The Genesis Tapes - 'Skirmish'

(So just a note before the post - this is a small piece of creative writing, fanfic, whatever you want to call it, that I did to kick-start Infernoverse!'s new new feature, The Genesis Tapes - a collection of original short stories that spans the history of the Daleks in the classic series, as amalgamated by Tom Baker's Doctor when interrogated by Davros in part five/six of 'Genesis of the Daleks'. 'Skirmish' is based on the aftermath of the events that took place in the William Hartnell Doctor Who serial 'The Chase', and is staged in one of the many 'sky cities' of the planet Mechanus in that story. Hope you enjoy it!)

Command central was a mess. Three upturned, steaming Daleks lay where they had fallen, on their backs like beetles, unable to move even if life still continued inside the rotting mutant within the silver shell. Some form of projectile or explosion had blasted one wall in. A control bank sat, shattered, across one side of the room. The entire place stank of death and destruction; even the rhythmic beating of the generators had halted.

And still, there was movement.

A Mechonoid rolled deliberately across the battleground, sensors alert and positronic brain thrumming with information. Two pincer-like claws probed the air ahead of it. ROUTINE PATROL COMPLETE, it sent via a posi-link to control, WILL PROCEED WITH FURTHER PATROL VARIANT. The Mechonoid continued into a side corridor. The reflective hull of the robot was caught on the polished wall and shone like the suns of Mechanus in the artificial light of the city. A heat signal blipped on the machine’s radar for a split second, instantly overwhelmed by thermal images of the fire raging on one of the lower levels. But it was enough. Silently and efficiently, the flame weapon concealed inside the Mechonoid slid into position and primed. After pausing momentarily for more signs of life, the robot lurched forward once more.

Out of a figurative nowhere, the corridor was filled with a high, electronic rattle – a Dalek scout swerved the corner and opened fire! The Mechonoid’s system clunked into retaliation and a bright orange flame leapt from the end of its weapon, licking the Dalek’s casing. Swiping claws caught the gunstick as they flailed wildly. Unnoticed by both the Dalek and its attacker, two other Mechonoids had joined the fray and sat, squat and plainly functional, watching the violent duel.

‘Exterminate! Exterminate!’ screamed the Dalek as it was bathed in the intense heat. ‘You will be destroyed!’

Quite suddenly, the dome of the creature was flung off as, with a crunching boom, the Dalek exploded in a shower of sparks and metal.

The first Mechonoid turned to face the other two.

‘INVADER REPELLED.’ it intoned in a stuttering, hissing voice.

‘UNDERSTOOD.’ replied another. It briefly surveyed the carcass of the Dalek scout. ‘IT WOULD BE ADVISABLE TO SEARCH FOR OTHERS.’

‘AGREED.’ Said the first.

In another small room in the city of Mechanus, a black liveried Dalek Leader watched the three Mechonoids advance down the corridor together. Its cold mind promptly sprang alive with information – vectors, references and speeds, times, tactics and assault methods. Reaching an abrupt decision, the Dalek turned to the four warrior caste scouts that surrounded it.

‘Mechonoids are approaching!’ it warned, ‘Prepare for combat! Exterminate the Mechonoids! Exterminate the Mechonoids!’

The other Daleks joined in with the harsh and electrified chant, and soon the small room was filled with the flashes of the creature’s dome lights.

Nine minutes later, four Dalek warriors lined the curved wall of a strategically sound defensive forward position. The internal chronometer inside each ticked off the rels until contact was estimated to be made. Gunsticks twitched. Lenses focused. All was ready. 
Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, the three Mechonoids surged through the adjoining corridor to the control room, weapons blazing and claws extended. The air was filled with electrically charged shots from the Dalek attack squad, and for a moment everything was thrown into negative light as a Mechonoid was ripped apart by the maelstrom of irradiated particles to its exposed aerial and delicate inner mechanisms. A Dalek was spun into the wall with a snapping explosion somewhere around its midriff, breaking into flaming chunks as it went. Both sides continued heavy fire as the wrecks of the two casualties burned brightly, making a white glow around the chamber. The Black Dalek skidded sideways to avoid a slicing jet of flame, just as the fire spreading from the other Mechonoid’s weapon engulfed one of its comrades. The warrior emerged form the burning cloud screaming, and slammed into the carcass of the other. The Black Dalek took initiative.

‘Recall! Reca-a-a-all!’ it shrieked over the noise of the battle, heading for the exit as it did so. The two other Daleks took heed and retreated with their leader, still facing the enemy and laying down a consistent pattern of fire. Smoke lurched from the fatalities, obscuring the details of the corridor that lay ahead. Unnoticing, the attack squad continued, bouncing off the walls of the chamber in their haste to escape the heated battle.

‘Switch comm-lights to constant!’ ordered the Black Dalek. Immediately, six balls of light punched through the smoke, reflecting muzzily off metal walls, grasping outwards as the Dalek warriors tried to gain a sense of location.

One of the remaining Mechonoids turned to the other.

‘YOU WILL PURSUE THE INVADERS AND ELIMINATE THEM.’ It intoned, a power generator inside it thrumming with recent overuse. Circuits had begun to malfunction due to the constant and forceful application of the Mechonoid’s flamethrower in battle. Heat had ripped through the metal and plastic and rubber of the interior, causing near-irrevocable damage to fluid links and bypasses of paramount importance. The Mechonoid continued.

‘I WILL RETURN TO MECHONOID CONTROL AND INFORM THE COUNCIL OF THESE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.’

‘AGREED.’ Returned the other, flapping its claws. ‘SEND FOR REINFORCEMENTS TO AID THE SEARCH FOR THE INTRUDERS.’

‘AGREED.’

And with that, the robot turned and left down the same corridor it had entered by, leaving the other alone. For a moment, the second sat and transferred its database to the transit link via its antennae. Then, without a sound, it departed the charred control room, knocking one of the Dalek casings as it went.  

In a cleaner, lighter section of Mechanus, the Supreme Dalek sat watching a screen. The glow of the display reflected in the creature’s lens as data and statistics flashed through its mind, like minnows in a stream. Situations began to formulate in three-dimensional mapped arenas within the Dalek’s sensory data pool, plotting coordinates and vectors for tactical usage. Decisions were made.

Following its eyestalk, the Supreme Dalek turned to face the waiting extermination squad.

‘Dalek attack group in area C has lost contact with Central Control! Mechonoids have spearheaded our operative parameters!’ The bulbs of the Dalek’s indicator bulbs shone on its black casing as it continued, its voice raising to a harsh shriek, ‘Seek! Locate! Annihilate! Exterminate all Mechonoids! Exterminate!'

‘Exterminate!’

‘Exterminate!’

‘Exterminate!’

One by one, the Daleks filed out of the chamber and into the corridors beyond, their harsh chant ringing in their wake.

This war was not over.

(Next week - 'Welcome to Necros')