The Journey begins.
Bannerman road looked like it had certainly seen much better and happier days, the Toclafane attack had destroyed quite a bit of the road, killed a few of the inhabitants before moving on to their next targets, leaving behind scared, dead, shell shocked and mournful human beings. They knew that things were going to get worse, maybe living wasn't the best thing to happen to them in the grand scheme of things.
They didn't know that soon they would envy the dead.
The scene was so chaotic that Romana and Martha had little trouble actually walking down the street, Romana was convinced they didn't even need the perception filters they were using at the moment since no one was in the frame of mind to do anything about the fact they were walking down the street. Romana had to hold Martha back, her ingrained medical persona was reacting to the sight of the injured, they didn't have time for that. It was late at night, further adding to their cover to avoid the Toclafane patrols. As they approached number 13, Martha hung back, letting the Time lady knock on the door.
A boy answered it, a tall white skinned boy with a gash over his dazed features. Romana blinked at him for a moment, his time line was wrong. Physically he looked like a normal teenage human but to Romana, with her senses, he was wrong because it felt like he'd been born a short time ago.
The boy interrupted her thoughts, " Can I help you ?"
Before either Romana or Martha could reply, a woman's voice interrupted them, " Luke, I told you. Don't let anyone in, especially not now."
The woman appeared, and Romana smiled, " Sarah Jane Smith, I presume ?"
" Who are you ?" the woman said suspiciously.
" My name is Romana, you're one of my predecessors. I was the one that came after the one that succeeded you in the TARDIS." Romana said quietly, she needed this woman's help, they both did.
Sarah Jane reacted to that, " Come in. Hurry, the Toclafane'll be back soon."
As they walked into the house, they came across two other teenagers, one a girl and another boy, only he had dark skin. The girl had a broken leg and was moaning in agony, the boy was bruised but relatively fine. The other boy moved to help the girl.
" What did you say your names were ?" Sarah asked Romana, sizing her up. Romana didn't like that, they didn't need this, they had a timetable to keep. Romana had intended to simply tell Sarah who they were, but this was going to need some quick persuasion, and fortunately she knew how to do that.
Romana grabbed one of Sarah's hands, and held it against her chest. Sarah's eyes widened as she felt the double beat of Romana's hearts. Romana moved her hand to the other side of her chest, revealing her second heart.
" I'm Romana, I'm a Time lady from the late planet Gallifrey. This girl," she gestured with her free hand to the silent Martha, who was tending to the injuries of the kids, " is Martha Jones, trainee doctor. We need your help."
" The Doctor told me that the Time lords had died." Sarah said over a mug of water, electricity and gas had been cut off by the attack so they couldn't even boil the water; houses weren't exactly fire retardant either so that option went down the drain.
Romana looked around the audience, noting that children's faces were drawn with shock. She looked back at Sarah, " Back then the Doctor was convinced of a lot of things, like the fact that the Master was gone. Look where that belief got him, it got him aged a hundred years, and a prisoner along with the rest of your ignorant race."
Sarah Jane jumped at the name, ignoring the insult, " The Master ?"
Martha had been a third wheel of the conversation, now she decided to get involved, " You know the Master ?"
Sarah looked at her, then back at Romana, whose face was expressionless. She bowed her head, " Yes, I met him when some mad Time lord drew the Doctor's 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th lives in. I didn't see the 4th Doctor, I heard he'd been trapped in a time eddy. The Master tried to kill them, the Brigadier punched him in the face. Before that I'd heard stories of the Master at UNIT and in their files. What I read didn't do him justice."
Romana narrowed her eyes, thinking back….." Of course, the Doctor and I were in Cambridge, punting. There was this….distortion in time. It only lasted for a moment before it dissipated. We didn't make a connection to it though."
The Time lady carried on, locking eyes with Sarah Jane, " As for the Master, well, I was like you. I only heard stories of him, what I heard…." she shook her head, " He tried to destroy my homeworld once to get some energy to allow him to regenerate again. The Doctor foiled him. I swore never to allow him anywhere near the Time war, unfortunately, some of the council didn't realise the Master's treachery. The little bastard escaped, leaving us to die. Now he's back to his old tricks."
Sarah's eyes went wide with amazement and realisation, " Your homeworld ? Hang on, the Doctor was called back home for some reason. Dunno what it was, but it was enough for him to leave me on Earth. He went back to Gallifrey."
Romana nodded, " The president was retiring. I was just a student studying at the academy then, the Doctor's appearance sparked at study into him, especially since a rumour was started. The council said that there was subsidence from a plague of mice which was responsible, but it was the Master's interference into our planet. The Doctor became a hero to us, an inspiration. Although I don't think he'd approve of that."
Martha didn't get something, " Hold on, he dropped you back here on Earth ?"
Romana intervened before Sarah could speak up, " Yes he did, and he was right to do so. My people were insular, they believed they were the greatest race in creation, which they were, but they didn't realise that other races were rushing to catch up to our level. They became borderline xenophobic, isolation does that to you. The Doctor would never want any of his friends to suffer because of that."
Sarah whispered, she sounded like a little girl, " What would they have done to me if I had gone ?"
Romana's silence spoke volumes.
Sarah changed the subject, seeing the Time lady's icy expression wasn't going to change unless someone did.
" What is it you need from me ?"
Romana became animated again, " Simple, a way out of the country, free passage to every country. I know you have the locations of the Doctor's former companions, what they're doing and so on. We need that information."
" Why ?"
Romana took a breath, " I can't tell you. It's not that we don't trust you," she added hastily at seeing Sarah's expression, " it's just…I don't know if the Master's going to come knocking on the doors of his enemy's friends. If he finds out we've been here, you'll be interrogated, tortured. The Master will also rip your mind to shreds, if he finds any details about what we're doing, that's it. Earth will be a slave planet, along with millions of others, and the Master will have won."
Sarah's expression became worse, " And that'll be my fault."
Romana's voice wasn't reassuring, " Yes. All because you were too curious."
" K-9 !" Romana's voice echoed through the house, ignoring Martha's restraining hand.
" Mistress." the robot dog intoned, wagging his tail happily.
" You know me ?"
The robot dog's answer showed just how well thought out the computer like brain really was, " Mistress Romanadvoratrelundar. I have data records of the various models of K-9."
That made sense, Romana thought to herself. It must be some form of data transmission over vast distances. That meant that this version of K-9 would have the knowledge and memories of the incarnation which had been with her when she'd travelled with the Doctor.
" I'm delighted to hear it, but K-9 I need to know, are you aware of the Master ?"
" The Master. Renegade Time lord. First visit to planet Earth in 1975, instigated second Nestene invasion…"
Romana interrupted the little automaton, " Yes, you know him. Are you aware of the fate of the Time lords ?"
K-9's head lowered as his visor darkened at the knowledge that a version of him had also died, " Affirmative, mistress."
" The Master has a plan, I don't know what. But I know that he intends to pervert what's left of my races reputation and twist it. Sarah tells me that you've been manipulating a black hole. I want you to continue, but I want you to work on it. I want you to make a weapon out of the black hole, you have Time lord knowledge of spatial and gravitic physics. It shouldn't be difficult. If Martha and I fail, then use it. Destroy the solar system and destroy the Master. If the Master and the Toclafane come, stay and do your work. I've spoken to Sarah about this and she agrees. The Master must not continue with his plans, the universe may suffer from Earth's absence, but if it fell to the Master then what've we got to lose ?" Romana said to her old friend quietly.
The dog inclined its head, " Understood, mistress." K-9 vanished.
Martha frowned, " Did you just tell that little robot dog to destroy the world if we fail ?"
" Yes, the Master must not succeed in his plans. The Doctor doesn't have a contingency plan in case we fail, he had to think this plan up pretty quickly. I decided to do it for him." Romana was unrepentant, even though she hated the idea of destroying a planet she was fond of. But if it stopped the Master….she rid herself of that thought.
Martha couldn't help but point out the obvious, " The Doctor wont like that."
Romana's retort was sharp and brought the human up, " The Doctor wont like the Master to conquer the universe, build an empire on the blood of billions. Slave labour camps…the Doctor will want anything done to stop the Master. If that means the Earth has to be destroy to do it, then that's a choice the Doctor wont find hard to actually do. He wont like it, but he'll do it if he needs to. He's done it before, and that meant the end of the Time lords. It was either that or the Daleks taking control of the cosmos."
Martha was stunned by the bitterness of her friends biting statement and couldn't find anything to say. Sarah Jane came over to them at that point, a notebook in one hand.
" Everything's set. I've arranged for a boat to take you out. I have a friend who'll take you over to France late at night. This book contains information about the Doctor's former companions and their whereabouts before the attack. Mr Smith, my computer, keeps track of them. If there's one thing I've learnt about time travel and journalism is that you'll need to be informed at all times."
Romana took the book, " Thank you." she put it carefully into her backpack which Luke and Clyde had prepared for them. It held food, supplies, tools and a medical kit.
" What'll you do ?" Martha asked Sarah.
Sarah gave a grim smile, " Survive. That's all we can do."
Romana and Martha agreed with her.
" Anyway, we've got time. I want to know how the Master conquered the world so quickly." Sarah folded her arms.
Romana sighed, " The Master was at the end of the universe. He was disguised as a human, Professor Yana, he was trying to save the last of the human race, send them to Utopia, even if I find it hard to believe that there is such a place. The universe was collapsing, all the other races were dead, the great empires which had lasted for aeons had collapsed, leaving your kind."
" The Master returned, his memories and knowledge were restored," only Romana noticed Martha's downcast expression, knowing that she was regretting giving Yana the information to return as the Master. They didn't have time for recrimination.
Romana carried on, " He stole the TARDIS, but the Doctor fixed it so then he could only travel to one point in space time. This time. Unfortunately, when we got here we found the Master had been here for 18 months, posing as Harold Saxon."
" Harold Saxon ? Harold Saxon the prime minister is the Master ?" Sarah asked fearfully.
Martha nodded, " Yeah, but I doubt he'll use the Saxon name from now on."
" He wont, not now his plan has basically succeeded," Romana confirmed. " The Master spent 18 months on his plan to capture the Doctor, building the paradox machine in the TARDIS to bring the Toclafane here, build the Archangel network to use subliminal conditioning to win the election."
" And the Doctor was too late to stop him," Sarah stated.
Romana knew better than to lie, " Unfortunately, yes. By that time it was too late."
They spoke for another hour before they left, leaving behind a more wiser Sarah Jane Smith, who now knew the full extent of the events leading up to the invasion.
Martha Jones and Romana fled into the night, leaving what was once Great Britain behind.
The first month of the Master's rule was one of terror and death, millions had been slaughtered in the first attack, but that was only the beginning. The human race had seen nothing yet. With the Toclafane, the Master solidified his rule over the whole planet, isolating it. With the archangel network and the Toclafane, the Master found conquering the world easier than most would expect.
The archangel network was modified, broadcasting telepathic subliminal messages to the whole of the survivors, the messages themselves were simple.
Surrender.
The Master is all powerful.
No - one could oppose the Master.
For the military and religious extremist groups, the messages were simple as well, you can never win, lay down your arms. Unfortunately, the network was only 99 - 98 percent effective. The smaller majority were able to resist, but not much, they could do what they could to fight back against the Master.
The military that was left over was in shambles; the Master's initial assault was designed to paralyse the military around the Earth, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be any remnant left. Army, navy and air forces found that their fellows in other countries were outmanned and outgunned, especially when fighting the Toclafane. Resistance from the military was sporadic, they were hardly a threat to the unrelenting Toclafane. The spheres were merciless in their attacks, the civilian population, what was left of them anyway, was terrified. The Toclafane made sure of that, but the Archangel network stripped them of all and any hope that the military could fight back.
The network also made any military counterattack impossible and impractical; the telepathic network worked both ways, if one military strategist could come up with a plan, or a series of plans, to topple the Master, then the Master would be waiting. Or rather the spheres would, making the soldiers think that there were traitors in their midst.
The Master's confidence that the military wouldn't be able to fight back wasn't an idle one.
It didn't do the civilian population any good. They were starting to envy the dead, the survivors of the constant and senseless assaults were rounded up and forced into labour camps, leaving only a small number who were free. Whilst he was aware of this, the Master wasn't overly concerned. The Human race was battered down, the majority of the word population had been decimated, the archangel network was useful in making them work and not fight back.
What could a few desperate bands do to fight back ?
As this was going on, the survivors were put to work. The labourers were forced to break ships, cars, planes and anything metallic apart, industrial works, computer factories and electronic firms were kept running. Only they employed a lot more people than before.
The big businesses had been torn apart, leaving slaves.
Weapons were put in stock piles around the planet, protected by the archangel network, so no one bothered the piles. The Master had decided when he thought up the basics of his plan that word of mouth wasn't as effective as telepathic conditioning.
As this was happening the first phase of the shipyards was put into operation, large areas around the world were excavated and were used for the foundations of the shipyards. The metal scavenged from the human civilisation was used to great effect.
The Master also took great joy in ripping the power the politicians had once had, they'd arrogantly believed that the Master would leave them alone if they left him alone.
How wrong they were. The Master took great delight in torturing them, killing some of them, including many in the American government, who'd annoyed him with their holier than thou crap. The survivors were forced to work in the labour camps.
Each of the camps were in states, ruled by one of the Master's agents. The Master had chosen them, brainwashed them and made them subservient to him. With the agents, the Toclafane and the Archangel network, the Master's rule over the Earth was firm and iron handed.
But the Master was concerned, Lady Romana and Martha Jones were out there, somewhere, the Doctor had given them a task. But the Master couldn't get the information of what the plan was, the Doctor made sure of that. His old enemy, the Master found, was far more wilful when it came to his friends. The Doctor had sealed his mind, and not even the Master could fight that.
The first month of the Master's reign, the first month of the New Time lord Empire, was one that the Human race was enslaved, depriving them of hope. Their hope, their only hope, was Martha Jones and Romana, who were spreading a rumour that they were going to depose the Master.
The human race hoped, and prayed.
