Sword of Orion (audio story): Difference between revisions

2503. The [[Orion War]] continues to rage and a ship called the [[Silver Jackal]] receives contact from a patrol ship. Onboard the Silver Jackal, [[Digly]] convinces the patrol ship to leave so they can salvage an area in space. Digly wakes up Captain [[Thinnes]] and then picks up something on radar—an abandoned star destroyer. Captain Thinnes decides to go onboard the star destroyer to investigate and find “souvenirs”.

Outside, Ike contacts a man named [[Grash]] and Ike expresses concern about the disappearances of Thinnes and Digly as well as the Silver Jackal. Grash orders him to calm down, but Ike thinks that his shop is about to be “rumbled” by two individuals. Grash then tells Ike that Captain [[Obermann]] has been transferred to the Vanguard. And a new captain has been brought onboard and brought forward the disembarkation time. Grash urgently tells Ike to leave the shop and get to the docking bay immediately.

Back in the shop, Charley asks the Doctor the length of the [[Cyber-Wars|Cyber-War]]. The Doctor answers that it was a very long time and informs her that the Cybermen remain in their tombs on [[Telos]] for the time being. The Doctor and Charley then notice that Ike has abandoned them. Charley thinks that he has gone to get his “smuggler friends” to beat them to a pulp, but the Doctor disagrees. Charley reminds the Doctor that he told Ike where the TARDIS was and confirms that the Doctor is indeed worried. The Doctor orders Charley to take a [[grav-pad]] and the nearby book of ancient remedies. Charley protests that this would be theft, but the Doctor remarks that it's probably stolen anyway and they run from the shop.

It is then revealed that the Doctor and Charley were successful in stowing away onboard thanks to the [[Sonic Screwdriver]]. They then begin to search for the TARDIS in the cargo area for 38B. Charley feels a vibration on the wall and the Doctor confirms that this is from some sort of interstellar drive for ship that is moving really fast. The Doctor sees that the Vanguard is a scrap ship and wonders why they are in such a hurry. Charley sees that they are now in 38A, but then hear a noise that indicates that there may be something wrong with the engines.

On the star destroyer, the Doctor and Charley hear the sounds of the Vanguard crew approaching from afar. The Doctor decides that it's time to leave, but as they approach the TARDIS, they hear a howling sound. The crew members hear this as well and decide to split up. Crew member Kelsey then discovers the TARDIS. Kelsey calls out for the others to look at what he found just when an unseen figure appears and attacks him. The figure utters “destroy."

[[Eighth Doctor|The Doctor]] and [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]] hear the scream as well and come across [[the TARDIS]] and a severely injured Kelsey. The Doctor checks for a pulse, but it's very weak and finds from his space suit that he's a crew member of [[the Vanguard]]. Charley checks the name tag which reads Mark Kelsey. As Charley and the Doctor wonder who Kelsey's assailant is, they hear footsteps approaching. [[Chev]] and [[Grash]] reveal themselves and are horrified to discover Kelsey's body. The Doctor urges that Kelsey needs immediate medical attention ASAP, but Jansen's crew draw their weapons and hold the Doctor and Charley at gunpoint, thinking they were responsible for Kelsey's attack. Grash contacts Jansen and reports to her that Kelsey's body has been found as well as the “murderers”. The Doctor then checks for a pulse from Kelsey, but he has succumbed to his wounds. Jensen orders Grash and Chev to turn on their cameras for a visual confirmation and Jansen sees it for herself. Grash requests permission to kill the Doctor and Charley on her authority. Jansen, however, is convinced that there may be something else that killed Kelsey. Jensen orders them to bring the Doctor and Charley to the Vanguard and Charley is thankful that there's a woman in charge.

As the Doctor and Charley are being brought on the Vanguard, Jansen orders Ike to examine Kelsey's body. The Doctor and Charley introduce themselves to Jansen as travellers. Jansen asks why they were on the star destroyer and the Charley responds that they were “getting exercise” and looking around. Suddenly, Vol contacts Jansen and says that he has picked up a transmission, but can't find where it's coming from. Jansen orders Grash to scan them and finds the [[sonic screwdriver]] from the Doctor as well as a tracking device. The Doctor assures them that they are not transmitting anything. Jansen decides to confiscate them and Vol still picks up a transmission and the Doctor sees something moving in the shadows, but it vanished. Jansen asks what it was and Charley sees that it lead to the air locks and left behind scratch marks on the deck plates. Jansen then comes to the conclusion that the Doctor and Charley are not indeed responsible for Kelsey's death. Grash then thinks that they could be androids, feeling from the Orion War, but Jansen tells him that the [[Orion War]] is light years away. Suddenly, the lights begin to flicker. Vol reports that there is some sort of power failure in their area and has activated several emergency batteries, but they're not working.

As the Doctor is doing his work, Vol and Chev ask the Doctor why he was on the star destroyer. The Doctor responds that he was “discovering, not murdering” and wants to head back there once this is over because that's where he parked his “transport”. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver and the security systems are back online. Vol tells the Doctor that he picked up a signal that is transmitting from the stern of the ship and it's the same signal from earlier.

The Cybermen

have restored the security systems and detect that two humans have been

detected nearby. The Cyber Leader orders them to be captured immediately. Jansen

and the Doctor hurry on their way to the TARDIS, just when they are cornered by

the Cybermen. The Doctor and Jansen then hurry into the airlock to escape.

Vol asks the Doctor and Charley if they knew Ike because they met him back in his shop. The Doctor reminds him that now's not the time as they are facing bigger concerns. Ike appears and the Doctor tells him that he's not interested in his criminal activities. Charley then tells Ike that this is why they haven't told Jansen. They then try to find Jansen on their security scan and they are fascinated to discover that she's in the ship's computer command module. Meanwhile, Jansen looks up information on the Doctor and discovers that he's an alien who owns a “TARDIS”. Charley then tells the others that Jansen doesn't seem to be like them. Chev agrees, seeing how Jansen's always calm and never out of place. The Doctor agrees and also finds it odd how her weapon can take out Cybermen while they can't. The Doctor asks Ike to get him into the computer's databases just when an alarm alerts them. It is the Cybermen making their way through the airlock. The Doctor calls Ike to tell her that they need her to stop the Cybermen with her weapon as he leads the others away.

The Cyber Leader then initiates contact with the damaged Cybermat and the “human subject”. Jansen calls Vol and asks for an update about the trapped Cybermen, which are still unable to move. Chev has gone to check on Grash and Jansen tells the others that they should be safe. Charley then suspects something odd seeing how Grash just simply passed out earlier. And even before, Grash was attacked by the Cybermen and turned out too perfectly okay afterward. The Doctor then realises that Grash has been under Cyber control.