Ad Victoriam Sine Sanguine ("Military" Entry)

[roseglade.livejournal.com]

Title: Ad Victoriam Sine Sanguine

Rating: PG

Word Count:   1522 words

Characters: The War Doctor and OCs

Spoilers: N/A

Warnings:  Violence

Episode Setting: Pre “Day of the Doctor”

Summary: If there is one thing to remember about the Doctor, he is always unarmed.

The painted white training room’s walls began to chip off with every passing day as more and more new recruits filed in.  The new recruits, all young and scared, shuffled in as instructed by the previous training officer. All fifty of the best Gallifreyan soldiers, handpicked by highest ranking officials in the Timelord army, stood in one room together for the first time.  Somehow, I was one of them.

I didn’t know how or why I was selected.  I was the worst of the bunch. I had failed all my strategic maneuvers and the arms exam.  I was a complete failure in all war topic areas, and somehow, landed myself here. I scanned the room of men, women, and others

“Ashen?”  A familiar voice called out.  I turned to see my sister, Althea.  “What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were one of the Selected.”

“Neither did I until Ol’ Sir Hugh pulled me out of drilling this afternoon,”  I replied. “To be honest, I wish I wasn’t here.”

I  promised our parents I’d get into the Gallifreyan Military when I was old enough so as to continue the family job.  My family has a long and painful history of soldiers, war, and death. We were descendants of the Great Teller, a Gallifreyan commander who was able to predict an enemy’s attack strategy.  To say the least, most people think our family has his same talent, but none do. My mother tried to fool the Great President himself and was later executed for endangering the lives of a hundred Gallifreyan soldiers.  Our family was scorned after the incident, but nevertheless, we have had an active role in Gallifrey’s military personnel until me. I was special.

I, the black sheep of the family, despised war.  I hated soldiers. I hated violence. However, that was how wars were won, how battles were ended, and how lives were saved.  My family’s motto was Without Blood, Nothing Gets Done and everyone supported it, except me of course. I never understand my family’s fascination with war and fighting.  Wasn’t it all pointless in the end? Both sides lose, one just loses more.

“All new recruits line up!”  Shouted the Drill Sergeant. In uniform, we all clapped our legs together, locked arms behind our backs, and answered with “Yes, Sergeant!”.  The Drill Sergeant walked up and down our columns occasionally instructing a recruit to straighten up their posture. When he came to my sister and me, he spat in our faces.  “Filthy Teller kids. Tell me now, any of you claim to have his powers like your father did?”

“No Sergeant!”  We replied.

“Good.”  And he left us without another word.  He climbed the stage in the front of the room and began barking orders to us.  Although he was very loud, he did not articulate, so his most of his words raddled around the room, incomprehensible.  I was later told by another recruit that he was warning us of the dangers of war and the high honor we had all received by being inducted into this elite squad of fighters.  Nevertheless, I hated being here.

********   

My eyes burst open and I started hyperventilating.  All around I heard the screams of my friends, of the elite squad.  To my back was a large stone which I used for cover and before my feet was the contorted body of my sister, her body began to glow again.  She was down to her seventh regeneration, but she kept on fighting for some reason although we both knew we would not win this battle. She, or rather, he now sat up, cracked his neck, and grin at me.

“You finally got your big brother back after these past couple bodies.”  He smiled. Althea looked beyond our cover, loaded his gun, and handed it to me.  “Don’t be afraid, little brother. It’s time for you to quit hiding in the background.  The more you do it, the easier it becomes.”

He patted my back and ran out into the battle again.  The gun sat heavy in my arms and I threw it to the ground as if it carried an infectious disease. What gave me the power to take someone else life?  What gave anyone that kind of power? Were we in the right?  Or the wrong?

Before I could decide, my ears went deaf with the explosion of a bomb not too far away.  A shrill ringing and blood began to pour out of my ears and my vision became blurred. I immediately felt arms wrap around me and hold me tightly.  Even though my vision was blurred as I looked up, I saw the face of a man. He was shaking my shoulder and moving his mouth, but no words came out.  The first thing I noticed about this man was he was without a weapon.

********

“Are you alright?”

I rubbed my face with my hands and looked around me.  I was sitting in another white room, this time, however, I was hooked up to a medical machine.  I shifted my weight slightly and my body reacted with an outburst of pain. I fell back into the pillows of the bed, paralyzed, and groaned.     

“Careful my boy, you were hit very hard during the battle.”  The same voice chided.

“Who are you?”  I asked. I tried moving my neck and to my surprise, it was the only thing I could move without pain.

The voice walked into my line of sight and I gasped. The man’s body was old and broken, however, his voice and walk were strong.  His clothing displayed the marks of war and around his shoulder was a bandolier. It was the Doctor of War. I froze.

“It’s you!  The Doctor of War!”

“No,”  The Doctor of War crossed his arms in front of him and pulled up a chair.  “I am a soldier like you. Ash, isn’t it? Your brother has been very concerned about you.  Should I tell him you are alright?”

He turned his back for a minute and reappeared with two cups of tea in his hands.

“You are Teller’s boy, aren’t you?”  He handed me a cup of tea.

“Yes, sir.”  I reluctantly accepted it, unaware of the taste of tea.  It was the common drink of Doctor of War, he preferred Earth tea to the watery Gallifreyan tea.  “But my family believes differently.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I do not support the ideas of my family line; that victory requires so much violence.  I believe that violence only increased the likelihood of war.”

A strange emotion came over his face, an emotion I could not decipher.  He changed the topic instantly.

“He was a great man.  He had quite the gift.”

“Thank you.”

I was just born just as he passed away in his final battle.  I took a small sip and found the taste quite settling and placed it back on the saucer, my body aching still.   

“What are you doing here?”  I was so perplexed. “Why aren’t you fighting?”

“To contrary belief, I don’t actually enjoy the war and the fighting.  However, I do believe it is important for an injured soldier's commanding officer to visit them in recovery.”

“I appreciate it.  But you have led the Timelords to triumph every time.  If anyone will stop this war, your victories surely will.”

“Depends on your definition of victory, my boy.”  He replied, stirring his tea. “I believe that each battle I have fought has been a defeat for our kind.”

He had gotten me there.   I had never given any thoughts to the definition of victory.  Wasn’t there a difference in our definition? We were instructed by our military training that victory was essential.  It was whatever we could do to win the Time War.

“What is your interpretation of victory then?”  I asked.

“Ad Victoriam Sine Sanguine.”  He replied. “To Victory Without Blood - They are words I try to live by every day.  Your family line believes in blood and gore to determine the measure of one's victory, however, I believe in another. Do not let others tell you what to believe.”

And with that, he smiled and left the room.

********

After I was released from the hospital, I took the Doctor of War’s advice.  I confronted my family with my beliefs on war and they happily disowned me. It stung in the beginning however it was essential to my victory.  My ideal victory was the survival of Gallifrey without the loss of blood. So, I resigned my position in the military and felt a large amount of relief when the distance had been made.  I turned to my true passion in life, science. I pursued my degree in Universal science and Weaponry at the Upper-level Time Lord Academy. I hope to create a weapon in which the least amount of damage was inflicted.  I graduated with the highest marks and although people called my idea crazy, I still strove for it. Surprisingly enough, I witnessed the Doctor of War at my graduation. He smiled, left me a box of tea, and I never saw him again.