. They've gone mad." Danny explained and he saw the other Ood on the ground near their feet.
"How many of them are there?" Braxiatel asked.
"All of them! All fifty!" Danny replied.
Jefferson approached the door. "Danny, out of the way." Danny didn't move, too shocked to do so. "Out of the way!" He snapped with more ferocity and he pushed Danny out of the way of the door.
Danny looked between Braxiatel and Jefferson helplessly. "But they're da-" Jefferson started to open the door. "It's the interface device. I don't know how, but they're using it as a weapon."
"The beast will be controlling them." Braxiatel replied and Danny looked at him. "This beast is powerful so he looked at whatever he could to make the Ood as a weapon. The best thing the Ood had were the interface device." Danny nodded in understanding.
"Open door 25." Jefferson opened the door and the Ood were standing on the other side. One of them immediately advances, sticking the communication orb to the guard's forehead. She screamed and slumped to the floor, dead. Jefferson and Braxiatel opened fired, knocking out all of the Ood's.
Jefferson looked at Braxiatel, impressed."Nice aim. Where'd you learn to fire like that?"
"War." Braxiatel grimaced as he loaded more bullets. "War is where I learnt to shoot."
Zach closed the door from the control room, trying to close them all before the Ood got in.
"Close Door 1."
He started to run down the corridor but skidded to a halt as he saw the Ood advancing from the other end. He went back the way he came. "Open Door 1."
He made his way back into the control room. "Close Door 1."
He quickly pressed some buttons on a control panel that was mounted on the wall. "Lockdown, seal Door 1." He ordered.
"Lockdown Door 1." The computer replied.
Zach went back to the controls in the centre of the room and he heard a babble of frantic voices sounding from the communication. "Jefferson, what's happening there?"
"Myself and Braxiatel have got very little ammunition sir. How about you?" Jefferson replied.
Zach quickly checked his own weapon. He opened a cupboard and inside was his bolt gun and he removed it. "All I've got is a bolt gun. With uh..." He checked and sighed when he saw how much bolts he had. "All of one bolt. I could take out a grand total of one Ood. Fat lot of good that is."
"Given the emergency..." Jefferson paused slightly. "I recommend Strategy Nine."
Zach looked defeated. He hated to use Strategy Nine but in times like these, he wasn't about to lose anymore crew members. Crew members came first, no matter what. "Strategy Nine agreed. Right, we need to get everyone together. Braxiatel, Rose, what about Ida and Romana? Any word?"
Rose shook her head as Braxiatel spoke into the communication device. "I can sense Romana. No harm has come to her yet. She's completely fine or so I hope." He replied and just then, the communication device crackled and Romana's voice came through, making Braxiatel wince but yet relieved.
"Sorry! Just had a shower of rocks. We're both fine, safe and sound." Romana told them.
"Romana!" Braxiatel cried with relief and the communication screeched loudly, blanking out the rest of the sentence.
Romana winced as she heard the screech. "Careful Braxiatel! As I've said before, we're both okay. But the seal has opened up. All we've got left is this chasm."
"How deep is it?" Zach asked.
Romana peered over the edge, her feet just resting on the edge of the pit. "No idea but it looks as if it could go on forever."
"'The pit is open'." Rose quoted. "That's what the voice said."
"But there's nothing? I mean...?" Zach asked.
"Nothing I can see of so far. But I have a feeling this 'Beast' is at the bottom of the pit." Romana replied. "This beast must have been trapped there for a very good reason."
"It said 'Satan'." Rose told them fearfully.
Braxiatel rolled his eyes. "Come on Rose, do you honestly believe that?"
Rose looked at him. "Is there no such thing?" Braxiatel didn't reply. "Braxiatel?"
Braxiatel didn't believe in the devil. His people were never religious. They never believed in anything of the sort. Of course, they believed in good and evil. They believed in Omega and Rassilon but never the actual devil himself. Braxiatel turned his back on Rose, unable to answer her question.
Romana was still looking at the pit when Zach spoke. "Ida? I recommend that you withdraw. Immediately." Zach ordered.
"But...we've come all this way!" Ida protested as she and Romana looked at each other. Both itching to see what was down in the pit. Romana could feel a sense of wanting to jump, as though something was calling her to go down there...waiting for her.
"Okay, that was an order. Withdraw. With that thing open, the whole planet shifted. One more inch and we fall into the black hole. So this thing stops right now." Zach ordered.
"But it's not much better up there with the Ood."
"I'm initiating Strategy Nine, so I need the two of you back up top immediately, no ar-"
Ida turned off her wrist device and Romana raised an eyebrow. Ida looked at Romana. "What do you think?"
"You've disobeyed an important order." Romana told her but not in a scolding manner.
"Yeah, but...what do you think?"
Romana put one foot on the edge of the pit, staring down right into it. She could feel the beast down there. Rooting on the edge of her mind but she wouldn't give in. Not like she did with the Pandora. ""I am the temptation.'" Romana quoted. "Certainly tempting." She carefully bounced up and down on the edge of the pit.
"If...if there's something in there...why's it still hiding?"
"Oh something definitely is down there all right." Romana replied. "I can feel it on the edge of my mind. Waiting in the darkness..." She shivered slightly. "I think this is a prison and we've opened it. But we've not opened the actual cell itself. If we opened the cell, I dread to think that's holding it."
"We should go down. I'd go. What about you?" Ida told her, so eager to see what was down there.
Romana smiled at her. This human reminded her so much of Leela. So much intelligence and eagerness to fight! They would have gotten along perfectly. "Where angels fear to tread!" She gave a half laugh. "You humans," She shook her head. She looked into the pit as though mesmerised. "You can feel it right in the back of your head. That impulse telling you to go over. For once in my many lives Officer Ida...I'm going to say..." She looked at Ida and Ida looked at her. "Retreat." She sighed and pulled her foot back from where it was rested on the edge of the pit, knowing the beast was trying to call her down. "I feel old. Braxiatel! We're coming back up!"
Braxiatel grinned. "Glad to here that my lady." He replied into the comms. That was the best news he's heard all day.
Jefferson released the safety catch on his gun and looked down on Toby. Braxiatel stood in between them and looked at Jefferson. "Mr Jefferson sir!" Braxiatel snapped. "Just what do you think you're doing?"
"He's infected! He brought that thing on board. You saw it." Jefferson replied. Toby's eyes widen in shock as he was cornered, cowering on the floor behind Braxiatel and Rose's eyes widened.
"This beast has been here for a long time by the looks of it," Braxiatel told him sternly. "It was in Toby before but it's not anymore. It has possessed the Ood now. It looks like it's left Toby for good. If you want to start shooting someone, then you're going to have to go through me and you don't want to do that do you? Because then you'll suffer the wrath of my lady Romana." He glared at Jefferson and Jefferson could see the darkness in his eyes and knew he meant his words well. "Is this what you humans do? You shoot your own people when things get difficult?" He sneered. "If you were in my rank, I would have been ashamed of you Mr Jefferson. Now, I order you stand down this instant. Is that understood?"
Rose watched the interaction with wide eyes before she made her way to Toby, comforting him. Jefferson paused, considering Braxiatel's words and he lowered down his gun before looking at Braxiatel. "Any sign of trouble...I'll shoot." He moved away and Braxiatel watched him go before turning back to Toby and Rose.
"Thank you." Rose muttered to Braxiatel as she comforted Toby. Braxiatel merely nodded, inspecting Toby more closely. "Are you all right?" She asked Toby.
Toby looked close to tears and he trembled with fear. Never had anything like that happen to him before. "Yeah...I..." He shook his head. "Dunno."
"What do you remember?" Braxiatel asked.
Toby swallowed. "Just...it was so angry. It was...fury and rage...death..." He threw terrified glances around the room and his eyes met Braxiatel's. "It was him. It was the devil."
"Come here." Rose draw Toby into a comforting hug and he clung to her, eyes still wide open with horror and Braxiatel frowned, not liking this one bit.
Romana and Ida trudge their way back to the capsule, the ground now covered in rocks of all shapes and sizes. "Let me guess, is strategy nine is where you open the airlocks?" Romana asked. Her people had something similar to strategy nine.
"Yup. But we'll be safe inside the lockdown...the Ood will get thrown out into the vacuum." Ida replied.
Romana frowned. She knew it was not the Ood's fault but rather than the Beast. Whatever that was. "So we're going back to a slaughter house I take it?" She asked as they reached the capsule. She didn't like the plan but it was the only way to guarantee their safety.
Ida turned to look at her. "The devil's work."
Back at the exploration deck, the four of them were waiting for Romana and Ida to make contact. Finally, Ida came through. "Okay, we're in. Bring us up."
"Ascension in...Three...two...one." Jefferson spoke but the mechanism failed and the lights in the room went out.
In the control room, the lights around Zach went out in a blink and the voice of the beast could be heard. "This is the Darkness. This is my domain." It spoke and the display on the screen changes to that of several of the Ood standing together and Zach knew that whatever was speaking was using the Ood to communicate. "You little things that live in the light...clinging to your feeble suns..."
Zach picked up his gun.
"...which die in the..."
Braxiatel spoke through the communication, warning Zach. "This beast is using the Ood to communicate. Try and leave the Ood alone if you can." Zach merely nodded despite Braxiatel not seeing him.
"Only the Darkness remains."
"This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane of Sanctuary Base Six representing the Torchwood archive. You will identity yourself." Zach ordered.
"You know my name." The beast replied.
Zach froze. "What do you want?"
"You will die here. All of you. This planet is your grave."
Back at the exploration deck, Toby trembled, looking at Rose and Braxiatel with horror. "It's him. It's him. It's him..." He muttered, shaking his head.
Back in the capsule, Romana knew it was her time to speak. "Tell me, Beast, if that's what you are. Which beast are you? Because since your imprisonment the universe has been rather busy. I have fought beasts myself so tell me, which one of these beasts are you?"
"All of them."
Romana frowned. "How can you be all of them? That's impossible." It just couldn't be all of them! It had to be one. It just wasn't making any sense.
"This one knows me as I know her. The woman who led her people off into glorious war. The killer of her own kind except for one soul survivor..." Ida looked at Romana with wide eyes at the comment.
Romana ignored the Beast's comment and she tried to brush it off despite it bothering her. "How did you get here? I'm very interested to know."
"The disciples of the Light rose up against me. And chained me in the pit for all eternity."
"When was this?"
"Before time."
Romana scoffed. "There's no before time! Nothing exist before time! What could you possibly mean?"
"Before time." The beast told her again.
"For Rassilon's sake, you're talking rubbish."
"Before light and time and space and matter. Before the cataclysm. Before the universe was created." The beast told her.
Romana shook her head. This was absurd! "That's utterly impossible beast! No life could have existed back then. Nothing!"
"Is that your religion?"
"It's a belief. There's a difference." Romana told the beast firmly.
"You know nothing. All of you. So small. The President who lead her people to war, never to return yet so eager for forgiveness." Romana stiffened. "The Captain, so scared of command. The Lord Cardinal, haunted by the eyes of his brother, who just keeps on running from his past." Romana knew he was talking about Braxiatel. He was her Lord Cardinal back on Gallifrey. "The Soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife. The scientist, still running from daddy." Ida shifted uncomfortably in the capsule. "The little boy who lied...The virgin...and the lost girl, so far away from home. The valiant child who will die in battle so very soon."
"Romana, what does it mean?" Rose asked through the communication device.
"Just don't listen to it." Romana reassured her but she couldn't help uneasy. The beast was getting at them she knew. Getting them worked up so they could act out of fear and anger and Romana knew what those emotions could do. She saw it happen loads of times and it wasn't pretty.
"What does it mean?"
"You will die...and I will live." The beast replied and the footage of the Ood suddenly cuts and was replaced with a roaring horned beast, which caused everyone but Romana and Braxiatel to gasp and stumble backwards.
Romana could hear everyone panicking, everyone talking over one another in loud voices and she knew these humans were very afraid. "Everyone just stop-" She tried to say.
"What do we do?" Danny ignored her.
"Report!" Jefferson demanded.
Finally, Romana had enough and she held the communication device close to the speaker, making it screech loudly. The babbled stopped and silence fell. Braxiatel smirked. "One word of advice, don't ignore lady Romana when she's trying to talk."
"Yes, thank you for that Braxiatel." Romana commented sarcastically. "If you all want voices in the dark, then you have to listen to mine; this beast is playing on our very basic fears. This is how the devil works and we mustn't give in to it."
Ida looked at her. "But...how did it know about my father?"
Romana looked at her. "But what makes his version of the truth any better than mine? Because right now, you humans are just astonishing and I don't often say that. Just look how far you have come! You have come together as a team! That's the one advantage we have. This beast is alone whereas we are not. We are united! With us being a team-" Romana was about to continue but suddenly, with a loud bang, the cable for the capsule snapped and falls down the shaft.
Ida looked up. "The cable's snapped!" Ida realized.
"Out! Out!" Romana ordered and they dived out of the capsule just as the cable landed inside it with force.
"Romana!" Braxiatel shouted with concern as dust wafts onto the exploration deck. He knew Romana was all right, he could sense her but that still didn't mean he wanted to check up on her before all he could hear was static. He chucked the comms to the floor and swore. "The comms are down. But Romana and Ida are okay, I can sense and feel Romana."
"I've still got life signs, but...we've lost the capsule." Zach told him in agreement.
"Is there anyway for them to come back up?" Braxiatel asked. "We're the last of our kind, I can't leave Romana down there on her own."
"There's no way out. They're stuck down there." Zach told him and Braxiatel ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
Romana and Ida stood up, brushing the dust off their spacesuits. Romana looked at Ida. "How much air have we got?"
"Sixty minutes," Ida replied before she checked her wrist device. "Fifty-five."
"Typical." Romana shook her head.
Braxiatel, Rose, Jefferson and Danny peered down the lift shaft. Braxiatel turned to Jefferson. "We've got to bring them back! I'll go down there myself if I have to!"
Jefferson shook his head. "They're ten miles down. We haven't got another ten miles of cable." Suddenly there was a loud bang on the door, making everyone jump. Jefferson spoke into his wrist device. "Captain? Situation report."
"It's the Ood. They're cutting through the door bolts. They're breaking in." Zach replied.
"Yeah, it's the same on Door 25."
"How long's it gonna take?" Rose asked.
"Well, it's only a basic frame, it should take ten minutes." There was another bang and Jefferson winced. "Eight."
"I've got a security frame, it might last a bit longer, but that doesn't help you." Zach told him.
"We need a plan. We need to stop them and get out, or both." Braxiatel stood in front of them.
"I'll take both, yeah? But how?" Danny asked.
"You heard what Romana said. Team work! Why do you think the beast cut her off? Because she was being smart. She was telling you to think your way out of this. But first of all, we need to work in better lightening conditions. Captain!" He looked upwards. "There's got to be a back up of some power source up there."
"There's nothing I can do." Zach replied bitterly. "Some Captain, stuck in here, pressing buttons."
"Then press the right buttons!" Braxiatel replied and Rose smiled up at him.
"They've gutted the generators!" Zach replied with realization. "But the rocket's got an independent supply. If I could reroute that...Mr Jefferson? Open the bypass conduits. Override the safety..."
Jefferson was all ready pressing the appropriate buttons. "Opening bypass conduits, sir."
"Channelling rocket feet. In 3...3...1...power." Zach told them just as the lights came back on.
Rose cheered happily. "Thank you Captain!" .
Danny grinned. "Let there be light!"
Braxiatel turned to Jefferson. "Mr Jefferson! Get working on the power for Strategy Nine." Jefferson nodded and saluted Braxiatel before getting to work.
Rose turned to Toby. "Toby, what about you?"
Toby slowly stood up. "I'm not a soldier. I can't do anything." He looked helpless.
"No, you're the archaeologist. What do you know about the pit?"
"Well, n-n-nothing. We can't even translate the language."
Rose turned away. "Right."
"H-hold on. Maybe." Toby frowned, looking uneasy.
"What is it?"
"Since that thing was inside my head, it's like the letters made more sense." Toby replied.
"Well, get to work." Braxiatel patted him on the back. "Now Danny, since you're in charge of the Ood, is there any way of stopping them? I'm sure we could use their telepathic field against them somehow."
"Well, I don't know." Danny told him honestly.
Rose pulled him over to the computer. "Then find out. The sooner we get control of the base, the sooner we can get Romana and Ida out. Shift." She smacked him playfully and stood beside him as Braxiatel peered down the never ending shaft and he could feel Romana's presence just on the edge.
"We've got all this cable, we might as well use it. The drum's disconnected, we could adapt it." Ida started gathering up the fallen cable. "Feed it through."
"For what?"
"Abseil. Into the pit."
"Oh, of course."
Ida tugged on the cable. "We're running out of air with no way back. It's the only thing we can do. Even if it's the last thing we ever achieve."
"We'll get back. Braxiatel's up there." Romana told her, trying to tell herself that there is a way out. "He wouldn't leave me out here. Or at least I hope not."
"Well, maybe the key to that is finding out what's in the pit." Ida suggested.
"I like the way your thinking." Romana nodded as she helped her. "But I'll go down into the pit. Not you."
Rose watched Jefferson as he worked on the computer. "Open junction five...six...seven..." There was a bang on the door but they ignored it. "Reroute filters sixteen to twenty-four. Go."
Toby was working on the symbols and Danny was working hard on the other computer. "There's all sorts of viruses that could stop the Ood. Trouble is, we haven't got them on board."
Braxiatel rolled his eyes. "Hurray! List all the equipment we haven't got. We haven't got a Romana or Ida either and Romana has more brains than all the computers do in the base put together."
The computer bleeped and the word 'affirmative' flashed on the screen and Danny looked excited. "Oh my god. It says yes! I can do it! Hypothetically, if you flip the monitor, broadcast a flare...it can disrupt the telepathy! Brainstorm!"
Rose frowned. "What happens to the Ood?"
"It'll tank them, spark out!" Danny explained happily.
"There we are, then! Do it!" Rose told him enthusiastically.
Danny's smile faltered and Braxiatel knew that more was required. "What is it?" He asked Danny.
Danny's smile fell completely and he shook his head. "I'd have to transmit from the central monitor. We need to get to the Ood Habitation."
There was another bang on the door but this one caused sparks to fly. Braxiatel walked over to Jefferson. "Mr Jefferson sir! What's the escape plan?"
"There's a network of maintenance tunnels running underneath the base. We should be able to gain access from here." Jefferson replied.
Rose smiled. "Ventilation shafts."
"Yeah, I appreciate the reference, but there's no ventilation. No air, in fact, at all. They were designed for machines, not life forms." Jefferson told them as the Ood kept banging on the door.
"But I can manipulate the oxygen field from here. Create discrete pockets of atmosphere...if I control it manually...I can follow you through the network." Zach told them.
Braxiatel nodded. "Make the air follow us when we go down. I'm almost impressed."
"You wanted me pressing buttons." Zach told them, sounding pleased with himself.
"Indeed I did. Could you work out a route for us to get to the Ood Habitation?" Braxiatel asked.
"Yes." Zach replied and Zach continued pressing buttons.
Romana and Ida were securing the cable so they could abseil down the pit. "That should hold it. How's it going?" Ida asked as the cable unraveled.
"Should work. Good job I don't have a fear of heights." Romana told her as she stood on the edge of the pit. "The beast is still roaming on the edge of my mind. Calling out to me...saying go down, go down...But what it wants me for, I have no idea."
Ida nodded. "I have never met anyone quite like you Romana. You talk all the time yet, we still don't know a thing about you. You say this beast wants you for something, but what makes you so important that it just wants you specifically and not the rest of us?"
Romana didn't look at her as she continued to look into the edge of the pit. "I've done a few things and seen things you wouldn't believe," Romana admitted. "I have knowledge that is way beyond your imagination. But I don't think that's the reason why the beast wants me no...I think it wants me because of who I am." She suddenly jumped into the pit.
"Romana!" Ida pressed a button and the cable comes to a halt. Romana stopped falling and was hanging by the cable a short way into the pit. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Romana replied as she shone the torch down. "Perfectly safe. I must say, it's rather dull down here. Just crust as far as I can tell and no sign of the beast just yet. You can continue to lower me, it's perfectly safe."
"Well, here we go then." Ida pressed the button again and Romana was slowly lowered into the pit.
Back at the exploration deck, there was another violent bang and they all ready to enter the maintenance tunnels but Danny was still at the computer.
"Danny!" Rose shouted to him.
"Hold on! Just conforming..." Danny replied.
"Dan, you gotta go now!" Jefferson ordered and there was another bang.
The computer bleeped loudly and Danny grinned. "Yeah!" He took out the computer chip from the machine and showed it them as he hurried over to the entrance of the maintenance tunnels. "Put that in the monitor...and it's a bad time to be an Ood!" He grinned.
"Good Job Danny." Braxiatel nodded. "You go down first, then you Rose, then Toby, Mr Jefferson you go behind Toby and I'll go behind you for defence of position. Now that's an order! Move it!" They all lowered themselves into the tunnels in the order Braxiatel specified.
Braxiatel grimaced, realizing that Romana was right. These robes were really not made for crawling on all fours, especially in a hurry. Jefferson went down and Braxiatel came down after him, just in time as the Ood finally broke down the door and they advanced. Braxiatel jumped in and closed the lid above him.
"Which way we go?" Danny asked Zach through the communication device and they all began to crawl down the tunnel.
Rose stared at Danny's bum. "Not your best angle, Danny."
"Oi! Stop it!" Danny protested.
"I dunno, it could be worse." Toby commented and Braxiatel couldn't help but roll his eyes. Humans, even in the worst of times they still loved to flirt.
"Oi!" Rose said rather indignantly.
"Straight along until you find junction 7.1. Keep breathing. I'm feeding you air. I've got you." Zach told them.
They crawled along quickly and they reached the junction in the tunnels and sat down, out of breath. Danny spoke into his wrist device. "We're at 7.1, sir."
"Okay, I've got you." Zach replied. "I'm just aerating the next section."
Danny winced. Being cramped was no fun, especially in the situation they were in. "Getting kinda cramped sir...can't you hurry up?"
"Be fair on him, he is only working on half power." Braxiatel told him. "We could be worse. Luckily for me, I can survive a few extra minutes without air where as you can't."
"Hurray for that." Toby mumbled.
"Thanks Braxiatel." Zach told him.
Rose turned to Danny. "Braxiatel says 'Stop Complaining.'"
"I heard." Danny scowled.
Rose looked at Braxiatel. "He heard."
Toby spoke into his wrist device. "But the air's getting a bit thin."
"He's complaining now." Rose told Braxiatel.
"I have ears of my own you know." He indicated towards his ears before sorting out his robes. "Damn, Romana was right. These robes are no good for crawling in."
Jefferson looked at him before looking at his crimson robes."Where are you from?"
Braxiatel sighed deeply. "A long way from home." Jefferson looked at him with respect and a hint of sadness.
Danny wiped the sweat of his face and Rose sniffed before her face screwed up in disgust and Braxiatel wriggled his nose, looking slightly disgusted. "Danny, is that you?" Rose asked.
"I'm not exactly happy!" Danny said rather defensively.
"I'm just moving the air..." Zach told then when suddenly there was a loud banging from the other end of the tunnel. Braxiatel shifted slightly and aimed his gun at the other end.
Danny looked fearful. "What was that?"
"Braxiatel! What was it?" Rose asked, her eyes wide.
"Try and stay calm. It must be the Ood, they must know we're in here." Braxiatel told them and sure enough, he was right as he heard the Ood crawl down the tunnels with frightening speed. "They're in the tunnels!"
"Captain open the gate!" Danny shouted desperately.
"I've gotta get the air in!"
"Just do it!...sir." Danny added as though in after thought.
"I can hear them getting closer." Braxiatel told him. He was thankful for his time-lord hearing, even if he didn't like the situation they were in.
"The computer doesn't register the Ood as proper life-forms." Zach told them. "I can't tell you how far away they are."
"Whose idea was that?" Rose remarked.
Danny was practically sweating and shaking and he roared into his wrist device. "Open the gate!" The gate opened and they lunged forwards through it.
"Danny, turn left. Immediate left." Zach ordered and they crawled down the tunnel as fast as they could.
"Captain!" Braxiatel asked as he crawled. "Is there anyway you can trap the Ood? Cut off their air perhaps?"
"Not without cutting off yours." Zach replied and Braxiatel could still hear the Ood pursuing them down the tunnel but luckily they were not in sight et. "Danny, turn right. Go right! Go fast, Dan, they're gonna catch up!"
Jefferson began to slow down and Braxiatel nudge him. "Mr Jefferson sir! Just what do you think you're doing? Move it!"
"I'll maintain defence of position now!" Jefferson told him, ready to swap with Braxiatel. He was growing old and these people are needed more than him.
"You will not and that is an order because I'm in charge. Now keep moving because I'm going to need you later, is that understood soldier?" Braxiatel looked at him in the eye.
Jefferson looked back and he knew that no matter what he would say, Braxiatel would win and he gave him a reluctant nod. "Yes sir."
"Good man. Now shift! I can hear the Ood coming." Jefferson gave a reluctant nod and they moved on just as the Ood appeared around the corner and they turned and reached the next junction. Braxiatel turned and fired at the Ood, trying to buy them some time.
"8.2. Open 8.2. Zach!" Danny cried.
"I've gotta aerate it!"
"Open it now!" Danny shouted furiously.
"I'm trying!"
Danny thumped on the gate, getting desperate.
"Danny, stop it. That's not helping." Rose spoke, stopping Danny.
"Zach, get it open!" Toby shouted.
Braxiatel was still firing at the Ood using his pistole that Jefferson had picked up earlier, the Ood dropping onto the floor, unconscious. "Jefferson, pass me your gun! Quickly Now!" Jefferson quickly passed him his gun and he checked for his bullets. Not a lot and he only hoped that he had his blaster on him.
Suddenly, gate 8.2 opened and they were allowed through and Braxiatel changed his positions quickly, following them.
"Danny, turn left and head for 9.2. That's the last one." Zach spoke. "Nice work Braxiatel."
"Thank you sir." Braxiatel replied before looking ahead. "You have to move faster. Keep going!" He shouted at the humans. "Jefferson, you too!" Jefferson nodded and he quickly picked up his pace and Braxiatel just made it through, right after the door closed behind him and he sighed with relief. "Good work Jefferson."
"John." Jefferson suddenly spoke and Braxiatel blinked. "My name's John Jefferson." He held out his warn out hand, panting slightly.
Braxiatel took it and held it firmly. "It's an honour John."
Danny panted, out of breath before he spoke into his wrist device. "Zach...we're at the final junction. 9.2. I would appreciate it if you opened 9.2"
"Noted. Opening 9.2." Zach told them and the gate opened, only for it to reveal Ood on the other side waiting behind them. Braxiatel scrambled back as quickly as possible.
"Lower 9.2. Zach. Lower it!" Rose screamed.
"Back! Back! Back!" Danny ordered Braxiatel.
Braxiatel cursed before he looked over his head to see a grilling. "Oi, you humans! Through here!" He pushed the grilling out of the way and emerged through the floor of the corridor and he helped up Jefferson and the remaining humans but Toby was being slow.
Rose peered down at Toby. "Come on! Toby, come on!"
Toby looked at the Ood and placed a finger to his lips, his eyes glowing red once more.
"Toby, get out of there now! That is an order!" Braxiatel shouted, not seeing the beast possessing Toby once more. He just wanted to get back to Romana as quickly as possible.
Toby scrambled back up, terrified. "Help me! Oh, my god, help me!" Rose and Braxiatel hoisted Toby up through the hole just as more Ood approached from one end of the corridor.
Danny began to ran in the opposite direction. "It's this way!" He called and they followed Danny along the corridor, the Ood in pursuit.
"Hurry up!" Zach called just as they reached the Ood habitation.
The five of them burst through the doors into the Ood habitation and ran over to the computer and the Ood that were already inside looked up at their arrival.
"Get it in!" Rose cried.
Braxiatel threw Jefferson's gun to the floor before searching through his pockets quickly for his blaster and he grinned when he saw it and kissed it. "Never go anywhere with out it." Braxiatel grinned at Jefferson before aiming his blaster at the advancing Ood, holding his fire. He never thought he'll see the day where he's taking aim on possessed Ood.
"Danny, get down." Toby told his friend.
"Transmit!"
"I'm trying! I'm trying! I'm getting-"
"Danny, stop the Ood! That's an order!" Jefferson shouted, not taking his eye off the Ood, holding his gun. Despite it having ran out of bullets, it was still useful to result to hitting the Ood. The Ood made their way up the stairs towards them quickly. "Just get the chip into the transmitter!"
Danny finally bungs it into the computer and just as Braxiatel was about to fire, the readings on the computer went down to basic 0 and the Ood clutched at their heads and stumbled about before collapsing onto the floor and silence fell. Braxiatel and Jefferson lowered their weapons, eyeing the Ood.
Rose smiled at Danny. "You did it! We did it!"
Danny cheered. "Yes!" Rose and Danny laughed in delight before Rose threw her arms around him before hugging Toby who grinned and Toby and Danny shared a hug,
Jefferson looked at Braxiatel. "Nice work soldier." He saluted Braxiatel.
"And you." Braxiatel gave him a curt nod. "We make a good team don't we?" He smirked before he spoke into the communication device. "Captain! We've completed the mission. The Ood are down. Now, let's focus on getting Ida and Romana out. I am not leaving my lady behind! Not like this. Not ever, is that understood?"
"I'm on my way." Zach merely told him and Braxiatel signed off and he only hoped that he could get out of this one alive.