“Ten years ago,” began Taxona, “we Ice Warriors joined in a mutual interests compact with Queen Hino’s people, the Aresians.”
“And it was the best decision our people made,” said Rei. “Ice Warrior and Aresian were both on friendly terms, so Taxona and I decided we wanted to develop time-travel capable vehicles.”
“They reached out to me as I was the expert in time travel law in our time as Sailor Guardians,” explained Pluto. “I offered them some basic guidelines and they drafted a set of time travel laws for themselves. They hadn’t made them public yet until they constructed their time-ship, the Olympus Mons.”
“I think I saw it when it was being decommissioned,” remarked the Doctor. “Nice to see it in its heyday.”
“That ship,” said Taxona proudly, “is the result of five years of pure, top-secret research at the Deimos Temporal Research Station. I’m sure you can guess where it’s located from the name alone. Because this is a relatively new science for us, we had to get scientists from all sorts of fields related to temporal mechanics.”
“The Plutonians were very helpful in that regard,” said Rei. “…But…”
“This is where this disaster happened?” guessed the Doctor.
“After a successful test run three months ago,” explained Rei, “the scientists vanished. Ten days later, they were discovered outside Argyre Planitia, a plain in the southern highlands of Mars. …Or rather, their corpses were.”
“You can imagine the outcry,” remarked Setsuna. “The people across the solar system were ready for war. The two Martian Races were ready to kill each other.”
“But Rei and I wouldn’t hear of it,” said Taxona. “We instead called for a conference to figure out the culprit.”
“And I suggested,” continued Setsuna, “that perhaps an agreement can be reached on the limitation of time travel until this matter is resolved.”
“Protecting your mystique?” guessed the Doctor, snark in her voice.
“I may have my personal agenda in this,” admitted Setsuna, “but there’s a greater agenda that I share with everyone here, and that’s to discover the truth. Who could have done this? Who would risk the wrath of the solar system, with Mars being the most dangerous to provoke?”
“That rather depends on the guilty party being here at all,” remarked Rei.
“At the very least,” said Taxona, “if the guilty party isn’t here, we can assure one another that we wouldn’t dream of harming our people.”
“That’s always a good idea,” said the Doctor.
As the Doctor spoke, William wandered the palace. “Excuse me, sir?” called a voice. William turned to see a blonde woman in a white dress with her hair styled like Usagi II’s, but her hair buns were spherical. This was Usagi II’s mother, Usagi Tsukino I, Neo Queen Serenity.
“Y-Your Majesty!” gulped William. “I’m sorry if I-!”
“Oh, no reason to panic,” said Neo Queen Serenity. “I just noticed you seemed a bit…distracted.”
“I was looking for your library,” explained William. “I heard about the crystals around here that slowed down the aging process and locks someone in their prime age, but…well, I’m not exactly from here. This time, I mean.”
“What century are you from?” asked Neo Queen Serenity.
“The 21st. 2025, to be precise.”
“I see. …I don’t exactly know the science behind the crystals. I was a magical girl back in the day and my science grades, hoo boy! They were NOT good! …Come to think of it, I wasn’t a good student anyways. In any case, Ami Mizuno, she’s Mercury’s Queen, she’s in the library. Perhaps she can help…” Neo Queen Serenity trailed off when she saw a guard setting up a machine. “…Guard!” she called. The guard didn’t either didn’t hear her or didn’t care, too focused on his task. “…Guard, what are you doing?” asked Neo Queen Serenity.
“The time-space induction channel is ready to open, Controller, Master,” said the guard.
“Guard, who are you talking to?” asked Neo Queen Serenity.
“I think he’s on a call, judging by his earbuds,” remarked William. At that moment, King Endymion arrived with Rassilon and Amy.
“Usako!” called Endymion.
“William, there you are!” said Amy. “We looked everywhere for you.”
“Sorry,” replied William. “I was looking for the library, then her Majesty found me and was gonna take me there, but then this guard started acting weird.” He pointed out the guard. “He said something about a…what did he say…ah, yes, time-space induction channel.”
“Time-space…? The common name for it is a time corridor,” explained Rassilon. She looked at the device. “…It’s not Dalek technology. Odd really, given that time corridors are their preferred method of time travel.”
“Maybe it’s connected to his earbuds?” suggested Neo Queen Serenity. “He did report that it was ready to someone. Some sort of Controller and Master, I think.” Rassilon examined the earbuds and gasped.
“GET BACK! THOSE ARE CYBER-EARBUDS!” she warned.
“Rassilon, what’s got you panicked?” asked William as everyone backed away. The machine the guard set up then projected a square energy tunnel on the nearby wall. William’s answer came as the sound of metal boots marching in sync with each other heralded the arrival of what looked like silver-armored robots with humanoid features and handles on their heads. One of them had an organic brain in a transparent case on its forehead while the other looked like it had a Time Lord’s collar replacing the handles and black fabric draping down from the shoulder armor to give the illusion of Time Lord robes.
“Cybermen!” whispered Neo Queen Serenity fearfully. King Endymion pressed a nearby button, activating the general address system.
“Emergency! Emergency!” he warned. “Cybermen have breached the palace via a time corridor! Repeat, Cybermen have breached the palace! All guards to my position!”
“Cybermen?!” yelped the Doctor when she heard the announcement. “My friends!”
“Wait, Doctor!” called Taxona as she grabbed the Doctor’s arm.
“…I would advise you to let go of me!” hissed the Doctor.
“His Majesty said that the Cybermen used a time corridor to get in here,” reminded Taxona. “Shutting that thing down isn’t my area of expertise.”
“We’ll send our soldiers to assist,” assured Rei. “We’ll get them out.”
“Doctor, if the Cybermen are using time corridor technology-,” said Setsuna.
“Then they may be the guilty party behind the Deimos Temporal Disaster,” finished the Doctor.
Ice Warriors and Aresian soldiers stormed into the room Neo Queen Serenity and her group were trapped in. The Cybermen didn’t seem to be interested in attacking her and her friends. The soldiers then burst into the room. The Cybermen saw weapons trained on them. “A rescue attempt,” remarked the Cyberman with the transparent cranium.
“As predicted,” replied the Cyberman with the Time Lord collar. “They are unimportant. Leave two percent alive. They will be hostages along with Rassilon and her retinue. They will be used to draw out the Doctor.”
“We will not be hostages!” hissed an Ice Warrior.
“No,” replied the Cyberman with the Time Lord collar. “You, specifically, will be deleted. Eradicate all extraneous life.” The Cybermen activated concealed wrist-mounted blaster and opened fire. The rescuers did the same. One of the rescuers shot the Cyberman with the Time Lord collar in the chest. It collapsed.
“Yes!” said the Aresian that took the shot. Just then, regeneration energy spilled out from the downed Cyberman’s joints.
“Regeneration?!” asked Rassilon. “When did the Cybermen-?!”
“Hang on, I thought only Time Lords like you and the Doctor can do that!” protested William. “Aren’t they robots?!”
“No, they’re emotionless armored cyborgs,” replied Rassilon, “hell-bent on turning everyone into Cybermen!”
“Let me guess, some disaster forced their ancestors to adopt that kind of lifestyle!”
“Well, for some branches, yes!” The Cyberman with the exposed brain then targeted Rassilon. “Oh, Omega’s pants!”
“Stop!” called the Cyberman with the Time Lord collar. “Controller, do not harm her.”
“Explain, CyberMaster,” demanded the Cyberman with the exposed brain, the Cyber-Controller.
“This is Rassilon, the founder of Time Lord Society,” explained the Cyberman with the Time Lord collar, the CyberMaster. “Her temporal expertise is necessary for the eventual evolution of the Cyber Race.”
“I don’t know if you heard,” hissed Rassilon, “but the Doctor exiled me! My original knowledge of time travel law and all the dematerialization codes have been wiped according to the laws set down by my successors!”
“An exile block can be overridden,” replied the CyberMaster. He then pressed a button on the wall communicator. “Doctor, you will heed me.”
The Doctor heard the call and pressed a button on the nearby wall communicator. “I saw from the footage that there’s a CyberMaster as well as a Cyber-Controller,” she said. “You obviously place this time zone very high on your list of priorities.”
“We place you higher, Doctor,” replied the CyberMaster. “You will surrender your segments of the Key to Time as well as the tracer.”
“Okay, what’s going on here?!” demanded the Doctor. “First the Autons, then the Weeping Angels, now you! Who’s leaked that information?!”
“That is irrelevant. Doctor, you will comply or we shall create a temporal disaster worse than what we did at the Deimos Temporal Research Station.”
“So you WERE behind all that! Why risk the wrath of the solar system?!”
“Our time travel ships must have a basis to start. Your knowledge and Rassilon’s will accelerate our evolution.”
“Release my friends and I shall assist! But I won’t have you using the Key to Time for those ends!”
“Terms unacceptable. Doctor, you will capitulate or your friends die.” The Doctor heard a laser blast and a man screaming!
“WILLIAM!” she shouted.
“We’re all right, Doctor!” replied William. “But the CyberMaster! He just…he killed an Ice Warrior! He had already predicted his death!”
“And William’s current death,” warned the CyberMaster, “will cause a paradox. Obey us and we will avoid it.” The Doctor considered her next move.
“…I’ll be there shortly with the segments,” she sighed.
“We await your arrival, Doctor,” replied the CyberMaster.