Part 56 – Diplomacy

Our negotiations with New Babbage have finally concluded. Last evening, after approval by all other parties, I signed into law in a small ceremony the first treaty between New Gallifrey and a lower Zoned species. Below is the contents of this agreement.

Cultural Preservation Treaty Between New Gallifrey and New Babbage

The Parties to this Treaty,

Reaffirming their mutual good relations and commitment to respect the cultural traditions and individual aspirations of its citizens,

Desiring to maintain the rule of law both binding and cultural in both home States,

Agreeing that nothing in this agreement shall supersede existing laws in either New Babbage or New Gallifrey,

Have agreed as follows,

Article I

The Parties agree to settle any disputes as may arise that are not explicitly outlined in this document via their respective Plenipotentiaries, while emphasizing the importance of cultural preservation in the City-State of New Babbage, and preservation of cultural tradition in the State of New Gallifrey.

Article II

This Treaty grants authority to New Gallifrey to exercise enforcement of the First Law of Time on the sovereign soil of New Babbage, only insofar as it threatens the cultural and historical sovereignty of the City-State of New Babbage.

Article III

For the purpose of Article II, enforcement of the First Law of Time on New Babbage sovereign soil may only be carried out by the Celestial Intervention Agency (hereafter designated as the C.I.A.) under direct joint written authorization of the Director of the aforementioned C.I.A. and the New Babbage Plenipotentiary.

Article IV

For the purpose of Article III, in the event of a conflict of interest of the aforementioned parties, the Castellan of the Chancellory Guard of New Gallifrey (herein designated as the Castellan) and the New Gallifrey Plenipotentiary shall sign in stead of the C.I.A. Director.

Article V

Any violation on the sovereign soil of the City-State of New Babbage by a legal citizen(s) of New Gallifrey of the First Law of Time shall result in, pending authorization by aforementioned parties, immediate arrest by authorized members of the C.I.A.

((“Citizen” of New Gallifrey is defined as any SL Avatar who is a member of the New Gallifrey SL Group))

Article VI

Upon extradition, any and all citizens of New Gallifrey shall be immediately rendered by authorised C.I.A. personnel into the custody of the Castellan of New Gallifrey, so as to avoid further cultural contamination of the State of New Babbage.

Article VII

For the purposes of Articles I – VI, sentence for violation of the First Law of Time on the sovereign soil of the State of New Babbage be,

Subsection I

The aforementioned offending Citizen(s) of New Gallifrey, on their first violation, shall have their Capsule(s) recalled by the Castellan and be placed in said Capsule(s) for a period of no less than sixty days, and no more than one hundred and twenty days under house arrest.

((For the aforementioned time, the offending Citizen(s) of New Gallifrey shall be removed from the New Gallifrey group, banned from the New Gallifrey region(s) and the New Babbage region(s), and suspended from all Roleplay activities in both the New Gallifrey and New Babbage region(s)))

Subsection II

The aforementioned offending Citizen of New Gallifrey, on their second violation, shall have their Capsule recalled by the Castellan and be placed in said Capsule for a period of no less than one year, and no more than two years, beginning with the termination of the aforementioned citizen's current Incarnation.

((For the aforementioned time, the offending Citizen(s) of New Gallifrey shall be removed from the New Gallifrey group, banned from the New Gallifrey region(s) and the New Babbage region(s), and suspended from all Roleplay activities in both the New Gallifrey and New Babbage region(s)))

Subsection III

The aforementioned offending Citizen of New Gallifrey, on their third violation, shall have their Capsule recalled by the Castellan, wherein its mechanism will be destroyed, and the aforementioned citizen shall have all of their remaining Incarnations terminated and receive the sentence of Execution.

((The offending Citizen(s) of New Gallifrey shall be removed from the New Gallifrey group indefinitely, banned from the New Gallifrey region(s) and the New Babbage region(s) indefinitely, and suspended from all Roleplay activities in both the New Gallifrey and New Babbage region(s) indefinitely.))

Article VIII

The City-State of New Babbage agrees to not hold the State of New Gallifrey accountable to violations of the First Law of Time on their sovereign soil by any being(s) who do not hold legal citizenship in the State of New Gallifrey.

Article IX

For the purpose of Article VIII, the State of New Babbage reserves the right to request assistance from the State of New Gallifrey for the preservation of their culture, insofar as all legal and cultural violations of the State of New Gallifrey occur.

Article X

This Treaty shall remain in force indefinitely. Only by unanimous vote of the New Babbage Plenipotentiary and the present quorum of the New Gallifrey High Council may this Treaty be terminated.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty.

Lord Victor Mornington (retired), Plenipotentiary for New Babbage

Lady Ambassador Bernicenastorabedulan, Plenipotentiary for New Gallifrey

DONE in on this 15th Day of July, the New Babbage year of 2015

Ratification advised by the High Council of New Gallifrey on the 19th Day of July, the New Babbage year of 2015

Ratified by the Lord President of the High Council of New Gallifrey on this 27th Day of July, the New Babbage year of 2015

Phaon, Lord President of the High Council of Timelords of New Gallifrey

Part 55 – The Will of Omega

We don't often get big names here in SL-Space. As a matter of fact, we never do. The Abbot chooses his selections carefully, as did the Timelords who exiled the first few here. Missing a big name from the timeline would cause people to look for them, find us, and ruin the entire plan.

Sure, we get “ghosts.” The Watcher type images shunted through reality when The Doctor helped to shove Zenobia Station here from N-Space. That station's telepathic circuits cast shadows of his personality and form from time to time. But this one was different. You see, we've actually had the Will of Omega with us for quite some time.

Lord Gears came here much like all the others. He had with him an ancient piece of Timelord Technology called “The Instance” that survived the transition into SL-Space. None of us knew of this tech at the time. As it turned out, The Instance was a snapshot of a mind. Evidently built before the APC Net, it stored the image of a mind, and could imprint itself onto another mind with just a touch.

So it was that Omega – or at least most of his memories and personality – were reborn here in SL-Space. For a time, he yelled and paraded around, assisting at times with his exceptional scientific knowledge, resisting authority and being trouble at other times.

There came a time, however, that only his unique knowledge could help us. I left out earlier that Omega came along with us on the journey back to the birth of SL-Space. Because of the nature of this space, ***REDACTED***, Rowan's ability to help navigate was in fact more limited than she cared to admit. Omega helped guide us when the Sisters could no longer see. Between the two of them, we arrived safely.

Why did I leave this next part out? Omega is such a polarizing figure in Timelord history. He is a hero to many, and the ultimate villain to just as many. Switching the poles on villains and martyrs can be a dangerous thing in a society, especially when the dominant political force in one of our Council seated Chapters is called the Cult of Omega.

However, I am committed to not repeating the mistakes that ultimately lead to the end of our N-Space brethren. So, transparency, much to Deimos' dismay.

Inside the Abbot's console room, Omega stepped in front of Sen as be began to discharge energy. His own body diverted energy to others in the room. Whether or not this was part of the plan on Sen's part, I suppose we'll never know. At the time, Omega just vanished – we thought him destroyed. Relegated to the pile of Agency Classified files.

As it turns out, he received a “gift” as well. Omega woke up in his console room back at the Citadel, in an actual body. A real, organic body, and not one that he was displaced from. Now still a brilliant mind, but one out of his time and universe, he must learn to live like the rest of us day to day.

Part 54 – A Renewal

New hands, new voice. Regeneration. The first time was when I entered SL-Space. I was unconscious before and after for some time. My second was initiated by Sen, and I got his body. This time it actually felt like a real regeneration. I'll fill you in, because the events surrounding are quite important to all of us.

Some time ago, the Council began constructing an orbital facility. In a time of crisis, this would serve as a backup Citadel. Our lead tech – a Mr. Schumann, was in charge of construction. I had been contacted by the Guardians and informed that we would be having a new addition. The first Titan born in SL-Space. The young soon-to-be TTC would need a Hyperloom to graft the TARDIS block transfer construct onto its form. We also decided to begin construction of our new Loom technology on board the orbital as well. With our dimensional technology, having the ability to shift our most valuable facilities out of normal space-time at a moment's notice was too secure to not take advantage of.

And then it happened. I was rearranging books in the library in the SASTAP, and I just collapsed in pain. I headed for the medical bay, and the readings said my body was flooded with artron radiation. The cells in my body had begun to break down, releasing artron energy that had apparently been there all along. This body clearly not been what it seemed. I sent out a telepathic distress call to the Council, and fell unconscious on the med table.

When I woke up, Kylie and Rowan were standing over me, a distinct look of mild panic on their faces. They had responded to my call, and when they stepped into the console room to find me unconscious, The SASTAP had automatically dematerialized and landed again somewhere unknown. I had not initiated the flight, evidently Sen had. I told the Sisters to go meet their idols, and speak with the Guardians.

I watched on the scanner screen as the Sisters listened to Sen and The Abbot explain the origin of Lady Ambassador Bernice and her Capsule. If you remember, this soon-to-be complete Capsule and the infant Lady Bernice will soon be grabbed by The Abbot and taken back in time to be trained and raised. I could hear Sen in my mind as he spoke to them, his voice thundering through the SASTAP's telepathic circuits as he spoke to them.

The Sisters came back inside. I was feeling somewhat better, and piloted the SASTAP myself to the orbital facility. I needed some help departing, and left the console room to find a panicked Mr. Schumann – the lead tech or the orbital facility, as apparently the infant Titan at the Hyperloom chamber was in considerable distress.

At the critical juncture where the new mechanical TARDIS components are to take over control of basic autonomic functions of the Titan, there was insufficient energy to complete the process. Normally, other Titans assist in this process, but there aren't enough here in SL-Space to accomplish this. Our first baby was dying.

Then it all made sense. As soon as I made the connection in my head, the regeneration began. Energy poured out of my body, rocketed out of the room, and straight for the baby Capsule. You could hear the shift in energy, as the infant felt its strength grow. Lights starting blinking wildly in the monitor room, warning sounds stopped. Mr. Schumann had a smile on his face – which I didn't believe was biologically possible for him. Then again, a technical engineer had just met the Pythia, the Chancellor, seen the President regenerate, and helped give birth to a universe's first new Time Travel Capsule.

Part 53 – Ambassador

In N-Space, we had assigned labels to various tiers of development with regards to lesser civilizations we encountered and observed. First zone are us – Timelords. Only a handful of races are in this category – Timelords and Daleks are the only native races to the meta-verse. These are races with mastery over temporal technology. Second zone races have very advanced technology, including some limited temporal abilities, and intergalactic travel. The Cybermen fit in this category, as do later humans. Non-intervention policies are often difficult to interpret with these races, and they are aware of our existence due to their level of technology.

Third zone species have interstellar travel, and no temporal technology whatsoever. Some of these races are aware of us, some are not. Interference is handled on a case by case basis here.

Fourth zone species are post-industrial revolution, pre-warp cultures. They are generally unaware of alien life whatsoever, and certainly have no knowledge of Timelords. Fifth zone species are pre-industrial revolution, and have little knowledge of anything. Involvement in any way other than observation is strictly forbidden with these races.

In SL-Space, the ground rules are different. Interstellar travel is much easier, so many lower zone species are not only capable of such travel, but became aware of First Zone technology well before they are culturally ready. We have been forced to take on a much more active role here, which brings about the need for something rather new to us – a diplomatic corp.

Lady Bernicenastorabedulan has just been assigned as Ambassador Plenipotentiary to the High Council of New Gallifrey. Her origin is rather interesting. Normally, The Abbot seeks our additions to New Gallifrey based on our needs, or a mounted rescue. In this case, Lady Bernice was indeed brought to us by The Abbot, but this time from our own future right here in SL-Space.

Various Chapter's research divisions have been working on recreating Loom technology here in SL-Space for some time. Many are close, but not quite there yet. At some point, all will likely succeed. Clearly at least one does, and the result will be Lady Bernice. After her birth, The Abbot took her and crossed her own time line to send the infant back with Deimos to the early days of the new Citadel, deep in the planet's past.

There Bernice was trained by the Agency. Now a young Timelady still in her first incarnation, she has already made quite an impression. Negotiations are currently underway with three governments in SL-Space. The first is one we are all quite familiar with.

Part 52 – A Gruesome End

It came as no surprise to any of us that Deimos was not only alive inside Implacable, but both his mechanical implants and his TTC got an upgrade out of the deal. Immediately upon his return to active duty, the Agency and Guard solidified our plans to wrap up and deal with Tethseram.

 

Between the undercover intel and Gothess, we knew who Tethseram was, what his motives were, and most of the details of his invasion plan. Deimos locked down the flow of information tight, and we began slowly leaking indications of just how desperate and in the dark we are. The joys of propaganda.

When the time and day came, we were ready. Here's how one of New Gallifrey's best days went.

We knew that the rift at the Eye of Orion would be the Chronarch's entry point. So Lord Rasa, an up and coming Arcalian scientist and Chapter Ordinal, went to investigate. Since we had the end game planned, Agency medic and research Dr. Markan went along. I just so happened to be on my semi-regular shift in Temporal Control that day. What a coincidence.

As planned, the Chronarchs came streaming through a portal that ripped open within the rift at Orion. They instantly shot Rasa, as planned. Markan was ready, and set off an emergency transport device that took him and Rasa directly into Rasa's console room and automatically initiated an emergency demat. As Rasa's capsule dematerialized, the final sensor readings registered another portal opening directly to the surface of New Gallifrey, as expected.

I gave the “go” order in Temporal Control, which set in motion a number of Executive and Inner Council orders to both the Castellan and Agency Coordinator. Number one authorized Rasa's Capsule to breach its own time stream and arrive on New Gallifrey with the injured Lord Rasa and Dr. Marken approximately twenty minutes before it left Orion.

Upon arrival, every available Arcalian, Chancellory Guard, and anyone else in the Citadel moved to intercept the Chronarch portal, which had been carefully and subtly diverted by Control to a pre-determined “last stand” location.

The next thing set in motion was the Incursion mission to Vanishing Point, Tethseram's HQ station located in a reality bubble between Madspace and SL-Space. A few seconds after my “go” command, I heard Deimos at the station next to me in Temporal Control lean into his own comm and whisper to code word to “go” for his team. Commander Dovgal, Agent ***REDACTED***, Agency mission specialist ***REDACTED***, and The Madman departed from the TTC bay, their arrival carefully timed with events on New Gallifrey.

Earlier in the week, Madman had been arrested by the Castellan and placed under house arrest inside his capsule – Bifrost. The key to that arrest was to secure a special weapon in Madman's possession in such a manner as to not arouse suspicion by Tethseram. The weapon was developed during Madman's time as House Castellan of the Jade Dreamers, and was the result of an open project from the days of raw hostility between the Sisterhood and the High Council back in N-Space. You'll see why this is relevant later.

As the Timelords and Guards gathered on the surface of New Gallifrey, the Sisterhood passed out carefully brewed elixirs to each of the Arcalians present. The rift opened, Chronarchs began streaming out, and a series of carefully orchestrated events took place.

One, Castellan Allen initiated a localized Transduction lock down around all the invading Chronarchs. Two, Rasa's delayed regeneration began. Three, all of the Arcalians mind linked with Rasa. Four, everyone present from the Citadel telepathically assisted in stabilizing the mental link between the Arcalians. Five, Rasa's regenerative energy poured forth, captured by the genetically similar House Arcalians, routed through their elixir enhanced bodies, and directed at the barrier surrounding the Chronarchs.

Here I need to stop and share some Arcalian history. One of the founders of the Arcal Chapter was Tepesh, a Great Vampire disguised as a Timelord. This is ancient history, and long since dealt with by the N-Space Council, but very relevant. Our intel revealed that Tepesh had not been killed all those eons ago, but escaped to Mad-Space. There his DNA was utilized by Dalek Drillon to build the Chronarchs.

This is relevant because this means the Chronarchs and the Aracalians share enough genetic material for Rasa's regenerative Imprimatur to latch onto them. With the exponentially magnified energy of the Arcalian Chapter and the temporal characteristics of the barrier surrounding them, it didn't just vaporize the Chronarchs on New Gallifrey. The energy tore through the rift straight through to Vanishing point, clearing the station of all Chronarch guards. Just in time for Commander Dovgal and her team to arrive…

The Incursion

Upon arriving on the Vanishing Point, Commander Dovgal and her team proceeded to sweep the station. Their mission was two fold. The primary objective was a carefully planned assault directly on Tethseram. The secondary objective of the mission was to find and rescue Dracony, the Patrexe abducted by Tethseram some time ago.

They found Dracony first. After sweeping through the station, thankfully void of Chronarchs as planned, they found Tethseram. Or rather, he found them.

Based on our intel, we knew that Tethseram was a future incarnation of the Madman. In order to exist off Vanishing Point and not be affected by the manipulation of his own past, Tethseram must have a Paradox Machine. One very close, likely worn. The only device known to us Timelords that can shield a paradox on that scale is a TTC itself. Tethseram's armor suit must be a TTC, or at least pieces of one. The sword back in Madman's possession that had been so carefully guarded was a weapon designed to cut through the outer skin of TTC's. The project was revived in order to penetrate the skin of a Dalek Capsule, if that need ever arose.

The team threw down covering fire while Madman sneaked in and sliced a gaping hole in Tethseram's plasmic shell exosuit with his sword. Commander Dovgal and Agent ***REDACTED*** reacted quickly, grabbed Tethseram and held him down while ***REDACTED*** stepped forward with a special weapon and stabbed Tethseram through both hearts. He began to regenerate. ***REDACTED*** stabbed him again. He regenerated again. And again. And again.

When the substantial energy field of the opened paradox machine and the multiple regenerations died down, what was left was the mangled and burned body(s) of the final three incarnations of Madman, a.k.a. Tethseram, fused together on the floor in a grotesque visual of Timelord biology at its most disturbing.

The body was brought back to the Panopticon. Unknown to us, Cardinal Maltheus had arranged with the Sisters for a special elixir to ensure that he would loose an incarnation instead of Rasa. His regeneration had happened during conclusion of the incursion, and seemed touch and go. But he was alive. New Gallifrey was saved, Tethseram was dead, what was left of the Chronarchs in Madspace stranded behind a sealed portal.

A gruesome end, but a good day.

Part 51 – Theta Protocol

Theta project was complete and ready to roll out, but we were interrupted. The Sisters had been having prophecies for some time about something profound entering our area of time and space. Finally, it seemed the time was at hand. Several Arcalian scientists were in pursuit of six unidentified… somethings... through the SL-Space Time and Space Vortex.

They couldn't keep up, so Deimos was summoned by Temporal Control to pursue in Implacable, the experimental Agency Capsule that already contained much of the technology incorporated into the Theta Protocol. The objects seemed to be in a spiraling orbit around Gallifrey, moving outwards at a rate unprecedented before in SL-Space. Temporal Control realized the objects were headed for an anomalous area of space that we had been scanning for some time, an area which appeared to have just ruptured into a Charged Vacuum Emboitment (CVE) into another universe.

While Implacable is fast, its standard issue plasmic shell can not withstand crossing out of SL-Space without unacceptable risk. We quickly concocted a plan where I would land the SASTAP aboard Implacable as it passed on the interior apex of its orbit around New Gallifrey, and Implacable would then slingshot the materialized SASTAP out of its interior as it passed close to the CVE. The plan worked. Rowan had been assisting with navigation and accompanied me. We landed close to the CVE and stepped into an oxygen shield generated by the SASTAP. We weren't sure what we were looking at, but we were close enough to place a navigational beacon that would assist science Capsules from the Arcalians in returning later.

The slingshot maneuver had seriously damaged the SASTAP, and we discovered a newly rebuilt console room upon reentering from the oxygen shield. A default type Theta desktop theme. Sen had apparently gotten the memo. Now that one established Capsule had the Theta, it could be communicated between all the Hearts automatically. While the look itself is, as always, superfluous, the enhancements to the mechanics are vital.

Evidently, the SASTAP had clipped the inner shell of Implacable on our slingshot out. We returned to the Citadel to evacuation alarms as Temporal Control was broadcasting that Implacable had materialized just below the Transduction Barriers and was screaming in like a missile towards the Citadel. Deimos is a better pilot than that though, and Implacable plunged itself into the hillside just outside the Silver Forest.

There sat Implacable smoldering in the hillside. It's door welded shut by the impact, and Deimos still inside. Alive, we hoped.

Part 50 – Theta Project

Before becoming a Guardian, Sen had long been working on solidifying the physics of Capsule technology in SL-Space. There were huge successes, but still gaps. Many capsules sent from N-Space were extremely difficult to refit, their existing mechanical components being all but impossible to make work here.

While we still hadn't figured out a way to grow new Titans here in SL-Space, two young new additions to our growing capital city named Zaros and Kea were finally successful in creating a uniform mechanical tech protocol that seemed effective for every old TTC that was brought to SL-Space by The Abbot. We called it the Type Theta. We blew through the first few Marks in testing and field trials, by the time I write this every TTC in SL-Space is now fitted with Type Theta, Mk VI mechanical components. In order for any of this to make sense, we need some TTC back story. I'll dig into Sen's ancient memories here, and do you up a nice lecture on Gallifreyan Time Travel Capsules.

A Time Travel Capsule is actually a careful melding of technology and a living being. Titans are extra-dimensional beings of supreme age and wisdom, who have been linked to Gallifrey in some unknown way since the dawn of the metaverse. Supremely powerful and wild, these beings are so much more advanced than us that even basic communication is beyond most Timelords.

The ancient Gallifreyans harnessed these Titans by “saddling” then with mechanical technology we know as a machine of Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. At this point, the saddled Titan was refereed to as the “Heart” of this constructed TARDIS.

The first full production run of TARDISes were referred to as Type 10's. After some refinements, the Type 11 was produced. Note that these are simply enhancements to the mechanical portions of the Capsule that are melded with the living Heart.

As Type 11's entered into service, Type 10's were returned for refit – their mechanical portions replaced and upgraded. These crafts were then referred to as Type 10, Mark I. This made them equal in specifications to the new Type 11's. This process continued. Type 12's were issued, meaning Type 11 Mk. 1's amd Type 10 Mk. II's still performed along side them.

At some point, the technology simply became too outdated, and the mechanical portions were scraped completely and replaced all new. This is when the Type designation increased to the next decade. The introduction of the Type 20 meant that all TTC's between Type 10 and Type 19 were decommissioned. The Heart stripped of all its mechanical components and completely refitted. Often, given the age of the Titan at that point, it was “retired” and return to the wild for breeding stock.

When I fled Gallifrey with Sen, the Type 65's had just been issued. Timelords who have come to SL-Space during or after the Time War speak of Type 90 War TARDISes, and extremely advanced Agency crafts in the Type 80 series. All of this is now ancient history. The mechanical portions of the Capsule are rendered as little more than pretty life-support chambers upon arriving to SL-Space, no longer able to connect and function with the Titan now injured and severed from its saddle.