Hell Breaking Loose: A Doctor Who/40k fic

[Ugolino]

Oh dear. Orks, space marines, and a handful of Doctor Who redshirts?

I say the redshirts last half an hour tops.

[Night_stalker]

If they have bad luck to arrive in Ork hands, but in Imperial hands they have a somewhat dent chance of not being used for target practice.

[Sinewmire]

I'm still not sure how they survived their trip through Warp Space without a Gellar Field, unless it was a plain dimensional hop, á la the Tardis?

Still, perhaps we'll see more as the story unfolds.

[Teleros]

I'm still not sure how they survived their trip through Warp Space without a Gellar Field, unless it was a plain dimensional hop, á la the Tardis?

I'm guessing it's the latter, but that the creation of the rift also played merry hell with the Warp too.

[MysteriousDarkLordv3]

Oh dear. Orks, space marines, and a handful of Doctor Who redshirts?

I say the redshirts last half an hour tops.

What sort of reefer you smokin'? Against Imperial Space Marines, a modern-era soldier is shoe-scrapings. The only way they would last a half-hour is if the Space Marines took that long to find them!

[Srelex]

"Baikonur, we should be within good distance of the anomaly within a few moments..."

Soviet cosmonaut Leonid Kizim gazed out through one of the viewports of the Salyut 7 space station as it approached the glowing anomaly hanging in orbit--it looked like some sort of gradually expanding crack in space, with bright white light leaking out. From what he had been told, it had something to do with that fancy new British spacecraft that had been launched earlier, the one sporting some sort of new propulsion system. Evidently, the stupid capitalists had skipped out simple things like tests and safety procedures so they didn't have to pay insurance, or something like that. The point was, the anomaly was growing, and naturally the Politburo was rather nervous about this. Hence, the objective they had been given was to study the anomaly with all available instruments and report back.

The station itself had been outfitted with some new instruments that Soviet engineers had come up with in co-operation with UNIT and other international organizations--Malyshev didn't know much about how they had come about, but he had heard that they had something to do with those rumors of metal men in Omsk a few years back. Either way, he wasn't into conspiracy theories, and it didn't matter right now. Flicking several switches, he waited for the monitor before him to flicker into life as they drew ever closer to that...thing. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but there seemed to be some sort of barely noticeable nagging feeling in the back of his head, urging him to get as close as possible. Probably just his scientific curiosity, he guessed.

"Hey, captain, we're getting some figures from the infra-red sensors..." Solovyov, one of three other cosmonauts aboard, waited for readouts to come up on another monitor connected another bulky computer system. "Anything on EM spectrum yet?"

"Er, no...this stupid piece of junk is still working yet..."

"Makes you wish the KGB would hurry up and steal Silicon Valley already." chucked Solovyov as he continued looking at the monitor. "Well, uh, these readings, how should I put it, er..."

"What's going on?"

"We just aren't getting any. It's negligible. It's as if the damn thing doesn't want to take any readings."

"The thing is probably broken. Check it."

"I just did. If there's anything wrong, it's definitely not in the technical manual."

"Chyort voz'mi." sighed Kizim. "Very well then. Fire the retros; I think we're close enough."

The station began to decelerate as retro rockets were ignited accordingly, as one of the other crewmen began to relay initial readouts back down to mission control, or the lack thereof. Looking at the anomaly this close up, Kizim found it almost mesmerizing; there was just something unnatural about it. Moreover, it had occurred to him that he or anyone else didn't really know what it was: some sort of gateway? A..a...energy emission of some sort? All he really knew was it was strange, glowing, and getting gradually larger. The fact that it appeared to be fucking with their readings wasn't helping.

"Control," he said, speaking into a microphone, "I think we would require a spacecraft to get as close as possible to the anomaly for proper study."

"Are you sure it is safe?"

"Gravitational effects appear to be minor. I'm not sure about radiation, but if it was producing any serious amounts of that, we would have felt it by now."

"What would you recommend?"

"I recommend we launch Laika."

Laika-1: the Soviet Union's latest exploration craft, designed as part of UNIT's little 'space fleet' along with America's Griffin module and Europe's Jacques-4; and what the Union hadn't told anyone else was that she was armed with several nuclear missiles, as defense against anything that was out there; if that thing was some sort of dimensional crack, then that would surely be sufficient defense against anything that might be encountered.

"Good that you should say that; the Kremlin just gave authorization to prep her for launch. She'll be ready in a few hours."

"Then I recommend we launch her as soon as possible." said Kizim. While UNIT and the rest dithered and fretted, the Soviet Union would act decisively. The finest spacecraft in the world would be the first to determine just what the British spacecraft had left behind, and if she was to encounter anything, then that would just be a good opportunity for the motherland to show the universe just what happened when you tried to fuck with Russia's nuclear might.

**

"Exalted Ethereal, we bare important news..."

In the citadel at the heart of the capital of T'au, Aun'Va, spiritual and political leader of the Tau Empire, turned to see the Earth Caste scientist enter his chamber bowing accordingly, carrying dataslates and other instruments. He had been expecting him to arrive ever since he had been told that the Earth Caste had made a startling discovery that required his immediate attention; now he would see it if was truly worth his time.

"Speak." he said.

"A few hours ago, our observational instruments detected an incredible spike of energy outside of our borders. Although it is closer to the realm of the Gue'la than our own, it is radiating brightly enough to be picked up easily across potentially this entire galactic quadrant. We believe that this is some sort of cosmic anomaly, the nature of which we are unsure of. Given the readings, we are currently working on the theory that it is dimensional in nature."

"What consequence does this have for us?" said Aun'Va.

"That is not all, exalted Ethereal." continued the scientist. "We have been picking up further readings across surrounding space...minute in comparison, but similar in nature. It is as if something has struck whatever may be separating dimensions, causing cracks to spread, if I may use an overly simplistic analogy. Exalted One, I fear we should expect spillout, and not just from this original anomaly."

"We shall act when we have to." said Aun'Va. "Naturally, our science and enlightenment is far ahead of that of the inferior human Gue'la, so I trust that we will be able to act faster on this than they can. Continue to keep me aware of any developments regarding this."

"Yes, enlightened one."

Aun'Va sat back in his hoverchair. The foolish, superstitious Gue'la would no doubt take this as the sign of wrath from the fictional God-Emperor they worshipped, and their leaders would no doubt try to blind them with lies, just like they had attempted to intimidate the Tau with obvious, ludicrous fibs about the size of their Imperium--as if they really thought that he would accept that they numbered over a million worlds! But regardless, this intrigued him. Hopefully, if the Earth Caste could determine the cause of this, they would be able to exploit it for the Greater Good.

**

The Warp was disrupted. Something had happened that had eluded precognition--something that was not supposed to happen. Right now thing were sullied, muddled...this had to be rectified.

Farseer Taldeer of the Eldar sat up within her chambers and considered. This was not just something of the Warp, she thought. If her instincts were correct, it was worse.

[Night_stalker]

Wait, the ELDAR didn't see this coming? Well, this could be a problem.

[S J C]

If that station is packing U.N.I.T. grade Nukes then I almost pity anything trying to come through since its about that point they deployed the planet busters.

[Ugolino]

Well, their foresight is based on the Warp...

And why is this looking like Dawn of War: Whoniverse edition? Earth might end up like Kronus or Kauruva, with every faction arriving for no apparent reason and getting into a fight...

[Srelex]

Shaskvar of the Science Caste tried to discreetly get as close as possible to the humans while pretending to inspect one of the experimental flux capacitors in the chamber; he was aware that the humans had finally deployed the propulsion drive that they had forced him and the other members of the Science Caste they had 'recruited' to contribute to, and judging by the sound of it, it had not been a success. Naturally, he had anticipated such an occurrence; they were a primitive and arrogant species, but nonetheless, unlike his brothers, he saw merit in some of them; to his own surprise, he found himself finding a fleeting sense of remorse for any of them that may have been harmed as a result of the drive's activation.

"I just received word from Geneva." the uniformed one with hair under his nose was saying to the fat one, and the gaunt one who called himself 'Hendrickson'--the one who had forced him and his brothers to essentially serve as slaves in this place, after nearly destroying their shelter. Branding them 'Silurians', a name which, as far as he could gather, was inaccurate even by their own strange scientific standards. It was unfortunate that his sub-species lacked the psionic abilities of his cousins...although some of the apes had been friendlier to him and his kin, he would have found it most satisfying to fry this Hendrickson's arrogant mind out from within.

"It appears that the Soviets are moving, far quicker than we expected." continued the hairy-nosed one. "We're moving to get our own mission to this anomaly as fast as possible, but I haven't been told anything specific..."

"Damn communists." spat the fat one, glancing at Hendrickson. "It appears that even when UNIT gets involved getting their co-operation is bloody difficult."

"As far as I'm concerned, all the better." said Hendrickson smugly. "If there are any...side effects to this anomaly, then let them experience it, rather than risk our own men."

"You know, I heard you were quite an arsehole, 'Sir William', but right now you're just taking the cake." said hairy-nose angrily. His face was beginning to flush red--a symptom of their annoyance, thought Shaskvar. He had observed that much by now. "I don't know how many arses you licked in Geneva to strong-arm the Si...Earth Reptiles we found in Ireland for your little games here, I don't know how many lives we just lost because of your bloody incompetence, and I certainly don't know why my superiors have been so lenient with you! As far as I am concerned, we are going to do all we can to retrieve the crew of Drake, alive or dead, and you are going to use all your so-called 'expertise' to help us. Am I perfectly clear?"

"Brigadier, Brigadier, Brigadier." laughed Hendrickson. "Quite frankly, your bluster and shouting means very little to me. I've accomplished more in this facility than the rest of the world in a few years than the rest of the world has in decades. With some help from the UN and our scaly friends, but nevertheless, my vision has played out perfectly, and will continue to do so. And soon, I can assure you, we will be entering a new stage of human history beyond your comprehension..."

"Spare me!" said the fat one. "So you're telling me that Drake I disappearing was all 'part of your vision'? Just what else are you hiding from us?"

"Sir..." A human laboratory assistant stepped up, carrying some papers. "Cannes has also confirmed that the anomaly matches the profile of a dimensional rift..."

"Oh, that's bloody marvelous." muttered the one called 'Brigadier'. "I trust you expected this too, Sir William?"

"It'll all be clear soon." smiled Hendrickson cryptically.

"Either way, given my past experience with such things, I'm taking no chances. I'm going to inform Geneva to go straight to Red Band...now, Sir William, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and I expect them to be answered truthfully..."

**

"That is one big motherfucker..."

Captain Rourke had been aware that the ship approaching them was quite large to say the least after he had first laid eyes upon it, but now it filled their entire field of vision and still appeared to be getting larger. It had launched fighter-like craft that had passed by the Drake capsule, but now they weren't even responding to their radio messages, it appeared. He turned around to see Higgins, one of the crew, inspecting one of the astrographical instruments; he applauded that man's ability to keep his head clear and conduct science even in such a situation like this.

"Sir, judging by stellar placement, we're in the Milky Way, probably in the galactic east." he reported. "I am reading some...strange bodies...that shouldn't be there, but otherwise, most of it appears familiar."

"Very good, Higgins." nodded Rourke. "Heads up, everyone. I think we're about to make First Contact..."

The capsule juddered as it approached what looked like a hangar bay entrance in the side of the ship's immense, ornately decorated hull; Rourke wondered just what sort of industrial and resource base these people had, to be able to build such a thing. Was this sort of thing standard for them? Was it their equivalent of some sort of frigate? As the Drake was pulled into the opening, with what looked like emergency cranes latching onto it, he braced himself and headed for the airlock.

A few moments passed before the ship violently juddered in concurrence in a loud clang as it was settled on what sounded like a cold metal floor. Rourke began work on opening the airlock when the sound of something powering up came from outside, before the metal inner airlock door in front of him began to glow and melt through; the heat was enough to scorch his uniform slightly and force him to step back. A few moments passed before both doors were melted through, with what looked like some sort of hooded man wielding a gun-like device standing there.

"Greetings!" said Rourke slowly and loudly, stepping forward. "On behalf of..."

Arms reached in and grabbed him, pulling him out into a dank hangar that smelt of engine fumes and unoiled machinery, with what sounded like muffled tannoy announcements booming out from deeper within the immense vessel. Standing there, aiming guns at him, were several armored troopers and a man in what looked like colorful and embellished naval uniform, and standing next to them...Rourke, even after laying eyes on this ship, found himself taking a step back in surprise. A nine-foot tall man with stony, grizzled features in a bulky suit of blue powered armor, carrying what looked like a very large automatic weapon, looking down on him with a stare that looked like it could shatter concrete lined with titanium.

Immediately, the armored man shouted something in that same strange guttural language at him, just as one of the crew emerged with the UNIT translation device.

"I've refined it a bit..." he whispered aside to Rourke. "Should be more accurate now..."

He pressed a play button: "State your origin before the servants of the God-Emperor, lest you value your lives!"

"Oh, shit." muttered Rourke.

[S J C]

Oh shit Sir William is a Chaos cultist?

[Night_stalker]

He doesn't worship the Emperor. In the Imperium's eyes, he's a heretic.

[S J C]

He doesn't worship the Emperor. In the Imperium's eyes, he's a heretic.

He's never been exposed to the light of the Emperor, Thus he needs education in his divine light, As do countless other planets untouched by his divine light.

But ripping open a new universe to the dark gods and his comments that this is all according to plan scream cultist to me.

[Srelex]

"Commander, we've just received word from Geneva that the Soviets will be launching a mission to the Fissure...when they do, we're to track it with NASA."

UNIT's Orbital Tracking Post in Iceland, a facility containing equipment capable of spotting anything from incoming asteroids to extraterrestrial vessels as far out as the Asteroid Belt, had been filled with commotion ever since the detection of the Fissure, as UNIT had now decided to code-name the anomaly apparently caused by the activation of the Baker Drive. The man in charge of the facility, a burly former Canadian military officer by the name of Victor, had seen action during the Krynoid incursion in the Black Forest last year, the Autons, Earth Reptiles...but this? For some reason he couldn't pin down, this development disturbed him more than the others he had seen during his career as a UNIT officer.

For now, with NASA and the Chinese Space Agency having both cancelled all launches, the tracking post was to monitor everything currently floating about in orbit; the computers here had proved insufficient to identify just where the Fissure led to. Apparently, one of UNIT's science facilities, in Cannes, had identified it as a dimensional anomaly of some kind, which just raised more questions as far as Victor was concerned. In his experience, fucking about with the fabric of the universe like that...usually didn't end well.

"Sir?" one of his lieutenants approached him as he stood in the main command chamber of the post, surrounded by banks of computers and monitors displaying the various trajectories of everything being tracked by the arrays. Multinational UNIT personnel, at full alert, were posted at almost every one, studying and analyzing the readings.

"Yes?"

"Top also feels that an anomaly radiating that amount of energy could attract...some uninvited guests. They're advising that our GODA system be fully activated."

GODA. Ground-Orbital Defense Array. A worldwide network of missile batteries constantly pointing high-powered nuclear weapons into the skies; if Geneva was to give the order, then they'd go all the way up to Z-warheads, but UNIT protocol strictly dictated that as a last resort. Victor knew that Geneva had also appropriated a number of GODA Z-warheads for 'Osterhagen', whatever the hell that was. In any case, what they were saying in this case seemed to make sense. A nagging feeling in the back of his head advised him that bad shit was going to go down, and thus all preparations were to be taken.

"Affirmative." he nodded. "Get on the horn to the GODA site in Reykjavik and see to it that those warheads are armed."

"Copy that..."

As he walked off, Victor froze as several nearby personnel monitoring the tracking readouts sat up. Commotion broke out a few moments later as the large board taking up one of the walls, displaying all known orbital objects against a map of the world, began to flash as a newer one appeared--right out of the Fissure's position. Anxiety pulsed through him--he hoped this wasn't as he had feared. All that his mind could think of now was hoping that this wasn't some abomination from beyond dimensions, come to wreck havoc on Earth.

"Sir! We've confirmed that an unknown object has appeared out of the Fissure!"

"Shit. Shit. Shit." he breathed. A few moments, and the computers would be able to produce a better analysis. A few moments that seemingly went by for hours.

"Readouts confirm that it's a spacecraft of some kind, about 1500 meters long." announced one of the personnel. "We'll be receiving images from SATCOM in a moment."

Victor turned around a few seconds later as grainy black and white images, faxed from one of UNIT'S SATCOM facilities, whirred out of a printer. Snatching them up, he took in what they displayed; a sharply-prowed spacecraft that looked like a cross between a Roman galley and a cathedral of some kind, looking almost Gothic in style. The thing was sporting what definitely seemed to him to be torpedo tubes of some kind. Evidently, it was a warship, or at least one capable of posing a threat to human civilization.

"I need to know if GODA's got this." he announced. "This motherfucker looks armed to me."

"We're receiving a transmission..." one of the personnel then announced. "It's on several wavelengths..."

"Put it through the translation computers."

He waited a few moments as the computers took their time in processing the signals being beamed down from orbit, as tape spools span and boards clicked and whirred. To his knowledge, this was the world's first encounter with something from another dimension. History would either be made here, or come to an end.

"We've translated the first segment, sir..."

"Play it."

"Speaking is Captain Malharr of Cobra destruction-ship Firestorm. Representing fleet of Emperor-deity. Announce yourselves now. All your planet are belong to us."

"Get me on the horn to Geneva. Stat." growled Victor. Shit was definitely gonna go down.

[Night_stalker]

So, the Imperial navy just sent in a destroyer to check the portal out? I don't get goods odds for UNITs defenses suriving past their first salvo if they fire. Can't wait to see how they deal with Earth=Terra...

[Crayz9000]

All your planet are belong to us...?

I'd LOL if it wasn't such an old, tired joke... although it is still amusing in context as a mistranslation.

[Xon]

So, the Imperial navy just sent in a destroyer to check the portal out? I don't get goods odds for UNITs defenses suriving past their first salvo if they fire. Can't wait to see how they deal with Earth=Terra...

I don't give good odds for the destroyer surviving getting hit by UNITs missiles. Those Z-warheads are inter-planetary planet cracker missiles.

[Satori]

What, I'm the only one who thought that Hendrickson = the Master?

[Night_stalker]

So, the Imperial navy just sent in a destroyer to check the portal out? I don't get goods odds for UNITs defenses suriving past their first salvo if they fire. Can't wait to see how they deal with Earth=Terra...

I don't give good odds for the destroyer surviving getting hit by UNITs missiles. Those Z-warheads are inter-planetary planet cracker missiles.

Yeah, but the sacrifice of the poor destroyer will allow the rest of the Imperial task force to find the coordinates of the launch sites and open fire. Incidnentally, how many Z-warheads do they have anyway?