Lieutenant Adventures Series 17 episode 5 26 July 2023. Deep Cover: The Lieutenant's Underwater Mission.
16th Lieutenant: Well, we meet again. In a normal year, we'd now be half-way through our year's work. As it is, this year, we are not.
This episode features my fifth incarnation, my final War incarnation, which was strange because I never thought I'd ever survive the Time War. I thought that was my sole purpose in life and that I would reach my end fighting it.
I had always been fascinated by the mysteries of the universe, and as a Time Lord, I had explored countless worlds and galaxies. This mission was different. This time, I was tasked with going undercover, and I would have to rely on my Time Lord abilities and training to blend in with the locals.
The mission was to infiltrate a secret underwater research facility that was suspected of conducting dangerous experiments on marine life. The facility was heavily guarded, and no one had ever successfully infiltrated it before. But I was determined to succeed, no matter the cost.
As I donned my diving gear and descended into the depths of the ocean, I knew that I was embarking on one of the most dangerous missions of my life. With my Time Lord abilities and my natural wit, I would have to outsmart the facility's security and gather evidence of their illegal activities. The fate of the underwater world was in my hands, and the hands of my army, and I would do everything in my power to protect it. With the TARDIS as my only backup, I dove deep into the unknown, ready to uncover the truth and bring justice to the depths.
5th Lieutenant: The Lieutenant leant on the table at Base, one that was shuddering, the whole planet seemed to be shuddering, it was the new normal. She peered down at the interactive map on the table, it was flickering.
The Arcadian corps sat around eating and drinking, awaiting orders.
The Lieutenant spotted something beneath the sea. She frowned and put her finger on it and zoomed in. Then she looked up and called a nearby soldier to her side. 'What are they up to?' she asked.
'I don't know,' said the soldier. 'They shouldn't be down there at all, but where's the best place to hide whilst everyone looks the other way? Best way to infiltrate the entire effort.'
The Lieutenant straightened up, still looking down at the map. 'Good point, what are the co-ordinates?' she asked, glancing at her TARDIS which she had moved into Base.
'Errr,' said the soldier, zooming in on the image. '-54.35545 to 35.42304,' they said.
'That's where we need to go,' said the Lieutenant, looking up and around the room. 'Attention!' she yelled.
The Arcadian corps stood to attention.
'There is a base acting suspiciously on the sea bed. From what I can see, this is supposed to be a secret base, undetectable, but we have detected it. They are conducting dangerous experiments and must be stopped. Everyone into the TARDIS, please,' she commanded.
The Arcadian corps left down their food and drinks and armed themselves and entered the TARDIS.
The Lieutenant followed the army into the TARDIS, activated the door control and pulled the Master Lever.
The TARDIS sluggishly dematerialised.
On board the TARDIS, the Lieutenant waved to the soldier she had called upon earlier and beckoned for them to join her at the Navigation panel. 'Just repeat those co-ordinates to me,' she said.
'-54.35545 to 35.42304,' said the soldier.
'Thank you,' said the Lieutenant, punching them in and pulling the Master Lever once again.
There was a shudder throughout the TARDIS and sparks flew everywhere.
'Hold on!' exclaimed the Lieutenant, 'I am trying to break through the forcefield!'
The TARDIS, again, shuddered and was showered in sparks.
The Lieutenant set co-ordinates for deep space and pulled the Master Lever.
The TARDIS dematerialised.
'We're in deep space now,' said the Lieutenant, 'I just need a little time to think.'
The TARDIS scanner sprang to life and a familiar voice called out, 'Is the Lieutenant there?' they asked.
The Lieutenant looked around. 'I know that voice!' she exclaimed. She hurried round to the scanner and grinned brightly.
'Of course you do, I hope you haven't forgotten me!' exclaimed the voice.
'Spoon!' exclaimed the Lieutenant.
'Lieutenant!' exclaimed Spoon.
The Lieutenant turned serious. 'I am, of course, delighted to see you, but I am in a bit of a situation at the moment,' she said.
'I noticed, that's why I got in contact,' said Spoon. 'We detected your TARDIS bouncing off something on the sea bed but we cannot see what you are bouncing off,' she said.
'Yes, there is a secret base down there, it's supposed to be undetected but, somehow, we did detect it and they've been conducting dangerous experiments whilst everyone else looks the other way, we're going in to stop them,' said the Lieutenant.
'Right!' exclaimed Spoon. 'Very clever, hiding in plain sight. Do you mind if we join you?' she asked.
'Not at all, the more, the better,' said the Lieutenant. She stood back from the scanner. 'We have back-up,' she said to the Arcadian corps. 'Standby for a second attempt.' She moved back to the scanner. 'Spoon, are you onboard A TARDIS?' she asked.
'I am indeed, Lieutenant,' came Spoon's reply, although she was not in view.
'So let's both try to break through that forcefield, surely the force of two TARDISes should be enough,' said the Lieutenant, moving back around to the Navigation panel, punching in the co-ordinates and pulled the Master Lever. 'Hold on! Brace! she exclaimed.
Spoon did the same, using as much energy as her TARDIS could muster to break through the forcefield.
Finally, the Lieutenant's TARDIS keep to a violent halt and the Time Rotor stopped moving.
The Lieutenant looked up at it. 'I think we've arrived,' she said.
'I think you're right,' said Spoon.
The Lieutenant cut the communication with Spoon to view where they had landed. She was right, they had broken through the forcefield and had landed in the base. She felt it would not be long before someone realised they were there. 'Attention!' she yelled to her gang. 'We have arrived, it's not going to be long before we're noticed. When you leave this TARDIS, you are looking for a room, somewhere where the decisions might be made, you are doing so quietly, trying not to get detected. Good luck. Go!' she exclaimed, activating the door control.
The Arcadian army made their way out of the TARDIS, quietly sneaking along dark and dingy corridors, peering through windows and open doors.
The Lieutenant strode a bit more purposefully, acting normally. After some time, she stopped. 'Shhh!' she hissed. 'I think I hear someone approaching,' she whispered.
Spoon turned the corner.
The Lieutenant relaxed.
'I wondered where you'd materialised,' said Spoon.
'I figured we're bump into each other,' said the Lieutenant 'Now, keep your voice down. Keep moving,' she said, almost in command of both her own army and Spoon's.
About an hour later, the Lieutenant passed a door, very openly and peered in. There were people in there. She managed to stop herself gasping but ducked quickly out of the way in the hopes she had not been seen. She signed to the armies to be quiet and slid back towards the door, keeping low and peering in. She was horrified by what she saw. She slid her way back to the armies and beckoned to move down the other end of the corridor.
Once down the other end, whispering as quietly as she could, the Lieutenant said, 'OK, here's the plan, what they are doing here is far worse than I thought, it's horrific, I cannot repeat what I saw, but we are going to wipe them off the sea bed, whatever explosives you have to hand, quickly and quietly, set about positioning them and wait for my command to detonate,' she whispered. 'Start now,' she said.
The Lieutenant oversaw hers and Spoon's armies and guided them in their efforts to ensure they had evenly spaced explosives and set up a wire around them all, highly flammable, to ensure they would all detonate. 'Ready?' she whispered when they had all finished placing their explosives.
'Yes, miss,' whispered the armies.
The Lieutenant took out a box of matches from a pocket and took out a match and was just about to strike the match when a loud, piercing siren went off all around the the corridors lit up a dull red. She looked all around her.
Within seconds, the Lieutenant, Spoon and their armies were surrounded by heavily armed guard, pointing their guns at them.
The Lieutenant sighed and dropped the matches. 'Stand up, everyone, we're caught!' she exclaimed, getting everyone to stand up. 'The secrecy is all over,' she said.
'Oh, it most certainly is,' said one of the guards. 'Are you Time Lords?' they asked.
'Yes, we are, the whole lot of us,' said the Lieutenant.
The guard raised their eyebrows. 'That is a surprise, Time Lords invaded by Time Lords. Sometimes I have to wonder who the real enemy is,' they said. 'Put your hands up.'
'Not one person puts their hands up,' said the Lieutenant. 'Am I clear? Not one of you.'
'Lieutenant, we're dead if we don't surrender,' said Spoon.
'I don't think we are,' said the Lieutenant. 'The war isn't over and they know they still need troops on the ground. Why would they kill the troops they need?' she asked.
'Your leader is very brave, isn't she? And very intelligent,' said the guard.
'Thank you,' said the Lieutenant.
'I don't think you know who you're talking to. She's the Lieutenant, she's known for her bravery. Most of us call it madness,' said Spoon.
'Hmmm,' said the guard. 'I have heard of you, of course. Do the High Council know you are here?' they asked.
The Lieutenant sighed, knowing what was ahead. 'No,' she said.
'Then that's where we're going,' said the guard, setting co-ordinates on a Vortex Manipulator and reaching for the Lieutenant.
'No, Lieutenant!' exclaimed Spoon.
'It's OK, I'm the boss, this is my fault, please, let me deal with this alone, I will do my level best to ensure the rest of you get away lightly but I will not,' she said, reaching out to meet the guard's arm before the two of them vanished out of sight in an instant.
Catching her balance in the Chamber of the High Council of the Time Lords, the Lieutenant took a moment to catch her breath. 'That is the worst way to travel,' she panted.
The guard approached the table.
Rassilon sat at the table. His eyes narrowed, recognising the Lieutenant. 'You again!' he exclaimed, angrily.
The Lieutenant remained quiet.
'Lord President, I caught this lady and her troops about to blow the underwater base to kingdom come,' said the guard, shoving the Lieutenant forward.
'Did you? Thank you, that is very interesting,' said Rassilon. 'Sit down, Lieutenant,' he hissed, saliva going everywhere.
The guard set co-ordinates on his Vortex Manipulator and they were gone.
'How did you detect that base? It's top secret,' said Flavia.
'I don't know, it showed up on my map but Spoon said she couldn't detect it,' said the Lieutenant.
'Spoon?' asked Flavia. 'She was also involved?'
'Yes, she was, but I took a commanding role, Chancellor Flavia. I know things are not going to end well for me but please, don't punish those who followed my commands, give me the punishments and let them go,' pleaded the Lieutenant.
'Hmmm,' grunted Rassilon, considering.
'Lord President, she has already said she will serve whatever sentence she gets, we can let them go and make her punishment as severe as we like,' said Flavia.
Rassilon grunted again and then reluctantly agreed.
Flavia turned to the Lieutenant. 'Lieutenant,' she said, 'you realise this is insubordination, don't you?'
'Err, hang on a minute, no, it's not, I'm not your employee, I am a freelancer, I acted on my own orders,' said the Lieutenant.
'That's not what I meant,' said Flavia. 'We knew the base was there, it's there on our orders, to attempt to remove any part of it is insubordination. We are conducting experiments down there on a small scale before doing the same thing on a much bigger scale to the Daleks,' she said.
'WHAT?!' exclaimed the Lieutenant. 'You might want to dig out your rulebook and re-read it, you might find that there is something against that in the book,' she said.
'That was written as a guide for normal times,' said Flavia. 'These are not normal times.'
'Laws don't change because there are wars,' said the Lieutenant, simply.
'You are also charged with endangering the safety of the Universe,' said Flavia.
'What I saw down there was horrific, it can never be allowed to happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. I acted in the best interests of the Time Lords,' said the Lieutenant.
'Yes, Lieutenant, you may think that, but we think we were acting in the interests of the Time Lords and that you were trying to prevent that effort and, for that reason, you were endagering life, not to mention the fact you were about to kill everyone at that base,' said Flavia.
'I wouldn't have survived the blast,' said the Lieutenant.
'I understand that,' said Flavia. 'This was a sacrifice for you, I know. I am handing this to the Lord President for his verdict.'
Rassilon was breathing heavily. 'If this was my choice, I would have your timeline reversed but as it's not, I sentence you to two regenerations. You will regenerate here in a few moments and then we will release you for a set period of time and when that has concluded, we will draw you back here to regenerate once again,' he said, sounding extremely irritated.
The Lieutenant said nothing.
'Let your punishment, Lieutenant, be a warning to anyone else who would dare to question my High Council and I,' hissed Rassilon.
'Thank you, Lord President,' said Flavia. She got to her feet and motioned for the Lieutenant to stand up.
The Lieutenant stood, without resistance.
Flavia led the Lieutenant away to the Regeneration Chamber and put her into a vertically-standing glass holding cell. Once the Lieutenant was locked into the cell, she stool back and said, 'You will regenerate momentarily, Lieutenant, is there anything you want to say before you do?'
'Yes, Chancelleor, there is,' said the Lieutenant. 'My sacrifice is not in vain. The horrors I witnessed at the facility will haunt me for the rest of my life, but I have done what I could to stop you,' she said.
'Thank you, Lieutenant,' said Flavia. 'Regeneration commencing.'
The Lieutenant's head and hands glowed golden as she examined her hands. She then put her hands down by her sides and tilted her head back as she embraced her regeneration. The whole chamber glowed golden as the Lieutenant regenerated in the holding cell. The glow dimmed as the process completed itself, eventually fading altogether.
After the Lieutenant's regeneration, Flavia approached the holding cell to examine his new appearance. 'This one is quite good looking, Lieutenant, you can, at least, be grateful for that,' she said, impressed. 'Is there anything you want to say before we release you to have some sort of life in this incarnation?' she asked.
'Yes, Chancellor, there is,' said the newly-regenerated Lieutenant, briefly startled by his broken voice. 'I will continue to fight for justice and freedom, no matter the cost, for the Time Lords and for the Universe itself.'
NEXT TIME
Hello again, welcome back! I have a different me to introduce you to this week, a me you briefly met last week. I often spent my days discovering the Universe anew, seeing things I never knew could exist. He was at peace now, this was his new life and he had finally come to accept the change and embrace it.
The Lieutenant
Liam Hickey
Babsi Beau
Soldier
?
Spoon
Jenny Lynn Swift
Rassilon
Damon Chance
Flavia
?
And introducing John Dwyer as the Lieutenant.
Director
Darwin Meads
Writer
Liam Hickey
Producer
Caitlin Parker
Executive Producers
Darwin Meads
Liam Hickey
Showrunner
Liam Hickey
M/S 2023.