The Last Great Time War: part II

Rassilon's council, part IV

The Warrior and Preda took their seats. The Time Lord inner council room was looking dingier than ever. Papers and blueprints were strewn all over the table and the floor. Images of time-front zones, maps of vortex pathways and other intelligence reports lit up the walls. The overhead lights were dim, yellow, and flickering.

"At last, we can begin," said Rassilon.

"I bring an urgent report," the Warrior said, brushing a strand of graying hair out of his eye. "The Thanatos anomaly is now at least three million light-years across, perhaps seven million, when we swore it would never reach a hundred thousand. It's still growing. Terminus, Partesia, and the seven worlds of Sardis are utterly wasted."

"That is hardly urgent," Rassilon said.

"Hardly urgent," Preda exclaimed. "The timelines of an entire galaxy cluster thrown into a blender along with nine of our colonies, hardly urgent?!"

"Silence, foolish girl," said Rassilon. "Gallifrey, the inner colonies, and our galaxy are not endangered. The anomaly does not threaten the multiverse as a whole. Therefore, it is not urgent."

Preda bit her tongue until it almost bled.
"You haven't been out on the front, Rassilon," said the Warrior. "You haven't seen what's been born out there. What's still being born. The Thanatos anomaly is spawning untold millions of Travesties, which were once a rare occurrence. I could tell you all about them, how horrible they are, how horrible the Nightmare Child is, but they must be seen to be believed."

"We can deal with faulty timelines when the War is won," said Grayvas. "Right now we need to focus on destroying the Daleks and securing Gallifrey's temporal security."

"We can't spare the resources to clean up every little mess out there," said Chancellor Paradon. "Our focus must be on Gallifrey and Inner Time."

"The Horde of Travesties are a threat to Gallifrey and Inner Time," said the Warrior. "Some of them can eat TARDISes, and will find a way through the transduction barriers if we don't stop them!"

"They will never get through the transduction barriers," said the Head of the CIA. "Almost nothing can."

"Almost," Preda said. "Remember when we thought that the Cruciform was impossible to hack in to?"

"That incident is not relevant and will not be discussed here," said Rassilon. "You will not get a second warning." He took a deep breath.
"There is a much more important issue. The Daleks have taken control of the Medusa Cascade."

"What," said a councilman. "How can that be? The Cruciform-"
"Is tied up with the Dalek stronghold in Parallel 23, among other things," said the Head of the CIA. "We can spare some power, but not enough."

"Through the rift, they are reaching farther across the multiverse to more alternate Skaros away from the War," said Chancellor Paradon. "The enemy is massing there. Their army may already number in the billions."

"We must launch an attack at once," said Rassilon. "Once we sweep away the Daleks massing there, we will go through the rift and destroy every Skaro in every universe."

"Inadvisable," the Warrior said. "If we try another invasion of the Dalek Homefront without help, we will suffer massive casualties and most likely get little in return. With our forces depleted, the enemy would have the upper hand. We must call for assistance if we are to win this battle."

"We will not petition the aid of lesser races," said Rassilon. "This is our fight."

"But Lord President," the Warrior said, "Romana created the Temporal Alliance to ensure the security of-"
"I created the Time Lords to rule reality!" Rassilon had stood up. "I will not deal with this threat by bringing in other ones! Lower races have no place in our affairs."
He sat down.

"The fate of reality concerns us all," said Preda.

"Enough," said Rassilon. "There will be no more discussion of this. Doctor, will you lead our army into the Medusa Cascade?"
The Warrior flinched, but sighed and said: "Of course I will."

Things were going badly wrong. The Warrior was trying to save the Time Lords from themselves, but nothing was working. What had happened to the other Temporal Powers? Did they even still exist? The Warrior had to find out soon, and find a way to remove Rassilon before it was too late.