Child of Earth
By Lumendea
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Durmino Empire: Uncertainty
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
…
It wasn't often that Rose wanted to call the Doctor to her rescue. She wasn't truly sure if that was a point of personal pride or a character flaw, but right now she was silently cursing the broken phone. Pulling it out, she inspected it once again, wondering if the sonic pen would be able to fix the crack, but even parts of the internal components were damaged. While the sonic screwdriver probably could have done the job the sonic pen lacked the same versatility. Fixing it and calling the Doctor was out. All she could do on that front was hope that he knew the situation and was supposed to come for time lines. If not then she'd discover that the hard way.
"Okay," Rose breathed as she leaned against the wall. "If Khandrin's ships are destroyed in orbit there will be fallout on the planet below, correct?"
"Exactly," Alenica murmured, worrying her bottom lip. "On the other hand, our forces can't just let him bombard the planet."
"Yeah, so ideally we'd want to get the ships away from the planet," Rose remarked and Alenica made a small defeated nod. "That way they cannot be destroyed in the battle."
"That doesn't seem possible. There is a dozen of them."
"But we're on the flagship if it moves then the others may follow," Rose pondered, toying with the sonic pen. "If most of the crew really are robots then they may be programmed that way."
"And if they aren't?"
"I don't know," Rose sighed, leaning her head back against the wall. "I'm just thinking out loud."
"But you're current thought is to take over the bridge," Alenica reminded her. "That's a bit… insane Rose."
"We can't do any good down on the planet," Rose countered rubbing the edge of her forehead. "Up here at least we can keep picking off the robots and maybe come up with something. The issue is that we are dealing with multiple ships. If we weren't then maybe just disabling the ship would be enough, but there's too many."
"Is there anyone who can help us?" Alenica questioned urgently. "Anyone, you can contact?"
"I'm from Earth remember?" Rose told her, giving the Princess a curious look. "And you already alerted the Shadow Proclamation and your allies. Do you think the Orthans can help?"
"No news from them yet," Alenica answered, lowering her eyes. "They are often very busy trying to keep the peace for less developed planets."
"Ah the Prime Directive," Rose muttered. "We should keep moving, I don't like lingering." She paused and looked around. "This has been too easy thus far as it is."
"Too easy?" Alenica asked with surprise. "If you think this has been easy I would dread to see what you consider difficult."
"A lot more guards and people trying to catch me for one," Rose answered tightly. Part of her wishing that she could repair her phone and use it to contact the Doctor and the other part just wanting to be sure that he stayed far away from this. "Something isn't right."
"Perhaps Khandrin believes you can't do anything while trapped on the ship," Alenica suggested quickly. "We do seem to be trapped after all and he may not consider you a threat."
"No that's not it," Rose replied softly, moving down the corridor and attempting to get her bearings. "He's too smart for that. A person doesn't gain control of this large a force in ships and robots and keep it as an idiot."
"He's distracted then," Alenica offered. "He is trying to invade my planet. Perhaps the generals thought of something clever and have managed to distract him for us."
"Perhaps," Rose agreed softly. That was a possible explanation certainly and one that would fit with the current situation. It would be silly to amuse that all the Durmino forces on the planet would be calmly waiting. No, they had to be trying everything they could. "That does make sense."
Still, as they started making their way to the next teleport point so they could keep moving towards the bridge, Rose had the nagging sense that she was missing something. She glanced towards Alenica only to find a completely serene expression on the other woman's face. There was something, she just couldn't put her finger on it.
They found the teleport quick enough; Alenica seemed to have developed a sense of direction in the bleak halls that eluded Rose. With the sonic pen, Rose was able to active them easily as a distance and moments later they were in a similar, but larger hallway. There was barely any warning before a thunderous sound erupted down the corridor as robots rushed towards them. Rose glanced around and a few feet ahead were more of the small access areas.
Pushing Alenica out of the way, Rose ducked into one of the small side holes while the Princess crouched in another. Laser blasts burst past them as the team of robots advanced. They did not stop firing even though they had no targets and Rose was reminded strongly of Stormtroopers. She remained still as the noise around her increased. While they may not be truly attacking her or Alenica they were pinned down. Then the robots stopped moving and stopped shooting.
"Princess Alenica," the deep voice of Khandrin called out making Rose look around with no sign of the warlord "This is foolish. What do you think you will achieve?"
Alenica said nothing but instead looked up towards the ceiling. Rose glanced up, but nothing stood out to her there. She was debating what to do with an odd series of scratches on the wall opposite her caught her attention. It took her a moment to decode the writing:
Bad Wolf
Breathing out, Rose nodded a little and tightened her grip on her sword. Alencia's eyes widened and she looked ready to protest, but Rose swung out of the small niche and swung her sword at the nearest robot. It tumbled back in a wash of sparks. Rose ignored the sting of them landing on her arms and slashed at the next one. The third was turning its weapon towards her and she dropped low to slice the legs out from under it.
"Robots," Rose laughed. "Easy."
Alenica gave her a weak nod but came out of the small access area. She gripped Rose's hand very tightly as they kept going. Rose kept her eyes open for guards, but the corridors were largely deserted. Khandrin clearly knew where they were, he'd finally spoken over the communication system and yet there was nothing between them and the bridge. The double doors came into sight and a pair of robots stood next to them at attention. They did not respond to Rose, but as Alenica stepped into view they both instantly turned.
"My horse for another biodamper," Rose grumbled as she dashed ahead of Alenica.
She sliced off the legs of yet another robot while debating the merits of going for the legs versus the head while again celebrating that she didn't have to be concerned with the loss of life. This whole situation was strange enough as it was. Alenica dodged around in the corridor to distracted the remaining robots. Its weapon was training on her before Rose put her sword through the back of the robot.
"Ready?" Rose questioned Alenica as the robot crashed to the ground.
The Princess looked flushed but nodded as her face calmed into a serene expression. Rose licked her lips and wondered again if this was the wisest course of action. Storming the bridge seemed like a bad idea, but then again it was probably what the Doctor would do if he was present. With that in mind, she pointed the sonic pen at the panel beside the doors and watched as they slid open. Braced for another attack or Khandrin to appear, Rose was once more surprised.
The bridge was very different from the rest of the ship which Rose was convinced was a combination of different ships. Rather than the strange elegance of the ballroom or the confined windowless space of the corridors, the bridge was round in shape and rather dark with rows of computers. Several were manned by robots, but here there were five actual living creatures who all turned towards the door as it opened.
There was a moment of stillness and then chaos seemed to erupt. If Khandrin had allowed her to get this far then he had not filled the crew in on the plan. Leaping forward, Rose lashed her fist forward into the neck of the nearest alien that was similar in physical form to Perijacks. It released a cry of pain and crumbled to the floor, with wide dazed eyes. Reassured that they weren't too fragile, Rose ducked the attack of another one as it began to pull a firearm. She grabbed the weapon and twisted its arm, forcing it to drop the weapon with a cry of pain.
The robots on the bridge were looking about in confusion as the actual crew members shouted to them. Rose grabbed another one and put it in a choke hold, kicking with her right leg at the another was trying to rush her. As she dropped her current target as it stopped struggling the robots advanced on her, drawn by what must have been the strange sight of a crewmember in midair. Still, Rose reflected as she dodged out of the way and struck down another robot. This was going very very well.
…
"This was too easy," Rose muttered as she eyed the pile of robot parts and the row of tied unconscious aliens. "What is Khandrin playing at?"
"You are a Star Knight," Alenica pointed out, drawing Rose's attention back to where the Princess was standing with a slightly uneasy expression, toying with her hands.
"That really doesn't mean as much as you think," Rose told her with a sigh. "Okay navigation, any thoughts?"
"Here," Alenica answered as she nodded eagerly and pointed towards one of the control stations. "Navigation is usually positioned right about…" She trailed off for a moment as she dashed around the controls. "Here it is!"
Rose followed her over. It looked very familiar with many science fiction shows except the screen had a 3-D effect that showed the position of the ship and other nearby objects. Looking at the screen, Rose welcomed the uncomfortable itch at the back of her mind as knowledge from another life tried to poke through. She understood very little of what she'd seen in the nightmares and in her dreams, but the sight of a dark engine room and a rush to make repairs flashed through her head. Rose adjusted the controls and the screen before she changed. She wouldn't be able to get them far, but maybe a gas planet. Radioactive and far enough away to limit the damage to the people on the surface.
"What are the other planets in the system like?" Rose questioned. "Is there a safe one to go to?"
"The sixth planet is a gas giant," Alenica answered quickly, reaching across Rose for a moment to press a few buttons. "Nothing to harm there."
"Okay, then that's where we go."
The controls were actually very simple, so simple that Rose almost laughed. There were no fancy joysticks, but instead a much simpler point and tap screen to indicate the desired position. It made sense, she supposed when you really thought about it. Even a ship built for war of this size would have limited manoeuvring ability. She made the change and felt the ship shudder beneath her feet for a moment as the engines deep below roared back to life and began to feed the thrusters with more power.
"I'm impressed," Alenica observed next to her, leaning forward and looking at her curiously. "I wasn't sure you'd know how to fly."
"I really don't," Rose admitted with a nervous smile. "But this is simple enough." She paused and looked at another screen that showed the location of the others ships. "The question is will they follow us. Maybe we could send a message…. Something automatic…" she suggested thoughtfully as she began to move amongst the rows of controls. "I wish I knew what I was looking for." Shaking her head, Rose pulled on the sonic pen.
"What are you doing?"
"Seeing if I can lock the controls," Rose murmured as she adjusted the settings. "It won't last long. I can't deadlock seal them, but I can buy us maybe an hour that Khandrin can't turn things around."
"Do you really think that this will work? That the other ships will follow?"
"I haven't a clue," Rose answered honestly. "But I have no other ideas at the moment. If the flagship withdraws then the others may hesitate when your other ships arrive. And the Shadow Proclamation has been alerted. We need to stall."
Alenica shifted nervously and Rose did not blame her at all. For a moment there was nothing expect the thrum of the sonic pen as Rose bypassed the basic security system. With a few presses of the buttons, Rose entered a new password: Bad Wolf and hoped it would keep them out long enough.
Suddenly around them, a blaring sound erupted along with flashing mauve lights. Rose rolled her eyes as a soft squeak escaped Alenica.
"And now the alarms go off." She smiled a little, "Maybe Khandrin is finally getting tired of his game."
"What does he want, Rose?" Alenica questioned as Rose grabbed her hand and began tugging her towards the door as the unconscious aliens began to stir. "Truly?"
"Your empire," Rose told here before sighing in defeat. "And the Doctor."
"The Doctor?"
"The man who stopped him before. Apparently, he decided that your world and this invasion would serve as bait to draw him out." Rose paused as the bridge doors opened before them. "I am so sorry Alenica."
Down the corridor, Rose could hear the loud pounding of the mechanical feet marching towards them. It was far louder than before and her breath caught in her throat. Her sense of danger jumped and Rose was certain that this had gone from too easy to something very different. Tightening her grasp on Alenica's hand, she pulled her away from the bridge doors.
"Run!"
The corridor branched into multiple passageways before the bridge and directly beyond it. Without any idea where they were going, Rose chose passage after passage, but the marching echoed after them without fail.
"They're following me," Alenica gasped in alarm. "Rose you need to go on without me."
Rose ignored her, stopping only for a moment when they came to another junction. It all very much looked the same to her. The robots were marching closer and closer and now Rose thought she heard a second group. Alencia's theory about them being on the planet was being quickly disproven.
"The teleport is this way," Alenica called to her, pulling Rose away from the advancing forces.
Rose dared a glance back as they rushed down the corridor. There were dozens of robots now, packed into the corridor and marching as one. Their weapons were drawn, but they were not currently firing after them. But then as they rushed around another curve in the corridor, Rose and Alenica found themselves facing four more robots standing guard. Pulling out the sonic pen with her left hand, Rose aimed it at the panel behind the robot guards. Alenica gasped softly as the robots began to close in around them. She caught Rose's arm for a moment, squeezing it only a tiny fraction before she shoved her into the teleport beam.
"Stop Khandrin!" Alenica shouted as the teleport energy surrounded Rose and whisked her away.