The Doctor kept scowling at the monitor, the data procured from his scans flickering before his eyes in gallifreyan digits and symbols. The TARDIS had left the time vortex on its own accord in Earth's Orbit. It only took a moment to discover why. Earth was being invaded by highly-advanced machine race of synthetic-organic starships. hybrids. The mere thought was puzzling yet he couldn't afford to linger on it. It was time to act. He yanked a lever as the TARDIS wheezed and groaned as it propelled itself through real space. He switched for a visual image, the size of the invaders' vessels were distinctly different from anything he had ever seen before. Colossal in size, oozing with impossible readings. A gnawing sensation in his mind told him that they were wrong. "What are you?" The Time Lord murmured.

"Looks like giant squids to me. Those big ones." Nardole pointed out. The Doctor was about to argue when he noticed the metal appendages. They did remind him of giant squids.

He yanked a lever as the TARDIS wheezed and groaned, propelling itself through real space. The Doctor flicked a switch with his free hand as he spoke through an open-line; "Hello, Hello. Big oozing mechanical squids." the tone of his voice was deceptively lighthearted, yet it didn't take long for that tone to change. "I'm not sure that you've heard of me but I'm the Doctor, and that planet is under my protection." He continued, his tone was firm and hard like a serrated edge of steel. A few of the invading ships broke from orbit at intercept course for the TARDIS.

"We know of you, Doctor." replied a harsh voice which was worse than grinding a course surface against metal. "You cannot stop the harvest." The Doctor tensed, did he just called this attack as a harvest? Harvest implied that this wasn't a war to them. No, this was a means to an end. Wait, hybrids. They harvest for resources, in this case humans but for what, genetic material? Pure biomass? Regardless, they couldn't have it out on humanity alone. No, harvesting one species wouldn't be sufficient. This was a harvest on a galactic scale. He snapped out of this contemplation when he spotted that some breaking orbit with its metal appendages expanded into digits ready to grasp the TARDIS as a red gleam pulsates at its center as if priming its weapons.

"Then you've made your intentions perfectly clear." The Doctor replied with indignation, "If you know of me. Then you should know of what I'm captable of." There was no response and the machines doesn't seem to slow down in its approach. The Doctor cut the line, "So be it."

There was evidently no reasoning with these hybrids. They were monsters and it was up to him to stop them. He began to manuveur the TARDIS through real space, in the one direction no one expected him to – directly into the jaws of the beast. The TARDIS spun as it propelled through the real space at accelerating speed. In comparison, the Force field of the TARDIS was like a brick and the alien vessal; a piece of glass wrapped where the kinetic barriers might aswell be an sheet of tissue paper. Sufficient to say, the TARDIS went straight through the alien vessal, compromosing the eezo core which conaequently made it collapse on itself. The Doctor harbored no regrets, these things were no better than Daleks. The scans from earlier suggested that they were numerous and assaulted every major city simultaniously.

The Doctor didn't like this, this was something new and not something he fully understood. Yet he was determined to find a way. A way to win.

…

Heart pounding, Jack felt how his body recuperate from the blast. "Shepard, put me down." He said as they walked at the rooftop. "We're not leaving you behind, Harkness." He snapped back and Harkness couldn't help but grinning. "Trust me, I've lived through worse. Put me down, now." He said in a trembling but a voice which held authority.

Jack grunted as he got off Shepard's shoulder, leaning down as he cursed while trying to overcome the pain which seared through his body. He started by tearing off his clothes. He had no use for them anymore and they were now annoying at best, not good looking at all. Eyebrows raised as he now presented himself completely naked, Harkness could tell that this was ludicrous for all of them. Stretching his limbs as he got up to his feet, gritting his teeth as he had once again returned from the dead.

They kept moving, all the others seemingly tried to avoid looking at Harkness while his manhood was loose from his underpants. They found a group of dead marine which were armed with M-8 Avengers. Without hesitation, Jack reached out to grab one from one of the dead soldiers.

This was World War II and the Skyllian Blitz all over again, but combined and far worse. Even on par with Game Station with the Doctor and Rose. They now found what had killed the marines, Reaper ground forces. He was quick to provide covering fire for the human Spectre and the Admirals but husks was approaching them from all sides. His shots were precise and remarkable accurate as it shredded through the enemy. He had loads of training and practice since he first joined Torchwood in the middle of the nineteenth century; not to forget mentioning that he passed the N7 Program which was by itself an achievement.

He had ripped all over his clothes, standing firmly naked with the weapon in hand which had him laughing at first. All the same, his body was restoring itself. The cells repaired themselves as the gruesome complexion slowly faded away. Immortality had its perks afterall. The thought of immortality brought back to what had caused it. Bad Wolf. He missed Rose but he missed the Doctor even more. After everything he has been through, he had a responsibility to protect humanity and his allies. That's what the Doctor would've done and despite everything going on, he didn't regret a thing. Sure, it seemed hopeless but he wasn't about to give up. Not now, or ever for that matter.

A Dreadnaught exploded, the kinetic shock from the blast threw them off their feet. Sending them crashing down the wall and delivered them down to what remained of the pavement beneath them. Fortunately, Shepard saved their hides through a sleight of hand with his biotics. Dampening their fall.

They got back up, it seemed like hell had descended upon them. Their line of communication broken as they struggled through the debris. They found two soldiers, one of them injured whom despite the terror couldn't help but be startled by the naked Captain. Jack playfully winked at the one in the blue berret whom strangely enough reminded him of Ianto. That line of thought was interrupted when Jack spotted the most disgusting being which he had laid his eyes on for the past centuries. Batarians deranged and altered to small moving mountains of flesh with glowing artificial eyes and an arm replaced with a human limb with a cannon where their should be a hand. They took cover when abominable things opened fire upon them. Shepard made of his biotics and shredded them to pieces. They fought their way through the Cannibals. They had reached a radio next to a crashed trident. Anderson immediately got to it and managed to establish a connection to the Normandy. They were in dire need of extraction. All they had to do was to hold their ground and stick to the landing zone.

It would take a while, Jack would've doubted the odds of their survival if he hadn't read all the files on Shepard and his known associates and maintained surveillance for the past couple of years. They had a chance to survive, there was always hope despite the dark cloud covering them. Flight Lieutenant Moreau was the best damn pilot in recorded human history. Even the humans of the fifty first century admired the man explicitly for his skill.

The cannibals and husks were closing, Shepard was evidently a priority target. They held their ground but they were running out of thermal clips. Jack made every shot count, quite literally. He wished that he still had his trusty Compact Laser Deluxe up in his prostate but he had to get rid of it. Admiral Lethbridge-Stewart held up her Omni-tool, waving it as electrical surges crippled many of the approaches. The legacy of the Brigadier was evident in how she fought, determined to fight for Earth until her last breath. The fire support she provided with the M-3 Predator along with her Tactical Cloak granting them an edge and allowed them to hold their ground.

A large group of cannibals were aiming at them as they were firing volley after volley of suppressing fire. Pinning them down as the husks came ever closer. It felt a bit hopeless until the Normandy flew overhead and blasted the remaining reaper forces to smithereens.

The shuttle bay opened, a few Alliance Marines lead by Ashley Williams was taking position on the ramp to provide covering fire while they extracted. Shepard was first of them on the ramp, a fresh thermal clip tossed to him which he loaded into his M-8 Avenger to assist with covering the others. Admiral Lethbridge-Stewart was quick to join them, her blue service uniform now tarnished and worse for wear. Yet what really raised eyebrows was the naked Captain Jack Harkness when he came aboard, smiling michieviously and winked to one of the marines whom quickly averted his gaze.

Anderson though still stood there, the expression on his face spoke for itself. I'm not going, Shepard shook his head. "No."

The Admiral bristled, gesturing towards the besieged city of Seattle-Vancouver. "You saw those back there. There's a million more like them. And they need a leader."

"We're in this fight together, Anderson!" Shepard shouted back, he wasn't keen on leaving Anderson behind. He didn't want to lose him like he had lost Kaiden Alenko.

"It's a fight we can't win, not without help." Anderson snapped back, "We need every species and all their ships to even have a chance to defeat the Reapers." Anderson barked to Shepard as he continued with his tough mentoring love for his protégé. "Talk to the council. Convince them to help us."

"What if they won't listen?" Shepard asked. Anderson quickly responded. "Then make them listen. Now go, that's an order!"

"I don't take orders from you anymore, remember?" Anderson reached for his pocket, tossing him a pair of dogtags. They were caught fluidly by Shepard which recognized them as his own.

"Consider yourself reinstated, Commander." The voice of Admiral Anderson was one which broke no argument. His eyes telling Shepard that he had to do this, because no one else could. "You know what you've to do."

"I'll be back for you and I'll bring every fleet I can." Shepard said with great reluctance. He was about to turn about before stopped himself and added. "Good Luck."

"You too. Shepard." Anderson responded as he turned around, dashing off in a quick and rapid series of vaults and dashing among the city ruins. Two Kodiak shuttles in the distance were being loaded with civilians. Shepard spotted the kid he saw playing earlier in the garden and then in the ventilation duck. His heart fell when he spotted the beam which obliterated the shuttles. All of those civilians, dead

Shepard looked away, unable to look at the devestation anymore as he continued to walk further in. The Shuttle Bay doors closing behind him.

Shepard turned to face Harkness. "Go and get dressed." he ordered while James starting to walk straight towards him.

"What the hell is going on? Where's Anderson? Where are we going?" Shepard frowned, didn't he know better than to question a superior officer. Apparently James didn't like being ignored. "Hey!"

"We are leaving." He snapped back at the Lieutenant while walking around to get to the console.

"Leaving?" James exclaimed in frustration and disbelief, Ashley Williams didn't seem to like it either but was composed enough to remain disciplined.

"Anderson wants us going to the Citadel. Getting help for the fight." Shepard responded as he proceeded to make a quick inventory of what they were stocked with.

"Bullshit, he wouldn't order us to leave." Lieutenant Vega objected, obviously angry that they were making a strategic withdrawal.

"We don't have a choice! Without help, this war is already over." Shepard's sharp voice put an end to the ranting, or so he thought while scrutinizingly staring at the marine.

"Forget it. Drop me off someplace. Because I'm not—" James began to retort before Admiral Lethbridge-Stewart approached them and stunned James into silence with her presence alone. She was red in her face as she commanded complete attention and authority.

"Enough! What the commander says goes. We are going to the Citadel. You want out, Lieutenant? Then you can catch a ride back to Earth from the Citadel with a dishonorable discharge. Am I understood, Lieutenant." James was startled and snapped to attention immediately out of instinct. It dawned upon him that hia behaviour was unbecoming and managed to retain some of his composure.

"Yes, ma'am."

The Admiral nodded, seemingly satisfied. Her attention quickly returned to Shepard "Commander, effective immediately, the SSV Normandy is back under your command. Welcome back to the Alliance Navy." Shepard snapped into an attentive salute, the Admiral nodded with a ghost of a smile on her face before she turned about and left.

"Commander." Said a voice through the comm, it belonged to Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, otherwise known as Joker. Shepard responded with some delight "Joker, that you?"

"Alive and kicking. I got an emergency transmission from Admiral Hackett for you." Joker responded before directing the message to the nearby consol. Display Admiral Hackett leaning over to a screen which was suffering heavily from static.

"Shepard… -stained heavy loses… -my force overwhelming… no way that we can defeat conventionally…" Admiral Steven Hackett voiced through the council. Shepard responded with informing his superior officer of his orders. "Anderson has already ordered me to the Citadel to talk with the Council."

"First I need you to— alliance outpost on mars- before losing control of the system—" Hackett said, despite the static and the distance. He still commanded a huge authority which had Shepard snapping to a salute. "Yes, sir."

"— researching prothean archives with Doctor T'soni-… found a way to stop the reapers- only way to stop them- contact soon, Hackett out." The Head of Alliance Navy continued before finishing the transmission. He obviously had a fleet to reorganize.

"Joker, set a course for the Mars Archives." Shepard ordered through the coms to the flight deck of the CIC. "Mars? Roger that."

"This is loco." James muttered under his breath, apparently shocked of the attack. Ashley handled herself better as she forwarded her question. "Why mars? What does he even think we'll find there?"

"I don't know yet but if it helps us win this war." Shepard responded, "Grab your gear, we're on the clock."

Shepard proceeded with putting on his N7-grade Armor. Top of the line with support capabilities and formidable kinetic barriers. It felt good to be serving aboard an Alliance vessel again. The armory was where it should be, in the shuttle bay. He was pleasantly surprised him with the N7-grade arsenal. He picked a N7 Valkyrie Assault Rifle with an Omni-blade bayonet attached underneath the attached high-velocity muzzle. It was a joy to see his M-11 Wraith Shotgun onboard. It was a rare variant of the M-22 Eviscerator whose exterior was that of tarnished gold. It had seen him through the Suicide Mission through the Omega-4 Relay. He secured a M-6 Carnifax Hand Cannon to his thigh as a sidearm before he boarded the shuttle.

Jack Harkness was much to Shepard's appreciation, fully dressed with N7-grade Armor. He brandished a N7 Hurricane SMG along with a N7 Valiant Sniper Rifle. They were soon joined by Ashley and James whom both were armed with M-99 Saber Semi-Automatic Assault Rifles. Ashley had additionally a M-5 Phalanx Heavy Pistol as a sidearm while James carried a M-27 Scimitar Assault Shotgun. Shepard gave Harkness a meaningful look, they were going to talk once they were done at Mars. It was impossible for him to be up so soon after his injury. The most puzzling aspect was the rate of his recovery. He had been brutally scarred with a most gruesome conplexion but now he looked like it had never happened in the first place. Sure, it would make a ludicrous story of a N7 Marine fighting on Earth completely naked and nothing but his training and a M-8 Avenger Rifle.

The doors to the shuttle closed as James took the pilot seat, flying them out of Normandy's Shuttle Bay while they secured their helmets. Next stop, the Mars Archives.

…

The Doctor was indignate, Nardole managed to tune in to the Alliance News Network and the footage alone made his blood boil. They had made it personal. He navigated the TARDIS through real space, harassing the abominable hybrid vessels and disrupted their sensors. Something which gave the orbiting fleet a slim fighting chance despite having been reduced to half-strength. The defenses had been broken almost instantly. It was more of a slaughter than a war. He spotted something, he recognized it as the SSV Normandy, the sight almost made him giddy. I didn't take long for him to realize that they were heading for the Mars Archives.

He had no time waste and pulled a lever which returned the TARDIS to the time vortex. The central column moved while the reassuring sound of the TARDIS wheezed and groaned.

Once it ceased, he examined the screen to check the outside environment. It was safe, the perception filter was alive and kicking. "Nardole, wait in the TARDIS." The Doctor said, the timid man only managed to nod in response. He was supposed to look after the Doctor, not to endanger himself in a war.

The Doctor left the TARDIS, looking down the long corridor with an equally long glass window facing the tram station. He immediately knew that something was wrong when he heard the gunfire. Everything just had to violent and complicated. He then noticed humans in a heavy armor with a white and yellow colour pattern. Their weapons were raised and aimed at the Time Lord who didn't even blink at their presence. Why was humans fighting one another when their home and species were endangered?

Nevertheless, he didn't allow himself to be intimidated. The Doctor walked towards them, his eyebrows narrowed while he scolded them. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. I suggest that you do the smart thing, and take me to your leader."

The two armored troops exchanged worried glances, reluctantly with gesturing with their weapons for him to come along with them. The Doctor frowned as one took point while the other watched the rear. Moving onwards to what hededuced to be the tram station. He expected a really good explanation from whomever thought fighting amongst themselves was a good idea.

…

Author's Note:

Unlike the last story, the Doctor won't be using an Omni-tool. It's inferior in comparison with his sonic screwdriver. He won't be using any guns, neither will he deviate by using armor or anything similar. He's the Doctor afterall. Naturally, I kept Jack Harkness doing the same thing here as he did in the previous version. Fighting the Reaper ground forces with nothing but a M-8 Avengers Rifle, all the while being naked.