"You will be deleted!" The Cybermen echoed, as they raised their arms, with the intent to fire.
River was quick to act fast. She unholstered a singularity grenade from her belt, and threw it into the crowd of Cybermen. It went off, and created a singularity, picking up some Cybermen in the process. The singularity ate away at their thick metal armor, exposing some of their weaker innards.
River then took the pistol at her side, and fired at the torsos of each one, aiming for the Cybermen's power sources. Only a few shots hit right on target, but it was enough to cause a chain reaction of explosions, taking care of the Cybermen in the singularity.
It only seemed to agitate the other Cybermen, however, if a Cybermen could experience such a thing.
"Delete! Delete! Delete!" The other Cybermen cried as they marched forward.
The three organics dove behind cover.
"Great job, River, you just managed to anger the Legion of Cybermen!" The Doctor yelled, as a laser blast came close to his head.
"Don't worry, I have a plan!" She responded, taking another grenade from her belt, and throwing it into the group.
It detonated, freezing four of them in place. The cryo grenade had managed to turn the metal armor of the four Cybermen brittle enough to be shattered by the four gunshots that followed, causing the frozen Cybermen to topple to the ground, headless.
River took the assault rifle she had holstered, and activated its incendiary ammunition, aiming for the heads of the remaining Cybermen, and the parts of their bodies not covered in the thick metal armor plating, while the Doctor and Susan ran interference using their sonic screwdrivers.
By the end of the short battle, all of the Cybermen lay on the ground, dead.
"I think that's all of them." The Doctor said. "For now. Come on, let's find that lab."
The three headed towards the edge of the compound, passing through the buildings, until they came to one with a locked door that had to be the lab.
The Doctor bypassed the door using the sonic screwdriver, and headed inside.
Approaching the computer terminal on the wall, the Doctor tapped in a few commands, seeing what the terminal had stored. It began playing back a recording of organic ground troopers fighting the reapers, but these were... different. They were bipedal, that much was obvious, they were wearing odd suits of armor unlike anything else in the galaxy, and their heads... they looked almost like Collectors.
'The Protheans.' The Doctor thought to himself.
As he watched the video, he was suddenly pulled into a memory.
The bunker was breached. The enemy had found them. Thousands were already dead, many more were missing. Unless the remainder entered stasis now, the Protheans' total extinction was certain.
He and his troops valiantly fought against the... abominations the others had become.
But even then, he and his men were being pushed back. A shot from one of the indoctrinated tore into Kaang, killing him. Enraged, he called upon his biotics to push them back, killing them with the sheer amount of raw power he commanded.
He ran over to Kaang, picking up his fallen comrade's form. "Victory, seal the bulkheads!" He commanded, dragging the body behind the closing blast doors.
The door sealed with a clang, and he let go of Kaang's body. He turned around, and looked at the columns of fire climbing up the sides of the bunker.
"How many?" He demanded of Victory.
"Approximately 300,000 lifepods have been destroyed." The VI reported.
He approached a lifepod, tapped in the command code, and watched as it opened, revealing the charred corpse of the commander.
"A third of our people..." He sighed, placing his hand on the shoulder of the corpse, he sent a silent prayer to the gods.
"Alert!" Victory suddenly flashed, startling him out of the prayer. "North side bulkhead could not be sealed, hostiles inbound!"
"Then all forces to the north!" He commanded, taking charge, and leading the remaining troops forth.
Suddenly, he took in a sharp inhale of air, and the Doctor was back in reality.
"What..." He began, heavily breathing. "Was that?"
"What do you mean, grandfather?" Susan questioned. "It was just static."
"It was like... I was having a flashback." The Doctor frowned. "But it wasn't me in the flashback. I was a Prothean."
"Of course..." Susan seemed to realize something. "Grandfather, when Compassion helped sort out Shepard's memories, didn't you act as a bridge? To prevent Shepard's brain from being overloaded?"
"I did... You don't think I accidentally got Shepard's cipher?" The Doctor wondered.
"Explains how you could understand all of that." River concluded. "Did you see the pod's command code?"
"Part of it, but not all of it." The Doctor said. "Let's see if we can go find the rest of it."
The three headed towards the other end of the colony, to the other lab. While they were cutting through the center, a voice suddenly echoed through the colony.
"All cyber-units," The synthesized voice of a cyberman announced, "converge on Prothean dig site alpha."
"That doesn't sound good." Susan stated.
"I don't think we'll be able to take on a full cyberman army." River said. "Let's go find the command signal before they get here."
The team picked up the pace, and headed into the next lab. The Doctor found the terminal, and entered the activation command. A video started up, and he was pulled into another memory.
They were walking through the bunker, heading towards what empty lifepods were left. The immediate threat had been dealt with for now, but the enemy was patient. The only hope for survival now, was to outwait the enemy.
"I never believed our empire would fall." Jaal said next to him.
He stopped, turning to face the other Prothean. "So long as one of us remains, it has not fallen. We will sleep, until the Reapers return to dark space. Then, we shall return, a million strong!"
Jaal nodded. "For the empire."
"For the empire." He responded. "Get to your stasis pod."
Jaal nodded, an ran off to his pod.
"Victory, send out the readiness signal to the other lifepods." He commanded.
Victory flickered into existence beside him. "And the refugees that have yet to reach the bunker?"He stayed silent for a few moments. "They will be remembered."Suddenly, the bunker shook, as more of the indoctrinated appeared.
The Doctor shook off his disorientation as the weight of the new memories filling his mind. "I think I have the signal the Protheans used now. Let's head back to the pod."
Susan and River nodded, and followed the Doctor's lead.
They approached the pod, and the Doctor accessed the control panel. He typed the code in, sent the command signal, and stepped back.
The pod hissed, and let out spurts of cold, fifty-thousand year old air as it opened, revealing the Prothean inside.
"Hmm..." River peered into the pod. "It may take some time for him to-"
The Prothean's eyes suddenly shot open, and he looked around. He looked at Susan first, then River, before finally focusing on the Doctor.
His biotics flared up, and he pushed the three away. He slowly, but desperately, tried to climb out of his pod. His leg caught the edge, and he fell. As he looked up, he finally noticed the state of the planet around him, and froze. His mout parted in shock, and he slowly came to his feet.
"Careful," The Doctor told the others as they walked back over, "he's disoriented. He may not know where he is." He approached the Prothean. "Hello," The Time Lord greeted, "I don't want to hurt you, I'm the Doctor." He held out his hand, and the Prothean looked at it for a moment, before reaching out and making contact. Suddenly, the Doctor was in another memory.
"...a few minutes!" He demanded, turning to face victory.
"No." The VI shook its head. "There is no other option.""
There are other pods online!" He retorted. "Those soldiers are still alive!"
"Their sacrifice will be honored in the coming empire." Victory stated. "Preparing neutron bombardment. Get to your pod."
He clenched his fist, but relented. He ran over to the pod, and it opened, allowing him to lay down inside.
"Neutron bombardment underway." Victory reported, as the massive explosions shook the pod.
"The bunker is secure, Commander Javik." Victory reported as the explosions stopped.
"What is left of it." He corrected. "A few hundred people. How am I to rebuild the empire from that?"
"Further adjustments may be necessary." Victory stated. "The neutron purge compromised the facility."
"Clarify." He demanded.
"Sensors offline." Victory began. "Automated reactivation is no longer an option. You will remain in stasis until a new culture discovers this bunker. This may lead to a power shortage."
"Do not shut off more pods!" He demanded. "I need the few that are left!"
"Power needs will be triaged appropriately." Victory stated. "You will be the voice of our people."
"I will be more than that." He retorted as he slipped into unconsciousness.
The connection broke and the Doctor staggered back as the Prothean, apparently named Javik, fell to his knees.
"How many others?" Javik questioned, not wasting a single moment.
"Just you." The Doctor told him. "When I touched you, I saw..."
"Our last moments." Javik stated, standing back up. "Our failure."
"I'm sorry." The Doctor told Javik. "I know what it's like. To be the last of your kind."
"Hmm." Javik snorted, saying nothing. After a moment, he spoke. "I suppose I owe you my gratitude, Time Lord."
"You know what I am?"
"Yes." Javik nodded. "Your people were formidable."
"Doctor!" River spoke up. "There's a massive group of Cybermen heading our way."
Javik frowned. "The Cybermen? They are here?"
"You know of them?" Susan asked.
"There were legends about them, in my time." Javik explained. "The empire fought a great war with them before the Reapers arrived."
The Doctor frowned. "That can't be right. The Cybermen didn't exist back then, unless..."
"Unless what, grandfather?" Susan questioned.
"I can explain later." The Doctor brushed off. "We should get back to the TARDIS. Javik, if there is anything in that pod you need, I suggest you grab it now."
Javik nodded, and walked back over to the pod. He took his particle rifle, and an oddly shaped... thing out of a storage compartment.
The Doctor nodded, and the four broke out into a sprint, back toward the TARDIS's landing site.
The Cyberman marched into the outpost in force, narrowly missing the four as they entered the TARDIS and took off.
Once Cyber-unit approached another, and began speaking. "The Prothean has escaped."
"Unacceptable." The other stated. "The Prothean must be located at all costs. It is the only being in the galaxy that knows the location of Mondas."
"We will increase our efforts. Mondas must be found."
"We will reach the promised land!"