As Tysar and her group ran through the corridors, Shannon put out an alert that Egg was conscious and had designs on killing Tysar. Guards lined the corridors as the group ran past. Tysar stopped a guard. “Aim for the eyestalk!” she directed. “Pass it on!” The guard nodded and passed the message as Tysar continued running, praying that the Dalek would get bored of killing before all the guards were slaughtered.
Back on the wall, the Doctor and her group discussed the situation. “Do you think Davros would side with Anacassandra?” asked Coilzette.
“Maybe,” remarked the Doctor. “I mean, it seems Anacassandra would be…” She trailed off when she looked over the wall. “…Somebody’s setting something onto the wall’s outside,” she said. Everyone looked down.
“…HEY DOWN THERE!” called Bea. “WHAT ARE PUTTING ON THERE?” The person took off…and the device flashed. The Doctor’s eyes widened.
“GET OFF THE WALL! THAT’S A BOMB!” she warned. The wall was quickly evacuated just in time! The bomb exploded, destroying the wall! Ssylphiel, Bea, and Coilzette used their magic to create a shield to protect everyone from flying debris. Once they determined that all the debris was contained, they lowered the shield.
“Who would dare?!” demanded Ssylphiel. Then…something rose from the sand outside! The Doctor goggled in horror as modern-day Daleks came up.
“…He’s allied with them!” she whispered.
“Those robots look similar to Egg,” remarked Bea.
“…Are you telling me your Egg looks like them?!” demanded the Doctor.
“Well, yes, but more bronze and-.”
“A Time War Dalek!” shuddered the Doctor. “EVERYONE, GET AWAY FROM THEM!”
“Entrance into citadel granted!” barked the Red and Gold Dalek Supreme leading the way. “Proceed! Retrieve the Veteran! Crush all resistance!”
“Wait!” called Ssylphiel. “If it’s your friend that you want, we can-.”
“Daleks do not negotiate with their inferiors!” barked a Drone Dalek as it fired on Ssylphiel. A soldier then intercepted the shot…and was promptly exterminated.
“Proceed! Exterminate all in your way! EXTERMINATE!” ordered the Dalek Supreme. The battle cry of “Exterminate!” was taken up as the Daleks opened fire!
“AIM FOR THE EYEPIECE!” called the Doctor.
“Commander!” Ssylphiel ordered. “Get the civilians to the shelters!”
“At once!” replied the Guard Commander. He began rallying soldiers to him and began evacuations.
“We need to get somewhere more fortified than this!” urged the Doctor.
“FALL BACK!” Ssylphiel called. “GET TO THE MAIN PALACE KEEP!” The soldiers obeyed with several dying by Dalek firepower as they covered the retreat. Ssylphiel was then hit. She felt the pain of her insides being scrambled and promptly unscrambled as her organs restored themselves.
“Maximum extermination!” ordered the Dalek Supreme as it and its followers fired on Ssylphiel. She was shot again but still didn’t fall.
“Ssylphiel, come on!” urged Coilzette. One of the Daleks then took a bio-scan as everyone retreated.
“Genetics indicate total immortality!” it reported to the Dalek Supreme. “She and others like her cannot be exterminated by conventional means!”
“Anacassandra was not speaking in hyperbole when she said she was a living goddess!” recalled another Drone Dalek.
“That does not matter!” barked the Dalek Supreme. “Ssylphiel has proven to have the same weakness of compassion to others just like the Predator!”
“Alert! Alert! Time Lord physiology detected!” warned another Dalek.
“It is the Doctor!” guessed the Dalek Supreme. “Alert the Creator! The Doctor is here! She must not interfere in our plans!”
Back with the Doctor, her group intercepted Tysar’s. “Tysar!” she breathed in relief. “Thank goodness! We have to get into the palace keep!”
“That won’t do any good!” replied Tysar. “Egg is-!”
“A Time War Era Dalek, I know,” replied the Doctor. “We have modern Daleks pouring into the citadel! They’ve called it the Veteran and are looking for it!”
“I thought you two said the Daleks were mutated creatures!” hissed Coilzette.
“They are,” replied Tysar. “The metal stuff is just their travel machine.”
“Are they always so ruthless?” asked Ssylphiel.
“Unerringly,” replied the Doctor. “Tysar, where’s Egg?”
“Currently engaged with the soldiers here,” answered Tysar.
“They’ll be slaughtered!” protested Ssylphiel.
“They have to pull back!” urged the Doctor. Ssylphiel pulled out a communicator.
“Guards, all guards, do not engage with Egg! That thing will slaughter you before you get the chance to fire your wands! Fall back to the keep! I repeat, fall back to the keep!”
“Doctor, you said there were more of them on the way here!” protested Calliope. “What happens when they meet Egg?!”
“…I have a few nasty theories, but by then,” replied the Doctor, “their attention will be focused on me. I’m sure I saw a Dalek take a bio-scan of all of us.”
“…Doctor, you’re not planning to be the sacrificial lamb, are you?” asked Lukas.
“I need to take care of this alone,” replied the Doctor.
“Oh no, you don’t!” replied Tysar. “You’ll make a beastly mess if you do it alone and you need my help in tidying that mess up!”
“And those are MY people the Daleks are threatening,” said Ssylphiel. “I’m going with you.”
“As am I,” declared Coilzette.
“And me!” agreed Bea.
“I’m going too!” said Calliope.
“Where Mistress Calliope goes, I go!” declared Lukas. Calliope winced.
“…I’d…rather you went to the shelters where it’s-.”
“Where it’s safe?!” protested Lukas. “Calliope, you granted my wish of gaining the courage of becoming who I am today! I can’t just-!”
“Compromise,” interjected the Doctor. “Tysar, Lukas, Bea, Shannon, you lot go to the main keep. Follow Tysar’s advice, her people are as knowledgeable about the Daleks as I am. The rest of us will meet with the Daleks to buy as much time as possible before…before the end.”
“You intend to use the Daleks to get to Davros,” realized Tysar.
“That’s correct. …Perhaps this might give Ssylphiel the chance to end this conflict with Anacassandra.”
“…She’s right,” agreed Coilzette. “This ‘little conflict’ with her has become a war and we need to end it quickly.”
“…Bea, if I’m somehow killed…” said Ssylphiel, “…Serpentia is yours. Rule it well.”
“…Yes, Mama Ssylphiel,” replied Bea. “But…please come back. I can’t-.”
“I’ll do everything in my power, my precious girl.” Ssylphiel and Bea hugged each other, then Shannon hugged her Queen and Princess, then Coilzette hugged the three of them. Calliope then pulled Lukas into a hug.
“…Be safe, Lovely Lukas,” bid Calliope.
“You too, Mistress.”
“Shannon,” directed Ssylphiel, “guard Tysar, Bea, and Lukas.”
“With my life, Mistress,” promised Shannon.
Back in the temporary stronghold, Anacassandra was gobsmacked as she saw the progress through her crystal ball. “…B-But…that’s an obvious plan!” she protested. “Blowing up the wall is something Ssylphiel should have anticipated!”
“Like I said, my Daleks never overlook the importance of simplicity,” replied Davros. “We have our entrance and-.” A call then came through his comms. He accepted the call. “Report,” he ordered.
“Bio-scans have detected a Time Lord in the citadel!” replied the Dalek on the other end.
“The Doctor?!”
“That is the only logical conclusion!”
“I’ll be there straightaway!” decided Davros. “We MUST get the Veteran here!”
“I obey!” The call ended and Davros turned to a Dalek operator.
“Transmat me to the battlefield!” he ordered.
“I obey!” replied the operator.
“Your place isn’t among the rabble we sent out!” protested Anacassandra.
“…I would advise you not to call my Daleks the rabble,” warned Davros. “From what I’ve researched, even members of the Divine Races have been killed before.”
“Transmat operational!” reported the Dalek Operator. Davros stepped onto the transmat’s dais.
“Transport!” he ordered. The Operator obeyed and Davros vanished.
The Bronze Dalek continued to glide through the corridors of the palace with a Dalek’s usual ugly grace. The soldiers had ceased fighting it and retreated, locking all the doors behind them. A hinderance, but one that can be overcome. Each keypad it saw, the Bronze Dalek placed its manipulator arm onto it and used carefully controlled pressure to press the buttons at rapid speed. It obtained the correct combinations in less than a rel. It surmised that the soldiers realized the superior defenses and weapons they were fighting against and so retreated. They still left tracks that its camera eye could pick up. It approached a door leading to a courtyard. The Bronze Dalek opened it…and was greeted not with soldiers, but with what looked like Daleks with different casings! It took a bio-scan…and the strange Daleks also scanned it for genetic purity. The readings the Bronze Dalek took indicated that their genetics WERE pure, they just had different casings. “Genetic purity confirmed! You are Daleks!” it declared.
“Your genetic purity is also confirmed!” replied the Dalek that registered as the Supreme to the Bronze Dalek. “Your research into universes dominated by the force known as magic is required to accelerate Dalek plans!”
“I have transferred all research onto shielded positronic brains!” replied the Bronze Dalek. “That data will be transferred to Pathweb for Dalek Scientists to utilize!” Just then, Davros shimmered into view. The Dalek Supreme swiveled its eyestalk to him.
“You must return to the stronghold!” it barked.
“At ease, my child,” soothed Davros.
“That is…not possible!” yelped the Bronze Dalek. “Bio-scans indicate you are a member of the ancestral Kaled race! My scanners must have a fault!”
“Your scanners are functioning correctly!” replied a Drone Dalek. “That IS a Kaled! The last of the Kaleds! Our creator! Our…savior!”