DOCTOR WHO: Arising -- A Nova Sue Prequel (Part 1.5)

Chapter 9: A Good Man Goes to War 2.0

River Song attempts to protect her newborn child from Madame Kovarian's clutches and fails, resulting in Kovarian accomplishing her mission to turn the child against her own father. The Doctor, the Ponds, and the Paternoster Gang plan to rescue River and the baby before this happens. Will they be too late?

A/N: this chapter has multiple scenes which are separated by a "#####"

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"I wish I could tell you that you'll be loved," River Song recited her mother's speech to her newborn daughter as she cradled her tightly in her arms while walking casually around the Silent Sun Infirmary. "That you'll be safe and cared for and protected. But this isn't the time for lies. What you are going to be, Nova, is very, very brave."

To River, 'Nova' seemed like an appropriate name for her daughter, seeing as she was born on a spacecraft (that which the Silence named The Silent Sun) orbiting a literal supernova in the middle of nowhere in Space-Time; plus, it sounded like a fitting name for a female Time Lord, especially one that which was a spawn of the Doctor. It seemed that the Silence had been orbiting the exploding star for quite some time (how long, exactly, River didn't know), and at this point River was beginning to get a sense as to why they've orbited here for so long as well as what they were planning. From what little River could remember, she had noticed that the Silence had put a strong force-field around the entire star, even long after the star had begun going supernova, and appeared to be syphoning off small amounts of its energy into a specific part of the ship, but for what purpose, River didn't know, and she was beginning to sense that she didn't want to find out, now that her baby was finally born; but at the same time she felt like she had a right to know, especially if it involved her newborn daughter.

"Two minutes," Madame Kovarian snarled at her, but River ignored her, glaring spitefully back at her, before whispering once more to her daughter, continuing her—rather, her mother's—speech.

"But not as brave as they all have to be. Because there's someone coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me...he's on his way. There's a man who's never going to let us down. And not even an army can get in the way...not this time." She walked to a large window overlooking the main floor of the spacecraft at the soldiers marching by. "He's the last of his kind. He looks young but he's lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. And wherever they take you, Nova, or what they'll do, however scared you are, I promise you, you will never be alone. Because this man is your father. He has a name, but the people of our world know him better...as the Doctor."

"Time's up," Kovarian sighed in seeming boredom as she stepped forward with her arms out to take the baby from her captive's grasp.

"No!" River snapped, pulling her child away. "It's not been a full two minutes! Leave her be! Leave her!"

"You're in no position to be making demands, dearie. We will take the child the easy way or the hard way. It's your choice. Now hand her over."

River stepped back. "No! Not until you tell me what you plan to do with her!" At this point, her daughter began to cry loudly in her arms out of fear, and River held her more tightly to her chest in response, trying to calm her.

"It is none of your concern," Kovarian shook her head. "She will not be harmed in any way. Only...improved."

River frowned. "'Improved?' What the hell does that mean? She's already ninety-percent Time Lord; what more could you possibly gain from her? She's only a child—an infant!"

"She won't stay an infant forever," Kovarian replied. "She will eventually grow up to be something much more. And she's no ordinary Time Lord, either, as you and your 'darling Doctor' are well aware. I've heard the stories surrounding the mythical Time Lord 'Deviants,' and I admit I never expected them to actually be true. And now that your little princess—your little 'Nova'—has been revealed to be one herself..." She sniggered at this. "Well, that's just the icing on the cake, but we will make her into so much more. She will be our crowning jewel. Our salvation against the Time Lord plague once and for all."