Part 1: Cruciform Rising


Chapter 1

Soaring above the Gallifreyan plains was the colossal Citadel of the Time Lords. Its spires towered above a city to stroke the orange sky, framed by a glasslike globe which blossomed from a base of rock. A canyon moat surrounded the Citadel, with twelve threadlike bridges stretching out to a sprawling city like the spindles of a great wheel. Within the dome was the core of the city, and at its heart stood the Panopticon Tower, home of the High Council of the Time Lords—the governing body of the most powerful race in all of time. The two stately mountains of Solace and Solitude guarded the outer reaches of the city like ancient sentinels born from the crust of Gallifrey. It was the Capitol of the universe's defenders, a monument of the last hope against the Daleks.

Within the inner chambers of the Panopticon, the sound of whirring engines spontaneously grew from silence. The battered TARDIS of the man who was once the Doctor materialized near the back wall, as if slipping in for a temporary visit. The doors thrust inward and out stepped the War Doctor, his face set with grim determination. He took no time to admire the lavish anteroom around him, heading straight towards a massive set of double doors.

The Panopticon itself was a colossal room of great prestige. Six-sided—six being the sacred number of the Time Lords—and about a quarter of a mile high, it was the ceremonial home of the main oligarchical governing body, the High Council. A vast series of semicircular balconies fluted the walls, empty at the moment but capable of holding the full outer council and all who might attend important sessions. Every facet of the décor cried regality. Flowing gold and red tapestries stretched from floor to ceiling, and beautiful circular Gallifreyan inscriptions were etched across the surfaces of the walls. Looking down upon the room from the ceiling was a large Seal of Rassilon, the insignia inlaid with a luminous golden metal, serving as the main light source for the space below. In the center of the floor was a raised platform with a long rectangular table, at which the members of the Inner High Council were seated, their gaudy ceremonial head crests jutting up from their backs. At the head of the table stood the Lord President of Gallifrey himself, the first, oldest, and greatest of all Time Lords: Rassilon, returned from the stasis of immortality. In his new form, he wore a strong, chiseled face and a simple but noble red robe, with a single metal gauntlet on one hand. He seemed the epitome of leadership, with his proud, powerful manner and middle-aged appearance. This was a man who looked very much like the ruler of a universe. At the table around him were the other members of the council, the Chancellor, various Cardinals, and seated off to a podium-like desk on one side of the platform were the two leaders of the War Council: the mighty old General of the Time Lord Fleet and his trusted advisor, Androgar.

The group was quietly discussing amongst themselves when the enormous doors to the Panopticon sprang open and a man stormed in. Two guards on either side of the door jumped to action and pointed their weapons at him. Rassilon, who was directly facing the doors, stood to his feet to glare down at the intruder.

"Who dares to interrupt this private meeting?" he boomed in a deep, masculine voice. Such a voice carried the thick air of presence and command.

"Who dares to treat a former President of Gallifrey like an enemy?" the War Doctor retorted in an equally commanding voice. He nodded to the guards. "Point those things aside, lads, or you'll hurt someone." They stood still.

Rassilon softened slightly and cocked his head back. "Doctor, I presume?"

"I don't go by that name any longer. Refer to me as the Warrior, the Renegade, or even the War Doctor, if you absolutely must. But not the Doctor." He paused for a moment. "Rassilon? I thought you were dead—or rather alive in the curse of immortality. Since when did you decide to leave that dreadful tower?"

"I have returned in corporeal state to lead my people once more, in their greatest trial, and to smite the scourge which plagues us."

"Quite the bravura, as always, Lord President." He gestured to the two soldiers. "When are these two going to put those guns away? I never liked being spoken to with some sort of barrel shoved in my face."

"Stand down." In one motion the guards returned to their initial position, weapons upward.

"That's better." The War Doctor scanned the room in front of him. "I haven't been keeping up very well with this war. Tell me how it fares."

At Rassilon's nod, the General spoke, "This Time War, though conflict has been raging for years, has only officially begun in the last few months, with the official declaration of war by the Time Lords following the Daleks' attack on Gallifrey," he spat the name "Dalek" with rancor, "As you know, the Daleks have marauded the universe ever since their existence, with the ultimate goal of complete supremacy. Their atrocities were outnumbered, and after destroying countless civilizations, committing genocide upon genocide, we had no choice but to intervene against them. They took notice, and realizing that we are the greatest and only threat that stands in their way, began to attack our own colonies. The forces of Skaro have all directed towards us. We have declared total war on the Daleks, and direct our full efforts at eliminating them entirely, before they exterminate us all. But this conflict has spread all across the reaches of the universe, and continues to do so. But the Time Lords are superior in might and technology, so it is only a matter of time before victory is achieved. We employ over a million full-fledged Battle Tardises. It is certain that we will win."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, General. The Daleks are not a petty race which can be simply exterminated with time—they are master exterminators, as they so often remind us. They advance rapidly, strike swiftly and without mercy, work logically and efficiently, and have the endless drive of pure hatred. Do not underestimate the poisonous power of hatred."

The General looked around in irritation, muttering to Androgar, "Who does this man think he is?" He said out loud, "Why is this arrogant renegade Time Lord lecturing the government of Gallifrey like he owns the place?"

Rassilon glanced at him but paid no heed to his protests. "Do you intend to join this war, Renegade?"

The War Doctor hesitated for a moment, but ignored the question. "Lords and Ladies of the High Council, I have come to you with a request of grave importance. This war may affect the whole universe, but it need not destroy the whole universe. In a conflict between the Daleks and the Time Lords, whole planets and races have been destroyed. Zygos, Polymos, Kolox… Alderfrey—all totally obliterated. And as a result, the peoples of the universe have begun to lose the distinction between Dalek and Time Lord! Continue the war as you must—but in the name of common decency do something, something, to end this 'collateral damage!'"

The council members were taken aback at his manner. A direct insult! Comparing Time Lords to Daleks so openly?

"And what would you advise, Renegade?" Rassilon said.

"Anything which will enclose the war. I would suggest a massive Time Lock around Gallifrey, Skaro, and the space between."

The General protested, "Ridiculous! Such a lock would be a serious strategic disadvantage. Not only would time warfare would be severely limited, but such a drastic measure may very well permanently cut us off from the universe we're trying to protect!"

"Time warfare being held in check is one of the main points! It will hold both sides accountable, preventing either from getting too clever—or foolish, rather— and trying to attack across time. Linear warfare is much easier to manage, and less risky. You of all people should know that, General."

Rassilon seated himself. "Though we have not yet informed the War Council or the Outer High Council, the Inner Council has indeed been considering such a measure. You need not convince us, Renegade. In fact, we have already commissioned a team of scientists to develop the technology for such a feat."

The General was aghast. "My Lord President, why didn't you consult—"

"Silence, General. Your mind is one of war. In time you may understand."

The Doctor nodded his head in a slight bow of gratitude to Rassilon. "I am very glad we are in agreement, Lord President. Tell me, what is this program developing?"

"The scientists have devised a device, currently under construction in a base in Southern Gallifrey. It is called the Cruciform: a machine capable of generating a Time Lock over the span of up to a million cubic light years. The boundary of the Lock has been planned to encompass all of Gallifrey, Skaro, their nearby colonies and moons, and the 200 thousand light-year channel in between. That would ensure complete enclosure of all Daleks and Time Lords, and would seal us off—both spatially and temporally—from the rest of the universe.

"Take a seat at the foot of the table, Renegade." He gestured with his gauntleted hand and a chair rose from the ground at the other end of the table. The War Doctor obeyed. "I'll let our Lord Cardinal of Technological Development, Lucivus, explain the details to you."

Cardinal Lucivus was a slight, wiry man with a bald head and an aquiline nose. One would expect a pair of wire spectacles to rest on the bridge of his nose, if not for the vision-correcting medical equipment his people possessed. His voice was shockingly deep, in contrast to his appearance, "The Lord President has covered most of the main points regarding the Cruciform project. I will expound upon some of them. You are probably familiar with basic Time Lock technology, and this type is merely expanded on a larger scale with more sophisticated attachments. It creates a pocket universe which overlaps the, shall we call it the main universe, and pinches off the corresponding section of the Time Vortex. This pocket universe occupies the same space it did while a part of the main universe, except it is completely sealed off. It can be observed from the main universe, but nothing can cross between the boundary. Like a bubble within a bubble, in simple terms. Do you follow me, Renegade?"

"Yes, of course. I'm usually the one talking like this. Carry on."

"I'll skip over the lengthy details about how it treats time from the outside, in order to avoid going on too long, but it prevents anyone in the main universe from entering the space of the Time Lock during any time period. It is sealed off entirely from all of time and space. It gives latitude for those who have travelled or will travel to that space in different time periods before the Lock was established, but that's where the headache comes into play. I'll spare you that.

"The Cruciform is, in appearance, an enormous space station. It nearly equals the size of the city of Arcadia. As its name implies, it is shaped like a cross, but with one long Shaft and two intersecting beams instead of one, all perpendicular to each other. The Shaft is the body of the device, and serves as a medium between the pocket and main universes, where the machine is serviced and operated upon. One of the intersecting beams exists in the main universe, while the other exists in the pocket universe. As a result, an observer in either universe would only perceive a single cross shape. The two beams enforce and control the barriers, both spatial and temporal, and serve as a sort of link, as if they pin the universes together. At the point of intersection of the shaft and beams is a giant gate. This gate is the only way one can leave the pocket universe and enter the main. Hence, the Time Lords will still be able to enter the reaches of the universe if needed, but the Daleks will not.

"We plan on installing this device at the middle ground between Skaro and Gallifrey, from which it will also serve as a base of operations at the front lines. It will create a full length materialization barrier to prevent anything from materializing from one side to the other. That will prevent the Daleks from materializing from Skaro to Gallifrey—they would have to materialize at the barrier and physically travel through. Though it unfortunately works the other way around, if we control the middle ground it should be a strategic advantage for us, would you not agree, General?"

The General humphed quietly.

"As far as the barriers it puts on Time Warfare, we have none yet. We could use it to completely seal of the Time Vortex which corresponds with the pocket universe, but we have reservations about doing so."

"You should," the War Doctor said. "At least put proper boundaries in place so one could not travel back in time to, say, interfere with an important battle which happened to go wrong. Such violations of the laws of time may seem ridiculous to us now, but who says that no one will attempt it in the course of this war? Perhaps you could place a series of boundaries within the Time Vortex so one could not travel more than a few hours—or even a few minutes—in either direction. It would hold both sides in check, but still allow for breathing room, though I am still somewhat adverse to time warfare."

"We will take your advice into consideration, Renegade," Rassilon said, "Continue, Lord Cardinal."

"Those were the basics of what the Cruciform does, though there is much more to learn of how it operates. We can discuss those at a later date. The group of developers have made considerable progress, in part due to our use of a relative temporal enhancer—in the span of one month for us, linear time, they have been working on this project for several years. It should only be a matter of time before construction is complete."

"And when it is complete, the full High Council will take a vote on whether or not to install it," Rassilon concluded the briefing. "And while you are here, Renegade, we have another matter to discuss. One which we were debating when you interrupted so rudely. Though I must say, your timing was somewhat punctual."

The councilmembers glanced at each other. A slightly ominous air settled over the Panopticon, and the War Doctor could feel it.

"Though some in the room may not admit it," Rassilon briefly peered at the General, "the Time Lords need all the aid we can muster in this time of war. We understand that it is not some natural tendency of evil to fail, nor numbers, nor technology alone which win wars—but it requires cunning. The power of a creative mind is one which the Daleks lack—so much to the point where they enslave innocent children and infuse them with Dalek conditioning and technology to serve as creative battle controllers. The Time Lords, however, possess such minds, and we place our hope upon the greater minds. It is not out of flattery, but a simple statement of fact when I say that you are one such mind, and it is not out of conceit that I say I am one as well. We find it most fortunate that you have come to us at such time, as your mind can and will be of use if you were to offer it, but we still seek more minds to add to our ranks."

The War Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I don't like where this is going," he murmured.

"The Master, we understand, met his final end in your Eye of Harmony, though he was supposed to have been executed on Skaro—"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, for goodness' sake, are you really that thick—"

"Let me finish, Renegade!" Rassilon rumbled, flashing a sharp glare.

"The Master is one of the most ingenious children of Gallifrey that we have ever known. He was and has always been the top student of the Academy."

"The Academy doesn't measure one's brilliance, it only measures how well one can answer pointless exam questions!"

"Coming from one who nearly failed his courses."

"Wasn't worth my time."

"The point is, Renegade, that the Master could prove a useful ally in this fight."

"He's mad!"

"And that madness may be just what we need. The Master was executed on Skaro, remember. He would hate the Daleks with a passion. If a warrior brimming with hate could be pitted in mind against those masters of hate, he could do considerable damage."

"And how do you intend to resurrect him?"

The Cardinal of Medicine, a Time Lady with wispy grey-blonde hair and a slightly aged face, spoke up, "If the Master fell into your Eye of Harmony, his body would be trapped in the stationary event horizon, though it would be burned and charred beyond repair from what is essentially close contact with a small star. We could, however, use an metamorphic symbiosis regenerator to infuse within him a new cycle of regenerations, then revive him through forcible regeneration."

"How could you possibly extract him from my Eye of Harmony?"

Rassilon answered, "We have our methods. All Eyes of Harmony are copies of the original created by Omega and myself, which lies underneath this room. They are all, as their name implies, in harmony with one another. We do not need to confiscate your TARDIS and use your Eye. By landing here you have done all we need. When a duplicate Eye comes into close contact with the original, they naturally begin to exchange energy with one another, and some of that energy is in the form of information. Any differences within the duplicate eye are transferred over to the original, keeping it fully updated, so to speak. The Master's remains should now be underneath us."

"Oh… I see. You're just a bunch of dirty tricksters after all," the War Doctor said sulkily, but not without a touch of lightheartedness. He let out a sigh. "The Master is one of my oldest foes and an even older friend. He is shockingly brilliant, extraordinarily resourceful, and endlessly cunning. But to resurrect him would be a grave mistake. He is a crazed coward with no honor and only serves himself. Only if you are certain that he shares your same interests would he ever listen to you. He would feel no sense of debt or gratitude to you for bringing him back to life, and the only card you hold in your favor is his inevitable thirst for revenge against the Daleks. But even then, if this war ever ends in your favor he may very well take the Daleks' place as enemy of the universe!"

"We are willing to take that risk. After many hours of discussion, both the High Council and the War Council are in agreement."

"Do what you will, but heed by warning. The Master is not to be trusted." The War Doctor stood to march off of the platform. Just at the doors, he turned to face the council. "Yes."

Rassilon lowered his eyebrows in puzzlement.

"Yes, I have come to take my place in this war. But I am your ally, not your subordinate. I will not take orders."

"Then might I suggest you lend a hand at the front," the General said. "I'll send out a general word to the captains stationed there, so they don't box your ears and toss you to the Daleks, however much I might like that."

The War Doctor turned and pushed the doors out without a word. In the anteroom outside of the Panopticon, the blue box faded away.