The six arrived in a cleaning cupboard. It was the size of one of the cells, but, it did not seem to be remotely that size due to the rows of scaffolding-like racks, that supported the heaps of unused items, that cascaded from ceiling to floor.
The first, unplanned, error, was the mop clattering against the stone floor's surface upon their arrival.
Luckily, no guards stirred at the ringing echo it produced.
"Outside that door is the camera, okay? It's in the top-left corner," Jack whispered, pointing at the cupboard's exit.
"How do we turn it off?" Asked Graham.
"Well, the camera itself covers the corridor that the Doctor is on, that's to the right, and it covers the corridor around the corner too, which unfortunately for us, is guarded too. I have a small canister of gas that will fog up the camera's view for about a minute, so, Ravio, Yedlarmi, you both can get to the security room around the corner to knock the people in there out, yes?"
"Yes. Jack, we've got this, we know what we're doing, trust us, okay?" Jack smiled and nodded at Ravio's words. "We just need the gags to knock them out,"
"Here," he said, giving one to Yaz as well as just Ravio and Yedlarmi, "and, don't forget to lock as many doors as you can, oo, and turn off their walkie-talkies and take them out of reach."
"Can't we just smash um." Ryan asked.
"These aren't human radios, Ryan, I doubt we'd be able to smash them." Jack responded. "Plus, if we get caught, which is unlikely, we don't want property damage to make things worse!"
Ryan shrugged, "fair enough."
Pressing an ear to the door, Jack listened for a sound that might tell him the ship had landed. "Right guys, get ready, the ships should change any minute now.. if my timings right of course."
"Hang on a minute," Graham said, "didn't you say your timing was terrible,"
"Yes," Jack said, "but, I did also say to trust me."
"Alright, alright, I'm just messing with ya, keep listening."
"Ryan, get ready to sneak inside the ship."
"I know I've said this before," said Ryan, "but are you sure this is going to work? What if I get caught?"
"Hey, don't worry to much, they'll probably leave right away to go get coffee or something."
"Coffee?" He answered, "seriously?"
"Well their preferred, refreshing beverage... Probably."
"Right.." said Ryan, unconvinced.
"Look, I just need you to be ready at the controls to push the button, okay? I'll be right behind you, so they won't even get a chance to see you, in fact, they'll be coming after me. I'll go straight to the controls and we'll zap right out of there, quick and simple." Jack explained.
"Quick and simple," Ryan copied.
"Yeah, and I'll be there to knock out any stragglers with the tranquilizer darts." Said Graham. "We all have each other's back."
"Are you sure you don't want me to do the shooting?" Asked Yaz. "It's just, I'm probably a better shot being a police officer anorl."
"No, it's alright, love," said Graham, "you should be the one to go get the Doc, plus, I don't wanna have to be the one who has to try and get keys off of an armed guard."
She nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, Ryan was pacing, not listening to Graham and Yaz, "won't their walkie-talkie's work when they're looked in the ship?"
"They won't get a signal through the locked doors and windows, everything shuts off... I mean hopefully they do." Said Jack.
"That's reassuring," Ryan mumbled.
"Hey, look, guys, if all goes to plan, this will work," Jack said, confidently. "Here, everyone take your masks and gloves, do, not, get any DNA anywhere, they could track you down from a cough."
The man grabbed six ski masks and six pairs of leather gloves from his bag and gave them to each of his accomplices.
"Three.. two.. one.." Jack said, fingers wrapped around the door knob, ready to open it and charge. "Go."
Upon opening the door, Jack tossed a canister that instantly sprayed a cloudy mist into the narrow doorway. Ravio, Yedlarmi and Ryan piled out of the cupboard, closing it, minus a crack, on the way out. The three opened another can once through the archway, onto the area around the ship.
Ravio and Yedlarmi opened the door to the security room to find two people sat at the controls. Yedlarmi shut the door behind them and locked it.
The guards noticed their appearance almost instantly.
They made faces meant to intimidate them, they flexed their muscles and cracked their joints.
They both towered over Ravio and Yedlarmi.
"Oh honey, we've been at war our whole lives," said Ravio, clenching her fists, gag in hand. "Bring it."
Yedlarmi took the one on the right, he was the first to throw a punch. The man had thrusted his entire body forward in an attempt to send the guard sprawling, but the guard dodged it. Yedlarmi was immediately caught around the neck and he clawed for air within the tightly grasped fist.
Ravio took the one on the left, she swiftly ducked an attack aimed to her face, but she failed to avoid the knee that sent her spiralling to the ground, seemingly unconscious.
"Ravio!" Yedlarmi strained to shout, still clawing at the hand clasped tightly around his throat as he watched his friend get beaten.
The guard with the knee folded his arms. "Who the hell are you both then?"
He knelt down to lift back Ravio's mask, but as his hand neared her face, he was suddenly winded by her. Ravio shoved him onto his back as she stuffed the cloth over his nose and mouth until his once struggled scratching fell further and further into sleep.
Yedlarmi, who was previously at the mercy to his guard, took Ravio's distraction as his chance to use his cloth in the same way.
The two slept soundly on the floor.
"Thanks," said Yedlarmi.
"Anytime you need me to whoop someone's ass for you," Ravio laughed. "Come on, lets tie them up."
Ravio pulled out the rope from her rucksack and handed it to Yedlarmi.
Meanwhile, Ryan made his way to the spaceship.
"Come on," he thought, "you can do this."
Eight people piled out of the helicopter at the sudden gas-cloud. In an attempt to remain unseen, Ryan ran to hide behind the ships outer wall.
Ryan then creeped around the side of the ship, hiding from the eight's view. Once near the door, he squinted to see if any of them had noticed him.
Ryan ran inside the ship quietly, through it's open door and quickly made his way through to the control room. He searched panickedly until his eyes landed on the big red button in the middle of the desk. It didn't take long to find seen as it was a bright, crimson, red and had yellow tape plastered in a square behind it, as though a warning of caution to all thinking of pushing it.
"Hurry up, Jack!" Ryan thought as he waited behind the door.
Jack waited for the smoke to clear.
"Okay Graham," Jack whispered, "wait until you've seen most of them pass, okay? Yaz, you're all set aren't you?"
"As I'll ever be," she replied, forcing a smile.
"Gotta go," said Jack, reaching for the door, "see you on the other side."
He saluted subtly, then jumped out into the now clear corridor, come and get me,"
Most of the guards followed, whilst others stopped and began to shoot. However, when they missed their target, all the guards joining the hunt for Jack were up and moving. Jack ran to the ship but was blocked by the eight still in front of the door.
"Dammit," he mumbled, soon surrounded by the many guards he grabbed the attention of.
The man struggled to, but successfully, reached his vortex manipulator, just long enough so as to move out of the circle once encasing him.
"Hey," he waved, running inside the ship.
The guards cautiously stepped on board, some not onboard at all.
Jack soon caught up with Ryan.
"Lock it down," he shouted as the two disappeared from inside the small room to the outer side.
The door was tightly shut and the windows were concealed by the metal on it's surface.
Graham had already appeared in the doorway, where he stood, already numbing the guards to the darts he shot through their skin.
All of the five leftovers succumbed to darkness.
Ravio and Yedlarmi each took a pair of keys from the unconscious bodies and ran to lock the two metal doors in the roofless room. While they did this, Jack, Graham and Ryan dragged the five unconscious guards and tied them up with the other two in the security room.
"This would've been so much easier to arrive straight in the Doc's cell," Graham huffed, wiping sweat off of his forehead.
"Yeah well," Jack said, locking the door to the security room, "the walls of the cells have a layer that blocks any teleportation, so we couldn't get in. We should just be grateful that they didn't bother with the cleaning cupboards, or else we'd really be screwed."
Previously, back in the supply cupboard, Graham stood with an eye poking through the ajar door, Yaz leant against the wall watching him. Graham had been stood there waiting since Jack's departure, he could see guards running by.
"Okay, let's go on three," he whispered, after noticing a lot had passed, "one.. two.. three."
At three, the pair jumped out, Graham followed after the guards with his dart gun in hand, whilst Yaz, with her gag in her hand, jumped the last one to pass the door. She swung around on this guard, attempting to pull the man over.
"Just.. give.. me.. the.. keys." She said as she strangled his throat. Swinging on his shoulders, Yaz reached to the man's face and spread the cloth over his mouth and nose. Leaning her whole body weight backwards, she pulled the both of them to the ground.
He lay motionless. His breath was steady.
Yaz had knocked the guard out.
"Blimey, Yaz, that was proper badass, wannit!" Graham said, mouth agape.
The moment didn't last long however as Jack called him to help tie up the guards.
"That's my queue," he said, dashing off.
Yaz grabbed the unconscious guard by the wrists and pulled him into the cupboard. She then took his keys and fumbled with them in her fingers for the one to lock him in. It took her a while of panicked 'trying to cram keys into locks that just don't fit,' but, eventually, Yaz found the right one.
Immediately after, she ran down the corridor until coming across the room Jack had shown her it was, it was on a blueprint which he had gotten from a friend that had owed him one.
Yaz counted six along until she landed herself in front of a metal door, it had no window and the door was so thick, that it looked like it led to a panic room.
She knocked urgently on the door, "Doctor, are you in there?"
No answer.
"Doctor?" She tried again.
"Yaz?" Came a strained response.
"Doctor! Yes! It's me! We came to get you!" She cried as quietly, but as clearly, as she could, before once again sorting through the dozens of keys in her grip.
She tried the first one.. then the second.. then the third...
"Yaz? Are you still there?" The Doctor coughed out.
"Yeah, yeah," she answered, "of course I am, I just can't find the which key it is."
"I think they have coloured tags on them that represent each row of prisoners," said 13.
"Then, what row is this?" Asked Yaz.
"Purple.. I think.. I'm not sure though, I never get to see anything outside of here.. so I don't know."
"It's a start," Yaz comforted, trying a purple-tagged key. As she inserted it and turned it, the lock clicked which made her let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"Yaz?" 13 said looking up in disbelief, "is it really you?"
"Yes, Doctor!" She said, opening the door.
When she looked around, her mouth dropped. The room was sombre, smelly, sticky and when she looked at the Doctor, who was shackled the the floor, all she could do was ache at her suffering.
"Oh no..no..no, Doctor, I'm so sorry, I can't believe they've done this to you, are you okay? I thought you were dead? I was so worried about you!" Yaz cried, crouching at her side and putting a hand to her forehead.
"How did you even find me?" The Doctor asked, "I, don't even know where I am!"
"Captain Jack! I was back on Earth. where you sent us all and he came to get us! Ravio and Yedlarmi came to help too!"
"What? they're here too? Actually. Nevermind. We have to go right now, before everyone finds out!" 13 panicked, she tried to think."How did you get here?"
"Jack used his vortex manipulator!"
"Ugh," 13 rolled her eyes, "I thought I stopped him from using that thing."
"Why don't you like it?"
"Y'know what, story for another time. Can you get me out of these?" She asked indicating to the two chains that pulled each arm to either side of the room.
"I don't know how," Yaz panicked, "have you got your sonic screwdriver by any chance."
"No, they searched me and had all my possessions destroyed when I first got here."
"What? Everything? What about your TARDIS key an' psychic paper an' stuff?"
"Oh, I can get into my TARDIS without a key, and I can replace any other stuff, don't worry."
"Okay, fine, maybe not worry about that, but you're still chained to a wall."
"Yes, that is kind of a flaw in your plan."
"Hey, no, this it Jack's plan," she said pulling at the chain. "Why do you even need chains?! You're already in a room with no handle! Or anything at all in fact! Why does it even matter?!"
"Well, um, after you spend a year here.."
"A year?!" Yaz cried.
"Yes well, I was on my own in the dark and the only person I talked to was this horrid warden, and myself, and if I was spending my whole life here, which I thought I was, and still might apparently—"
"Wait, you've spent a whole year here?" Yaz's face dropped. "For us, we just left Gallifrey."
"Actually... Um. It's been nearly three years for me..."