Assassination attempt.

It should've been expected really. It had been inevitable.

The Master and Rose had been above the planet, decimating the Humans below, the only reasons no one had tried to assassinate them, either of them, was because of very good reasons.

Firstly, the Archangel network. The telepathic field broadcasted made everyone scared, everyone except the 99 - 98 deviancy that were immune to the effects of the field. The field kept everyone away from the Master's weapons, engines and other technologies, even the workers at these facilities didn't dare shatter even a light bulb.

Secondly, the Valiant always moved from one secret location to another, usually within a day. Only three people knew where ship would be next. The Master. The ship navigator. The pilot, even though he only did as the navigator wanted. At the last minute.

This tactic worked incredibly well. Even if someone found a ground to air missile, the Valiant wouldn't be anywhere near it.

Thirdly, the Master and Rose hardly ever left the safety of the ship, and when they did they always did it under incredibly high security, details known only to a select few. Besides the Toclafane were given standing orders from the Master in person; if the Master was to arrive anywhere, they were to bombard the area heavily for 3 days. They were to destroy everything, but not kill anything moving or breathing.

Fourth, the Toclafane themselves were probably the best army on the planet. In fact they were the only army. All the rest had been destroyed. The Toclafane were also incredibly thorough, they were given virtually free reign by the Master to do what they wanted, providing they didn't slaughter that many workers. Those that were slaughtered like animals went a long way to keeping the once complacent and squabbling masses under control under the grip of terror.

Fifth, the fear the Master and the Toclafane created. Fear, the Master knew already, was a potent weapon and one he exploited easily. The Master allowed his wife and the Toclafane to attack needlessly, wherever they wanted, providing they didn't kill too many workers.

Rose was a willing follower, she enjoyed the slaughtering, she enjoyed the screams of pain, of mercy. Rose had no problem with murdering people, in her eyes they were already dead. The only issue she had was trying to persuade the Doctor what she and his fellow Time lord was doing was right. But the Doctor wouldn't even speak at her, and when he did his voice was cold with contempt.

The Doctor was more than aware of Rose and her atrocities, but he wasn't going to try and persuade her otherwise; the Doctor despised Rose, had done for a long while, she was just making the opinion he already had of her worse, and the Doctor certainly wasn't going to make her see the error of her ways. There wasn't any point.

Rose swaggered in and saw the Doctor, head bowed, eating the same slop as the rest of the servants on the Valiant. She stopped, wished that she could get him something better, then decided against it.

The Master had assured her that eventually, eventually, the Doctor will living like a king, that the only reason the only other male Time lord was being treated like a dog was because of inadequate supplies, that sacrifices must be made.

The Master and Rose were eating well themselves, but Rose didn't see, couldn't see, that the Master had purposefully told her that that the Doctor would eventually have the same food as the Saxons, but the Master had left out the fact that he was only promising that to keep Rose where she was.

The Doctor, however, had no such problems deducing that his living conditions would be like this for a long time unless Romana and Martha succeeded with their task, he only hoped that they were living better than he was. There was only so much he could take.

The Master bounced, literally, into the room, playing Scissor's sisters, loudly. It wasn't a surprise that by now everyone had developed a severe hatred for the band. The Doctor included, all her could hear, apart from the Archangel network, was the ringing tune of the songs the Master played at volumes that almost burst the ear drums.

The only thing that kept him sane was the image of Romana, he only hoped she would reciprocate, when this was over he'd confess to her how he felt about her. If she didn't then he didn't know what he'd do.

The engineer smirked as he removed the component, without this the conduit would overheat.

The Master grabbed the Doctor's wheelchair which a guard had dragged him into, and the Doctor braced himself against the coming nausea. This incarnation of the Master was more crazy than any other, even the bodies he'd stolen from Tremas of Traken and Bruce the paramedic from San Francisco had had more dignity and were more closed off, but not this new one.

The Doctor felt like he was with an evil twin, the parallels between their present regenerations terrified the Doctor. He had a theory that the reason was because the Master had regenerated inside his TARDIS, the place many of his regenerations had taken place.

The wheelchair was spun, shoved, almost as if it was being driven by a train and by the end of it the Doctor's exhaustion was clear on his face.

Everyone looked at the two Time lords out of the corner of their eyes, they felt sorry for the Doctor, including Tish and Francine, two who'd doubted him. But the Doctor was too busy gasping to care. There wasn't anything anyone could do, even the guards. They only obeyed the Master out of fear and not loyalty, he'd threatened to kill their families and loved ones if they resisted him.

The conduit was overheating.

For Tish and Francine it was worse. They didn't know what the Doctor had sent Martha off for with the other girl, but they were delighted that another Jones was free, if you could call slavery freedom. The people down on the planet's surface were starving, battered continuously by continuous Toclafane attacks.

Tish had gone with the Doctor and Martha when Lazarus went psycho insect on them, but she hadn't really spent much time with the Time lord. She'd only met him once, so she couldn't really form an opinion of him.

Francine, on the other hand, watched as the monster who'd destroyed her world ran around wheeling the Doctor, the man she should've supported. Ever since the day the Master took over, Francine had caught the Doctor staring at her. She didn't know the man well, but the way he glanced at her….it scared her. For the first time, she saw just how alien he was. She saw an anger that could incinerate a universe in that gaze. Francine couldn't blame him, she'd betrayed her own daughter, if anyone was to blame for her predicament, it was her.

When the Master finished wheeling the Doctor around the room, he pushed the tired Time lord into the waiting arms of one of the guards.

When this happened, the Doctor caught himself wondering why the universe was so rotten to the core; he'd found two Time lords that had survived the war. Why couldn't the universe just let him have the most beautiful Time lady ? Why did the other survivor have to be someone who was so childish he threw things around the room like a kid that was too restless ?

It was times like this, his thoughts turned to Romana. That and all the dirty things he'd like to do with her.

" Time for my massage," the Master proclaimed.

The Doctor shook his head with a sigh. He pitied the poor massage women in the room, the Master made everyone onboard think of them as collaborators. The truth shall set you free, they weren't, the Master's gift for spreading discord and despair hadn't wavered at all since the days he'd left Gallifrey.

As the Master moaned loudly from his seat, he thought about how wonderful it was for the Human's morale to fall to its lowest depths. As this was happening, Francine and Tish, following routine drills started making the Master his coffee.

The Master liked routine, he was obsessed with order and routine. Anything even a second late made him furious, something quite a few slaves had found out to their peril and agony in the first few weeks. Establishing control over former political sycophants wasn't difficult, but they didn't make it easy on themselves. Many of them tried to protest, emphasis on tried, the Master had made them pay for their arrogance. Publicly, he tortured them for the best part of a week. By the time he was finished they were fully repentant. It also acted as an example to what happened to those who opposed the evil Time lord.

The conduit was now steaming, the coolant inside was insufficient to maintain the appropriate temperature. The system was starting to short out; the conduit was now unstable. It was now going to blow….

The conduit exploded, taking everyone by surprise. The women in the room screamed as the table, the floor, virtually the whole centre of the room blew up.

The Master was thrown across the room, but he picked himself. Those who saw his face backed away in horror. He wasn't injured, but the look on his face was beyond frightening. The Toclafane swooped into the room, but the Master was furious.

" You're orders were to maintain security for me and my base ! Where were you ?" without waiting for an answer, the Master whipped out his laser screwdriver and blasted one of the hovering spheres. The Toclafane disintegrated into fragments. The others hovered nervously, one or two even whimpering in fear.

The Master's rage knew no bounds, " What're you waiting for ?" he bellowed at the remaining Toclafane, " Find out who's just tried to kill me. Don't come back until you bring me news of who did, I don't care if you have to tear this ship apart. Find them, find them !"

The Master waited until all but one of the Toclafane remained before he swung round to face the cowering slaves.

" Don't think the coward who just tried to kill me will get away with this, and don't think I wont be easy on you. I'll make you all regret the day you were born."

The servants didn't need to worry about the Master's threats, the Toclafane, frightened by the Master's actions and rage, found the problem and tracked down the perpetrator in record time. The Master didn't care if this was the genuine article or not, it was all good to him.

The Master tortured the unfortunate man, watching as his body was torn apart. The screams were broadcast around the Valiant. For 6 days, after intense and prolonged agony, the man died.

Lining the crew up the Master made them see the results of his punishment. The Master had made clear to everyone that he; a, didn't tolerate failure from even his trusted allies, b, didn't care about anyone, not even his allies, and he was willing to kill anyone.

The man's broken corpse filled the minds of everyone, especially the next threat the Master gave; if anyone so much as sneezed into his food, he would execute 12 people and leave their bodies where they were laid.

Everyone believed him.

Martha yawned, " Lets go, I just want to sleep."

Romana nodded in agreement, " Me to, it's been a long couple of days."

The pair of them were in Italy, they'd spoken to a number of slaves working on one of the Master's latest shipyards. For over an hour the two women had spoken to the labour force, Romana had seen the dubiousness on the faces of the crowds they'd spoken to since they'd started this crusade.

She was scared that the Human race was so demoralised that they'd jump at the chance to kick the Master out of power, even at the expense of spreading, of all things, a fairy tale.

Martha felt the same fear, that all this time was for nothing, even talking about the Doctor made Martha think she was talking rubbish. The good thing was they'd met Ian and Barbara Chesterton, they could easily rely on them to spread the word.

Romana had warned Martha that the Doctors companions were spread throughout time and space, meeting just one of them, especially now would be considered fate.

They had no idea how fateful that night was going to get.

Just as they were about to leave and head for someplace to rest and to sleep, someone interrupted.

" Miss Jones ?"

The two girls turned, they found themselves facing a tall young woman, lithe, red haired. When she spoke she had a Scottish accent.

She was staring at Romana like she was a ghost.

" I knew it was you, but I couldn't believe it."

Romana stared at the girl, wondering where she'd met her. Then she realised that she'd never met this woman in all her lives.

" Do I know you ?" Romana settled for politeness, if this was one of the Masters agents she wasn't very good.

The girl smiled, " You do have a time machine. My name is Amelia Pond, Amy for short. When I was 7, the Doctor and you crashed into my garden in a blue box."

A/N - Hah, you didn't think I'd do that did you ?