Celestial Intervention (audio story)

Celestial Intervention was the first story of Time War: Volume One, the ninth series of Gallifrey. It was written by David Llewellyn and featured Lalla Ward as Romana II, Louise Jameson as Leela, Sophie Aldred as Ace, Miles Richardson as Braxiatel, Seán Carlsen as Narvin and introduced Pippa Bennett-Warner as Livia.

Publisher's summary
The Temporal Powers are under threat. It is only a matter of time before the Daleks attack.

Now CIA Coordinator, Romana must protect the interests of Gallifrey, while dealing with demands from President Livia and an increasingly powerful War Council.

As allies are whittled away, the Time Lords are drawn into a conflict they can no longer avoid...

Plot
Karla informs Narvin that contact has been re-established with an Agency drone and it has drifted 2,000 kliks to the Lune Forest, from which it has sent images of a secret facility. After looking at the images, Narvin hurries to speak with Romana and asks about Leela. Karla says that she is in a meeting with the War Council.

Leela leaves her meeting and tells General Trave that she will inform Romana of the new additions to the list of planets that require special protection. Trave is summoned to speak with President Livia urgently.

Romana assumes that the facility must be the War Council's doing and is unhappy with the council's secrecy and how it seems as eager for war as the Daleks. Narvin advises Romana not to begin another feud with Livia and they meet with her, joined by Trave. They tell Livia about the facility and, although Trave wants to keep it a secret, Livia orders him to give Romana and Narvin the location and purpose of every War Council facility on Gallifrey, in return for which the Agency must alert the War Council whenever one of their drones malfunctions.

Romana and Narvin are irritated to learn that there are multiple facilities and that Leela was not informed of them, having been assigned to the War Council as the Agency's liaison. Trave invites them to the War Council for a guided tour of the facilities and impresses the importance of cooperation between the council and the Agency. At the Agency, Karla informs Romana and Narvin that contact has been lost with Phaidon, three days after an apparently deserted Dalek battleship entered the Warpwrights' space. Romana says that they will have to alert Livia and the War Council.

Livia makes a public announcement regarding the loss of contact with Phaidon and that two Warpwright ships are headed to Gallifrey. The Agency and War Council are on high alert and will be doing all that they can to keep Gallifrey secure.

Romana meets Trave at the War Council and informed of the six development facilities on Gallifrey. The one in the Lune Forest is dedicated to weapons research whilst three others are plantations for Battle TARDISes and the remaining two process data from deep time telescopes. He gives her information on their locations, number of personnel and schematics and asks for information on Phaidon in return. Romana has no answers and the two are summoned to the Agency by Narvin, who tells them that the two warpships have arrived in Gallifrey's system.

Romana and Trave in time for Livia's attempt to make contact with the ships. She is answered by Beglis, who holds the position of Acting-President following the death of President Zeldrig. He tells them that they are all that is left of Phaidon, the entire planet having been destroyed by millions of Daleks in deep hibernation on the battleship, and asks for refuge on Gallifrey. Trave is suspicious, pointing out that none of them have every heard of Beglis before, but Livia agrees to send a delegation to the Zamyatin.

Narvin visits Leela and asks her to join Trave and Cardinal Veldor in visiting the Warpwrights as a representative of the CIA, also requesting that she pay close attention to Trave. She agrees, for Romana.

Trave tells Leela and Veldor that they must return to the TARDIS if there is trouble, a plan which Leela does not like as it is not the Sevateem way. They arrive on the Zamyatin and meet Beglis, who tells them that nobody from the sister ship can join them due to a malfunction with their teleportation systems. Leela suggests that they evacuate the Warpwrights using the TARDIS, but Trave reminds her that they do not have the authority to bring more than a small delegation to Gallifrey. He also refuses when Beglis asks if they could at least take the children.

Livia welcomes Beglis to Gallifrey and asks him to address the senior representatives of Gallifrey's governing bodies. She sends Leela to have Romana meet them at the Panopticon and tells Trave that she will want him there too. Trave tells Leela that the War Council will not give asylum to the Warpwrights as they are pathetic, weak and foolish.

Valerian, returned from Outpost Delta, meets with Trave and asks about what the War Council's vote will be when it comes to the asylum of the Warpwrights. He is disappointed to hear that they intend to vote against it, surprising Trave given that he has always voted for the traditional candidate and has made it difficult for the Doctor's former companions to retain citizenship on Gallifrey. In truth, Valerian wants to make Livia's job difficult for her so that an election will be called and a President more suited to fighting a war might be appointed. In return for Trave's help, Valerian will ensure that the War Council is supported.

Beglis begs the High Council, War Council and the Agency for asylum. Livia calls for everybody but the senior representatives of the three bodies to leave the Panopticon. In their absence, the War Council agrees to grant asylum on the condition that future weapons development is done in absolute secrecy, eliminating any requirement for the War Council to inform the High Council or the Agency of its doings. Romana refuses to agree and, upon reading the conditions as drafted by the War Council's legal committee, learns that Trave had not told her about a project on the basis that its location did not constitute a facility. Romana is outraged but, when Livia threatens to replace her, she agrees.

Romana updates Narvin, who is similarly angered and informs her of an anomaly that he as found in the data supplied by Trave. He shows her the facilities and transit routes and how there have been multiple journeys from the Arcadian Desert to the Death Zone. Romana asks Leela to go into the Death Zone, which she agrees to do despite misgivings about betraying the War Council given that they trust her. Romana supplies her with an unregistered TARDIS which she can use to access the Death Zone with the help of Narvin and Karla from the Capitol.

In the Death Zone, Leela feels a vibration beneath the ground and enters a cave near a watchtower. She finds a retinal scanner which Karla manages to override and enters a corridor where the vibrations are even louder.

Trave is informed that Protocol 43 has been used to gain access to the Death Zone and sends word to Livia.

Livia thanks Romana for making a compromise and tells her that the War Council will remain accountable and that the Omega Arsenal will not be opened to them. Livia receives Trave's request for a meeting and cuts her meeting with Romana short.

Karla becomes aware that the War Council have detected the use of Protocol 43 and Narvin warns Leela. Leela refuses to leave, choosing to stay and fight as is the Sevateem way, and asks to be taken to their leader when she is captured. Concerned that the War Council might not act within the law, Romana and Narvin head to the Death Zone to rescue her and find out what the council are up to.

Romana and Narvin enter the facility, the door having been left open, and an interdimensional gateway with six cargo ships filled with Time Lord caskets. Livia and Trave find them and take them to Leela and explain that this facility's mission, named Project Revenant, is to resurrect the boldest and brightest of Gallifrey by sending their bodies to a resurrection engineer in a pocket dimension called the Kaiphos Occlusion. To avoid causing chaos and because war against the Daleks will be declared by nightfall, Livia will not be arresting Romana, Narvin or Leela and demands that they keep the project secret.

Returned to the CIA Tower, Narvin speculates that Livia had left them a trail to lead them to the Death Zone as she too mistrustful of the War Council. Romana has Karla bring up the Panopticon live feed and they watch Livia declare war against Skaro following the destruction of Phaidon. Whilst Trave will be raising an army, Romana says that she, Leela and Narvin will gather information and fight in their own way.

Romana meets with Ace and Braxiatel, who will soon be heading off to a remote arm of the cosmos on what Romana says is worse than a suicide mission. However, as Braxiatel says, this is war.

Cast

 * Romana - Lalla Ward
 * Leela - Louise Jameson
 * Ace - Sophie Aldred
 * Narvin - Seán Carlsen
 * Braxiatel - Miles Richardson
 * Livia - Pippa Bennett-Warner
 * Trave - Paul Marc Davis
 * Beglis - Guy Adams
 * Karla - Ebony Wong
 * Valerian - David Sibley

Crew

 * Cover Art - Lee Binding
 * Producer & Director - Scott Handcock
 * Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
 * Music - Ioan Morris
 * Script Editor - Matt Fitton
 * Sound Design - Russell McGee
 * Writer - David Llewellyn

Continuity

 * Romana II says that there are rumours that the War Council wants to open the Omega Arsenal. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)