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aviv_b_artworkTITLE: Chapter 76 - Battle
AUTHOR: Aviv_b
RATING: Chapter 76- G/PG for violence
CHARACTERS:: Ianto, Aaron, Mickey,
DISCLAIMER: Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 1625
SUMMARY: The future of Earth and the human race hangs in the balance as the battle is waged against the Toclafane.
Title is from: In a battle all you need to make you fight is a little hot blood and the knowledge that it's more dangerous to lose than to win. George Bernard Shaw
Ianto's Journey begins here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/1972.html
All Chapter are linked.
The Battle for Earth only lasted seven days. But for anyone who witnessed the attack by the Toclafane, it was seven days of living hell. No one, but Jack and the Doctor, knew that the Toclafane were actually human cyborgs from the end of time.
Programmed by the Master, they unleashed their laser weapons on strategic buildings and installations. Their spikes and blades seemed to be reserved for particular individuals they wanted eliminated as well as to capture heads of state from their protective shield of troops without harming these important hostages. The Master had no concern for them killing their ancestors and canceling out their futures; he wanted the present day Earth from which to attempt to launch another attempt at a takeover of the Universe. What happened to the human race in the future was of no concern to him.
He wisely decided that he couldn’t burn all the cities or kill all the humans as he would need manufacturing capability to build weapons for his future attacks as well as an enslaved population to build those weapons. Most importantly though, he needed to eliminate as much of Torchwood and UNIT’s personnel and resources as possible in order to decrease the risk of future uprisings.
What he didn’t expect was the amount of resistance the Toclafane would face as well as the existence of a weapon that could destroy them. Jack knew that the Toclafane could be incapacitated by an electrical surge of 58.5 kilo-amperes, which transferred a charge of 510 mega joules. This was exactly the power that existed in lightning bolts however mankind was a long way from being able to produce a defense of that magnitude without the use of nuclear weapons.
The teams under Ianto and Tosh’s direction were able to develop a weapon that produced one millionth the electrical charge needed, and using future wave technology the charge was then amplified a million fold upon contact with the Toclafane. Contact with the unique molecular structure of the aliens was required to complete the amplification so that if turned on a human, it wouldn’t have much more power than a TASER. In fact, the weapons were designed using the TASER as the base component so they could be manufactured easily and cheaply.
The Master was also unaware that Captain Jack Harkness was no longer on Earth and was closing in on his base just beyond Europa. UNIT took charge of the battle in London and Mickey Smith acted as second in command overseeing the worldwide coordination of troops and armaments. Aaron took charge of tracking supplies and dealing the numerous problems that arose moving massive numbers of troops, supplies and weapons. This freed Ianto and his team to concentrate on analyzing the attack patterns of the Toclafane and the performance of the TASERS in order to devise optimal strategies for destroying the invaders.
The Torchwood Research Center in Osaka was destroyed the first day of the invasion. The staff there insisted that they could defend themselves, and unfortunately UNIT and Torchwood went along with their assessment. But they were scientists, not soldiers and were overpowered within hours. Kimiyo Sato-Harper perished along with five hundred other scientists.
The Torchwood Asian Offices headquartered in Delhi were fortified by Indian military troops as well as UNIT personnel. The building and most of the staff survived but not without the loss of several hundred Indian soldiers. The death toll in the manufacturing city of Mumbai was unimaginable.
The United States came out of the invasion with surprisingly few casualties relatively speaking, just over four hundred and fifty-thousand lives lost. The main goal of the attack centered on destruction of government and banking centers in Washington and New York, as well as a concerted effort to capture the President. Jack reckoned that the population of the United States would most likely be killed or enslaved after the invasion but that they weren’t the focus of the initial strike. The President wisely took his advice and numerous look-alikes were planted around the country to distract and confuse the invaders. There were twenty-seven in all, all volunteers from the CIA, FBI and Pentagon and twenty of them were hunted down and killed in the attack.
The real President along with her cabinet, military and pentagon officials were scattered across the country in secure locations. They knew that their usual safe locations would be known to the alien invaders and wisely avoided them. Back ups to NORAD’s locations at Cheyenne Mountain and Ontario had been constructed in secret and proved vital as both headquarters were heavily damaged during the initial wave of attack. Governments around the world, including the U.S. used communication devices from the 25th Century that the Toclafane wouldn’t be scanning for. Afterward people found it hard to believe that the Pentagon had directed the battle from farm houses near Spring Green, Wisconsin as well as Batavia, New York. The President and a few key staff members were in a secure facility set up in an abandoned warehouse in Detroit, Michigan. The Vice President and additional staff were hidden at the Lodge at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Other major cities had only light casualties limited mostly to those manning regional FBI offices, military bases, police stations, local government headquarters and communication centers such as television and radio stations and high speed data centers. Several smaller cities that were home to nuclear power plants were targeted but expecting that, the President had ordered a large number of troops to protect these facilities. Casualties were quite high, but only one shut-down reactor was partially damaged.
London was a special case. With both UNIT and Torchwood international headquarters located in the heart of London, Jack expected the invasion to be intense. And he was right. Fortunately, there was also a huge contingent of British and UNIT troops as well as Torchwood personnel to face down the invaders.
There was one problem that arose in London that proved to be intractable. King William refused to vacate Buckingham Palace. He felt that he needed to be with his people and that leaving would be cowardly. With Jack gone, there was no one who had the nerve to confront the King on this ill advised strategy.
By the third day of fighting, the troops in London were holding there own, but the fighting around the palace had intensified. Ianto walked in to Mickey Smith’s office just in time to hear him cursing out someone on the phone before slamming it down.
‘I see you are employing the Jack Harkness strategy of diplomatic relations.’
“It’s those damn toadies at Buckingham Palace. I can’t even get through to speak to the King let alone persuade him that he’s got to evacuate. We really need to get him somewhere safe without the Toclafane finding out. We can still defend the palace as if he was there, but it’s getting increasingly risky for him to stay.”
‘Do you think someone could get me over there? I’d be willing to talk to him and see if I can convince him leave. In fact, I even know a way we can get him out without anyone being aware of it.’
Mickey looked at Ianto in disbelief. “OK, I heard you used to have tea with the late Queen, but really, why would he listen to you?”
Ianto smiled. ‘Because William always listens to my advice. You know that lovely ring he got for the Princess; you don’t think he picked it out do you? And I’m sure you’ve noticed how well his suits have been looking on him. I finally convinced him to get a decent tailor. Now if I can do that, I think I have a pretty good shot at having him listen to me about evacuating.’
Mickey rolled his eye. “Only you could get away with telling the King that his suits don't fit right. Fine, I’ll send you over with a contingent of troops.”
‘No troops, nothing to draw attention to my arrival.’
“Then how are you going to get him safely out of the palace.”
‘Tunnels. Don’t roll your eyes; there really are tunnels under Buckingham Palace.’
“Do you have any idea where these tunnels are located and where they end up?”
‘Of course, as the archivist at Torchwood, I’ve seen the plans for the tunnels. The Doctor convinced King George V to have the tunnels dug and they were enhanced during the reign of George VI just prior to World War II.’
Mickey watched as Ianto pulled out a pre-paid cell phone and dialed. ‘Just calling William's cell phone to let him know I’m coming…yes, Your Highness, those suits you ordered are ready for a fitting…yes they are very closely tailored and I think we should try them on to decide whether they are a little too tight. No it will be just me and an assistant so no need for a fuss. Well, of course you should change into your best pants, how else will we know if the suits fit properly?’ Ianto winked at Mickey. ‘I’ll see you in about an hour.’
Mickey sunk back into his chair. “Please tell me that you were not just speaking to the King about his underwear.”
‘Don’t worry, William knows what it means.’
Ianto and a UNIT sharpshooter were armed with the advanced TASERS as well as some weevil spray in case they got any interference from the staff. When Ianto went to tell Aaron where he was going, Aaron insisted on coming with.
‘Aaron, there’s no time to argue about this,’ Ianto pushed out.
‘That’s right,’ Aaron sent back, ‘think of the advantage we’ll have if we don’t have to speak. No risk of being overheard, no risk of compromise.’
Ianto had to admit that Aaron had a good point. So in the end Ianto the Tailor and his two assistants drove a low level employee’s car over to the Palace. Apparently William had left orders to give immediate entry to his tailor so they got into the Palace with a minimum of fuss.
‘I just hope we get out as easily,’ Aaron pushed out. Ianto nodded.
Chapter 77 is here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/45391.html
