The surviving Legion guards, several emissaries to the slave trade, twenty of the most powerful people in the known galaxies as well as Sylek were led down a ramp in force-field infused bindings, followed by heavily armed guards, several high ranking Vulcan officials, ambassador and denizens of multiple planets and even two Star-Fleet administrators.
The investigation had uncovered mass conspiracies by many enemies of several governments. The leaders of many worlds had converged all week to see the judgments and even the executions of the men and women responsible for the pockets of unrest and bloody civil wars they had tried in vain to contain on their home worlds. Whole civilizations had been uprooted and some nearly exterminated in the years since the beginning of the slave trade; and governments, Star-Fleet and others began making plans to return the survivors to their place of origin and aid them through a period of adjustment and resettlement.
For a brief moment in time, races known to fear and hate the other set aside their differences to see the conspirators of the slave trade brought to justice. As Sylek and the others filed in, a deep silence befell the chattering crowd and everyone watched as Zuri, now Queen of the Nexus system, walked out before them on the raised stage.
The prisoners were set below her with the armed guards beside them. The ambassadors, officials and government leaders filed in on the sides of the room as the crowd looked on in anticipation, anger and for those who lost someone to the trade, sadness and grief.
"We are gathered here to witness justice bestow her wisdom upon us. These before you have conspired to create unrest and the vast destabilization of governments by the selling of sentient beings."
Zuri glanced at the officials gathered around her. "They have been found guilty of actions which violate many civil codes and that which interferes with personal liberties. We will charge you for your actions. There will be no re-trial. There will be no second chances. Counsel, what say you?"
"Aye," hundreds of voices confirmed in a variety of accents and timbres and Zuri nodded.
A court runner handed Zuri a data pad and she carefully read out the list of charges of each prisoner. With the blessing of the counsel, she sentenced some to hard labor on desolate planets, ordered some to years of confinement, and eventually for those who were responsible for the most heinous of the atrocities committed, immediate stasis with no chance of awakening on a harsh, dry planet in the Gala system of Itlax-5.
Nyota felt Spock's hand graze her own as Zuri began reading the charges levied against Sylek.
"Sylek, of the minor house of T'norgon on Vulcan, son of Synod, former advisor to the Vulcan council you have been charged," she paused as he began squirming then continued.
"The Vulcan houses have confirmed that you have conspired to incite war and unrest between the followers of Surak and the V'tosh K'atur. This charge includes seven counts of illegal weapons manufacturing and distribution, the bondage of thousands of Vulcans and also the murder of several Vulcan officials."
Some in the gathered crowd gasped and murmured and Sylek began trying his bonds. Sweat popped out along his brow as he shouted. "This is a travesty! I deserve my freedom! I deserve-,"
A guard stunned Sylek with an array and he quivered violently before stopping and then sitting silently upon the floor.
She turned to the small group of Vulcans gathered at her left. "I have found Sylek to be fit both mentally and physically for immediate dispatch to the planet Argnus-I. There he will toil in hard labor for a period of seven years, followed by three years of confinement upon the fire planet Thenos-IV and finally he will be placed in stasis with no chance of awakening."
"NO!," Sylek bellowed, "Please! Please!"
His show of emotion seemed to unsettle the unflappable gathering of Vulcans and they ignored his entreaties, as they nodded their assent to the charges and Zuri's judgment.
"You vindictive bitch! You are angry because you were a slave and the play thing of the king. But you enjoyed it, you enjoyed me too-,"
Sylek was once again stunned into silence and Zuri gave no indication she heard his rantings, and instead continued to read the charges.
Sylek quaked with anger as she continued to add on years of hard labor to his sentence and he screamed in rage when she also ordered that he undergo treatment in a machine that was of his own creation.
"You used this device to coerce thousands of slaves to your bidding. It is only fair that you receive the fruits of your labor," she told him as he pulled against his bindings.
Zuri concluded his sentencing with an edict that lifted the embargo on planets within and bordering the Nexus system and the immediate dismantling of Sylek's mansion and slave base on Norcadia Prime.
"Your vast amount of credits will be disseminated throughout the sector to aid in the re-establishments of devastated colonies and planets."
"But my sons! What of my progeny!," he cried and several young boys in the crowd lowered their heads in shame and sadness.
"I will not speak to the condemned or answer their entreaties. However, your sons and any others you have fathered will be placed in homes according to the wishes of the Vulcan council and there will be taught the ways of Surak," she answered and then moved her steady gaze from his sweat drenched face.
Hatred blazed across Sylek's face at the mention of Surak. He spat upon the floor and the Vulcan council looked away from his antics, their faces calm and unreadable. Sylek cursed them in Vulcan, the language sounding twisted and dark when tinged with so much emotion and rancor. The council continued to ignore him and no one noticed when Sylek slipped free from his bonds and grabbed a guard's weapon.
"For the empire!," he shouted loudly and fired.
Nyota screamed as the array discharged in her sister's direction. She found herself hurtling over benches and seats as she tried to race to her sister's side. Weapon fire erupted as Sylek's conspirators rose up from the crowd. People began shouting, screaming and running in all directions. Pandemonium threatened the orderly atmosphere and suddenly a blast rang out loudly over all the others, the bright light of the weapon blinding everyone in the vicinity.
A few more shots rang out and a quiet calm filled the space as the bright light faded. Zuri stood on the platform, her arm encased in a soft, pulse of light and the glowing embers of a liquid metal. She touched her arm lightly and the weapon recessed back into its glove. Sylek lay dead upon the floor, along with the conspirators in the crowd that had fired shots.
She looked at his body contemptuously before looking before her. "Silence!," she called out as the guards restored order and officials assured the panicked crowd, "Justice has been served. Those who seek to undo the work that has been done this day will face a stern and relentless resistance. There will be no tolerance of the dark and terrible deceits that formed the chains of the slave trade. So I have said it, so it is," And with that, the proceedings were dismissed, and Queen Zuri took her leave.