The Last Great Time War: part III

Rassilon's council, part V

"The whole face of this land is one continual round of murder and bloodshed...no one knoweth the end of the war." Moroni, The Book of Mormon

The design of the Panopticon had changed. Gone were the marble and green stone. In their place was cold, hard iron.
In fact, the War had changed the whole Citadel. The new theme was everywhere. The Time Lords were throwing everything behind the War effort. Holograms and screens were visible in every public place, with more of the same propaganda and politically distorted stories from the War front that were playing for decades, if not centuries. But many of the reports were now changed even further. The man who brought his people so many great victories was erased from the records of every battle which he won, and blamed for every one the Time Lords lost.

Now, he was on the list of wanted renegades. At the very top of the list, in fact. He had no name or title. Just "The Renegade." But everyone knew who he was. Or rather, who he once was.

The whole High Council was assembled in the Panopticon to decide this most important issue.

"The Renegade has betrayed us," Rassilon said from the platform in the center of the vast room. "Without him our forces are faltering. We still have great generals, but none with his fire and ability. We need new heroes to lead our armies. We will put forth candidates, then we must vote."

"Bring back the Master," said a young councilwoman.

"No," Rassilon replied. "He has already failed us. He must not be given the chance to do so again."

"Besides, his timeline is irretrievable," said the Chief Engineer. "We were unable to pinpoint the exact coordinates of his death."

"The War Chief," said another councilman. "He was so great that even the Renegade could not defeat him alone."

"Excellent," said Rassilon. "We will add him to the list."

After numerous notorious renegades were added to the list to be resurrected or found to fight in the War, Rassilon said,
"And now I shall add a candidate of my own. I say we bring back the great conquerer Morbius! He shall expand our Empire to new horizons, and leave our foes annihilated his wake!"

"No," shouted the representative from Karn. "That terrible tyrant nearly destroyed us! He would have lain waste to the universe! I would sooner die than see him live again!"

"Then die you shall," said Rassilon. "Your execution will be held on the public observation deck and televised live ten minutes after this meeting is adjourned."

The hologram of the meeting stopped.

"And that," said the Renegade, "is the state of affairs on Gallifrey. You see now why we have to act immediately."

The Renegade was in a meeting room on Phaidon. Huge windows showed the thick jungle outside, which was occasionally broken by the moss and vine-covered wrecks of pre-War Dalek saucers from the Etra-prime incident.

Around the table were Narvin and the three leaders of the Warpsmiths of Phaidon. They were tall, four-armed cyborgs with only about a third of their biological anatomy left, including one eye. The rest was sleek, black metal.

"We are glad you left and came to us," said the first. "We grieve for the loss of Romana, and for the corruption of your people."

"However," said the second, "we lack the resources to fight them directly and survive."

"That's why we need to build a bigger army," said the Renegade. "We must rally the remnants of the other species here in the Sanctuary. There are others who might help us too. We might be able to ally with the Thals and the Movellans. They have fought the Daleks in the past, and may be willing to help. There are potential allies on Gallifrey, too. People who don't agree with Rassilon, but don't know where to turn without getting killed. The recording I showed you was sent by an anonymous friend to my TARDIS, who confirmed its authenticity."

"We recently acquired an informant on Gallifrey," said Narvin. "Your granddaughter, Susan."

The Renegade say in stunned silence for about a minute.
"I was told she was dead," he said. "Yet another lie from those decadent fools."

"They weren't lying," said Narvin. "She faked her death on Xholoxor and is now undercover. She is currently a guard, but will soon try to gain a position on the High Council. It was probably her who sent you that recording."

"Fantastic," said the Renegade. "We may have a chance after all."

"Against Morbius," said the third Warpsmith. "He is notorious here also, and for good reason! We may have no chance at all!"

"Still we must try," said Narvin. "The fate of creation hangs by a thread. It is our duty to do everything we can. Even if you do not actively oppose them, the Daleks and Time Lords will come for you anyway."

"They'll never find the Sanctuary," said the third. "We should stay here where we're safe."

"We must do what is right, not what is easy," said the first Warpsmith. "And no fortress is impregnable."

"How do you know of Morbius," asked the Renegade. "Did he attack your world? How did you survive?"

"Yes, he did," said the second Warpsmith, "and nearly wiped us out. Our world was devastated. The toxic chemicals and radiation produced birth defects so severe that we would have gone extinct without cybernetic enhancement.
The Kaleds faced the same scenario after their war with the Thals. The people of Mondas had a similar problem when their world was hurled far from their sun into the freezing depths of space. Yet we are different from the Daleks and the Cybermen because of one thing."

"You kept your emotions," said the Renegade.

"Precisely. There were a few who suggested we would be stronger without them, but we knew better."

"And you did not swear eternal vengeance against the Time Lords either," said the Renegade. "Remarkable!"

"We believe in giving everyone a fair chance," said the first. "Regardless of who they once were."

"Indeed," said the Renegade bitterly. "It's a shame that my people have blown theirs."

"It's getting late," said the first Warpsmith, glancing at the setting sun. "It's time to adjourn the meeting."

"Agreed," said Narvin. "I think we've dropped enough sappy anvils for today."