The Last Outpost

Medwyn rose an eyebrow.
Was he ordering her right now? She actually was not able to tell, whether he still was talking to his intercom or not...
Not that she would have complained about being integrated into the ships business at all - It however nevertheless bewildered her for a moment.
Instinctively asking back. "Who? Me?" In a calm tone she looked at the Captain.
Right after she finished asking the officer next to her however did as the Captain ordered - The one previousely looking at the damage report.
Medwyn folded her hands behind her back and did some steps towards the captain.
"What is actually happening, if I may ask, Sir?"

Sonya finally stepped out of the closet and began making her way back to the bridge, still deep in thought as she wandered the corridors, her teeth chewing on her lower lip out of habit. Finally looking up from the floor, a frown creased her face as she studied her surroundings. Once again, she had wandered off and gotten herself lost. "Just like me." She mumbled to herself and spotted a familiar device on the wall. Like the one Jim used to speak to his crew. Reaching over, she studied the buttons on it for a moment before remembering what one he pressed to talk to them. Pushing it down hesitantly, she cleared her throat before speaking. "Um... Not to make you think I ran off or anything, but I seem to have gotten lost..."

Jim sighed as Sonya's voice broke out on the intercoms, but directed his attention to Medwyn. "There was a distress call from Sadonia, a planet not too far from Earth. Nothing seems to be wrong with the planet itself, but there's a ship right above it that doesn't belong to the Fleet. I'm going to use a pod and go over to the other ship myself." He attempted to explain, offered her a smile, and spun towards the hallway. He tapped the screen of his intercom, getting directions to Sonya's location quickly. He fell into a slow jog until rounding the corner and stopping behind her. "Then don't wander in my ship." He commented, took off his intercom and handed it to Sonya. "Use this, get a hold of Taylors. He's in the Bridge. He'll lead you back." Jim said, patting her shoulders before swerving around her to hook the intercom back onto the wall. "And you so ran off." He added before turning and beginning another walk down the hallway, this time away from the Bridge and to the pods in the extra cargo bay.

"I did not!" Sonya shouted after him, silently fuming when he vanished from sight. Glancing down at the communicator he gave her, she let out a low sigh and fiddled with it for a moment. "Hello? Can you hear me? He didn't exactly tell me how to use this thing..." Grumbling under her breath, she fiddled with it a few more times before spotting a button on the side and letting out a low breath. Pushing it down, she held it up to her face for a moment before finally saying something. "Hello? Anyone alive down there? Um... The captain... Guy gave this to me. He said someone would be able to lead me back to the bridge?"

The intercom in the Bridge shrieked to life and Taylors jumped in his chair. He sighed, catching on as he grabbed the intercom, pressing a finger against it. "Jim gave you his intercom? Right, okay. I'll track your current location." Taylors, also known as Ryan, swerved back around to the controls. He tapped the panel, then smiled. "I got it. You're not far. See the intercom attached to the wall? Face it then turn right. Keep following that hall until the second cross way. The hall to the left will take you straight to us." He pulled his finger away from the button, glancing up at the woman standing before him. Red shirted Jessie Owens, third in command if Jim or Taylors were compromised, stood with her arms crossed. "What?" Taylors asked, raising an eyebrow. "He's not sure he's coming back." She stated sternly, directing the comment to Jim in particular. Getting no reply from Taylors besides a bowed head, Jessie returned to her post.

In the extra cargo bay at the very edge of the southern side of the ship, Jim dragged the large doors open with some difficulty. Nevertheless, he managed and slipped in. The key pad would've been a good option to use, not strength alone, but it was a strategy that worked and he had gotten closer to his goal without any side conversations from the crew members in the bridge. They would attempt to talk him out of it, say this is the exact way the last captain went down and Jim got his position in the first place. Which he ignored every time something happened that he didn't think of living through. Jim hurried towards the small pods, tapping a door with his thumb. It slid open and Jim ducked in, tucking his knees to his chest as he snapped the seat belt into place. The door closed and Jim curled his fingers around the steers. Get in, get out. A circular exit door opened, any air that had been in the room immediately being sucked out. The gravity kept the pods in their places, until Jim shut his off. The pod propelled forward into the depths of the universe, hovering above a glowing planet. Before any attempt was set into motion of the pod connecting with the planet's gravitational force, Jim flipped the gravity back on. The pod stabilized immediately, reeling forward only by inches towards the opposing ship.

Sonya followed the man's instructions and ended back up in the bridge. "Ah, much better. Um..." She said awkwardly, holding out the communicator to one of the crew. "I'm not sure if I should keep this or anything. I'm sure that guy will need it back eventually, and honestly, technology hates me with a passion. I'm surprised that worked for me really..." Looking around the cabin, she felt a frown cross her face. "Why is everyone stressed? It's just an unidentified ship, right? He'll go over, chat with them, find out why they're here then- Oh..." Stopping suddenly, realization struck her as she looked over her shoulder at the door. "Right, dangerous people over there." Glancing over at Medwyn, she motioned with her head slightly, saying without words that she wanted to talk to the woman out in the hallway for a moment. "Right, I think I spotted the bathroom of sorts on the way here, I'm going to clean up then come back and... Help you with whatever your doing." Flashing them a smile, she stepped through the doorway once more and moved down the hallway a bit before leaning her back against the wall and waiting.

There was an uneasy silence that rested over the engine room and spanned throughout the next several minutes, The Doctor paused and listened intently, "Engine room to bridge, what's going on up there?" Ribac asked, speaking into his intercom. Shaking his head, The Doctor raced up the steps, jumping over a few and upon finally reaching the hallway, he kicked off the side of the hallway and b lined it to the bridge. Within minutes, he had reached the bridge to lay eyes on Sonya and Medwyn, who seemed to be wherever he was at any moment in time, "Alright then, what's going on? Give me the 4 1 1 or....whatever it is you say nowadays" he proclaimed, walking down to the captains chair, resting a hand on it and peering out to the unknown ship hovering over the planet.

Spotting the Doctor as he raced into the bridge, Sonya forgot all about talking to Medwyn and followed him inside. Stepping up behind his chair, she rested her arms on the back of it and leaned down so he could hear her properly. "That captain guy went off on his own to some unidentified ship... Apparently they think that's dangerous." Casting an eye over at the crew member she handed the communicator to, she leaned farther towards him so she could whisper. "They think he's going to get himself killed. I was going to go over there myself, but I had a thought. They probably don't have doors like I need to enter through. I've never used a sliding door to travel and I don't think it would work." She added in an undertone before moving from behind his chair and walking to the front of the bridge where a window -or screen with an image of the outside, she wasn't sure- sat, studying the ship everyone seemed so interested in with a frown. "And I have to say... I don't travel through space too often or anything, but the way that ship is built... There's something familiar about it."

Medwyn realized that Sonya wanted to talk to her, but as the Doctor entered the Room, Medwyn put that aside for a moment, in anticipation of more explanations about the current situation.
That captain appeared quite unpredictable to her - neither in a negative, nor in a positive way - and she mused whether this may have been a strategy of his or rather a side effect of his young age.
Maybe it was both. But his current rank indeed seemed to justify his unconventional way.
Looking at the ship on the viewscreen Medwyn listened to Sonya.
"What do you mean with familiar? Have you been to this era before?"
From everything she learned about this era before she came here she had not seen a ship like that in the datbase - But the again, this did not have to mean too much yet, for there maybe would be an entry after Medwyn's return...
Time travel could be quite freaky for those who were to narrow minded to find themselfes within fluent variables... To her it never had been just a matter of historic knowledge, but a matter of instinct as well.
There would be a proper ending for this part of her journey as well.

Taylors glanced back at the three of them, annoyed by the constant chatter. He turned back to the panels, leaning down to speak into an intercom. "Jim? Can you hear me?" For minutes to come, there was no reply down the line. "Jim? Hey, idiot, answer now or I'll come and kill you myself." This time, a laugh broke out across the intercoms. "You can't do that. You're acting captain, Taylors." Jim said, "if you go, I'd have to put Owens in charge and last time that happened we almost ran into an asteroid." Taylors flipped a few switches, then lifted his head to look out at the other ship and Jim's approaching pod. "So I can't steer the Eviscerator. Big deal. I'm not the pilot, Fisher is." Jessie Owens mumbled from her position beside Taylors, who was turning back around to face the three standing near the captain's chair. "We don't think he'll die. Jim is good with these things. And the ship has been identified. They're Cling-Ons. Which is worse for us than Jim. Once they spot us, and I bet they have, we will be fired at. And their one rule will buy us some time. A ship never goes down without it's captain."

No more hearing about this. Jim pulled his thumb away from the intercom hooked to the side of the pod, allowing it to die down as he pushed the pod into warp. The small engines could hardly withstand the upgrades, but Jim had insisted these small get-away shuttles had them too. He cut the communication off with the ship he was leaving behind, flying directly above the Cling-Ons and settling down. Releasing the latch under his feet, Jim slid down and through. Gratefully, he had landed directly onto a hatch. He kicked it down without a second thought, immediately toppling in behind it. Roughly bruising his shoulder, Jim got to his feet. A Cling-On member stood before him, a gun straddled in it's hand and pointed at Jim's head. "Ah, okay. Crashed a party, didn't I?" Jim muttered, glancing behind the Cling-On and into the long hallway. "This isn't a federation ship. You're trying to start a war by coming here. Some party, I didn't even get an invitation." The gun powered up and Jim took a quick step away.

The Doctor watched ideally by as the crew members when to work with complete perfection as their captain went on a death run of sorts to investigate the enemy ship. He paused to listen intently to Taylors explanation of the current situation unfolding in front of them; nodding he squinted his eyes and raised an eyebrow as he said, "Taylors, wasn't it?" he asked rhetorically, already knowing the mans name, "This ship if i am not mistaken has teleportation system, and a ruddy good one the last time i checked. Can operate at a quantum level. So, what i propose is, you teleport my ship on board this ship. I can get Jim before the Cling-ons can, no problem. Distract them while we take the Cling-on ship down from the inside.".

Taylors laughed, shaking his head as he toyed with a lever. "I can't make those calls. Even if I'm acting captain, I'm waiting for Jim." He said stubbornly, standing up from his chair to move towards the Doctor. "Besides, we don't take down anyone. That's not how the Fleet works. Jim won't do that until the threat is futile. Which it isn't until we know what is happening." Taylors turned away, tapping the panel, then the intercom. "Jim? Captain?" Tapping it a few more times, Taylors swore under his breath, "he cut the transmissions." Reluctantly, he turned back to the Doctor. "No taking that ship down or you'll have to deal with the head of the federation." Taylors snapped, then glanced at Owens, "beam up his ship. Now. "

The hallway to the bridge of the Cling-On ship was tinted red. Possibly to frighten the prisoners such as Jim. They dragged him down the hall, though he wasn't fighting it. Rather he was walking calmly, glancing around at the decor with distaste. It was everything his ship wasn't. Dark, with a side of evil. Jim sighed, looking over at the reptilian Cling-On walking in front of him. "I need to know one thing. Though it would be kind of hard to even understand... Because you don't speak English." He dragged out the rest of the sentence in silent defeat.

The Doctor took a step forward, "And if you don't listen to me then you are dealing with a Time Lord." he exclaimed, "Don't know what i am? Look me up. I've been saving the human race for hundreds of years throughout time and space. I have seen the fall of eternity, the rise and fall of great civilizations. The birth and destruction of your known universe. Now listen to me! I am telling you Jim is in grave danger, if you don't act now, he will be dead in a matter of minutes and you can take that to the federation". Inside he was growing tired of Taylors laid back and almost carefree nature he was exhibiting at the moment, "I would advice you to prepare this ship for war. Put up the shields and get your men into position. If Jim comes back is not a question or option. The fate of the future lies on that mans back, so whether you like it or not, i am going over there with my ship and i am going to save Jim McCoy. Now, it's your decision or not to be prepared for what comes next". Turning on his heel, The Doctor walked over and into the elevator, calling it down to the teleportation room where he knew his ship was.

The familiar appearance of the TARDIS caused an easing feeling in The Doctor as he approached it and quickly entered, locking the door behind him. He had hoped that nobody followed him to the TARDIS and especially not inside as he rushed to the control console, yanking over the scanner as he did so. "Alright Jim. Get ready" He mumbled with a smirk as he set in the coordinates and prepared the TARDIS.

The hall got dark, lights shutting themselves off as Jim took cautious steps into the bridge. The captain was hovering near his chair, eyes narrowed on Jim as he approached. "Is someone following you?" The Cling-On said in surprisingly excellent English. Jim raised an eyebrow, cocking his head as he stared down the captain. "Not that I know of. That'd be going against orders. Though they tend to do that a lot." There was a kick on the back of his knees and Jim tumbled forward, aware that he sucks at combat. Though it didn't mean he wasn't going to try. Jim turned onto his back, wrinkling his shirt as he was kicked in the stomach. "That's... Cheating. I'm already... On the ground." He grumbled, lifting his arm as he slammed against the spare intercom on his wrist. It was on, but he wasn't speaking. Another jab to the side and he turned onto his stomach, curling into himself. "Really unfair." He whispered, lifting himself by the elbows to look at the captain of the Cling-Ons. "What is it that you want?" Jim asked softly, pushing his eyebrows together in thought. The captain chuckled, "for that mad man's prophecy to be fulfilled."

"Oh please, don't do the Time Lord Victorious..." Medwyn mumbled silently and gave Sonya an almost desperate look.
She already feared that what the Doctor intended to do (with which Medwyn actually was okay, she was just sceptical about revealing too much information at all...) lead to the exact opposite - But the Doctor was lucky and the crew members let him go.
She gave Sonya a glance that said everything, then quickly moved near one of the officers who sat on one of the consoles.
(Se guessed he must have been some sort of a sensor-operator by studying what she saw in his viewscreens.
"Can you try to keep the Doctor's starship tracked?
I'm not sure how easy he may find the CO, so it might be useful to call your Captain and direct him towards the Doctor's ship's position, when necessary..."

Taylors glanced over at Medwyn with a grim, distasteful glare. Frankly, he was unsure as to why Jim had allowed so many people on board without detailed checks. Especially when Jim himself had been on the death bed twice the week before. "I can't contact the captain, he's turned back on his intercom, but I can't hear a thing on his side besides static." Taylors shrugged, turning his back to her as he bent over the screens. "I can only contact him once the stations are unblocked. Owens, put the shields up." At the command, Owens nodded and bent forward to push the lever up. The monitors were beeping, alarming the crew of Jim's change in heart rate, though nothing could be done. All hope was put into the Doctor, and Jim had no idea.

"You know... I'm tired of being left behind in crap." Sonya mumbled under her breath as the Doctor raced out of the room. Casting an irritated glance around the room, she folded her arms and flopped into a nearby empty chair, glaring at the screen in front of her. Her eyes following the contours of the ship in front of them, not really seeing the ship itself as she fumed in silence. Something different comes up, something she was actually interested in, and she gets left because she got lost on the ship. Fine, that was fine, she'd find something else to do while the men were out 'saving the planet'. Getting to her feet once more, she walked out of the room and made her way down into the deepest parts of the ship, vaguely remembering the way as she approached where the prisoner was. Turning the corner, she slowed her steps and stopped just outside the cell, looking into the area with a small frown. "What do you know about all this? Who told you?"

The crippled man hunched his back, stepping out of his satisfyingly relaxing dome of disturbing darkness to step closer to Sonya. "No one told me, dear one. It was a lesson that went down the lines. An educated taught by the teachers of burnt buildings and dead students. My world is gone, the prophecy must live on." The man croaked, rocking on his heels as he ran a hand through his greasy hair. "The prophecy of a leader. A leader who will die to save every member among this ship. Who has a duty to these buckets of waste." He stepped closer to Sonya, twisting his neck in an inhumanely fashion. "One must die so all shall live." The man jumped, more excitement leaking throughout every word as he tightened his hands into hard fists. He flailed his arms in the air, whacking against the doorframe and wall without concern. "The leader will be revealed in due time! Due time!"

"You know who it is, why haven't you said anything?" Sonya snapped at him, her hands settling on her hips as she stared at him in fascination. He really seemed to not even realize where he was half the time. As he spoke, his eyes would haze over and focus over her shoulder, as if he were recalling the words from a very distant memory. "Your planet..." She hesitated for a moment, unsure on if she should ask him. "What happened to your planet? Why is it gone if it wasn't part of the prophecy? If it was, then why are you still spouting this nonsense?" Reaching forward, her hands gripped the bars as she locked her eyes on the man's, startled at how clear and focused they were at the moment while she spoke. "What are you hiding from the crew, you have to know something else, anything else that can help us."

"I keep no secrets, for there is nothing to hide. I do not know the name of the leader, only that he dies. I destroyed my planet." The man backed away from the bars, repeating the same sentences under his breath in hushed whispers. His eyes darted hazily around the room that he was soon now familiar with. Though not entirely pleased with. Cramped, cold, dry. The only good thing was visits from crew members and the meals delivered personally by James McCoy. Whom he realized hadn't been with the curious woman this time. The man jumped forward, a sweaty hand curling around the bars beside Sonya's. "Has the captain abandoned ship, my lady? Oh, no, no, no. The man's a young fool, but he wouldn't leave his crew!" He squinted, dark eyes covered by thick eyelashes. "The Cling-Ons have made their journey from the edge of the universe, aye?" He whispered, and for one good moment, a Scottish accent was audible. It quickly faded as well did his seconds of clarity. He tripped backwards, patting his stomach as he frantically rocked his head from side to side. "A leader dies or you all die. What's better? One life or hundreds? Look-y here, if you're close enough to a planet, maybe even billions."

"He went over to their ship." Sonya murmured softly, studying the man closer then before. "What was your planet? What was it's name, it's co-ordinates?" She asked him quietly, resting her forehead against the bars as she watched him pace around once again. "Why does any of this even matter to you? This prophecy has driven you mad, look at yourself. You've gone so far you can't escape it." Closing her eyes tightly for a moment, she pushed herself away from the bars and offered him a small smile. "You really haven't been a help, but thank you." She added before beginning to walk back the way she came, realizing, a bit too late, that she had forgotten the way back. Again, and this time, she had no communicator.

The man chuckled as Sonya finally gave in. Nothing could change the outcome if the plan went well, nothing no matter what had to be done. He scooted backwards until finding his chair, dropping down into the molded plastic with a new found ego that he found some sliver of a clear consciousness in. He would relish in it for a very brief moment before the intercom on the wall sprang to life. The man, instead of getting in, dragged his chair towards it, resting his elbows on his knees as he bent forward with anticipation. There was no telling who it was until a loud cough broke the airways. A voice began to speak, though it sounded nothing like whomever coughed, "we're beaming you in." It stated, no arguments about it. The man resisted the urge to laugh. They had no idea he was listening, which would only work in his favor. A small whimper broke the speaker, then a loud scream. "No, Taylors, no. They'll attack the Eviscerator if I'm back on board." This was Jim. The captain himself, being broadcasted in a not so private conversation. Now it was deliberate, Ryan Taylors wanted the rest of the crew to hear the captain's commands. "I am sorry to say that Doctor man is trying to come to your rescue." Taylors mumbled, and this made the mad man really want to chuckle. The Doctor? On the Eviscerator? This was becoming more and more of a fairy tale as it dragged on with the set path. "I figured someone would. Though it being the stranger with a funny coat was not what I was expecting." Jim's voice sounded rough, broken into raspy syllables and hardly audible phrases. But by the silence that had captured most of the crew, the man locked away knew they understood. The intercoms across the ship crackled for a moment until dying out. The line went dead and the man finally released his billowing laugh.

Sonya started sprinting down the hallways, searching for something familiar to lead her back to the bridge before she stumbled into a strange room. Small doors lined one wall, one of the doors shut tightly while the others stood open. "Oh, I think I know where the Captain went now." She muttered under her breath before turning around and continuing on her way. Finally, she spotted the familiar doors of the bridge and stepped through them, looking around at the crew. "What happened to him?" She finally asked, walking over to one of them and glancing at the screen with a scowl. For the life of her, she couldn't understand anything that popped up on it. "He didn't exactly sound like he was having a good time when he spoke..." Trailing off, she bit down on her lower lip in frustration. She didn't like to sit still, she wanted to do something, anything at this point, but couldn't think of anything she could do to help. They obviously had everything under control at the moment, the Doctor was heading over there to help the captain, Medwyn was in the bridge talking to the crew and helping the only way that she could. All Sonya had was a knapsack full of things that were virtually useless in this situation.

The Doctors hands raced over the controls in complete madness; the controls sparked and some even exploded from time to time as The Doctor tried to maneuver the TARDIS directly into the Cling-on ship. "Behave!" The Doctor roared with frustration as he hit the side of the TARDIS console with the mallet that hung, dangling, off the side of the console. It was not long before the TARDIS had made it's way onto the Cling-on ship, the only hard part was finding a good place to land, the scanners showed a huge variety of objects all shapes and sizes. "Come on, come on, come on!!" The Doctor mumbled underneath his grinding teeth before a huge thrust echoed throughout the entire TARDIS, sending The Doctor on his back with a hard thud as he hit the ramp floor beneath him. Laughing hysterically, The Doctor forced himself up and bolted down the ramp, tossing off his trench coat onto the coat rack that stood beside the door to the left. Upon exiting his TARDIS, The Doctor was immediately greeted by the face of a Cling-on, its reptilian like facial expression and texture glaring at him angrily, "Oh..sorry..is this landing spot taken?" The Doctor joked with a fake surprised expression slanted across his face, "Cause if it is, i can pop back and move it, it'l just take a sec..literally".

The Cling-On grabbed onto the Doctor's sleeve, dragging his forward down the hall until reaching the bridge. He shoved the Doctor towards the captain, who was still standing above Jim. "Another one so soon?" The captain questioned, chuckled, and stepped over Jim to move towards the Doctor. "Come to save James McCoy here, are you?" He whispered, then glanced back at Jim, who was stumbling to get to his feet. His bottom lip was split open, dripping blood onto the floor and all over his chin and shirt. Though he ignored it as he moved backwards, collapsing into the captain's round chair. "Comfy. And it spins. Mine doesn't," Jim commented innocently, then turned towards the large screen facing the Eviscerator in the distance. In direct alignment with the Cling-Ons missiles, Jim gulped, standing to get a better look. Halfway to the panel, a Cling-On released a war cry and a gun went sailing into Jim's head.


Back on the Eviscerator, crew members were waiting, because by this point, it's all they could do. Jim had put Taylors as acting captain, but it's been done so many times, no one ever listened to it. Their captain was sacrificing his well being for the ship, and that's the man they wanted orders from. Taylors crossed his arms, looking back at Sonya as the cracked his neck out of nervous habit. "We can only hear so much, miss, we have nothing to tell us the exact situation." Jessie Owens jumped from her chair as Taylors spoke, rushing to the medical panels near Jim's medical supervisor. "Jim's vitals are dropping." She yelled over and Taylors nodded slightly, looking over the screens at the Cling-On ship. "He'll be fine, that happened three times on Saturday alone. He's the best the Fleet has to offer, even if he got his status as captain mostly illegally." Taylors whispered more for himself than anything.