Annihilation (audio story)

Annihilation (identified on the cover simply as Chapter Seventeen) was the third story of the fourth series of Big Finish's Gallifrey audio series. It was written by Gary Russell and Scott Handcock.

Publisher's summary
Gallifrey dies...

Romana and her comrades find themselves in the dank and grubby wastelands of northern Gallifrey, trapped between two forces in a long and ancient war.

One side bides their time within their nests, whilst the other draws up troops across the trenches. Both sides have their secrets, their means to win the war — and both want Romana fighting alongside them...

After millennia of warfare, the final assault approaches. The Ancient Enemy and the True Lords want this world. And before this night is out, there will be bloodshed.

Plot
On an alternative Gallifrey, Kraylon sends Thetac to Arcalia to warn Lord Prydon that some of the enemy are heading to Rassilon's Chamber. When Captain Vekken and his forces approach, Kraylon attacks.

Having lost Braxiatel, Romana is questioning her decision to explore the Axis, looking for somewhere new to live and possibly find a cure for the Dogma Virus. Leela, who has explored two more alternative worlds with Narvin, assures her that she has no reason to punish herself and that they have to continue looking. K9 has found a portal to another Gallifrey and will wait behind in Braxiatel's role, monitoring the portals, as they explore.

Vekken takes Kraylon prisoner and delivers him to Commander Cloris. Cloris says that Borusa will be pleased and orders him drained of his blood.

Romana, Leela and Narvin arrive in northern Gallifrey where the surroundings are desolate and the sky without stars in the early years of the planet's history. The portal disappears and contact with K9 is lost, so they go out to explore and find out what is wrong with this world. Discreetly, Romana and Narvin discuss how Leela's hair is greying and that she has been ageing with each world that she visits, her natural ageing process catching up with her. They hear a man scream.

Cloris updates Lady Borusa on the success of their attack and gives her a component of the Great Key. Whilst it is only a component, she hopes that they will be able to use it to lower the transduction barrier. Cloris also tells her than Guardsman Harlish spotted three strangers in the trench-lands.

Romana, Leela and Narvin go in search of the source of the scream, traipsing through mud and coming across the bones of slaughtered pigbears. As they wonder about the bones, they are taken captive by Vekken as prisoners of the True Lords of Gallifrey.

Arcalia informs Lord Prydon that Thetac and Kraylon have been captured and bled. Whilst Prydon considers Kraylon a loss, Thetac was near the end of her regeneration cycle and was thus of no use to Borusa nor much of a loss. The defences, Arcalia explains, were breached by Borusa's hounds, created by the sacrifice of her soldiers. Cassandra tells Prydon that Arcalia is keeping something from him, forcing him to tell Prydon that the load rod of the Great Key was stolen, and Prydon sends him to capture Borusa and the component.

Romana, Leela and Narvin meet Borusa, Magistrix of the True Lords, who is suspicious of them and can tell when Narvin lies about being from southern Gallifrey. She tells them that her hounds will find out whose side they are on.

Vekken goes to collect a hound, a matter which Cloris says he will sort. In the meantime, Vekken will go to find out why Post 7 is unmanned despite him having sent Hollis and Torvald there. He chooses to go on his own, although Cloris offers to send the newly-regenerated Hayner with him.

Arcalia welcomes Hollis and Torvald into their new family and, when Vekken arrives, he has them restrain their captain and demands to know what happened to Kraylan and Thetac. Vekken says that he bled them himself as they tried to regenerate, eventually turning them to ash. Arcalia is angry but bites him, saying that he will join Prydon and live forever.

Borusa explains to Romana, Leela and Narvin that Rassilon made a transduction barrier to protect the planet from the universe and that it filters out light, hence why the sky is dark and now stars can be seen. With the load rod, she hopes to restore daylight to Gallifrey. Leela shows Borusa that she has only one pulse, proving that she is not with Prydon. Cloris brings them a hound, which he explains was once a True Lord called Braxiatel before he drank the blood of one of Prydon's soldiers to become a powerful beast.

Arcalia and his comrades infiltrate the camp, killing Braxiatel, wounding Cloris and kidnapping Romana. Romana soon learns that they think that she is Borusa and are taking her to Prydon.

Borusa tells Leela and Narvin that Prydon and his people are the Ancient Enemy, a term which Narvin recognises as a name for the Vampires. Unlike in the prime timeline, Rassilon betrayed the True Lords to the Vampires, joining them at Prydon's side. They wonder why Prydon would want Romana, and Leela realises that they might not have intended to take her.

Cassandra tries to tell Prydon of the destiny that she has foreseen, but he pays no attention. Romana is brought to Prydon and realises that he and his people are Vampires and that Cassandra is a Visionary. Sending Arcalia and Cassandra away, Prydon tells Romana that he is going to send her back to Borusa to give her a message.

Arcalia and Cassandra wonder who Romana is. Cassandra says that she might be "the One", the saviour or destroyer bound by blood to the Destroyer of Worlds, as she has no aura or place in this world. She does not know why she has never foreseen Romana before.

Leela wants to drink the blood of Vampires in the hopes that it will restore her sight or, at the very least, sharpen her other senses even further. Narvin is concerned for her as, without Braxiatel and Romana, they are all that is left of Gallifrey, but Leela promises that she will be all right and will rescue Romana so that they can return to the Axis.

Borusa speaks with Cloris, who suffered only minor wounds during the Vampire attack, and tells him that Leela has an instinct for war and will be an asset as a warrior who has not suffered regeneration after regeneration.

Romana refuses to tell Prydon where she is from and asks how long he has been leading the Vampires. He says that he was sired by Rassilon, who built the nests before engaging the Great One in a battle; since then, war has raged between Prydon and Borusa. Rassilon built the transduction barrier and attempted to make the Great Key isomorphic, after which Prydon killed him as he could not be trusted not to question his allegiances again. He bites Romana's hand, identifying her as a member of the House of Heartshaven and detecting a trace of the Great Vampire himself.

Leela drinks the blood and feels alive, her senses of hearing and smell improved to the extent that she can smell Romana on the component of the Great Key. She leaves with Narvin to find Romana. Borusa believes that something is wrong and asks Cloris to send Vekken to follow them, but he tells her that Vekken has disappeared.

Prydon shows Romana the Great Key within the peak of the mountain and asks if she would lower the transduction barrier and wipe out an entire race for the sake of war. She says that she could do it if necessary and asks Prydon to bite her and form an alliance to ensure that she will not be the last True Lord on Gallifrey.

Leela reveals to Narvin that her eyesight has returned, but that she kept it a secret from Borusa as she does not trust her and brought Narvin so that he would be safe from her. She has also stolen the Great Key component and placed it in Narvin's robes and knows that they are being followed by a True Lord. Narvin tells her to let him distract the soldier, but Leela says that they are a team and will remain together.

Prydon feeds his blood to Romana, who believes that she is immune. However, she becomes even more headstrong and says that she has the blood of the Imperiatrix and will rule with Prydon not as her partner but as her subject. She is surprised by the sudden change, but Prydon is pleased and believes that she is his equal.

Narvin tells Leela that he respects her, which she believes is better than being liked. The two enter the Vampires' lair.

Arcalia presents his newest recruit, Vekken, to Cassandra. Vekken tells them that Borusa is preparing for a final assault, one which Cassandra believes will end with Borusa lowering the transduction barrier and destroying the Vampires. Arcalia pays her little notice and sends Vekken to prepare the troops for the battle, one in which he intends to face Borusa. Vekken warns that the attack might be a distraction so that Borusa can send somebody to steal the Great Key, but Arcalia says that it will be well-guarded by Vekken himself.

Leela and Narvin hide when they hear Arcalia and Vekken pass. Whilst Arcalia leaves, Vekken can smell Narvin and finds him, fighting the urge to tell Arcalia that he has seen them. He is able to tell them the Vampires' plan to attack before returning to his sire. Cassandra has overheard this exchange and says to herself that the Destroyer of Worlds will unleash devastation on Gallifrey.

Borusa and her forces begin their charge. Arcalia tells Cassandra to take out a few of the True Lords and die or kill herself as she is of no more use and she leaves him, saying that they will not meet again. He charges on the True Lords and meets them in battle.

Leela and Narvin find the Great Key and return the load rod. However, Narvin feels that, as a Time Lord, he is bound not to interfere in the affairs of other worlds and that, as this is not his Gallifrey, it would not be right to lower the transduction barrier. He says that they should instead find Romana and return to the portal. Romana joins them as Prydon is busy picking her wedding dress and refuses to leave until she has activated the Great Key. Prydon returns as they are doing so and Romana reveals that he absorbed some of her antibodies when he drank her blood, making him ill. Cassandra enters, calling Romana the Destroyer of Worlds.

Prydon attacks Narvin and Leela. The transduction barrier is lowered and Romana accepts her new title as the sunlight returns. Leela stabs Prydon in one of his hearts and Cassandra stabs him in the other, telling him that Arcalia had told her to do something useful. She walks into the sunlight and dies. Narvin is badly wounded and confesses that he cannot regenerate, so they wait for the portal to arrive and choose not to see if any True Lords survived the battle. Romana feels that she has made yet another mistake, ruining this world just as her own was ruined by the Dogma Virus.

Cast

 * Romana - Lalla Ward
 * Leela - Louise Jameson
 * K9 Mk II - John Leeson
 * Narvin - Seán Carlsen
 * Lord Prydon - Geoffrey Beevers
 * Captain Vekken - Scott Handcock
 * Cassandra - Charlie Hayes
 * Kraylon - Chris Johnson
 * Lady Borusa - Katy Manning
 * Thetac - Charlotte Parkyn
 * Commander Cloris - Alan Ruscoe
 * Prime Enforcer Arcalia - Alexander Vlahos

Alternative Gallifrey

 * The True Lords are those under Magistrix Borusa's command and are not vampires.
 * Transduction barriers controlled by the vampires prevent sunlight from touching Gallifrey.
 * Lord Prydon mentions the Houses of Goodlight, Warpsmith, Lungbarrow, Heartshaven and Firebrand.
 * The founders of the True Lord Society are Omega, Theta and Zagreus.
 * Torvald is a True Lord and, like Hollis, is turned into a Vampire.
 * Morbius and Saran are Vampires.

Continuity

 * Leela regains her eyesight, which she lost in AUDIO: Fractures.
 * Romana is unimpressed by the vampires, having previously encountered the Great Vampire. (TV: State of Decay)
 * Braxiatel was lost to the group in AUDIO: Disassembled.
 * Leela thought on hearing Borusa's title, Magistrix, that the devastation on this Gallifrey was due to Pandora. (AUDIO: Lies et al.)
 * The Eternal War is still occurring. (PROSE: The Pit, Damaged Goods, et al.)