Chapter 3: The Dead Forest

Skaro had once been a jewel in the middle of a massive Empire one that could rival that of the Cybertronian empire. The Dalek Empire had been a threat to the Time Lords and even the remnants of Nightshade's people before they had been whipped out by Leatherback. The Daleks also threatened many other empires especially the human empire of the 40th century. The Dalek home world had been one of the many battlefields during the Time War including Gallifrey and even the Time Vortex itself. There had been battles that had been won by the Time Lords and other battles was won by the Daleks. By the end of the Time War before the Moment was unleashed Skaro was lost. The Dalek home world had burnt within the flames of war. With Skaro back in the sky after being destroyed sent a bad shiver to shake down the Doctor's spine.

The TARDIS on arriving near Skaro had started to moan and groan in protest. The blue box had made it clear that it didn't want to go anywhere near Skaro after so many bad experiences on the red planet. The Doctor had done everything he could to smooth the landing in the middle of the forest to the south of Dalek City. Since landing the TARDIS moaned and groaned at the Doctor as he rushed about to make sure that his ship didn't drift off while they were within the city's walls. While he was doing that, Nightshade kept a close eye on Dalek Sec. The Dalek was not able to move an inch without getting a warning look from her. With her watching the Dalek in silence the Doctor could put all of his attention on the TARDIS's controls. He knew that if the TARDIS did drive off, Nightshade could summon the Moonray to pick them up. The AI controlled ship was still in the middle of the Dalek fleet but could come and go like it normally did with UNIT.

The landing had not been as smooth as the Doctor had hoped. The ship shock violently as if it was an earthquake, but the Doctor knew that it was the TARDIS telling him that they shouldn't be on Skaro. He and Nightshade had managed to keep their balance when the blue box had landed, but Dalek Sec was not to lucky. The black cased Dalek had been tipped up onto his back by the violent shacking of the TARDIS like it was a bull trying to get a rider off its back. The Doctor had tried to get the TARDIS to understand what was going on but the TARDIS was just being stubborn and was no longer listening to what he had to say.

The wooden door of the TARDIS creaked open and the Doctor stuck out his head. Looking right to left he got a good look at the area they had landed. The forest was just how he remembered it from his first landing on Skaro. Dead. There was no sign of any animals or even the Thals, but the he was not surprised with that. The Daleks had made sure that they were the only living things on Skaro and had tried and failed to do that the rest of the universe. The Doctor was pleased with what he had been doing through the many years that he had been fighting against the Daleks. There was not just him there was also UNIT and Torchwood that had a few dealings with the Daleks when they came to earth and he was nowhere to be seen. He would never have thought that at the end of the Time War that he would be back on Skaro with a Dalek and Nightshade.

Taking a small step out of the blue box, the only colour in the forest. The Doctor looked all around him. He had hoped to see animals or any other forms of life in the forest. He had thought that with Skaro back it would at least have brought the other creatures that called the planet home, but that was not the case. The Daleks under Dalek X had only brought Skaro back for their own goals.

Nightshade and Dalek Sec were not far behind him on getting out of the TARDIS. Dalek Sec rotated his domed head in all directions as he got a good look at the forest that the TARDIS had landed in. He spun around when he heard the door locking to find Nightshade just walking away from the wooden door. The shapeshifting on seeing that Dalek Sec was watching her hissed her bones clicking against each other as she walked towards the Doctor.

"Alright Doctor? What now? What now that you have gotten us in to this?" she asked him. Folding her arms across her chest she glared at the Doctor. She took a few steps closer to the Doctor before snarling, "If you have a plan I need to hear it! If you don't I am calling the Moonray and getting back to earth where I know that I am not going to be stalked by some unseen predator!"

The Doctor took a step back as he got a good whiff at the smell of poison coming from Nightshade. "YOU WILL NOT GET FAR FROM SKARO, DRAGONOID!" boomed Dalek Sec. The Doctor along with Nightshade both looked at the black Dalek that was hovering a foot off the ground. "THE DALEK FLEET IS CLOSING THE DISTANCE FROM THEIR POINT OF ORGIN TO HERE AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE KEEPING THE MOONRAY UNDER LOCK AND KEY!" the former Leader of Cult of Skaro droned as he hovered before the two.

The Doctor smirked at Nightshade. "It looks like your stuck with us Nightshade!" he sniggered. His face changed quickly. He had gone from his happy go lucky self to the series one that caused Nightshade to slink back. "Scout ahead towards the city! Meet us there, Nightshade! If you see anything report back!" he ordered Nightshade. His smile only got bigger when he heard Nightshade's irritated growl. He knew how to push buttons, especially Nightshade's. His smile grew when Nightshade walked towards the dead trees. He could just make out Nightshade muttering about something, but he couldn't determine what she was saying.

"WHAT IS NIGHTSHADE'S PROBLEM? DOSE SHE NOT KNOW THAT YOUR ARE LEADING THIS MISSION, DOCTOR?" Dalek Sec asked. The Dalek had silently rolled up to the Doctor's side as Nightshade slipped into the forest of dead trees.

The Time Lord looked at the Dalek. He had never thought that he would see the day that he was standing next to a Dalek. He was not a prisoner nor was the Dalek. He and Dalek Sec were made to be allies against the same enemy. They both had a shared hatred and fear for Dalek X and his growing Dalek armada. "Nightshade is just use to given out orders. That is all!" he replied. The Doctor and Dalek Sec followed the remnants of the old road that Nightshade had already taking.

…

A black shape leapt from tree branch to tree branch. Sharp claws dug deep into the branches of the trees. A red eye narrowed in concentration as its ears flicked backwards upon hearing a sound. A branch on the ground had just snapped. It couldn't be the Doctor. He was too far back for her to hear the twig snapping. Flicking her ears right upwards she strained to hear the noise again. The dead forest was as quite as a graveyard. If she was still on earth she would be glad of the quite that she had found, but not this time. This time, Nightshade was being stalked by something on Skaro. That alone should be sending a cold shiver down her spine. Her ears twitched when she heard a new sound. A hissing sound like that from a cockroach came from somewhere close by. Nightshade was instantly alert. Her one red eye darted from branch to branch as her hearing tried to pin-point the origin of the sounds.

The hissing came again. Nightshade instantly snapped to attention. She knew where it was. Titling her head upwards to the branches that hung high overhead. Looking down at her from the branches with hungry eyes that hung from stocks like that of a slug. The jellyfish slug creature hissed once again at seeing its prey. Its many tentacles wrapped around many branches as its mouth hung open. The Slyther and Nightshade glared at each other for a good few minutes. Without any other thought than hunger the Slyther lunged for Nightshade. Its tentacles spread in all directions in hopes that one would snare the one-eyed tiger.

Nightshade dropped out of the tree branch that she was on to one below her. The branch above her groaned when Slyther landed on the branch that she had been on a moment ago. Looking back at where the Slyther was she wished she hadn't. The native of Skaro hissed once again at her. Nightshade hissed back before dropping to the ground. She landed on all four paws with no problems. Looking back up at the Slyther that was looking for a safer way down the tree other than dropping the last fifteen feet. Nightshade jumped back away from the tree that she had been in a few seconds ago.

The eye stocks of the creature kept twitching in all directions hoping to find a way down. Nightshade took the creatures distraction as an advantage. The machine guns that were connected to her bones on her shoulder blades powered to life. The low hum of her weapon systems broke the deathly silence of the dead forest. Two missiles were launched from the weapons. The screaming of them cutting through the air attracted the Slyther's attention. The eyes on the eye stocks turned to face on two coming projectiles, but it was too late! The missiles smashed into the Slyther in a bright explosion and loud bang. The creature hissed in pain as it dropped out of the branch that its tentacles had wrapped around.

The Slyther landed in a heap in the dead ground. Its tentacles where at all different angles. Its grey flesh was charred from where the explosions had exploded on its body. One of its eye stocks had been snapped so that the eye ball was hanging on a lose piece of thread. The native of Skaro looked at the alien tiger. The tiger that was keeping low to the ground and letting out a low growl from deep within its chest. Feeling the pain that the big cat had already done to it, the Slyther retreated as best as it could.

Nightshade watched the wounded animal slip back into the thickest part of the dead forest. A few of its tentacles were not moving at all and a couple were wriggling on the ground not far from where it had landed. Shaking herself down like a dog, Nightshade powered-down her weapon system. She couldn't be wasting vital energy when she didn't know when she was getting back to the Moonray or UNIT.

"Nightshade!" she may have known the origin of the voice but that didn't stop her from preparing to strike. She relaxed a lot when the Doctor and Dalek Sec came into her view. "What happened we heard an explosion!" the Doctor rasped when he came to a stop before her. The 12th regeneration of a friend was gasping for air when he came to stop in front of Nightshade. His latest regeneration may have been young but it was still that of an old body. He got tire quicker than the last few regenerations that he had after the Time War.

Nightshade kept looking at where the Slyther had limped away to. "It was nothing really, just a beast that wanted a meal!" she replied. She noticed Dalek Sec narrowing the blue optic at the end of his eye stock. "That is the truth, Dalek! It was one of those jellyfish things that have a bad attitude problem!" she snapped at the Dalek. Her red eye narrowed as her claws dug deep into the dead ground. The dead ground that was highly radioactive thanks to the Skaro War and then the Time War.

"A Slyther!" the Doctor stated. The Time Lord got in between Dalek Sec and the skeletal tiger form of Nightshade. He could see that Nightshade was still calming down from blasting some poor creature out of the trees. "If there is one there is more! I think it is best that we stay together!" he said looking at Nightshade and then Dalek Sec. He was not surprised that the two one-eyed creatures narrowed their eyes at each other. Rolling his eyes, he stepped in front of Dalek Sec and blocked his view of Nightshade. "Lead the way Dalek Sec!" he ordered the Dalek.

Dalek Sec moved his eye stock up and down as he regarded the Time Lord. "I OBEY!" he responded. He didn't like taking orders from the Doctor but he had orders from the Dalek Emperor to defeat Dalek X and he also had personal issues with Dalek Caan. He turned around to led them through the dead forest.

The trio walked in silence. Dalek Sec kept rotating his domed head in all directions. His tactical computer was already coming up with plans of actions for them to carry out and what Dalek X could be doing. He was also planning on dealing with the Doctor and Nightshade once the mission was over. He was sure that his Emperor would be truly grateful that he, Dalek Sec the Leader of the Cult of Skaro had done what he was programmed to do: Think like the enemy. He was going to get back his rank within the Empire.

Nightshade kept behind the Dalek. She didn't trust him and the other Daleks. Prowling behind the black cased Dalek she kept her weapons trained on him. If he backstabbed them she was going to claw at his back. She didn't understand how the Doctor could be so calm when dealing the Daleks. Looking over the machine guns on her shoulders she caught the Doctor looking all over the place as if he was a tourist at some exotic island. Growling she returned to glaring at Dalek Sec. She was not letting him out of her sight. She didn't care what the Doctor said. If the Daleks want to fight in a new Civil War let them fight on their own. As soon as she knew what was really happening she was dragging the Doctor back to the TARDIS.

The Doctor was calm. He walked with his hands clasped behind his back. The silence of the forest allowed him time to think. Time that he had not had in some time since he had lost Clara like so many others before her. After all these years, he thought he would be used to everyone that he had lost. That was not the case. He couldn't think of everyone that he had lost over the years. He had a mission at the moment. He needed to make sure that Dalek Sec and Nightshade didn't kill each other in the middle of the night. So far so good. There had been only a few hisses and arguments sparked between the two of them but nothing too bad that would make him worry. He smirked when Nightshade looked over the guns on her shoulders to look at him with that one red eye of hers. He knew that she didn't like this at all. He didn't like it, but he wanted to find out what Dalek X was up to.

Oh yes, he knew that he was going to have a hard time with this adventure as he kept calling it. He knew that there was going to be high tensions between Dalek Sec and Nightshade. Tensions that were going to last until they parted ways. There was also the looming threat of war. He couldn't have the Time War sparked once again. Not like what had happened last time. And he couldn't have another Dalek war raging through the stars when there was so much political unrest. Seth was the reason for this. The Galactic Federation had demanded to him Captain Jack Harkness and Nightshade to find Leatherback. He had heard that UNIT had the great ape locked up until recently. A smirk grew on his face at the thought of Kate Stewart being in Nightshade's face about the mess up.

The three kept their thoughts to themselves. There was no point on sharing anything when it was not worth it. They just needed to get to the Dalek City before they killed each other.

…

The night on Skaro was just as he remembered. It was cold and it stank from the toxic waters that ran through every river on the planet. The Doctor sat close to the burning fire that crackled and hissed. Nightshade had slipped off into the shadows of the night. The shapeshifter not trusting Dalek Sec had went to check the layout of the land around their makeshift camp. Dalek Sec however was keeping as far away from the Doctor as he could without becoming a target to Nightshade during the middle of the night.

"Dalek Sec you can join me!" the Doctor spoke. He watched the Dalek that just stared at him with that blue optic of his. "We are not enemies! We are allies you are fighting against the same enemy!" he continued. He could see that the Dalek Supreme was thinking over what he had said.

An awkward silence fell between the two of them as Nightshade returned from her scouting. "It looks fine! But I suggest that we leave an hour before sunrise! We don't want to be on Skaro any longer than we really need to!" she said as she flopped down on to the ground. She rested her massive skull on her massive paws. Her one eye closed and Nightshade was asleep.

"Don't worry about her," the Doctor said seeing that Sec was staring at Nightshade, "She's warming up to you being around!" he said before he to fell asleep.

Dalek Sec looked from the Doctor and to Nightshade. He could take them out when they are sleeping, but he couldn't. The Emperor had given him strict orders. Orders that he was not going to break just because he hated the Oncoming Storm. No, he feared the Emperor more than the Doctor. No, he was going to keep them alive until they were no longer needed. For now, he was going to keep a look out until one of them got up so that he could rest his systems. With that in mind Dalek Sec hovered to the edge of the camp to begin his nightly rounds.