The Papal Mainframe arrived in blazing force, hundreds of ships docking down outside exhibits. The Doctor wired her sonic to the TARDIS' amplifier and blasted it over the whole moon, opening the force fields on all the exhibits.
"The Church of the Papal Mainframe requires your complete agreement to a temporary armistice," a voice echoed over the loud speaker. "You will all be taken back to your home planets to live in peace. Do not engage in violence. The Church of the Papal Mainframe requires your complete agreement to a temporary armistice..."
The Doctor ran through the exhibits, pleading with people to accept the armistice. She looked for the little Apalapucian boy, Marlaya's son, but she could not find him. She returned to the Mainframe's ship assigned to the humanoid sector. Graham, Ryan, Jack, and Jenny helped several humanoids onboard, many of whom were injured from the riots.
"Where's Yaz?" the Doctor asked, looking around.
"I thought she went with you," Ryan said.
"No. Yaz!" she called out.
"Doctor," one of the soldiers said. "The Mother Superious wishes to see you."
"Alright, let me find my friend first and we'll be up in a minute. Yaz!"
Yaz came running around the corner, panting and out of breath. "Sorry," she gasped.
"Where were you?" Graham asked.
Yaz shrugged. "Just helping. That's what I do isn't it? I help people."
"Of course you do," the Doctor said, linking arms with her and pulling her into the TARDIS. "Now I want everyone to be on your best behavior. We're going to meet the leader of the Church, Mother Superious. Best let me do the talking."
The TARDIS materialized and the Doctor and her companions stepped out into the viewing chamber before the Mother Superious. The Doctor bowed low, the others following her lead.
"Thank you, Mother Superious," she said. "We are most grateful for your quick response."
"The Red Supergiant will explode soon," the Mother said. "Many lives would have been lost."
"Exactly. I'm very glad you see it that way. When do you plan to start rescuing the Pandlorians?"
The Mother Superious cocked her head slightly. "Why would we rescue such a lost planet of prideful tyrants? They have broken many violations of the Shadow Proclamation."
"I know that as well as anyone, but there are still many good Pandlorians on the planet who have not willingly participated in the crimes of their leaders. We need to give them a second chance."
"I cannot risk the lives of my soldiers by staying here," the Mother Superious said. "Their lives are worth more to me than the criminals on the planet."
"So you're not even going to give them a chance?" Jenny asked.
"The zookeepers on the moon have already been executed."
"What? No, you didn't even give them a choice to join you!" the Doctor exploded.
"This is the way things are done, Doctor," she said cooly. "If you do not agree, then you should not have called us."
"Thank you for your help," the Doctor said, pursing her lips together.
She turned and stormed back to the TARDIS, her companions following her.
"Can we put clothes back on now?" Ryan asked.
"Why?" Jack asked him.
"Go ahead," the Doctor said, launching the TARDIS back to the moon. Everyone save Jack went to change.
"Now what?" Jenny asked when they reconvened around the console. "We can't just let them all die."
"You were imprisoned there," Yaz said. "And yet you still want to show them mercy?"
"The zookeepers and scientists experimented on me," Jenny admitted. "And I know they tortured others and tried to kill Jack multiple times..."
"Per day," Jack added. "And they did succeed in killing me, just not for long."
"So yes, there were cruel creatures among them, but like...the Doctor said, not all of them were bad. Some of them are just children. Even some adults looked like they had been forced to go, and they looked miserable as they watched us. They are capable of sympathy."
"Well said," the Doctor applauded.
"You said we couldn't even rescue a whole moon by ourselves," Jenny said. "How are we going to rescue a whole planet?"
"The TARDIS has been downloading every bit of information it can find on Pandloria," the Doctor said. "Looks like they're governed by some sort of Grand Council. If we can convince them to abandon the planet, maybe they can convince the others. They seem to have a variety of space ships on hand that they can use for an escape."
"Will we even be able to convince them?" Jack asked. "That zookeeper from earlier seemed pretty stubbornly convinced."
"We have to try," the Doctor said. "Too many lives are at risk."
"No pressure then," Ryan said.
"Aww, we can handle it."
"But can we do it before the sun explodes," Graham pointed out. "That's the question."
"He has a point," Yaz said.
The Doctor looked at the screen and shrugged, pulling the lever that de-materialized the TARIDS. "We'll be cutting it close, but it's not impossible."
The TARDIS landed with a thud, and they could hear confused shouts outside. The Doctor grinned at Jenny.
"I love this bit where they're confused and frightened. It's so funny."
"Unless they try to kill us," Ryan added. "Then it's not as funny."
"Deep breath everyone," Jack said.
"I hope this works," Yaz whispered.
"Let's see," the Doctor said, opening the door.
She jumped out of the TARDIS with a grand gesture and surveyed the room. "Hallo!" she said cheerfully.
There were 12 chairs resembling thrones positioned in a circle. Each chair was made from a different kind of coral-like substance, which produced a colorful, gemstone effect. A round skylight above pointed directly at the moon, casting a perfect silver circle in the center of the chairs, though the TARIDS was now in the way. The room sat high above the city, with glass windows on all sides. The Doctor excitedly ran over to the windows to look out. Chrystalline towers twisted and swirled across the city, not one building standing straight. To the west lay a glowing lavender sea crashing down on white beaches, and to the east a lush, colorful jungle crawled up the side of a blue mountains.
"Ooh! Oh, this is beautiful," she exclaimed. "I mean really, that is amazing. Come 'ere, gang, you gotta see this before it gets destroyed."
"Who are you?" one of the councilmembers demanded. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh yes, sorry. I'm the Doctor and I'm here to save you because your planet is about to get destroyed."
"Nonsense," he scoffed. "There are no signs of an imminent attack."
"Yeah, well that's cause it's not an attack. You've been messing with the power of your sun's orbit and now it's about to explode from the strain."
"That's ridiculous!"
"Security!" someone else called.
"Look, don't take my word for it," she insisted. "Look at your scanners."
"Don't mess with the sun, mate," Ryan said.
"You are a primative species, you do not know about our advanced world."
"Actually, I'm a Time Lord, so I think I do know a thing or two."
"No one else has ever managed to accomplish this feat. We have created a perfect world."
"Yeah, no one else has accomplished it because it's a stupid idea that gets people killed," Jack said. "It can't be done."
"And yet we have done it."
The Doctor shook her head sadly as security burst into the room and clamped high-tech security handcuffs on them. "You could have gone down in history as one of the most beautiful planets in the universe. And now you're going to be a warning to others who think themselves superior. Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Well that went well," Jenny said as the cell door shut behind them.
They had been thrown into a small white room, with only benches around the walls for them to sit.
"It never works like I want to," the Doctor sighed. "You're my witnesses though, I did try to tell them. They just wouldn't listen."
"These are some handcuffs," Graham said, examining them.
"Electronic," Jack explained. "I've been in this kind before. You can't break out of them from the inside or the outside."
"What if we could shapeshift out of them?" Yaz asked.
"Not like we can though, is it?" Ryan snapped.
"Just curious."
"It depends on the kind," Jack said. "The more advanced ones will detect a shapeshift coming and will grow or shrink with the prisoner so they can't get out."
"Nice job thinking outside the box though," Jenny said.
The Doctor stood and walked over to the door of the prison cell. There was a small window opening to the hallway, and she could see a guard standing not far away. She caught his eye and smiled sweetly.
"Hallo!" she called. She cocked her head. "Would you come here a minute?"
"What's she doing?" Graham whispered.
"Oh no," Ryan realized.
The guard refused to move, looking away. "Please come," the Doctor pleaded. "I want to look at your skin. It's very pretty."
Jenny raised an eyebrow, and Jack's mouth dropped.
"I've never met a Pandlorian before," the Doctor continued, making her voice higher. "I love meeting new species, especially ones as advanced as yourself."
"She's flirting," Ryan moaned.
"You stole my move!" Jack hissed.
"Quiet!" she said, turning around and kicking him lightly. "You're ruining the mood." Jenny started laughing hysterically. "Oi, stop! I can't be that bad."
"Sorry, Doc," Graham said, chuckling. "It is funny."
The Doctor slumped down next to Jenny, who had doubled over at this point. "It's been a minute since I've flirted with anyone, alright?"
"So how will we get out, though?" Ryan asked. "Cause the sun is about to explode."
"I know," the Doctor sighed. "I'm trying to think."
"We can wait for another solar flare to knock out the power," Yaz suggested.
"But how do we know when that'll happen?" Jenny asked.
"They're coming regularly now," she pointed out. "There should be another one in the next 10 minutes."
"What, like contractions?" Jack asked.
"I guess so."
"Yaz, how did you figure that out?" the Doctor asked.
"It affects the planet more than the moon. I could see the earthquakes when we were up there, and I started timing them."
"That's brilliant," Jenny said. "Even I didn't think of that."
"Yeah, very clever," the Doctor said thoughtfully.
"Do they always knock out the power though?" Jack asked.
"I guess we wait and see," the Doctor said. "I don't have any other plans."
She thought for a minute and then looked at Jack.
"If we cut your hands off would they grow back?"
"No."
"Worth a shot."
Not even two minutes later, the ground shook violently. Sure enough, the power dimmed down and shut off with a click. Jenny immediately jumped for the door and kicked it open. The guard looked bewildered, and she wasted no time in knocking him out.
"Oi!" the Doctor cried, running out of the cell. "Don't hurt him too bad. It's not his fault that he was raised in a hateful society. He doesn't know any better."
"We've gotta escape somehow," Jenny said as the Doctor took off her handcuffs.
Alarms began blaring throughout the compound. Jack was already opening a service hatch.
"Down here!" he called as Yaz crawled through. "Hurry!"