The Doctor straightened his bowtie and laughed.

"You're not getting anything."

The Nords seemed to tuck their chins into their lapel every five minutes.

"We will have our victory!"

"You can have it all except your victory! See how you like that because I am the Doctor and I defend humanity to their final steps!"

The lead Nord laughed, then swiped the Doctor right across the room. He groaned on the floor and closed his eyes.

"Give the word out to Earth. Get them to send us help and guidance!"

"Or what?"

The Nord fired a shot at the window, which wasted the government-implemented protective blast shielding.

"Or I shoot again and take you all down."

"But you'll die!"

"Not if we hold on to something."

There was a shuffling.

"You're thick for a space viking. Although, vikings weren't known for brains." The Doctor laughed, activating the computer.

"What are you doing?!"

"Hacking into local systems, ie your ships. Cool, isn't it? Not really?"

The ships outside began to throb and eventually cracked in two.

"Rerouted all your power into the hulls. I'm going to be seriously injured now."

The Nords dived at him, but held their heads in anger, but also anguish. Everyone in the room felt like they could feel the pain, the struggle to breath a different kind of air, their lungs scraping with the agony.

"Doctor, what's happening?!"

"They must rely on their ships, for air supplies. No wonder they kept tucking in their chins!"

The Nords finally stopped, collapsing without life nor determination to live just one last second.

"Well, that's that. We're safe now?"

"Far from it. Every invasion has a mothership."

"So where is it?"

"I have a sinking suspicion we're standing right in it."

The doors opened and robots flooded in, followed by an immense Nord with flowing grey hair and no eyes. He wore his lack of sight with pride, seemingly covering up the two holes with flaps of his uneven skin.

"Pitiful humans!"

"Disgusting Nord!"

The Nord growled.

"I am Sketskar the Goliath!"

"I am Doctor the Coolest!"

Sketskar had a booming laugh, like a plane flying dangerously close to the motorway. His hands were like mighty tree-trunks, with fingers like thick, juicy sausages. His chest was puffed up, as if he were a rooster with a horde of trophies and diploma.

"You are amusing human. I shall kill you last."

"Oh, but you're so wrong!"

"Tell me why!"

"Well for starters I'm a Time Lord, the last one. I fought in and ended the Last Great Time War, I'm 1004 years old, I've got a robot dog and most importantly, I love the human race. So, why don't you think over how much you want to invade earth, how much this plan of yours means to you...and run anyway."

Sketskar just laughed again.

"I have many dangerous robot. What do you possess?"

"One that moves quietly."

K9 began to figuratively blast his head off, sparking up every robot with relative ease.

"Task accomplished, master."

"There!"

"Powerpack depleted, master. Shutting down."

"Not so good. Ok."

Sketskar growled.

"Why do you need earth anyway?"

"Our planet, Vohla, was devoured by ancient beings in the time of times. We tried to run, and some did. I was at the forefront of the exodus."

"Are you hungry?"

"Why?"

"Because I've got an apple here and-oops!"

The Doctor chucked the apple into the space under Sketskar's chin, and ran. He went back to pick up K9, and beckoned to the others. The woman who had been working at the computer was grabbed by a desperate Sketskar, who snapped her neck. Binko picked up two of the guns.

"No guns!" The Doctor yelled. Binko sighed, and handed one to Miriam.

"What now?!"

"Escape pods!"

lllllllllllllllllllllllllll

The Doctor sighed, catching his breath as he leaned against the wall.

"I knew a man once, called Ebertia. Used to call him Ebert for laughs. He was like Sketskar, powerful, imposing. But he was also one of the greatest people I've ever known."

"Why are you telling us this?"

"Because there may be a bit of Ebertia in Sketskar. He may look at our reasoning and move on."

"Not today, Time Lord!"

Sketskar trudged around the corner, breathing heavily. His feet squelched, which they had the gruesome misfortune of discovering that this was indeed caused by blood in his shoes.

"Nords bleed when close to death." he spat, giving with it a jet of crimson.

"I can help you, Sketskar. Please!"

"No, Time Lord. I want you to know that you did this. I want you to know you- GAKKH."

Binko fired a laser shot, dissolving Sketskar into nothingness.

"Saved...saved him pain. I did...right, didn't I? I did the...right...thing?" he spluttered, before vomiting from disgust and intense shock.

"Even I don't know." the Doctor concluded, lowering his eyes to the floor.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllll

The Doctor stood in the open door space of the TARDIS.

"Goodbye, Doctor."

"Goodbye Miriam. No more guests for a while, at least not in this galaxy."

"How did Sketskar get on board?"

"I don't know. Could have been smuggled on with the robots. Definitely didn't use those ships. It's a mystery for...well, someone else."

He stepped inside, and Miriam watched in amazement as the box flickered in and out of existence, with a metallic groan. She walked down the corridor, worryingly noticing that Binko's pockets seemed to be dripping black oil.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllll

The TARDIS stopped materialising, and the Doctor activated the scanner. Outside was night, dark and piercing. There were trees on the horizon, as well as large bats and birds. There seemed to be a sharp incline ahead of the ship, probably some kind of hill. The trees were classic signs of a jungle, a tropical one at that by the feel of it. He both loved the look of it and felt a sense that the jungle was about to bring him a tormenting headache.

"Well, come on K9."

"Danger, master!"

"Oh shut up."

But he should have listened, should have stayed a little longer, because the moment he closed the doors a bright orange orb shot across the sky.

The End.

To be continued in "Tribal".