The criminals and the rebels after overrunning the prison, advanced to a nearby village, where most of the guards and the executioners families had lived. Some of the most hated guards had been kept alive by the prisoners so they could watch their loved ones be torn to pieces.
The Dalek observed the slaughter for some time before it made its presence known. It was curious as to how and why these humanoids were slaughtering each other. Concepts such as revenge were alien to the Dalek. Even when dealing with old enemies such as the Doctor, the monster simply viewed him as a threat. All Daleks had been programmed with knowledge of humanoid life forms, many of whom from Time Lords, to human beings shared similar characteristics, but it didn't understand the reason for any of them even if it knew how they functioned.
The Dalek hovered over the centre of the village. The sight of the monster sent various villagers and former prisoners fleeing in all directions, but the Dalek fired in front of all of them, stopping the Heglozians in their tracks.
"I AM NOT HERE TO HURT YOU" The monster screamed. "I WANT THIS WAR TO END."
"Don't listen to it!" One of the few remaining guards said. "It's a monster. It'll kill us all."
"WE ARE NOT YOUR ENEMIES! MILLIONS OF OUR PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN THIS CONFLICT TOO! WE WANT IT ENDED!"
The Daleks words were met with a huge cheer from the crowd. It was obviously false, but it was what they wanted to hear so they believed it.
"YOUR RULER MUST BE OVERTHROWN HE REFUSES TO STOP THIS CONFLICT!"
"How can we overthrow him? He is protected by elite soldiers." One of the escaped prisoners shouted back.
"THERE ARE OTHERS ON THIS WORLD WHO WANT TO OVERTHROW HIM! YOU MUST ALLY!"
Several of the prisoners were unhappy with this idea. Many of the rebel groups hated each other as much as they did the king, and there were even scoffs and jeers from the crowd at the thought of working together.
"YOU MUST OVERCOME YOUR DIFFERENCES!" The Dalek shouted. "THE KING IS THE ENEMY OF US ALL! IF YOU WORK TOGETHER, WITH MY HELP WE CAN WIN!"
"He's right". One of the former prisoners said. The prisoner was another one of the former leaders of Heglozia first.
"The king is the one who locked us all up. He is the one who starved us. Who killed our loved ones. Not the Daleks. He only cares about winning some pointless war. How are we to know that the stories he told about the Daleks are even real? They could just be propaganda pieces. I'm not saying this tin monster here can be trusted completely, but I know who our real enemy is. Sitting in that luxurious palace, whilst we scramble around for food in the lands he stripped clean. We have to stop him."
The Dalek could see it was getting through to crowd who started to cheer at the former rebels words. Pitiful creatures. The Dalek thought to itself. Whilst it may not ever understand them, it knew how to manipulate their feeble minds well enough.
"Just so you know my TARDIS isn't just for you and the elite." The Doctor said to Asica as they headed down the corridor.
"I understand. It will be my first priority as king to make sure you get the villagers to another, habitable world first. They've suffered enough."
"I'll believe that when I see it. Just remember I'm the only one who knows how to pilot it, so don't think about any cheap tricks." The Doctor assured.
The two reached a small craft that was designed to take the Doctor across the badlands to the TARDIS.
"It seems to good to be true to imagine that soon my people will not have to live in fear of those monsters." Asica said.
"Well I can't ever promise that." The Doctor said grimly.
"The Daleks are a danger to all life forms in the universe, but for the immediate future it can take you to another time, and another place."
Zoella and Dana meanwhile having been left in the throne room, just sat in the corner not saying anything to each other, whilst Zoella tended to her own arm.
Suddenly to Dana's surprise, Zoella broke the awkward silence. "So how long have you been eh, travelling with that strange man. You said you knew of the Daleks before this war?"
"If my story bores you, will you shoot me in the head? You seem to be quite fond of doing that." Dana sneered.
"I wasn't always this way you know." Zoella replied.
"I once had a family that I loved more than anything in the world, dreams, ambitions." She started to laugh. "Can you believe I wanted to be a doctor? When the war broke out I had to abandon all my plans. My village was rounded up as a labour force against the Daleks. I've been fighting this war since before I was a soldier, and little by little it killed me. My son is the only thing I have left."
"I'm sorry but that still doesn't excuse what you've done." Dana said.
"However", Dana said after a short gap. "I can relate to what you've gone through in that, not only did I lose my loved ones to the Daleks. I know how they can destroy what you are."
"My loved ones weren't killed by the Daleks. My husband, my sister. They were killed by an angry mob of my own people, who attacked the munitions factory in a misguided attempt to stop the war. I barely escaped, but my husband. They beat him to death." Zoella explained.
"Oh my god I, I can't believe." Dana replied.
"At first I didn't even think this planet was worth saving, but then I realised that it was still the Daleks that caused their deaths. Their evil. It's almost like a plague. It can spread. Push us to do things that we never thought we could do just to survive against them. I don't deny that what I've become is broken and twisted, but in another time. Maybe I could have been different." Zoella said, barely able to look at Dana.
"I've been with the Doctor a few years." Dana replied, with Zoella almost smiling in response. For the first time in years, it seemed as though someone at least saw her as something other than a soldier. "I joined him to get revenge on the Daleks. When I was 8 years old, one of those mutants broke into my house. My mother, my father. my little brother who I adored more than anything in the world. They were all gunned down."
"Where you in the middle of a war?" Zoella asked.
"No. At that point in history my people were primitive. They knew nothing about the Daleks. I had no idea what it was, when I came rushing down stairs because of the noise and I saw it in my living room. Ironically I didn't even think it looked that threatening at first. I thought it was some weird Christmas present, a new robot toy my parents had bought me. A small group of Daleks had arrived on my planet in secret looking for some ancient trinket from the Doctors people that they thought could give them ultimate power. They needed a human child too as a component of their war machine. I was to provide imagination. Apparently this is a policy they'll use in the future, to stop their battle computers from becoming reliant on logic. Even though they're driven by irrational hatred, the Daleks solve most of their problems in a cold, logical way, because they have no emotions other than hatred or pride."
"You don't have to tell me that." Zoella interrupted. "I've seem them butcher people without any emotion. Sometimes they're clearly enjoying it. They'll even prolong the kill, but other times. If it's part of a larger plan, or they have more pressing concerns. They can kill thousands, millions of people in an instant and treat it like it's the most mundane task."
"That was what the Dalek that killed my family was like. The way it cut down my father and then my mother and brother, who were huddled together in fear and terror, begging, pleading. It didn't even shriek exterminate. It just fired and that was that." Dana had to stop for a minute before continuing. Zoella in probably the first act of compassion she had shown in a long while, even put her hand on Dana's shoulder.
"I was made into their servant afterwards. I don't remember what happened. After my family lay dead, the monster shot me, and the next thing I knew I was waking up on the floor of a strange house. There was a young woman there in front of me who looked terrified at first, but then picked me up and hugged me as I sobbed for what must have been hours. There was nothing she could have done however. She later explained to me that the Daleks hadn't just plugged me into their war machine. They also made me their servant, a mole to monitor and infiltrate the world around them. They'd even made me murder people who came close to discovering their hideout. Ironically the girl who comforted me, I'd just tried to kill as she was with the Doctor at that time. Sadly another young man in the house, hadn't been so lucky. I shot him with weapons the Daleks had implanted into my hands. They've long since run out of power, but here. " Dana held her hands up to Zoella, showing her the scars on the palms of her hands.
"I murdered that man in his own house, where his own mother who later found the body lived. The girl told me he was a traitor who had willingly served the Daleks. From what else she told me, he really wasn't a nice man to say the least, but I still see his cold lifeless face lying by the stair case every time I shut my eyes." Dana said.
"Now and again short memories of being under their control come back into my head. Usually in my dreams. I was institutionalised for 25 years, despite the girl and the Doctors attempts to help me. The Doctor even offered to take me with him, but I just wanted my parents back. I did have relatives who looked after me for a while, but when I kept going on about metal monsters, alien invaders, claiming I'd murdered people. I was left to rot away as my few remaining relatives all passed on. Ironically the only person to visit me for a period of ten years was the girl who travelled with the Doctor. She hadn't aged a day, but sadly seeing her just brought it all back again. When I finally got out, after convincing them that I knew the Daleks were all in my head. I was alone. Money left over from my old relatives kept me afloat as I kept looking for signs of more extra terrestrial life, which eventually led me to meeting the Doctor again, and this time I joined him in the hopes he could help me avenge my family, but."
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"What" Zoella asked.
"I realised that I can't. No one can. Those monsters. They survive throughout all of history. They're beaten back many times, but they always return. This war that's ravaged your entire galaxy. It's only the beginning of the Dalek empire."
"I already realised that. These creatures are so dedicated to war that I fail to see how anything can stand against them."
"I also did some things in my desire for revenge that I am not proud of." Dana explained.
"It's why whilst I still condemn what you did on that ship, I do understand what you mean about the Daleks dragging everything down to their level. Had I not had the Doctor as a friend, if I were forced to face them alone for all this time, with no escape, and other people who had lost everything then I could have just as easily."
Suddenly the room was rocked by the sound of a massive explosion outside. Zoella looked out of a nearby window and saw hundreds of prisoners with the Dalek floating above.
The Dalek had since freed more people from other prisons around the planet, who had in turn made contact with various rebel groups, though most were from the rebel group, the Giaska's. The guards were outnumbered by hundreds to one, with the rebels swarming each soldier, whilst the Dalek focused on taking down the flying machines.
"Idiots they're working with the Daleks." Zoella said. "We have to get out of here. There's too many of them."
"No we can't let the rebels have access to the palace. There's too much at stake." The guard said.
"Like what?" Zoella asked?
"That is not your concern. You will stay here while we hold them off."
Asica and the Doctor meanwhile headed back to the throne room. There was no way the ship could escape over the crowd and the Dalek outside. Asica however had a secret passage in the throne room, which was the only way of escape.
The rebels broke down the front doors of the palace and began to attack the guards who fought valiantly. They managed to gun down dozens of rebels, but there were so many that they were completely overwhelmed.
"We need to get out of here now." Asica said as he ran back into the throne room.
"The thought had occurred to us" Dana said back sarcastically.
"There's a secret passage at the back." The frantic King shouted.
As the foursome ran towards the passage however, several rebels began to break their way into throne room. The last two guards held them off at the cost of their lives, whilst Asica, the Doctor, Zoella and Dana escaped. Asica didn't even look back at the soldiers sacrifice.
The tunnel on the other side was long and dank. No one had been here for a very long time and there were small, rat like animals crawling along the floor.
Asica ran down the corridor, but Zoella's injuries from the crash were beginning to catch up with her and she needed a few minutes to rest.
"We should just leave you here. You're a liability!" Asica snapped back at her.
"If you leave her, I'll never show you how my ship works. Now I'm starting to see how so many people have died in your name." The Time Lord said.
"It's not about me. If what you say is true your ship is our last hope. These Giaska's might win this battle and if they do, they'll tear down our force field." Asica replied.
"Why would they do that? The Daleks will destroy them too? What do they want" Dana asked?
"They don't care about the Daleks. They don't know them like those of us on the front line. To them it's just another war. What they really want? Is just to make him pay" Zoella said from the side.
"According to our old legends, Giaska was the god of justice. The Giaskans leaders at least are made up of the relatives of the people our dear king butchered to save resources, or sent away to die, executed in cold blood. If we just hand him over to them, they might let us go." Zoella explained.
"You can't be serious?" Dana said in shock.
"Of course I am. It's our best chance for us to get free and get to your ship. If the king means what he says, he'll lay down his life now for his people."
Zoella's words shook Asica. He'd always claimed he'd be happy to lay down his life for his people, but now his bluff was being called.
"They'll never let any of you go." Asica said.
"It's you they hate. I'm just a soldier, and these two, well who knows what they are?" Zoella insisted.
"Do you think they'll believe that? They'll tear you apart just as soon as they would me."
"Lets put it to the test shall we."
"Enough" the Doctor shouted over them.
"No one is getting left behind. If we are going to not only get out of here, but stop the Daleks we have to stay together. I don't care what problems you have with each other. Right now we are all in the same, hopeless situation." The Doctor said firmly.
"All right" Zoella responded. "If they catch up to us though I'm throwing our beloved king to them."
"That's the spirit" the Doctor said mockingly.
As the four somewhat reluctant companions trekked down the dark, musty corridor, they were tormented by the sounds of both the soldiers and the rebels killing one another above.
"Even in this time we can't work together" Asica said bitterly.
"Conflict is the price we sometimes have to pay for individuality." The Doctor said. "The Daleks above are not squabbling, but none of them are able to choose their own lives. To this day they all follow one man's twisted beliefs."
Just a few feet ahead there was another explosion. The Doctor instinctively tried to push Dana back. Even though she was more than capable of taking care of herself, the Doctor couldn't help but be overly protective of her. It was the same with all of his companions. The explosion however knocked all four of them off their feet.
Through the smoke two armed men and women emerged, dressed in tattered, bloody clothes.
"Don't bother calling for help." The leader of the group barked at Asica.
"Your palace is ours."
"I don't understand? How could you do it?" The king said in shock.
"It doesn't matter. You're finally going to get what you deserve. Look at you. Trying to run like a coward while those men up there die for you. That was always your way of fighting your enemies."
"He's not your enemy." The Doctor protested. "The Daleks are. The future of your race is at stake if you." The rebel punched the Doctor before he could finish.
"It wasn't the Daleks that killed my son. " He spat back at the Doctor. "I can't believe that any of you are with him. You're all traitors! Still there's been enough killing. Stand aside and we'll let you go."
The Doctor looked back at Asica who tried to keep his cool, but was clearly terrified.
"Alright" the Doctor said calmly as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Doctor you can't." Dana said in shock.
"It's not our concern Dana, we just have to" suddenly mid sentence the Doctor knocked the leader out with a bit of Venusian Karate, before kicking the gun out of the other male rebels hand. He then flipped the male rebel over his shoulder into the two female rebels legs, disarming them as well.
Dana and Zoella jumped the female rebels, whilst the Doctor fought with the male rebel. The Doctor blocked one punch before delivering two strikes to the rebel, one to his stomach and another to his face sending him back into a wall. Dana meanwhile managed to pin her rebel to the ground. Her rebel was just a teenage girl, no older than 18 and Dana was mindful not to hurt her. Zoella meanwhile still struggled with hers due to her injuries.
Whilst they were fighting, Asica grabbed the first rebel the Doctor had knocked out's gun and shot the rebel fighting with Zoella. The others all froze, and Asica then shot the male rebel, before shooting the rebel the Doctor had knocked out. He then turned the gun to the rebel Dana was restraining.
"No don't" Dana said as she let the girl go who tried to run, but Asica shot the girl in the back.
"You murderer" Dana screamed in rage and disgust.
"I had no choice. They're a danger not only to me but to this entire planet."
"There will be no one left on this planet you're trying to save when you're done with them!" Dana snapped.
"We need to get out of here before more of the rebels come" the Doctor shouted as he ran ahead. The Doctor was disgusted with Asica's ruthless actions too, but he knew that it would do no good to bicker about it now. Asica was the first to follow the Doctor. Neither Dana nor Zoella wanted to be in front of the king.
The foursome ran a couple more feet until they eventually reached a large cavern, with a small fighter jet in the centre.
"My escape jet. It won't get us off this planet. That's your job." Asica said to the Doctor as he prepared to board the jet. Suddenly another explosion blew open the wall on the right hand side of the cavern. 10 or so more rebels emerged from the smoke firing their weapons at the foursome.
"No, I want the king alive" the leader shouted. "A simple blast is too good for him. Kill the others."
The Doctor, Dana, the King and Zoella hid behind the jet with the King firing blindly at the rebels.
Zoella grabbed the gun out of the King's hands and fired at the rocks above the rebels sending them scattering.
Zoella then ran out to face the rebels and shot two more of them.
"Go now." She shouted.
"We can't just leave you" the Doctor said whilst Asica had already jumped into the jet.
"I'm wounded. I'll only slowly you down. If you do have a way of getting some of us out of here. Take it now." Zoella ran into the rebels and realising there was nothing they could do, the Doctor and Dana jumped into the jet which quickly took off. The rebels weaponry had no effect on the jet which was made of the strongest metal on the planet. Its fire power was also vastly superior to that of most conventional crafts which it demonstrated when after escaping outside, it easily destroyed three fighter jets, hijacked by the rebels.
Back in the cavern the rebels eventually restrained the weakened Zoella.
"Where was the king fleeing." The leader asked the wounded soldier.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Zoella replied, which caused the rebel leader to place his foot on Zoella's broken arm.
"Tell me where he's gone or else." He said as he pushed his foot down harder.
"I hate the King too, but he's irrelevant you moron. Right now that man and that woman you almost killed might hold the key to the survival of our race." Zoella said.
The leader responded by kicking her in the face.
"If you're not going to tell us where he is, I guess we'll just have to take our frustrations with the King out on you!" The leader said with a sadistic glee.
The Doctor, Dana and the King meanwhile flew out across the badladnds towards the wreckage. Along the way they could see scores of people fighting and killing one another. Almost every building was on fire, whilst masses of bodies lay in the streets.
A message suddenly came through on the king's device.
"Please help us, this is the national guard, we've been overwhelmed, the prisoners have escaped from Kisakr. We're outnumbered."
"The Dalek. It did this" the Doctor said.
"It wants us to kill ourselves so they won't have too?" The King asked?
"No" the Doctor responded. "They always like to launch the final attack themselves if they can. They have warships that can shatter planets, yet they still will always launch an army to wipe out the population. It's what they live for. This is just a distraction so the Dalek can tamper with your force field to let the army through. We have to get to it now."
"Are you kidding? We have to get to your ship and get out of here." The King said.
"Look around your heiniss" The Doctor replied. "You think you're going to convince the people down there to stop fighting and walk into a little blue box? The Dalek is already on its way to your force field. We have to get there now."
The King still refused. "Exactly if what you say is true then it's already there in which case it's too late."
"Well how about that. It turns out you were just a coward after all." Dana interrupted.
"How dare you, I'll"
"You'll do what? There's no one around to throw me in prison any more your majesty. You're on your own now, and you have two choices. One try and flee and even if you make it, have the death of a world on your conscience? Or prove that you were doing it for the greater good and help us buy your people more time to escape? From what I gather you've already got enough on your conscience." Dana said.
The King hesitated for a few moments before turning the ship in the opposite direction.
"I hope you're right aliens."
"I'm afraid I am" The Doctor said. "We have to act fast or else your world dies tonight."
To Be Continued