TERRACORPS SPACE STATION
2186 The Doctor and Clara pushed their way through the crowded hall and on to the elevator. They gazed through the glass at the massive Krin starship sitting just beyond the station, four more pods ejecting from it and smashing into the colony. “What emergency evacuation procedures are in place here cadet?” The Doctor asked breathlessly as they stepped off the lift and rushed down to the hangar where Captain Marie barked orders to Terracorps troops rushing to cut off the invaders. “There’s five escape jettisons in the northeast sector, emergency protocol is to get all civilians routed there. Each ship holds seven hundred.” Oswin informed the Doctor as they stepped into the flight deck. “Captain Marie, you can’t waste men fighting these things. Is there any way we can section off part of the colony?” The Doctor said as he eyes grew wide, the sight of the Krin Starship lowering into view of the hangar a terrible image to behold. He had seen the power behind these vessels before, the destruction they could leave in their wake. If they decided to unload on the colony, there was no way those jettisons would be leaving. “We need to run...now.” The Doctor nearly whispered before grabbing Marie and Oswin by the arms and sprinting to the elevators just as the starships main cannons began to rip through the hangar, destroying Terracorp ships and pilots, absolutely decimating the entire level. The Doctor pushed the captain and cadet in first before falling in after them, slamming on the controls and the lift began to drop. The explosion from the Krin’s attack sent the elevator into free fall, something Oswin noticed as they began to gradually pick up speed. She frantically pressed the emergency break button but to no luck, the entire panel now unresponsive. “At this rate we’ll be paste by the time we hit the bottom.” Marie stated gravely as she struggled to steady herself in the speeding lift. The Doctor stepped in front of Oswin and began to inspect the panel, scanning it with his screwdriver for a moment before putting on his glasses. “They hit this sector’s power grid, there’s no way to get the panel working from here.” The Doctor stated before looking at the hatch above them. “Is there a way to stop it?” Oswin asked as she watched perplexed while the Doctor used the handrail in the lift to reach the hatch. He quickly unlocked it with his screwdriver before disappearing through the hole. On top of the elevator the Doctor searched frantically for an emergency handbrake, realizing their time was running out. Finally, he found the switch and wrenched it with all his might, the brakes screeching with deafening effect as the lift finally slowed to a grinding halt. The Doctor dropped back through the hole, grinning ear to ear at the fact they had survived. “Everyone all right then?” He and Oswin pulled the doors to the lift open before peeking out into the corridor. They quickly ducked back inside as three Krin hunters skulked past the elevator, hunting for any more signs of life. “Any idea where we are?” The Doctor asked either one of them as he peeked to see if the coast was clear. “Looks like the south quadrant. We need to get the power back on if we’re going to make contact with anyone. There’s got to be some way to send a distress signal from this sector, yes?” The Doctor assumed as he crept out of the elevator first, followed by the captain and Oswin. “There’s a crew station not too far from here that we should be able to contact the bridge from, if we had any power on this level.” Marie replied, pulling her service gun from her holster as she checked the hallways for any hostiles. “Which way is the grid for this sector?” The Doctor asked as they begun down the corridor. Oswin pointed down a hallway to their left. “Down that way, a few choice turns and you’re at the central hub for both the south and east quadrants.” She instructed him. “Right, you’re with me, we’ll get down there and see if we can’t get the lights on. Captain Marie, pop over to that crew station and wait for our signal.” The Doctor commanded just as he and Oswin turned to depart. “Doctor, take this.” Marie tossed him a communicator like the one she had strapped to her wrist. “Least this way I can find out if you’ve made it there in one piece or not.” The Doctor nodded in approval before he and Oswin dashed down the hall. Marie continued down her own path, determined to save anyone she could in the process. KRIN STARSHIP Officer Terzaz of the Krin army approached the private quarters of the individual who they had to thank for their race’s survival. He was proud to be the one tasked with delivering news of their latest attack. The doors to his chamber slid open and Terzaz stepped inside where he saw the man staring out at the station and the ensuing attack, deep in thought. The time-lord known only throughout the universe and even beyond as the Master cocked his head as he heard the Krin officer enter, doing everything he could to pay attention to him over the intense drumming echoing through his head. “My master, we’ve managed to scan every file in the colony’s database. It appears the schematics you have been searching for are in their system’s mainframe.” Terzaz hissed, eager to please his lord and master. The Master turned and raised a finger to his lips, signaling the officer to fall silent. “Do you hear it?” The Master backed away from the window, looking wide-eyed around the room as he approached Terzaz. “Here what, master?” Terzaz asked, confused by what could have his savior so transfixed. “You don’t hear it? No... of course you wouldn’t. Not yet at least. It’s the call you see, I’m the only one cursed to hear it. The call to arms, the drums of war...soon the universe will feel their very rhythm.” He snapped his head to the right and he and the Krin soldier were face to face. “You said you’ve found the blueprints?” “Y-yes master. We have been unable to upload them on to our own servers from here unfortunately.” Terzaz responded quickly. “Prepare a ship. I will obtain the data myself. Just make sure that colony goes down the moment I return.” The Master insisted before waving Terzaz away, who took the signal to leave immediately, rushing to the starship’s bay. Onboard the colony, the Doctor and Oswin stumbled upon a couple of Krin soldiers dragging a pair of large grey sacks behind them. Venom dripped from their hungry mouths, eating through the floor itself as they passed. As they slunk by where Oswin and the Doctor hid, they both got a closer look at what was inside the sacks. The Doctor placed a hand over Oswin’s mouth as she gasped in complete horror at the citizens captured in each sack, both horribly injured by the venom of the Krin. As the hunters continued back to their ship. The Doctor and Oswin continued in the opposite direction, the Doctor staring after the Krin and their captives, still stunned by the mere fact the Krin still somehow existed. “These things were wiped from existence for exactly this reason. They erased entire species due to their ravenous appetites. This shouldn’t be possible.” The Doctor stammered as Oswin surged ahead, doing her best to forget the sight of citizens she swore to protect as a member of Terracorps being dragged off to a terrible fate. “The Krin are carrying some of us off-” She began as she stepped over the lower torso of one of the fallen citizens, the Doctor kneeled next to what remained of the body to get a closer look, "why would they do that? Isn’t it in their nature to rip apart the first thing they see that’s not, ya know, them?” The Doctor pulled on his glasses once again as he examined the torso, noticing where the venom of the Krin had eaten through flesh and bone like cardboard. “Wherever they’re headed to after this must be a bit of a distance. They’re harvesting half the population to store for food later.” The Doctor grabbed a pen from Oswin and dipped the tip into some of the venom seeping off the body and onto the steel floor of the hallway. The venom ate through the end of the pen as the Doctor made a face of disgust before flinging the pen over his shoulder and down the hall. “They’ve...evolved. Their venom was never this destructive before, at best it could leave you paralyzed for up to six hours, but this makes them twice as dangerous as they already were.” Just as he finished his sentence footsteps could be heard coming down the hall towards them. Before they could make a move, cadet Zane stumbled into the hall, falling flat on his face in front of the pair of them. “They’re all over the place. They’re trying to force their way towards the jettisons...” Zane managed to sputter as Oswin sat him upright. “I saw them dragging a bunch of families off to their ship in the North sector. What are they taking us for?” The Doctor helped Zane to his feet before the three of them continued down the hallway. “Just keep moving with us cadet. We need you focused if we’re going to get as many as we can off this station alive.” The Doctor instructed him as he noticed the wound in Zane’s side. “Oswin, how much further?” Oswin led the way once again as they took a turn left and headed down another hall before coming upon the door to the south sector power grid. Oswin forced open the jammed shut door and let out a small gasp at what she found inside the grid room. The couplings that powered the grid had been completely disconnected, the Krin’s venom dripping off the steel of its housing and right in front of Oswin’s feet. She took a small step back, her mind racing as to what was their next step now that it seemed impossible to bring power back to the sector. The Doctor followed her in, still supporting Zane as he looked at the damage done by the Krin and his mind began to race. “Alright the couplings are too damaged to even remotely consider repairing.” He mused as he lowered Zane on to the floor and against a wall to rest before examining the wall of circuits and wires. Oswin joined him, frantically trying to reboot power through the command menu behind the Doctor. “Controls are completely unresponsive, I can’t even get the elevators emergency transport function working.” She informed the Doctor while her fingers moved across the screens in front of her. The Doctor grabbed a flashlight from near one of the corpses that littered the ground around them before returning to his work, pulling wires across and together as fast as he could while keeping a sharp focus. “We don’t have time to reboot the entire systems mainframe, but maybe we can route power through the couplings in short burst.” The Doctor concluded before stepping away from his work just as sparks begin to fly a bit too close to his suit. Oswin’s eyes went wide as the menu's controls became responsive once again. “There’s a lot of damage to the grid down here, I’m not sure how long that will keep things going.” The Doctor advised. He reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and pulled the communicator given to him by the captain before tossing it over his shoulder to Oswin. “Captain Marie we’ve managed to get the power back on, albeit on a tentative basis from my understanding.” Oswin spoke proudly into the communicator as she snapped it on to her wrist. In return she heard nothing but static from the other end, and her heart jumped a bit. She took a few quick, short breaths before trying again. “Captain, are you getting in this?” Inside the crew station on the other side of the level, a Krin soldier raised Captain Marie into the air by the throat, looking her over rather amused. It bared its fangs, venom dripping dangerously close to the captain’s face as it did its best to intimidate her. Captain Marie however, didn’t flinch away in the slightest from the maw of the creature, which did nothing but aggravate its fellow soldier. “This sack of flesh doesn’t have proper fear of us. It is as the master told us, we have been forgotten.” The second soldier hissed angrily as it leaned over towards Captain Marie. The voice of Oswin interrupted the taunting, and Marie realized what would be necessary in the short time the brief distraction had warranted her. She quickly grabbed the standard L79 pistol that was given to her the day she was promoted to her rank from where she had it tucked behind her back and fired a shot directly into its chest. The soldier dropped immediately, and Marie scrambled towards the door. “Oswin you’ll have to get to the briefing room and make sure evacuations go smoothly, there’s no counting how many of them-“ Marie’s response into the communicator is cut off as she cried in pain and slams face first on to the floor. She looked down to see the second Krin sinking its fangs into her legs, its jaw widening as it pulled her towards its throat. The venom burned like nothing Marie could have ever imagined, and she hadn’t even realized she’d begun screaming, her voice echoing throughout the hallways of the quadrant. The wounded soldier slammed its clawed hand on to a button behind it, still clutching at its chest while the door to the crew station slammed shut once the captain was back inside. The Doctor turned to Oswin as Zane pulled himself to his feet, her eyes like glass as she reflected on what they’d all heard on the other end of her communicator. The Doctor stepped away from the power grid’s array of wires. He put a hand under Oswin’s chin and pushed it up so that their eyes met. “Listen to me cadet. Right now, the only thing that we need to focus on is making your captain proud. She’s given us a chance to give everyone else a chance.” Oswin nods and the Doctor throws Zane’s arm over his shoulder once again. “We can’t risk crossing paths with the ones we know are in the crew station, that rules out the elevator we came down in. Is there another lift on this side of the quadrant?” The Doctor asked as he peered into the hallway to make sure no danger was headed their way. Oswin raced through a series of schematics of the colony’s layout before reaching what she was searching for. “There’s one not far from us near the cafeteria.” She answered as she looked up the Doctor. “Right then, lead the way cadet.” The Doctor replied with a jerk of his head. Oswin nodded before ducking out into the hall, the Doctor and Zane right behind her. As they shuffled through the now eerily silent corridors, the Doctor glanced at the destruction done in the time since the Krin’s attack had begun. They stepped past a mother who had clearly fallen protecting her child, the child’s body marred by the venom of the carnivorous aliens so badly it was indistinguishable. “I could have gone eons without seeing the damage these things are capable of again.” The Doctor muttered as they reached the cafeteria. A thick steel door blocked the entry way, and Oswin input her access code before the door slid upwards granting them access. “You keep acting like they shouldn’t be here. Why?” Oswin wondered as they crept through the cafeteria, the light above them sputtering to stay on due to the work the Doctor cobbled together on the power grid. “The Krin wiped out countless civilizations for the sole purpose of fueling themselves in their quest to ravage the galaxy. They view themselves as the ultimate predators, there isn’t room for any other alphas. Even the Daleks think twice when they cross a Krin brigade.” He whispered, much to Oswin’s curiosity. She turned to see why his voice had dropped and stood frozen just like the Doctor and Zane once her eyes met what had caused them to freeze. Figures crept in from all corners of the room towards them, their hissing unmistakably marking them as Krin soldiers. Once they reached the shoddy lighting Oswin gasped as she stared into the faces of the universe’s elite hunters, wondering if their salivating maws would be the last thing she saw. “Don’t show a drop of fear. They feed off that, it’s like a hyper adrenaline shot to them.” The Doctor warned, to which Oswin nodded firmly and put on her bravest face. “You seem to know much about us for a flesh sack.” One of the creatures hissed from behind the Doctor and the barely conscious cadet he was holding up. “Well you read the right books at a certain point in one of your lives and you never know what might turn up.” The Doctor said with a wry smile that almost undermined the severity of the situation they found themselves in. “That’s clever, I wonder how your brains taste flesh sack.” Another of the Krin hissed as they circled the three survivors. TO BE CONTINUED IN DOCTOR WHO #3
1 Comment
Terence Jordan
10/21/2018 02:51:31 pm
This was great. The Krin are really terrible beings. You make me want to watch Doctor Who now. Great issue. Can't wait for the next.
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By Joshua Sykes"I don't want to go." Archives
February 2019
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