Chapter 16: Jailbroken

"The plan is starting. Now." Clara panted, her legs tingling painfully as sensation began to return to her deadened nerves. "Rusty," she licked her lips nervously, steeling herself against the panic within, "in your cell, do you see that panel by the door?"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"Plug yourself into it. Start the plan. This prison is controlled by the Dalek hive mind. Hack it. I know that you are no longer part of the hive mind, but I need you to try."

"I WILL TRY." Rusty grated out, attaching his sucker-like data prong to the panel and searching.

Clara groaned as the merciless tingling began to recede from her limbs. She gripped a crack in the wall and attempted to lift herself from the dirty floor. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her breath coming in labored pants. Her fingertips began to bleed against the jagged edges of the crack. She poured all of her focus into moving just one leg. She couldn't afford to be crippled. Not tonight.

Clara gave one last shout and finally the leg moved. She trembled with exertion, shakily rising to a kneel. She turned and reached above her to the window, scrabbling for the cool metal of a bar to support herself.

Her bloodied fingertips brushed the frigid material and latched on for dear life. She hauled herself up with all the strength she had left and leaned heavily against the wall for support. She scoffed to herself, cynically enjoying her small victory.

"Rusty?" she breathed, "What's taking so long?"

"I CANNOT INFILTRATE THE DALEK SECURITY." his voice sounded as remorseful as possible for a Dalek.

"What do you mean you can't get in?" Clara asked, knitting her eyebrows together. This was definitely going to be hitch in the plan. Possibly a fatal one. "You are a Dalek!"

"I AM NO LONGER IN THE SYSTEM."

Clara groaned in frustration. She did not want to do what she knew must be done. "Rusty?"

"IT IS FUTILE," he negated.

"Rusty. Listen to me." she stared straight through the Dalek's soul. Determined. "We are mentally bonded. I need you to search my mind."

The Dalek somehow looked surprised despite his suit of metal. He abandoned his tinkering with the panel and his eyestalk whirled around to face her.

"WHY?" the twin lights on his head lighting up in question.

"Because," she hesitated, taking in a deep breath to level herself. "Because I've been a Dalek before."

"IMPOSSIBLE. THE CONVERSION PROCESS IS IRREVERSIBLE. YOU ARE STILL A HUMAN."

"I know. It's a long story. My memories of it are locked up, so you're going to have to go in and find them."

Rusty did not look convinced.

Clara sighed, thinking back to a conversation she'd had with the Doctor so long ago when he was still in his previous incarnation. Back when she was the one riddle he couldn't solve. One day, he had accidentally let some details slip in a frustrated rage. He had spoken of a girl named Oswin Oswald, and a governess named Clara Oswin Oswald. Apparently they were her, one and the same. He had called them "echoes."

She didn't remember much, but she did know this. "Look," Clara sighed, "all I know is that I have been a Dalek before and that I was able to hack into the Dalek hive mind. Please," she gripped the bars tighter. "It's the only way."

Without warning, the Dalek pushed his way through her mind. Air blasted out of Clara's lungs as if she had been punched. She coughed forcefully and suddenly something broke. She stumbled backwards, nearly losing her footing. Her pupils blew wide in shock, hundreds of thousands of images of herself flashing before her eyes.

No. Not herself. Not quite. Images of a Victorian barmaid turned governess flitted past her gaze, a girl identical to herself wearing a pretty red dress, trapped in a Dalek. As a Dalek. Another girl, lost in a park, watching a yellow car from the 1930's race by.

And suddenly there was the Doctor. All of him. She saw herself chasing after him through a field, another vision of herself running down a corridor, watching helplessly as the Doctor dangled from an icy cliff by nothing more than a question-marked umbrella.

And then she saw herself dying. Over and over again. Thousands of times. Only to be reborn time and time again to a new set of parents, a new time. Victorian Age here, Stone Age there, deep into the future, and sometimes not even on Earth.

And then she saw herself. The real her. Answering the door to a very eager Doctor clad in monk robes. This was the real her, wasn't it? She saw herself jumping into the glowing scar that was his timeline and exploding into a million pieces. A million lives. Lives she had been blinded to- until now. For her own good.

Her legs gave out beneath her. She clambered to the floor in a heap, not even registering the way her bones knocked painfully against the coarse surface. She curled into a fetal position, tears streaming from her eyes. The girl who died a million times over and lived to tell the tale. The Impossible Girl. And all for one man. The Doctor.

Every death flashed through her mind. She felt every one of their last moments- the moments their hearts stopped beating and the breath left their lungs, over and over in every combination possible. She might have screamed. She wasn't sure. Her body felt like it wasn't hers anymore.

Rusty's affirmation that he now knew what to do fell on deaf ears. Clara suddenly felt like she was dying all over again. Darkness slowly faded the images, and soon reality itself, to black. And there was silence.

...

White. White light. That was the first thing Clara's mind registered. It stabbed through her pupils, seemingly in spite of her closed eyelids. She attempted to bring a hand up to shield her eyes but found she couldn't move. Was she paralyzed again? Something icy squeezed into her skin like a vice.

"Rusty?" she asked tentatively, worry creeping into her voice.

No answer.

It was cold. Far colder than her cell typically was. And smoother. The air smelled cleaner- more metallic. Something whirred and she suddenly felt as if she were being watched.

"SHE IS AWAKE."

Clara shot her eyes open. A Dalek stared back.

Clara screamed and jerked against her restraints. She looked down and to her horror found that she had been strapped to a large surgical table. The blinding white light came from a massive overhead surgical lamp. She squinted against it and made out the forms of at least six or seven Daleks.

Her heart pounded in her chest. She definitely wasn't in her cell anymore. No! No, it was too soon! It wasn't even dawn yet! She fought with all her might, thrashing against the restraints, and the Daleks around her began barking orders to one another.

A heart monitor beeped loudly overhead and next to it laid a stand holding several IV bags and a table containing an assortment of tools. Some she recognized. Scalpels. Scissors.

Bonesaws.

An empty Dalek case waited in the far corner of the room.

'Jomos!' she shouted in her mind. 'Jomos, wake up!'

Two of the Daleks disappeared into another room and emerged carrying a large syringe and a vial.

'Jomos!'

'Miss Clara? What happened? What is the matter?' the Ood answered, concern lacing his voice.

Clara nearly cried in relief. The two Daleks inched closer and she knew she was running out of time. 'Jomos! Thank God! Listen, the plan is go! Tell Malonyo the Silurian when he comes to suit up that the plan is go! Establish a link with him and with anyone else he mentions as being part of his group. He knows what to do.'

'What about you, Clara? Please tell me what is wrong.' he asked, understandably worried at the panic in her tone.

'It's too late for me. They're about to convert me into a Dalek.'

Jomos fell silent, suddenly unable to produce any words.

'Save yourselves.' she choked out, the Dalek beside her took the syringe and vial from the others and stabbed the long needle into the liquid within. A sedative, most likely.

Dawn surfaced and the morning wake-up klaxon reverberated across the camp. Everywhere else, hundreds of prisoners were escorted from their cells and routed to Jomos to be suited up for their shifts. Clara could hear them marching.

The Dalek shook the bubbles from the syringe and squirted out a small amount of the fluid as a test. Satisfied, it positioned the tip above Clara's outstretched forearm. It was then that Clara noticed that all the Daleks had switched out their plunger appendages for claw-like ones- to grip the tools that would slice her body apart and stitch it back together as a horrible monster.

Her heart pounded erratically in her chest, the heart monitor speeding up in tune. "No." she begged, a tear slipping from her eyes and pooling on the cool metal. "Please."

"YOU ARE CLARA OSWALD," the Dalek to her right barked. "YOU ARE A GENIUS. YOU KNOW THE DOCTOR'S SECRETS. YOU ARE MORE USEFUL TO US AS A DALEK THAN DEAD. DO NOT RESIST."

The needle lowered. The other Daleks each grabbed a tool. One readied a scalpel. Another parted her hospital gown to reveal an expanse of delicate skin. The tears became a river, wetting her hair and the table beneath her shoulder blades.

She noticed that she was clean. They had cleaned her body. She didn't know how, she didn't want to think about that, but she was grateful to gaze upon her milky skin once again, free of dirt and dried blood.

She held a hand up as best she could against the restraints and studied it. One last time. In just a few short hours, she would be reduced to nothing more than a brain imprisoned inside a foreign body, with no memory of what it ever meant to be free.

Turned into a killing machine. Again.

The Daleks positioned the light and the needle dove beneath her skin. Clara squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the darkness of unconscious to set her free from this hell.

'Clara?' Jomos asked.

Clara gazed at him in her mind's eye, unable to speak.

'Take my hand,' he whispered, extending a very alien hand in her direction. At this moment, Clara couldn't have been offered a more valuable gift in the entire world.

She gripped the hand for dear life. 'Thank you,' she sobbed quietly.

'Goodbye, Jomos.'

He smiled kindly, the beginnings of tears shining in his eyes. Two emotions at once, as if he were happy and sad at the same time. Clara smiled back with the memory of the Doctor teasing her for that very look. Jomos squeezed her hand.

'Goodbye, Clara.'

Clara steeled herself. She was going to be brave. She had saved the Doctor as a Dalek before, and she sure as hell was going to do it again.

And then nothing. The world came to a halt. The needle withdrew from her skin, but she never felt the sedative push through her veins. A klaxon rang out and the room was bathed in red. Clara shot her eyes open to find the Daleks paused above her, almost as if they were listening to a message she could not hear. They all shared glances and returned their tools to the tray.

"DALEK CAMP KASTORIUS IS UNDER ATTACK. WE MUST ASSIST." the leader announced, indicating for the others to secure the room and their patient.

"WHAT ABOUT THE HUMAN?" asked the one with the needle. It almost looked disappointed.

"LEAVE HER. WE MUST POSTPONE THE CONVERSION."

'Clara, what is happening?' Jomos asked, confused.

'I...' Clara choked out in disbelief. 'I think they're leaving.'

The surgical light flickered out. The Daleks checked her restraints and left the room in a hurry, locking the door behind them. Clara released a breath she didn't know she was holding and cried out in relief.

She laughed. Without a chance to stop it, the floodgates burst their dams and suddenly she was a giggling mess, absolutely giddy for this small amount of bought time. And because the plan was working. Hope flooded through her veins with the idea that she just might escape this fate worse than death.

Clara knew it was only a matter of time until she would be free. All she had to do now was wait. The empty Dalek shell in the far corner had its eyestalk pointed straight at her, staring through her with glassy, dead eyes. And in that moment, Clara found that it didn't scare her anymore.

She relaxed, finding stillness to be less painful against the thick Dalekanium bands around her neck and limbs. She listened to the metronome of her heartbeat through the speakers of the monitor. She heard the distinctive thunder of engines in the distance and knew that the Daleks were gone. She could still hear the rumbling of drills deep beneath her- the Daleks must have left the Zygons in charge of the mining today. Perfect.

'Clara?' Jomos's gentle presence flared to life in her mind once again. 'Malonyo and his men are positioned strategically around the mine. They await your orders. Are you alright?'

Clara smiled. 'I'm fine,' she affirmed. 'They've postponed the conversion. Wait for my command. Something big is about to go down and this must be done with absolute precision.'

'Yes ma'am.'

...

Deep in the core of the asteroid stood Malonyo, inconspicuously drilling into the rock as he did every day. Like everyone else. But today was not just another day, and he was definitely not just anyone else. Today was the day he would either escape this hell or die trying, and he wouldn't miss it for the world.

He had watched the Daleks leave following the sound of a klaxon and knew the first gear in their grand operation had been turned. Jomos had relayed Clara's orders to wait and be ready.

He cast a glance to his handpicked crew of other slaves, never sparing more than just a knowing tilt of the head, for the Zygons were always watching. He scanned the room for said creatures with deep-set reptilian eyes. There seemed to be more Zygons here now- to make up for the absence of Daleks, he assumed.

He checked his drill, a lethal weapon at the flick of a switch, making sure it was primed. The other members of his group took notice and did the same.

More Zygons poured into the room, dotting the perimeter, as ugly and menacing as ever. Malonyo smiled to himself. Good. Let them come. The more here, the more he could kill in one fell swoop.

...

The Daleks formed themselves into the ultimate killing machines by removing every emotion except hate, and Rusty was no exception. Hot seething rage boiled through his blood like no Dalek had ever experienced before. The Doctor had shown him the truth. The truth about the Daleks. And if there was another thing the Daleks had removed, it was the capacity to forgive.

The distress signal was delivered without a hitch. Camp Kastorius was a significant distance from their location- outside of communication range save for emergency signals. He monitored their progress. As expected, they'd taken all of the Dalek ships at the dock- save one, which was down for repairs. Just as Clara had planned.

The Daleks passed out of hive communication range and Rusty knew there wasn't a second to lose.

A second klaxon rang out. The sound of freedom.

...

A shriek of rusty metal filled Clara's ears, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

The thick metal bands binding her to the operating table shook in defiance, eventually bursting apart one by one, as if wrenched apart by an unseen hand. The Dalek laser drones and security cameras, which had been watching her from the far corner of the ceiling, dimmed for a moment before deactivating completely. Clara grinned widely, rubbing her hands to restore circulation to them. She wasted no time in yanking out the IV leads and leaping off the table, retying her hospital gown.

There was a loud hiss and suddenly her heavy collar snapped open, falling to the ground with a metallic clang. Clara coughed with the shock of suddenly being able to stand up straight. It was definitely too early in the plan to celebrate, but at this moment she couldn't care less. Without the collars, the prisoners were now free to roam about the Camp without the fear of being disintegrated.

The lock to the conversion suite shrieked and blew the doors wide open. Clara grinned and bolted out as fast as she could, desperate to get out of that horrible place. The corridor beyond was long, narrow, and completely bare save for the doors of several more identical suites. She had to get back to Rusty to finish the plan. Not knowing which way to go, she sprinted barefoot towards the nearest exit, barely suppressing the giddy laughter which threatened to escape her lips.

...

The Zygons only had seconds to react to this new klaxon before all hell broke loose. They looked to each other, widening their eyes in alarm. The Dalek controls had been overridden. The prisoners were escaping. They barked orders to one another and made their ways to the elevators in a panic.

Malonyo smiled. They had effectively cornered themselves. His men were in place and ready. He twisted the dial on his drill.

"Hey, ugly!" he shouted, pointing to Zygon 626, the one who had ratted Xio out a few months before.

The Zygon in question raised its head, its momentary surprise quickly replaced with anger. It turned to face the offending voice with a snarl, juices dripping from its appalling lips.

"Yeah, you!" Malonyo taunted, all eyes now on him.

"What is the meaning of this mutiny? Speak, Silurian!" the Zygon growled.

"The meaning?" Malonyo shouted, rage contorting his face into a fearsome scowl, his eyes narrowing to slits, his nostrils flared. "I'll give you a meaning!" He shouldered the makeshift gun and did not think twice.

"This is for Xio!"

Light filled his vision. The Zygon disappeared. Pulverized into nothing. Tiny flecks of dust and ash danced in the air where the Zygon once stood.

There was a half-second of baited silence. The Zygons stared at the new legion of armed inmates in a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

And, more satisfyingly, fear.

"Attack, men!" Malonyo roared. "For vengeance! For freedom! Attack!"

The prisoners charged. The room lit up in a blaze of light and energy, the smell of burning flesh filling the air. The shrill ring of the lasers and the crackle of electricity from the Zygons' fingers obliterated the silence.

Prisoners dropped quivering to the ground left and right, fried. Their armored metal mine suits conducted the electricity- effectively cooking them within. But it was nothing compared to the sheer amount of smoke and Zygon ashes filling the air.

...

Clara sprinted down the maze of corridors with ease, visualizing the map she had created over the past few months in her mind. Faint screams and the rumble of drills broke the clean silence, and Clara knew that it was only a matter of time before their element of surprise wore out.

Doors and signs flew by, ignored. Clara knew what she was looking for. A large sign appeared in her vision, marking a now-unlocked room.

"ROOM 1368: ARMORY," it read.

Clara smiled broadly, not even feeling the sting of exhaustion from her weakened muscles.

"Perfect."

...

Electricity arced through the air, shattering the silence with its menacing crackle. The smell of burnt flesh permeated the air like a thick haze.

Malonyo dove behind a stalagmite, panting heavily. Blue shocks of Zygon energy snaked through the air to his left and right. Smoke and ash gathered thickly in the enclosed space, obscuring nearly everything from view, but the gurgled sounds of agony and sizzling flesh told him all he needed to know.

They were losing. Badly.

Worry pressed into his mind. At first, victory seemed easily within their grasp, but the Silurian quickly realized that his ragtag militia of starved slaves was no match for the military training of the healthy Zygons.

"Fall back!" he shouted into the fray. "Seek cover behind the rocks, you fools!"

He took a moment to fire off a couple of shots before retreating back to his cover. The laser light revealed just enough to confirm that he had hit his mark, but he knew that that one Zygon had now been replaced by two others.

"Oh, Clara, where are you?" he begged the air.

The Silurian sucked in a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and jumped into the fray. He screamed and fired like a madman, dodging volleys of azure lightning.

A door opened with a shriek. Light flooded into the darkened caves from a hidden entrance. Suddenly the lightning redirected itself to a new target. There was a familiar sound, and for the first time, the Zygons sought cover.

"What's the matter, sucker-faces? Can't handle us anymore?" Malonyo taunted, his booming voice echoing through the caverns.

Then there was another sound. One too familiar to ignore- one that made his

blood run cold.

"EXTERMINATE."

Reptilian eyes widened in honest fear. The Daleks had returned.

This was it. Their makeshift mining-lasers-turned-weapons were no match against Dalekanium armor. Malonyo forced himself to move, diving behind a large boulder, still and silent as the rock.

Agonized shouts filled the air, but only those of Zygons. 'Why would the Daleks kill their own police?' he mused. Baffled, he chanced a glimpse over the rock.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" Rusty screamed, doing what Daleks do best- killing every enemy in his path. Dalek laser light shot through the darkness like flares. Zygon energy danced across Rusty's frame uselessly. The cacophony of the battle quickly became deafening.

It was all over in a moment.

Silence fell over the bloody cavern. Nothing living betrayed its position with sound nor movement. The dust began to settle. The smoke found its way out through heat vents. All eyes trained onto the lone Dalek in the room. Blackened with soot, but otherwise unscathed. Searching for enemies.

A door hissed open. A familiar ding! mocked the tension with its cheerfulness. Warm yellow light bathed the dimly lit caves, obstructed only by a silhouette.

Clara Oswald stepped from the elevator and onto the ore-studded ground, raising a single fist in the air.

Rusty acknowledged his leader. "WE HAVE VICTORY!" he reported dutifully, like a good soldier.

"Victory!" Clara shouted, her joyful words echoing to each and every slave. She turned the speakers of her mine suit to full blast. Everybody must hear the good news. "Victory!"

Malonyo dove out from behind the boulder, fearless. A wide toothy grin split his soot-covered face. "Victory!" He shouted to nobody in particular, and not caring.

Jubilant shouting swelled the air with the sound of freedom. The newly-freed slaves emerged from hiding and stepped toward the light.

"Clara!" Malonyo called, laughter lacing the deep rasp of his voice. He took off in a sprint towards his new savior. "It worked, Clara!"

He arrived to her side, panting. "It worked. It worked. We're free!"

Clara smiled, but set a hard gaze. She looked out to the crowd now gathered around her. "We are free," she confirmed, earning deafening shouts of approval. She held her hand out and immediately the room fell silent. "But," she enunciated clearly, "we still have work to do."

"Everybody!" she continued. "There is a Dalek ship left abandoned in the Repair Bay. That's our ticket out of here. I need you all to form factions." She held out a hand and began counting off with her fingers. "One to get the ship spaceworthy, one to gather provisions and medical supplies, and one to gather the injured and the dead. You have your orders. Go!"

"Bossy, aren't ya?" Malonyo smirked playfully.

Clara pointed at him. "You. I have a specific job for you."

"Anything, Miss Clara. You name it."

She couldn't hold back a grin. Loyalty such as this is rare. She had chosen her team well. "Rusty estimates we have approximately six hours before the Daleks realize the deception and return here. We may escape, but as long as this camp exists, prisoners will fill it. You're an experienced miner here, yeah?"

The Silurian nodded, slowly realizing what she was about to ask of him.

"I need you to destabilize this asteroid. This place must be destroyed, got that?" She said without a trace of indecisiveness.

Malonyo grinned, shouldering his mining laser proudly. "I'd be honored. I can rig it to destabilize at a rate slow enough to give us a few hours to get the hell out of here."

Clara nodded. "Do it."

Malonyo began to start back into the caves before stopping and turning around with a wry look on his face. "By the way, when we're you going to tell me we had a freakin' Dalek on our side?"

Clara looked to Rusty, now giving directions and instructions to the different factions. He disappeared into one of the elevators to join the repair team- side by side with creatures of all species and races in perfect peace. "Oh, Rusty?" she smiled. "He's an old friend."

Malonyo still had questions, but decided against them. He nodded and took off into the depths of the caves.

...

There it was. The center.

A soft orange light bathed the small antechamber in its glow. Bubbling lazily, a great mass of Dalekanium magma pulsed with warmth- the heartbeat of the asteroid.

Malonyo activated his drill. It hummed to life, vibrating its modified parts with an excess of energy. Nobody knew about this room except for him. Not even the Daleks. Being part of the Silurian race, which have lived beneath the Earth's surface for millions of years, he could practically smell out a hidden chamber a mile away.

Without any further hesitation, he went to work. The sharp beam of the laser contrasted the gentle orange light until it was completely drowned out.

Nothing seemed to happen until the entire asteroid gave an abrupt shudder. Malonyo was knocked off his feet with its violence, barely missing the searing magma. He swore under his breath slightly, hoping that the earthquake had not harmed those above.

Malonyo regained his footing, grateful for the heat-resistant qualities of his mine suit. He changed his target to a paler part of the fiery ore, successfully boring though it and the solid rock beneath with only minor tremors. He operated by feel, observing the changes in frequency and intensity of each quake with an experienced eye.

After about twenty minutes of consistent drilling, the end appeared in sight. Only a few more meters and the asteroid would go into a slow but irreversible destabilization, giving them about ten hours, by his estimate.

"Almost there." He muttered to himself. Sweat beaded between his scales with exertion. "Almost there," he grunted out.

"Malonyo Scaye, I am sorry, but I am afraid that I cannot allow you to proceed."

Suddenly, Malonyo's entire body seized. Every single muscle contracted painfully, holding him completely still. Through no volition of his own, his arms jerked up, pointing the still-firing laser to the wall and away from the core. Intense pain ripped through his frame. He tried to cry out, but he could not draw breath to scream.

Jomos the Ood stepped into his vision, the orb in his hand glowing brightly.

'You bastard!'

"I am sorry that I have to do this, but I cannot allow you to destroy this asteroid. This place is my home, and the Daleks are my family." The Ood explained with false remorse. "They are on their way back now. I estimate fifteen minutes until their return," he mentioned casually.

'You're delusional, you dense cone-head! We trusted you!' Malonyo snapped in his mind. Pure fury blazed though his system. He could feel the overpowering presence of the Ood controlling his every nerve.

"You see, I have an arrangement with the Daleks," Jomos explained. "I read minds and alert them to signs of mutiny, and in return they spare my life, feed me, and give me easy tasks."

Rage burned through the Silurian from the inside out. 'So that's how the Zygons know who to spy on! That's why all the plans fail! Every single time, something has always gone wrong, and it's you!'

"Correct," Jomos answered coolly.

Malonyo's eyes widened with the realization that the Ood was reading his every thought. He blocked him out as best he could and struggled for his life, ordering his damned muscles to move.

"Sorry about Xio." Jomos apologized but without any real regret. As if it were nothing.

That was it. The last straw.

Something broke inside the Silurian. He jerked and wrestled the Ood for control of his mind, catching Jomos by surprise. He began winning ground. Fingers here, toes there, his diaphragm. He gasped for air hungrily and poured all of his concentration into his arms. He succeeded in moving them a couple inches, now causing the laser to burn through a different section of wall. Slowly, he raised the laser to the direction of the Ood.

Jomos's orb glowed brighter. Malonyo's arms betrayed him. The laser now pointed straight up, scarring the ceiling, causing a cascade of small stalactites to rain down upon them. The beam inched closer and closer, more inward.

To his horror, Malonyo realized the laser would be pointing at his face in a matter of seconds. Adrenaline pumped through his system, and with a mighty shout, he managed to shift his aim a few inches to the side. The laser burned through his suit and deep into his shoulder, permeating the air with the sound and smell of burning flesh. His bloodcurdling scream echoed mockingly though the cavern- nobody to hear it save himself and his murderer.

Or so he thought.

"Let him go!" Clara snapped, pure anger wracking her entire frame. She gripped the gun tighter in her hands, her finger on the trigger.

Jomos shot his head up, causing him to momentarily lose his grip on Malonyo's body. The laser clattered from his hands and slid across the room.

"Clara! How did you find out? How did you find me?" Jomos asked, frustration lacing his voice.

"Telepathy works both ways, pal." she growled, golden light flashing beneath her pupils. "I said let him go! I will kill you, Jomos, I swear!"

"And why would I do that, Miss Clara?"

"Because I'm the one holding a gun to your face. He's incapacitated. You can only control one person at a time. I think we all know the logical choice here."

The Ood mulled it over before a confident look crossed his features. "You will not kill me. I can see it in your mind. You could never kill another sentient being."

"You don't know that! I don't know that!" she snarled, his dismissal of her threat only fueling her rage. "Why, Jomos? Why did you do it? I trusted you! The Daleks killed your family, don't you remember?!"

"The Daleks are my family now. And this is my home. I apologize for having to revert to more dramatic measures, but my initial warning to the Daleks was intercepted this morning. I did not mean for it to go this far," he answered calmly.

"Fight me, you coward! Release the Silurian!"

Jomos suddenly released his grip on Malonyo. He collapsed to the ground, shivering in searing pain.

"As you wish," the Ood answered.

Clara felt herself tense up. Every single muscle paralyzed. The shooting pain of hundreds of muscle cramps shot through her system. Clearly she had underestimated the true power of her opponent. She fought with everything she had.

Clara knew she only had about two minutes before she would pass out from lack of oxygen. Stars exploded in her eyes. She erected blockades and ripped at the forced mind link with all her might, winning some ground and landing some blows.

But it wasn't enough.

The link only tightened, slowly suffocating her to death. As she began to run out of time, so did her energy. Her mind began to black out. Everything seemed duller. Farther away. The lack of oxygen in her brain began to get the best of her, and she felt her muscles trying to go limp.

There was a sound like thunder. Bright light overwhelmed her vision. Suddenly she could breathe again.

She crumpled to the hard ground, every nerve on fire. She gulped down huge breaths of air. Slowly, her sight returned.

Jomos the Ood swayed on his feet, twitching uncontrollably. A giant cauterized hole sizzled at the edges of what was left of his skull. The orb dropped from his hands and shattered into a thousand pieces. A sudden spasm knocked his body back into a small rock. His feet tripped, and that was all it took to send his prone body deep into the pit of boiling magma, giving one final kick before disappearing without a trace. Clara fought a sudden rise of nausea and looked up to see Malonyo, half propped up by his good arm, holding the smoking drill.

"You..." she panted out in disbelief.

"Yes I did," he groaned, biting back against unrelenting waves of agony.

She swallowed hard. "Right," she gasped out in relief but also in sadness.

"Clara, we only have ten minutes. He warned the Daleks and they're coming back." Malonyo grated out, trying feebly to stand.

She shook herself. This was no time for emotions. "I know. I heard. We have to go."

She ran towards him and pulled on his good arm with a strength she didn't know she possessed. "Come on, let's go."

"Clara, leave me behind. I have to destroy this damned asteroid." He sputtered out weakly, blood dribbling from his lips.

"No! I will not leave you behind! It's too late anyway!" Clara hooked her arms beneath his and raised him fully to a standing position. She wrapped his good arm around her shoulders for support. "On your feet, solider! March!"

Together they made their way out as quickly as they could. Clara managed to find an intercom and send out the message for everyone to get to the ship immediately.

They found their way to the surface, trekked back to the camp across the rocky expanse, and shed their bulky mine suits. The faint sounds of approaching Dalek ships began to echo through the corridors.

Malonyo fought with all his strength to stay conscious. He would be no use as dead weight. Or dead, for that matter. Blood dripped from areas in the deep wound which had not cauterized successfully. His vision swam; he could barely feel Clara's arms supporting him anymore.

"Clara, please. Please just leave me here. I'm slowing you down. Save yourself." He begged, resigned to his fate.

"No!" Clara refused. "You do not have my permission to die, got that?" She pointed around the corner to where a crowd of fellow slaves had gathered. "Look. That's the Repair Bay. The last of the prisoners are boarding. We're almost there. I need you to fight for me, Malonyo. I can't lose two friends in one day."

The Silurian nodded once before finally succumbing to his injuries. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body fell limp. Unconscious. Clara dragged the heavy reptilian man for a while before a group of inmates from the Medical Faction took him off her hands and rushed him towards the ship. "Make sure he receives medical attention right away!" she shouted after them.

The rumble marking the arrival of Dalek ships shook the camp and its inhabitants to the very core. The last one to board, Clara dove into the dilapidated Dalek ship and sealed the doors. She looked around for a moment, taking a rough head-count. Everyone appeared to be accounted for.

All but one.

A crippling sense of dread pooled in Clara's stomach. Her face paled. "Where's Rusty?" she whispered.

'CLARA OSWALD,' Rusty grated out across the mind link they shared. 'YOU KNOW WHAT I MUST DO.'

"...No..." Clara gasped, bolting to the closest window.

Rusty appeared in view, apparently hacking into a control panel outside. The Repair Bay doors roared and lurched open, revealing the vast expanse of space beyond.

"No! Rusty!" she yelled. She dove to the bulkhead doors of the ship, only to be caught and held back by fellow prisoners. "No! Let me go! We can't leave him behind!"

'ONLY A DALEK CAN EXTERMINATE A DALEK.'

'That's not true, Rusty! That's not true!' she cried, but deep down, she knew what he meant. Clara fought the grip of her associates with all the strength she had left. She knew that he was right, that the other prisoners were right.

No.

Tears began to slip from her eyes. She kicked against her captors knowing it was useless. She couldn't give him up. Not now. 'Rusty, please!' she pleaded.

The ship shuddered to life. Its tethers released and the engines hummed with power. Clara begged for the pilots to stop, to wait, knowing that it was wrong.

'GOODBYE, CLARA OSWALD. AND THANK YOU. YOU HAVE GIVEN ME MY REVENGE.'

Clara fell limp, exhausted physically and emotionally. She put a hand to the window, watching the Good Dalek become farther and farther away. 'Goodbye, Rusty,' she choked out. 'My friend. …My friend. Thank you.'

Legions of Daleks poured into the hallway they had occupied moments before, screaming and readying their aim before suddenly stopping in their tracks as if by unheard orders.

Rusty hacked into the Dalek mainframe with no emotion save for the strongest hatred ever to burn in a Dalek. It shot through his veins, hot and reckless as wildfire. A final order. To self-destruct.

The defective ship maneuvered out through the open airlocks, powering up and vanishing into the expanse of space like a bat out of hell.

Every single Dalek stared though his soul and roared in his mind- powerless to stop their fate. Rusty took one last step towards the enemy, fearless, as a Dalek should be.

"EXTERMINATE!"

From the view of the renegade ship, a small explosion lit up the entrance of the bay doors. "Rusty!" Clara cried, feeling the mind link they shared shatter into dust. There was a second's pause followed by a cascade of hundreds of explosions which rocked the entire asteroid.

Clara's eyes widened with a sudden realization. She ran as fast as she could to the pilots, momentarily swallowing her grief. "Full power! Get us out of here!" she barked, "That asteroid is gonna blow!"

A tremendous BOOM shook the entire ship. The simultaneous self-destruction of hundreds of Daleks at once had pushed the asteroid over the brink into critical destabilization. Clara ran to the windows, her vision filled with the sight of a huge fireball heading straight into their direction.

"Go! Go! Go! Get us out of here!" she screamed, the heat of it beginning to lick at the ship.

"We don't have full power!" one of the pilots exclaimed, panic in his eyes and voice. "The engines-"

Fire engulfed the ship. Debris from the exploded asteroid pelted the hull like missiles. There was a great flash of light.

And suddenly.

Nothing.

A/N: Sorry for the wait! College is tough lol. Don't worry, things will be much smoother for a while now. Fluff coming soon. The next chapter will be much shorter and I've got it all planned out, so hopefully I can get that one out before the spring semester starts.

Thanks for reading, and as always, REVIEW! (please I beg you lol)