ladyofleithian | Chapter Nine: Disengage

In which things go wrong while defending the Nestene planet.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Notes: Yes, I will admit that the name of the Malmooth, Rygel, is a bit of a FARSCAPE reference. *Is a geek*

It was later in the morning that Rose was awakened if only for battle. Even hearing about the state of the Nestene planets was enough to make Rose worried, to put it mildly. She could not say that she had been on the best of terms with the Nestene consciousness, but if nothing else, if they failed to protect the Nestene planets, who knew what would happen? She couldn't risk the Nestene consciousness' wrath. She simply couldn't.

It was later, upon getting to the planet with the Malmooth prisoner Rygel, that Rose saw the devastation of the planets in front of her -- the sheer scope of the destruction, the sheer weight. She rubbed her forehead -- she could already feel more destruction, more death, in her mind, and even as she turned to look at Rygel, the Malmooth placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ry -- Don't despair, General. Everything's going to be all right. -- gel."

"I certainly hope so," Rose said.

"Rose." Tony's voice, over the communications system. "Is everything all right?"

"It is," Rose said. "Open fire on the Daleks. And protect the Nestene planet at all costs. I'll be right behind you."

"Aye, General."

There was something sobering about the phrase "Aye, General", even coming from Tony. They had changed throughout this war. Time wasn't the only thing changing. The participants were also changing, and not necessarily for the better. And Rose was almost frightened by the thought.

The battle began. And even as Rose commanded them to keep firing on the Dalek fleet, to use the grenades, to release the Genesis ark if only to imprison them sufficiently, she could already feel the pain going through her head. The past, the future, vibrating in her mind -- and it wouldn't stop --

And it was then that she heard Romana's voice. "Rose, there's something approaching. I think you should be on your guard. Prepare to unleash the converters if you need to -- "

Before Rose could raise any objections to the ideas of converters, there was a sound of a Dalek ship firing.

The communication system was then filled with static, and then silence.

"Romana, is everything okay?" Rose couldn't hear anything over the communicator, though; there was nothing but silence. "Romana, please!"

Nothing. Completely nothing.

"Professor, we need to get out of -- "

"No. Not without Romana. I'm going to find her. *We're* going to find her."

"All right, Professor." Ace, however, looked almost doubtful, which seemed almost uncharacteristic of the girl who had been willing to undergo Rose's other crazy schemes before. Then again, she supposed that Ace was justified in terms of feeling that way. After all, they had already lost so many. They couldn't lose anyone else.

Then again, Rose knew that it was the main reason why they had to find Romana. Because no matter what happened, she was not letting another companion die.

Rose took a deep breath and punched in the coordinates to the far ends of time and space. Don't fail me, TARDIS,she thought. Don't fail me.

The TARDIS then took off towards an uncertain future.