Sorry, it's taken so long.
Enjoy.
With the Master.
The Pirate looked around the interior of the Master's TARDIS, prepared for a fight while she looked around the ship, unsure about what had made her old friend and lover turn up now. She had come to accept the fact she would meet her friends again if they did meet, but she had been more focused on building her experience as a space pirate.
At the moment there were a few questions on her mind.
How long had the Master been watching her?
What did he want to show her?
As she walked around the console room, the Pirate kept one of her eyes fixed on the Master. He was pretending to focus on the console, moving around the controls, but more than once his eyes followed her around the console room. There was something in his gaze that worried her, just as much as she was concerned about his title, 'Master' did worry her. He always had been very….. obsessed about order, but she had never imagined that he would become obsessed to the point where he would give himself that title.
"You are getting quite a reputation, you know."
She turned around. "I'm sorry?"
"I said you're getting quite a reputation," the Master repeated. "In the K system, they talk about you with fear."
The Pirate shrugged. She had long since become used to the idea of being feared by her victims and envied by her rivals, and the thorn in the side of whatever military force there was. They came and went, being disbanded by time as the centuries rolled by, but they would still be the same. That was one of the advantages of being a pirate with time travel, really; she could sit out the centuries and her pursuers would be locked in their own times, trying to find her, or get a lead on her.
"What made you decide to steal a submarine after Designing the pasts of a few humans and events to build it in the first place, and take it back through time to plunder a more primitive era on an equally primitive world?" the Master asked.
Bridling a little bit at the Earth being called primitive, even if she shared a few of those opinions, the Pirate pushed that to the side and answered the Master's question.
"I wanted a change," she said airily, "I was bored with space battles, piracy in space, on different worlds. I wanted to spend some time on Earth. But I didn't want to have a sailing ship, submarines are perfect. Why no human stole one and went on a plundering rampage baffles me," she said.
There was more to it than that, and she knew he knew that, but she wasn't going to tell him.
The Master shrugged his shoulders as though the matter meant nothing to him.
"So, what is it you wanted?" she asked to change the subject; she had nothing against talking about her piracy, but she was curious about what the Master was doing, how he had managed to find her, and what he planned to do with her now.
The Master left the console and walked over to her. "I want to forge a partnership with you," he said.
Somehow that wasn't news to the Time Lady. "A partnership?" her voice became coy. "What kind of partnership?"
A little surprised by how seductive she was sounding, the Master considered his reply and what the Time Lady would say to him. It had been a while since they had last seen one another. He had changed, and so had she, but one thing had not changed for the pair of them.
They both wanted adventure, something they would never have been able to acquire on Gallifrey.
He had always wanted power, ever since he had looked into the Untempered Schism. He had heard the Drumming, an interminable drum beat in his mind, and it had driven him insane and given the part of him which longed to see order imposed a chance to shine, but over the centuries since he had first been inducted into the Academy back home, his obsession with law, his law, and his own sense of order had grown.
The Pirate had been his exact opposite.
She didn't care about order, she couldn't care less who was the President of the High Council of the Time Lords. All she cared about was her own excitement, and knowing what she did now she probably had it in spades. But what surprised him the most was how long she had stayed on Gallifrey when she could have simply stolen a TARDIS like he had and become a renegade. The Master was tempted to ask her why she had waited for so long, but he didn't know if there was more to the story than he imagined.
What was it that was said on Earth, opposites attract? Well, that was true if you looked at magnets, but in the real world and the real universe and you happened to see the Pirate and him then you saw it was the truth. But neither he nor she was the marrying type, and they had been together.
They preferred to have a straightforward relationship.
He wasn't sure if she planned to come with him, and join him in the proposed partnership but it would be great if she did. He studied her beautiful face and had no trouble imagining her standing side by side with him.
Meanwhile, the Pirate was also thinking about the proposed partnership. Back on the submarine, she had thought about the news she had been hearing ever since she had left her home world behind to travel the stars and plunder a few ships and worlds, of a Time Lord who was out to cause chaos but she had not bothered to find him despite a few halfhearted attempts here and there. She had been more concerned with setting herself up as a pirate, learning the ins and the outs of the trade, and using her TARDIS to commit the raids while learning from her mistakes.
But she was surprised the Master had decided to find her, she had put him and the others out of her mind while she'd concentrated on her own life.
It had been a long time since she had seen him, and it had been an even longer time since she had encountered another of her people.
While being with him at the Academy had been fun since they had not only taken each other's virginities, she had shown him how to live a little bit so then his constant obsession with order would lighten up a bit, and it had worked.
But Koschei (she knew HER own moniker would attract attention, but she actually found the name her old friend and lover had chosen was a bit…pretentious since while he was good at what he did, he was a long way from being a master of anything) had worried her when she had learnt he supported Morbius. Now, at first, she had as well since Morbius' aims were to take the Time Lords out of the technological stagnation which had held them back for centuries, and many other young Time Lords and Ladies had also supported him but that had changed when his ideas and his ideals became more and more dangerous.
When Morbius had gone out into the universe, he had been exposed as the power-hungry tyrant he was, but he did more than go out into the universe, carving out a large chunk. He had exposed the Time Lords existence or giving other alien races and cultures the awareness an extremely old and powerful species was watching their every move, and now there were races and cultures who were worried the rest of Morbius' people were going to come out and cause further troubles.
The Pirate hoped the Master didn't go down the same route.
It was all too clear to her that he was just as driven as Morbius, but she hoped that the other Time Lord's downfall and various mistakes had gotten through to him. She could only hope.
She had a good idea what the partnership was.
He wanted her to join him.
The Pirate had no desire to rule or govern anything. She wasn't interested in power of that degree. She preferred to have a simpler life, especially after she had dropped in at certain points in history. Empires didn't last, especially those built on the shoulders of slaves.
No, she was just happy to plunder wherever she could, but even among some groups of pirates, there were those who were full of their own delusions.
Look at the Rocketmen; they were powerful, they'd spread fear so the very sound of their name and the sight of their flight-suits, and the stories of their deeds meant more people surrendered to them rather than get themselves killed in such a needless manner, yet their leader was power-crazed, arrogant madman who was better off killed.
The Rocketmen was known to have armies of slaves in their thrall, and there was no way to get them out. Many races and organisations that had come to see the pirates as enemies had tried and failed to make a dent to let them go. While many Rocketmen groups had either been wiped out, especially by the more violent hunts to round them up and deal with them at long last, the majority were still free. The Pirate had not encountered the Rocketmen, not yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time.
She wasn't sure if the meeting came about because she was in the middle of being somewhere the Rocketmen just happened to attack, or if she met them when she was plundering a ship or a planet herself, but she knew they would be meeting - she had already come across Maurice Cavens' work, so it stood to reason they would meet in the future.
"A mutual partnership," the Master said.
He decided that it would be better to keep everything simple for the time being. He had spent a few moments considering his reply, but she had surprised him with just how…seductive she was being.
The Pirate wasn't satisfied with that answer. She didn't think the Master would be happy with just conducting piracy like she was, so that meant his motives were purely different from hers.
"What type of partnership? Does it involve ruling by your side?"
Time Lords were telepathic beings by nature, nurtured by careful genetic intervention over the aeons to help them gain a better awareness of their surroundings, but as a result of that gift, they had needed to develop barriers to protect their minds. The Time Lords had learnt soon enough that telepathy was sometimes more problematic than it was worth having. Telepathy could allow races and individuals to know what another was thinking, but the Time Lords saw it as vulgar to enter the minds of another, seeing it as an invasion of privacy if performed too often.
Barriers were made by individual Time Lords to prevent any unwanted intrusions, and those barriers made it possible for Time Lords to hold their thoughts inward, but it was easy for them to get surprised and show that emotion.
The moment the questions were out of her mouth and the Master reacted by looking surprised and a little annoyed his little surprise was out in the open in such a manner she realised she'd hit the nail right on the dot.
"You're too easy to read," she said to him.
She was telling the truth. Ever since they had been at the Academy and had become friends and lovers despite their totally different attitudes and viewpoints, the Master was easy to read since many of his desires were broadcasted to all.
"You've ruined my surprise," the Master replied, trying to sound upbeat despite what she'd just said, but she could see he was holding onto his anger. Her hand, by reflex and deliberation, went to the blaster she carried.
The Master was supposed to see the movement, and she was unsurprised when he said with a tone of voice that sounded like a schoolteacher scolding a child though that annoyed her as well. "That blaster won't work in here," he said.
Did he truly think she wouldn't have known the TARDIS's state of grace system was operating? What upset her the most was that he didn't seem to realise she would defend herself, blaster, or not.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked while trying to keep her voice neutral; the last thing she wanted was for him to think she was going to fire foolishly at him only for him to be proven right. She knew that his TARDIS's state of grace system was working, did he think she was stupid? The slight against her intelligence was annoying, but so too was not knowing where his TARDIS was going.
The Master's smile became more of a skull-head grimace. He had clearly been looking forward to surprising her only for it to be ruined, but she couldn't find it within herself to care.
"You'll see," he growled and stalked back to the console.
The Pirate rolled her eyes at his childishness. "Oh grow up!" she snapped. "Just grow the fuck up! You're still acting like a child, even now."
"BE SILENT!"
The Pirate took out her blaster and aimed it at his head, her face cold. "Just get on with it," she whispered, having had enough of his need to make a big drama out of everything.
The Master sneered at the gun, not even trying to contain his emotions anymore. "That blaster won't work in here-," he said.
"How do you know that?" The Pirate interrupted; she felt a bit foolish about drawing her weapon out on him, but she was tired of him having to make a big fuss out of everything. "I could have modified the blaster so then it can fire inside this room. I'm just making sure you don't make a stupid mistake that could see you shot and forced to regenerate because you lost your temper."
The Master's expression turned ugly, but he took a moment to push the anger aside but the Pirate refused to put her weapon away until he resembled anything calm. "I apologise," he said in a more reasonable tone. "I have been stressed recently, and I have been trying to find you-."
The Pirate tuned him out a little bit. It was perhaps one of the stupidest excuses she had heard, but she decided to accept it silently for the time being and focus on the here and now.
Fortunately for the sanity of the two Time Lords, the trip did not take too long. The TARDIS arrived at their destination ten minutes later, but those ten minutes were stifling for the Time Lady. She had put the blaster away, but she kept the console between herself and the Master. She had made a mistake in telling the Master to grow up, but she had become so sick and tired of him and his attitude. If he kept it up then there would be consequences. She had learnt a great deal since she had left Gallifrey, but he had left the planet long before she had, and Rasssilon only knew what he had picked up himself.
The Pirate decided to take a wait and see approach to the problem.
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"This is what you wanted to show me?" The Pirate's question only stoked the fire of anger the Master was nursing inside of him, a fire of burning anger and resentment and he was beginning to wonder if he had made the right choice bringing this arrogant woman into his confidence.
He was proud of what he had built up. The planet they were on was a relatively distant one, in a fairly dense star system. The planet and its location had been hard for the Master to detect, but when he had found it in a remote part of its galaxy, it was perfect for his operations. The solar system was rich in minerals which would help him with any number of his plans, and he had already sent out a number of robot drones and androids deeper into the star system to explore and mine the deposits found, and begin building a fleet of warships to his design.
The Master knew it was dangerous to build a number of warships and equip them with the means of travelling through time since it would attract the attention of the Time Lords, but he considered it to be a necessary risk for when he wanted to conquer the galaxy and bring it under his rule. When he had found out about the Pirate and how she had been exiled from Gallifrey he had thought about persuading her to rule by his side, and she could effortlessly plunder anything she wanted if she had an empire.
Seriously the Master had genuinely no idea what he could have expected from the Time Lady, and what he had already gone through had shattered his preconceptions about how things would have gone. He had followed her in his TARDIS, tracking her movements and dropping into the wake of her piracy on various worlds and ships, both on Earth's oceans and in space, and he had been truly impressed when he had seen how she had gone through the seamen, pirates and merchants on those two ships when he had picked her up. She had clearly been practising and had become good at what she'd done.
Unfortunately, her attitude led much to be desired.
The Master had built a massive city with the use of robot drones he'd stolen from a few colonisation ships - humans used them to construct shelters on worlds they colonised after they had come to see how limited prefabricated dwellings were, they had begun using robot drones to mine the local minerals and rock, refine them a little bit, and then use them to construct buildings the humans could live in to act as a foundation for what was to come.
The Master had stolen them to construct his city. It wasn't really a city, but more of a self-contained futuristic castle that was modelled on a citadel with a spaceport installed. He had had a number of small, light warships constructed. He had plans to use them to launch invasions of planets, and after he had dominated them with his androids, the Master planned to move onwards.
In his mind, the ships were impressive.
Unknown to him the Pirate was also impressed, but only with the number of ships in the port. Like all Time Lords, she didn't have much of an interest in using any other form of transport technology other than a TARDIS, but she wondered if her old friend had overreached himself this time around.
"Yes," the Master ground out, "this is what I wanted to show you. I want to join forces with you."
The Pirate didn't believe him; she knew he was telling the truth, but she had a feeling he had a different plan in mind. "What do you mean, join forces?"
The Master closed his eyes for a second and then reopened them again. "You are a pirate, I want to help you-," he said.
"You mocked what I was doing when we were on Earth," the Pirate interrupted, not hesitating to point out his earlier stupidity.
"That was because you were doing it on your own," the Master said, not at all put out by what she had just said, well at least that was what someone who didn't understand or knew the Master would believe, but the Pirate knew the Time Lord well. He was annoyed that one of his own comments was being used against him, but she was beyond caring. "Think about it, Pirate, you and I could plunder as much as we want. You don't need to sneak around anymore."
Knowing the Master as she did, the Pirate tuned him out a little bit and thought about what he was saying. She was surprised that had been gone from mocking her chosen path after leaving their planet and was now doing a complete 180 and now wanted to be a pirate himself. She knew he was more than capable of doing it, but she had the feeling he believed piracy was beneath him.
"Why would you do this?" she asked; she had never considered herself the paranoid type, but she had never imagined Anzor plotting to fake his own death to get one over her.
"Do what?"
"Ask to join forces, say you want to plunder as much as you could, why?" The Pirate asked.
"You've changed. A long time ago you and I used to help each other when we used to prank the tutors and students-," the Master said, but she interrupted him again. "That was different, and besides as you've just correctly claimed I have changed, I changed when I was framed for something I didn't do! I changed when I was forced to realise being a pirate was a dangerous business, and one I would need to change in order to be a good one. Why do you want to help me?"
"I feel that you and I can be a great team now like we were before," the Master argued, getting frustrated with the Pirate's inability to accept his offer, especially since he had his own ulterior motives. It occurred to him that she might be seeing through him, but he needed to persevere, but then he decided to be honest.
"Alright, I admit it. The piracy is just a side. I want to conquer an empire, one we can both rule together."
The Pirate sighed, her suspicions were confirmed.
Hearing that sigh made the Master realise he was losing her, and he wasn't sure if he should be angrier with himself for not making a good argument or by telling her that she was wasted in her profession.
The look in his eyes made the Pirate think about the whole thing. "Look, why should we become partners?"
"Think about it, instead of just using your TARDIS to pop on planets and ships on your own, the pair of us can either use these ships," the Master gestured at the fleet of ships, "we can carry out pirate raids, but think about how great it would be to stir things up with an interstellar war. I will lead the advance and you conduct the raids. Together, the two of us can divide our takings 50/50."
The Pirate was intrigued. While she personally found it repugnant to start a war, she had to admit it would stir things up a bit if there was a war. There would be plenty of loot to go around, but she was unsure if the partnership would last. She was tempted by his offer. It wasn't difficult for her to use the TARDIS to find a planet that was ideal for plundering, whereas a ship was easy. But a war would be perfect for her aims since it would mean a lot more plunder for her in the long run. Wars meant large amounts of debris in space, which meant she could salvage the parts so then she could sell them off.
Supply lines meant large numbers of ships could be targeted and she could effortlessly board them and take what they had. But if she went through with this then she would have to make the rules and set the guidelines for the Master, but she had to admit it was tempting…
"Okay," she replied, surprising the Master who had probably expected her to haggle a bit more. "I'll join you."
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