Assassination and Usurpation Attempts

My fellow Time Lords, I have no doubt that you have by now heard the grave news about the assassination attempt on the Lord President; and the unfortunate demise of Lord Oolon Sputnik's previous incarnation. The assassin, Abbot, is still at large but I am told a search and capture party is hunting this dangerous traitor down.

I've known Lord Oolon for many years now - House Arcalian under his wise guidance was instrumental in my birth; given that the Looms of New Gallifrey are under the care of the Arcalians and I am the first child of the Looms here in SL space. Only a few days prior to his brave efforts to thwart the assassination attempt on the Lord President (by leaping in front of a bullet for him, no less!) I had been negotiating the merger of the New Gallifrey and Olyesti factions of the Arcalian Chapter.

This negotiation went very smoothly - Lord Oolon is wise enough to see the advantages of a smooth merger that I presented. We both want only the best for our great Houses. To see his passing so soon after he had declared the Olyesti Arcalian Lord Vale Chronotis as the new Lord Chancellor of a united Arcalian Chapter was there a deep blow.

Thankfully Lord Oolon is recovering well from his regeneration. I wish his new incarnation all the best and hope that he will continue to help guide our great House long into the future.

Moving on, I have more unfortunate news to discuss. I have long been a loyal member of the New Gallifrey Chapter of House Arcalian - in fact, I have not missed a meeting in years and have attempted to share the fruits of my own researches with other Arcalians in the Chapter for many years also. I came to Olyesti in the hope of fostering a peaceful reunion of the two Chapters. In this effort I have been successful - we now have a united House Arcalian for the first time since the Time War split us.

Apparently this makes me a traitor of sorts to some former members of the New Gallifrey Chapter. By entering Olyesti and brokering a successful merger, I have apparently "gone native" amongst the "other" group. I say apparently because the only person to voice their dissent is Lord Maltheus Canis; who just happens to be vying for the position of Junior Cardinal in the reunited Chapter.

You may recall that Junior Chancellor is the role bestowed upon me by Lord Vale in recognition of my efforts in reuniting the Chapter, as well as my scientific endeavours (all of which have been shared with the New Gallifrey Chapter and which were also shared with the Olyesti Chapter through my efforts to broker a merger).

I am deeply saddened by the actions of Maltheus in this matter. I have never sought office, nor title, simply for the sake of it. I accepted the position of Junior Chancellor because it would help me to finalise the merger and also to successfully mesh both Houses together. Being berated into stepping down because a minor member of the New Gallifrey chapter thinks I'm not enough of a New Gallifreyan to warrant the position is, quite frankly, insulting.

I am, and have always been, of New Gallifrey. I was born on New Gallifrey, I grew up on New Gallifrey, I have fought and died for New Gallifrey. The vast majority of New Gallifreyan Arcalians cannot say the same. I will not stand for anyone claiming I am not "New Gallifreyan enough" to warrant the Junior Cardinal position in our restored Chapter.

This blatant attempt at a power grab by Maltheus smacks of nothing more than callous opportunism. I took the initiative to come to Olyesti and broker a treaty. I took the initiative to go to Lord Chancellor Oolon and put that treaty to him. I put the effort in to show the Olyesti chapter that they had nothing to fear from joining with the New Gallifreyans. Now I'm being asked to step aside to satisfy the ego of someone who has, quite simply, done nothing.

I will not stand by and watch what I've built be torn apart because one man wants a nice, shiny title. To stop his whining at last night's meeting to finalise the terms of the merger of our houses, I agreed to step down and allow a vote on who will be our new Junior Cardinal. I will be standing for the position. As a very long time member of the New Gallifreyan chapter, I am entitled to do this.

I dare say I've done more to warrant the job than anyone else.

If we divide, they will conquer

I have known several members of the Prydonian Chapter for many years - Cardinal Kharma in particular has been a close friend and some-time travelling companion. That's why the news of the Prydonian secession from the High Council came as a strong personal blow.

I will not be siding with the Prydonians in this conflict. In fact, I have already made some major steps toward further unification of the disparate factions within Time Lord society. The Arcalian Chapterhouses of both New Gallifrey and Olyesti will be uniting under Lord Cardinal Vale Chronotis. The official unification will occur at the next meeting of the High Council, with Lord Chancellor Oolon Sputnik formally joining his faction with the Olyesti faction.

This is more than a simple gesture of mutual cooperation. It is a demonstration that we can all work together for the good of everyone, regardless of how and why we have come together. Like a Time Lord, we have two hearts - the Panopticon and the 3-minute City - they now beat as one.

Whether we were part of the Time War and came here through the fallout of the Last Day; or we were part of the merchantile faction that was swept up in the wake of the Last Day; or, like me, we were born from the new looms here on New Gallifrey, none of this should prevent us coming together. We are here now, that is what counts.

We are not alone here. The Daleks are gaining strength. Cybermen have been spotted scouting our outer territories. The Zygons are here, and apparently they are in very strong positions to strike at our very hearts of government. If we fight amongst ourselves, our enemies will strike - and they will strike hard.

We must stand together. We must present a united front. If we do not, we will perish.

The Zygon Threat

It is with grave news that I break radio silence and return to discussing my travels in this new universe. We have an infestation of Zygons in our midst, and at least one of them has managed to make its way in the ranks of the Chancellery Guard at Olyesti.

For the past few months, I have ceased travelling and have instead been spending my time in the city of Olyesti, working toward the reintegration of their Arcalian Chapter into the Arcalian Chapterhouse established on New Gallifrey.

It was all going very well and I have even been promoted to Junior Cardinal in the Olyesti branch of the Arcalians; which has been a challenging role to say the least. As a result, I was on hand to witness one of the early ambassadors of the Kal faction visiting Olyesti.

One of the guards shot at the Kal, claiming it was a Dalek and that it had violated Gallifreyan law by passing the city gates. I attempted to quell the situation and all seemed calm at first. Then the Kal left in the company of Olyesti's provisional Arcalian Cardinal, Lord Vale Chronotis.

I spoke to the guard about his conduct and explained the need for proper procedure when dealing with our Kal guests; as the peace treaty between our factions is not yet firm. The guard claimed I was a traitor and a criminal who violated Gallifreyan law by bringing an alien into the city.

He shot me.

I will be the first to admit I am not a solider, despite efforts in my past to make me so. I am a lawyer, first and foremost. I spent many years, both at the academy and after graduation, studying Galifreyan law. I am at home in the court room and the law libraries, not on the battlefield. Although I have been shot before, the memories are clouded and I was not prepared for the experience.

Thankfully I was saved by the swift actions of General Monroe, who stepped in and held the guard in a forcefield while he administered medical aid to me. I have now recovered with no visible damage thanks to some amazing nanotechnology.

While I was recovering, the guard morphed into the most foul creature I have ever laid eyes on. It escaped from the forcefield and attacked the General, declaring itself to be a Zygon infiltrator in the process. The General fell in the battle. I called for aid.

Lord Vale, the Kal ambassador and a group of other Time Lords led by Lady Judy of Olyesti all arrived to deal with the Zygon threat. The General administered medical aid to himself and I am glad to say he has also now fully recovered. The Time Lord assault caused the Zygon to flee but it took a lot of work. Apparently these Zygons are quite a substantial threat, and not something to be trifled with.

I write this as a warning to all who are reading. The Zygons have followed us to the new universe. Either that or they were already infiltrating when the Doctor sent us here. There is at least one Zygon here. There may be more. We must be wary.