Interlude
The Last Great Time War in Heaven
(Year 357 of the Last Great Time War)
The whole of Space-Time brunt, all of creation screamed, across the length and width of the universe people prayed to gods that death and corruption would end, those prayers were unanswered for the war raged across the heavens came to everyone in the end.
"This is Commander Forcythe of war TARDIS fleet 59-"
The last call to the dark was only one of a plethora, of calls as the Time Lords raged against the wall of Daleks.
Saucers and single Daleks flew at the Time Lord fleet; the Medusa Cascade was alight with death and flames. The main concentration of Daleks flew to the Time Station in high orbit of the eleventh moon.
Thousands of blue bolts were traded between them, the Time Station rocked and buffered flames spewed from every deck.
"This is Time Station 5 we've lost shields, all hands to escape TARDIS',"the voice faded as the Time Station lost orbit, a few white tear drops formed, each immediately broke off on random vectors.
The TARDIS' chameleon circuits started to kick in, adopting battle configuration. As they speed towards edge of the Cascade in an effort to slow the Daleks they sprouted long fins and weapons modules. The exact design was left to each ship, with one coming to resemble a snowflake, another simple pyramid, the third a more chimerical, organic form. All were bone-white, perfectly smooth, with no portholes or vents; they were all pristine unlike the battle scarred TARDIS formation. The Time Station fell into the planet before the reactors exploded shattering the moon and the besieged inhabitants who of course wouldn't have ever existed now.
At the centre of the TARDIS shaped like a snowflake Patience rounded her console she opened fire on the Dalek fleet, she felt her anger and hatred eat up her soul, letting it consume then move through her she let her anger flow into her TARDIS giving it strength. She fired her weapons again and again, but it was too late, the sector was alight with calls for help as TARDIS' and their pilots burnt.
Patience flew her TARDIS onto the edge of the cascade in stealth mode to render repairs, as she let herself feel relief a Neverwhere reached forth, antitime flowing it reached into the core of Patience's TARDIS and pulled.
The cloister bell rang, and the air stank of ozone as Patience ran for the console and tried desperately, readjusting the shields, shifting the engines, and when all else failed she jettisoned the engines as the console exploded, the fires of regeneration already begun to burn.
The Doctor stood over the situation table in the Presidential officer, as they looked at the tactical positions of Gallifrey's forces and known Dalek positions.
"Now if we can hold Uxarieus for a few more spans we'll be able to- gah!" the Doctor's briefing to the assembled Time Lords and Ladies was cut short when the Doctor's second heart burnt and skipped a beat, one of his hands flung over the side of his chest where his second heart lay, he cried out in agony as he fell forward, he was vaguely aware of someone catching him.
"Doctor?" Brax's arm was wrapped around the Doctor as he and Leela heaved him into a nearby seat.
The Doctor coughed and looked up at Braxiatel, he weakly said one word.
"Patience,"
Understanding flashed in Brax's eyes.
"Madam President, the fleet at the Medusa Cascade?"
Romana entered a few commands into the holographic display to see the data on the destruction of the fleet.
"No survivors," Romana whispered. "I'm sorry."
The Doctor looked up at her as he got back to his feet.
"She's alive, I can feel her," the Doctor's eyes were alight with determination and anger.
He turned and headed out of the office.
"Where are you going?" Romana asked walking past the table.
"Where do you think, I'm going to seal the rift in the Medusa Cascade." The Doctor smiled nonchalantly. "And I'm going to rescue Patience because no matter what she is my Granddaughter's grandmother, the mother of my children and my Wife! If she is alive I will find her."
The Dalek's clustered around the rift at the Cascade's heart, sensor probes mapped the distortion, this rift was the biggest in the entire universe, using it as a power source they could break through Gallifrey's transduction barriers with ease.
As such when the Doctor's TARDIS screamed towards them the Daleks instantly mobilised stealth ships at the edge of the system.
The Doctor leant heavily on the console, his desperation palpable as he brought the TARDIS weapons online and scanned the nearby sectors of space for any trace of the TARDIS fleet. He was so absorbed that when the first bolt of weapons fire hit the TARDIS the Doctor was caught by surprise.
Spinning around he returned fire, fiery beams of red energy destroyed the Dalek ship easily.
As the Doctor smiled in victory he spun around and headed back into the nebula.
As Patience checked over the new TARDIS console she detected the Doctor incoming, her hearts beat a little faster, he was coming to save her, but it was then she realised that the Dalek stealth ship wasn't trying to attack. Losing all sight of staying undetected she tried to bring her telepathic circuits back online.
The Doctor was on guard for attacks, but wasn't able to notice the stealth ship until it began to Time Ram him, one of the most important rule of TARDIS flight is that no two objects can occupy the same space, it was this that was the most effective TARDIS killer.
The floor shook and the cloister bell begun to toll as the Doctor was thrown from his feet, the console in flames as the room shook. The tremors broke the door to the rest of the ship, flames came through every spot, the doors buckled and exploded outwards, two Ogrons accompanied the Daleks and took hold of the Doctor, feeding off his blind rage the Doctor wrenched his arms from their grasp swung round and punched with all his might at the Ogrons neck, as it fell to the floor the Doctor came about slamming the bottom of his hand into the Orgrons chin.
"YOU WILL DESIST!" the Dalek roared as it fired its weapons on a low setting at the Doctor's legs as he fell to the floor in agony.
The Ogrons had dragged the Doctor into the centre of a command ship outside of the Cascade, a force field surrounded him.
"Observe Doctor,"the blue Dalek Time Controller came forward from the darkness. "Soon we will crack the Cascade and will destroy your people, we will be Lords of Time, and all of Creation will fall before us."
The Doctor didn't answer, he just looked down his final thoughts on the time he'd spent and all the times he could have stopped this before the War.
Patience dashed around her TARDIS as she completed the repairs and brought her TARDIS in, materialising in the temporal reactors she brushed her now dark hair back and entered the controller systems.
Another fleet of TARDIS were in bound, so the Dalek contingent was diminished as some left to reinforce the perimeter. The Doctor was unmoved still at gunpoint, his defeat was complete until a TARDIS begun to materialise, the dull cylinder was a typical shape, but the Doctor smiled with pure joy as he recognised the Time Lady who stepped forth, not in appearance that had changed, but her soul, her spirit, he was able to reach out telepathically to her.
She looked at him and in that second the Doctor realised what he saw in her eyes, she ran out of her TARDIS in a zig-zag before knocking out the force field with a grenade, at the same time explosions came from all over the ship, her TARDIS force field expanded around her as she took down the holding cell around the Doctor.
He took hold of her hand as they ran through the ship, Patience's TARDIS off limits as it was part of the overload, the Doctor didn't look back as he saw his TARDIS, the scorched and scarred blue box in sight, he pulled Patience just that bit closer till the last Dalek came from behind them.
The blue sizzling light came forth and hit Patience right over her secondary heart she stumbled and cried out in pain, holding her tight the Doctor ran into the TARDIS and pulled the emergency seal lever.
Turning to his wife he saw it was bad, all her colour was gone and her hands hovered over her heart.
"Don't try to speak, I'm here," the Doctor said gently tears forming at the side of his eyes.
"Can… too much damage to my second heart… I'm dying," Patience swallowed as she reached out to caress the Doctor's face tears streamed down his cheeks. "Goodbye my love…"
As her body slumped the Doctor buried his head in her neck and cried, and screamed.
Sometime later the Doctor wasn't sure when he pulled himself up and finished what she'd started, he sealed the rift and destroyed all of the Daleks present, the flash of light would still be seen billions of light years away, his final testament to her…