Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
This will bring the story up to series 2 of Doctor Who and brings a certain element from Sarah Jane Adventures into it for the next chapter.
From this chapter on Jaime will be referred to as Teresa.
The Master Chronicles 17 - Establishing the Saxons
Clark's Maze, London…January 2007…
The Master, now known to the world as Harold Saxon was relaxing as he ate breakfast, reading the funny little reports his underlings were sending him, laughing at some of the embarrassing deaths they were giving the Templars that had managed to escape the initial purge. He had made it a competition between them for his favour just who could find the most disturbing, humiliating or ridiculous ways for them to die and so far, they were doing him proud.
As to who was winning right now, he thought as he tucked into his third round of toast, laughing as he saw pictures of their latest efforts it was a tossup between Echo and Whisky. They both had enormous talent he thought with a chuckle and he was surely going to have to reward them both somehow for their attempts which had made him laugh.
The destruction of the Templars and their front Astergo had shocked the world, the Master had even made the perfect cover for it, by faking a terrorist organisation bent on bringing down 'social order' and 'corporate imperialism'. Something he would be able to use later too the Master thought with amusement.
Still Jaime or rather Theresa as she was now known had companies which had stepped into the breach left by Astergo and more to the point was now putting her genius to work so he could focus on other things. She was designing weapons and equipment for his future army just in case his main plan didn't work out, but it would be a good thing in the meantime to establish himself in his next role within the government, one with much more power, the Minister of Defence.
He wasn't one to not have a backup though he thought with a smirk, looking at his new shiny ring and rotating it around his finger as he sipped his tea.
Teresa was about to 'make' some huge discoveries, she was filing patents like crazy and was already knocking up some awesome plans for the future and he was about to take full advantage of her creations.
He finished his breakfast and got up, mopping his mouth so he appeared presentable and then adjusted his tie. He walked along the hall of his home and saw his personal driver in her cut little uniform a black blazer and skirt and white shirt, Lila he thought with a smirk to finally have her where she belonged, at his feet and told her.
"Get the car ready."
"At once sir." Lila said like an obedient little lap dog he thought with satisfaction. He would not keep her as this forever, she had other uses which he would give her in time but for now he enjoyed just having her as his personal slave.
- x -
Arriving in Whitehall a short time later he walked through the centre of British Government and had to stop himself from scoffing at the ridiculous little people that were scurrying about like obsessed little rats in a maze he thought wondering for the unknown time just how the Doctor put up with them for so long?
He nevertheless carried on to his office where he saw the Environmental Minister herself standing at the door of his office, the stupid fool that she was the Master thought. Margo Kinnear should never have gotten in politics at all, she was far more at home as an overzealous environmentalist and actually felt the human race needed to abandon modern technology to survive.
He supposed he had the Doctor to thank for her getting into power, he thought with a scoff at the stupidity of the Doctor for changing history by removing Harriet Jones, ending Britain's Golden Age before it had even really started and causing considerable economic and political instability as people rushed to fill the gap he had created. It served his purposes well the Master thought, paving the way for him to get into power but it was completely stupid to mess with history on such a whim, especially as he knew full well that the Sycorax had never held to any agreement in the history of their species. They would just have come back with greater numbers, but soon they would have new troubles as the Twelve Colonies began hunting them across the stars…old granddad might not have had his enthusiasm and charming good looks but he had been a brilliant planner.
"Harold." Margo said with a smile which the Master returned albeit completely fake.
"Margo, I hope I'm not in any trouble?" The Master asked, knowing full well he wasn't but played along for now.
"Not at all, the PM was really impressed at what you proposed. The technology alone is incredible." Margo said looking uneasy in some ways but if Harold's plan worked it might help with the economy and the environment, so she categorised it as a win. "With Marty's…retirement. He wanted to offer you a position as Minister of Defence."
The Master inwardly smirked, knowing full well the reason for 'Marty' retiring all of a sudden having been the one that created it. Who would have thought he was into, well recreational bondage and had been caught on tape in some very compromising positions? His actives again had proven their worth and let him take a much more important position in the government.
"It would be an honour." The Master said with apparent gratitude, inwardly dancing a little jig as his plans fell into place.
The Next Day the Master held a press conference to announce not only his appointment as Minister of Defence but also another important piece of his future arsenal.
"Now, knock them dead. With words." Teresa said teasingly as she adjusted his tie for him, looking very professional in her dark blue business suit with long coat. The Master nodded and told her.
"Like putty in my hands…what is putty anyway?" He asked her with a smirk before they both walked into the chamber where the press had gathered like vultures and already were screaming questions at him. He held up his hand they all fell quiet, he loved that…power over people he thought to himself and said brightly.
"I know, Minister of Defence…who would have thought it?" He said with his big trademark grin and charm on full. "Now I take this position very seriously, our country needs to be protected and I intend to make sure we are never threatened again." The Master said as he activated a nearby screen with images of prototype ships, vehicles, aircraft and equipment started appearing, catching their attention. "The most advanced military technology in the world, much of it developed here in this country and with new methods of production that are not only faster than the old ways but much cheaper too. We for the first time in years will be expanding the armed forces, creating new jobs, new opportunities and making the British Military the finest in the world." The Master announced and a round of applause followed while more questions came after that but The Master had one last announcement to make.
"Now, normally this would all be about my appointment as Minister of Defence but another important event has occurred that I simply must share with you. My sister, Teresa Saxon." The Master said, indicating Jaime behind him who smiled broadly. "Easily one of the most intelligent minds of our generation has made an incredible discovery…she has discovered Cold Fusion Power." He said, allowing Teresa to step forward as most of the journalists present had no idea just what cold fusion was.
"Thank you, Harry." Teresa said brightly to her 'brother'. Turning back to the crowd she began to describe what Cold Fusion energy was and more importantly that it meant clean, efficient energy for the country. Not more reliance on fossil fuels and it was so powerful that they could power most of the country with it.
"Construction on the new Cold Fusion Power Plant, named Arclight will begin soon and that like my brother has done for the armed forces will create new jobs and a brighter, cleaner future for us all." Teresa said with a smirk not unlike the one her 'brother' had.
That drove the reporters even more nuts and rather than stay to answer questions, knowing not giving more information would only make people talk more, the pair left, smirking ear to ear as things started falling into place.
"I've missed this and you sir." Teresa said with a bright look of excitement in her eyes at being a part of his plots again. The Master chuckled before answering.
"I should hope so. This world has gone for too long without its Master."
- x -
The announcement about the expansion of the British Military and Arclight was surprisingly positive as the Archangel Network was already working its magic, leaving the gullible little fools to lap up everything he said.
It would ironically not cost the government a thing as he was pouring the wealth that he had taken from the Templars into this and Jaime had already done most of the work for him. If he failed to get the corrupted little humans from the far future that he had nicknamed the Toclafane then he would have a good army from the pathetic little humans but he was hoping his first option would work as they were much more to his liking he thought with a smirk, seeing the humans as the biggest monsters of them all.
As he was reading the paper, he saw to his amusement that the pirating in the Pacific Island Nation was harbouring and aiding pirates who were raiding cargo ships in the area, he almost went for a pirate costume from the Doctor's Tardis but instead just laughed.
Then Teresa came in with a pad in her hands, working on some of the plans and asked him.
"Did you get all of these from the tv?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow and he pouted before saying indignantly.
"And what is wrong with that?"
"Nothing, nothing at all." Teresa said quickly, not wanting to earn his wrath and instead told him. "We've got them in production as we speak and recruitment for the military is going well. The actives report they got the last of the Templars on the list." She reported.
The Master nodded, knowing full well some were likely to have survived but they were far too weakened to be much of a threat to him now and thanks to them the Assassins weren't likely to either given the damage inflicted on them.
He and Teresa though were rudely interrupted by a sniper bullet coming through the window and aimed straight at Teresa's head.
Her enhanced reflexes easily let her avoid it and instinctively used herself as a human shield to prevent him from being hurt while touching the comm bud in her ear.
"Echo, sniper. Opposite building, third floor, middle window."
"On it." Echo's voice sounded.
- x -
A sniper, a highly trained and experienced one blinked at how suddenly Teresa Saxon had moved! That wasn't human he thought with confusion, not understanding just what he was dealing with here.
He quickly realised that this was beyond the price he had agreed on and made to leave only for the door to be broken down as a party of four people entered the room he was using as his vantage point.
"Hey." The apparent leader said, a young woman in her mid-twenties with dark hair and a pleasing body, he went for his side arm but a well-built man with a buzz cut like a marine moved forward and grabbed him while an exotic looking woman with tanned skin and light brown hair grabbed him on the other side. Both were strong but far stronger than he would have thought and faster but then was punched out by the fourth member of the group, another woman in her twenties with lighter brown hair.
"Well, that was easy." Whisky told Echo, Sierra and Victor who all smirked. They all knew their real names but had decided to use the old dollhouse names as call signs. They were soldiers of the Master now and lived to do his will, their programming wouldn't allow them to do anything else.
"Yeah, not a great professional assassin." Echo said with a pout, having hoped for a bigger challenge.
"Well, they'll try again. If the Master lets them live long enough for breaking his window." Victor said with a smirk of his own. Sierra smirked with vicious expectation.
"Then we can break them honey." She said before she started snogging Victor, soon almost sucking each other's faces off and making out right in front of Echo and Whisky who both rolled their eyes while dragging the unconscious assassin out.
"Get a room!" Echo shouted at them but they paid her no attention and Whisky just shook her head.
"You think you'd get that into someone?" Whisky asked Echo who shuddered.
"I hope not! They love each other so much its almost sickening." Echo told her partner who just smiled.
"I don't know, maybe you'll fall in love one day." Whisky teased her and Echo just scoffed.
"No chance!"
Ministry of Defence, A Month Later…
The Master sat in his office with his feet up on his desk, sipping tea while looking through the reports.
The new frigates for the navy were now under construction; he had wanted to give them awesome names but the navy had given them boring ones he thought with an annoyed pout like a child. The Type 97/X Destroyer although he called it the Harbinger-class he thought with pride, that sounded way cooler.
It had great speed and a hydrofoil design, photochips on the hull allowed it from data gathered by special sensors to mimic the horizon making it as good as invisible. 4500 tonnes with high automation needing only 50 crew to operate her. Drone launchers for air and underwater and torpedoes not to mention new Centaurus type Cruise Missiles with changeable warheads. Railgun turrets, four of the new V-TOL dropships, sonar and gatling gun defence turrets.
Then there was the sneaky Type 98/S or Serpent-class as he called it with a smirk. Smaller than its counterpart at 3000 tonnes it was a pure stealth boat designed after the one in the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies. As much as he thought the villain in that was an idiot it had at least given him a good idea for a ship, he thought.
It had missiles and torpedoes but no defence turrets as it relied on stealth to do its job. It had an extensive cyberwarfare and monitoring suite onboard for spy missions he thought, it was perfect for the special forces and surveillance missions he thought.
He had given the air force new toys too, he thought with new V-TOL aircraft; the Raptor B-69 armed with particle beam cannons and missiles. Fast and nimble, it had a drop ship counterpart named the Vulture too for quick pickups and drop offs.
Then there was the Chariot, a larger V-TOL transport plane for quick movement of troops and equipment for long distances quickly.
And finally, there was the army, he had spared no expense with this one. There he and Teresa had designed solar powered drones for surveillance and fast strikes, automated sentry guns, particle beam cannons, a new Challenger Tank NX he thought with a railgun or particle beam cannon, grenade launchers and an automated machine gun. Then they had the Rhino, again drawn from tv shows he'd seen. A fast armoured transport vehicle with missiles, grenade launchers and an automated machine gun. Had strong armour for protection and was agile enough to move easily over most terrain.
Even the average soldier was getting new stuff, he thought. Virtual reality training suites for the academies, exoskeletons for increased strength with suits designed to protect them from nuclear/biological/chemical-based threats with electronic textiles woven into the suit that allowed them to feed data and power around the suit without needing wires, helmets with a heads-up combat display that had an AI to help facial recognition, tactical analysis and routes. Nano ceramic armour for extra strength and new weapons with caseless rounds that could be set for lethal or non-lethal as required all by voice command. And to control it all, a battle field management system that could link all troops, vehicles, drones and more.
He was quite proud of that one.
But all of this was largely to keep himself from getting bored, he thought with a frown. He could try to bring forward an election sooner but he wasn't prepared to take power yet so he had to find things to occupy his time till the time was right.
Shutting down the idiot who had tried to have Teresa killed was child's play, he thought with amusement. A man who owned an energy company who was threatened by her discovery, so he had tried to have her killed to stop it happening. He chuckled at the face of the man as the Minister of Defence created a big stink about him trying to kill his little sister, arresting him and taking down his company before stripping it down and selling it off bit by bit before on a whim giving the money to good causes to boost his image.
Boost his image he thought with a smirk as he realised just what he needed to increase his public profile and hopefully keep him from getting bored.
"Lucie! Tea!" He called out with a singsong voice, a young blonde woman came in dressed as a tea lady, Lucie Miller he thought with amusement. Once the proud companion of the Doctor and mouthy to boot she was now his puppet who only lived to serve him.
"Yes sir." Lucie said with her Blackpool accent strong as she busied herself making the tea and biscuits for him. He smirked and then turned to Whisky who he had now named his personal assistant.
"Prepare an expedition to climb Everest and rope in some companies to sponsor it. I need to promote myself and I'll be doing this…for charity." He said with disdain. Whisky like a good little office drone just nodded and made a note of it while raising an eyebrow.
"Well, its good PR sir. The public always love someone who supports good causes with more than money." Charlotte Pollard said from the other side of the room, wearing a stylish white blazer over a red dress with heels. She had become his PR woman and handled his public image, again another proud friend of the Doctor that he had reduced to nothing more than a programmed slave he thought glee, he couldn't wait to reveal this to the Doctor, the Master thought with excitement.
It would be so worth to see him crumble as he saw what he had turned his friends into…soulless killers and slaves. If he encountered Martha Jones again and he certainly would, the Master pondered whether he should turn her into one of his little puppets too and make the Doctor watch while he did it.
"Right then, I'd best pack for cold. Come on team! Let's go." The Master said with mad joy in his voice before making a fake shivering motion and then passing Zoe who was now his little IT girl and Echo, head of his security detail fell into step behind him alongside Victor and Sierra and the rest of his staff behind them.
Then as they climbed into his limo, Whisky then received an email.
"Its UNIT sir. They want to discuss a project with you and Miss Teresa." She reported and the Master nodded with glee, rubbing his hands together with excitement at his little gambit working out. After rewatching Captain Scarlet, that puppet show from the sixties he had seen while stuck on Earth. The Cloud Base they had in that show had made him want one and so he had floated the idea around discreetly and sure enough UNIT had taken the bait.
Who didn't want a flying aircraft carrier?
Teresa was currently in Switzerland, giving a talk at some big energy conference but she would be back tomorrow, he needed her as part of his public image.
The story he had concocted was that they were siblings, orphaned as teenagers and he had taken care of her while they both carried on. He was the ambitious politician and leader while she was brains and scientist, a team working for the future of Britain.
Oh, he thought with amusement, he'd just found his future slogan.
Ministry of Defence, London…The Next Day…
"This has great potential Mr Saxon and UNIT is interested in seeing a professional plan for the ship should we consider funding the construction." Colonel Alan Mace said as sat across from the Master in his office.
The Master actually was laughing at Mace and his underling Marion Price who had accompanied him, UNIT had never been particularly smart he thought to himself but it seemed they had lost whatever intelligence they had in the years since he had last known them. Surely of all organisations they would at least have questioned where all this was coming from.
But no, he thought with disgust at their stupidity. Was that why the Old Brigadier went to Peru so often the Master pondered to himself? Just to get away from their ignorance and short-sightedness?
"We actually already have a basic plan already. Here." Teresa said placing the blueprint on the desk, seeing the tenseness in his shoulders and knew he was likely to kill them both if it wasn't relieved immediately. So, she indicated the plans she had created for the new ship. "Codename - Valiant."
"Nice name." Captain Marion Price said with a bright smile as she and Mace looked at the paper plans Jaime put in front of them. She had been working on them at his request since they had started upgrading the military.
Both the Captain and the Colonel looked over the plans and both had an impressed look in their eyes.
"Well, I think you'll agree there is still some work to be done but…this is something the UNIT would be very interested in." Mace said with a look of admiration on his face. Teresa nodded and told them.
"Any input you have would be appreciated. We look forward to working with you." Teresa said with a false smile on her face and shook both their hands as did the Master albeit reluctantly on his part. When they were out of sight the Master literally threw himself back into his chair and started massaging the sides of his head.
"Honestly, if that meeting went on any longer. I would have fed them both to rabid mutant chickens!" The Master said and while that amused Teresa, trying to imagine just what rabid mutant chickens would look like she tried to ease his tension.
"Well, I've got that down sir so I'll deal with UNIT from now on if you'd prefer. But the reshuffle of British Intelligence is complete and I got you tickets for the Scissor Sisters concert." Jaime said with a smile.
That instantly brightened his mood she noticed with satisfaction, he loved the Scissor Sisters and would love seeing them in concert.
"The surveillance of the Doctor and his friends?" He asked her, serious again for a moment but she nodded and told him.
"In place on both the Tyler Family and on the Jones Family. Although it seems no contact between the Doctor and the Joneses yet. He is at the moment travelling with Rose Tyler." Teresa reported calmly and the Master nodded.
"Won't be long, a year or so before Martha Jones joins up." The Master said looking through the files on his desk about Rose Tyler and Martha Jones. He didn't think much of either of them really but keeping an eye on the companions' families was a good way to keep track of the Doctor. Martha Jones wasn't much older than she was now when he had seen her back on Malcassairo in the year One hundred Trillion, so it wouldn't be long before she was traveling with the Doctor. No Rose Tyler though so something must happen between then and now.
He turned his attention back to the plans he had laid down; many of the actives were now established in key positions throughout the government and British Intelligence, giving him unparalleled access and letting him keep an eye out for potential threats. He had already began overhauling the British Intelligence Service, although he mockingly called them that. Merging MI5 and MI6 together to combine resources and abilities, he had also created new cyberwarfare and surveillance suites and new types of spyware to watch people Zoe had been awesome already running this new department and Lila was now their new gadget maker, he had even nicknamed her Q for his own amusement.
He had put some of the actives in with the new service and they were planning a few missions that would prove their worth to the world and more importantly improve his reputation.
Then Teresa brought up something they might need to deal with.
"There was a landing three months ago." She told him, handing him a file from the Archangel Network which also served as something of a monitoring system and detected alien comings and goings but whoever this was had snuck through undetected until now. "Small scout ship, maybe no more than a thirteen onboard. Centred on a school, Deffry Vale High School in London. Torchwood of course has detected it too but is just blocking information about it and not doing a thing." Teresa reported, the Master frowned as he looked at the file.
"Torchwood." The Master said with scorn. Entitled Idiots the lot of them, the annoying fool Yvonne Hartman had tried to steal a lot of the stuff he and his people had been working on and even tried to con him into giving her people oversight of the new military. He honestly was plotting her demise the first chance he got. He could certainly do a lot with all the alien technology that they had stored up.
"Want me to check it out?" Teresa asked him. "Under the guise of looking into a school from which to launch my…Support the Young Brains Campaign? To find and support children from poorer areas who might be able to make something of themselves?" She suggested and Charley who was sitting at her own desk and said brightly.
"Oh, that is genius. Why didn't I think of that?" Charley said and immediately started working on branding for it and a statement.
The Master frowned, not really caring but if they got something out of this then it might be worth a quick look.
"Go, find out just what is going on and if it can be of use to us." The Master said and Teresa nodded before handing him another file.
"Oh, I finished the design for the Valiant. Are we still calling it that?" Teresa asked and the Master took the file from her, the completed one not the half finished one they had shown UNIT and as he flicked through the pages he smirked.
"Yeah, I like Valiant. Nice work, I have a few changes to make but this is good. If I am going to rule the world, then I need to do it in style." The Master said with a dramatic flair all his own. Teresa almost rolled her eyes but settled for smiling before leaving.
Deffry Vale High School, London…
"Quite a turnaround you've managed Headmaster. Impressive." Teresa said as she watched the students learning before walking with the headmaster through the school corridors.
"Indeed, I believe in a special diet and program for the children. Starting with school dinners, completely free but compulsory. Do try the chips." Mr Finch said with a smile that was broad but creepy.
Thank you for that piece of information Headmaster, Teresa thought with inward smirk. Now she knew something was up. The students here were far too intelligent, she had seen them figure things out that were far from possible in this era. She also was being assailed with a funny smell; she couldn't place it. She smelt it around Mr Finch and a few other members of staff but apart from knowing it was alien she couldn't say just where they came from.
"Oh, excuse me. I must be going; I have an important call to make with my suppliers and there is a journalist from the Sunday Times coming tomorrow. Thank you for your visit, Miss Saxon." Mr Finch said and then walked off and Teresa watched him go before smirking broadly.
She now knew the school dinners must be important in this, seeing a student sitting nearby on a chair looking sick she put a kind smile on her face and went up to her. The girl looked scared as well as unwell.
"Well, what's your name? A sick girl should be at home not hanging around the headmaster's office." Teresa asked with false concern. The girl looked uncomfortable but answered her question.
"Nina, Nina Jones. And I live at Ambrose Hall, a children's home Miss." The girl answered.
An orphan, Teresa thought so she might be willing to give her some information in exchange for some kindness.
"Well, surely, they'd let you go home if you were ill. What's wrong anyway?" Teresa asked her, taking the seat next to Nina. Nina hesitated before answering her.
"I always feel ill after I eat dinner. The chips…they taste funny, they make my head hurt. And the people at the home say you can't come home during the day and to find somewhere else to be if you leave school." Nina told her and Teresa nodded, now getting a clearer picture of what was going on.
"Well, how about you and I go see just what is making those chips bad? Then you can spend the day with me. I'm going into town and I could use some company." Teresa said. "I'm Teresa Saxon by the way." She said holding out her hand to the girl who looked at her suddenly star struck and took her hand eagerly.
"You're Teresa Saxon! The genius! Sorry Miss Saxon, I didn't recognise you at first! It's awesome to meet you!" Nina said suddenly perking up with apparent hero worship. Teresa was taken aback by her sudden energy but smiled as she found it cute.
"I take it you are in to science." Teresa asked with a bemused look in her eyes and Nina nodded eagerly although closed her eyes as her head started hurting again.
"Yes Miss Saxon! I love it, I want to be a scientist like you one day!" Nina said and Teresa honestly was shocked to have found she had a fan but nodded and told her.
"Well, first thing you have to know as a scientist is to take nothing for granted. You want the truth; you have to dig deep enough. Now, how about we find out just what they put in those chips?" She asked the girl with a teasing look and the girl without hesitation took her hand and the pair ran off together down the corridor towards the kitchen. On the way Teresa looked through a window into one of the classrooms and saw all the students working at a computer, typing frantically as they worked on a series of alien looking glyphs that didn't take her long to figure out.
The Skasis Paradigm, she thought with incredulousness. The god making equation that was supposed to give you control of the building blocks of the universe, time and space…your plaything.
She could hardly believe that was what they had come here for but it made using children make sense she realised, you needed imagination to crack it not just intelligence. Not wanting to have to explain this to Nina who had already helped her get many pieces of this puzzle she kept them running towards the kitchen.
Listening carefully, they crept inside and saw a pair of dinner ladies pouring a barrel of some weird looking oil into the chips, Teresa could smell the oil and knew it was nothing like they had on Earth.
That had to be important, Teresa realised and waited till they had left before sneaking out with Nina to see more barrels in the freezer. She took a small sample bottle she kept with her and carefully took a sample of the oil but nearly dropped it when Nina called out.
"Miss, someone's coming."
Teresa nodded and quickly grabbed the girl by the hand and rushing out of the kitchen just in time to avoid Rose Tyler coming in.
- x -
"Take it back to the lab and get it analysed." Teresa said to Kilo who took the sample and went to rush it off to the lab while Tango drove the car. Nina was sitting next to her with awe at being in such a nice car and with one of the hottest names in science!
"Yes Miss Saxon." Kilo told her before taking off on a bike to deliver it while Tango took them into the city.
"This car is cool." Nina said with awe and Teresa smirked a little before telling her.
"Perk of success, but it took a lot of work to get here. That is something else you need to learn, nothing worth doing is easy." Teresa told her, after all her personal empire that she was still operating had taken nearly two hundred years to build up and she had gone through a near death experience or two to be as smart or as capable as she was now. "Set a goal, work towards it. It might not come quickly but if you have the talent and the will to get what you want…you will achieve it." Teresa told her before telling her with an actual smile. "Now, since you helped me find a key piece of what Mr Finch is up too…how about a day at shops on me before I take you back. Be a nice break for the both of us."
"Yes, Miss Saxon! Please!" Nina said eagerly and Teresa nodded before taking them into town. They spent a few hours hanging around the shops where she had treated Nina to some new clothes, some good food and a film at the cinema in town before taking her back to the Children's home where she had scared the living daylights out of the carers there to take better care of the children but as she waved goodbye to Nina she felt a shift in the timelines, Nina might be a nobody at the moment but she could see that a big future was waiting for her now.
Like something had been going to cut it short, but she had prevented that and given the girl a brand-new future. She was proud of herself for that but this new program of hers might be useful in finding useful minds for future projects.
- x -
"So that is what they are doing? Trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm." The Master said as he saw the notes she had assembled.
"Yes, we identified both the intruders and the oil as being Krillitane in origin. They seem to be using the oil to boost the brain power of the children. But I had to pull out of going there again as we just discovered not only is the Doctor there but his assistants and his old associate Sarah Jane Smith too. They might not recognise me but he will." Teresa said with a frown, although brief she had encountered the Doctor during the Time War a few times. During a brief encounter with the Master's previous and future selves she had run into the 8th Doctor and his assistants at the Crucible of Souls while the Ravenous had been around. It had only been a quick meeting but he had shown considerable disdain for her when she had refused to switch sides and 'see the light' such as it was. Even warning her that she was just like the Master and heading for a horrible end, he had no idea being called like the Master was a compliment to her. They had met a few times after that but that dislike of her had never wavered so he would certainly recognise her.
"Hmm, given he's there. I should think that school will be blown up rather soon." The Master mused as he quite liked the idea of being a god and was thinking about stealing control of the project but with the Doctor there, he simply couldn't risk it. The Doctor hadn't been to the far future to awake him yet and that was an event he didn't want to mess with, he was hardly averse to a paradox and was figuring out how to convert the Doctor's Tardis into a Paradox Machine to ensure he could bring the Toclafane as he called them here but this could damage his own history and even he wasn't mad enough to do that.
"Handle the clean-up. He'll leave before that happens honestly; he has such itchy feet. We can restart the project once I take power but on a much wider scale. Get any of the oil and work you can salvage, see if you can make a synthetic version of the oil." The Master ordered. Teresa nodded and went to get started on the next parts of his plan.
Ministry of Defence, London…A Couple of Months Later…
The Master looked through the reports of the Doctor and his current escapades, he had just an encounter with a bunch of weirdoes that seemed to worship him called LINDA. The Abzorbaloff had livened things up though he thought with amusement.
Construction on the Arclight Power Plant was going well, given it would fuel industries for his future war machine it was top priority and they had one of the Actives Quebec keeping an eye on things for them.
He himself had done a number of things to keep himself from getting bored, climbing Everest for 'charity' he thought almost shaking at the word with disgust, competing in a major international motor race, learning to surf and tap dance, even set up a cult to worship him to try and keep himself entertained while things progressed.
The good thing was UNIT had taken the bait and construction of the Valiant had begun, it was being assembled quickly with many components and structure being assembled by nano construction to ensure quality and make it faster. What might have taken years before now could be done far sooner, it was likely at present speed that the Valiant would be ready by May 2008, just in time for his plan he thought with satisfaction.
Teresa was currently in Vienna, attending a conference as part of her cover. Honestly, he wished they didn't have to maintain this façade but if they were going to do it right…they had too he thought with frustration.
- x -
Vienna State Opera, Austria…
Teresa was sitting in the box of the Opera, once this would have been far too boring for her but after many years with few other entertainments, she had taken to it.
She sat in a private box that was being leased for the conference as an incentive to come, she had given a speech on cold fusion energy and the implications of it and then at night when she had free time, she decided to attend a performance here and it was fairly good she admitted.
Teresa was wearing black silk dress with matching heels and her hair in an elegant knot on her head, around her neck she was wearing the White Point Star Diamond Necklace the Master had given her as part of her disguise during one of his schemes back in the day. Many eyes had turned to her when she had walked it and she honestly hadn't been able to contain her smirk.
"Professor Saxon. Good evening." An unwelcome voice said and she frowned for a moment before schooling her face into a polite mask.
"Doctor Klein. How interesting to see you here. I would have thought you would have taken a box to yourself if you had decided to come." Teresa said, a small warning in her words but the other woman chose to ignore it and took the vacant seat next to her.
"I haven't seen a good opera in a long time. I thought while I was here, I might as well indulge like you have." Doctor Elizabeth Klein said casually, Scientific Advisor for UNIT this could not be a coincidence. "And maybe you could answer some questions I have?"
"I spoke plenty at the conference Doctor Klein." Teresa said, on edge and wondering if more UNIT men were waiting nearby. Her bionic hearing told her no but who knows, she thought and was ready to make a leap for it if she had too.
"Yes…but there are many more questions. Workable cold fusion was decades away and yet you managed it so quickly. It seems unlikely I am sure you understand." Klein said and Teresa kept her cool before telling her.
"I worked hard and took risks to make that discovery…I do not appreciate you or your UNIT paymasters questioning my work or integrity. I intended to give the world a source of power that would give us all a clean and better future and yet I am questioned and in such an insulting way by them sending you here under such pretences after I already did UNIT a huge favour when I helped design the Valiant unless you are so unimportant you don't know about it and a Cold Fusion Reactor will be key to that ship's function. Now since you have successfully ruined my enjoyment of this opera, goodnight, Doctor Klein." Teresa said, her voice becoming cold and leaving. She refrained from killing the woman since there was too many people around but reported straight to the Master who told her not to worry as he would deal with them and get them off their backs.
Klein and Utterson Building, London…July 2007…
"Being back here is so weird. It feels like it was just yesterday." Teresa said to the Master on the phone as she handled the clean-up of her own earlier massacre.
"Well, it kinda was." The Master said with a smirk, remembering the good old days when he and Jaime as Teresa had been back then had been tearing around time and space having so much fun! Oh, those had been the days he thought with nostalgia. "All cleaned up and tidy?" He asked her and she told him with a tone of satisfaction.
"Oh course, just how you like it. We seized any remaining resources they had and its now being transferred to you." Teresa said with pride as the money of Klein and Utterson had gone a long way towards repairing the Master's personal fortune.
Ministry of Defence, London…August 2007…
Teresa and the Master were both looking over the Paradox Machine plans when the detector started off again.
"Ghost Shift. What the hell are we dealing with here?" Teresa asked as she absentmindedly put the pen that she was holding behind her ear. The Master shrugged as he quickly built a pyramid of cards quickly as he was bored like she was.
"Interdimensional most likely. Beyond that, who knows." The Master told her with a dismissive shrug, confident they could deal with whatever came through. He had all the actives present around them and all of them were carrying their own version of the Lawgiver pistols but also Particle Beam weapons for protection.
Zoe then came in to report.
"The Doctor has been sighted at the Powell Estate again Master, he seems to be investigating the ghosts. He took off with both Mrs Jackie Tyler and Miss Rose Tyler aboard, we traced the artron energy signature to Torchwood Tower." Zoe reported and the Master nodded.
"Right then, if I know the Doctor then he will probably have this all solved in a couple of hours but put the military on alert. Emergency Attack drill, just in case." The Master ordered and Zoe nodded and went to give his orders. He wondered if this might be a good opportunity to get himself more public attention. Next year was the election and while impatient he was determined to do this properly and many of his plans were not yet in place.
An hour or two later, an unexpected ghost shift suddenly began and they all became alert. Dropping whatever they were doing they got into defensive positions around the offices. The workers present had long been brought under his heel and just stepped back to let them do their jobs.
It took a few moments before the ghosts began to come into focus, before their very eyes transforming into metal men although both Teresa and the Master recognised them immediately, saying at the same time with narrowed eyes.
"Cybermen."
They both knew the danger, what they were dealing with and didn't waste a moment more with talking. The Master lashed out with his laser screwdriver, taking down one of the hulking brutes with an electronic scream, Teresa likewise acted immediately, using one the Dalek Tommy Guns she'd picked up in New York to shot down whatever Cybermen she saw, the gun was highly effective and took down a Cyberman, primitive those these ones were down easily.
The Actives all used their particle beam rifles to fight the Cybermen, seeing as they were made of metal, they realised the Lawgivers were going to nearly completely useless against them so they went for the rifles instead.
While it took a small sustained green coloured blast to take down a single Cyberman they were effective and they had the numbers to hold their own.
"Zoe, send out a message to all military units." Teresa told their current communication officer. "Use particle beam or railguns, if none are available then use explosives, nothing else will be effective."
"Yes Miss Saxon." Zoe said as she took down a Cyberman, remember all her previous encounters with them and thought the Doctor was rather silly not to travel with weapons, it was so much easier to deal with dangerous enemies when you had them.
- x -
A short way off on the bridge an armoured jeep with a particle cannon mounted on the back was firing at the approaching Cybermen, being larger it had stronger coils it was able to take them down a little easier while the Cybermen fired their red lasers at them as they advanced. Some soldiers tried their normal rifles but were completely ineffective and so as the message from HQ came in, they started using their grenades, rocket launchers, the Particle Beam cannons or whatever else they had to hand in hopes of holding the Cybermen off.
One of the new Challenger NX tanks rolled up the road behind them and started firing its railgun turret at the Cybermen, using its heavy armour to provide support for the embattled troops. With the tank's arrival though, the troops on the bridge managed to fight off the first wave of Cybermen.
Elsewhere Rhinos light tanks charged into battle, using missiles or grenade to attack the Cybermen while troops got themselves more organised and civilians fled to whatever safe zones that they were quick to set up. Overhead, the Raptor B-69s hovered, using their own high-powered cannons and missiles to fight the Cybermen too.
- x -
Explosions could be seen across the city and indeed the world as humanity did its best to resist, the Master now they had full control of the Ministry began to co-ordinate the strike back. He honestly hadn't been expecting the Cybermen but they were primitive and he was pretty sure he could defeat them.
Then barely an hour later, he and Teresa looked up and saw a sight that they had dreaded and hoped to never see again.
Daleks were coming out of some device near Torchwood Tower, more and more of them! Worse they started shooting at everything below, Cybermen and human alike.
"Please tell me you have a plan." Teresa asked the Master, desperately hoping he did or they were all dead but the Master looked as helpless as she was.
The Master, Teresa and the Actives all took cover and now really were worried as they had no weapons in hand right now that could realistically fight Daleks. Then they detected another energy spike from Torchwood Tower and the Master and Teresa found themselves being pulled off the ground.
Thinking fast, Teresa grabbed his hand and anchored herself against the wall of the building they were sheltering in. She felt the strain on her enhanced muscles as the pull on them got worse, she held on tightly to the Master, while the actives rushed forward and used whatever they had to hand in order to help them. The pull was really painful, Teresa's face red with effort but the Master seemed to hold onto her tighter, glaring at her to make sure she didn't let go no matter how much the pain mounted.
Fortunately, after a few moments the tugging sensation stopped and they fell back to the floor.
"Oh, that mad bastard!" The Master said with anger in his voice, not bothering to see if Teresa was okay as he got to his feet and stormed over to the nearby computer and threw Zoe out of her seat, she squealed before hitting the floor but did nothing given it was him doing it. "You idiot! You could have sent me into the void! Oh, I am going to make you pay for that." The Master swore, almost spitting with anger at what the Doctor had just done.
Ripping open the void so it could suck in everything contaminated with Void Radiation he fumed, that including him and if it weren't for Teresa's incredible strength, he could have been in hell right now he thought with anger. Turning to Teresa with eyes blazing with all the hate and anger he had towards the Doctor, the actives all took a step back in fear of him while Teresa stood her ground. She knew the depths of his hatred for the Doctor and had seen him rage before.
"Take the actives and the army, secure that Tower! No-one else is to get in till we have found exactly what those idiots did and if anything in there is useful to us!" The Master almost snarled at them before going out in a huff.
Teresa sighed with relief that he was gone when she was sure he was out of earshot, then she turned to Echo and Whisky.
"Rally the others, get the army to cordon off the area around Torchwood. We need to get there fast before UNIT beats us to the punch." She ordered and both women nodded.
- x -
Canary Wharf, Torchwood Tower…One Hour Later…
With most of the staff rounded up Jaime and her team consisting of Echo, Victor, Sierra, Whisky, Tango and Zoe made their way up, clearing the building floor by floor. Despite the Cybermen and Daleks being apparently sucked into the void they were taking no chances and kept their weapons in hand and ready as they carefully moved forward. Already they had found three Cybermen that were native to this universe, presumably Torchwood employees that had been converted who had been trying to use a damaged alien teleport device to escape but they had swiftly dealt with them.
Not many survivors, she noted but was hardly surprised given who had been involved. Most staff would have been converted into Cybermen or outright killed before the Daleks even showed up.
Reaching an area covered in plastic sheeting though, she found another two, well one and bit she thought coldly.
A man in a suit was sitting on the floor, cradling a woman that had from the looks of it been partly cyber converted, not like the other bodies they'd seen so far though. Instead of just transplanting brains into the metal suit they had been apparently desperate enough to augment whole bodies although clearly the process was unfinished. She and him were screaming, her in agony, him from horror at what had been done to her. Seeing them approach, the man screamed at them in a distressed Welsh Accent.
"Please! Help us!" He begged her with his eyes filled with tears, Teresa's eyes narrowed and she looked at the woman. About seventy percent of her was cyber converted and she was in complete agony, she knew there was no way to restore what had been lost and more to the point eventually the conditioning would take over if it hadn't already. She would try to complete her own conversion and at the same time seek out others to convert and that was something Teresa simply couldn't allow. She knew how insidious the Cybermen could be and would not take the risk of them coming back again.
"Victor, Tango…get him out of here." Teresa ordered and the man was so shocked he tried to fight but they were both enhanced and he wasn't, meaning they could easily pull him away from her before taking him down stairs as he struggled. Teresa took her Dalek Tommy Gun and stood over the partly converted woman who looked up at her with scared eyes.
"Please! Help!" She said weakly. Teresa had no compassion, that had been removed long ago but she did tell her the reason for what she was about to do.
"I will, because there is no way back for you. What is converted stays that way and I cannot risk you bringing back the Cybermen on this planet. This is the only thing I can do for you." Teresa said coldly as she aimed the gun at the woman and despite the gasp from the woman, she pulled the trigger.
Light blue energy bolts struck home at point black range and ended the woman's suffering quickly, maybe the only real mercy that could be given now. She and actives were conditioned against feeling sympathy or guilt at the things they'd done, so Teresa gave no expression as she checked her rifle.
"Get Charley and Devana to start processing the survivors, we need to know just who we have here. The rest of you, follow me." Teresa ordered and they all went about their orders.
Eventually reaching the top floor, Tango and Victor having done their job and caught up without any more unexpected surprises, reaching the computer she told Zoe.
"Get into the database, see what we have here and if there are any other facilities in London we need to worry about. Earmark any useful technology for immediate removal." Teresa ordered and the short brunette did as she was told while Teresa looked at the wall on the other side of the room. She could feel the wound there, it might be shut now but there was a definite crack in the fabric of reality there. Walking up to it she couldn't help but put a hand on the blank wall and felt the cold surface beneath her fingers.
"Right, the rest of you, go through the computer logs and surveillance. I want to know exactly what happened here today." Teresa ordered, not comfortable being here and stepped back from the seemingly ordinary wall.
The actives could feel it too although they lacked the experience she had with such things, so they went about their work without saying anymore. Teresa went over to join them as she wanted to distract herself with work and find out just what they were dealing with here.
As they accessed the security cameras, they started unravelling the whole picture, Teresa looked at Yvonne Hartman's image on the screen with disgust as what she had done was made clear. The woman had no sense in her head, Teresa thought with disgust, to risk potentially the entire universe for cheap energy…especially when they had a much safer source coming very soon.
That woman had let the Cybermen into their world and allowed the Daleks a chance to conquer them too, if she hadn't been killed or been pulled into the Void chances are Teresa would have killed her for her stupidity and arrogance cyberman or human.
Reluctantly she had to admit the Doctor had saved them all, even if it had cost him his companion who was now trapped in another universe. Meaning it wouldn't be long before Martha Jones entered his life as the Master had predicted but one question this raised stood out to her. Why were the walls of reality closed now? Teresa thought with confusion, she and the Master had been able to travel to other universes fairly easily during the war so what had changed she wondered.
Then she received a radio call.
"Ma'am." The voice of Colonel Carstairs, the British Army Officer in charge of the cordon around the tower. "We have two women here; they claim to be Torchwood and are demanding access to the tower."
"Hold them there, I'm coming down." Teresa told him over the radio and told the others. "Keep digging, I want this dealt with as soon as possible." She ordered and they all nodded and went quickly back to work; she went to take the elevator down rather than the walk. She mused for a moment that she still called it an elevator, even after all this time.
Thankfully though it got her to the ground floor quickly and she walked into reception, there she saw the survivors being processed by the army personnel and the other actives. She could feel the burning hatred in the man that she now knew was called Ianto Jones as he glared at her, the woman who had been partly converted had been his girlfriend, Lisa Hallett. He was being comforted by two other Torchwood survivors, a young woman known as Rachel Allan who had been in charge of stationary of all things and an older man in his seventies named Tommy Price who had been head of alien acquisitions. They had been friends of his Teresa had gathered but it did little to stop his hatred of her.
Teresa though wasn't concerned; she knew how to handle people like Ianto and would keep an eye on him for a while till things were settled.
She then continued out of the main doors, ahead she saw the two women the Colonel had mentioned but now they had been joined by two men. She looked at them with suspicion, wondering if they were merely thieves here to steal the alien tech at first but then focused on the apparent leader of the group.
He was a bit taller than her but only by an inch or so and ruggedly built, handsome she supposed in that square jawed way with brown hair and what looked like a World War 2 era coat on. The Master had told her that the Doctor had been with a man matching this description but even then, she knew who he was from her links to Torchwood when she had been working for it in the early days not to mention recent observations of the Institute.
"Miss Saxon, looking great in that coat." The man said with appreciation as he looked at her, his accent American she noticed.
"Captain Jack Harkness and co I see." Teresa said sternly, not taken in by the flirting at all. She'd had several affairs over the centuries but they quickly bored her and she had been flirted with by some real Casanovas. Not to mention her sense of time was very unsettled by him, she could feel he was 'wrong' she thought, a fixed point in time and space. That was never supposed to happen, she thought with discomfort, not to a person. "What exactly are you doing here?"
"We need to secure the tower." Jack told her, becoming serious as they got down to business. "There is a lot of dangerous equipment inside there and we need to ensure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands." He said, almost like he was giving her an order which annoyed her, talking down to her like she was less than him.
"And who is to say that you are the right hands? I can't exactly trust Torchwood right now, given what they have managed to achieve today." Teresa said with a deadpan look on her face. That surprised the captain and his team she noticed and had to stop herself from grinning.
"Excuse me. We are Torchwood, we have far more experience with alien technology than you do." A woman of Indian descent but with an English accent said with annoyance, Teresa merely raised an eyebrow before putting her in her place.
"Well, today that greater experience of which you are so proud has managed to nearly end the world in three different ways." She said with a false smile on her face as she counted them with her fingers. "First, they fire particle guns at the anomaly which tears a rip in the fabric of reality open wide, then they accidently help the Cybermen of another universe invade ours causing countless casualties and people converted, before finally managing to unleash the Daleks on us! If it wasn't for the Doctor, we'd all be dead." She told them bitterly, not liking the idea he had saved them. She saw the Torchwood 3 staff shift uncomfortably at the glares they were being sent by the soldiers.
"Not to mention isn't Miss Sato supposed to stay in Cardiff as part of her parole unless she is given special consent to travel? I mention this to UNIT and she will spend the rest of her life in a jail cell." Teresa said, turning to the Asian woman with glasses standing behind Captain Jack and Suzi Costello as she knew them. Toshiko looked very worried for a moment Teresa noticed with satisfaction. The fourth she presumed to be Owen Harper; their latest recruit snapped at her for saying that.
"Leave her alone!"
Teresa was amused at the protectiveness he showed while Toshiko and the others were surprised at how quickly he had leapt to her defence.
"Either way, you are not getting access." Teresa said getting back to the matter at hand. "You don't have clearance and we don't trust you. Now leave the area before I have you all arrested for trespassing." Teresa said with firm and cold voice that unsettled three of the Torchwood team. Jack to his credit didn't flinch and asked her calmly.
"Is the Doctor still here?"
The question still surprised her a bit but she told him simply.
"No, he's long gone."
Jack nodded and led his team, surprised at him giving up so easily back to their special SUV. Teresa knew full well though that he wasn't just going to give up which made finding any technology worth taking all the more important before he went above the Master's head. The Prime Minister and UNIT too were likely going to be breathing down their necks soon if they didn't hurry, Teresa thought and returned to the Tower.
- x -
"We managed to get the sensor suite and weapon system from the Jathaa Sunglider, portable prison fields, the Eye-5 camera contact lenses, a Transmat device, a plasma cannon and some other bits and pieces but a lot of it wasn't as useful as we hoped." Teresa said to the Master as she handed him the report on what they had managed to salvage from Torchwood One before UNIT and Torchwood 3 had managed to force them to abandon their efforts when they took over.
The Master looked through the list and while disappointed was perfectly fine with it and told her.
"Torchwood has already done a lot of the work for us but let's try to fit a shield and the Jathaa weapon to the Valiant. That would be cool." The Master said with excitement and Teresa nodded.
"Will do, and about the Doctor and Harkness?" Teresa asked and the Master nodded.
"Don't worry, I have plans to handle Torchwood 3 and now we know the Doctor will be getting a new companion soon, a would-be doctor no less. So, step up monitoring on Martha Jones and her family." He ordered and she nodded before going to see to his orders and then the Master seemed to think of something. "And link the Jathaa sensor suite into the Archangel Network, that way we should have far more warning if any more visitors come."
"Understood sir." Teresa said with a smile and went to do as he told her while he turned on the telly and looked at what was on.
Whitehall Meeting Room, London…October 2007…
"Three hours ago, a cruise liner, the Blue Aurora was hijacked by pirates. It was carrying…my daughter and her friends. Well-connected daughters of influential people all around the world, including some members of the royal family." The Prime Minster Peter Matthews said as he sat at the head of the table with his cabinet around him, letting them know the situation they were faced with. The fear for his child was evident however much he tried to hide it and the Master nearly laughed at him but restrained himself, knowing it wasn't appropriate even if he had arranged the entire situation.
"Lorisl is a pirate haven in the Southern Pacific. They had been attacking ships for months, they are demanding a fifty-million-pound ransom for her return and that of the other hostages. We have seventy-two hours to pay up or they die." The Deputy Prime Minister said, seeing Peter was clearly overwhelmed. "The other parties have agreed to pay the money if we have no other options. Harold, can your departments do anything in this situation?" He asked and everyone turned to the Master who nodded and told them.
"Because they've been attacking British Merchant Ships in the area, I have a battlegroup of Royal Navy warships standing by, all modern to protect shipping. I can have additional assets in the area within twenty-four hours. And also due to the piracy or Intelligence service have a team of operatives in place on the island." Harold reported calmly. Due to having planned this entire event he had special forces, navy and marines all ready to go.
"Only as a last resort." Peter warned him and the Master nodded before pointing out the obvious.
"If they are trying to get a huge sum then this might be money to retire too. They might be planning to kill them the moment they have the money." Harold said with fake concern and the Prime Minister looked ready to crumble at the idea of his daughter being murdered like that which made the Master nearly sneer in disgust at his weakness. He cared for no-one, so in his mind he had no weakness to bring him down.
There was a long silence, no one in the room was happy with the idea but eventually the Prime Minister said with a shaky voice.
"Just get my daughter out of there alive! Harold, please whatever it takes, get her out." He begged him which only made the Master feel even more disgust at the man for begging but at the same time it was all going as he had planned.
The Master nodded; it was time to show off a little he thought with a feeling of triumph.
- x -
Lorisl, Southern Pacific Ocean…One Day Later…
Unlike the Rook Islands some distance away, Lorisl was a barren island with little vegetation but it was an unclaimed island where pirates could operate with complete freedom. It had once been a naval fort in the early part of the twentieth century for a European nation during the age of empires, but it was now abandoned and had been taken over by the pirates. The fort built there was the location where the hostages were just being held.
Off the coast a force of ten of the new Type 97X Destroyers and the Type 98/S Frigates, undetected by the pirates as they approached under the cover of darkness and all were using silent running to avoid any chance of being seen or detected.
Near the fort however two squads of SAS in the newest combat gear had been covertly landed on the island from the frigates on rafts. They used their microdrones to scan the area with thermo and night vision to check it was clear before waiting for the signal.
"Romeo Bravo. Proceeding into stronghold, out." The team leader said and proceeded with his soldiers to creep inside the fort through a break in the wall. A pair of guards watching it noticed them but where hit by silenced versions of their new rifles and brought down too fast for them to raise the alarm.
With that they were now inside the fort and the team proceeded onward towards the old prison cells below where the forty hostages were being held, while doing this the Navy created a rather large and loud distraction.
Both destroyers and frigates readied their missile launchers and with great care to avoid the fort, locked on the shanty town that surrounded it opening fire the moment they had achieved the best position.
Missiles large and small took flight, high into the air before coming down hard on the makeshift pirate settlement. Explosions ripped it apart, blowing many to pieces before they even knew what was happening and creating chaos for those that survived the initial assault.
Inside the fort the SAS team were now pressing in on the prison cells, no longer bothering to hide as time was short and they needed to get to the hostages before they were either killed by the pirates or the ships changed targets.
The teams managed to shrug off hits that would have injured or killed before with their new body armour and put down their enemies easily. They soon found the hostages in the prison cells, using their rifles they blew the locks and quickly let them out, escorting them to safety through the winding old passages of the fort and out to the boat dock on the other side. Landing craft now started coming in and picking up the hostages and SAS troopers to take them to the waiting ships nearby.
When the destroyers got the news that all hostages and friendly forces were clear of the strike zone, they unleashed their missiles on the fort. A sturdy building but one that had received little attention in the last hundred years and was quickly reduced to a pile of rubble with continual bombardment.
With the hostages saved and the pirates dealt with the British ships set cross for the nearest friendly port so they could unload their precious cargo and begin the long trip home.
- x -
Ministry of Defence, London…A Week Later…
The Master was smirking like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland as he read the papers, his handling of the situation and the effectiveness of the military he had created after their performance against both the pirates and the Cybermen was now getting him a lot of praise and attention from across the world which only made him feel even more important.
There was a knock at the door and he looked up to see Whisky enter and tell him.
"The Prime Minister is here to see you sir." Whisky told him and The Master smirked before telling her.
"Well, let him in." The Master said with a satisfied smirk. The man, older and in his fifties entered and told him.
"Harold, I came again to thank you for rescuing my girl. You certainly have created an efficient military in the short time you've been in charge." The Prime Minister said with appreciation and actually sounded impressed. "I just wanted to discuss something private with you before it becomes public knowledge."
"Of course, sir. I'll get us some tea and biscuits so we can have a chat." The Master said with a false friendliness. The Prime Minister however held his hand up to stop him.
"I won't be here long enough for that I'm afraid." The Prime Minister said sadly. "I have to go to the hospital and see to my daughter. She's suffering a lot since…since she was taken and I need to be there for her. So, while I will stay till my term ends, I won't be running for re-election. I just wanted to say Harold…that if you ran, I would support you and I can't think of anyone more suited to the job." The Prime Minister said before turning to go and telling him again. "Think about it."
The Master watched him go and the moment he was out of sight, he smirked widely with a demonic glint in his eyes. He rubbed his hands together with glee and laughed as things were falling into place, he would soon start his campaigning and thanks to the Archangel Network he would be sure to be elected.
A quiet clapping made him look over to see Teresa standing there, applauding slowly with a smirk of her own.
"Marvellous sir, perfect stage management." She said with a sly look in her eyes which he returned and gave an exaggerated bow.
"I aim to please. Now we move to stage three, campaigning and you will need to be beside me in this, sis." He said with a mocking look in his eyes which she smirked.
"Absolutely, we are of course working together to build a better Britain." She said with an exaggerated mocking voice which made both of them laugh almost hysterically before the Master mentioned something that made her sober up a little.
"Well, I will be publishing my biography soon and I think it's a good idea to get married, having a wife on the arm will look better for me in the election." The Master told her and Teresa frowned before saying.
"Are you sure it's wise to bring in an outsider sir? They could turn against you." She warned him but the Master was unphased and handed her a folder.
"I have already found the perfect candidate, Lucy Cole. Daughter of Lord and Lady Cole of Tarminister and worked for several charities before going into the publishing industry where I will meet her and of course have a whirlwind romance. A good family and while she's not that smart, she's harmless. She's also a reasonably good-looking woman who will look great in photos." The Master said as Teresa read quickly through the file. She did indeed look to be perfect if a little stupid but as long as she was loyal what did that matter, they could always dispose of her later if needed.
She also noticed signs that Lucy had been abused in relationships before and not spoken out, she was likely damaged and the Master would love to exploit that damage to likely drive her mad or to become like them or both.
Teresa then reported what she had just learned.
"When we hooked the Jathaa tech into the Archangel Network we detected an alien ship hanging over Earth, about twenty-two thousand miles up in orbit. We only managed to get a position thanks to a transmat link from the surface since its hidden itself but it's there. No registry but I was hoping you might be able to ID it with your vastly superior experience." Teresa said with sudden seriousness.
The Master appreciated the compliment and took the limited pictures they'd managed to get and stared at the angular and aggressive design for only a moment before identifying it.
"It's an Uvodni warship. They were fighting a losing war against a rather nasty group of people called the Malakh for several centuries now, they signed a peace treaty about nine, ten years ago. Rather a long way from the Dragon Nebula, so what is it doing here?" He asked with a frown on his face, wondering if they might be about to have a go at Earth which he couldn't allow since he was conquering this planet and wouldn't share it with a bunch of oversized bugs he thought with anger.
So, whoever you are…you have my attention, the Master thought with anger.
There we are, hope you liked it and please leave a review to let me know what you thought.
Type 97X Destroyer is based on a ship from the Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet (2005). In the Episode Proteus it was a new warship being tested that was taken over by the Mysterons. The Rhino is also drawn from that series.
Type 98/S or Serpent-class is based on the Stealth Boat from the movie Tomorrow Never Dies.
Raptor B-69 is based on the F-69 fighter from Saints Row 3. The Vulture meanwhile is based on the Condor from the same game.
The Automated Sentry Guns are based on the ones used by the Colonial Marines in the film Aliens.
The Chariot is based on the 'Bus' from Agents of Shield, which itself is based on the C-17 Globemaster III transport plane used by the U.S. Air Force. The obvious change being it can land and take off vertically.
All the new equipment the Master creates for ground soldiers is based on stuff that I have read or has been already developed in the real world.
The Encounter with the 8th Doctor Jaime/Teresa refers to in this chapter is a reference to a Big Finish Audio called 'Day of the Master' which featured a multi-Master story.
Rachel Allan and Tommy Price are two characters created for the Big Finish Audio Series centred on the activities of Torchwood One before the Fall.
Devana is a Slavic goddess that is linked to nature, the forests, hunting and wild animals. She comes from a Russian Dollhouse and is a character created for this story.
Next Chapter - The Master deals with a Uvodni plot and administers his own brand of justice before finally meeting his wife. Also, a Christmas Wedding is interrupted before Royal Hope Hospital is taken.