The Last Great Time War

[The Doctor]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

 

Star Wars

Last Great Time War

 

The galaxy is a relatively peaceful place. It's been nineteen years since Exar Kun was defeated, and the Republic is well on it's way to recovery. The Sith have vanished from the face of the galaxy, and the Jedi Order is once again in harmony.

 

But there is a strange new danger approaching from outside the galactic boundaries. Strange radiation particles have been detected along the edge of the galactic disc, the cause of which are unknown. Driven by curiousity, the Senate has dispatched a science vessel, the RSS Nebulas, to investigate the cause of these strange readings.

 

Contact with the vessel was lost. Unwilling to risk endangering another science vessel, the senate has instead dispatched a small military force to the last known location of the Nebulas. Now, the Republic can do nothing but wait. However, Supreme Chancellor JASTER ARREL will soon be thrown into a strange new world after a secret meeting with a mysterious new ally...

 

 

Supreme Chancellor Jaster Arrel tossed the datapad he was reading onto his desk, and rubbed his eyes, sighing tiredly. The sun had vanished behind the glorious skyline of the Republic capital hours ago, and the city was as quite as it ever was on the last night of the work week. The bars would be open for another three hours, so traffic would continue until then - after that, the streets would be nearly deserted until sunrise.

The fleet sent to investigate the disappearance of the Nebulas was due to report to Coruscant in just under seven hours time, and the Chancellor - indeed, the entire senate - was anxiously awaiting Captain Burgan's report on the situation. The possibility of a Sith presence had not been ruled out, and these strange radiation traces could be a sign of some terrible new weapon. With the threat of another war looming over them, the war-weary senate was anxious to learn the truth of this strange occurrence.

A deep thump echoed inside the Chancellor's head, and he rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming on, and closed his eyes as a light faded into his vision. He needed to get some sleep...

"Chancellor, there is a communcae coming in foor you from-"

The thrumming gave way to a strange grinding, and the blinking light off to the side of his office began to grow brighter. He shook his head as the grinding rose in volume, and rubbed his eyes again as a strange blue box began to materialise in his office. With another deep thump, this one louder, the grinding sound stopped, and the light blinked out. The Chancellor stood, pounding his thumb on the emergency alert button to summon security.

But the button did nothing. The alarm wouldn't activate, and though the button should have been glowing a vibrant red, it remained dark. a door running the height of the blue box opened, and a fairly tall man in a strange, yet somehow tidy looking suit stepped out. He was clean shaven, his brownish green eyes looking around the room over a tall, narrow nose.

"I'll think you'll find, Chancellor," he said, his voice accented in a somehow comforting manner. "That you cannot call for your gaurds."

The Chancellor relaxed inexplicably as the man spoke, tilting his head confusedly. "Who... are you?"

The man stepped out of the blue box, closing the door behind him. He pulled a gold device out of his pocket, glanced at it, and placed it back in his pocket. He then turned to the wall and began running his hands along the edge of the doorway, from ceiling to floor.

The Chancellor watched him curiously - he then noticed that the normally blinking light on the door was no longer blinking. He then noticed that the voice of his receptionist had stopped. He tapped the intercomm button

"Dela? Dela, are you there?" There was no answer. He spun around, his mouth dropping in horror.

Everything had stopped. The traffic, the people, the blinking lights of the night clubs and bars - everything. Nothing was moving or making a sound.

The Chancellor turned back to the strange man from the blue box again to find him running his hands underneath the edge of the desk, getting down on his knees to knock at the base of the desk, wher eit met the floor.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking out the window again. "Who in blazes are you?"

"I'm known as the Doctor," said the man, straightening and reaching out to shake the Chancellor's hand. Arrel took the Doctor's hand, shook it, then inhaled deeply. "What's going on?" he asked.

The Doctor pulled the gold device from his pocket again, glance at it, the replaced it in his pocket. "It's quite simple: the Time Lord Council has frozen time ever so briefly so I may speak to you with absolutely no distractions."

"Time Lord-"

"Council, yes. We are the guardians of History. Much like your Jedi guard and protect your fragile galaxy, so do we guard the integrity and stability of Time itself."

The Chancellor stared at the Doctor blankly, his mouth slightly open. The Doctor pulled a cylindrical device about as long as his hand out of his pocket, pointing it at the Chancellor's desk. It emitted a short, high pitched screech, and the console activated, a large hologram popping up from the display iris.

"What in blazes..."

"This is a temporal map of your galaxy's history," explained the Doctor, as if it should have been obvious. "The blue lines indicate how events should unfold. The yellow lines indicate how they are actually unfolding."

The Chancellor stared at the display, perplexed. "I'm sorry, 'doctor', but... all I see is a tangle of green-"

"That's because the yellow lines overlap the blue, creating the green. Green lines indicate that those events unfolded the way History recorded them."

"I... don't understand..."

The Doctor pressed his finger against the display, and dragged it to the left. The lines shifted over, and a mess of yellow and blue appeared on the screen. "The Timeline is in peril," he said after a moment, deactivating the display. He turned away from the Chancellor, and began pacing his office.

Arrel stepped out from behind his desk. "I'm... still thouroughly confused... what exactly is going on?"

"I told you - I am a Time Lord, sent by the Council on Gallifrey, to restore the integrity of the Timeline and bring balance to History."

"Yes, I got all that, but... what-"

"The Time Lords are at war," said the Doctor shortly. "The Dalek Empire is attempting to take over the Time Matrix, and are usiing temporal manipulation to attain that objective."

"Temporal... manipulation?"

"They are attempting to alter the past in order to gain better control over the present. They are attempting to overthrow the Time Lords of Gallifrey and take control of the Time Matrix, so they may use it to gain unlimited power over the universe."

The Chancellor fell back into his chair, his breath quickening. Perhaps he had fallen asleep an hour ago, and this was just a strange nightmare...

"Three days ago, you dispatched a small fleet to investigate the disappearance of the RSS Nebulas, which vanished while scanning the galactic disc for the cause of the radiation that is currently seeping into the fringes of the galaxy, correct?"

The Chancellor nodded weakly.

"The Nebulas is gone. Destroyed by the Dalek fleet, which is preparing to sweep through this galaxy, conquer or destroy all life in it, and use it as a foot-hold for this part of the universe - why this galaxy is so important, we do not know yet."

The Chancellor stared at the Doctor, his eyes wide, his mouth agape. "Uhm... perhaps... uh..."

"There is little time left to act, Chancellor," said the Doctor. "The Council are unable to send help. I am all that is coming. We must act quickly if we are to defeat the Daleks."

The Chancellor found his voice again. "Now hold on just a moment!" he yelled, standing again as the Doctor made for the door. "You can't just abrge in here, tell me of a war for control over time itself, then expect me to-"

"Can't I?" asked the Doctor, turning to face the Chancellor again.

"You expect me to believe that you are a man that is capable of travelling through time?! That's impossible! The Republic Science Directorate has proven that time travel is impossible!"

"Well good for the Republic Science Directorate," said the Doctor patiently. "Have you not looked out the window, Chancellor? You doubt that what I am telling you is the truth?"

The Chancellor gritted his teeth, but said nothing.

"For the past twenty universal hours, I have had this same argument with the head of each political power in this galaxy. You will not stand a chance against the Daleks unless the entire galaxy battle together under a single banner. There will not be any more help from outside this galaxy - the Time Lords are spread to thinly across the cosmos. We have nobody to spare. We are alone, Chancellor."

He took the gold device from his pocket again, this time pressing the small button on the top as he glanced at it. "The temporal pause is about to end. I must depart, for now. I shall return. You must recall the fleet, and speak to the Senate of what I have told you. They will be sceptacle, but I will return shortly to prove your claims."

He opened the door to the blue box, stepped inside, and closed the door. The Chancellor stood, moveing towards the box - he still had questions that he needed answered before he spoke to the senate. But he couldn't open the door. He stepped back as the box began to make the same grinding sound as it had earlier. It began to fade, until it simply vanished from the office, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.

"- President Vashteln. He says he has an urgent matter to discuss with you. Something to do with a man calling himself 'The Doctor'."

Arrel fell back into his chair, dumbstruck. "Clear my schedule for the next fourteen hours," he said. "And contact Administrator Hrkty, Prime Minister Adaru, and General Frayyyl. Be sure to mention 'The Doctor' in the message."

"Understood, sir..." she said, obviously confused.

"Call an emergency meeting of the Senate," he added. "I want the Jedi Council present, as well."

"Acknowledged."

"Arrel out."

[Xbx_Inthusiast]

Dangerous new ally. That what he seemed like to just about everyone he's talked to these days. All the planets he's been to today all seemed to hate to see him, like he had some sort of plague. Or it could be the grey tube he emerges from ever so often. Not exactly subtle, but not enough to be shunned.

 

Matheas was walking along the beaten path of Kashyyk, the wooden supports creaking ever so silently with every pat of his feet. He wasn't necessarily heading anywhere special, just scouting around, making sure there wasn't mischief about. Seeing as Kashyyk was going to be an ally in the upcoming war, he would need all the support from the locals as he could get.

 

Watching a Czerka slaver drag a beaten and bruised Wookiee into an electrified cage seemed like a good reason for a great first impression. He slowly walked over to the slaver, checking his watch once and nodding, walking up next to the slaver. He tapped him on the left shoulder, smiling once he turned around. He would expect some sort of strange welcoming, due to his far-out attire.

 

'What are you, some smuggler boss?' The man said, obviously remarking about his suit.

 

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Matheas, some call me The Dodger. And i'm here to free this.. beast."

 

'Well you're not getting very far, not without a blaster shot to the head.' The slaver responded rather angsty.

 

"Very well, I guess i'll just let this beast rip you to shreds then," Matheas said, pulling out a rather large steel cylinder-like tool.

 

He aimed the tip of it at the cage and a small magnetic whirr ensued, within moments the cage flung open and the enraged wookie rolled out and jumped up to tackle the man, rolling head over heels off the platform and ontop of a house below, falling through, sending debris flying everywhere.

 

"Now.. There's some bad attitude, and some good PR," Matheas smiled and slipped the tool back in his right suit pocket and put his hands behind his back, walking along his path.

[steven]

John sat on the bonnet of his speeder, his back was leaning against the speeder bonnet. John had alwased liked Dantooine, it was peacefull and had great weather this time of year. Today he planned to spend most of the day relaxing, well when his contact arrived anyways.

 

His scilence was broken when his passenger complained "What the hell is taking him so long?" John's passenger was a young, beautifull, an important diplomats teenage daughter and she was spoiled as hell.

 

"Haven't got the foggiest, perhabs he ran out of tape." Replied John calmly.

 

"What on earth is that ment to mean!?" The blond demanded to know, putting her hands on her hips.

 

"Nothing sweetheart. Nothing at all. Perhabs your boyfriend's speeder broke down, Dantooine hills aren't the easiest place to ride a speeder." Replied John, also think I wonder if I shot her would I get an arrest warrent or an pat on the back. I feel sorry for the sucker.

 

"We had no trouble. Why should he?" She asked, slouching in the back seat.

 

"I have more skill, a better speeder and a road. He doesn't I'm affraid. But I'm sure he'll be here soon, he better be or I'm demanding more pay." John replied calmly, hoping she'd soon shut up.

[rictus135]

***Aboard the Dainty Lady somewhere, sometime in the universe.***

 

Rictus Bane glanced down at the instruments of it's vessel, as if to double check the disturbance it had detected. This was completely unnecassary as its the temporal disturbance receivers (TDR's) were integrated into it's chassis. It had detected a ripple in the time stream, a sure sign that a TARDIS had 'past' nearby. This was not unusual as the TDR's operated on a subspace band that had a range calculated in intergalactic measurements. What was strange was that the ripple had a familiar pattern.

 

"Hmm, I haff not seen the Doctor in a very long vile." Stated Rictus Bane in it's gently accented almost soothing voice. "Perhaps a visit is in order. At zee very least I am sure to get tanglet up in vatefer trouble he is sure to get himself into."

 

With that Rictus Bane generated its Time Displacement Field (TDF) around itself and its ship and slipped into the timestream. Shortly it reappeared in the orbit of a planet. Almost immediately its TDR's picked up a large disturbance towards the core of the galaxy.

Rictus Bane quickly accessed the local galactic map stored in its hard drive, and plotted a course for the disturbance. As it entered hyperspace, a thought passed fleetingly through it's mind, as it wondered just which incarnation of the Doctor it was going to meet.

[The Doctor]

The Jedi Council sat in their chamber, the nine chairs set around in a perfect circle along the edge of the room. Three of the chairs - those usually occupied by masters Tokare, Duke, and Klages, were instead occupied by semi-transparent holograms of their usual occupants. Master Vrook was speaking.

"...the disturbing message from the Supreme Chancellor."

"To say the least," said Master Ventari. "I sense that he was keeping something from us. Something important."

"Regardless of what he was keeping from us," said Vash, "the information he did provide was accurate - as far as he knows. I sensed no deception from him."

"Perhaps the Chancellor himself is being lied to," said Vrook skeptically.

"Perhaps," said the Vandar hologram, his voice strangely metalic. "But we have all sensed the strange, almost artificial, presence looming at the edg of the galaxy."

"The Senate should have heeded our warning..." muttered Shrows, his dark eyebrows knitted, his fingers steepled. "If the Nebulas-"

"The Senate was too anxious to discover the cause of the radiation fields permeating the galactic disc," said Vash darkly. "They acted on impulse, instead of allowing the enemy to reveal itself."

"Talk of an enemy at this stage is foolish," said Kai-Ell. "We do not know that there is an enemy to pursue, much less wait for."

"We have all sensed the dark presence, Kai-Ell," repeated Vandar. "To deny the existence of this threat is more foolish than simply hoping that it does not truly exist."

"And what of this 'doctor' the Chancellor mentioned?" piped up Atris. "The Chancellor assumes that he is an ally, but..."

"More shall be revealed to us when the Senate congregates," said Vandar. "Kavar, Klages, Duke: you are to attend the emergency meeting in the name of the Council."

All three nodded. Each member of the Council stood as one.

"Then it is decided," said Vrook. "We wait for the Chancellor to reveal more about his meeting with this 'doctor', and the supposed war that approaches. May the Force be with you all."

All nine masters bowed, muttered 'May the Force be with you," and moved towards the door.

[Xbx_Inthusiast]

He was rather bored of this planet already. There was nothing going on here and that slaver back there.. There must be dozens more of them, taking these creatures hostage and caging them like animals-- well, wild animals. He sighed and turned back around, high tailing it back to his 'Tube' of sorts.

 

He began to run after hearing a few faint roars in the distance and the sounds of blaster shots. Second by second the sounds got closer. He was around 30 feet from his time travelling device when he heard a crackling noise. He turned around slowly, sighing a bit before the ground below him gave way, dropping him to the platform below, landing hard on the hard durasteel surface of a Czerka shop building.

 

He rolled off of the cone-shaped roof and landed roughly on the ground on all fours, rolling a few times and skidding to a halt. He stood up and began brushing himself off but was cut short by a blaster rifle barrel's coldness on the back of his neck.

 

"Whoa.. Whoa there. Easy tiger.. No need for that.." He said calmly, putting his hands up.

 

'I saw what you did back there, with the caged wookiee. I'm putting you under arrest,' a Czerka guard stated, lowering the rifle for a moment and turning to grab a pair of flexi-steel cuffs.

 

This was his chance. He quickly spun around, his right elbow connecting with the man's right jaw, sending him to the ground and the blaster rifle sailing out of his hands. Matheas grabbed the rifle in a rolling dive and moved to stand, putting the rifle in his right hand and aiming the barrel at the man's forehead.

 

The guard stopped moving and smiled weakly.

 

"That's much better..Now. You're coming with me," Matheas said, moving the rifle out of the way and using his other hand to grab his collar.

 

He pulled the man to his feet and took the cuffs that the man had drawn and he cuffed the man's wrists behind his back. He pushed the man forward with the butt of the rifle.

 

"Show me your leader. I have some questions," The Dodger said, starting to follow the dazed man forward.