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Chapter 3: The Cave

Summary:

The Warrior and the Master land on an alien planet to complete a device that will lead them home

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The Warrior swung the screen, it slowing to a halt. That made the Master somewhat dizzy. He looked back at his console, it’s pale yellow glow taunting him with his uselessness. He hated not being in control.
“Warrior?” The Master asked. The Warrior sighed, lay down the reflective silver thing he was tinkering with, and walked around to the screen. The Master stared at him, eyes like a cat.
“I am the Master. And you will-” He began, before the Warrior turned the screen away, much to the Master’s annoyance. He returned to his tinkering, before the floor juddered. The engines screeched, causing the Warrior to bolt up to the console, and slammed down the grey lever. The engines gave a final wheeze as the TARDISes materialised.

On the grey planet of Gerafyn, a tall blue box singed with age phased into existence, followed shortly after by a silver cylinder with stone grey doors. The doors opened, and the Warrior and the Master stepped outside in synchronisation. Dust swirled around them, seemingly alive.
“Where the devil are we?” The Master asked.
“Why are you asking me? I have no idea.” The Warrior answered truthfully.
“Great.” The Master muttered, running his hand through his white hair. All he could see was rocks in jagged formations.
“I end up in rather a lot of these planets, huh?” The Warrior asked himself.
“What were you working on, anyways?” The Master asked.
“I was working on a cosmic matter detector. It’ll point us in the direction of our universe.” The Warrior answered.
“And let me guess, you need some materials for you to build this deus-ex-machina?” The Master joked. The Warrior glared at him. “Right. Now let’s go into town.” The Master began. “Assuming there is one.” He muttered to himself.

The pair wandered into a cave, coming across a town below the cliff they stood on. Important buildings were carved out of the stone with clearly intricate grace, while the other buildings were carved roughly. Humanoids with ant-like eyes, legs, and mandibles swarmed the town.
“How extraordinary. They’ve evolved.” The Warrior told himself.
“My, my.” The Master muttered.
“Well, let’s see if they have a quantum unit in that town.” The Warrior began, climbing down the wall. The Master scoffed and did the same. Before long, they were attracting strange looks from the ant-people. It was clear that they didn’t fit in. The crowd parted a path to the most intricately carved building visible. The Master went in first.

If the building wasn’t in a stone cave, you’d find it hard to believe it wasn’t made in a factory. Each of the intricate details carved into the walls were made with precision and intent. There wasn’t anything out of place.
“Must be some sort of council chamber.” The Warrior hypothesised. The Master agreed with that, seeing a large room carved out of the rock around them. Inside the room was a throne, carved from a different type of stone. Their Queen sat on it, the same ant-like features as her people, but with a distinct difference. She had an abdomen which trailed behind her.
“Who are you?” She asked, not rising from her chair.
“I am the Warrior, and this is the Master. We need your help.” The Warrior introduced.
“Speak.” The Queen commanded.
“We are trying to build something, and we need a quantum unit.” The Warrior explained, much to the Master’s annoyance. The Warrior was the one who was building it, and The Master wanted to say something. To finally take control over events.
“Why did you come here?”
“Truthfully, we didn’t willingly come here.” The Master admitted. “His ship crashed, and I crashed with him.” The Warrior glared at the Master, annoyed. “In order for us to return to the stars, we need a quantum unit.”
“I admire your truthfulness.” The queen admitted. “You crashed on the wrong planet. I shall see what I can do, but you may be trapped here until our next delivery.”
“Delivery?” The Warrior asked. “Who’s delivering out here?” The Warrior continued, wanting to get as much information as possible.
“The king of the universe, of course.” The pair looked at each other.
“And who, pray tell, is that?” The Master asked, curious yet cautious.
“Davros. The king of the Kadels.” The pair looked mortified. Davros was in charge of the Kadels. As if on cue, a sound like a jet engine flew overhead, causing a light tremor to bounce through the ground.

A few kilometres away, and a panel fell open from the transport saucer. Pair after pair of Kaled soldiers marched out, the white plating covering their gunmetal jumpsuit. They looked out at the world through greyed visors attached to their white helmets. Several carried crates, while a pair at the front and back carried rifles that matched their jumpsuits.

“We can’t be here.” The Master muttered to the Warrior. The pair had gone deeper inside the building.
“Well, we can’t exactly leave, can we?” The Warrior whispered back. “If we dematerialise, then who knows where we’ll end up? We just need to stay out of sight, and we’ll be okay.”
“Because I imagine if we don’t, we’ll be ex-e-cuted” The Master added, the last word a mockery of the Kadel’s voices.
“Stop being so pessimistic.” The Warrior dryly spoke.
“I’m not a pessimist, I’m a realist.” The Master defended.
The sound of plastic on stone echoed throughout the cave as the Kaleds entered, carrying the crates into the intricately carved building for the Queen to divide out amongst her people. And, although unknowingly, a pair of enemies of the King of the Universe himself.