The Heart of the Battle ( audio story ) Publisher ' s summary . Trapped in a citadel swarming with Daleks , the Time Lord rescue force must find a way to overcome insurmountable odds . With the Daleks apparently planning to rule the Null Zone , perhaps their thirst for universal conquest and victory has been quenched . . . The War Doctor doesn ' t believe so — but how can he prove it without destroying any chance of peace ? As the countdown to the destruction of Keska proceeds , a deadly choice must be made . . . A choice that will define this Doctor , and perhaps forever cast him in the role of " monster " . Plot . As with the preceding story , we open with a flashback : During the Taalyen invasion of Keska , Rejoice tries to argue her father out of going to negotiate with the Taalyens and Daleks . In the present , we pick up right where we left off , inside the command centre . Veklin and Bennus , still navigating the service shafts , hear the Daleks chanting “ Peace in our time ” . Upstairs , Traanus confronts the Doctor and Seratrix ( and Rejoice with them ) and mocks them for trying to make peace with the Daleks . Sratrix gets them out of the room ; Veklin finds that the Doctor , Seratrix , and Rejoice are on the move . She begins to prepare demolition charges as well . Seratrix , the Doctor and Rejoice meet in what used to be Rejoice ’ s father ’ s quarters ; she gets emotional , but reins it in . Seratrix won ’ t let the Doctor stop the drilling mechanism ; there is about an hour til it reaches the planet ’ s core . He is quite serious about trying to make peace with the Daleks ; he believes the Time War cannot be won . The Doctor is appalled by the plan ; Seratrix does make a compelling case , but it ’ s not a sound plan given what the Doctor knows about the Daleks . Meanwhile , Veklin and Bennus climb a service shaft to get to Seratrix ’ s group . In arguing their points , Seratrix points out that the Doctor was involved with the very beginning of the war , and fought the Daleks long before the war . Rejoice tells the story of how the Taalyens killed her father and his diplomatic team by flying their ship into the sun , and she castigates Seratrix for his plan . Seratrix reveals that the Time Lords gave the Daleks the weapon that created the Null Zone , in response to the Doctor ’ s use of the Time Destructor to destroy the Dalek time fleet . This was a gesture of good faith toward their peace intentions . Veklin breaks in with Bennus and tells Seratrix she is there to rescue him , but he doesn ’ t want to be rescued . Seratrix insists Ollistra supports the plan , but that isn ’ t what Veklin and company were told ; the Doctor wonders why they ’ ve all been sent there . However , they are interrupted by the explosion of Veklin ’ s charges , which temporarily disrupt the Dalek sensors and communication . Bennus reveals the ( with the deceased Arverton ) is on Seratrix ’ s side , and pulls a gun on them . Seratrix admits he is going to turn them all over to the Daleks for the sake of the peace efforts . Seratrix orders Bennus to shoot Rejoice to stop Veklin from extracting him , prompting Veklin to say she will kill Seratrix if he does , but the Doctor intervenes ( despite Rejoice ’ s willingness to die to stop Seratrix ) . The Daleks send another squad to destroy the Time Lords . Seratrix explains that the plan of the Daleks is to put hyperdrives in all the thousand worlds and move them to create a defended border around the null zone . The Doctor counters that the Daleks don ’ t do defensive ; they only attack , because they irreversibly believe all life to be inferior to them . The Doctor suggests he can prove the Daleks are up to something worse . Seratrix gets Bennus to stand down ; he and Veklin agrees to give the Doctor one chance . A Dalek break in , and Bennus shoots it . They flee toward the old council chamber , which is now the Dalek control centre , fighting Daleks and Taalyens along the way . Traanus gets a report about the Time Lords , and goes to interfere . Near the Control centre , they manage to cut communications with the drill apparatus , which is approaching the core . The Doctor and company walk into the control centre and face the Daleks and Prime Dalek . The Doctor bluffs that the attacks weren ’ t made by them , but by other Time Lords ; he says they are there as part of Seratrix ’ s team , to help restore communications with the drill . He calls himself John Smith . Seratrix is forced to play along . The Doctor and Veklin start to work , and restore communications , then the sensors ; unknown to the Daleks , Veklin is also strategically placing demolition charges . With that done , Seratrix asks for clarification of the Dalek plan . The Daleks call the plan as Seratrix said , but the Doctor elaborates that the surfaces of the planets will be destroyed in the process ; the Daleks say the inhabitants will receive alternate living arrangements . Meanwhile , Traanus approaches the control centre . The Doctor pulls up a schematic which shows that the real plan is to launch the thousand worlds at fifty times the speed of light at Gallifrey , utterly destroying it . The Daleks don ’ t want this plan revealed , of course , but it ’ s too late . Seratrix still tries to plead for peace , but the Daleks exterminate him . Before they can fire on the others , Veklin sets off carefully placed charges , which destroy the pathweb that lets the Daleks communicate ; the relevant overload deafens and overwhelms the Daleks , knocking them out . The Doctor says this allows the Keskans to retake their world and destroy the Daleks ; however that will still leave the Taalyens to deal with . The Doctor re - establishes communication with the drill again , and contacts Garv , who — with others — is onboard the drill . Traanus breaks in and confronts them . He is willing to kill them , even at the cost of his life , but when Rejoice points out the Daleks ’ real plan , he rethinks his willingness to sacrifice all the Taalyens . He lets the Doctor proceed . Garv knows that there ’ s only one way to stop the drill — to blow it up now , before it reaches the core . It will cause surface disruptions , but most of the population will survive . However , it requires a signal from the control centre to release control to the onboard crew . The Doctor wants to save Garv and his crew , but he knows he can ’ t . Traanus mocks him for his indecision , but the Doctor states that he ’ s known he is a monster already , and only a monster would make this decision . Rejoice offers to do it and take the guilt — but the Doctor refuses , and presses the button . Garv says his grateful goodbyes , and then blows up the drill . The Doctor comments on Seratrix ’ s plan , and admits it was hopeful — but misguided . Traanus mocks him again , and tries to kill the Doctor with a knife ; Rejoice takes the blow instead . Outraged , the Doctor orders Veklin and Bennus to hold Traanus , and he tries to kill Traanus , inciting more mockery ; Veklin stops him . As the Doctor ’ s anger fades , Traanus suggests the Doctor ’ s punishment for his weakness is to live . However , it ’ s short - lived , as a Battle TARDIS appears around them , whisking them away . It ’ s Ollistra . She dismisses Veklin , who is outraged that she doesn ’ t understand how this was done ; TARDISes shouldn ’ t be able to operate in the Null Zone . She orders Veklin to forget everything , on pain of dematerialisation . The Time Lords are wiping out the relatively - underpowered Daleks and their Taalyen allies . Without time travel technology , the Daleks are disadvantaged ; Ollistra agrees it is a massacre , but not of the innocent . Ollistra explains to the Doctor that she engineered all this because she couldn ’ t risk allowing Seratrix ’ s plans for peace to contaminate the rest of the population . So she gave Seratrix the null zone weapon , with a backdoor built in , and sent him undercover for this purpose , so that he would ultimately be removed . Bennus and Arverton were his agents ; but when the Doctor prevented their deaths at Omega One , she was forced to think the Doctor may be , as well . Therefore she arranged this mission to get rid of them all ; now she has shut down the Null Zone weapon , and the Time Lords are mopping up . Seratrix will be a martyr , and the Doctor ’ s real loyalties were proven ; Veklin , loyal to Ollistra , would have been unfortunate collateral damage . Still , the Doctor considers Ollistra bloodthirsty ; after all , her plan , though successful , still wove death and destruction over a thousand worlds . Ollistra takes him to a beautiful pastoral world ; she tells him it is Keska , in the future . The planet has healed , and the memory of the war is now mostly forgotten . But a memorial to Rejoice stands , and she is considered a symbol of peace and hope . Ollistra doesn ’ t know if she survived her stabbing , though . Still , Ollistra chides the Doctor for thinking himself sympathetic , and forgetting that he — like all Time Lords — is a warrior . His TARDIS is buried where they stand . He summons it to the surface . He tells Ollistra goodbye , and says he hopes he never sets eyes on her again . Still , she is glad he is on their side , and will fight to the end . He admits it , but says he doesn ’ t feel the need to enjoy it . She wants to know where she can find him … “ At the heart of the battle , where the blood of the innocents flows , and only the monstrous survive . ” References . " to be added "