(Battletech/Doctor Who) Operation: Revival

Cursed Legacy - 9

The Great Repository
Unity City
North America
Terra
6th April, 3052

It was not far from the battle but the silence at the Great Repository was eerie.

Vlad entered the square with two other Wolf ProtoMechs following closely. Star Colonel Fetladral's own Red Wolf had fallen a couple of streets back but he had urged Vlad to keep going, so he did.

A solitary figure stood a few meters from the entrance to the pyramid, beside him stood a strange blue box that Vlad did not recognize. Through the magnified vision of his ProtoMechs display he could see Ulric smile as Vlad's machine drew into sight.

Vlad activated his external mic and speakers. "Khan Kerensky. I have come to help you."

Ulric threw his head back and laughed. "Help me, Vlad Ward? Why do you think I would need help?"

Vlad's confusion seeped into his voice. "You are not well, my Khan, but I have brought Wolf warriors. I can help you, the Doctor can help you."

"Ah, my poor young Wolf. You have no comprehension of what it is you face. I do not need your help and the Doctor wishes only to destroy me. All you have done is created a division within the Wolves, a division that will weaken them. So weakened the Jade Falcons, Smoke Jaguars and Ghost Bears will strike at you weakening themselves and the Wolves even further. Then the way will be open for the Daleks to either take full control or wipe you out completely."

With those words the door of the repository opened and a dozen red Daleks swept out of the building. They were closely followed by the Blue Dalek. The two Wolf warriors behind Vlad stepped forward into defensive positions.

Vlad felt his hopes sink. "These abominations should not even be here, Ulric. We can destroy them now and return things to how they should be."

The grating voice of the blue Dalek assaulted Vlad's comm. unit. "More Daleks will follow. We will be victorious and all of humanity will be enslaved. The Empire of the Daleks will come to pass."

The look on Ulric's face told Vlad that he was far beyond being reasoned with. "So this is where it ends?"

A fourth voice joined the conversation then. "On the contrary, Vlad, this is simply where things get put right."

"Doctor?" Vlad checked his sensors and saw a lance of BattleMechs, all in ComStar colours, enter the area. A rare dual-seat Battlemaster lead the small force in and was followed by a Stalker, a Lancelot and a Rifleman.

"Impeccable timing as always, Doctor!" Ulric stated. "You can now witness the rise of the Daleks to their place of supremacy."

"I've defeated the Daleks before, Fenric, I can defeat them again." The Doctor snarled.

Ulric smiled triumphantly. "Not this time, Doctor. Not while I protect them!"

With those words the Daleks shot forward and started firing at the assembled human forces. One of the ProtoMechs guarding Vlad went down almost immediately. The remaining Mechs scattered and opened fire at the small alien machines. The Lancelot scored a direct hit with one of its large lasers but the Dalek was unaffected. Instead a blue haze surrounded the alien dissipating the lasers energy.

"They're shielded from our weapons somehow, Doctor!" Justin called across the comm. Desperation gave his voice an edge of panic.

"It's Fenric, Ulric. He's shielding them somehow." The Doctor responded.

One of the Daleks strayed close to Vlad's one armed ProtoMech, not seeing it as an Immediate threat with its only weapon gone. The Red Wolf reached out as the Dalek sped by and grabbed it with the Mechs left hand. With a yell of pure anger Vlad threw the Dalek through the air to smash against the wall of the Repository. The alien machine exploded in a ball of flame.

"It does not mean they are indestructible." Vlad stated, his voice calm in comparison to Justin's.

Vlad turned and looked once more at Ulric, noticing a flash of doubt cross his Khans face for a brief moment. Then a Dalek was upon him and he felt his Red Wolf lean sharply to the left as a shot from the Dalek's gun slammed into its left knee. The ProtoMech stumbled falling to its knees and single hand. The Dalek stopped directly in front of him and elevated its gun stick to fire directly at the cockpit.

A sudden shadow fell across his vision and a massive metal foot swung out, smashing into the Dalek and send it spinning away in pieces. The world seemed to pause for a moment as the strange, amorphous creature within the Daleks shell was exposed. It's true alien form revealed for the first time. It was that moment that Vlad finally understood the truth. There was no saving Ulric, he was as alien now as these Daleks swarming about them.

"Allard!" he called over the comm. unit. "Use it! Take out Ulric now!"

"No!" came the Doctors voice shocking them both. "Not yet, Fenric is still inside his host. As long as he remains in Ulric's body the weapon will not work. He has to be brought out."

Vlad slammed his fist down on his console in frustration. "How?"

The Doctors voice came back quickly but slightly lower. "Ulric has to die."

The man that was Ulric Kerensky stood looking at the battle and, for the first time in this long campaign, he began to have doubt. He could protect these Daleks from the weapons of the BattleMechs but he could not save them from the raw physical assault of these giant machines. Five of the Daleks were destroyed and even as that thought crossed his mind two more met their fates as first one was thrown then another stepped on by the ComStar Mechs.

Then he saw the Lancelot advancing towards his position and the little piece of the man that remained felt cold fear as the mighty war machine drew closer.

"Vlad!" Ulric called out to his protégé in desperation. "Vlad, I am your Khan! Help me!"

He saw Vlad's ProtoMech rise to its feet and a wave of relief washed over him. A blue blur flew past him at that moment as the blue Dalek rushed out to meet the advancing Lancelot. It swept across to the right of the Mech and fired a burst that hit the Lancelot's knee joint. Sparks flew out of the joint and the leg stiffened awkwardly. The mighty Mech stumbled but did not fall, continuing its relentless advance.

The Dalek passed by again, to the left this time, firing again at the vulnerable knees of the Mech. This time the left knee shot sparks and the Lancelot did fall. A horrendous crash shook the ground as the sixty ton machine smashed down face first.

The Red Wolf limped over to stand beside Ulric, towering over the Wolf Khan. Vlad's machine remained motionless as the Lancelot lifted itself onto its left side, sending out sparks from the ferrocrete ground as it spun to face them.

Ulric smile to the prone machine as if it were a small child that had just learned an important lesson. "Never underestimate the bond of a Wolf Clansman to his Khan. Clan Wolf will serve the Daleks well."

From the machine beside him Vlads voice issued forth. "I am sorry, my Khan."

Confusion passed through Ulrics mind a second before the giant fist of the Red Wolf slammed into him, shattering bones and nearly tearing his body in two. Ulric's lifeless body was thrown five meters to land just before the Lancelot.

A pale blue haze began to seep from Ulrics broken body. It grew and began to form a shape above the Khan; it was a huge wolf, it's eyes glowing red.

"Now Justin!" yelled the Doctor urgently.

The Particle Induction Cannon in the Lancelot's right torso fired blue lightning which reached out and grasped the raw energy of Fenric in its embrace. The miasmic wolf glowed briefly, dimmed, glowed again then with a sudden and deafening roar was gone.

The Doctors voice was calmer now. "Shut it down, Justin. It's safe now."