The Weapon and the Warrior (audio story)

The Weapon and the Warrior was a Cyberon audio story written by John Peel. It was a sequel to Curse of the Cyberons, continuing the crossover between the Cyberon series and the Dracula universe as developed by McAuley with Stoker's descendant.

In addition to the rank of Cyberon Controller, the story made use of the concept of "factory ships", coined by John Peel for ships designed by the Daleks for mass production of their armies in War of the Daleks; the Cyberons are here seen to operate similar ships.

Publisher's summary
With a powerful new cyborg leader, the Cyberon conquest continues. Seemingly unstoppable, can one weapon save humanity…

Plot
Dracula, the Cyberon Controller, leads a scouting party to Asteroid B-725, where the Cyberons have learned that humanity are keeping a great weapon to be used against the Cyberons. As they approach, they detect only one life-signal, and are confused at the "illogical" move of leaving only one guardian to watch over such a valuable asset, but Dracula nevertheless enters the facility carved into the asteroid.

There, Dracula and the two Cyberons flanking him are confronted by the unlikely sight of a woman in a wheelchair, hooked to a life-support system. Engaging Dracula in oddly casual conversation, she explains that she is and always has been the only inhabitant of this facility. She was born with a degenerative, infectious disease and has been paralysed all her life. Now the disease has begun rotting her brain, and she moved to this secluded facility in order to study a potential cure.

Dracula is irritated at her not being afraid of him, which she explains is because her efforts failed and she is dying anyway. He makes to leave when she reveals the truth: unable to save herself, she decided to make herself useful to the war against the Cyberons another way: she managed to make the disease more infectious and faster-acting, and sent decoy messages about a great weapon to lure Dracula and his Cyberons here. Now they are all infected with the "improved" disease. Dracula's ship is already fleeing back to the main Cyberon Fleet, unaware that it's already carrying the infection to the wider Cyberon race.

Dracula also tries to flee, but his two Cyberon bodyguards, dedicated to the survival of the Cyberon race first and foremost, grip him by his arms and hold him in place. Their brains soon begin seizing up and they die, but their robotic parts keep holding form, pinning Dracula in place. Before his helpless eyes, the woman passes away, spiting him with her dying breath and declaring herself "the Weapon and the Warrior". Although Dracula may be immune to the disease as an undead entity, he will remain forever trapped in the asteroid base, unable to escape the grip of his own soldiers whose power he so craved.

Characters

 * The Weapon and the Warrior
 * Dracula

Crew

 * Written by John Peel
 * Performed by Claudia Christian
 * Sound-design & Producer: Bill Baggs
 * Theme music: Mike Neilson
 * Cover: James Lee & Warren Lewis
 * Original Cyberon design: Terry Cooper

Worldbuilding

 * With the brain as their only organic component, Cyberon lack "both sex and sexuality".
 * Cyberons now create hollow mechanical bodies in advance aboard factory ships and merely "fill them in" with brains collected from their foes as they are able.
 * A supply ship comes by Asteroid B-725 every six months to resupply the woman and take away whatever waste and garbage she's accumulated.

Continuity

 * The Cyberons use factory ships for reproduction. (PROSE: War of the Daleks)
 * The Cyberons have elected Dracula as their new Cyberon Controller. He is now reduced to a head mounted on a metal body. (AUDIO: Curse of the Cyberons)