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The Saucer commander sat on its platform, saucer spinning through black space. Its pilots sat in the trench that surrounded the platform. After a few seconds of the rhythmic pulses, a pilot cried out.
“Commander! We have an incoming transmission!” A black-striped pilot called.
“Accept the transmission.” The commander ordered. On that order, the screen in front of the commander flicked on, displaying the Warrior’s smirking face.
“Come and get me.” He smiled, before turning off his monitor. The commander glared down at the black striped Pilots and commissioned them,
“Follow the signal! The Doctor must be exterminated!”
“I obey!” The pilots chorused, turning to their stations.
“Inputting Navigation sequence.” One spoke.
“Initiating Vortex Drive sequence.” Another informed, pushing up on a lever. The saucer spun faster before vanishing into the Time Vortex.
Meanwhile, The Warrior ran around the console room, never leaving the metal plinth. Sporadically, the console would cough sparks onto the grey floor. The wheeze and groan of the engines sputtered and groaned.
“Come on, just a little longer.” The Warrior coaxed the old machine. The monitor began to flick out a message. ‘Incoming Dalek Saucer. Evacuation Recommended.’ Outside, had there been air, it would have been rended by a deep boom. “Finally.” He smiled.
Aboard the Dalek saucer, the commander turned to the pilots.
“Who else is present?” It asked.
“Records are inconclusive. Scanning for further information.” A pilot called up. Then, the saucer shuddered slightly. “Alert! Incoming fire detected! Engaging Battle Protocol.” On each of the two storeys either side of the saucer’s main ring, four copper-striped Daleks slid into place on their platforms. Those platforms then moved into domed segments, before clicking their manipulator arm into place and sweeping the space around them. Beams of bright blue shot from the cylindrical cannon towards the white ship. Within the ship’s control room, Davros sat in his dome, Kadel soldiers bustling around the control room.
“Continue combat, Kadels.” Davros smiled. “This is but another hurdle for the ultimate Kadel victory!”
The Warrior took a few deep pants as he finally rested his legs.
“Right. That seemed to work.” The Warrior breathed. Then, he received a harrowing notice from the screen. ‘Transmission Intercepted’ On cue, the screen flicked into half. One had the Commander, and the other had Davros.
“You have our creator!” The commander cried, taken aback at the apparent survival of their creator. “You will return him to us!”
“I do not know who you are.” Davros admitted.
“Daleks do not have names.” The Commander pointed out.
“Preliminary scans indicate that you have some genetic similarities to our mutants.” A Kadel chimed in from a computer panel. The commander’s eye tightened and it silently gave the order to signal for backup.
“If we are similar, we can advise on the best way to exterminate.” The Commander informed.
“We have no intent to exterminate.” Davros added. The Commander glared.
“Daleks are meant to be the superior race.”
“As are the Kadels.”
“Superiority can only be brought with the total extermination of other species.”
“Incorrect. Superiority only comes from ruling over all others.” Davros rebutted. The two leaders glared at each other for a short while. The Warrior soon realised that a truce was incoming. He realised there was only one course of action he could take. He walked up to the console, leather boots pressing against the white plinths. He began to methodically press buttons and flip switches. The engines began to wheeze and groan as the box swung itself into both their views.
“It is the Doctor!” One of the gunners yelled, opening fire. The box flew straight away, dodging the beam. It streaked into the white Kadel ship. Aboard the ship, it rocked, sending Kadels sliding around the floor.
“Why did you engage?” Davros enquired, Thals running to arm the guns on the ship.
“We were firing upon a fugitive.” The commander answered. Behind them, saucers flew into position.
“Why have more forces arrived?” Davros asked as alarms blared, signalling that weapons had locked on.
“We presumed you had our inventor.” The commander admitted. “Our protocol says we are to engage.”
“Then you will fall before the might of the Kadel Kingdom!” Davros called, and their ship opened fire. Bolts streaked back and forth the space between them. At that moment, alarms began to blare throughout their ships. War was about to break out. The saucers began to open fire on the other ships. The Kadel’s ship rocked back and forth with blaster fire. Eventually, part of it caught fire and began leaking oxygen.
“Engaging retreat.” One of the Kadels informed, moving the ship towards the Time Hole through which it had arrived. Shortly after, the Time Hole was sealed shut with the excess Temporal Energy.
“Threat has been removed from area.” A gunner informed the command.
“Understood.” The Commander acknowledged. “Where is the Doctor?” It requested.
“Scans indicate that he escaped using the Time Vortex.”
“Alert nearby stations. The Doctor must be exterminated!” The commander ordered. On the controls, the planet Moldox flicked up.
High above Moldox, a blue box folded into reality, sliding effortlessly out of the Time Vortex. It seemed incongruous, here on the outer edges of the Tantalus Spiral, a relic from ancient Earth that had fallen through time and space, only to appear here, its domed light blinking wildly as it returned to corporeal form. If sound had carried in space, its appearance would have been accompanied by a laboured, grating wheeze, but instead, there was only silence. The arrival of this anachronistic object did not, however, go unnoticed, and the appearance of the TARDIS flashed up warning sigils on a thousand Dalek control panels. Dalek saucers stirred into action, gliding through the void to adopt combat formations, lights stuttering as they powered up to full readiness.