Conspiring in the dark, part II

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"You wanted to speak with me," Preda said as she walked into the Warrior's TARDIS.
The Warrior was laying underneath the console, tinkering with something next to where the cables on the floor were wired in. An unscrewed panel, several machine parts, and an oily rag lay next to him.
"Yes," he said, as he crawled out, stood up, and wiped his greasy hands on the rag. He was wearing a new black leather coat.

"What about?"

"Follow me," he said. "We need a good place to sit down."

She followed him down a long hallway, through a room full of half-finished paintings, a laboratory strewn with weapon parts, and finally into a huge library.

He sat down in a large red armchair, and gestured for her to sit in the identical one across a coffee table from him.
He was silent for a minute, then said;
"Preda, why do you fight this War?"

That was not what she expected.
"Because it's my duty."

"Why?"

"To protect our people, and all the people of the universe."

"What do you know about Rassilon?"

Once again, not what she expected.

"He founded our society. He invented TARDISes, created the Eye of Harmony, and was once our greatest hero. Just the stuff that everybody knows. Why are you asking me this?"

"I've uncovered something very serious, and you are one of only a handful of people whom I can trust. We must not discuss any of this outside of here. Even the time vortex has ears. Tell me, what do you know about what happened at the end of Rassilon's first reign?"

"I'm not sure. History doesn't say much about it. He must've retired, I suppose. Unless you believe the stories that the-"
"What stories?"

"Well, those who live in the wastelands say that he was a tyrant who was locked up in his tower. I don't know how much to trust what they say. Some of them have the silly idea that Time Lords are grown in looms."

"What if told I have good reason to believe that the stories are true?"

"Actually, that would make a lot of sense," Preda said. "Now that you mention it, I don't think his ego would allow him to retire. He would probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming."

"That's probably exactly what happened. The stories ARE true. The history they teach is mostly propaganda. The true history lies in the Black Scrolls of Rassilon. That's why they're forbidden."

"The Black Scrolls of Rassilon?! How in the cosmos did you get those?!"

"Romana gave them to me before she died. They were in the backpack she gave me. I've only just been able to continue translating them. Soon I'll be finished."

Preda was astonished. "So THAT'S why they all were chasing her! They said she was a traitor, but I didn't know why they were spending so much time and energy going after her!"
She sat and thought for a moment.
"What happened that made them lock Rassilon up?"

"A while after he defeated the Great Vampires, Rassilon tried to destroy all other time-traveling civilizations. He tampered with the timelines of evolution on many worlds, including Earth and Skaro, to make humanoids the dominant form of intelligent life. He was paranoid, xenophobic, and megalomaniacal. He oversaw the creation of the weapons in the Omega Arsenal. This was the First Great Time War. Hundreds or even thousands civilizations were destroyed or blasted back to the Stone Age. Very few other time travelers survived."

"And then what happened," Preda asked.

"I don't know," the Warrior admitted. "That part of the record is triple-encrypted and very difficult to translate. I'll let you know as soon as I finish. What I do know is that just after Rassilon was imprisoned, Pandak, his successor, decided that future generations would be more inspired to do good if they thought their founder was a noble hero. Within a few generations, the truth was only legends passed around among the cults, renegades, and Shobogans."

Preda stood up. "We've got to do something," she said. "We can't let that madman tear down all of peace and sanity! If he stays, Gallifrey, the universe, and the multiverse will go up in flames! I will NOT let him ruin my home! Already I've lost family because of his policies! I helped build the outpost on Terminus that he let those monstrosities devour! I knew those people! We have to stop him!"

"And stop him we will," the Warrior said. "It won't be easy, but we are going to start a revolution on Gallifrey. We'll have help, too. I've learned the hiding place of the other Temporal Powers. We will-"

Just then, there was a horrendous noise coming from the console room, followed by the cloister bell. The Warrior and Preda pulled out their weapons and ran.

Thousands of thin silver tendrils had grown out of the walls and floor and were tearing the console apart.

"Destroy it! Don't let it touch you," the Warrior shouted. This was an N-form, a Time Lord weapon that hid in other dimensions and reached out with appendages to tear enemies apart from within.
The Warrior and Preda shot at the metal tentacles, but made little headway. The deadly vines grew and multiplied, pulling off a console panel.
"Oh no you don't," the Warrior said. "Preda, take cover!" He ran to the console, jumping over and dodging tendrils.
He reached the console and yanked the weapon lever. A stream on energy blasted up through the console, knocking the Warrior against the wall. When it faded, the console was blackened and smoking. The creeping tentacles of the N-form were limp. The Warrior poked one with the tip of his gun. It was dead.

"Karlax again," Preda said, walking back in from a hallway.

"No doubt," the Warrior replied. "He must really hate my guts."

While he waited for the TARDIS to repair herself, the Warrior struggled to translate the last encrypted chapter of the Black Scrolls. The repairs were done before he got very far.

The Warrior looked at the console screen and saw an alert. The TARDIS was reminding him of his next mission: to investigate the Dalek presence in the Tantalus Spiral.

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