Act 2 (part 1)
The gathering of aliens outside the tribunal settled down now as Zasz turned away. His team, grumbling that a chance to fight was passed up, grudgingly turned to follow their leader.
"You sure were pretty confident about letting our prey go." Scourge said in his monstrous voice that was threatening enough to overwhelm even the strongest of hearts.
The Locrix however, kept walking on. "Whether she is in custody or not, it does not matter, the outcome of the trial will still be the same. She knows that too."
Scourge grunted, then continued dragging the unconscious Val Yor along. The alien team entered the tribunal doors, leaving Starfire alone with Galfore.
"Ignore the varblurnelk, Starfire." Galfore said as he led Starfire away from the scene. "I will see what I can do for your friend, but now, let us rest."
Starfire nodded quietly, then followed Galfore as he led her to another part of the building.
Starfire was led deeper into the tribunal building, passing gigantic hallways filled with thousands of hostile and alien faces, some of them hissing as she passed. For that, she was glad that Galfore had also brought an escort of Tamaranian guards, who were just as hostile towards the outsiders when it came to protecting their princess.
Eventually, pass the halls, and up a long winding step of stairs, Starfire reached her room. It was nothing like the grand halls of Tamaran, nor her royal suites, but it was nonetheless, infinitely better than the squalid cell that Zasz had given her during the journey to Centauri.
Galfore was quick to make sure Starfire was well attended, ordering for a doctor to check up on any injuries she may have sustained in the last fight, as well as ordering servants to draw up a bath and bring in Starfire's old uniform, which resembled her Blackfire's. Complete with that, was her old armor and crown, which Galfore insisted she wore so as to forward his case that she was still a member of the Tamaranian royalty.
"I am sorry princess, that we do not have any other clothes for you, but your earth garments were hard to procure, and this will serve our purposes better." Galfore said with a soft smile as he handed her the uniform.
"It does not matter Galfore, Thank you." Starfire smiled, in what seemed like the first time in days."
"Good, well now my little bumgorf, it is time for you to eat and gain your strength back, then we can talk."
Warm food came afterwards, generously from the Tamaranian chefs that Galfore had brought over. On her table were piles of glorg and jelly-type foods that Starfire loved, and soon she found herself eating as much as Cyborg.
Yet, despite all the comforts, she was still a prisoner. Centauri guards stood outside the door at the head of the stairs leading into the main tribunal hall, trading glares with the Tamaranian royal guards that had escorted Starfire up the room.
As Starfire ate, she began to tell Galfore everything.
"So that is what they are accusing you of? Surely it is a lie, I know it cannot be true! I will act as your defense." Galfore said firmly.
"No, there is nothing to defend." Starfire bowed her head down, closing her eyes and turning away from Galfore in shame. "I am truly guilty."
"I have raised you since you were a little bumgorf Starfire, you are as gentle as they come. Even if it is true I do not believe you will do this intentionally." Galfore said with a parental voice.
"If it is anything to do with that Vernathian-" Galfore's face lit up in anger.
"No, I do not believe Val Yor knew as well." Starfire replied back.
"Then we will find a way to save your friend as well." Galfore said confidently.
Starfire nodded quietly, trying to hold back all the emotion she was feeling at having Galfore take so much trouble for her, to trust her so, even when she was clearly wrong.
"I am sorry Galfore." Starfire said sadly.
"Why is that my Bumgorf?" Galfore asked.
"You have said you expected great things from me, and I have let you down. I set out to help others, bit what I didn't know was that I would come to bring such great harm as well, perhaps I should just stop-"
Starfire bowed her head down again, but this time, Galfore raised her chin with his finger.
"We all make mistakes Starfire, that isn't reason enough for you to stop following your heart. It is not your fault, so do not keep blaming yourself." Galfore replied gently. "Besides, we must focus on more important matters, you have a friend in this as well."
Starfire sniffed, wiping away a tear from her eye, she didn't know what to say to Galfore.
"I know…."
Galfore nodded. "I will do my best, it has been a long time since I have attended a tribunal proceeding, so let me see if this old K'norfka still has a few tricks." He gave Starfire a hopeful smile.
"But before this," Starfire replied back. "I wish to visit someone."
"As you wish Princess Starfire, as you wish." Galfore nodded. "But please remember, we do not have a lot of time."
It took Starfire at least half an hour to find the detention cells, primarily because the Centauri guards escorting her were not very cooperative in helping Star find the place.
The cell blocks were a complete contrast to the royal quarters she enjoyed just moments before, indeed, it made Zasz's cell look like a five star hotel.
Starfire tried to maintain her composure, ignoring the jeers of various alien prisoners who seemed to try and lunge through their bars to attack her. Snarls, growls and shouts filled the dark hallway, but the Tamaranian put up a brave front, even though inside she was feeling uneasy. The Centauri guards, far from offering protection, were taking quiet pleasure from watching the Tamaranian squirm a little.
At last, she reached the prison cell, and carrying a plate of food, she walked into the dark room, where a solitary figure was chained against the wall. The man groaned as the light from the doorway entered the room, blinding his eyes momentarily, as if it was the first time in days he had seen light.
Val Yor grunted when he saw Starfire in the doorway.
"So I see this place has a soft spot for Troq Tamaranians. Glad to see you're enjoying the accommodations." Val Yor said rudely.
"Val Yor, I have come to bring you food." Starfire said gently, then she placed the plate she had been carrying at Val Yor's feet.
The alien was silent at first, but then scoffed. "What am I supposed to do? Eat it with my seven foot tongue? Mocking me huh?"
Starfire shook her head quietly. "No, I am just trying to be, as the earth people call it, 'nice'"
"Well you sure are doing a fine job at it." Val Yor's voice dripped with a hostile sarcasm.
Starfire ignored it however. "I will untie you if you wish, so that you may eat. But first, I want to ask you, why did you do it?" She asked sincerely.
Val Yor seemed temporarily disarmed by the random asking of this question, but he put on his soldier face again and replied coldly. "The Locrix were threatening to invade others, I told you that."
"Then tell me, did you truly know the Locrix could be like this?" Starfire asked.
"No, I didn't know, they were always mindless machines before, not living things." Val Yor shook his head.
"Then how will you defend yourself" Starfire replied back.
Val Yor turned his head away from Starfire, replying with a hostile grunt. "I don't have to say anything more to you, Troq."
"Please, do not call me that Val Yor. I do not know what you are going through, but I'm only trying to help-"
"Don't talk to me like you're all high and mighty, or my friend, Tamaranian." Val Yor replied back angrily, as if he had just managed to hold back from calling her 'troq' again. "I remember last time, I offered you my apology, and you spat it back in my face. That wasn't good enough for you? Did you expect me to go on my knees and beg?"
Val Yor was almost breathing heavily, as if he had pent that up for some time now. After spewing that, the alien was quieting down.
Starfire was quiet for a moment, as if suddenly realizing shamefully that maybe Val Yor was not the only one who was acting like that. Val Yor judged her because she was a Tamaranian, and Starfire had thought that a man like Val Yor would never change his ways.
Starfire nodded, clasping her hands and closing her eyes. "Yes, For that I am truly sorry, but if we are to survive this together, please…I want us to trust each other."
Val Yor said nothing, he just stared straight ahead.
Starfire sighed quietly, taking the hint, she turned and prepared to leave.
Just then however, Val Yor began speaking.
I'll tell you one thing now Tamaranian, you watch yourself, I hear our judges weren't picked because of their sunny personalities." Val Yor said sternly.
Starfire smiled a little bit, nodding quietly. "I will ask you to watch yourself as well Val Yor, but do not worry, I shall see if I can do anything to help now."
"Why ARE you helping me?" Val Yor asked.
"Because I do not wish to see others hurt just because of a mistake I made. "Starfire said in a friendly voice.
Val Yor nodded quietly, as if he were lost in his thoughts.
With that, she closed the door and proceeded back to her room to prepare.
The Trial was starting.
The Tribunal assembly area was designed like a Greek Amphitheatre. From a birds eye view, it was a semi circular shape, with the round end consisting of a huge row of seats, resembling an earth stadium. From the bleachers, were thousands of alien races, of all different shapes and sizes, each of them shouting and jeering as they waited in anticipation of the prisoner.
On the other side of the huge stadium sized courtroom, was the judge's panel and the jury's panel, which was similar to the earth design, save for the fact that this one was at least three times bigger. Between the bleacher seats and the judging panel, were two steel desks, one for the accused, and one for the present.
At this point, two processions entered the tribunal room, one of them was Zasz, followed by two Centauri officers who presided in the prosecution.
The real jeers and boos however, came when Val Yor and Starfire were brought out, next to each other. Starfire, now wearing her traditional Tamaranian armour with the thin crown that framed her face, had both her hands bound together by a metallic handcuff, just like Val Yor.
They were however, escorted by the friendlier Tamaranian guards, one of the concessions Galfore had managed to squeeze out of the tribunal. But that was it, now, it was up to the judges.
"ORDER!" The judge said in a female voice as she took her place on the Judge panel. Slamming her hammer down onto the table.
The Judge was dressed up in a red robe. But what made her even more imposing, was the fact that she wore a skull-faced mask, with cold robotic eyes and an alien symbol stamped on her forehead.
As the assembly quieted down, the jury took this time to sit in their seats, these ones were just as imposing.
"Keep strong Koriand'r." Galfore whispered into Starfire's ear and gripped her arm tightly. "Just remember that."
Starfire nodded quietly.
The jury, all twelve of them, wore the same red robes and skull masks, except that each of them carried a specific symbol with them. Each juror had a different weapon, such as a sharpened executioner's blade, a slipknot from a noose, poisoned vials for lethal injections, and electroshock batons. Needless to say, this wasn't the kind of jury that would hand out parking tickets.
"We are Judge and Jury," The judge and jury said in a monotonous voice together, which sent chills down Starfire's spine.
"And we are gathered here today to seek justice, to punish those responsible for a crime so vast and despicable that it has never before been recorded in the archives of the tribunal." The Judge said in an authoritarian voice.
"The accused, are Captain Val Yor of Vernathia, and Starfire of Tamaran. We will begin with the opening proceedings."
Judge gave the prosecution side of the court a firm nod and another figure, this time, a centauri officer, stood up.
"The prosecution will call out our first witness, Zasz, the Locrix of Sentien."
Various murmurs echoed through the chamber as Zasz stepped forward. As if on cue, the center of the courtroom floor began to rumble, as a trap door hissed open, revealing a machine that slowly lifted its way up to the courtroom floor.
Zasz made his way to the machine, where several Centauri officers were already taking wires from the alien device and connecting them into the plugs built into Zasz's robotic body. When they were done, the Locrix's back was completely hooked into the Machine.
"Zasz, are you ready to begin the memory reclaimation?" The Centauri officer asked.
"Yes." Zasz droned monotonously.
"Good, then tell us a little about yourself, and how you encountered the accused." The Centauri officer, an arrogant and crude officer, asked.
Zasz nodded, and instantly, the entire wall of the courtroom was quickly converted into a transparent material, where already, images of Sentien's final moments were shown.
The audience became quiet as the screen was filled with images of the Teen Titans fighting the Locrix in their invasion of Sentien. The screen started out with Beast Boy transforming into a dinosaur and crushing several locrix beneath him, then it panned out to Starfire and Val Yor.
"Before I was created, the accused were already attacking my planet." Zasz said, directing the narrative of the images on the screen.
"It did not take long for the mother core to process that it was losing its battle, and so, in an attempt to retrieve the situation, it sought to create a new generation of Locrix, ones that were not dependent on the mother core, those with a free will and intelligence that could help drive off the invaders."
The screen then showed images of a metallic body being cast by the Locrix machine, who were creating Zasz. As the final process of the machine building process was completed, Zasz's five red eyes were seen through the smoke.
"I was first, and last of them."
The screen quickly cut off to another scene, where Zasz was already at the head of an army of Locrix rushing to the central power core.
"I was supposed to lead the first defense team to drive the invaders out, but by then it was too late. The core was destroyed, and my people were gone."
Starfire, at hearing this, bowed her head low.
The next scene showed the central power core shaking, with images of Starfire flying out of the facility, holding Val Yor by her shoulder. Explosions rocked the screen moments later, and soon, all the Locrix with Zasz deactivated, leaving him along amongst a pile of wreckage.
The images ended there.
"I admit that we Locrix were a warlike race, but my people subjugated planets, we never destroyed them." Zasz finished his testimony, then unplugged himself from the machine and walked back to his seat.
"That is all the prosecution has for now." The Centauri officer finished off, just as the jeers of the crowd got louder.
"ORDER!" Everyone quickly quieted down. "Does the accused have anything they wish to say?" Judge asked Starfire and Val Yor.
"It was for the safety of the Galaxy, that's all I'll say." Val Yor replied in defiance, where he was replied by even more hostile shouts from the audience.
Starfire said nothing.
"Very well then, we shall recess so that my jury can have time to process the story." Judge hit her hammer onto the table again, and soon, the entire room broke into clamorous discussion.
Zasz turned around now, walking quietly along the aisle that led to the back rooms of the tribunal. Before doing so, he passed Starfire, Galfore and Val Yor. Galfore gripped his fists, trying hard not to tear the Locrix to pieces right there and now.
Starfire was closest to Zasz as he walked, and as Zasz passed by, he whispered softly, so that only Starfire heard what he was saying.
"Do not worry Tamaranian, it will all be over soon enough." The Locrix said icily, then left.