To say that the work was unpleasant would be putting it lightly. Everywhere William looked, people looked malnourished and weak with Daleks constantly barking their orders. “Work quota achieved in appropriate time!” called a gray Dalek with a black dome, the section leader for the mines. “Rest period will begin! You have 1,500 rels to recover! Work resumes immediately after rest!” Everyone found places to rest and comfort one another. William saw the Doctor talking to a scaly man with a tall forehead and what would have been regal looking clothes. “William! Amy! Come over here!” called the Doctor. William and Amy approached the Doctor and her scaly friend. “I’d like you all to mee Doh-Komoh, Emperor of the Draconians!” “I WASSS Emperor of that grand rassse,” replied the man. “Now I am doomed to die working in the minesss of SSSkaro!” “They’ve got humans too, Doctor,” said William. “I’m not surprised, the Daleks hate humans especially,” remarked the Doctor. “What kind of creatures are they?” asked Amy. “Living machines like the Transformers?” “What makes you say that?” asked the Doctor. “Look at that one right there.” Amy pointed out a Dalek gliding by, checking to see if any slave would try and stupidly rebel. “It was in one place earlier, and it was never still! Moving, twitching-!” “Nervous energy,” clarified William. “And I can see where you’d say that. I mean, look at Starscream and Thundercracker, bouncing their legs like that. …In fact, I think I’d call them claustrophobic.” “They’re Seekers,” replied the Doctor. “They don’t do well without a sky to fly through. And Amy, you ARE right in that they’re alive, but what you see is just the travel machine for the creature inside the casing.” “Inside?!” yelped Amy. “You mean there’s something made of flesh in there?!” “Yes,” confirmed the Doctor. “The Daleks are the mutated remains of a humanoid race known as the Kaleds. The Kaleds were engaged in a dirty nuclear war for a thousand years with another humanoid race, the Thals, for control over Skaro. The resulting mutations were accelerated by the Kaled Chief Scientist, Davros. He then conditioned the mutations to feel only hatred, then slapped those bubbling lumps of hate into those tanks.” “Hate? Like Nazi level hate?” asked William. “A thousand times worse,” corrected the Doctor. “All non-Daleks are pests to be exterminated either immediately or through prolonged work without rest.” “And they’ve got the technology to ssspread that philosssophy acrossss the ssstarsss,” said Doh-Komoh. “Silence! Silence!” barked a Dalek. “You will remain silent at all times!” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Looks like production is going as anticipated,” remarked Octus still in his Dalek alt-mode. He was talking to the Dalek Emperor through a visual call. “How long until enough Energon for refinement is collected?” asked the Emperor. “Therein lies a pesky problem,” replied Octus. “Sleep will overtake your slave labor when night falls just before enough Energon is collected to be refined. I can tell the workforce that they will work all night, if necessary.” “No!” boomed the Emperor. “Not until we learn the secrets of Energon refinement! Sleep will be permitted until we fully understand how to utilize Energon! Only then will demand increase and rest of all types be revoked!” “Understood,” complied Octus. “Return to your duties, Octus! Cybertron will be yours!” “I obey.” The call ended, then Octus glanced around the room, his eyestalk taking in all the data he needed. “…No guards. …Good! And I have all the data I need on production! The Daleks will learn more secrets of my former comrades! I shall be the Emperor of a new breed of Daleks! The Doctor will fall before our might! All enemies will be exterminated! AND UNDER MY CONTROL, THE DALEKS SHALL BECOME THE SUPREME BEINGS OF THE UNIVEEEEEEEEERRRRRSSSSEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Work had resumed in the mines. The Doctor was assigned to work with Optimus and Megatron. “So, you used to be a miner?” she asked Megatron. “A slave, yes,” replied Megatron. “My fellow miners and all those of the lower castes were forced to produce Energon for the upper castes while we got the scraps!” “Humans refer to that nonsense as trickle-down economics,” remarked the Doctor. “We used to be on the same page that change needed to happen,” said Optimus, “but…” “Let me guess, you, Prime, wanted a peaceful transition to a new government and you, Megatron, wanted to burn it all down to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch.” “A clean slate is all it takes to make a new, better government,” replied Megatron. “There must have been good things about the old government,” remarked William. “The Constitution and Bill of Rights of my world, that’s a good example. What we need in my time are politicians who are beholden to what they swore to uphold and protect, not be the puppets of uber-rich donors and the citizens said donors tricked.” He was about to strike a blue, glowing rock with a pick. “WATCH IT, FLESHLING!” yelped Megatron. William jumped in surprise and landed on his bottom before he could strike the rock. “M-Mega-?!” “That’s Energon, you dolt!” snarled Megatron. “You hit that thing hard enough, the resulting friction will cause it to explode!” “Well, what do you recommend?” asked the Doctor. “You’re the one with the most experience around here.” “We’ll have to pick around the exposed vein,” replied Megatron. “Come on, Prime. We’ve got work to do.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amy was assigned to clearing away the rocks that were dug up with Doh-Komoh. The Draconian man arched an eyebrow as he saw Amy work. “…Thossse rocksss are twissse your sssize. How-?” “That’s nothing,” replied Amy. “My hammer’s heavier.” “Hammer?” asked Doh-Komoh. “Yeah, my Piko Piko hammer. …Wondering why I haven’t escaped?” “The thought HAD crossssed my mind. …Then again, there’sss too many Daleksss.” “And, more importantly, I don’t want to leave anyone behind.” “…Your parentsss raisssed you well, Missss Rossse,” said Doh-Komoh. “Worthy of a noblewoman of my home.” “Thanks,” replied Amy. She then saw the Dalek Emperor gliding through the mines. “Look out. The boss Dalek’s here.” “Bessst we get busy,” remarked Doh-Komoh. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Emperor approached the Doctor’s group. “Report!” it boomed at the Dalek guarding the group. “Excessive heat will cause a violent expansion of energy!” replied the guard. “Mere friction between Energon crystal and tool upon tool’s impact is enough of a trigger for such an explosion!” “Megatron, you will teach all miners how to extract the crystal safely!” ordered the Emperor. “With the primitive equipment you have us using,” retorted Megatron, “that kind of hazard will hang over our heads permanently.” “The equipment will suffice!” “I can assure you, not even my former slave drivers would have allowed this!” “YOU WILL OBEY! OBEY!” The Emperor glided off without a word of explanation. “…Imbecile! He’s going to lose an entire Energon vein!” grunted Megatron. “Do not dispute with the Emperor!” barked the guard. “The function of non-Daleks is to obey their masters! Return to work immediately! IMMEDIATELY!” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few minutes later, the Doctor was called away. She was brought to the mine’s control center. “Doctor in the house,” she joked to the Daleks running the place. “Power fluctuations are affecting proper operations of all equipment!” barked the Dalek Section Leader. “You will identify the cause and perform proper maintenance, Doctor!” “…Power fluctuations?” mused the Doctor. “…I’ll see what I can do. Any tools? Ah, there they are. Let’s see…” The Doctor got to work and checked everything. There were a few stray wires, but nothing that would lead to a power fluctuation. A theory formed in her head. “…It’s working,” she said, “but I have a theory as to why you can’t use it. …I’ll need to speak with the Emperor when he next visits the mines.” “The Emperor is en route now!” replied the Section Leader. “Lead the way!” “After you.” “LEAD!” “Have it your own way.” The Doctor led the Section Leader out of the control center. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Emperor was accompanied by the entire Supreme Council. “Report!” he boomed. “The work is going to go slowly unless you give us proper tools,” replied Megatron. “The tools you have will suffice!” retorted the White and Black Supreme. “Excuse me!” called the Doctor’s voice. The rulers of Skaro then swiveled their eyestalks to the Doctor as the Section Leader brought her to them. “Doctor!” boomed the Emperor. “In the flesh,” replied the Doctor. ‘Your Section Leader had me conducting repairs and I developed a theory concerning your problem.” “Explain!” ordered the Emperor. “Well, first off, I need to make sure I’m perfectly surrounded by you lot.” The Daleks looked at each other in confusion. What was their greatest enemy planning? The Doctor looked around and smirked. “Yep! Can’t escape! Good! Now…exterminate me.” “WHAT?!” called William from his and Amy’s position. “DOCTOR, NO!” shouted Amy. “You offer your life to the Daleks?” asked the Emperor. “All just to test a theory?” “That’s the idea,” replied the Doctor. “If I’m wrong, then you’re finally rid of your greatest enemy. You lot DO still remember how to kill a Time Lord permanently, yes? Kill them beyond the hope of regeneration?” “DOCTOR!” protested William. The Supreme Council looked to the Emperor for orders. “…Your terms are acceptable, Doctor!” boomed the Emperor. “All Daleks, it is time to end our war against the Ka Faraq Gatri! EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR!” “WE OBEY!” cheered the Supreme Council as they and the Emperor aimed their gunsticks at the Doctor!