Chapter Seven : Breaking the Silence

"When reason slept, when mothers wept, when soldiers crept, the monsters came."-The Silence

The floor was slicked with dragon's blood, and his knees were soaked in it as he knelt helpless and powerless. The great beast convulsed and writhed painfully its final breaths in the wet dirt. Its horrible cries rang in the cold raining air. Head, tail and wings thrashing and beating against the hard ground as it struggled in agony.

The Master watched.

"Your emotions are pungent," sneered Rassilon, his gauntleted hand slowly twisting and crushing the Master's skull. "Is that fear I smell? Or anger?"

The Master coughed up a brave laugh, spitting dark blood at Rassilon's face.

"I thought us bad guys all lost the art of the diatribe," snarled the Master sarcastically. "Nice to see you're still rocking the pontificating groove though."

"Of all people, you would defend mankind?" growled Rassilon a curious expression on his face as his grip tightened. "You who would have waded through their blood once. So filled with hate."

"Will you just shut up and get on with it?" he said resigned and annoyed as he shifted uncomfortably in his grasp.

Rassilon was right. His words tugged at parts of him that had lain dormant for a long time. But he was trying to be different now. He had lost his way only to find it again.

He shied away from both memory and contemplation. There was no point wasting energy on either when his survival was at stake. If he were to die now, let it be quick. He preferred it when it was quick. He had enough being toyed by Rassilon, gloating and sneering.

Rassilon too had enough and obliged. The gauntleted hand thrashed aside the Master to the ground like a ragdoll. He bent over him like a cloud, and his eyes glittered; slowly and lovingly he raised his mighty staff to kill. Deadly currents crackled and sparked around him.

But then suddenly, a boom! Rassilon stumbled forward with a howl of bitter pain, his deathly stroke went wide, driving the staff into the ground which shattered into many pieces like a comet hitting the Earth.

A blast of energy had shot through the air and caught him from behind, shearing through his back.

All eyes turned to where the laser blast had come. From the cloud of smoke and dust, a tall handsome man marched forwards with a large laser cannon in his hands. His blue coat flapped wildly in the roaring wind, a brilliant wide smile upon his face.

"Captain Jack Harkness. Nice to meet you," said Jack, eyes lit and smiling wide. "Is this a private war or can anyone join?"

"Kill him!" urged the Master suddenly as Rassilon rose up roaring, showing no sign of the previous assault on him. "NOW!"

Jack quickly aimed another shot but it was too late. The blast shrieked through the air but in a bright green flash, Rassilon had simply vanished from the spot.

"Wake up, little one…"

The simple beast stirred, blinking and in severe pain. The Judoon was scrambling on the floor, hurt and confused, screaming a guttural whine of agony.

"Be calm," said a silken voice that echoed in his head.

Toruk Tor heaved himself with barely enough strength upright, and looked around him. Destruction and chaos littered the street.

His mind was a blur. Had he fallen to Earth? Fragments of memory seared his skull. All he could recall were the screams, the explosions and the rush of smoke-filled wind.

"Little one?" hushed the voice smoothly. "Your role in this has not yet ended."

"Who is that?"

"A friend… Trust me."

"What do you want?"

"To help."

"How?"

"Follow the Magpies."

Rose Tyler stepped out from the light and the blue door behind her vanished as she closed it. There was now just a wall where a second ago, the gleaming blue portal had been. Or part of a wall. The destruction here was… catastrophic.

Bannerman Road loomed out of the darkness. A thick cloud of dust hung like a funeral shroud over the mountain of shattered stone and steel that had been the houses that lined the road. There were no lights and no comforting sounds. Only a squadron of fighters in the rain, warring amongst the stars. But she wasn't here for sights and sounds. She moved quickly through the rain.

Breathing fast and hard, Rose searched in hope. Praying for them to be alive. Praying that what she was betting on would work. Bannerman Road was key.

Time moved against her. Now that she wanted time to move as slowly as possible, it seemed to have sped up. Her legs ran to race against it.

Then, she found it from afar. 13, Bannerman Road the sign said. However, her heart died as she saw the building, half demolished and crumbling still.

But, there was a sound. There were people. In the wreckage she heard slight movements.

"Sarah Jane?" she called out in hope.

She heard sobbing as she drew closer with every step. She hoped. She hoped hard.

"Sarah Jane?" she called out again as she made her way through the wreck of stone and fire.

"In here," called out a voice.

"We're over here!"

Rose hurtled forwards. Relief washing over her until she saw them, huddled together in a tight circle.

"Rose?" said Sarah Jane astounded looking up to see her. "Oh my god, I never thought I'd see you again."

The two rushed to embrace one another, Rose cheerfully laughing.

"Neither did I," admitted Rose. "Though it's not really a good thing that I'm here."

"Rose, do you know what's going on?"

She stared silently at Sarah Jane. The words were too difficult for her to say.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Rose. "The universe is at war."

"The universe?" said Luke, and he sounded startled.

"It's difficult to explain and we don't have much time," cut Rose hastily. She could feel the pressing of questions on the lips of the others. "I can explain it when we're in safer places, but I need your help."

"Anything," offered Luke without delay.

"We need to use Mr Smith."

There was a abrupt change in the atmosphere. The others looked at one another looking as though like frightened children caught and guilty.

"What?" asked Rose, fear infecting her. "What happened?"

The tight circle parted, shifting uneasily so she could finally see what they had been surrounding. Her hopes evaporated immediately at the sight of it and her gasp of despair was drowned by the howl of the wind and rain.

"I'm sorry," said Sarah Jane over the rolling thunder. "Mr Smith is dead."

Electrical discharges danced around the bridge. Darkness briefly shrouded him before a flash of light filled the room and he materialised fully, stalking into the ship's bridge angrily, dripping in blood and smoke.

"You've returned?" said the Rani, surprise ringing clear in her dark voice. "So soon?"

"I should never have left," spat Rassilon, casting aside his smouldering robes. The air he carried with him carried the faint, sickly sweet tang of burned bodies, blood and rain. "They lured me into entering the fray."

"Lured you?" laughed the Rani haughtily. "They did no such thing. It was your impatience that cost you."

"Have a care how you speak to me," snarled Rassilon, his gauntlet emitting angry sparks and flashing dangerously. An invisible fist gripped the Rani's throat and cast her against the wall, lifting her bodily off the floor. "You will keep a civil tongue in your mouth or I shall sew it shut for you!"

"If you do that, it would make it difficult for me to pass you some important piece of news," she scoffed, choking.

The Rani grinned maliciously, caressing her neck as she was instantly released and the resistance fell away.

"What is it?"

"The TARDIS has gone."

Ivy felt dizzy. A rush of emotion flooded her. She could not name it, categorize it. It was just a wash of inchoate, raw feeling. She was swimming in it, sinking.

Her eyelids felt heavy. Impossibly so. She was tired but she didn't feel like sleeping before. Not until now. It was as if some invisible force was casting the darkness over her eyes.

She wished someone could see. See that something had gone wrong with her. That someone could pull her out of this sinking, drowning sensation. But nobody did. Somehow Ivy found she had strayed away from them. She remembered walking away though she couldn't remember why that was exactly.

Closer and closer her lids slid over her eyes until finally…

Flashes of memory ran past behind her eyes. A woman in white, her hair danced like fire, framing the beautiful symmetry of her face.

"Be safe," she said as the world around her fell into darkness.

"Do I know you?"

"Be strong, and tell him nothing."

"Can you fix him?" Rose asked concerned as she looked over the crumbling shell of Mr Smith. Deep cracks from the explosion had lined his features and his broken lights and screens were flickering feebly.

The air was filled with tension as explosions like thunder sounded, the steady drumbeat of intense bombardment. She could see the fear that was full in everyone's eyes as they stood gathered around her, even in cold vicious rain that was beating into their faces. They were not safe here. Not in the open. They needed to leave immediately.

But she had to see. She took a gamble on the risks. She had come all this way. The hole that had opened inside her when she saw the broken Xylox gasped for air still. She feared she might drain away into it in despair.

"Is there anyway we can fix Mr Smith?" repeated Rose impatiently.

Luke knelt and surveyed Mr Smith keenly, examining as much of whatever was left still standing. The Xylok computer was now a mere mound of rubble, sparking electrical cables and wires the only evidence of its alien technology.

He studied the mainframe in a long silence, picking up his broken pieces, almost as if cradling a dying friend. The parts were cold, hard and distant in the freezing rain. It felt nothing akin to Mr Smith.

"No," Luke said finally, his wet cheeks coloured with anger and his mouth a thin line of frustration. "I can't fix this."

Alien ships swarmed the air. Bombs fell like rain and exploded into showers of red and orange and black. Gouts of smoke poured into the sky. Secondary explosions sent deep vibrations moaning through the ground. Rose occasionally caught the sounds of distant, panicked screaming. They stabbed deep at her heart.

Her plan was failing and the consequence of that was simply… unthinkable.

The cracked head of a Cyberman laid aside the mound beside Rose, eyeing her mournfully through its baleful empty sockets. The rain became heavier, ringing loudly on the metal body.

"But I have an idea," interjected Luke suddenly, looking up to her with bright spark in his eye as though he had just caught hold of a thought.

"What is it?" asked Sarah Jane

"I can't guarantee it'll work," he said as he scrambled forwards picking up the Xylox gem of Mr Smith in one hand and in the other he lay on the metal chest of the fallen Cyberman, "and it's… crazy but it's worth a shot."

"What do you have in mind?" urged Rose desperately.

"This gem, it's his brain. So, I figure we'll just need a new body."

Luke looked at her and then towards the Cyberman. Two pieces of a puzzle were being presented to her now. She hung her head, tried to gather the thoughts bouncing chaotically in her brain.

"I think I see what you're getting at," she said, though she tried not to sound unsure.

She had spent the last year battling Cybermen with the Doctor in Pete's World. She did not like the idea of turning something into one of them.

More explosions rocked the urban landscape. A bomb struck a power station, and an enormous flare of plasma jetted half a kilometer into the sky. More shuddering screams filled the air…

"Do it," said Rose firmly, refusing doubt permission to assail her certainty as she watched the plasma flare burn part of the city.

"Ivy?" Matt called out, waving his right hand at her. "Have you been listening?"

She blinked slow and seemed half-dazed as he spoke to her. Matt stared and watched her carefully. She was acting strange. Distracted and keeping to herself, as though she had tuned out the world around her. Several times now he caught her staring into space, a curious and strange expression drawn across her face.

At the intensity of his gaze, Ivy instantly shook her head as though to clear up her thinking.

"You alright?" he asked her tentatively.

"Fine," she lied with a smile.

Matt didn't know what was going on, but he knew Ivy. And she was not fine.

"My Lord," spoke Rassilon, a furrowed brow and the tight line of his mouth betraying the tension behind his otherwise calmed expression. He had not looked forward to this moment since he heard news of the TARDIS.

"Rassilon," acknowledged the Emperor. The voice that answered him was so familiar that sometimes his very thoughts spoke in it, instead of in his own. "What news?"

Rassilon knew better than to hesitate. It would betray fear and he had far too much pride to cower. He rose from his bow and stood tall, his staff - the glory of Gallifrey – in his grasp.

"I apologise my Lord, but the Doctor has escaped our-"

"So they have run, have they?" the Emperor's voice went silken, interrupting him. It was as if he had anticipated it. As though he had always expected the Doctor to run. "The legend of his cowardice remain true, or so it would seem."

"He was foretold of our coming," revealed Rassilon quickly, as though to explain himself, his position. It had been his task to bring the Doctor and the Emperor rarely entertained failure. "The Master is with him."

"The Master knows nothing of our purpose. He is no threat."

"I beg to differ my lord," urged Rassilon forcefully. "It is unwise. The Champions of Death and Time should never be reunited as allies."

"Death and Time hold no sway against me," he drawled. "We are beyond their reckoning now. Were we not, you would still be dead and sealed in the Last Great Time War. "

Rassilon's fist reflexively clenched and unclenched at the hint of a threat towards him. It betrayed fear and frustration. He simply did not understand the Emperor's thinking. The Master had shown up unexpectedly with foreknowledge of their coming and yet the Emperor showed no concern. There were clearly bigger things at work. Nothing was as it should be.

Rassilon had intended, had expected, to turn Earth into a cinder with the Doctor becoming their prisoner. And yet,

"Is the child still with the Doctor?" continued the Emperor.

"I believe so," said Rassilon, regaining his outwardly composure. "I could feel her presence though quiet it may have been."

"Good."

"However the TARDIS has now vanished from us. He has gone into deep space."

"He has entered my realm; rushing into my very arms," whispered the Emperor. "Find him and bring me the child."

"What of Earth?" asked Rassilon impatient.

He had seen it in his vision that it burns. He wanted to see it come to life with his own eyes.

"His love for the planet may fall in our favour later," replied the Emperor slowly, as if able to read his mind and seeking to frustrate him in every way as punishment. "But do not be distracted. Concentrate all your efforts on Gallifrey's last child. She is all that I require."

They stood there mesmerized as a cube of light whizzed madly about in the air.

"What is it?" asked Ivy as she approached closer, like a moth to a flame. The brisk wind the cube was generating mussed her hair as it got closer.

"A message," said the Doctor as he gently plucked the Hypercube from the air. As his fingertips touched the surface, the cube shivered and shone brighter as though recognizing him. Immediately, it whispered words seemingly audible only to him.

"From?" Matt asked.

The Doctor's eyes were closed behind his black-rimmed glasses and he was lost in a different conversation now. He did not reply for a while. He stood, hand clasping the cube and a sereneness seemed to fill him. Finally, as the cube's illumination flickered and died, the Doctor opened his eyes.

"The Master," he said and beamed widely. "We have a new heading; The Maldovarium."

"You know what I call two thousand alien corpses at the bottom of the Thames River?" barked General Adama cruelly, as he strode into his office chamber, drumming a steady rap of his boots on the polished veneer.

Buck didn't answer him. He stood still, at ease, enduring the whiff of the General's cigar as he made his way to his seat.

"A good start," gloated the General as he laughed heartily, taking his seat and exulting in the deaths he had caused.

But Buck was still. Memories eased past his mind of the deaths he had seen today. He fought down a flash of anger at the joy Adama had taken.

"Something wrong?"

The General's luminescent red eyes drew upon him, a scowl still etched upon his aged face. He held his eyes, unflinching and defiant. He would not allow Adama to control him more than he already had. He hung on to his honour quietly. Only the low hum and buzz of the Valkyrie slowly flying over London filled the silent gulf between them.

"Nothing, sir," said Buck finally.

He struggled to push the last word out of his lips but Adama did not notice. His eyes, prosthetic as they were, seemed to glaze over as he stared past him, into the shadows.

"Never knew how much rage I'd kept in my guts for those...creatures," recounted Adama. "How much rage I'd feel upon seeing them again."

The air felt charged, agitated. Adama's emotions were surging and he shifted in his seat. Adama cleared his throat, and his red eyes glowed with intent.

Buck tensed. The General did not appear agitated however. He appeared coiled. He leaned forward across his desk, and removed his cigar from his mouth as though to whisper a secret to him.

"I have a new mission for you," drawled Adama finally getting to the point, his eyes narrowing and his lips curling.

"What is it?" asked Buck.

"Tell me," continued Adama, agonizingly leisurely as though to tease the tension further, "what do you know about the… Hand of Omega?"

Buck stared, dumbstruck at the General.

"Chernobyl," he said.

Author's Notes :

THE FUUUUUUCK?

Next chapter soon. Stay tuned or ...not.