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The Doctor hastily established a force-field but one of the Cybermen had made it into the opposite corridors and managed to kill most of the colonists before finally collapsing beneath their collective fire. The Cybermen continued down the corridor.
This pattern continued for about five minutes with the Cybermen overrunning various positions as the Doctor attempted to use his force-fields to protect the colonists and guide the Cybermen, he hoped, to their doom.Then he saw that they were almost on top of Ace.
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 ce had heard approaching shots and had been ready for the past few minutes. Then they appeared from around the corner. She had encountered Cybermen before and so she knew how deadly they could be, fortunately she was also aware of their weaknesses. ‘Remember to aim for their respirators,’ she shouted to the colonists around her as they opened fire.
She saw two of the Cybermen collapse to the ground as one of the colonists at her side, a young man named Rob, whom she’d been getting to know rather well while they had waited, was thrown against the wall behind them with a gapping hole in his chest.
Ace took better cover as she recommenced firing at the Cybermen, shouting ‘Keep low!’ hoping others would hear her cover the deafening roar of weapons fire.
It soon became clear that they would have to fall back as the Cybermen bore down on them and the defenders began to fall with alarming regularity.
Back in the control room the Doctor, staring intently at one of the monitors, muttered, ‘Drop back, Ace. Come on, Ace, don’t push it.’ He knew he would have to put up the force-field soon that would cut off the colonists escape route otherwise a path would be clear right to the control room and the Cybermen would by-pass the remaining strong-points.Ace was just about to give the order to fall back when a hole appeared in the shielding she was hiding behind at about leg height. Pain tore through her as metal fragments charged with the residue of the Cyberman's weapon ripped into her arm and leg. She wanted to scream in pain but managed to give the order to fall back as the shielding to her left exploded.
Ace saw six twisted bodies collapse to the floor but the remaining defenders made it down the escape corridor. She knew that has had to drag herself down the corridor before the Doctor put up his force-field.‘Ace!’ the Doctor shouted in alarm as he saw her fall from the blast that tore into the shielding in front of her. He saw several more colonists collapse as the other shield blew apart and the remaining fighters retreated down the corridor. That left just Ace and then he could put up the force-field. ‘Come on, Ace.’ he whispered.
Ace realised that she was going to have to get a move on as the Cybermen approached from around the corner. She saw two collapse under the retreating shots from the defenders. An explosion followed by a shower of sparks from above her, and made her turn to see a shattered security camera hanging limply from the wall.Now blind, the Doctor knew that he would have to throw the switch for the force-field before the Cybermen made it through. ‘Good luck, Ace.’ he said and flipped the switch to the on position.
Ace left the force-field crackle into life behind her as a wry smile crossed her face. She felt her hand automatically closing around a can of nitro-nine that she had hidden in her pocket before taking up her position with the colonists. She saw more Cybermen marching around the corner. ‘Come and get me then!’ she shouted, as she flipped the top off the canister and set the timer. As she bent her arm to throw the explosive she remembered all the times that the Doctor had warned her about using explosives in confined spaces. She ducked behind the remaining shielding as the can sailed through the air towards the invaders.
The Doctor’s eyes ran over the monitors on the wall searching for any sign of Ace. Where was she? There was a chance that she could make it down the corridor that he was guiding the Cybermen down ahead of the enemy. Assuming that she was still alive. ‘Come on, Ace, please…’
The flames of the explosion washed over her but the shielding protected her from the worse of the blast. She pulled herself into an upright position and saw about thirty twisted metallic bodies gathered in front of her. ‘Ace.’ she said in a voice full of pain. Just then she heard a flickering behind her and she turned to see the force-field flashing as it tried to re-establish itself after the blast from the explosion.
 
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everyones bad day pt2 page3
