Saturday 29 October 2016

DW - War: The Soldier's Song (4)

"We are the Omni-Voyants." said the figure.

"Never heard of you." replied the Warrior. "But isn't that a bit pretentious... somewhat arrogant? Not to mention a little on the nose?"

"Says the Lord of Time." I added.

"Point taken." Admitted the Warrior. "But at least we don't swan about arming primitive developing species with temporal weapons! If you can see everything, as you name suggests, you must seen what a terrible idea that is?!"

The figure remained outwardly impassive, and calmly responded.
"Can you be so sure, Time Lord? Can you speak with authority on every scheme of the High Council? Can you truly say you have never armed a population I'm this forsaken War of yours? Actually, don't answer. Because we already know. We have seen the whims of your Council. Even on Earth, how many have you armed with knowledge, with technology, molded to fight and die for the greater good? Like this human here."

Surely it was lying, right? I mean, I was hardly a pawn in the Doctor's arsenal, was I? Those of us who travel with him are inspired to fight injustice, true, but I certainly didn't feel like a weapon.
"You're wrong." I countered. "There's a difference between broadening my horizons, and giving Paradox Engines to a species unable to comprehend the consequences of the tech."

The Warrior was standing tall, clearly in his element. His voice carried boldly across the chamber we were within.
"Enough with the bickering, we're all adults after all. Now, Omni-Voyant, explain why you're on Vakar or else I'll have to take a more active role in proceedings. If you rally can see the future, you know I'm not bluffing."

"Very well, Time Lord, if it satisfies you. We experience time in a far more fluid manner than other races. We see what was, what may be, and what has yet to occur. We sense the probabilities of every possible future, we can infer will exact certainty the outcome of any possible action. The Time Lords seek mastery, dominion, over time itself. We seek instead to become one with it. We simply ebb and flow in its currents, using our gifts to avert calamity."

"Hogwash!" cried the Warrior. "Nothing more than parlor tricks and delusions of grandeur. Nobody can have that power, it's not possible. Even if it were, to utilize it would be unthinkable!"

"Believe what you must, Time Lord." replied the Omni-Voyant. For a moment, I thought I detected something in it's voice, some sliver of emotion breaking through the facade. It sounded sorrowful. "This war of yours has dragged on for too long."

"It is not my war." snapped the Warrior.

"Yet you take part in it nonetheless. The Time War corrupts every world that it is fought on. Reality itself is strained as your people and the Daleks lead the Universe into chaos, one battlefield at a time. All of existence is threatened, everything good and pure in danger of destruction. Even we in all our wisdom cannot determine its final outcome. With all of time and space in flux, on the bring of extermination, our vision is clouded."

The Warrior was standing, hands clenched by his side, a furious mix of rage and grief while he grappled with the abject and abstract horrors of the Time War. Even so, or because of it, he couldn't resist a cheap shot. With a raspy chuckle, he spoke.
"So much for Omni-Vision then!"

"You jest, Time Lord. But we have seen several ends of this war, none more likely than the rest. We have seen the very end of time itself, a future dominated by tyrannical Time Lords ruling with an iron fist, and a universe under the yoke of the Dalek empire."

"See what I mean Arven? Charlatans, he's just picked the three most generic scenarios possible. Never trust a soothsayer who doesn't give details."

"We see another future too. One with a solitary survivor, the Lonely God and last of his kind, cursed to bear his guilt throughout the ages, eternally seeking atonement."

"Hah, the most outlandish theory yet."

"Tell that to the Big Bad Wolf."

"Sorry, excuse me, but you still haven't told us your plan with the Vakarians. Why drag them in? You hardly expect them to win this war for you?!" I interjected. That last premonition sounded a bit too accurate. Couldn't let the Doctor hear about his own future.

"We are using the indigenous population below to test our newly developed Paradox Engines. The only way this war can end, is if we return to its earliest days and prevent hostilities from occurring."

"All knowing one, you do realise that that was literally the first stratagem attempted by both sides. There are defences in place to prevent such incursions."

"All eventualities are considered. All possible countermeasures to the Paradox Engines can be anticipated and circumvented. With such engines, we can remove both the Daleks and Time Lords from the Universe, before they ever existed."

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