Fic: The Captain's Tale

[lindenharp]

Title: The Captain's Tale

Series: Valiant Tales.  Read them in order here.

Rating: All ages

Characters: Tenth Doctor, The Master (Simm), other characters

Genre: drabble

Words: 100

Spoilers: Minor spoilers for The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords.

Summary: A series of drabbles about the people who lived, worked, and suffered on the Valiant during the Year That Never Was.

Disclaimer: I am not the BBC.  I am not making money from this.  (I am, however, having a great deal of fun.)

A/N: This is the final story in the Valiant tales series.  I want to stop while I'm ahead.  And tonight the Captain (no, not Jack) walked into the Interview Room in the back of my head and told me he wanted to have the last word.  So here it is.   Thanks to canaana and wendymr for beta-reading.

This year was a bizarre dream.  My life in UNIT was already strange, commanding a vessel out of Star Wars.

Then Saxon conquered Earth.  My ship became the dictator's fortress, staffed by thugs and slaves.  It seemed... normal.  I obeyed orders until the Doctor broke the Master's spell.

Don't give a damn what happens to me.  I expect to be tried for collaboration.  But there are others —  military and civilian — who resisted.  They risked death to do what was right.

I'll testify: "Honour them.  I failed my duty to my ship, but in the darkest of times they were Valiant."

Comments

[rabecka.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I like this one. For one, it wraps things up very nicely, but also, you've raised a very interesting point. There were probably some who reveled in the power they had, and others who were powerless and uncontrolled, but there must have been some who were needed who would normally have resisted. It makes sense that they stayed "hypnotized" by the Master and the Archangel network. It must be a special type of hell to "wake up" after a year and realize what you did without ever thinking much about it.

Thanks for a great series.

[garpu.livejournal.com]

I'm sad to see the series end, but glad I got to read it, too. I've enjoyed reading how you make characters come alive in so few words.

[torn-eledhwen.livejournal.com]

Excellent - I've really liked all of these.

[yamx]

As sad as I am to see these end, it's a perfect place to end it. It really captures the spirit of the series. Thank you.

[canaana.livejournal.com]

Oh, sharp. It's the change in emphasis in the last sentence that really does it.

[kensieg.livejournal.com]

oh owwww!

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Absolutely exquisite. The subtlety & telling detail in each of these vignettes is even more impressive on rereading them in sequence. And the series is pretty much the most original fic idea I've ever seen in any fandom.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Wendy gets the credit for that change.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

Sorry to see it finish, but you did indeed finish on a high.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Oh, lovely!

An excellent cap to a superb series.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Yes, it would be a terrible awakening. One of my betas argued that the Captain couldn't be held responsible, but I believed that he would feel responsible.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I will certainly continue to write other drabbles.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I wanted to write one last drabble that would sum up the series. I'm glad to know that I succeeded.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Ummm... thank you?

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

*blush* Thank you for those very, very kind words. I don't think that writing from the POV of minor characters is a unique idea, but I hope I've done a good job with that idea.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I would much rather make people sad than to have their eyes glaze over at the sight of "The Fifth Technician's Tale".

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much, and thanks for coming along for the journey.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's not simply "writing from the POV of minor characters." It's bringing each one to vivid life in such a tiny space, then interweaving & layering each story to make them a coherent whole. Again, well done.