WARNING: Spoilers for BF's Gallifrey series, Main Range audios The Apocalypse Element and Neverland, as well as TV episode The End of Time.
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The Time Lords were a proud race, not a group to throw themselves at the feet of the first overlord who walked into their lives. They had tradition, and Rassilon had that on his side, at least at first. But they had a tradition of challengers, too, and a tradition of Coordinators and Castellans and Cardinals and Inquisitors all standing up to Presidents, when problems arose.
There were only two dissenters on the council when Lord Rassilon announced his plan to initiate the Final Sanction. Both were relatively minor members of the council, and he humiliated them by forcing them to stand behind him with their heads in their hands, like the weeping angels of old. Forcing them to act ashamed, like a lesser race called before their masters.
They did so, at least whenever Rassilon watched. The mightiest race in all of creation- or at least, that is what they would consider themselves to be- cowering in terror before a man out of time.
It is what happened to the others that meant only two dared to question him.
Never let it be said that Lord Rassilon did not appreciate irony.
Once upon a time, there was a popular leader, a woman whose policies were fair and wise and just, and she surrounded herself with people she could trust, not all of them of her own race, not all of them even organic. She stood strong even as the Daleks turned her into a number for twenty hellish years, and she did not bow down even when her own bloodline turned on her and the Imperatrix Pandora corrupted everything, and she lived her third life at least twice, both times an immovable barrier against a relentless war.
Rassilon, of course, could not allow this to stand. He tore her down, and he took her allies apart one at a time, until no one was brave enough to stand behind the woman he had replaced, and no one dared to voice the fact that she was the military leader they needed, not him, even when faced with the utter certainty of death and defeat.
Where to start, then? Not at the beginning, for it is hard to tell if there is one, in a story like this. The timelines are twisted, ensnaring everyone involved in their brutal history, but maybe, just maybe, one could identify a handful of stories from this time.
Once, the woman was younger and- dare I say it- more naïve, more straightforward, than the calculating ice lady that would one day be called the War Queen of Gallifrey. When she took the presidency for the very first time, she had stood calmly, with her jaw firm and determined eyes set in a heart-shaped face, looking oh so very young with her long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. By the time she dragged herself out of the nightmarish world of Etra Prime, she was older and thinner and her hair barely fell to her shoulders, and the optimism in her eyes had faded slightly to be replaced with steely determination.
Her enemies said she was compassionate, intuitive, emotive, honest, and with integrity. But she was also broken, even if she hid it well, broken from years spent in the dark, clinging to her name and titles like a lifeline. She never could bring herself to let go of the presidency, even when everyone said she should.
And so, when Rassilon swept into the Panopticon in the flowing red robes of the Prydonian Chapter and demanded her place, Romana said no. She ran hands with long-faded scars over the golden trim of her white presidential robes, and one hand brushed over the number etched into her arm that had never really gone away, and she met his eyes with the stubborn determination that once led her to stay in a pocket universe to avoid going back to Gallifrey.
What Romana did not know- or perhaps she did, but thought that as always Braxiatel would be fifteen steps ahead of the game and didn't need his president to watch out for him- was that Lord Rassilon had called on his Lord Burner. Braxiatel stared at the staser in his hand. He stared at the woman he loved, and he closed his eyes for a moment and thought about how his younger self had never received any messages from this him, and he turned his staser on Lord Rassilon instead. And Lord Rassilon didn't even try and dodge- there was no need, for he had known what his Burner was going to do and the necessary precautions were all in place. Irving Braxiatel went down in a pile of Chancellery Guards, and the last thing he saw in that room was the shocked gaze of his president as she tried to grasp what was happening.
Leela went next, throwing herself in front of her friend moments before Rassilon's gauntlet let out a burst of energy that turned her chest to dust. It would not have killed Romana- the power setting not enough to kill a Gallifreyan, at least not permanently- but her human bodyguard was more than fair game.
Narvin is the one that goes to drag the lady president from her spot, but the shock of seeing the savage with sightless eyes- only so recently restored to sight- is enough to make him freeze, and moments later he's dead too, his eyes glassy but locked on Leela. For some reason, all he can think of in his final moments is the story she told once about how, in her tribe, it was traditional for other warriors to guard their body until sunrise, and how he already knows that there will be no one left to do that for her.
Romanadovratrelundar is executed that day, on the charges of treason and conspiracy to commit murder. Perhaps she dies on her feet, jaw clenched, glaring defiantly at the tyrant who has taken everything from her. Perhaps she shouts something rebellious, perhaps she is too furious for words. Perhaps she falls to her knees and sobs over the body of her coordinator and her bodyguard, and perhaps Rassilon gloats over his fallen enemy. Regardless of the circumstances, Romana dies.
Or perhaps she does not.
In another timeline- another life- it is not the second incarnation of President Romana that faces Lord Rassilon, but the third. The War Queen of Gallifrey who has a manipulative streak to rival Braxiatel, whose timeline is already a mess of contradictions even before the Time War gets into full swing. This Romana- or rather, Trey- is cunning enough to escape his initial trap, this time, and Braxiatel does not feel the need to shadow her, instead spending what he is sure will be his final moments on his Collection, hoping against hope not to receive the summons he fears.
Instead, this time, Rassilon has time to plan, and he realises that he wants them to pay. If they are lucky, some of their number are already gone. Maybe Agent Ace has been sent back to 21st Century Earth, and she goes to start up a charity. Maybe she gets caught in one of her own explosions, but at least it's quick. Maybe she died with burns around her throat at the hands of the Watchmaker, and maybe Coordinator Narvin was lucky enough to suffer the same fate.
Maybe he wasn't, and Rassilon sent his men after the wayward former President. Maybe Coordinator-in-extremis Narvinectralonum gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, is injured in an explosion and dragged before Lord Rassilon. Maybe Rassilon starts looking through the matrix for ideas. Maybe he doesn't have to because he was there the whole time, and maybe he remembers what Pandora did. Smartest man on Gallifrey, is he? How useful, and a good strategist too. Maybe Borusa isn't the only one who gets turned into a possibility engine. Maybe Narvin tries to resist, but really, what can he do? He can't regenerate because he already gave that for his president. Maybe Narvin's lucky enough to die in the process. Maybe he finds that one, impossibly improbable future where Romana gets out alive and clings to it like a lifeline.
Maybe he finds the one where Gallifrey gets out instead, thanks to some bizarre ploy by the Doctor, and he remembers why he first joined the Agency, and clings to the idea that maybe he won't be forgotten. Maybe the horror once he realises what the true legacy of the time lords is going to be just makes it all worse.
Maybe Leela left, a long time ago, and died in a Z'nai prison ship. It was not an easy death, and it did not follow an easy life. Or maybe Rassilon stared at this primitive being, old and worn but with a knife in one hand and a staser in the other, and saw opportunity. Maybe the hounds of this timeline don't fight Great Vampires but the daleks instead. Maybe they become something else, mutated and warped beyond all recognition, further even from daleks from kaleds. Maybe they become something as feared as the Hordes of Travesties.
Whatever the case, it doesn't seem like Leela will ever have anyone to watch over her soul for the night to keep it safe from wild animals. Not like there's much point though. It seems unlikely that she would make it to death without being stolen away by the animals anyway.
And Trey?
Who is she, really? The third. Her very existence a paradox, her entire life bound up in conflict. Is Pandora still there, whispering in her thoughts when she tries to close her eyes? When she stands alone in a dark room, does she remember mines and dalek voices grating and black plastic poking her in the back as they shove her up the corridor? Does she even remember what freedom is, at this stage, to open a door and not know what is on the other side? She is a manipulator, now, willing to do whatever it takes to save Gallifrey. How long will she keep fighting for? Steal a battle TARDIS and head for the front once staying on Gallifrey is an inevitable death sentence, watching her people die in futile battles with no strategy behind them?
Or does she stay? The memory of everything that was, the idea that one day she might just rebuild the capital for her past self if she stays in the matrix long enough. What happens when Rassilon catches her?
He will, of course. He may be unpopular but he is powerful, dragging Gallifrey to the end of time itself. What happens when, finally, the Lady President is dragged into the Panopticon, calm and marching with her head held high?
Braxiatel probably won't come back, not this time. He loves Romana but he created her too, and it has never been more obvious than when Trey smiles a disarming smile and offers a hug, Blinovitch Limitation Effect be damned, the Web of Time smashed into tiny little pieces. Seeing her would be like looking in a mirror, and for all his time on Gallifrey, his place is the Collection. Trey, on the other hand, is bound to Gallifrey.
Maybe she is the one standing behind him, that fateful day when Gallifrey materialised in the skies above planet Earth. Maybe he wanted her to see what her precious universe looked like as it died, knowing she could do nothing to stop him. (Incorrectly) confident that she would be too ashamed to meet the eyes of the man she once travelled with.
Maybe Rassilon just kills her. More likely he humiliates her first, casting around for something fitting for the so-called War Queen. Whatever it is, it's enough to silence almost all the dissenters. Maybe he casts around the Earth history she has been interested in ever since her travels with the Doctor. Maybe he gives her a crown of thorns and parades her around like some kind of toy.
Maybe he directs her into a room and she stands, alone, and stares down at a cup of hemlock just like Socrates, because it doesn't matter where in the universe you are, stirring up new ideas and threatening the status quo is always going to be punished.
And whatever it is, Trey will take it, and she will watch Rassilon with steady eyes peering out from under her fringe, because she's tired and because she knows he can't win. And people will say that the moment Lady Trey dropped dead and every single Time Lord fell to their knees before Rassilon was the moment when he truly lost the war.
There were others, of course. Guard commanders who paid the price for trying to protect their soldiers. Scientists, perhaps, who couldn't believe what kind of weapons they were supposed to design. Perhaps the Could've Been King had a small army at first, perhaps the Could've Been King once had the name Sentris, but Rassilon either didn't bother to find out where the erased people went or didn't care that he was creating a nightmare every time he tore someone else from the time stream. The rebellion could have been large, could have been the reason why of the six chapters of Time Lord Society, only people wearing Prydonian red appeared to be present on the final days of the war. Maybe he took the time to be personal, tailoring the punishment to suit the crime, like he surely did for the deposed presidents' closest allies. Maybe uncontrollable rage left him ordering the deaths of billions just because he could, and there was nothing personal about it at all.
Whatever it was, it must have been terrifying.