Dana jumped out of the monsters arms, but the rest of the hideous creatures in the room soon started to circle Dana who stumbled back over a corpse, or rather what was left of one. With no weapons or way of even defending herself, Dana picked up the nearest thing she could. The empty rifle of one of the soldiers, that she used to strike the first monster that tried to attack her right in the face.
Dana then jumped to her feet and started swinging the gun around blindly like a club. The monsters however kept phasing through each of her attacks. Still as long they were phasing then they couldn't harm her either.
One of the strange aliens however soon managed to land a lucky strike on Dana's back. It phased its hand through her spine, and slowly began to make its hand materialise which sent her crashing to the ground.
As Dana lay on the floor, temporarily unable to move from the pain in her back, the monsters gathered over her. Some of them were fighting over which one would be the first to disembowel her.
Fortunately before the monsters could do anything, the roof exploded and the creatures were forced to scatter as bits of rubble fell from the ceiling. Dana wasn't able to get up however from the pain in her back, but she managed to roll onto her side, narrowly avoiding a large sharpened rock from the ceiling.
After the smoke cleared the Doctor came jumping down from the hole in the ceiling and struck one of the monsters when it wasn't looking over the back of its head before throwing it into two others, catching them off guard too. Another monster tried to attack the Doctor and though he was able to dodge its attacks, any time he tried to punch it the beast phased into nothing.
"That's cheating" the Doctor said in anger. Whilst he was distracted with his attacker, another one of the creatures picked up a large shard of rubble the ceiling and tried to strike the Doctor from behind. The Time Lord however was able to dodge its attack, causing the creature to impale its comrade by mistake. Whilst it was in shock at what it had done, the Doctor, wasting no time, knocked the monster out with a quick strike to its neck and pulled the blood stained piece of rubble from the other beast's chest; which he then used to hold off the others who started to circle him.
Whilst the Doctor was fighting the monsters off, Reosa and Sleera jumped down and helped Dana to her feet. She was still in tremendous pain, but she was able to walk again. Reosa didn't have a weapon on her. The Doctor had used it to blow the hole in the floor.
Just as he had done with other two weapons before, the Doctor turned Reosa's gun into a bomb. Reosa had protested, but the Doctor didn't listen. He simply snatched the gun from her hands and before she could try and stop him he had already adjusted it to explode.
Reosa was furious at the Doctor for leaving them defenceless, but she didn't have time to argue about that now. Reosa struck one of the monsters from behind with a large piece of rubble and then knocked another out that turned to face her before it could phase. Dana and Sleera meanwhile also started to pelt the monsters causing them to phase into nothing.
The Doctor ran past the beasts whilst they were distracted and started to climb up the mass of rubble that led to the hole in the roof.
"Well don't just stand there come on!" He shouted to the others who instantly followed him. As they made their way up the rubble, the Doctor who was the first to get up, continued to throw pieces of debris at the aliens when they attempted to follow to hold them back.
Once they reached the floor above, the foursome made their way to the elevator, but one of the creatures below emerged in front of the elevator just as they were about to enter it.
This time however Reosa stabbed the monster through the chest with a piece of shard she had picked up below, managing to catch it before it could phase.
The Doctor, Dana, Sleera, and Reosa then pushed past the dying monster, as more of its kind began to emerge through the floor behind them and made their way into the lift.
The Doctor prepared to take them to the sixth floor, but Laragesh soon sent a message to them. "You can't go to the sixth floor, you have to go to the first floor now!"
With no choice the Doctor complied and took them all the way back up to the first floor. The four took a minute to get their breath back before Reosa hit the Doctor.
"You wasted our last weapon, we're completely defenseless now." Reosa shouted.
"If I hadn't acted right away those things would have torn Dana apart!" The Doctor protested. "Besides those weapons were useless anyway."
Reosa slammed the Doctor against a wall, but Dana pulled her away from the Doctor before it could escalate.
"Now look, I'd much rather he didn't risk his or anyone's lives just to save mine, but he was just trying to help me, and I'd have done the same thing for him as I'm sure you would for someone you care about." Dana snapped back at Reosa.
Reosa calmed down a bit, but then said to the Doctor "if we all get killed I'm blaming you no matter what" to the Doctor in an aggressive, bitter tone.
Sleera meanwhile was trying to signal Laragesh on the radio through the commotion
"Hello Sleera can you hear me" the tinny voice came crackling through.
"Finally, please Laragesh what is the on the sixth floor?"
Her voice came in.
"You need to be careful. The monster down there. It's very large, fast and dangerous and it's right by the lift."
"We don't have any guns left. The Doctor destroyed the last one." Sleera said.
There was a pause for minute or so.
"I'm sorry Sleera, that creature has built its nest by the lift. There's no way you can get down there without a weapon. Even with a weapon I'm not sure you could get past that thing. I don't know what to do."
"It's okay Laragesh, it's not your fault" Sleera said whilst looking at the Doctor.
Even the Doctor was stumped for a minute or two, before it hit him. "Of course the ventilation system. If I can crawl down there to the 6th floor, there's a chance I could make it past that thing. Is there an opening in the room with the cure."
Laragesh checked the monitors. "There's one outside it Doctor, but that thing's children will be crawling all over the place. If one of them sees you".
"Well we always knew there would be risks. It's our only chance, and I'm not feeling any better." The Doctor replied.
"Okay fine, take the communicator and I'll let you know if the creatures are on the other side of the vent." Laragesh said reluctantly.
Laragesh didn't fancy the Doctors chances. She'd seen these monsters tear her team mates to pieces. There was no way the Doctor could outrun them, and he certainly couldn't outfight them if he was cornered.
On the floor of the shelter meanwhile Taresk started to wake up.
"What's going on why am I tied up? That scruffy guy in the fancy coat. Where is he I'll." Taresk said before Laragesh interrupted him.
"Oh shut up Taresk, I have important things to do. If I don't help the Doctor he could die." Laragesh replied.
"The Doctor? You mean you're going to actually help that lunatic get out of here? Even at the risk of letting those things get in here?" Taresk replied.
"Look around commander" she said mockingly. "He already got out of here when you were out cold. He's on the first floor. You were wrong Taresk. The Doctor is our only hope of getting off this planet. He has a ship that can take us to safety and you would have let him die in here, just because you were afraid." Laragesh replied.
"Now wait a minute, you can't talk to your." Taresk said before being interrupted again.
"Save it, you know its true. It's okay though, I was afraid too. We all are. None of us have seen anything like these creatures before. To be honest I don't even think the Doctor can help us out here, but still if there's a sliver of a chance, we have to take it." Laragesh replied without even looking back at her disgraced commander. She had to keep her eye on the monitor at all times.
Back on the first floor, the Doctor and Dana prepared to go down the ventilation system together. The Doctor as per usual didn't want her risking her life, but he also it was pointless to try and convince Dana not to come.
The Doctor told Sleera and Reosa meanwhile to search the bodies to try and find any spare weapons just before he left whilst Sleera kept in contact with Laragesh, who kept him updated on the Doctor.
It took the Doctor and Dana about 10 minutes to reach the 6th floor through the vents. The Doctor went ahead first, and when he finally reached the grill, he could see the corridor ahead was covered in green slime. There were also five eggs littered up and down the corridor, each about four feet tall and two feet wide.
The Doctor unscrewed the grill with his sonic screwdriver and slowly jumped onto the floor. Unfortunately however the slime covered every inch of the floor, and the Doctor slipped and fell on his back as soon as he landed.
"Oh damn it, I love this coat" the Doctor groaned as he stood up, covered in a foul smelling goo.
"Shhhh" Dana whispered in frustration.
"What, oh right yes, yes the monsters" the Doctor said as he tried to rub the goo off.
Dana gave him another glare and the Doctor knew he had to be quiet.
Unfortunately however the Doctor moaning about his coat had seemingly alerted one of the creatures. He could hear a scuttling sound coming from down the other end of the corridor. Unfortunately it was the end the room with the cure was in. They had to get there quickly. The Doctor tried to help Dana out of the vent, but as he pulled her back he slipped backwards again and Dana fell face first into the slime.
Dana peeled herself up from the slime and wiped it off her face.
"As I said earlier I need to take about a million showers when I get back to the TARDIS." Dana said, before the Doctor perhaps rather pettily shhhhed her.
The Doctor and Dana hurried into the room at the end of the corridor, after which the Doctor sealed the door with his sonic screwdriver, for all the good it would do.
The two time travellers then hid behind a desk in the room and waited for a few minutes. They heard what sounded like a truly immense creature pass by. Fortunately it didn't seem to notice them. It was more focused on its eggs which were about to hatch.
"It's preoccupied with its children" Laragesh said to them. "But it won't be distracted for long. If it picks up your scent, you're dead. The cure's in the cupboard at the far end of the room. The code to open it is 9754976"
Dana kept a close eye on the door. Every little screech from the monsters outside was enough to terrify her.
Sadly both she and the Doctor failed to notice that one of the monsters twisted offspring was in the room. It had rested in the ceiling, was now slowly crawling towards Dana. Laragesh tried to warn them but again her voice didn't come through clearly.
The creature had four pincer like legs, three tails, and a humanoid upper body with six arms, each of which ended in clawed hands and two heads. Its entire body was covered in purple fur meanwhile.
The creature scuttled towards Dana and dug its pincers into her leg. Dana screamed in response, but was able to kick the alien off herself.
Unfortunately the monsters outside heard Dana's scream and headed towards the door. The mothers claws soon came piercing through the door and ripped it off its hinges. The Doctor (who had managed to open the lock to the cupboard and take two samples of the cure out of several) and Dana stood completely frozen in fear. Even Laragesh had no idea what to say to help them.
The creature poked one of its hideous two heads through the door. It must have been over 10 feet tall and 30 feet long.
Whilst Dana and the Doctor were distracted by the creature, its offspring tried to attack Dana again.
This time however Dana was able to overpower it easily. As Dana wrestled with the little monster, the Doctor saw what almost appeared to be a look of concern on the mothers face.
"Don't" the Doctor shouted as Dana overpowered the creature and prepared to simply throw it away.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Look at that thing. It cares about its children."
"I know you can understand me. Let us go or else." The Doctor said to the beast. Neither Dana nor the Doctor would have really hurt the creature anyway as it was only a child, but they needed the mother to think that, and fortunately she did as she instantly retreated. The two left the room, with Dana holding onto the struggling creature as the Doctor checked ahead.
He could see the mother, a truly immense animal standing in front of the vent. Fortunately they didn't need to escape up that way again. The Doctor and Dana backed away down the opposite end of the corridor, with the Doctor going ahead to make sure there were no other offspring.
The two made it to the lift, with the mother following them. Once they were in the lift, Dana threw the child back at its mother unharmed. Before the giant could retaliate the lift took the Doctor and Dana to safety and back to the first floor.
On the way there, the both drank the cure.
"Actually that's not that bad." The Doctor said. "I might nip down and get another sample. Figure out the recipe" he joked.
"Well I just hope we don't get eaten now." Dana said. "It would be annoying after going through all of that for the cure."
Laragesh couldn't believe they had actually found the cure. It had all seemed so hopeless. Her joy was short lived however as she and the other soldiers suddenly heard a massive crash coming from outside, followed by the sound of all the horrors above scurrying away.
"It's found us." Laragesh said with horror. The giant monster that had first attacked the Doctor and Dana when they landed on this godforsaken planet, had come smashing its way from outside, being able to stay clear of the monitors.
"It's okay it can't get it in here." Said one of the soldiers at the back.
Just then however the hatch began to shake, and the giant's claws pierced it, before the hatch was ripped clean out.
"I can't believe it" Taresk said trembling with fear. "Nothing can get through that The monster went for Taresk first, who was completely unable to defend himself. It crushed him to a pulp and then swallowed him whole. Another soldier tried to run towards the ladder and escape, but the monster caught him and bit him in half. The other soldiers fired at the beast repeatedly, but it did no good.
They were completely cornered and Laragesh with no other option called for the Doctor and Sleera.
"Please, Doctor, Sleera, Reosa, help us, the giant's back, its ripped off the hatch."
The Doctor and Dana had only reached the first floor. They barely had enough time to tell Reosa and Sleera what happened when the hopeless message came crackling through the recorder.
The Doctor, Dana, Sleera and Reosa instantly headed to the 14th level in the elevator. Even though they knew it was pointless and there was no way they could even harm the monster, they still couldn't just leave Laragesh and the others down there.
As they headed to the 14th floor, they could hear Laragesh scream through the recorded as the monster grabbed her. "PLEASE HELP ME!"
When they arrived at the 14th floor, they saw the giant, crouched over the pit holding the broken, crumpled body of one of the soldiers.
"The giant noticed the four new arrivals and smiled, revealing its blood stained teeth, that still had bits and pieces of the soldiers caught between them.
Thinking fast the Doctor ran to the other end of the room.
"What are you doing? Reosa shouted.
"Get the survivors out, I'll draw him over here." The Time Lord said.
The monster followed the Doctor allowing Reosa, Dana and Sleera to make their way to the pit.
Unfortunately when they got there, they saw much to their horror that the monster had eaten all of the soldiers, including Laragesh. All that was left were a few bits and pieces scattered about the room, and the corpse of Reosa's son (the monster clearly didn't like left overs.)
Sleera didn't believe it at first, and looked around to see if Laragesh was hiding somewhere.
The monster started laughing maniacally. It had clearly been toying with all of them, letting Sleera and Reosa think there was a chance for their friends until the last minute.
The monster then fired two death rays from its eyes at Dana and Reosa who barely managed to escape the blast.
It continued to fire at the three of them. The creature generally didn't like to use its eye rays on smaller creatures. It preferred to crush and eat them. It was really more toying with them than anything else.
The Doctor meanwhile started to experiment with some of the broken down pieces of machinery. He hoped he could create a bomb out of one of them. He was familiar with most of the pieces of equipment here. It seemed not much had changed in the centuries since he worked at the facility. He knew the technology well enough to make it unstable.
The monster soon grew tired tired of toying with its victims and snatched Reosa. With no time to try the makeshift weapon from bits and pieces of what he could find, the Doctor threw it at the beast. It created a minor explosion, enough to deter the monster briefly, and cause it to drop Reosa.
The creature now turned its attention to the Doctor and tried to blast him with its eye beams, but the Doctor was able to avoid it.
"Go away now", the Doctor shouted as he tried to lead the monster to the other end of the room.
Sleera and Reosa didn't want to leave the Doctor, but they could see there was nothing they could do. The monster was blocking any hope the Doctor had of escape, and they had no weapons, and unlike the Doctor they had no way of using the bits and pieces of tech around. They headed for the elevator. Dana of course tried to stay as she didn't want to leave the Doctor, but Reosa and Sleera dragged her away.
"There's nothing we can do, come on" Reosa said as she pulled Dana to the elevator and took it back to the first floor.
Once they were in the elevator, Dana shoved Reosa back when she tried to comfort her.
"We shouldn't have just left him. After all he's done for me and I couldn't help him when he needed me." Dana said angrily.
"My best friend was just torn to pieces down there by those things. You're not the only one who lost someone" Sleera responded.
"The difference was we didn't abandon your friend. We rushed down there even when it was hopeless." Dana replied.
"There was nothing we could have done." Sleera said bitterly. "If we all die, then our friends died for nothing" he said, not sure if he even believed it.
The trio soon reached the first floor, but this time they saw it was not empty. The corridors were filled with creatures, similar to the blue monsters Dana had seen in the caves.
On the 14th floor the Doctor was able to keep avoiding the giant monsters eye beams, but it eventually managed to corner him at the very far edge of the room, against a large broken down machine.
"Wait" the Doctor shouted. I know you are intelligent. You're not just an animal. I think you'll be interested to know that this entire area has been infected with a lethal chemical. There is an antidote that I'd be happy to share with you, if you don't burn me to a crisp, or crush me and eat me that is." As the Doctor spoke he adjusted the machine from behind. He recognised it as a Rastrix device.
He had worked on them during his time with the facility. They were designed to convert energy into matter in an instant. There was enough power left in this one to create a minor death ray.
The monster paused for a moment at the Doctors words. It really wanted to kill him, but now it wasn't sure.
"Come I'll show you the cure" suddenly the Doctor skid right between the monsters legs, as the Restrix machine fired at the giants face, temporarily stunning the giant.
The Doctor then ran as fast as he could down the other end of the room with the giant chasing him, firing its rays. The Doctor continued to evade them however and make his way to the lift.
The monster however thrust its hand through the wall. Its fingers blocked the lift going up, and so the Doctor was forced to use his sonic screwdriver to send the lift one stop down to the very bottom floor, before the brute cut the cable.
The bottom floor seemed to be deserted, though like the others it was littered with bodies. The Doctor explored the long corridor and in one of the rooms at the left hand side, he saw the mangled remains of a young woman.
This was unlike the other bodies however. It looked like it had been attacked by several creatures at once. Ahead of the corpse were two open doors leading to a room with a massive, blue glowing sphere.
The Doctor was intrigued to say the least, but as he examined the blue sphere, he suddenly heard the sound of more creatures coming.
"Oh great, any time I find something interesting here, and I have to run."
As the Doctor prepared to flee, suddenly a hole in the floor opened up below the sphere. A creature identical to the one the Doctor had comforted in its dying moments in the cave emerged from the hole and told the Doctor to get inside.
With no other options the Doctor agreed and the hole sealed itself up again.
"Thank you eh"
"My name is Exelicos"
"Well its nice to meet a friendly alien on this planet. You know I think you're the first one that hasn't tried to kill me, or at least held a gun to my head?"
Exelicos was busy working on some of the controls to bother with the Doctor. The room was small and surrounded by a control panel, with a large monitor on the right side.
"Do you mind telling me what that blue sphere is" The Doctor asked.
"It is where I was born" Exelicos said. "It is where all the monsters that are infesting this facility come from. It is our universe."
To Be Continued