And so it begins...
That day we saw the dead rise was burnt into all our memories...so much happened on that day...a loss and a sacrifice that left one soul so broken we thought it would never mend and something precious was taken by the worst of humanity.
I sometimes wish I had the gift of foresight because some surprises are good and some...still you don't want to know what I wish.
What is history is history and what is happening now, will happen. I can only hope that when you have read this tale of power and love and loss, you will understand why he did what he did...why he abandoned us...why we abandoned you.
General Jack Harkness (Former Commander-in-Chief)
The screaming turned to a god awful screech; an inhuman screech and the Doctor began to glow and then a flash of golden light engulfed the Doctor and the Master.
The elderly creature and the crowd stepped back, but Jack and the others had to shield their eyes...was the Doctor regenerating?
Jack knew it wasn't, it didn't feel like regeneration. He'd been close enough to the Doctor during his not-quite regeneration...no, this felt like the same thing he'd felt on the mountain, and that wasn't good.
The screech died as did the light and when it receded both the Doctor and the Master had not one mark one on them.
There was silence and what felt like an air of expectation as both Time Lords began to stir.
It was the Doctor who was the first to rise and the elderly creature stepped forward and bowed, followed by the leader and the rest of the group.
A few seconds later the Master rose and the group did the same.
The Doctor turned to the Master and Jack and the others saw that the Doctor's eyes were glowing...whatever had taken him over hadn't died when he did.
The Doctor said something to the Master but in a language the others didn't understand but it didn't sound like Gallifreyan.
Jack tried to hide his surprise when the Master bowed and turned away and he saw that the Master's eyes were glowing to.
"Sorsha, es rai!" he shouted and the cave filled with the cry of "Sorsha!" and then a whole army went to its knees as the Doctor stepped out from under the canopy and stood before them.
The Doctor or whatever he was gestured with his hand and the army rose. "Sisha!"
Another roar filled the cavern and the soldiers began to disperse.
The Doctor turned back to the Master who bowed his head once more.
The Doctor said something and the Master straightened and the Doctor moved closer and put a hand on the Master's cheek and said.
"You do not need to bow to me."
They both then turned their attention to the group of soldiers and the elderly creature.
"You have done well in keeping my army together, our prison was not...kind."
"My Lord," the leader said and put a hand to its chest. "We await your orders."
"Send out scouts, I wish to know what enemies I have to face."
The leader saluted again and barked out a few snarls.
"What of the prisoners, my Lord?"
The Master instead of the Doctor looked over at the trio. "Do not kill them...my Lord wishes to question them. You have quarters?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Then we shall retire there, bring that one," he said, pointing at Jack.
The leader saluted and Jack was unchained from the others and dragged along by two soldiers, following the Doctor and the Master.
The leader's quarters were a large tent not far from the canopy and Jack was dragged in by the soldiers and forced to his knees by the leader.
He was ignored for a few minutes whilst the Doctor and the Master...well whatever now possessed them, talked softly in one corner.
Eventually the Doctor moved over to Jack and said to the leader and the soldiers. "Leave us."
The trio saluted and moved to stand outside the tent.
The Doctor turned his attention to Jack. "I am Sorsha, Lord of the Horde of Sevra."
"I'm supposed to be impressed by that," Jack retorted.
A blow to his head from the Master made him reel backwards.
The Doctor...no, the thing called Sorsha Jack corrected himself, snarled at the Master.
"Sisai, I will punish!"
The Master or whoever this Sisai was actually flinched, the first time that Jack had seen the Master flinch and bowed his head.
"I'm sorry, My Lord, but he shows no respect."
Sorsha nodded and moved closer to Jack. "I forgive you your ignorance this one time. This body knows you...oh, you are immortal. I wondered what that stink was, you reek of time. Perhaps you need a lesson on the history of our creation."
Sorsha grabbed hold of Jack's head. "See what our creators were capable of."
What seemed an eternity later, he let go of Jack's head and Jack could only stare at him in horror.
"Enough history...this Time Lord has given birth. Where are his children?"
Ashena and Seska were moving at what Seska called Ashena's hunting pace; no problem for another Time Lord but to whoever was being hunted it was.
They had already run down and killed several of the creatures that the man in the white coat had brought with him.
At first Seska found it distasteful but after his second kill he realised it felt good...now they were after their main prey...the man in the white coat.
"When we find him, you can have first blood, to avenge what he did to our mother," Ashena said and handed him one of her blades.
He hesitated. "Ashena, this is one of your naming day gifts. Mother gave them to you."
"Yes and I give one to you. You have made two kills, but you should have a better weapon than a human blade. This man in the white coat should be bloodied by a Gallifreyan blade."
Seska took the blade, the Serasion alloy glinted in the sunlight, the whirls and pattern of their language engraved in it, spelling out Ashena's true name and her given name.
"When this is finished, they will give you your own blades for your naming day...little Siskria."
Seska blinked, she hadn't called him that since he was five...little rock hawk.
"We have to find Jakaar, if he is lost, it will break mother's hearts."
"We will and we will bring him this man's head as a trophy," Ashena said and looked up the mountain path. "Why is he going up, there's nothing but snow...unless he has a shuttle waiting."
"No, a shuttle would have been picked up by the sensors...the only thing that wouldn't be picked up is a rift manipulator."
"A rift manipulator, how could a human have a rift manipulator?"
Seska thought for a moment. "Well he did have control collars."
He fell silent for a few seconds as realisation came over him. "Sister...do you remember, when mother was injured at the fall of Moscow...the scars."
Ashena nodded as she studied the mountain. "Yes, father said they were," she stopped and looked at Seska. "Is that him, the one that tortured our mother and stole his first born, our older brother before he was born?"
Seska nodded. "I think it is."
"Then he deserves to die, come little Siskria...time to finish this."
White Coat could not believe that it had gone wrong again. He thought his property was dead; it was a loss he could live with, he did have one of its offspring. But when he'd realised his property had miraculously survived, he thought all of his problems were solved.
How had it returned from the dead and able to control whatever that machine was?
But it all gone wrong...it wasn't his property anymore, it was something else; something he would own...eventually.
But discretion was the better part of so they say. He wasn't going to call it running away...more of a tactical retreat.
He did after all have one of its offspring and the maternal instinct was a powerful thing...yes, he would go back through the rift and make plans.
He reached the top of the steep path and turned off left and carried on up another few metres until he reached a huge caldera, that once housed a now long dead volcano. But that didn't interest him; his only interest was in the swirling mass of the rift.
He climbed down the slope and the first person to see him was his second-in- command.
"Break camp...we're leaving."
He went inside one of the tents and straight to a little figure cowering on the floor. He undid the chains from the post and picked the figure up.
"You are about to become very small bait in a very large trap."
Ashena and Seska followed the footprints that White Coat had left and breasted the ridge.
"I knew it, he's opened a rift," Seska said.
"We have to get closer, it looks like they're breaking camp," Ashena replied and they started down the slope.
It took the a few minutes to reach the bottom and by then they were starting to go through the rift.
"We have to stop them," Ashena said.
Seska was looking at the rift. "I can close it...I think."
They were both distracted by the sound of a child's cry, they looked over at the largest tent and the man in the white coat appeared and he was carrying a kicking and crying Jakaar.
Ashena let out a low growl and went to move forward but instead collapsed to the ground.
Seska gave her a sad smile. "Sorry sister, you have to stay behind and tell them. I can't really close the rift, but I can follow and try and save our brother."
He left her then and made his way towards the camp and the rift.
If he timed this right, he could slip through just before the rift closed.
He hid behind a large crate and could only watch as people and equipment went through.
The man in the white coat stepped up, with Jakaar in his arms.
Seska froze when Jakaar saw him peeping from behind the crate; he put his fingers to his lips and smiled...then his little brother was gone.
He shifted nervously as the last person stepped through, and then he ran and dived into the rift, just as it was closing.
Ashena came to with a start and she knew exactly what had happened and what Seska had done. She was up and running towards the rift.
"Seska...no!" she cried as she saw him dive into the rift and it close behind him.
"Brother, no," she sobbed.
She stood staring at the now empty space...she'd lost both her brothers. She was the eldest and she was supposed to be their protector...like her twin would have been.
She turned away; how was she going to tell her parents, especially her mother, that two of her children were lost.