Lieutenant Adventures Series 17 Chapter 1, 28 June 2023. Once Upon a Time.

The Lieutenant stood at the scanner and examined the information on the screen. The flight, so far, was smooth, he enjoyed flight in this TARDIS once again. He looked up, seeing something move out of the corner of his eye. He smiled. 'Oh, hello, I did not see you in here!' he exclaimed, excitedly. 'Welcome aboard, it's great to see you,' he said, leaning against the console. 'You're probably wonder what all this is about. Well, you see, I have lived a long time and I have had many lives and faces, and even more friends! I realise my life must be very hard to follow. Even I struggle sometimes! Let me introduce myself. I'm the Lieutenant. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 5,111 years old and this is the story of who I am.'

The Lieutenant twisted a knob and glanced at the scanner before looking back up. 'This story is the story of who I was in the very beginning. I was a very different person back then, I was young, energetic, I had not seen very much of the rest of the Universe, I had just lived on Gallifrey and was learning how to fight, we all thought the only future we had involved the Time War. I got married back then, to a wonderful lady I still adore, Ezmerelda. I was travelling back then with Engross too, she was a great companion. She's dead now but that's a story for another day. For today, this is the story of my first life.

The Lieutenant was sprinting through a battlefield, leaping over dead bodies, dodging beams and shots in her direction. She was running with a number of other people. 'Don't look back, we do not have time!' she yelled. 'Go, go, go!'

One soldier tripped over a body and fell. Another soldier stopped to go back for them.

The Lieutenant was running behind them, catching up on the two soldiers who had now stopped moving. 'No!' yelled the Lieutenant. 'I specifically said leave anyone and everyone behind, your task is to keep going!'

'You're soulless!' yelled one of the soldiers.

'I'm alive!' screeched the Lieutenant, angrily. 'You're both dead!'

'Exterminate!' yelled a Dalek from behind.

The Lieutenant kept running and looked the two soldiers in the eyes one last time on her way past. She broke into a sprint and covered her head with her hands.

The Dalek exterminated the two stalled soldiers, who both started to regenerate. 'Exterminate the regenerating Time Lords!' yelled the Dalek, exterminating the two soldiers again, mid-regeneration, killing them both instantly.

The Lieutenant kept sprinting, she was heading for an abandoned house ahead. 'The shed!' she yelled, trying to give the Daleks as little information as possible.

Loads of the soldiers were confused and looked at the Lieutenant.

The Lieutenant was frustrated. She pointed at the house ahead. 'Go, quickly!' she yelled.

The Lieutenant's colleagues and her sprinted for the house, which was burning down, straight inside, through the smoke inside and out into the garden, coughing.

'See?' asked the Lieutenant, quieter, pointing to a barely-standing wooden shed at the bottom of the garden. 'Shed,' she said, slowing to a brisk walk and heading down to it. At the door, she turned around and faced her colleagues. 'Inside, quickly,' she said. She was the final one to enter and she bolted the door from the inside.

The inside of the shed was cold, dark and dingy, it was creaking and there was dust and smoke hanging in the air. It was a medium-sized shed and just about fit them all. There was a round table in the middle of the room with papers strewn across it.

The Lieutenant made her way to the table and leant on it with both hands, looking down, catching her breath for a moment. Then she looked up and looked around at her sheepish-looking colleagues. There was a real fire burning in her eyes. 'OK, I've said this before, I'll say it again. Our only goals in this war are to survive and to beat the Daleks, anything else is secondary. Anything which hinders either of these goals can be forgotten. If colleagues of ours fall, leave them behind, I cannot afford to lose so many people in one go. Equally, if I fall, forget about it, elect a new Leader and off you go, am I clear?' she asked.

There was silence among them.

The Lieutenant was getting impatient. 'I said AM I CLEAR?' she spat at them.

'Yes, miss,' the room chorused.

'Good,' said the Lieutenant. 'We are not trying to get anywhere, we are trying to save as many as we can and, ourselves, stay alive,' she said. 'Clear?' she asked.

'Yes, miss,' the room chorused again.

'Good,' said the Lieutenant again. 'No mercy, no time. Let's go.' She straightened up and headed for the door, our of the shed, followed by her colleagues, briskly walked down the garden, back through the burning house and then sprinted back out into the street and towards the Dalek Citadel road blockade.

'Lieutenant?' called someone from behind.

The Lieutenant did not turn around but yelled, whilst still running, 'Yes?' and, in the same breath, 'No, Fork, that way, Fork, pay attention, you're going the wrong way!'

'What exactly will we do when we get there?' called back that someone.

Between panting, the Lieutenant replied, 'Wrong attitude! We don't have a future, therefore there is no goal! We are trying to free up the Citadel road at the moment because supplies are currently being prevented from getting into the Citadel but in terms of what's coming next, we can't think like that, we have to assume we're going to die at the blockade!' she exclaimed. 'Now, keep going!'

The Lieutenant and her army kept running, dodging gun fire, jumping over dead bodies, for about another twenty minutes before the blockade came into sight. 'HALT!' yelled the Lieutenant whilst they were still a long way off. 'Just a moment for analysis, please, preferably not out loud.'

The Lieutenant took a few steps forward by herself and stopped, looking ahead. She could see a lot of fleets of Daleks ahead who had, no doubt, noticed her and the army. There were suppliers of all sorts at the blockade taken out, dead, suppliers such as weapons, food, clothing, building materials, the Daleks were ensuring no-one in the Citadel had their means to sustain life. They would, no doubt, then go in and exterminate them after some torture.

The Lieutenant took an extra step forward as she began to assess how her army and herself were going to clear the blockade. She was thinking authority first, then violence, then deliver what had been stalled before allowing fresh supplies to arrive and continue as normal. She took a step backwards and turned around to face her army. 'ATTENTION!' she yelled.

The Lieutenant's army stood to attention.

'Thank you,' said the Lieutenant. 'So, here's our plan. Firstly, I will go up to them and tell them we're taking authority from them. Whilst I am doing that, I need you to be walking up behind me, all possible weapons at the ready. After I have finished laying down our grounds, there is going to be a long and hard battle, aim for the eye stalk, be quick. After that, the blockade will be clear, we need to clear away bodies and mess and deliver anything which stalled and ensure anything else which arrives can continue to get through as normal and supplies can also get out. Now, some of you are going to regenerate in this effort, and some of you won't make it. I appreciate you and Gallifrey does. Moment of truth, let's go,' said the Lieutenant, turning on the spot and striding off, down the road for the blockade.

Firstly, the Lieutenant reached the bodies of the suppliers, those who survived and military efforts already on the scene. She stopped. 'The Lieutenant, Arcadia,' said the Lieutenant.

'We've heard of you, you're the controversial one,' said the leader of this team.

'I wouldn't be anything less, what about you?' asked the Lieutenant.

'Sorry, Spoon, Demonwell,' said Spoon.

'Not too far, then. So, I'm going to go up to them and tell them we're boss. I have Arcadia with me, I am happy for us to join forces, then reopen the blockade and deliver what was stalled, how does that sound, Spoon?' asked the Lieutenant.

'You're absolutely mad, Lieutenant!' exclaimed Spoon.

'I know,' said the Lieutenant.

'Fine, we'll back you, do what you have to do,' said Spoon.

'I appreciate that, thank you, Spoon,' said the Lieutenant, passing Spoon and striding up to the Daleks on the frontline.

The Daleks watched the Lieutenant stride up to them and stopped and looked at her.

Soldiers fighting there stopped too. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

The Lieutenant smiled warmly to them. 'I have help with me, they will join you shortly, they're on their way down now,' she said to them. She turned to the Daleks there. 'Now, listen to me very carefully,' she said.

'Why would we-' started a Dalek.

'SHUT UP!' yelled the Lieutenant, enraged. 'You are invading our planet, you will listen to me. My colleague and I are boss here, we are taking back control. If you try and resist, believe me, it will not be pretty and will not end well for you,' said the Lieutenant, as her army arrived, followed by Spoon and her Demonwell army.

'Exterminate!' yelled a series of Daleks.

'AIM FOR THEIR EYESTALKS!' yelled the Lieutenant, urgently, 'AND MOVE QUICKLY!' She move ducked quickly as a bolt flew over her head. She pulled a laser gun out of her belt and took out five Daleks via eyestalk.

A bloody battle ensued. Spoon and the Lieutenant lost soldiers all around, soldiers regenerated, soldiers died.

The Lieutenant tried to save as many of the regenerating soldiers as she could by distracting the Daleks whilst they completed their regenerations.

Spoon noticed and approached the Lieutenant. 'Would you like a hand?' she asked.

'No, thank you!' exclaimed the Lieutenant. 'Keep fighting!'

'Roger,' said Spoon.

The Lieutenant continued to distract Daleks whilst soldiers regenerated. She briefly passed Spoon again. 'Get your troops to aim for the eyestalk, it's quicker and more effective,' she said to her, hurriedly.

'Roger,' said Spoon again.

What seemed like an age later, silence descended. There were burnt out Dalek casings all around and dead soldiers all over the ground.

The Lieutenant stood, looking down at the dead soldiers and Spoon joined her.

'I feel like I've known you my whole life, Lieutenant,' said Spoon.

'I tend to have that effect on people,' said the Lieutenant, still looking around herself. 'Does it bother you?'

'Not at all, just weird, you hear things about people but they can turn out to be your best friends when you meet them,' said Spoon.

'That's the way, never judge a book by its cover,' said the Lieutenant. 'There's no dignity in what's coming next,' she said, bending down and starting to move the bodies littering the road.

'No, there's not, shall I help?' asked Spoon, beginning to help.

'Thank you,' said the Lieutenant. 'Hate this duty.'

'Someone's got to do it,' said Spoon.

'You know, my remaining troops could help rather than standing round, subtle hint,' said the Lieutenant, loudly.

Spoon grinned.

The Lieutenant, Spoon and the Arcadian soldiers moved the dead soldiers to the side of the road and piled them up, out of the way so supply chains could get through once more. After this, the Lieutenant, Spoon and the Arcadian and Dreamwellian soldiers set about clearing the road of the dead Daleks, pushing them to the other side of the road. Once the road was clear, the Lieutenant ordered two of her soldiers to deliver the supplies which hadn't made it past the Daleks and the rest of her army to progress into the Citadel for a briefing and that she would follow them.

The Lieutenant stood staring back down the road, smoke hung in the air all around them. She could hear distant fighting.

Spoon walked over to the Lieutenant. 'It's not the same Gallifrey we grew up on, is it?' she asked.

'No, it's definitely not,' said the Lieutenant, sadly.

'So, what now?' asked Spoon.

The Lieutenant turned back to face the Citadel. 'Well, I'm going to follow the gang in there and find out where else needs us to liberate them and then brief them and leave,' said the Lieutenant.

'Will I ever see you again?' asked Spoon.

'I expect so, we're all flying around the globe trying to keep everything together, I'd be surprised if I didn't see you again,' said the Lieutenant. She turned to face Spoon and she was very serious. 'You can't cling to your friends in this war, you know you can't. This planet needs us, it is terribly urgent. You are doing us proud, now, go, don't look back and continue the good fight, it's been a pleasure fighting with you,' she said, turning back towards the Citadel and striding off quickly towards the Citadel, not looking back.

Spoon watched her go, somewhat surprised, before turning back to her troops. 'That's how she keeps going. The rumours are true, she is the stuff of legend. Gang, we have work to do,' she said, striding off in the other direction with her troops, off to save as many more people as they could.

The Lieutenant

Liam Hickey

Lovey Howell

Daleks

(Who?)

Spoon

(Who?)

Directors

Liam Hickey

Darwin Meads

Writer

Liam Hickey

Producer

Caitlin Parker

M/S 2023