Kitty Pryde, Pete Wisdom, Excalibur and the X-Men and all characters therein are trademarks of Marvel Comics. Doctor Who is a registered trademark of BBC Productions. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copy write to me.
Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at mark_shakespeare@lineone.net
Notes
< > indicates thoughts
* * indicates telepathy
Plastic Masks - A Pryde and Wisdom / Doctor Who crossover - Part 25
The ex-soldier pushed down hard on the accelerator, and Bessie sped forward, down the road towards where the firing was coming from. Alistair was adamant that he wasn't going to bury any more troops - he'd had enough of that during his active career and, whilst he might not be in the Service anymore, he would do his utmost to prevent casualties amongst the men who nowadays served in the profession he had once been proud to call his own.
The figure that stepped out in front of him might have caught him by surprise, except that the grizzled veteran of many a skirmish with the Nestenes was expecting such an attack - it had, after all, happened the first time that UNIT had clashed with the Autons. .
Still, he knew exactly how to deal with such an attacker. He floored the accelerator, and smashed the car straight into the hulking killer, knocking it flying before it could bring its gun to bear. Hitting the brakes, he got out of the car, levelled the blaster at the figure now trying to clamber to its feet, and blew it to kingdom come. "One less for us to deal with later, I suppose", he muttered, and climbed back into the car, continuing towards the sounds of battle up ahead.
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"Right, let's see 'ow well this lot c'n stand a little return fire." Pete unleashed a volley of hot knives straight into the body of the nearest Auton, blowing it in two and severing its head. The limbs fell to the ground, where they thrashed around for a few more seconds, then stopped moving. "One down. 'Ow many yer see, Kit? I count about a dozen."
Kitty let loose a burst of automatic fire, shredding another killer construct, and called back, "I see fourteen from here. Hopefully there aren't many more coming this way, but they may be holding back some more Autons to defend the radio telescope itself - right, Doctor?"
The tall TimeLord was lying prone behind a bush, waiting for the Autons to get within effective range of his UHF transmitter, but turned his head to look at the slender brunette and threw her a beaming smile. "It would be the most sensible thing to do, I agree, my dear. However, before we do anything about those who might still be at the telescope, we first have to deal with the ones we're facing right here. Do you have any suggestions for how to deal with them more rapidly, so we can reach the telescope before the Nestenes have the opportunity to prepare better defenses?"
She looked at him, then at Pete. "How about I draw them off, and you two get over to the telescope a.s.a.p.? Pete, get over with the Doctor, and hide yourself. I'll act as if you've fallen back towards the car. They follow 'us', and you get left behind them. Okay? I'll catch up with you both later."
"'Ang on there, luv. Yer much better at the techie side o' things 'n I am. Better fer yer ter be the one with the Doc, 'ere."
"Pete, whoever plays decoy - ", she paused to empty the clip into another Auton, then reload the rifle, " - has to be able to get back here regardless of how many Autons are following them. With my phasing ability, that means me."
The skinny Englishman looked as though he might argue, then frowned, and conceded defeat. "Fall back, both o' yer!" he roared, then fired a salvo of hot knives at the nearest Auton, demolishing it, before wriggling backwards out of the Autons' view. Once under cover, he rolled over sideways to come up next to the Doctor, and signalled to Kitty to proceed with the plan.
She got to her feet, oblivious of the energy bolts which whizzed through the air and through her insubstantial body, and fired a long, raking burst to take down another Nestene construct, the bullets solidifying as soon as they left the barrel of the gun. She stepped back towards the road, yelling "get back onto the main road, and use the trees as cover, then you can get away without being hit!" She noted to her satisfaction that the enemy were pursuing her, trying to move round behind her to cut off her retreat, and thus they were moving away from where Pete and the Doctor lay concealed.
The tree next to her was shattered by the blast of an energy bolt from a wrist gun, and Kitty rolled behind the fallen trunk, as if needing to find cover, shouting "better put some distance between us and them, fellas! Go! I'll cover you!" And with that, she fired another burst of automatic fire at the pursuing Autons. The killer devices moved towards her, and others made to flank her, as the former X-man fell back towards the main road, firing as she went. Soon the Autons had passed the Doctor and Pete, leaving them with a free run at the telescope.
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"Look, sir - "
"No, you look! I'm telling you, I need to speak to the Home Secretary, right now! Just tell him it's Alistaire Stuart, the head of the Weird Happenings Organisation. I need to make an urgent report, and I need him to hear it straight away!"
The officer looked at the man's sweating face, then at his ID card, and shrugged. After all, it wasn't as if the man would actually be in the physical vicinity of the Home Secretary, and thus a danger if he was as crazy as he acted. He picked up the phone, having checked a number in the directory, and dialled.
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Liz levelled the blaster and destroyed another Auton. It joined the shattered remains of the others which she, the soldiers, and Lockheed had managed to put down, the burning plastic forming a small wall around their position. But for each they downed, another appeared to press the attack. The frustration on her face was mirrored by that on the face of the Major, directing his men's defensive operation. Sooner or later, their ammunition would run out, or an Auton would get into a position to kill one or more of them, and their strength would be weakened, perhaps enough to allow the enemy to overrun their position and kill them all. But, with their trucks now shattered and burning, there was nothing they could do to get away and regroup.
Then the little purple dragon cocked his head, and cooed a greeting. Liz and the Major were, at first, unable to determine what had made Lockheed react that way, then they both heard the sound of an approaching car of some kind.
The car that the Doctor, Alistair, Kitty and Pete had been travelling in sped into view, Bessie's front bumper bent by a collision with some sort of heavy object. <Like an Auton, maybe?> Liz thought to herself. It skidded to a halt, and Alistair got out of the car, blaster rifle at the ready. The grizzled old soldier promptly blew up an Auton which had the temerity to interrupt his arrival, then he walked over to join Liz and the Major. "Hello Alistair, you didn't bring any tanks with you, by any chance?"
He shot her a brief smile, quickly hidden by his moustache. "Not today, I'm afraid. You'll have to make do with me, instead."
"And the others?"
"We're to tie the Autons down here, provide a distraction to get them into the telescope itself. So, how many do we have left to destroy?"
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Pete cautiously raised his head, then gestured to the Doctor. The two men quickly scrambled to their feet and ran towards the huge shape of the radio telescope, about a quarter of a mile ahead of them. Behind them, in the general direction that Kitty had retreated in, they heard the sound of gunfire, both conventional rifle fire and energy bolts. The face of the thin Englishman was tight with concern, but he didn't let it affect his judgement or his actions. They ran as fast as they could, knowing that soon, no matter how well the brunette American acted her part, the enemy would realise that the men were not with her, and the Nestene Intelligence would then understand that it had been tricked. The Gallifreyan and the former spy would have to make use of the time available to them.
The Doctor saw the massive, glowing shape they'd seen on the approach to Jodrell Bank, still squatting next to the huge dish antenna, the ugly, monstrous shape seeming to drift in and out of focus, the outline of it shifting and pulsing with the energies contained within. <That will be a problem we must find a solution to. It will undoubtedly try to interfere with us when we attempt to take over the telescope and use it to repel the Nestene energy wave, and I doubt that the UHF transmitter is powerful enough to defeat it. Oh well, first stop the energy wave, then worry about that thing.> Thenh he watched in surprise as the massive shape began to move. It seemed to be heading in the general direction that Kitty had taken when she'd decoyed the Autons away. The grim look on Pete's face as he ran after the lanky TimeLord indicated quite clearly that he'd had the same thought. The Doctor had by now outpaced the thin former spy a little, due to his longer legs, and reached the door to the main office building, just in time to be hit by the door flying open in his face, to reveal four more Autons moving to attack them. Pete, panting from the run, unleashed a volley of hotknives to destroy the lead figure, then the Doctor raised the transmitter he'd had slung round his shoulders, and switched it on. Instantly, the remaining three figures stiffened, then toppled to the ground, their faces becoming lumpen caricatures of human visages. Pete jogged up to join the tall TimeLord. "Four down, 'ow many ter go?"
"Not too many, I hope. From the crackling around the telescope, the precursor of the main energy wave must have already arrived."
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All around the world, radio telescopes suddenly showed a massive surge in energy, in many cases overloading the instrumentation. Startled personnel ran to deal with the problem. Commercial satellites were hit hard, scrambling the signals and shutting down transmitters worldwide.
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"My God! How many more are there?!" Alistair smashed another with a shot, but still they came on. A number of the soldiers were down by now, Liz had a scorch mark on her coat from a near miss, Alistair's arms were aching from the effort of holding the blaster for so long - <I must be more out of practice than I thought> - and Lockheed was tiring rapidly too. As if in answer, the radio in the shattered cab of one of the trucks crackled into life, much to the surprise of those around it, who had thought the vehicle trashed beyond salvation. The Major ran over and picked up the mike. "Yes?"
"This is Echo-Lima Four, inbound, E.T.A. four minutes. You might want to get your lads under cover before we make our pass. Over."
"Wh-what?? But how the hell did - "
"Alistaire Stuart, the Head of WHO, called in. So now you've got company heading your way. Is that a rifle in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see us? Over."
"Very, very bloody pleased, Echo-Lima Four. We'll burrow like moles. Out." He replaced the mike, and spun round to face the soldiers and the mystified Liz. "Head for cover, now! We've got airstrikes inbound, E.T.A. three minutes thirty, so get moving! The big house behind us should do just fine!"
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The Auton dropped in pieces, and Pete vaulted over the smoking hulk. "Nearly there, Doc!"
"Please, please don't - "'
"Yeah, yeah, I know. 'Don't call yer 'Doc'', right?" Vivid blue narrowed as they reached the control room, to find it deserted. "Guess we must've freaked 'em out pretty good, right? There ain't no-one 'ere."
"Let me double-check that." Before the former agent could protest, the tall TimeLord stepped into the doorway and switched on the UHF transmitter. Pete bristled a little for a few more seconds, then the tension left his body. The Doctor was right, he thought, that was the best way make sure that there were no nasty surprises hiding anywhere. After a few seconds, the Doctor gave one of his trademark wide smiles, and stepped into the room. Pete stayed in the doorway, watching their backs.
The Doctor seated himself at the control console, tossing his battered hat onto the gleaming metal, long floppy scarf trailing on the floor. "Hmm, a bit primitive, but it should be capable of doing what we need...." His fingers began to fly across the controls.
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Kitty dropped to the ground, hidden from view by a small bush, and took a deep breath of much-needed air. The Autons were still pursuing her, she could hear them, both directly behind her and on both flanks, trying to sandwich her between them. <Okay, time to head back and join the others.> She breathed deeply for several seconds, until her bloodstream was filled with oxygen, then held her breath and phased into the ground, before 'swimming' back the way she'd come, towards the radio telescope.
When she emerged from the ground, she noted to her satisfaction that she was only about two hundred yards from the telescope array. Then she saw the monstrous glowing creature not too far away from her, heading back towards the radio telescope, where she guessed that Pete and the Doctor were doing what needed doing. She'd apparently drawn it after her as she had the Autons, but now it was returning to its primary task. <Oh hell, if that thing stops them, we're in deep shit, Batman! I guess it's to yours truly to prevent it interfering.> With that thought, she swung the rifle onto her back and began to run straight at the energy being. As she did, the sound of approaching jet engines could be heard.
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The Jaguars banked into their attack run, as the Weapons Officer disengaged the safety locks on the bombs which hung underneath the fuselage. From a height of five hundred feet, the pilots could see the mass of Autons moving towards the soldiers' positions. "Okay, here we go!"
Liz, Alistair and the Major watched from the ground floor windows as the planes swept in. A number of Autons raised their wrist guns and fired at the planes, but they missed their targets. Then the Major shouted, "away from the windows, everyone, in case of flying glass!" The three watchers, and the rest of the soldiers, quickly ducked back from the windows. Then came the sounds of bomb blasts, not too far away from them, and the glass in the windows shattered, flying into the interior of the big house.
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"Balls!" Pete's hotknives removed the head of the Auton which had appeared at the top of the steps leading up to the control room, but he could hear heavy footsteps coming closer. He glared over his shoulder. "If yer goin' ter do anythin' Doc, yer'd better 'urry up an' do it!"
The TimeLord ignored Pete's words, his fingers flying over the controls, as he rapidly reprogrammed the system to handle the energy surge which would hit in a matter of seconds. By then, the system had to be ready to use the energy pulse to set off a disturbance in the Earth's electromagnetic field, such that it would jam the mental transmissions of the Nestene Consciousness, causing the collapse of all Autons and Replicas worldwide. He glanced through the window at the massive energy construct, which by now was approaching the telescope. Then he saw a small female figure running at the being. <What on earth is she thinking of doing? Is she trying to get herself killed?>
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If the energy creature noticed her it obviously considered her to be no threat at all, as it made no move to try to stop her or avoid her approach. <Oh well, here goes nothing!> With that, Kitty threw herself into the body of the energy being. Instantly, she felt its power flowing through her body, as when she'd mentally merged with the Auton before, but far more powerful. She could do little but try to remain conscious, even as her sight began to blur.
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The power levels shown on the control console continued to rise, and alarms began to sound, as the system tried to channel forces greater than it had been designed to handle. The Doctor ignored all the warnings, as he desperately raced against time to divert the Nestene energy pulse before it could wreak havoc around the globe.
Even he was distracted, however, by the bright flash of light from outside the control room. When he turned to look, to his amazement, the energy being was pulsing and changing size rapidly, its brightness rising and falling, as it seemed to struggle with something inimical to it. The Gallifreyan couldn't see what might be causing the disturbance but, remembering seeing Kitty running towards it, guessed that she might be the cause. If so -
"'Urry up, fer chrissakes Doc! There's 'undreds o' the bleeders showin' up now!" Pete's cry cut through the scientist's musings, and he spun round to finish what he'd been doing.
Outside the door, Pete cut down another Auton. By now his breathing was ragged, and sweat stained his face and trickled down his neck, as his continued exertions caught up with him. He knew that he couldn't go on cutting down Autons for much longer. There was a growing pile of them on the stairs, hindering the advance of those that still moved, though at least one arm still kept firing, even after having been severed. Whatever the Doctor was up to, the ex-spy thought grimly, he'd better hurry and get it done.
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Halder could feel the arrival of the LifePulse, even before it hit the planet, so powerful was it. In the elation of imminent victory, and the overwhelming power of the energy surge, the events at the telescope were blotted from that part of the Consciousness which animated Halder's form ....
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"Here we go!" The Doctor hit the controls. The telescope bucked and shook in protest as it channeled forces it had not been built to tolerate, and the control panel lit up red across the board. But the electronics held. And the Life Pulse was diverted, in accordance with the Doctor's plans.
All over the globe, Autons and Replicas stiffened and fell, now nothing more than inert masses of plastic.
Halder had time for one last thought as he felt the connection to the Nestene Consciousness fade: <How? How can this be happening?> Then nothing but darkness.
The Doctor sprang back in alarm as the control board caught fire. "Oh dear! Where's the extinguisher?"
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The bombs had destroyed many of the Autons, but not all of them. The rest continued the attack on the house where the soldiers were sheltering. The door was blasted off its hinges, and the Autons pressed into the main hallway, to be met by a hail of automatic weapons fire and grenades, and were torn apart. But there were too many; soldiers were cut down in turn, and other Autons smashed their way in through the back door, or via the windows. Liz fired the blaster, noting to her dismay that the shot seemed weak compared to earlier - the power pack was almost exhausted. She looked up in time to see a plastic killer strike Lockheed with its arm, knocking the little purple dragon down, then it turned to face her, levelling its wrist blaster at her. She stared at her own death. Then the Auton froze, its arm dropped to its side, and it slowly toppled like a falling tree.
All through the ground floor of the house came the sound of Autons falling to the ground.
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"....tellin' yer, Pryde, yer do anythin' that stupid again, risk yer life like that again without me say-so, an' so 'elp me I'll put yer over me knee an' paddle yer bum 'til it glows, got it?" He scowled at the grinning brunette, purple dragon snugly wrapped round her neck.
"Promises, promises. And anyway, what does that mean I can do about your endangering your life by smoking? Hmm, maybe Lockheed can help me think of a few appropriate punishments - right, dragon?"
"Yah!"
Liz grinned at Pete's sour expression, then her heart leapt as the Major approached. "Hello, Major, did you get everything cleared up? I thought Her Ladyship was about to have a heart attack!" The scientist's face took on an expression like she had just bitten into a lemon. The owner of the house where they had taken refuge had been extremely vocal in registering her complaint about the condition that the battle had left her house in. Threats of legal action had been both loud and frequent.
He smiled at her. "It's Robert, remember, and yes, she finally calmed down, I'm pleased to say, mainly due to the Home Office agreeing to pick up the bill. Actually, I came to say I was about to go off-duty, and to ask you if you might be so kind as to agree to have dinner with me tonight?" His smile widened as her face went red. She nodded, unable to speak, and he handed a card with his home phone number on it. "Is there any particular kind of food you prefer, Mi - Liz?"
The Doctor smiled in delight as he watched his former assistant in animated conversation with the handsome Major, and Alistair harrumphed, though without any real heat. "So, Doctor, all the spent energy units we recovered from the base of the telescope - are they safe?"
The tall TimeLord turned to his old friend. "Oh yes, I would say so. They're drained now, and even the Nestenes won't be able to use them again. By all means, ship them off for further examination - you never know, any such research might be of use in future...."
"I hope not, Doctor. I'd rather like to think that, after a third defeat, the Nestenes might decide to look elsewhere for further expansion. Now, would you like a lift back with me?"
"No, thank you all the same, Alistair." The ex-soldier looked surprised at the use of his first name. "But Kitty and her friend will give me a lift back to the TARDIS in their plane, which a teammate of theirs is bringing. However, I'd be grateful if you could get Bessie fixed up - you never know when I might need her again, and the old girl deserves the attention after being put to such hard usage..."
"Yes, thank you Doctor, I had already planned to do that. I take it that the plane approaching is your transport?" Alistair waved a hand at the approaching Midnight Runner.
Pete groaned, a mixture of annoyance and relief. "Looks like Braddock finally got 'is act together. C'mon luv, time ter go 'ome."
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"...not cut out for this life, Uncle. I'm a scientist, not an administrator, nor a soldier. That's your trade, not mine. I followed you, firstly, because I wanted you to be proud of me and, secondly, to honour Sandy's death. But I can't do the job, Uncle. I know that now. But you can."
Alistair stared at his nephew for several seconds, then sighed. "I am proud of you, Alistaire. You've done good, both as a scientist and as the head of WHO. And it takes courage to admit failure - many people won't But if you say you can't manage the job, then I suppose there's no harm in my asking about the job, is there?"
"No, Uncle. You have my full blessing to apply for the post. You'd be perfect." Alistaire reached out to shake the hand of the older man, a smile on his face. At last he would be able to go back to pure research.
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The Doctor rubbed his hands gleefully. He couldn't wait to see the faces of the stuffy TimeLords when he told them about human mutants. The huge blond man had been able to fly, the elfin blonde woman could shapechange, Kitty could become insubstantial, Wisdom could project plasma from his fingers, and they had mentioned one 'Kurt' who could teleport, apparently. Then there were telepaths, hundreds of them! His people would finally have to admit they didn't know everything....
The wheezing sound of the TARDIS' arrival interrupted his contemplation of the TimeLords' faces. He smiled happily, pushed his felt hat onto his curly brown hair, and stepped outside.
To come face to face with an energy weapon of some kind. The red-shirted man holding it pointed at his face pressed the metallic badge on his shirt. "Security Officer O'Halloran to bridge, come in, please. Over."
"Bridge here, go ahead, Mister O'Halloran."
"Commander Spock, I've just found an intruder and some sort of machine in the recreation area. You'd better inform Captain Kirk. Over."
<Oh dear, here we go again>, the Doctor thought ruefully, as he raised his hands.
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