Underneath That Burnt Old Sky (Closed to 10,11,Lord Rassilon and Romana II)

((I've decided to just leave the topic all together. Although i'm back [For now] I wanted to focus on some of the other topics I've been interested in. Also...tofu.))

((sorry guys. Week from hell))

Romana frowned as Rassilon spoke. "Don't be too quick to lay blame. The Chancellor might still be innocent. I don't know him as well as you, of course, but I don't think we should jump to conclusions."

She thought for a moment, arms crossed and teeth worrying her lip. "What we needs is to biologically test the Chancellor, to see if his biodata matches Omega's."

The Doctor sniffed, gazing up at the ceiling, "I don't know.." he replied to Rassilon's final question, "Maybe he wants what every Time Lord wants right now..to bring Gallifrey back into existence..he just doesn't know what its doing to the fabric of reality". Looking over to Rassilon and Romana, The Doctor smirked, "I've tried countless times to bring it back after..well..knowing it was trapped in a pocket universe. Several attempts actually...all ending up with me on my back coughing. And the TARDIS completely cross with me" he commented.

Suddenly an idea came to mind, one that made his smirk transform into a wide childish grin as he turned to Rassilon, "I think i know how to bring Gallifrey back" he exclaimed, "But! We listen to Romana..." he paused as he glanced over to her, "I think she's on the right track. We need to stop Omega first..then we can bring Gallifrey back".

"You say you've attempted to recover Gallifrey before now and yet all attempts have failed? Well Doctor, I would listen to your ideas....Prydonius knows you've earned at least my attention for a few minutes.

As for Romana's plan for a comparison of bio-data, it would be the most prudent thing to do...and I suppose jumping to conclusions won't alleviate the situation any more than careful planning can." Rassilon glanced over at Romana and asked: "Well? How do you propose we recover Bio-Data for comparison?"

((I can't respond to this until I know if you all believe in the loom theory or not. Tell me. >>))

((Yes, mostly because it makes it more credible that the time-lords would follow rassilon if he had
saved time-lords from extinction, so I'm cool with it. How about you Sandshoes?))

((Yep, i'm cool))

"Trusting me now, Lord President?" Romana teased, but the situation was too important to further it. "Well he wasn't the only member of his loom. Surely there must be some surviving cousins. We find their BioData and compare it with the Chancellor."

Romana shrugged. "Simple, unless his loom and all his cousins BioData was destroyed. And if that's the case... Well, Doctor I daresay you've encountered the Matrix before. I don't suggest plugging you into it again, though."

((Rassie you wanna go up? I think you have more of a reply than i do at this moment))

"Surviving cousins? How do we know if Omega even has any still-living relatives? How are we to know they haven't already been silenced by either Omega himself or whichever individual or individuals resurrected him? Of course there is no doubt in my mind as to whether I would possess the resources to do this, but the fact that anyone in the council could be working against me......us...well it doesn't bear thinking about." Rassilon replied, adopting a frustrated tone as he said this.

Addressing Romana he added: "We may have our...differences, but you seem willing and able to assist here. Perhaps it is against my better judgement, but your arrest is aborted...for now."
Rassilon sighed and glanced over at The Doctor who was at this particular moment; doing nothing in particular. "Well? What are all standing around for? We have a centuries old, insane Part-founder of Gallifreyan society on the loose and surviving family to find and compare bio-data with. What are we waiting for?"

The Doctor listened intently to the conversation between Rassilon and Romana before a grin etched its way onto his face when Rassilon turned his attention to him. "Now that's what i want to hear!" He exploded, his body bursting with sudden energy and excitement, "Now! Omega has a unique biometric signature, like yours" he addressed Rassilon, "If we can somehow detect that signature we can find out where he is. All relatives will still give off that same signature..well..maybe a bit faint but still, it'l be enough to differentiate between other Time Lords".

Flipping out his sonic screwdriver, The Doctor glanced to Romana then to Rassilon, extending it out to him, "I'm guessing you of all people know a constant sonic frequency could bounce off of the biometric signature and register in this..all you would need is to be able to know which frequency would be powerful enough to register. And there's only one person that could which one...and i'm looking at him" he asked rhetorically, "Am i right?".

For now. Right. My arrest is postponed until you gain control again. Romana thought bitterly.

"We know just like we know everything else," she said aloud. "We check."

She watched with a small smile as the Doctor came up with a plan, and handed Rassilon his sonic screwdriver.

Rassilon nodded as The Doctor handed him his sonic screwdriver and immediately set to work tweaking the frequencies to suitable levels. The thing was a battered old silver and black affair, and every now and then the blue diode at it's end would flash blue and make a tiny 'Beep' sound two or three times in quick succession. "Almost there....no...setting 24C....or was it 42A...?" He muttered to himself as he extended the sonic's neck and twisted it slightly. The beeping and flashing on the diode began to occur faster and faster until finally the device settled on one fleeting solid blue flash and one beep.

"If memory serves correctly this frequency should be powerful enough to detect even the smallest trace amounts of bio-data from any Time-Lord or his or her relatives on Gallifrey. Now the only challenge left is finding the correct bio-data and the Time-Lord or Lords associated with it." He said, as the sonic's diode projected a small hologram displaying the words 'Setting 35D: Bio-Data Scan'

The Doctor nodded his head, keenly watching Rassilon adjust his screwdriver so he knew how to do it without asking for Rassilon's help. Once the lord president was done, The Doctor eagerly took back his trusty device and unconsciously began to scan before stopping himself and turning to Rassilon and Romana. "Whether it actually is Omega or his relatives, they wouldn't expect anyone to find out about the hand" He began, "Especially if the Lord President, one of the only people who knows about this place, doesn't make it out like he knows. If we can somehow scan each high council member without them knowing while they're all together then that'd be best".

Looking over to Romana, The Doctor's mind sparked an idea, "You think you have any feminine wiles left?" he asked her jokingly, "Normally i would ask Rassilon to do it but he might come off as too good looking". He held back a chuckle as he glanced over to Rassilon before looking back to Romana and offering her his screwdriver.

Romana stiffened defensively. Normally she would have argued against the existence of her wiles, feminine or otherwise, but his last comment made her frown.

"Implying that I am not god looking?" She grumpily snatched his sonic from him and recrossed her arms. "What do you want me to do?"

Rassilon sighed impatiently at Romana and The Doctor's banter. "Distract them, as I recall I left two guards stationed at the time-field in the great hall. Perhaps you could have some of your new converts to the Romanadvoratrelundar Chapter distract them while you get to work on scanning The Council members." He replied to Romana's earlier question before The Doctor could answer. "Provoke a fight between two or more people in there, stage a false assassination I don't know....I've calibrated The Doctor's Sonic Device to detect and run on the correct scanning frequencies. All that's left is for you to decide how you're going to get to work scanning the council." Rassilon said in that snobbish authoritative tone he had become so fond of using when talking to Romana.

"Personally, I would recommend widening the search parameters for a wider search area, it would waste too much time if you scanned each individual member of The Council separately." He added, not being able to resist giving Romana orders. "Of course if the worst possible scenario becomes a reality then I shall endeavour to call any Presidential Guards off who may try to arrest you, provided of course a coup hasn't already been staged against me after your delightful tirade regarding my insanity and ineffective leadership."

A sudden idea sparked into The Doctors consciousness and with new found energy and excitement, The Doctor jetted over to Romana and gently nudged his sonic screwdriver towards him. Without taking it out of her hand, The Doctor adjusted the parameter to scan for then rested his ear up against it to see if it had accepted the new change. Once sure, he popped back up and over to the side of Rassilon, "I wonder..." he began, "What's more distracting...a stage act or one of our famous arguments? Hmmm?" he rhetorically asked Rassilon, nonchalantly resting his hands into his pockets.

"I mean we've had some good ones in the past" The Doctor continued, "First off they'd be distracted by me showing up..half the time lords here don't know i'm here and i'd like to keep it that way. But! Once they see me, we've got their ears to listen..but once they hear that voice of yours, we've got their full attention". Looking over to Romana, The Doctor gestured to his sonic scrrewdriver, "Once you know we've got all their eyes looking on us you can begin the scan, shouldn't take too long" he added, "For extra measure we could always toss in a few royal guards and Romana supporters to break Rassilon and I up from fighting..that'l surely get their attention and keep it on us for a while. Long enough for the scan and for Romana to pop back to my TARDIS where we can all meet afterwards" he finished with a sniff.

Romana slowly turned her head towards Rassilon. Her blue eyes seemed like ice, and her voice matched them. "I know how to operate a sonic screwdriver. I don't need you to instruct me," she said, thinking that the Lord President was dangerously close to being smacked by someone quite small and blonde.

"Right," she said to the Doctor, once he'd finished his high-speed planning. "Let's go cause some chaos."

She began walking towards the exit, then suddenly turned and held out her hand. "I'll need your key, Doctor. Or have you left your TARDIS unlocked in the middle of all the Time Lords of Gallifrey?" She smirked, knowing how forgetful he could be.

Of all the horrific monstrosities he had faced throughout all of his lives: Daleks, The Vampires Of Old, A crazed and dying Master and The Could-Have-Been King himself; Rassilon had to admit that this miniscule blonde of The House Of Heartshaven possessed a fire in her to match his own.

He made a mental note to keep a closer eye on her in future as she strode towards the exit after fixing him with eyes that seemed as if they could bore a hole through reinforced triple-deadlocked blast doors. Rassilon did not answer her and simply smirked before turning back to The Doctor. "Very well Doctor, I think we should begin our mock dispute in The Great Hall posthaste before the former Lady President loses her temper again." He said, already beginning to walk towards the entrance to the ancient chamber.

The Doctor looked up towards the ceiling, already feeling quite embarrassed that Romana had correctly guessed he had left the TARDIS unlocked but had also openly proclaimed it in front of everyone. Looking back down to Romana, The Doctor rubbed the back of his head, "Its...not..not..unlocked" he finally mumbled. Looking over to Rassilon, The Doctor noticed his saunter away from them and towards the ancient chamber and immediately began to feel rushed. Peering back from Rassilon to Romana, The Doctor extended out his hand and snapped his fingers, "Just snap your fingers. She'l let you in if she likes you" he told her before rushing after the Lord President.

Only realizing what he had said after he caught up with Rassilon, The Doctor smirked with a slight chuckle before wiping it clean once in the line of sight of Rassilon. "Ready for a fight?" The Doctor jokinly asked Rassilon, matching his walking pace as he placed his hands nonchalantly into his pockets, "Try not to let me verbally win too much..i know it'll be tough but make it interesting" he joked further, chuckling out loud.

Romana caught the double negative, and shook her head, smiling ever so slightly. It was just like him to leave something as important as his TARDIS vulnerable. Thankfully none of the assembled Time Lords were known to be thieves.

"If she likes me? She's always liked me. Except when I first arrived," she teased at the Doctor before heading the two Time Lords off down the hall. "Make it good," she whispered at the pair as she took the passage that would lead to the main gathering, and they took the one that led to the platform.

Hiding the Doctor's sonic in her sleeve, she made her way to the back of the crowd, where one or two of her supporters still huddled together, talking feverishly. They looked up in surprise when she approached them.

"Lady Romana! We thought-"

"Relax. I'm not arrested, nor am I imprisoned just yet. But come, I think the Lord President and the Doctor may be working on a solution..."

Rassilon strode confidently to the very edge of the speaking platform that overlooked the whole great room of Time-Lords, who now fixed their sights on him. Rassilon saw The Doctor standing just out of the sight of the other Time-Lords in the doorway that had led to the platform. Rassilon gazed up and down the room and spoke with that booming, authoritative voice he had retained throughout all of his regenerations.

"My people of Gallifrey, the fugitive Romanadvoratrelundar has been captured by the presidential guard and now languishes in a cell, where her and those like her belong. I fear she was taken by a terrible madness, caused by deep-seated trauma from both the Time-War and her imprisonment at the hands of The Daleks." Rassilon began, trying his best to convincingly insult Romana and consolidate his power (admittedly neither of these things were too hard for him to convey) because of this I promise you; my beloved fellow Time-lords; that I will continue to serve nought but your best interests as Lord President!" He said, his voice booming and carrying around the large room as it had done before. 'Now for The Doctor's part.' He thought to himself even as he spoke.

The Doctor stopped following Rassilon after a certain point, shifting to the edge of the hallway leading up to the Great Hall and peering around the corner just in time to see Rassilon burst through the mighty doors. An extended walk way protruded outwards towards the center of the Great Hall, isolating and lime lighting the Lord President as he spoke to his minions. Now how would i get out there to oppose him without drawing guards The Doctor thought, his eyes passing over to the two guards that stood watch at both sides of the door to the walkway.

Releasing a sigh, The Doctor came to a final conclusion and decision, "Allons-y" he mumbled before bolting out from around the corner. Rassilon's last words roared back towards The Doctor like a brick wall as he dashed towards him, as if trying to prevent the interruption. "You there! Stop!" The guards insisted, but to no avail as The Doctor ignored them and jumped onto the walkway. Looking at one another, both guards thinking about the punishments that would both get if they allowed The Doctor to interrupt Rassilon's speech. Both coming to an awful conclusion, the guards turned and bolted after The Doctor with widened eyes.

"Don't listen to him!" The Doctor proclaimed, coming to a screeching halt next to Rassilon, "Blimey...look at this place" he mumbled as he peered around the seemingly endless gathering of Time Lords around him. Once his mind realized all eyes were now on him and the two guards were flailing after him desperately to pull him away from Rassilon, The Doctor shook his head and continued, "Listen! Romana is innocent! She's only trying to help! Rassilon has been black mailing her for the past couple years to give her this bad reputation!".

Romana pinched the bridge of her nose when Rassilon began speaking, fighting off a headache. Her supporters glanced back at her in confusion, but she shook her head. Obviously she was not captured or in a cell and the President was lying. She nodded to the front; indicating they should pay attention.

Once no eyes were on her, she silently began to take the Doctor's sonic out of her sleeve and waited for the Doctor to continue the distraction. Which he did. Unfortunately, it backfired slightly in the audience.

Thousands of Time Lords and Ladies muttered to their neighbors, looking around at the others to see if they believed him. Could Rassilon himself blackmail their former Lady President? And worst, they looked towards the main entrance, where Romana had earlier made her escape and where she was currently standing. Her supporters inconspicuously shifted their positions to block her form anyone's view.

Hidden behind a wall of her supporters, how was she going to scan all of them? Romana bit her lip, looking to the sides for an answer. Surprisingly, an answer appeared in the form of a small balcony window. Romana squinted at it. There would be no reason anyone would be up there.

Making doubly sure her supporters didn't notice her leaving, Romana backed silently away from the crowd, then ran up the stairs.

Rassilon was somewhat surprised by The Doctor's seemingly desperate statement, not having been what he had expected, however he didn't let this surprise register even slightly on his face. "Well, well.....Doctor....." He said, a carefully placed smirk materialising on his face as he responded. "I would have praised you before now, but it seems you will say anything to defend your friend Romana...I expected better from you, Doctor." He replied, raising his bare right hand to stop his guards from advancing any closer to The Doctor.

Turning his head to see the crowd that now chattered to each other with shocked expressions on their faces, Rassilon addressed the entire congregation of Time-Lords once more. "Surely you do not believe The Doctor's lies? Who would you be more willing to believe, to listen to? A mere child who lost track of his age over two hundred years ago.....or me, the one who made this all possible, the one who has kept our society healthy and plentiful throughout the majority of it's long history?" He bellowed, his grand voice carrying easily around the gargantuan room.

"And you Doctor, you come here and accuse me of blackmail, threats.........you accuse me of keeping your dear friend Romana....what was the human expression....ah, yes; Under my thumb. You have nerve Doctor, I'll give you that..." He said, still wearing that mocking smirk almost proudly upon his face as he stared down his nose at The Doctor, who sported faux fear and desperation clearly visible in his eyes.