A/N: I know it's been a few months since I last posted a new chapter. It's been a hectic few months with the holidays, and I'm currently on writers block for a few things, but hopefully I'll get things back on track.

I've also updated my previous chapter and added a new detail that will be important later in the story and will also be a reference to a prequel story I'm currently writing for this story called "Arising: A Nova Sue Prequel." If you haven't already, go check that out. So far, I've only got a few chapters posted on that story and will be updating that as I figure out my 'writers block' issue for this story.

I also created a neat cover page for this story. If you haven't seen it, it's on the top left corner by the title of the story if you're reading on the computer. Though if you're reading on a phone screen, the photo may not appear.

Anyway, on to the new chapter :)

*** This chapter has been rewritten, with some minor grammar errors fixed ***

Chapter 35: Planning the Offensive

"Right," Dad says to the group after we've gathered back in the Main Control Room. "Thank you all for being here. You have no idea how much we appreciate you being here. Nova is especially thankful for you to be here and to help us rescue her family from the foul clutches of the Silence, or 'Vokanari,' now that they're called. She could use all the assistance she can get. From all of us."

For real, I think to myself, nodding in agreement. I have been waiting to save them for a really long time, and now it's finally happening. Took us all long enough. Any longer, and I would've just said "screw it" and gone by myself. I was growing tired of the wait, needless to say.

Honestly, what is with my family and having people wait, whether it'd be for 'spoilers,' or whatever else?

"And we appreciate you having given us the opportunity to assist you, Doctor," Vastra smiles in reply, "and we are willing to do so."

"It's what friends do for one another," Jenny adds, "and, like you, we never refuse a friend's call for help."

"Yes," Dad smiles at her kind words. "Thank you, Jenny." He then continues, "Now I'm not sure how much Nova has told you about what's happened to the people that adopted her after we gave her up eighteen years ago—" Which I haven't, I think but do not say, preferring not to explain personal issues with strangers (not that they are strangers anymore now that I've gotten to know the trio very well on this adventure). "—but I'll let her explain once again…" He then looks down on me with uncertainty, clearly sensing my uneasiness about the entire situation (When does he not?). "That is, if you want to. Or, if not, I'll explain."

Still feeling guilty toward myself to explain, I ask him telepathically, 'You explain.'

Luckily, he complies. 'Very well,' he responds before he explains out loud to the rest of the group, "As she grew up, she feared that as she gradually came into her powers—as that does happen with most Time Lords—they'd grow more powerful. That being said, she decided to leave her family behind, thinking they'd be much safer without her."

"But I was wrong," I speak up, finally feeling the courage to confess. "It turned out they'd be in more danger if I wasn't there to protect them. While I was gone, that gave the Vokanari the opportunity to snatch them, and they did the same to my best friend, and that was after I convinced her to split from me when the Vokanari were after us in Modern Day London. The Vokanari had been after them from the start, ever since I left them; they planned to use them to get to me, to reel me back, since at the time they didn't know where I went. If I hadn't left, they wouldn't be in this mess, and Mom certainly wouldn't either."

"Your mother?" Vastra frowns, puzzled. "You mean Professor Song? I don't understand."

Of course not, I think, because I haven't told them. Now I finally get the chance to, since Mom—rather, Kovarian—isn't here to do anything to stop me.

Before I get the chance to explain, Jenny asks, "Speaking of River, where is she? Shouldn't she be here with us?"

"Allow me to search the ship for her, sir," Strax volunteers as he prepares to walk down one of the other hallways, toward one that doesn't lead to the library.

Luckily, Dad stops him. "No, Strax, that won't be necessary. She will not be joining us at this time. She's…not in her right mind at the moment. We left her to rest."

"'Rest?'" Vastra asks in a worried tone. "May I ask what happened to her, Doctor?" Perhaps she thought Mom had fallen ill with an alien flu, or something, but I know that's not true.

I finally tell them the truth. "She's been controlled by the Vokanari again. I saw the whole thing."

"You saw it happen?" Jenny asks, puzzled as to how that is possible, since I'd never been truly captured by the Silence. "How?"

"I saw it in a vision," I explain. "They hooked her up to a weird machine, and they used it to reactivate something in her head that they planted there when they took her away as a baby. Kovarian said it controlled Mom's brainwashing as a child, and they reactivated it and made her brainwashing return tenfold, meaning nothing can break her away this time. She's completely under their control again, and there's nothing any of us can do." I purposefully leave out the part about Dad and I feeling partially responsible for not trying harder to change her mind about going to that damn base at all.

"I managed to put her to sleep, hoping that'll break the control for a little bit," Dad assures the trio. "She'll be absolutely fine. The TARDIS will look after her, and I'll call Amy and Rory to help watch her as well."

The fact that he's calling in my grandparents to help with Mom partially excites me, since I'd finally get the opportunity to meet them in person. He'd told me stories about my grandparents—how my grandfather literally waited almost two-thousand years as a Roman Centurion (and a plastic one, at that, as bizarre as that sounds) to see my grandmother again, after he'd accidentally killed her, and the box that she was put in—the Pandorica—restored her, as well as the rest of the universe, to life. Of course, that's just one story Dad told me, and I'm sure my grandparents have many more stories to share with me later.

"You mean to say that Professor Song has been under the Vokanari's control since she found us in the sewer with you?" Vastra asks me in an incredulous tone, like I was stupid to allow someone being mentally controlled by the enemy to 'help' us defeat an entirely different enemy. Of course, back then, I wasn't fully certain that the Silence were controlling my mother, as there was no way of knowing that for sure, what with how unpredictable the Silence are.

"I'm sorry!" I feel the need to confess anyway. "I wanted to tell you from the very beginning, but I was afraid of what she'd do—what Kovarian would do—if I told you. I didn't want anything to happen to her." I'm especially afraid of what would happen now that I've told them. Who's to say Mom/Kovarian isn't hiding behind a wall, watching us, and listening in as we speak?

"It's okay, Nova, it's not your fault," Dad says calmly, wrapping his arm around me in comfort. "We'll save your mother and everyone else. We'll put everything right."

"How exactly are we going to 'put everything right?'" Vastra asks in a pointed tone. "I presume that's the main reason for this meeting."

"Yes, Vastra," Dad nods before explaining. "I have a plan—well, part of a plan. I'm sure I'll come up with a full plan once we gather all the necessary information and equipment. Luckily for us, we know exactly where to look."

"Those space-time coordinates Multi-Eyes gave us!" I speak up immediately, the thought just suddenly popping into my head. That's the only logical place we'd go, right?

"Bravo! Ten points and a Jammie Dodger for Nova!" Dad praises me. "That pirate gang member gave us those coordinates that linked with her true colleagues, the Silence." He then adds with a sad sigh, "And, regretfully, I sent River there to check the place out, and she returned, back under the Silence's control once again. I bet you anything, that's where their new base is."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I say, anxious to get started. "The coordinates should still be in Idris's database. Let's get a move on!" I step toward the console in preparation to fly us there, exactly like how Idris taught me; except this time we will actually fly there rather than fake the flight like last time.

"Not so fast, Nova," Dad says, pulling me back away from the controls. "We can't just waltz in there without a proper plan."

Of course not, I scoff, because that would be suicide. No doubt we'd be walking right into a literal death trap, with my human family being used as the bait to lure us in like a worm on a fishhook.

"Then we'll park outside the base and have Idris scan it for the info we'll need, like a map and such," I suggest with a shrug, "and then figure everything else out from there." Is there any easier way to infiltrate an enemy base?

"That…" Dad says in a tone like that's the dumbest idea I could've possibly come up with, but then he pauses and thinks better. "…is actually a good idea. You're on fire today, Nova!" he praises again before continuing. "Yes, we'll definitely need a detailed map of the base, so we'll know where to go and what to look for. We might even be able to hack into their database and see if there are any major events taking place, and we can use those events as distractions while we sneak in and do our thing."

"We could follow a similar plan as the ones we carried out at Demons Run and Silent Sun," Vastra suggests, and Dad points at her, impressed yet again.

"Yes, Vastra! I was just thinking the same thing!"

"Only we don't have an army again, like last time," Jenny points out in a worried tone; and, quite honestly, I agree. No way would we succeed against an entire organization with just the five of us—or six, if only Mom wasn't attached to the Silence's metaphorical puppet strings.

"We won't need an army again," Dad shakes his head, "much like we didn't need one at Silent Sun. As I said last time, you three are the only army we'll need." At this, the trio frown at him, and he explains. "Vastra can go to the main control room like last time, except this time Strax will go with her as her bodyguard. You can mess with the lights again, or anything else we might need to use as a distraction in case we run into trouble. Jenny can sneak in the normal way, posing herself as a Vokanari member, and I'll give her directions from here in the TARDIS, since they'll shoot me on sight if I go. We may be able to find out where they're keeping Nova's family, and I'll give Jenny directions to find them and get them out safely."

Brilliant plan, I think to myself, except we're missing one person…

Me.

"I'm going with her," I speak up; and, apparently, no one likes my suggestion, because everyone looks at me like I've said something sacrilegious (how offering to go with someone as backup is considered 'sacrilegious,' who the hell knows).

"Absolutely not, young lady!" Dad says firmly, he especially not liking my request (no surprise there). "Absolutely no way am I letting you anywhere near that base!"

But I don't want to hear it. "Please, Dad, you have to let me! I keep telling you, all of this was my fault, so it's my responsibility to save them. It's my duty! And besides, with me there, my family will feel much more comfortable being rescued by someone with a familiar face." I then glance uncertainly at the Paternoster Gang, unsure of how they'd react to my slightly hurtful words. Not that I meant to sound hurtful; I just don't think my family would react well to seeing non-humans (besides me, of course) coming to their rescue. "Uh…no offense to you guys."

Thankfully, they're not offended…at least, I think they're not. "None taken," Vastra says. "We completely understand, my dear."

"Yeah, we understand that you want to come with us, Nova," Jenny nods in agreement, "but you can't. It's too dangerous."

What, and breaking into an enemy spaceship to rescue my kidnapped father wasn't dangerous? I frown in disbelief. "You guys had no problem with me going with you to the Shadow Demons' ship," I point out, and I'm surprised they seem to now, even after everything we've been through on our previous adventure, "and look where we are now! Dad is safe because of me. We're all safe because I was there to help. Trust me, you'll be much safer if I come with you again."

"That was different," Vastra shakes her head. "The Shadow Demons were predictable, unlike the Silence. They didn't have as big of a thirst to kill you as the Silence do. The Shadow Demons had just learned how to crawl, but the Silence know how to run, which makes them a thousand times more dangerous."

"I don't care!" I say. "I want to go! In fact, I feel that I have to go, no matter what any of you say!" Call it 'a gut feeling,' or 'instincts,' or whatever other cliché, but I feel I must go either way. Like I said, it's my duty to go!

"It's not up to us to decide your fate, young one," Vastra says in a genuine sympathetic tone. "That is for your father to decide."

"Exactly," Dad nods, agreeing with Vastra. "What Vastra said. And as your father, I say you're not going. It's too dangerous, especially for you."

I groan, rolling my eyes at him, "Dad, come on, you have to let me go!" If I don't, who knows what would happen! Who knows what would happen to my family if I don't turn myself in if that's the only option I have.

But Dad is still not backing down, and at this point I doubt he will. "It's not happening, Nova. I'm not sending my daughter to her death; not on my watch! Never again! You're staying right here in the TARDIS, and that's final! End of discussion!"

"But Dad—" I try one more time, but that ends up becoming my worst mistake.

"I SAID THAT IS FINAL!" he snaps unexpectedly at me, grabbing me firmly by the shoulders. "I WILL NOT LOSE YOU AGAIN! YOU WILL DO AS YOU ARE TOLD AND STAY IN THE TARDIS! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

I don't know why, but his sudden outburst sends massive chills down my spine and through my entire body and my hearts leap up to my throat in absolute fear. My own father had just become a raging god, and I am absolutely powerless against him. More than that, I feel as if all courage has been completely drained from my soul, and he had mercilessly sucked it all out like a vacuum. Now I finally understand why everyone calls him 'the Oncoming Storm' and 'the Bringer of Darkness.' He is an absolute monster when he is angry.

I am left completely and utterly speechless, so I do the only thing I know how to do:

I run.

Dad must've realized his mistake (I know, because, through our psychic link, his guilt hits me like a tidal wave), because he calls back to me in a more calming voice, "Nova, wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Don't!" is the only thing I say in return.

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!

As I said above, if you haven't already, make sure to reread my previous chapter to find out that new detail I mentioned, and go check out my new story "Arising: A Nova Sue Prequel." For those who were confused about the "Silent Sun" reference, that will be mentioned in the prequel at some point, though I haven't gotten there yet.

Also, a huge shout-out to all who commented and subscribed to this story (and my prequel story). I really appreciate it :)

*** FRIENDLY REMINDER: once again, make sure to check back every once in a while, as I often rewrite stuff, as mentioned above. ***