A Good Man goes to War.

The newly regenerated War Doctor paused as he took in the sight of the devastated world of Karn, the legacy of the Time Lord tyrant Morbius, but now the War Doctor trudged across the surface of Karn towards the wreckage of the gunship he had tried to rescue Cass from. No, he corrected himself. His previous self, the Eighth Doctor, the man who had ignored the Time War for far too long, had tried to rescue Cass, but the woman had refused his aid the moment she'd caught sight of the TARDIS.

The War Doctor paused, lightly touching the bandoleer across his chest where his twin hearts were beating within a new chest, still wearing the Eighth Doctor's worn clothes. His outfit no longer mattered to him, but it was the bandoleer had once been Cass's, and now he was wearing it as a sign of respect that stood out, though he would soon add more complex weapons and explosives to it once he'd entered the conflict with the Daleks. Cass' reaction shouldn't have surprised his previous self; the Time War had already devastated hundreds of worlds, driven many to extinction as the two almighty races waged war; the Time Lords with their Battle TARDISes and the Daleks with their vast armies that grew in number every day at the rate of a trillion every minute, rampaging across time and space in their timeships to subjugate and exterminate races that didn't conform to their ideology of racial purity.

The Eighth Doctor had been hurt by Cass's rejection of him which had replaced her curiosity and enthusiasm to travel with him, but the War Doctor looked back at the moment where Cass's young face was contorted with hatred and fear once she'd discovered her rescuer was in fact a member of a race that was presently so corrupt they were prepared to destroy everything in order to win.

The War Doctor shook his head. He was no longer that version of the Doctor, he had now rejected that name to become the warrior needed in the Time War. How had it come down to this?

The Time Lord shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts as he approached the wreckage; the High priestess of the Sisterhood, Ohila, had offered to use the power of the Sisterhood to teleport him to the TARDIS, but the War Doctor had wanted to stretch his new legs to test them. If he was to be a warrior in this new regeneration, he would need to be physically fit and able to trudge long journeys. He could feel this new regeneration settle down; his previous life had lasted longer than regenerations in the past, though he would've ideally wished this life to have come from a more natural regeneration rather than something imposed on him.

No matter. It had happened, and the War Doctor didn't regret it. As he walked to the TARDIS, his musings turned to the argument he'd had with Cass, and the conversation / debate with Ohila. Cass had been right about the Time Lords, despite his protestations he had been one of the good ones, though even those were rarer now. Time Lords from all over the universe, even peaceful ones like K'anpo were being conscripted into the war, and the Eighth Doctor had known deep inside him he would soon be roped in into the conflict whether he wanted to fight or not. A good man, Ohila had said, but Cass had been wise, she'd known even if he had been the exception then he would eventually fight the Daleks.

He was drawn out of his musings when he caught sight of the TARDIS, still in its police box form. The War Doctor ran a finger lightly over the exterior shell, and absently wondered if he should repair the chameleon circuit for the Time war only, but he shook his head. The Daleks had the ability of spotting camouflaged TARDISes thanks to their new technology, so the ability was now redundant. Besides his TARDIS was already well known by Time Lord and Dalek alike, and once it emerged he was now involved in the war the TARDIS would become a monument.

The War Doctor just stood and stared at the old police box shell of his ship. He had set out as a scholar and an adventurer, but now he was a warrior. The Time Lord sighed as he realised those innocent years of his were now gone, now he would have to grow up. He reached into his tattered, shabby pocket for the key, and opened the door.

The TARDIS interior was darkened, most unlike it had been when he'd last stood in the console room, but the War Doctor knew the TARDIS was a 12 dimensional being, and could see the future. She had been...slightly reluctant when she had been piloted to materialise on Cass's gunship, but she had done it though he had barely registered her reluctance. The TARDIS had known of course, like the Watcher when his Fourth incarnation had travelled between Earth and Logopolis to repair the Chameleon circuit, that he was going to fight in the Time war whether he agreed with it or not. The War Doctor scoffed mentally; his old self had spent so long avoiding the war but he'd spent just as long running away from it in the vain hope if he had kept running the war wouldn't engulf and corrupt him like it had done so already to so many of his old friends; the Doctor had had to endure the sight of so many Time Lords he had known since his days at the Prydonian academy, twisted into monsters. The Doctor hadn't wanted that, he hadn't wanted to look at himself in the future, if the Time Lords had won the war or he had survived, and just saw...a monster looking back at him. That was not the kind of life the Time Lord had wanted for himself when he had stolen a Type 40 TARDIS at the behest of that young Time Lady all those centuries ago.

The TARDIS groaned, snapping the Time Lord pilot out of his thoughts. The War Doctor walked to the console and started setting in coordinates into the computer before dematerialising his ship. The War Doctor closed his eyes as he let the soothing, familiar sound of the TARDIS leaving Karn echo in his mind like a Mozart quartet playing softly in the background.

But he was now a warrior, he was meant to fight.

In his laboratory in the TARDIS, the War Doctor was studying the recent reports from Gallifreyan intelligence. The Daleks had finished their first fleets in a sector only a thousand light years from Gallifreyan space, in the Calop system. According to the report the Time Lords were preparing a taskforce to take back control of the system, and use it as a funnel to pour their own fleets and elite armies into the Dalek empire, though the War Doctor knew it wouldn't work. The Daleks would be prepared for such a move. Unlike the renegade Time Lords, the ones on Gallifrey, the ones who never left the imagined safety of the citadel, just didn't think strategically whilst the Daleks had been born in war, and they would be prepared to fight for every inch of space they conquered. There was also a personal plea from the Time Lords, dispatched to his TARDIS. The War Doctor sat back as he considered the news. The Time Lords were desperate for his help, but after seeing, in the very first year of the Time War, the fall of Davros at the Gates of Elysium at the jaws of the Nightmare child, the lengths this war was willing to go, the Doctor had refused to take any part of it.

But the War Doctor was not like the Eighth Doctor, he wasn't like the Doctor's before him; the manipulative Seventh Doctor, or the chaotic, dramatic and brash Sixth Doctor, or his softer fifth self. He was a warrior, and he would use what he knew to his advantage against the Daleks. The War Doctor remembered his predecessor's reason to fight; he was only doing it for the universe.

The War Doctor accessed his computer, bringing up the database entry of this starsystem. Even with his new incarnation, the War Doctor had no intention of just walking up to the Daleks, that wasn't his style. He wanted to destroy them all.

Lady Romanadvortrelundar, President of the Time Lords or Romana for short, was throned in the Battle TARDIS leading this fight. The Time Lady's eyes were fixed on the monitor screen as the Time Lord fleet approached the fortified Dalek bases in Calop. How could this have happened? The Time Lords were supposed to have prevented this, but if there was one thing Romana had learnt during her many years travelling with the Doctor it was knowing the Time Lords simply weren't up to the task at hand.

The thought of the Doctor made Romana fidget and grimace; she knew why her old friend had wanted nothing to do with the Time War, like many of the other Time Lords, but with the Doctor it ran much deeper than that, though she would have appreciated it if she had his help and advice in the war. But she knew he wouldn't want it, the Doctor hated conflict; give him a limited conflict and he would succeed, but the Time war was of a scale not known even in Time Lord history. With a sigh, Romana opened her presidential access to the matrix on Gallifrey. The biochemical computer of the Time Lords accepted her codes at once as she checked on the Time Lord known as the Doctor. When her eyes met the screen, she couldn't believe it; the Matrix was linked to the minds of every Time Lord and Lady, and it knew when a Time Lord had regenerated.

And the Doctor had, on the planet Karn. What had happened? Romana was about to delve deeper into the new data on the Doctor when one of the Time Lords nearby suddenly called her over, " Madam President, sensors are picking up a supernova directly ahead."

If Romana hadn't known that there were no novas in this area the TARDIS fleet were travelling through she would've asked the Time Lord why on Gallifrey he was mentioning it in the first place, but her interest was piqued. " Report," she instructed as the Time Lords around the room hastened to obey.

But the Time Lord who'd reported the supernova wasn't finished. " We're also receiving reports direct via T-mail, priority one. There are similar reports of supernovas suddenly appearing deep within Dalek space. Their positions are ranging from small facilities to massive orbital fleet yards, key energy production facilities and factories, and there are reports of Dalek warships being destroyed as they exit and leave hyperspace for no apparent reason."

" Oh, there's a reason alright," Romana corrected the Time Lord, an idea springing into her mind. " Wait," the Time Lord said, " there's something approaching us."

Romana suddenly stiffened, and the TARDIS commander immediately fell into the drill of captaining the TARDIS. Romana was in two minds about the competency of some of the Time Lord captains; most of them were jumped up nobodies from the Chancellery guard with no experience commanding a platoon or refuse collections nevermind a TARDIS. Romana had pushed through a training program for them, but the problem was a circle since there were few Time Lords on Gallifrey who even knew how to train their fellows in a situation they had no understanding about, so she'd given the problems to some renegades in exchange for some favors. Unlike previous Time Lord presidents, Romana was known and respected by the renegades because, in a sense, she had been one; she'd left Gallifrey, she'd gotten out there, and she'd gotten involved. The inclusion of the renegades at her behest in the Time War had brought her a lot of grief, but Romana had countered the arguments of her critics with statistics of how many Time Lords fighting the war had survived after being under the tutelage of renegades compared to those who had been under the tutelage of Time Lords who had never left Gallifrey.

" Is it a Dalek fleet?" Romana asked the Time Lord after pushing those thoughts out of the way; this crew needed her judgement and focus.

The Time Lord sat there at the controls for a moment, checking the data. Finally he turned around, " No, its a single ship, travelling in vortex. According to the scanners its one of ours, a TARDIS, and the patina scan indicates its a Type 40 TARDIS."

Romana stiffened whilst the Captain, not knowing about the history of the model, scoffed, " Who runs around the universe in an obsolete piece of junk?"

" The Type 40's were good ships," Romana gritted out, offended. Some of her best memories had come from travelling on such a TARDIS. " The Doctor, he's the only Time Lord who uses one," she finished with a smile of satisfaction. But her smile faded as she thought about the report the Time Lord had given her, taken from other reports from Gallifreyan intelligence; the supernovas...the Doctor's TARDIS was just leaving a starsystem under Dalek control, and it had gone nova, and there were other supernovas happening in Dalek space, and Dalek ships were being destroyed exiting and leaving hyperspace.

Too much of a coincidence. Did this have something to do with the Doctor's new regeneration?

" Madam President, we're receiving a message," the Time Lord said, " the Doctor wants us to adjust our interior dimension frequency so he can materialise inside."

Romana stepped forwards, her manners overridden by curiosity. " Do it, scan the Doctor's TARDIS, and adjust our dimensional frequency to compensate."

" Madam President," the Captain suddenly said in protest, " I must protest about bringing a TARDIS on my ship without my permission-"

" What am I?" Romana suddenly swung round, fed up with this fool. Since boarding the TARDIS she'd been subjected to irritating comments and suggestions by the Time Lord, and now she was fed up with it. The Doctor's sudden inclusion in the war had turned the tide, but she wanted to know why he'd done it. But this fool had just tried her patience for the last time, it was time for him to learn who was the boss.

The question made the Time Lord backpedal, " Madam President?"

Romana smiled dangerously, scaring the Time Lord and the witnesses who couldn't help but take their eyes away from their work. Because they were inside a telepathic environment and Time Lords could naturally hear each other in their minds, Romana could literally taste the satisfaction from the others.

Better still, the TARDIS captain could as well.

" Precisely, I am Madam President," she replied softly though her voice could be heard throughout the room, " Lady President of the High Council of Gallifrey. Do not forget that." Satisfied she'd put this Time Lord in his place, Romana turned to the Time Lord, " Do it."

The Doctor's TARDIS materialised in the console room of the Battle TARDIS, and Romana was waiting patiently for him to emerge. Whilst she was excited he was finally involved in the war, she couldn't help but wonder what had brought it on. Oh, she'd known like everybody else the Doctor could ignore the war only so long before getting involved.

Romana was aware the Doctor had distracted himself with helping those unfortunate enough to get caught up in the war, and though it wasn't the kind of involvement she wanted, needed from him, she was pleased he was at least aware of the magnitude of the problem.

But what had changed his mind?

The TARDIS door opened, and the new Doctor stepped out. Romana blinked as she studied the new incarnation of the Doctor; he was dressed in his previous self's clothes; green jacket, trousers, shoes, shirt and waistcoat, but there was a bandoleer over his shoulder filled with tools and weapons; she could see a Sontaran blaster and a few grenades attached to the belt, giving him the appearance of a soldier. Romana couldn't differentiate this man with the last Doctor she'd known; his hair was fairly short, but his face was harder than the Eighth Doctor's.

Romana stepped closer, " Doctor?" There was something about this incarnation, something...darker, more dangerous that put her on edge despite being reassured about his presence. She touched his mind, and knew it was the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled, " Hello Romana. I have changed my mind about the Time War."

Romana frowned, " What made you change your mind? You've always condemned violence, and now you've just destroyed a number of Dalek holdings."

The Doctor sighed and he told her the story of boarding the gunship, Cass, the crash, the Sisterhood... " I couldn't do it any longer," he finished, " The Sisterhood had given me only four minutes to live, and they'd offered to help me with my regeneration. I chose to become a warrior, after seeing Cass's body...I couldn't ignore the war any longer."

Romana nodded, though her eyes narrowed. There was a lot he wasn't saying, but she would trust him. She would need all the help she could get from him. But there was something about this particular Doctor that set her mind on edge, she didn't feel the same trust and camaraderie she'd felt with previous Doctors, but she supposed it was because this one was more of a warrior than the bohemian and peaceloving incarnations she'd known in the past. There was a...hardness to him, something she couldn't ever imagine the Doctor having in the past, and that worried her.

" Alright," she said at last, " we're heading back to Gallifrey. Do you prefer to work alone or work in a unit?"

The Doctor bowed his head in thought, " I choose both," he said at last.

Romana nodded again in satisfaction, her people's greatest champion was back with a new incarnation and outlook.

She had to remember to thank the Sisterhood of the Eternal Flame later, and if they could control regenerations to that extent, maybe she could negotiate with the Sisterhood if they could donate some elixir to help Time Lords regenerate into warriors, but her uneasiness about the new Doctor remained. She only hoped it would leave soon.

She needed him more than ever.

Author's note - Just an idea I'd had about the newly regenerated Doctor. I enjoyed rewatching that short webcast about the Eighth Doctor - about time Paul McGann was brought back, even if it was only for a few minutes - realising he couldn't ignore the war for long.

I can't wait till the 50th.