K9 captured at Skonnos entrance

Soldeed forces open the Doctor's TARDIS, discovering its mysterious properties. As K9 emerges to investigate, he is immediately fired upon by a Skonnon guard and neutralizes the threat with a stunning shot. Soldeed, intrigued by the mechanical canine, disables K9 with his staff. He dismisses the device as a mere instrument while ordering K9 taken to his private laboratory for study, depriving the Doctor of his technological ally at the precise moment their mission requires coordinated action. The event escalates hostilities between the Doctor's team and Skonnos forces, while Soldeed's aggressive confidence in claiming the Nimon's technology exposes his dangerous ambition to control the invaders themselves. key_dialogue: [ SORAK: What is it? SORAK: It's alive! Stop it. SOLDEED: As I thought. Some form of electronic device. Go and see if there are any more inside that mysterious contraption. ]

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

3

Soldeed interacts with the Tardis, and Sorak expresses surprise at its opening.

surprise

K9 investigates and gets attacked by a guard, then stuns him. Soldeed uses his staff on K9.

calm to tension

Soldeed orders the machine to be taken to his laboratory for further study.

determination

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

4

Methodical curiosity interrupted by sudden assault

K9 trundles out of the recalcitrant TARDIS under his own power, scanning the scene. When a Skonnon guard fires, K9 returns fire with a restrained stun blast. Before he can assess further, Soldeed’s staff crackles with disruptive energy and strikes the canine unit, shutting it down mid-stride. K9 is disabled and presumably carried away for interrogation.

Goals in this moment
  • Investigate the TARDIS exterior under the Doctor’s implicit orders
  • Neutralize immediate physical threats to himself and allies
Active beliefs
  • Duty to the Doctor’s mission supersedes personal safety
  • Hostile forces must be met with proportional force
Character traits
loyal responsive courageous technologically adept
Follow K9's journey

Gloating confidence that curdles into irritated dismissal once K9 fights back

With a triumphant growl Soldeed forces the TARDIS doors open using raw violence, only to find its mechanisms repel him. He immediately shifts focus when K9 emerges, striking the robotic ally with his ritual staff to neutralize it. Despite K9’s display of autonomy, Soldeed dismisses the machine as a simple tool, missing its true significance.

Goals in this moment
  • Seize any technology that can be claimed for Skonnos
  • Prove his mastery over the TARDIS and its contents
Active beliefs
  • Advanced alien technology can be exploited without consequence
  • Any device, even a mechanical dog, is a weapon to command or destroy
Character traits
confident manipulative dismissive curious about technology
Follow Soldeed's journey
Supporting 2

Instinctive hostility followed by surprise at retaliation

A loyal Skonnon guard stationed at the entrance chamber fires a pulsed energy shot at the sudden mechanical intruder K9 as soon as it rolls into view. His aim is precise but his assessment slow—by the time he realizes K9 can retaliate, he is stunned and retreating.

Goals in this moment
  • Obey standing orders to engage unknown intrusions
  • Protect the perimeter under Soldeed’s command
Active beliefs
  • Unknown machines are threats until proven otherwise
  • Chain of command requires immediate action
Character traits
obedient reactive panicked
Follow Skonnon Guard's journey

Surprised alarm quickly tempered into cautious professionalism

Sorak leaps forward to help force the TARDIS open alongside Soldeed, then shouts warnings when K9 appears. He identifies the mechanical intruder with alarm, ordering it stopped while Soldeed dispatches it. Once the immediate threat is neutralized, Sorak turns practical again, noting the door has resealed itself and reporting to Soldeed.

Goals in this moment
  • Assist Soldeed without endangering himself
  • Understand the immediate tactical situation
Active beliefs
  • The TARDIS represents both opportunity and danger
  • Discretion is necessary when dealing with unknown devices
Character traits
attentive nervous analytical obedient
Follow Sorak's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

4
Doctor's TARDIS

The TARDIS door yields to Soldeed’s brutal force but then resists further opening, frustrating his attempts to plunder it. As K9 emerges, the door shuts again, isolating K9 outside the vehicle and demonstrating the ship’s sentient control over its boundaries.

Before: Sealed and resisting Soldeed’s previous attempts to open
After: Closed once more, protecting its interior
Before: Sealed and resisting Soldeed’s previous attempts to open
After: Closed once more, protecting its interior
K9's Innards

K9 rolls free of the TARDIS into the Skonnos entrance hall, immediately engaging a hostile Skonnon guard. After stunning the attacker, K9 is struck by Soldeed’s ritual staff and deactivated. Soldeed orders K9 captured and taken to his laboratory for analysis.

Before: Stationary inside the closed TARDIS
After: Inert, being carried away for study
Before: Stationary inside the closed TARDIS
After: Inert, being carried away for study
Soldeed’s Ritual Staff

Soldeed wields the ritual staff to disable K9 with a concussive energy pulse. Before this, the staff served to assert dominance over the doorway and personnel. After disabling K9, Soldeed brandishes the staff to underscore his authority and the machine’s subjugation.

Before: Held as a symbol of Soldeed’s authority
After: Recently discharged, crackling with disruptive energy
Before: Held as a symbol of Soldeed’s authority
After: Recently discharged, crackling with disruptive energy
Skonnon Guard's Energy Weapon

A Skonnon guard wields the compact energy weapon, firing a blue discharge at K9. The weapon’s beam sparks against K9’s armored hide before the canine retaliates with a stun pulse that neutralizes the threat.

Before: Primed in a guard’s hands at the entrance
After: Discharged and abandoned by the fleeing guard
Before: Primed in a guard’s hands at the entrance
After: Discharged and abandoned by the fleeing guard

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

1
Skonnos

This cavernous threshold, lined with metal grates and pierced by a distant skylight, becomes the venue for both discovery and violent seizure. Soldeed’s party concentrates on the TARDIS under the harsh illumination, while the sudden appearance of K9 turns the space into a combat zone. The architecture echoes every shouted command and the sharp crack of stun fire.

Atmosphere Tense and echoing, shifting from forensic curiosity to sudden armed engagement
Function Stage for discovery, confrontation, and enforcement of Skonnos power
Symbolism Represents the threshold between Skonnos control and uncertain alien forces
Access Open to Skonnos forces; restricted to senior officers regarding the TARDIS interior
Metal grates casting jagged shadows across the floor and ceiling Central skylight providing dim starlight from the void above

Organizations Involved

Institutional presence and influence

1
Skonnos

Skonnos manifests through Soldeed’s aggressive command of the chamber, the uniformed guard’s obedient aggression, and Sorak’s cautious compliance. The organization weaponizes curiosity into theft, turning a routine perimeter check into territorial conquest and technological prize hunting.

Representation Through Soldeed’s inner circle executing his will with immediate tactical initiative
Power Dynamics Exercising territorial and technological authority over outsiders and its own ranks
Expand Skonnos control by securing alien technology Assert dominance over any intruders in its complex Chain-of-command obedience enforced by armed guards Ritual symbols and energy weapons projecting coercive power

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What led here 3

"K9 observing Soldeed and Sorak from the scanner leads to K9 investigating when Soldeed opens the TARDIS, ultimately getting attacked by a guard and stunned by Soldeed's staff, and then taken for study."

Skonnans inspect the TARDIS warily
S17E19 · The Horns of Nimon Part …

"The Doctor summoning K9 using a dog whistle sets up K9's subsequent action of investigating the guard, being attacked, and being captured by Soldeed, directly leading to the loss of K9's assistance and creating a new threat."

Doctor and Romana uncover Nimon weapon secrets
S17E19 · The Horns of Nimon Part …

"The Doctor summoning K9 using a dog whistle sets up K9's subsequent action of investigating the guard, being attacked, and being captured by Soldeed, directly leading to the loss of K9's assistance and creating a new threat."

Doctor summons K9 to analyze Nimon device
S17E19 · The Horns of Nimon Part …