Made For War (Mentor Daleks)

[Imperial Overlord]

Two meter long tracked robots laid steel beams along the ground with their manipulator arms, joining them together with welding attachments. In the devastated ruins of Cherilon's cities, thousand of construction 'bots labored, turning raw materials and rubble into new facilities. New manufacturing lines for construction 'bots was the highest priority, followed by the facilities to construct the defences to reinforce the Sontaran hold on this world. Then would come the great clone facilities and the probic gas plants that would produce and nourish the next generation of Sontarans while arms factories and shipyards were being laid.

All of these things required resources and there was only so much recyclable material in the cities. The transportation networks had been spared so they would be easy to repair and put into service. Legions of extractor robots, constructed in the new factories, would strip the planet bare feeding the inexhaustible hunger of the Sontaran Empire.

Of course there weren't enough 'bots yet and the planet wasn't fully pacified. While the population and military centers had been smashed, bands of survivors and guerrillas existed at the fringes and occasionally disrupted Sontaran operations. Construction 'bots like these were prime targets.

Five Sontarans supervised the scene. They were bored. A guerrilla attack on a place where actual troops were present was very unlikely, which meant that they were stuck minding a dozen slave labourers and a half dozen precious construction machines as they rebuilt the railway. Scanners periodically swept the barren hills around them, but they were absent of large animal life.

One of the slaves collapsed mid way through hauling a load of steel from the supply car to the construction 'bots. He was a Skarosian, imported from another conquered world to help ease the labour requirements. "Get up," said Corporal Heldren. The Skarosian twitched and tried to pull himself up before falling down again.

"Useless," said Private Tren. Heldren raised his rifle and shot the Skarosian in the small of the back. Flash heated tissues exploded violently, splattering goblets of gore over the surrounding ground.

"The rest of you continue working or you'll get the same," said Heldren. The Skarosians staggered forward, trying to manage their loads. This lot was nearly useless. He would probably terminate them all in a day or two.

The heat on the plains wasn't helping. The Sontaran armour had temperature controls, and of course Sontarans were quite resistant to extremes of temperature, but the feeble slaves were wilting under it. Another weak species doomed to extinction.

Tren walked forward, passing by a stand of the local cacti to keep up with the construction 'bots. Heldren turned back towards the car, watching the slaves fetch the next loud.

"Corporal!" shouted Stans, pointing. Heldren spun. Several of the cacti had grappled Tren. He raised his rifle and hesitated. He didn't have a clear shot and besides, the rifle was overkill. He slung it and ran towards the soldier. He drew his laser rod.

The white haired cacti seemed were managing to restrain Tren, an incredible accomplishment. One seemed to be working at his helmet seal. Heldren took at step forward and aimed carefully. He fired, blowing of the limb in an explosion of boiling sap.

Two of the cacti rushed at him, moving with speed almost equal to a Sontaran. Heldren blew two large holes in the central mass of one, which caused it to collapse.

The other practically fell on him. Other cacti closed. "Help!" he shouted. Two more cacti closed on him. One was feeling around his helmet seal. He was stronger than they were, but he was outnumbered. He tried to free up his gun hand and failed.

He could see his men now, out of the corner of his eye. The cacti scattered around the road had converged on them and the slaves, taking them by surprise as the focused on the ones around Tren. They had blown six of them apart, but it had been too late. They were being swarmed now.

A gust of hot air let him know that his helmet seal had been breached. A sharp pain shot through his body as a cluster of needles was driven through his flesh by the varga plant behind him. He was born to the ground as his muscles seized.

The Dalek counter attack had begun.

[NecronLord]

Varga plants! Everyone loves varga plants!

[The Grim Squeaker]

Hurrah!
Update and killer cactus plant zombies!

[Crom]

Planting homicidal cacti in the wake of their retreat? Don't fuck with the Daleks, mang.

[Darth Yoshi]

Sweet! New chapter! Keep it coming, man.

[Wyrm]

Killer cacti for the win!

The best part is, Heldren and pals are now part of the swarm!

[Darth Nostril]

This and the previous story are just made of awesome

[Spice Runner]

Holy crap this is awesome. I eagerly await the next chapter. Ultimate victory!

[Crom]

God, now I want to read a Marvel Universe/Mentor Dalek crossover where the Mento Daleks face off with the Annihilation Wave and Phalanx.

[NecronLord]

Holy crap this is awesome. I eagerly await the next chapter. Ultimate victory!

If you've not listened to Big Finish's Dalek Empire series... Ultimate victory indeed; the Mentor's daleks semi-benevolenty eventually take over their entire universe.

[Imperial Overlord]

Skaro seethed with activity. The world was half dead, but it was still a treasure house of resources to those with the Dalek's ability to extract them. Assembly lines matched to clone tanks and flash learning imprintors produced new armies of Daleks daily. Colossal shipyards stretching over kilometers were swarming with construction droids as they fleshed out the skeletons of new warships. Every gram of available material, every neuron of the their genius intellects, and every erg of their civilization's power was focused on war. The Daleks would not be defeated.

A Dalek with a red casing set with black orbs, thirty centimeters taller than ordinary Daleks and marked with gold trim, glided through rounded metal hallways. She stops in front a metal door and transmits her arrival to the city computer. The doors slides open and she glides inside.

The Dalek Supreme turns away from the display wall to face her. Their casings are of equal size, both enhanced with thicker armour and housing expanded computer systems to assist them in their duties. "Dalek Caas, reporting as ordered," she said.

"Are your forces ready to begin the operation?" asked the Dalek Supreme.

"The special operations group is ready. Projections indicate the operation will be a complete success. Dalek forces should be reconfigured to conform with my task force."

"If your Daleks perform as projected, they will be. There are doubts about your equipment and methodology."

"The weapons will increase Dalek battlefield effectiveness by one hundred five percent when combined with the new organization and tactics. The risk to individual Daleks will be minimized by our safety procedures and overall Dalek casualties will be reduced. Failure to employ these measures is illogical."

"That is why I have authorized your mission and put the equipment into production," said the Dalek Supreme. "There must be positive results before widespread deployment commences."

"Understood. When will my task force be sent into battle?"

"Immediately," said the Dalek Supreme. "Intelligence indicates heavier than normal Sontaran communication traffic on planets seeded with varga plants. Reinforcements have been deployed in order to combat the varga and hold the planets against the anticipated Dalek assault. Dalek Rek's fleet will by pass these worlds to engage the main body of the Sontaran fleet remaining in this sector. You will strike at three worlds simoultaneously, appearing to be a long range Marauder squadrons to catch them off guard.

"After you have secured the worlds the Sontarans will send additional units to try and recapture their worlds and their infrastructure investment. Dalek Rek will then attack, while their fleet main body is at it's weakest. You will then be relieved and reinforced."

"Understood. We will not fail."

"You must not fail."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three Dalek saucers flew through the Cherilon's outer system. On the command deck of the central saucer four Daleks were connected to a central console through their manipulator arms. Their casings were white with black globes. One swivelled his head dome away from the console while maintaining his connection to the data flowing through his computers. "Our presence has been detected by the Sontarans."

"That does not matter," said Dalek Caas. She glided around the console display. "Send the transmission."

"I obey," said the Dalek. "Transmission sent."

"Signal the first wave they are about to depart," continued Dalek Caas.

A communication screen glowed into life, displaying the dome of a Black Dalek. "We are ready to begin the attack."

"Commencing in five rels," said Dalek Caas.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a battered and scorched plain, no life stirred except for varga plants. The Sontarans had blasted the ground to secure it as a staging zone, the Daleks had detonated neutronic mines to fry the Sontaran advance, and the Sontarans had nuked it again in a futile attempt to kill of the increasingly dangerous menace of the varga plants.

The Sontarans' effort had been mostly futile. The Daleks had engineered the mutant progenitors of the varga plants to be even more robust and lethal than their progenitor species, which was already one of the nastiest survivors of the Neutronic Wars. The blasts had killed a number of the plant/animal hybrids, but the theoretically lethal radioactivity only encouraged their growth by killing off their competition for resources.

Beyond the plain the Sontarans and their machines and conscripted slaves had begun converting the ruined city into a Sontaran war factory. Stone and steel had been cannibalized to form framework and walls while construction machines created automated assembly lines to create more construction robots, clone tanks, and the machines that would assemble weapons, munitions, and warships. The first army would graduate within two years, green but equipped with everything from body armour to sonic probes to warships. That is, within two years if the varga plants didn't put everything behind schedule.

Now five buried masts emerged from the sand of the thrice nuked wastelands. The machinery the Daleks had buried deep beneath the earth had remained dormant, waiting for the signal which had finally arrived. Now it was no longer passive. The antenna were at least a kilometer apart and extended five meters above the ground.

The air around each antenna shimmered and emitted a soft, white light. The light died away, but the plain around the antennas was no longer empty. Bulky machines with large dish emitters now stood by the antennas, accompanied by scores of Daleks.

The Black Dalek turned in place. Like the rest of the first wave, he was mounted on a transolar disk which was tightly clamped to the bottom of his armour. The powerful repulsor and additional power core, connected to his own casing with Dalekenium power leads, greatly augmented the Daleks mobility and endurance.

The Black Dalek utilized the long range communication system. "Transmat successful, the first wave has arrived. We are within striking range of Sontaran industrial facilities. Force field generators have arrived and are active, shielding us from tactical fire support from orbiting Sontaran warships. Force fields set to allow transmat beam on the preselected frequency if proceeded by the proper code."

"Understood," said Dalek Caas. "Second wave will commence in twenty rels."

The Black Dalek rose two meters into the air, his transolar disk kicking up a cloud of dust. "All Daleks attack. Neutralize Sontaran defensive weapon emplacements and capture all ground to space defense systems for Dalek use. For Dalek victory!"

"Victory!" shouted back the other Daleks as they rose into the air. "Victory!" Swarms of Daleks swooped towards the the dark mass of the Sontaran industrial complex. "Victory for the Daleks!"

[NecronLord]

Victory for the Daleks! Ah, they do love their catchphrases. In any incarnation.

[Crom]

Do the Time Lords exist in this universe?

[The Grim Squeaker]

Do the Time Lords exist in this universe?

Even if they do, so what?
The scale of things so far are far beneath the interests of the time lords, and may not even interest even those freak extroverts such as the doctor. (Both sides are space faring, even if one is smaller, and nothing special on the galactic scale is occuring so far)

[Imperial Overlord]

The air around the antennas shimmered and glowed softly, marking the arrival of another transmat beam. Darker shapes appeared within the diffuse cloud of light and then the light was gone, revealing new Dalek attack groups. "All Daleks advance," ordered the Black Dalek in charge.

Above them the Daleks on transolar discs swooped down towards the Sontaran industrial complexes. The Sontarans had fortified the area, of course, mounting force fields to protect against orbital bombardment and ground to space batteries. These were of no use against their attackers, but their more conventional heavy weapon emplacements were.

Missile contrails streaked through the sky. The Dalek formations broke open, allowing most of the them to fly harmlessly through the air. An electronic shriek cut through the com channels as a Dalek fell through the air, his casing breached and burning. Scarlet and violet energy beams clawed at the sky from a score of bunkers and fortified weapon sites. Two more Daleks fell from the sky as burning wreckage.

"Concentrate fire by attack group," ordered the Black Dalek. "Maximum fire power. Neutralize!" Clusters of blue-white energy beams converged on gun emplacements and missile batteries. Explosions sent chunks of metal, concrete, and hardened ceramics flying through the air. "Neutralize! Neutralize!"

Beneath them and behind them, a small army of Daleks rolled over the ground toward the grim Sontaran complex. "Acquiring targeting data from first wave," said an aide to the Black Dalek in charge. "Relaying data to all attack groups."

"Priority targets are Sontaran heavy weapon emplacements, bunkers, and block house barracks," said the Black Dalek. "They must be engaged and destroyed. They must not prevent the first wave from accomplishing their mission."

"We obey," chorused the attack group leaders.

"Daleks nearing long range of Sontaran weapon batteries," said another aid.

"All Daleks, prepare to receive enemy fire," said the Black Dalek.

Above the Sontaran complex the Daleks of the first wave fired at any Sontaran who exposed himself and the surviving heavy weapon emplacements. Explosions blew chunks out of the grim and dark slab-like structures that housed the Sontarans and built their war machines. A half dozen more Dalek casings were burning on the ground. "First objective is accomplished," ordered the Black Dalek. "Stage two is to commence. Secure buildings by attack group."

The Dalek air swarm broke up into clusters of a half-dozen Daleks each. Each cluster zoomed towards a building, with the larger facilities being targeted by several clusters. Force field generators, factories, cloning facilities, and ground to space weapon controls. The Sontaran buildings didn't have entrances near the top for Daleks on transolar discs. The Daleks aimed their gunsticks and made their own. More rubble fell on the Sontarans below.

A Dalek glided through a breach in a two kilometer long block. The floor was lined with gigantic vats, each one five meters in radius and ten meters tall. Every level above that was crammed with pods formed out of a hard, transparent plastic filled with reddish fluid. Monitors and interface links were attached to every pod. There were more than a quarter of a million pods and each one held a Sontaran clone.

A massive series of computers monitored everything and a small legion of of robots maintained the automated equipment and executed the command of the overseers. The three Sontarans who ran the facility were sitting in circular command deck near the top, overseeing the entire facility and its far flung sprawl of catwalks and gestation pods. The arrival of the Daleks had them reaching for their weapons.

Ordinarily they would only be carrying sidearms, but when faced with an extremely well armoured foe, standard Sontaran procedure was to issue heavier weapons to all personnel. After all, every Sontaran was a soldier.

The Dalek's eyestalk swung up towards the Sontaran command center and it rose up, it's gunstick swinging up as it looked for targets. The Sontarans fired their rifles. Two energy beams struck the Dalek, blasting open the armour. The Sontarans fired another volley, and the burning shell of the Dalek fell a hundred meters toward the floor, smashing through a pair of catwalks on its way down.

The next Dalek fired, bathing one of the Sontarans in a corona of blue-white light. The super soldier spasmed and fell, joined a moment latter by another Sontaran. The third put a pair of energy bolts into the grill just beneath the Dalek's dome. The decapitated Dalek fell, unleashing an electronic shriek as it toppled. The Sontaran glowed brilliantly, his bones visible through his armour, and fell. The remaining Daleks flew up to the circular bank of command consoles.

Outside, on the ground, the exchange of weapons fire had begun. Half a dozen Dalek casings burned as their comrades advanced around them, filling the air with particle beam fire as they relentlessly bombarded Sontaran positions. "Remaining Sontaran positions are heavily fortified and are resisting Dalek firepower," said the Black Dalek. "Group one, go to full power and advance to the front of the formation."

In each of the five Dalek attack groups, three Daleks moved from the center of the attack group to the front of the line. They were the same height as the rest of the Daleks, although their casings were wider. They lacked the sophisticated multifunctional eyestalk, possessing dome with an all around vision strip and dedicated targeting sensors. Their computer systems were rudimentary compared to the casings of other Daleks and they lacked the manipulator arm and gunstick. Instead the top half of their shells were encased in turret that housed a stubby energy cannon.

The massive power core that fed their weapon systems was a hazard even to a race as radiation resistant as the Daleks. Massive use of antiradiation drugs, initially designed for Skarosian humanoids, helped mitigate the danger somewhat as were limitations on how long a Dalek could operate the shell and operating procedures than minimized the amount of time it spent at full power. Even still, they were a hazard to its operators' health and their deployment was under strict limitations. This was the first time they had been used in combat.

A pair of violet beams that would have blown through the armour of an ordinary Dalek left shallow scars on the hull of the lead Special Weapon Dalek. A missile struck a Special Weapon Dalek and blew it apart, the force of the explosion knocking two ordinary Daleks next to it aside like bowling pins. "Neutralize!" the Black Dalek ordered. "Maximum firepower!"

"We obey," the Special Weapons Daleks chorused. Blue-white energy bolts slammed into fortified Sontaran bunkers and weapon emplacements. Fire and rubble blasted up into the sky and huge bites were blown in buildings as Dalek beams hit home. They fired again. And again. Where they directed their weapons, nothing but burning pits and piles of rubble remained.

"Bring power down to minimum levels," the Black Dalek ordered. "Return to the rear. All other Dalek units advance and neutralize!" The Daleks coasted over the scarred ground and glided over burning pits and the dried out river bed. Eyestalks swivelled as they looked for Sontarans to kill. Occasionally the sound of Dalek beam weapon fire split the air as a brief fire fight erupted. The shooting never lasted for long.

Inside cloning facility the Daleks landed their transolar discs at the computer banks and extended their suckers. They did not directly touch the computers. "Interfacing," said the lead Dalek. "Encountering Sontaran defences. Activating effectors. Overriding system. Override successful. Gaining access to command subroutines. Command of system achieved. Ordering the flushing and recycling of all Sontaran clones."

Another Dalek spoke. "Resetting clone tank gestation parameters to that for Dalek embroyos. Downloading Dalek flash learning program. Reset successful. Facility will be ready to accept genetic material for growing Daleks in two thousand rels."

"Informing Dalek Kel of our success. Confirming. Ground to space defences and most manufacturing facilities are under our control. Second wave Daleks now moving in to neutralize Sontaran survivors. The Daleks are victorious!"

Eyestalks swivelled to the cloning pods, which were being flushed out even as they spoke, their biological material to be recycled to feed a new generation of Daleks which would arise on this planet. A new generation which they would command and lead into battle among the stars. "The Daleks are victorious!" they chanted.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Competent super Soldier Sontarans<<<Heavy Weapon's Daleks . Booyah!

[Starglider]

As I read that scene my main thought was 'this would make a cool RTS game'.

Though I am a little disturbed to learn that the Daleks have Culture effector technology.

Good stuff as usual.

EDIT; gah, 'RTS', not 'FPS'.

[Crom]

Do Daleks field something akin to field medics? I keep hoping that some of Daleks who were hit survived.

Even if they do, so what?
The scale of things so far are far beneath the interests of the time lords, and may not even interest even those freak extroverts such as the doctor. (Both sides are space faring, even if one is smaller, and nothing special on the galactic scale is occuring so far)

I asked because I was curious. I certainly am not insisting they show up in the story.

[Imperial Overlord]

Do Daleks field something akin to field medics? I keep hoping that some of Daleks who were hit survived.

Most died. A few took hits that disabled the shell, but didn't kill the Dalek inside. They are tennacious little bastards. The Daleks don't have field medics, but they do have medically trained personnel as part of their normal force compliment and surviving Daleks will be treated as they secure the area.

[NecronLord]

Though I am a little disturbed to learn that the Daleks have Culture effector technology.

Well, the canon Time War ones do have effector-alikes of some flavour. They manipulate electronics without any physical contact in well over half their appearances in the new series.

And yeah, the Mentor's daleks, at least, have hospital facilities.

[Imperial Overlord]

As I read that scene my main thought was 'this would make a cool RTS game'.

"Dude, taking out a Sontaran base is totally easy. Just tech up so you have transmats in the heavy saucers and beam in the first wave. Have 'em be mostly soldiers with a few technician Daleks, all with the transolar disc upgrade. Rush the base while the second wave advances on the ground. The soldiers will soak the fire and the techies will take over the building. Have a Black Dalek and some Special Weapons Daleks in the ground attack force. Use the Black's "Maximum Firepower" spell and you'll totally wipe out the base defences. It's easy, trust me.

"If playing Sontarans, you got to zerg rush early game."

[Imperial Overlord]

The Dalek fleet sped through the void, moving faster than light and operating beneath a sensor shroud which made them invisible to long range scanners. Beneath the shroud were over a thousand golden saucers, ranging from scouts and attack ships to massive battlecruisers. Flashing along the flanks of the fleet were the Nentari needle ships alongside the smooth lines of the swift frigates and destroyers of the Patrol. At the core of the formation were the massive egg shaped Rethenian battleships and the blocky retrofitted Dalek battlecruisers. Nearly two thousand combat vessels, with half as many support ships trailing them in the void, rushed to meet the Sontarans.

Ahead of them was the great expanse of the Sentinel Nebula. Unmanned Sontaran stations generated a stealth field of their own and hiding its inhabitants from long range scan. On board the command ships of the Dalek fleet, powerful long range ranger scopes were focused on the nebula.

On the bridge of the Sword of the Stars, Dalek Marr examined the readings relayed to his station. "Ranger scopes have detected Sontaran shrouding stations and exterior pickets. Seventeen battlecruisers on picket duty have been detected."

"Projection of Sontaran fleet size?" asked Dalek Rek.

"Insufficient data," replied Dalek Zarn.

"Destroy the Sontaran vessels and shrouding stations," ordered Dalek Rek.

"Entering missile range," said Dalek Marr.

"Firing," said Dalek Vexx. "First missile wave calculated at sure kill saturation numbers."

"Ranger scopes detecting additional Sontaran vessels," said Dalek Marr.

"Add them to the tactical display," commanded Dalek Rek.

"I obey," replied Dalek Marr. Missiles from the leading ships converged on the shrouding stations, fifty meter diameter spheres of dull metal that sported large dish antennas. The neutronic warheads of the missiles detonated, devouring the stations in an all consuming flash of light that left nothing but hot gas in their wake.

The missile swarms had their numbers thinned by Sontaran energy beams and point defence emplacements. Blinding flashes marked the missiles' impacts. Force fields were overloaded by multiple hits and the Sontaran ships were blasted into incandescent gas and radioactive scrap by the deadly barrage.

Dalek Rek watched the Sontaran ships vanish from the tactical display, but he did not fail joy. Even as the Sontarans died new ships were sprouting on the display. Over two hundred and more were appearing every second. "Drop the stealth shield," he ordered. "Full power to force fields and beam weapons. Engage the Sontarans with every available weapon." More than four hundred Sontaran ships were on the screen and more were still appearing.

Gigantic swarms of missiles appeared on the display as the allied fleet launched. "Have the Rethenian ships move to the front of the formation," ordered Dalek Rek. "Patrol and Nentari ships are to close as the horns of a modified C formation and commence enemy envelopment." The huge swarm of Dalek missiles were nearing their targets.

The Dalek missile swarm was dwarfed by the mass of incoming Sontaran missile fire. The tactical screens were showing more than a thousand Sontaran vessels and still climbing. "Battle computers coordinating point defence," said Dalek Vexx. "Data from previous battles and analysis of captured equipment has increased accuracy of defensive fire by seven percent."

"Engage closest Sontaran targets with beam weapons," ordered Dalek Rek.

"I obey," said Dalek Vexx. A thousand short lived explosions marked the death of missiles as they were burned out of the void. The swarms flew passed each other, twisting and turning, as they sought out their targets. A hundred miniature stars flared and died as they struck their targets.

White-hot forced particle beams from Rethenian battleships hammered Sontaran warships. Ruby red lasers and violet disruptor beams flashed back from the Sontarans as Patrol and Nentari ships maneuvered into position. Blue-white neutronic particle beams flared on force fields or tore Sontaran hulls to pieces. Dozens of ships had been destroyed. Thousands were dead. More Sontaran ships appeared on the tactical display as the shroud disintegrated and Sontaran ships went to full power.

"Sontaran fleet consists of six thousand three hundred seven vessels," said Dalek Marr. They are maneuvering into fleet formation. Data indicates half of those vessels are warships and that all of them are armed."

"Order a full advance," said Dalek Rek. "Open communication link to Dalek Neth commanding the support group."

"I obey," said Dalek Zarn.

The image of a Black Dalek appeared on a secondary screen. "Fleet Commander Neth reporting," she said. "What are your orders?"

"You are to withdraw towards Dalek space. Leave observers behind so the details of this battle can be reported in full to the Dalek Supreme." On the main screen the mass of the Sontaran fleet formed itself into a rough line with a thick bulge at the middle.

"I obey," said Dalek Neth.

"Ranger scopes indicate large Sontaran vessels of unknown design at the center of the fleet," said Dalek Marr

"Put it on screen," said Dalek Rek. A fat, indented sphere appeared on the screen. Flange-like force field projectors and energy radiators projected from the top and bottom of the craft.

"Available data suggests these vessels are Sontaran command carriers," said Dalek Marr. "Ranger scopes confirm. Sontarans carriers are launching attack craft."

Dalek Rek consulted with the battle computer's projections. The Sontarans had massed their support vessels in the center with their carriers and five hundred large capital ships. The flanks were composed entirely of Sontaran warships. They would envelop and destroy the Dalek fleet.

Retreat would result in heavy alliance casualties and a large Sontaran fleet being the dominant space force. Unacceptable. Conventional battle tactics would result in total annihilation of the alliance fleet, but heavy Sontaran casualties. Result: Sontaran battlefleet would still possess substantial numbers of support craft and space dominance. Unacceptable.

"All alliance craft will shield the advance of Dalek capital grade ships. All Dalek capital ships will advance at maximum velocity and engage the Sontaran ships at point blank range. Sontaran support vessels are designated high priority targets. Commence."

The fires of hell burned in throughout the nebula. Missiles flashed through space and detonated with terrible fury on shields or burned through ship hulls. Brilliant webs of light marked the firing of beam weapons as they blew ships apart or tore holes in dalekenium armour. Lumbering Rethenian battleships were blown apart as they advanced into the teeth of the Sontaran fire, the ships firing immense volleys of weaponry as they died. Behind them was a massive wave of Dalek heavy saucers, their flanks guarded by the Patrol and the Nentari as they struck at the heart of the Sontaran formation.

Force fields flared and died as the Sontarans turned their awesome firepower on the Dalek vessels. Massively resilient dalekenium hulls failed under massed weapons fire and Dalek ships burned and blew apart. Still the Dalek ships advanced, unleashing terrible fury with every kilometer they crossed and inflicting massive damage.

Swarms of one soldier attack ships from the Sontaran carriers swarmed around the Dalek ships. For the most part they ignored them, concentrating their firepower on the repair tenders, assault transports, and battlecruisers in their way.

Dalek Rek consulted the ranger scope readings and the battle computer projections. Their condition was not what he had hoped it would be, but they were now in optimal position considering their current rate of loss. "Open communication channel to the fleet," he ordered.

"I obey," said Dalek Zarn. "Channel open." The Dalek capital ships engaged the Sontaran ships at point blank range. Missiles took seconds to reach their targets. Beam weapons blazed through shields and hulls, their power barely attenuated by range. Death was everywhere.

"All ships will fight to the death. We die so our species will live. All Dalek vessels, reactors to overload. Engage power feeds with Dalek fleet, disengage safeties." This result would be acceptable.

"The children of Skaro will live," he said as the Sword of the Stars's power feeds overloaded. Then there was nothing as new star briefly flared into existence in the heart of the nebula and then went dark.

[Wyrm]

"The children of Skaro will live," he said as the Sword of the Stars's power feeds overloaded. Then there was nothing as new star briefly flared into existence in the heart of the nebula and then went dark.

Awww... poor Sword of the Stars!

[LadyTevar]

"The children of Skaro will live," he said as the Sword of the Stars's power feeds overloaded. Then there was nothing as new star briefly flared into existence in the heart of the nebula and then went dark.

Awww... poor Sword of the Stars!

How many did they take with them

[Vehrec]

Alas, Dalek Rek, we hardly knew ye.

RIP
Dalek Rek
2007-2008