Supremacy of the Cybermen (comic story)

A storm rages on the planet Karn. One of the sisters finds the TARDIS buried beneath starship debris from which the Twelfth Doctor emerges requesting to be taken to Ohila.

On Prehistoric Earth, the Eleventh Doctor and Alice Obiefune search for a fruit that Jenny may gift Vastra for their anniversary. The fruit Alice finds however is Nanjura which, though delicious to Time Lords, is toxic to Silurians. As the Doctor snacks, a dinosaur breaks through the brush and the two start to run.

In the 24th century, the Tenth Doctor, Gabby Gonzalez and Cindy Wu travel via "space bus" through the Null Zone to Cosmomart, a planet that has been converted into a shopping mall. Despite the warnings of the pilot droid, the three transmat into the mall to find it abandoned before they are ambushed by Sontarans.

In the Powell Estate in the year 2006, Jackie Tyler flees from a large beast before she is rescued by the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Jack Harkness on a flyer. Though Jackie believes the ruined state of London is the Doctor's doing, the planet has been invaded by the Cybermen. But the Doctor believes there is more going on for the brutal efficiency is beyond even the Cybermen. But the first order of business is to retrieve the TARDIS, held at the converted St Paul's Cathedral.

At Cosmomart, the Doctor surrenders to the Sontarans while Cindy lobs a shop dummy head at a soldier. Though she and Gabby are ready to run, the Doctor is adamant that they obey the Sontarans' commands. The three are led by Commander Sturg to the Sontaran flagship where Cindy realizes the Doctor wanted to be captured.

As the Doctor and Alice flee, their pursuer is suddenly killed by a tyrannosaurus rex. Before the apex predator can eat them, they are surrounded by Cyber-Silurians using other dinosaurs as beasts of war.

On Karn, the Doctor reveals to the Sisterhood that there is something wrong with time. Though he has tried to reach Gallifrey he cannot breach the transduction barrier nor contact the High Council. As such, he has come to request usage of their "door". The secret door that the Sisterhood use to reach Gallifrey that no one is supposed to know about. Before Ohila can deny him access, Cybermen enter the chamber. With no alternatives, Ohila leads the Doctor to the door and sends him through, closing it to prevent the Cybermen from following. The Doctor runs to the High Council chamber, calling for his fellow Time Lords to break out the heavy artillery to deal with the crisis. Arriving in the Council chamber however, he is greeted by the sight of Rassilon in command of the Cybermen.

Part two

Despite the veritable armada of Cyber-ships surrounding the Capitol, the Twelfth Doctor simply demands to know what the hell Rassilon is doing back on his planet (as well as where he picked up his new suit). Rassilon only scoffs, Gallifrey is now under the jurisdiction of the Gallifreyan Cyber Fleet, the army through which Rassilon will return the Time Lords to their former glory. Rassilon explains that after he was exiled, despite the General's worry, he did find somewhere to go: the home base of the last remnant of the Cybermen.

On Prehistoric Earth, the Eleventh Doctor uses his screwdriver to disrupt the implants on the Cyber-Silurians before he and Alice flee but not back to the TARDIS as Alice thinks. Cyberman technology should not even exist in this era and the Doctor is determined to find out what the Cybermen are up to.

As the flagship enters the Sontar system, it comes under attack from an unseen hostile. Despite the Tenth Doctor's assurance of the hardiness of Sontaran engineering, the craft is forced to make a fiery crash landing. On the surface, he, Cindy and Gabby are brought before Sontaran-Prime, one of the original stock. Though the Prime attempts to put on a brave face, the Doctor can see he is scared. The Cybermen have the Sontarans on the run.

In London, Jack Harkness rams the hovercar into the Cyberman base with the quartet scampering into the TARDIS. With his ship back, the Doctor is confident in their chances of victory before the console violently explodes.

Sontaran-Prime shows the Doctor the status of the Sontaran Empire which, save Sontar itself, has been completely conquered by the Cybermen. Even the Rutan and Alpha Centauri have fallen. The Doctor realizes the Cybermen are not merely assimilating worlds but actively removing races that pose a threat to galactic conquest. Though the Sontarans are impressed by the Cybermen's glorious ruthlessness, the Doctor is dismayed. He had come to the Sontarans for an army to fight the Cybermen. As it turns out, the Sontarans sought out the Doctor for the same reason. The Doctor has seen conflict on an almost unimaginable scale and he will lead the Sontarans to victory over the Cybermen.

As the Doctor explains the Cybermen to Alice, the two find a shipyard constructing Arks. Determined, the Doctor realizes the Cybermen objective. Via the Arks, they will seed the galaxy with cyber-technology before most species have had a chance to evolve.

Continuing his tale, Rassilon recounts how he marvelled at the Cybermen clinging to life and their purpose but saw an opportunity in their lack of strong leadership. Giving himself over to the Cybermen, Rassilon led them back to Gallifrey with the intent that a Time Lord/Cybermen union will remake the universe. The Doctor is appalled. By giving himself over to the Cyberiad, Rassilon has spat in the face of "Time Lord purity" he has boasted about his whole life. A contingent of Time Lord soldiers then transmat in, shoot the Cybermen and transmat out with the Doctor brining him face-to-face with the General.

Part three

Telling her side of the story, the General always knew Rassilon would return to Gallifrey. She never expected him to have allies however, least of all the Cybermen. The invasion force was too powerful for the Time Lord militia leaving the General no choice but to gather what few survivors she could in the Capitol's undercity. The base of the resistance is, quite ironically, the Tomb of Rassilon, the only spot on the planet that the Cybermen cannot penetrate. The Doctor doubts the tomb's shielding will be useful know that Rassilon will come for him before he asks why a fleet of Battle TARDISes was not sent out. Rassilon was one step head of them affecting something to the Eye of Harmony. As a result, each and every TARDIS is dead. The Doctor suddenly convulses as the Cybermen's temporal attacks begin rewriting his timeline.

On Prehistoric Earth, the Doctor has finished hacking into the Silurian teleportal that leads him and Alice into a workshop that has been repurposed into a large-scale conversion factory. Accessing the computers, the Doctor finds the Cybermen are receiving quantum data packets from the end of time. The intruder detection systems then come to life and the partially converted Cybermen lumber forth.

As the Sontaran army assembles, the Doctor explains to Cindy and Gabby that the Sontarans have been targeted for their cloning technology. With Sontaran technology, the Cybermen could mass-produce an endless supply of Mondasians. And with the Cybermen's own world-ship technology, they could take the galaxy in little time. But as Gabby points out, if the Cybermen are going to invade Sontar, then where are they? Sontaran-Prime scoffs, the Cybermen have evolved beyond simple planetary invasion. As the invaders teleport in, the Doctor realizes that they have not evolved but been given help. Somehow, the Cybermen have acquired Gallifreyan technology.

In 2006, the cloister bell rings as the TARDIS's internal systems begin to break down in anticipation of an implosion. The four make a last desperate run for their flyer as the TARDIS interior continues to shrink.

On Sontar, the Doctor is so awed by the Cybermen using Time Lord technology that he fails to notice a Cyberman teleporting in from behind before Sontaran-Prime tackles him out of the way, dying in the process. Sturg then destroys the Cyberman before he points out the CyberKings on the horizon.

On Prehistoric Earth, the situation has grown dangerous enough that the Eleventh Doctor teleports Alice to safety, instructing her to return to the TARDIS. The Cyber-Silurians continue their advance but the Doctor is unconcerned. The Cybermen cannot assimilate Time Lords. They quickly prove him wrong as one of their number extends their tongue and begins to upgrade him.

In 2006, Jack provides coverfire before he is shot dead... by a partially upgraded Rose!

On Gallifrey, the Twelfth Doctor remembers his sixth facing off against the Cybermen in the Matrix, his warrior incarnation fighting a Time War against Cybermen, his predecessor being dragged into the conversion theater by the Cyber-Silurians, a Cyberman advancing on his fourth self and his second self being upgraded on the moonbase. A Time Lady then informs the General that Rassilon has arrived. Confidently, the Doctor opens the tomb and greets the Cyber-President.

Part four

Remembering when the Doctor saved Gallifrey, the General is aghast at the Doctor selling the resistance out to Rassilon. The Doctor only laughs, the key to defeating power mad despots is not to hide away in dusty tombs but to get upfront and confront the villains head-on. Rassilon ushers his prisoners into the Panopticon (now adorned with statues of Rassilon's previous selves) before he activates the Eye of Harmony and leads the two down a lift. Arriving, both the Doctor and the General are shocked at the sight.

In London, the Ninth Doctor all but drags Jackie away from the cyber-converted Rose as he swears to avenge her. When he aims his screwdriver at Rose however, a cyber-infection spreads from the device and onto the Doctor's hand. Realizing how the Cybermen conquered the planet so fast, the Doctor ushers Jackie into the flyer and explains that the Cybermen have turned the upgrading process into an airborne virus. The Doctor is capable of adjusting the shields to filter out the virus to keep Jackie safe but it will leave her trapped inside with him.

On Sontar, the troops are following perfect military protocol but the Doctor highlights that is why they are losing. The Cybermen know exactly what the Sontarans will do and are prepared for every eventuality. Cindy proposes ramming a Sontaran scout ship directly into a CyberKing. Sturg disagrees, not only are Cindy and Gabby inexperienced pilots, the attack would be of no tactical value. The Doctor agrees...Cindy's plan is perfect. The Cybermen will never expect it.

The Eleventh Doctor awakens during his conversion. Despite the hopelessness, he takes solace in the fact that Alice is safe. The Cyberiad hacks into his retinas to show him an image of a darkened TARDIS refusing Alice entry. A spark lights within the Doctor as he highlights the error of assimilating him. The Doctor is a tinkerer. Show him a machine and he'll reprogram it. Show him a proud warrior race that has had its emotions cut out? And he'll return them tenfold. As the Cyber-Silurians convulse at the horror they have become, Alice flees and the Doctor has a bitter laugh at his victory.

On Sontar, the CyberKing fumbles as it tries to intercept Cindy and Gabby's pod, giving the Doctor a perfect cover before their craft is simply swatted out of the air. The seeming demise of his friends awakens a fury in the Doctor and he rams his pod directly into the CyberKing's head. Exiting the pod, the Doctor wires himself into the dreadnought and sends his rage throughout out the Cyberiad disrupting the invasion. Unbeknownst to him, Cindy and Gabby have survived the crash and witness the act.

The Ninth Doctor can feel the nanites swarming his system as he defiantly limps out of the flyer and back towards the TARDIS. Despite his warning, Jackie follows him back into the ship. The Doctor explains the Cybermen will not stop at Earth but if he can stop them here, they won't hurt anyone else. With that, he overrides the implosion protocols on the TARDIS to rupture the containment field around the Eye of Harmony, creating an explosion large enough to destroy the Earth completely.

The Twelfth Doctor examines the looms Rassilon has wired several Time Lords into to via which he is harvesting their regeneration energy and directing it into the Eye of Harmony. Rassilon defends his actions by reminding the Doctor that he created the Time Lords. They are his to command. As the General is wired into a loom, Rassilon reveals his master plan. The universe is as good as dead and at the moment it finally dies, Rassilon will ignite the accumulated the regenerative energy within the Eye and quite literally regenerate the universe...in his image. The Cybermen then turn on their ally. There will be a universal regeneration but in their image.

Part five

Over Rassilon's protests, the Cybermen lock both him and the Doctor into looms. The Doctor then remembers everything. His ninth, tenth and eleventh selves fighting the Cybermen, the Fifth Doctor and Peri fleeing a Cybermen-conquered Skaro while the Seventh Doctor is attacked by an upgraded Ace.

Jackie throws herself at the Doctor. He made a promise to Rose that he would protect Earth, he cannot destroy it. The Doctor is profuse in his apologies but Earth is beyond saving and the energy is building up to detonation... before it inexplicably vanishes. A closer analysis reveals the energy has been siphoned away before Rose breaks into the TARDIS brandishing her cyber-weapon.

On Sontar, the Doctor uses his puppetred CyberKing to quite literally stomp out the invasion force before a Cyber-Ark appears in the sky and commences planetary conversion.

On Prehistoric Earth, the exhausted Doctor boasts about his victory before the Cyberiad simply terminates the compromised units. The Cyber-Arks then launch, ready to infect the developing galaxy and the Doctor can only howl in despair at his failure.

On Gallifrey, Rassilon is unconscious in spite of the Doctor's attempts to awaken him. Before the Doctor can be wired into a state of perpetual regeneration, he is approached by the new Cyber-Controller. In spite of everything, the Doctor takes solace that the end of the universe will destroy the Cybermen along with everyone else. The Cyber-Controller disagrees and modifies Rassilon's plan. Regeneration does not only bring about a new incarnation, it accelerates the death of the current one. Using Time Lord technology, the Cybermen can apply that principle on a universal scale. As they begin however, Rassilon reads as brain dead. Barely fazed, the Cyber-Controller orders the Doctor plugged in as a replacement. Unseen by all, Rassilon smiles.

The Doctor awakens in a virtual recreation of his boyhood barn where he is greeted by Rassilon who masterminded the Doctor being plugged in. The Cybermen have done the impossible and taught Rassilon humility who can do little more than beg the Doctor to win like he always does. The Doctor however is out of options. The Eleventh Doctor tried to change the Cybermen, the Tenth Doctor tried to become them and the Ninth Doctor tried to destroy them. Rassilon reveals all the scenarios targeted at all the Doctor's past selves were designed to be too much for him and distract him from the true machinations. The Doctor became a warrior to fight Rassilon's war, now Rassilon must become a doctor to help heal the universe.

In the real world, the Doctor and Rassilon have been upgraded. With the aperture now open, the Cybermen make ready for the final phase of their plans. Within the simulation, the Doctor and Rassilon glow with regenerative energy. The Doctor declares that they must use their power to regenerate the old universe as opposed to creating a new one. Finally agreeing to bury the hatchet, the two initiate mental contact. As the Cyber-Controller basks in his victory, he is warned that the regenerative energy is flowing backwards through the Eye of Harmony. The Doctor laughs, the Cybermen have been using the Eye of Harmony to affect all their changes to the universe and that same path can be used to undo their plans. Regenerative energy flows through the Eye from Gallifrey to Earth and everywhere in between as the cyber-upgrades are burned off everyone and everything. As the Cyber-Controller explodes from the energy overload, time rewinds and resets...

Rose Tyler happily reunites with her mother to the Ninth Doctor's annoyance, the Tenth Doctor endures Cindy and Gabby's indulgent shopping while the Eleventh Doctor and Alice fly in the TARDIS while snacking on prehistoric fruit.

Alone in his TARDIS, the Twelfth Doctor wonders if Rassilon remembers the Cybermen invasion. He hopes he does, Rassilon deserves to remember. After all, the Doctor can't be alone in everything.

Characters

References

In allying with the Cybermen, Rassilon creates an alternate timeline.
Nanjura fruits are toxic to Silurians.
The Tenth Doctor mentions the Null Zone.
The Sisterhood of Karn's door to Gallifrey bears the Seal of Rassilon.
The Rutan are extinct.
The Tenth Doctor is elected field marshal of the last Sontaran war fleet by the Sontaran-Prime.
The Eleventh Doctor tells Alice to activate the Librarian Protocol.
The Tenth Doctor refers to the Cybermen's ability to mobilise planets using void drives.
The Ninth Doctor says the TARDIS has made the Kessel Run.
Some statues in the Panopticon resemble Rassilon's previous incarnations.
The Cybermen which attacked Sontar resembled Cybus Cybermen.
A Cyber-Leader has a black face plate and a transparent window which its brain can be seen, similarly to Cyber-Lords and the Cyber-Leader of the Twelfth Cyber Legion.
Rose, the Ninth Doctor, the Tenth Doctor, and the Eleventh Doctor are partially cyberconverted.
The Twelfth Doctor and Rassilon are fully cyber-converted.
The Fifth Doctor and Peri witness the complete destruction of the Dalek race at the hands of the Cybermen.
Sontar is located in the Sontar system.

Notes

This comic event was made to coincide with the 50th anniversary of The Tenth Planet, which saw the Cybermen make their debut appearance.
- Though the comic was meant to be a month-and-a-half event (lasting from July 6^th 2016 to August 31^st 2016), it suffered from heavy delays with issue 2 only being released on August 17^th. The series ended on November 16^th, five months after its launch date.
Several prologues were published for this story, each of which presented an incarnation of the Doctor being either captured or surrounded by a Cyberman variant. The prologues were published individually in the backs of Titan's various Doctor Who comic books and as a complete set within the 2016 Convention Special.
- Prologue: The First Doctor published in 10DY2 12.
- Prologue: The Second Doctor published in 11DY2 11.
- Prologue: The Third Doctor published in 12DY2 8.
- Prologue: The Fourth Doctor published in 4D 4.
- Prologue: The Fifth Doctor published in 10DY2 13.
- Prologue: The Sixth Doctor published in 11DY2 11.
- Prologue: The Seventh Doctor published in 10DY2 13.
- Prologue: The Eighth Doctor published in 4D 4.
- Prologue: The War Doctor published in 12DY2 8.
Uniquely, the Silurians seen in this story are derived from the redesign introduced in TV: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood. However, as opposed to the human-like faces seen on TV, the faces of ancient Silurians resemble the masks worn by the Silurian Hunters.
Cindy misnames the CyberKings as "Cyber-Trons," referring to the home planet of the eponymous aliens from Transformers.

Continuity

The Twelfth Doctor crash lands on Karn. (TV: The Night of the Doctor)
The Tenth Doctor suggests not to underestimate shop dummies. (TV: Spearhead from Space, Rose)
Jack visits the 21st century, after previously claiming never to have done so. (PROSE: Only Human)
The Cybermen previously achieved time travel. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen)
The Twelfth Doctor banished Rassilon from Gallifrey. (TV: Hell Bent)
The Ninth Doctor asked if Jack still had the guns he told Jack not to carry. In an earlier incarnation, he had similar dialogues with Ace about Nitro-9. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks, Silver Nemesis, AUDIO: The Silurian Candidate)
CyberKings attack Sontar. (TV: The Next Doctor)
The Eleventh Doctor believes the Cybermen have never been able to convert a Time Lord, though he'll encounter them later. (TV: Nightmare in Silver)
The Eleventh Doctor views hacking optic nerves as "cheating", ironically his successor would do just that to Clara Oswald. (TV: Flatline)
The Cloister Bell rings, (TV: Logopolis) as the TARDIS collapses in on itself. (AUDIO: Time Reef)
The Tomb of Rassilon is the most secure place on Gallifrey. (TV: The Five Doctors)
The General recalls the Doctor's saying that he had seen Gallifrey burning, and he never wanted to see it again. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
The Panopticon has statues of Rassilon's previous incarnations: a hooded and long-bearded man (COMIC: Star Death et al), one with mutton chops and a coronet (TV: The Five Doctors) and holding the Rod of Rassilon (TV: The Deadly Assassin), a very short-haired one (AUDIO: Seasons of Fear et al) and one with a wide collar (TV: The End of Time)
The Ninth Doctor has recently encountered another airborne virus capable of conversion. (TV: The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances)
The Eleventh Doctor enters in contact with the Cyberiad. (TV: Nightmare in Silver)
The Tenth Doctor connects himself to a CyberKing, becoming part of the Cybermen's minds (TV: The Next Doctor)
The Cyber-converted Rose tells to the Ninth Doctor that "You belong to us, you shall be like us" similar to the dialogue the Cyber-Controller gave on Telos. (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen)
A Cyberman is connected to a chair similar to that of John Lumic's, the man who became Cyber-Controller. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel)
The Cyber-Controllers reappear. (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Attack of the Cybermen)
The Cybermen make the Tenth Doctor angry, which only causes him to fight back with more ferocity. A similar situation would occur when the Weeping Angels tried to anger the Eleventh Doctor. (TV: The Time of Angels)
The Cybermen wipe out a number of powerful species, including the Daleks, Sontarans and Time Lords after mastering the secrets of time travel. They achieved much the same thing in another alternate timeline in which they mastered time travel, where they also wiped out the Draconians. (WC: Real Time, AUDIO: Real Time)
The Cybermen use Gallifreyan Looms to harness energy from individual Time Lords (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
The Tenth Doctor takes Gabby and Cindy to Cosmomart, a planet converted into a shopping mall. He previously took Donna Noble to the planet Liater, a planet covered entirely in shopping malls (COMIC: The Greatest Mall in the Universe), and also visited a mall-planet with Rose-the-Cat. (COMIC: A Rose by Any Other Name)
Jackie is hunted by a Cyberdog. (COMIC: Enemy Mine)
Cyber-Silurians are equipped with partial Cyber armour reminiscent of the human Cyber-drones. (COMIC: Drones of Doom)