Mission to the Known (short story)

 was the third of five Time Lord Victorious short stories released by Eaglemoss Collections. It was printed in DWFC TLV 2, which came with the Dalek Time Commander and Dalek Scientist Figurine Set. It was written by James Goss.

Summary
The Dalek Time Commander and Dalek Executioner are experimenting on extinct species that have recently come back to life after catastrophic changes in time. The Emperor, who foresees a time when the Time Lords would wage war against them and the rest of the universe, and assuming the Daleks' failure, commands them to make the most of their visit to the Dark Times... he instructs them to destroy the Time Lords.

Plot
The Dalek Time Commander ignores the pleas coming from the life-form, upon which he experiments. He considers lesser species to be illogical, due to them never learning that Daleks neither consider their pleas for mercy, nor do they change their minds. The Time Commander then cryogenically freezes the sample, enjoying its struggle in its last few seconds.

Joining the Scientist Dalek at the control bank, he identifies the species as Fellonian, a species with telepathic capabilities and a species who experiences a shared suffering throughout its entire race. The Time Commander considers it to be worthy of further examination, to which the Scientist agrees.

The two units then weaponise, on the intruction of the Emperor himself, and exit the laboratory. The ship had made its way into the Dark Times using the help of their very reluctant enemy, the Doctor, who had also left his TARDIS on their ship, something which continues to baffle the Daleks.

With the Daleks having failed their first instruction by the Emperor, to destroy the temporal divergence straight at the source, the two Daleks had decided to procure test subjects instead. The two Daleks enter a chamber that only three Daleks aboard are privilidged to enter: themselves and the Dalek Executioner.

Inside, the Commander makes the Executioner aware that their operations had gone according to plan. Noticing, but not answering the others, the Executioner returns to watching the visi-screen, now joined by the Commander. The Emperor appears upon the screen and delivers a message. Having now failed in their first mission, the Emperor issues a second mission: use their unique access to the Dark Times to destroy Gallifrey before the evolution of the Time Lords, thus preventing a foreseen future where all races are united against the Daleks.

With that, the message ends leaving the Commander to only obey.

Characters

 * Dalek Time Commander
 * Dalek Scientist
 * Dalek Executioner
 * Emperor of the Restoration
 * Fellonian

Worldbuilding

 * The Fellonians are extinct by the time of the Restoration Empire.
 * The Dalek Time Commander and Dalek Executioner observe a recorded message from the Emperor on a visi-screen.

Continuity

 * The Daleks arrived in the Dark Times with help from the Eighth Doctor. (AUDIO: The Enemy of My Enemy)
 * The Daleks are harvesting the genetic material of Dark Times lifeforms. (COMIC: Tales of the Dark Times; PROSE: All Flesh is Grass)
 * The Doctor has left the Daleks in disgust at their back-up plan, leaving his TARDIS behind. (PROSE: All Flesh is Grass)
 * The Emperor predicts a time when the Time Lords will attempt to destroy the Daleks. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks)