“…I’m going to ask that question again,” said the Doctor, “and-.”
“My response will be the same!” replied the Bronze Dalek. “I require information from you and Davros!”
“You’re reconnected to Pathweb, yes?” asked Davros. “You can look everything up now.”
“I require outside information! Information that has not been uploaded to Pathweb!”
“And even though he’s your creator,” remarked the Doctor, “Davros is just as much an outsider to you as I am and an outsider’s views would give you ideas on how the rest of the universe sees the Time War.”
“Correct!” Davros bristled at the Bronze Dalek’s confirmation of the Doctor’s theory. “Now…tell me of the mutual defeat of the Daleks and the Time Lords! Tell me about the end of the Last Great Time War!”
“You already know most of it, but my friends don’t, so I’ll indulge,” said the Doctor. “The Daleks and my people, the Time Lords of Gallifrey, were at war with each other for the sake of time and space. In strictly linear terms, the war lasted for 400 years, but as the war involved time travel, it truly lasted through out eternity. Each side used time travel to try and undo the enemy’s victories.”
“That created splinter timelines and parallel universes and temporal paradoxes throughout the conflict,” continued Davros. “…But then, after my command ship flew into the jaws of the Nightmare Child, the Daleks destroyed the Time Lord city of Arcadia. That was when the entirety of the Dalek race summoned a mighty battlefleet to bombard Gallifrey and destroy it utterly! The Doctor, in her war incarnation, then tried to use a sentient superweapon that would destroy Gallifrey and the Dalek fleet alike!”
“But my previous and future incarnations at the time found a better alternative,” continued the Doctor. “We used our respective TARDIS’s to send Gallifrey into a pocket universe as the Dalek fleet bombarded the planet. It vanished to somewhere safer and the fleet destroyed itself in its own crossfire. Now, both Time Lords and Daleks alike are trying to rebuild, but with crises popping up and internal politics hampering the efforts…”
“…Neither side is at a stage to continue the war!” finished the Bronze Dalek. “Or to even conduct a new war on that scale!”
“No, thank goodness.”
“…That is all the information I require!” The Bronze Dalek then moved off.
“…I’ll be seeing you later,” said Davros as he left the cell block.
“…Well, that’s that,” said the Doctor.
“So, now that we have the information you needed,” remarked Coilzette, “what now, Doctor?”
“We need to get to their main command center, start tampering a little,” replied the Doctor.
“…Erm, Doctor,” said Calliope, “I don’t know how it’s escaped your notice, but the cells have the technological equivalent of an impenetrable force field.”
“Easy fix. Davros forgot rule one, something his original Kaled underlings had engrained in their training, even though they didn’t realize it.”
“What’s that?” asked Ssylphiel. The Doctor then pulled out her sonic screwdriver.
“Always empty the Doctor’s pockets when you take her prisoner!” declared the Doctor. She held the screwdriver near the force field emitter and switched it on. The screwdriver buzzed and the emitter sparked after a few seconds. The force field then shut down and the Doctor stepped out of her cell. “Jailbreak, anyone?”
“You have a technological version of a magic wand?” asked Ssylphiel in amazement. The Doctor bridled at this.
“That’s sonic screwdriver to you!” she snapped as she aimed the screwdriver at the force field emitter.
The few Daleks that stayed behind in the citadel were still patrolling the courtyard. “No life forms detected!” a Dalek said to its de facto Section Leader.
“Maintain vigilance!” ordered the Section Leader.
“Excuse me!” called a woman’s voice. All the Daleks turned their eyestalks in the general direction of the voice. It came from a rather dark corner of the courtyard. The Section Leader swiveled its dome to look directly at one of its subordinates.
“Investigate!” it ordered.
“I obey!” replied the Dalek. It trundled towards the dark corner and into the corridor surrounding the courtyard.
“Hi!” called Tysar, attracting the Dalek’s attention. “I think you want to exterminate me?”
“ALERT! ALERT! THAL PRESENCE DETECTED! EXTERMIN-!” The Dalek didn’t get very far in its warning as its eyestalk was whacked off by Bea’s tail! “MY VISION IS IMPARED! I CANNOT SEE! MY VISION IS IMPARED! ALERT! ALERT!” It fired wildly as a blinded Dalek usually does.
“NOW!” called Tysar as she, Shannon, Bea, and Lukas grabbed it. Tysar managed to get the gunstick out of the gun box and pointed it at the Dalek. “BACK AWAY!” Tysar warned her friends. They dove out of the way and Tysar fired at the Dalek’s midsection, causing it to explode.
“DALEK UNIT DISABLED!” called the Section Leader, having heard the noise. “CRUSH ALL RESISTANCE! EXTERMINATE!”
“With pleasure!” replied Tysar as she fired on the Daleks, causing them to blow up. After the noise of the explosions died down, she and her friends entered the courtyard.
“…Are they really-?” asked Lukas.
“Dead, yes,” sighed Tysar. “…Come on, let’s get three more gunsticks.”
“Hold on, you want to arm us with weapons of mass-?!” protested Bea.
“Nora can create ways for you to safely use them,” replied Tysar.
“How do you know?” asked Shannon.
“I don’t. I’m hoping.”
“Tysar, guns are forbidden here,” explained Lukas. “And in my home of the Aquarinix Empire. They’re too dangerous!”
“It’s true. Not even our soldiers use them,” confirmed Shannon.
“…My people hate guns as much as you,” sighed Tysar, “but against soulless creatures like the Daleks, we have no choice. It’s a matter of survival. …Look, we’ll destroy these things when this is all done. I promise.”
The Doctor and her group were at the command center of the stronghold. The Doctor was busy typing things out on the computer. “Lab, lab, lab, Davros must have a lab somewhere to put Egg’s research to good use,” she muttered.
“Doctor, can’t we just blow up the stronghold?” asked Ssylphiel.
“The Toymaker wants Davros sent back to our native universe,” replied the Doctor. “That implies, at least to me, that he needs to be kept alive. Besides, I need to know what he’s up to so I can properly tamper…aha! That’s it!”
“Doctor?” asked Calliope.
“Security feed of the lab Davros is using,” explained the Doctor. “Now we can learn what he’s using Egg’s research for.” On the screen, Anacassandra and Davros were talking.
“You’re certain this will work?” asked Anacassandra.
“All the research the Veteran conducted,” replied Davros, “indicates that it WILL work!”
“…Very well, but I still say it’s ludicrous.” By then, the Bronze Dalek entered the room.
“Why was I summoned?” it barked.
“You, my child, are needed for a great experiment!” replied Davros. “To properly utilize the full power of a Dalek’s soul!”
“You removed them, Davros. Remember?” scoffed the Doctor as everyone watched.
“Explain!” directed the Bronze Dalek.
“As your research indicated,” said Davros, “the force known as magic is powered by the very soul of a magic user.”
“Correct!” confirmed the Bronze Dalek.
“But we have used technology for so long that we do not tap into our soul,” continued Davros.
“Daleks have no souls!” barked the Bronze Dalek.
“That is incorrect, my child,” chuckled Davros. The Bronze Dalek twitched.
“Come on, there’s no way a Dalek has a soul,” scoffed the Doctor.
“You have proof that Daleks have souls?” asked the Bronze Dalek.
“That’s where I come in,” replied Anacassandra. “I have read deep into the hearts of every Dalek that I’ve come across…and you DO have souls.”
“What?!” protested the Doctor.
“She’s right,” said Calliope. “What she’s carefully avoiding saying, however, is that a Dalek’s soul is so twisted by hatred, much like her own soul and Davros’.”
“…But if magic is powered by the soul-!” gasped the Doctor.
“And magic used by a hate-filled soul is catastrophic enough,” said Ssylphiel.
“The casing is prepared!” called a Dalek Scientist.
“Excellent!” praised Davros. “Veteran, as you have the most intimate knowledge of how magic works, YOU shall inhabit the new casing!”
“…You are creating a Dalek Mage!” realized the Bronze Dalek.
“No!” protested the Doctor. “If the Daleks do that, they might just conquer all realities! We have to sabotage that casing!”
“Where’s the lab?!” asked Coilzette.
“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” shrieked a Dalek as three of them entered the room.
“All right! All right!” yelped the Doctor as she raised her hands. “We surrender!”
“Prisoners will come with us!” ordered the lead Dalek.
“Where?” asked Ssylphiel.
“Do not question!” barked the lead Dalek. “Move! MOVE!”
“We obey!” replied the Doctor. “Come along, you three. We don’t exactly have much in the way of choice.” Her friends grumbled as they raised their hands.
“We’d better be going to the lab,” grunted Calliope.