Act 2, part 2
After half an hour, the trial continued. More time passed as Starfire watched Zasz bring up more and more character witnesses, these ones aimed at Val Yor, who testified that Val Yor overstepped his authority as a captain of the Vernathian military by taking the law into his own hands.
The prosecutor, a Centauri officer with a smooth and sincere voice, as if he were implying that he regretted prosecuting a fellow officer, offered a damning account of Val Yor's time serving in the Galactic forces, his lone wolf attitude, history of disobeying commands, and blatant disregard for the rules and safety of others. He even offered an account as to why Val Yor was so obsessed with the Locrix, but quickly stopped the story when Val Yor became enraged at that story being retold. The Centauri officer passed that in respect, there was plenty of other evidence to condemn Val Yor already.
"Captain Val Yor was ordered to not pursue the Locrix by the Vernathian high command. Yet, he chose to disobey those orders, taking matters into his own hands. Is that really the actions of an honorable officer?" The prosecutor asked, pacing back and forth between the judge panel and Val Yor, while the Vernathian remained stoically silent during the proceedings.
There was not much to do in defense of Val Yor, but Galfore could at least do his best to protect Starfire, who just sat quietly in her chair. When it came his turn to undergo questioning, Galfore stepped forward without hesitation.
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Galfore turned to the judge, continuing the ten minutes of questioning he had already undertaken.
"Princess Starfire is a gentle and kind person, of good character. To suggest that she would do such a thing is…preposterous!"
"But yet, you saw clearly that it was her who took part in the destruction of Sentien. Actions speak for themselves. Is this what Tamaran does? Condone the horrific actions of their royal blood?" The Centauri prosecuter replied.
"I meant no such thing!" Galfore protested.
"Oh really then." The Centauri continued. "Then how about the power each member of your royal line holds, don't you think that you should be accountable for all that power?"
"We Taramanians trust each other to uphold our ideals, we never seek to abuse our powers." Galfore replied back.
"And yet, the defendant has made no attempt to defend herself, she even admitted that she did destroy the Locrix race. Wouldn't that be an abuse of power? "
"That is not the same thing, she did not intend to-"
"The Prosecution is finished with questioning." The Centauri officer said coldly, then went back to his stand.
Galfore's face was fixed with rage as he went back to take a seat beside Starfire.
"That fellow makes me want to split his head with my axe." Galfore said furiously.
"On Earth, Robin tells me there are people like him, they are called. Loy-ERS." Starfire said.
"ENOUGH." The Judge banged on the hammer. "We have heard enough, the jury will convene to discuss the results."
Everyone rose out of respect, and Galfore placed a hand on Starfire's shoulder.
"I am sorry Starfire." The giant said solemnly.
"You have done everything you could Galfore. There is no need to apologize." Starfire smiled with resignation.
Suddenly, the robotic eyes of the jury lit up in a bright red light, as if they had finished with their decision.
"Well, that didn't take long." Val Yor scoffed.
"We have heard enough. From the evidence presented, we find the defendants, Starfire of Tamaran, and Val Yor of Vernathia, guilty of genocide." The Jury spoke in a single robotic monotonous voice.
Judge then turned her mask to face Starfire and Val Yor, banging on the mantle one last time to end what was possibly also the shortest trial in the Tribunal's history.
"Starfire and Val Yor, you have been found guilty, the sentence, will be execution. It shall be carried out in ten petacycles. Court adjourned!" The judge hit the hammer again, and soon, the hundreds of aliens in the crowd began breaking into conversation, with murmurs filling the air.
It was done.
While this was happening, Zasz sat quietly, taking the time to fully observe the verdict and digest the information.
"Splicer." Zasz quietly accessed his internal communicator.
"It is time."
There were no more pleasantries now. Both Starfire and Val Yor were thrown in the same cell, this one was the worst yet, with the skeletons of former occupants lying in the dark corners of the dungeon.
The hospitable Tamaranian guards were now replaced by the hard line Centauri officers, who pushed the defiant Tamaranian guards away, despite their protests. Val Yor scoffed quietly, sitting despondently in the corner while Starfire took this moment to enjoy the one luxury she had been granted in this inhospitable place. This cell had a full view of the night sky. Unlike the black clouds that covered the planet, the tribunal holding cells were placed in a tower so high, that they were able to go above the clouds and stare at the night skies.
Despite her execution sentence, Starfire could not help but feel some comfort in those stars, that her friends were living on safely among them somewhere. Free.
She had thought about seeing her friends one last time, but what could she say to them? That she had become a murderer? They will undoubtedly try and rescue her, possibly dooming themselves and the Earth.
No…she thought. I am not worth the effort, I deserve to be here.
The Centauri guards at the door made more grunting noises, as if acknowledging the presence of some unwelcome guest.
Starfire moved slowly through the darkness, feeling her way around the dungeon walls until she finally saw the light shine through the bars.
It was Galfore. The giant even at this point had obviously not given up hope, and his gigantic hands pressed the bars almost as if he wanted to crush the cage and break her out right then and there.
"Do not worry Starfire, i'll do everything I can to get you out of here, that trial was a mockery! It barely lasted any time! That locrix, he must have had a hand in it! I will plead for a delay period." Galfore said in determination.
"No….please Galfore. You have done more than enough. Now, I must face the consequences of my actions."
"Princess Starfire….." Galfore replied in a pained voice, only to be interrupted as the doors to the cell were opened again. Both Tamaranians gasped in surprise as they saw the new figure enter the cell block.
It was Zasz.
Galfore instantly roared, jumping to his feet and rushing the Locrix.
The Centauri guards were faster however, and a good half dozen of them jumped at the giant Tamaranian, restraining his powerful arms while others shot goo-like whips to tie his feet. They were barely strong enough to halt the massive emperor, and Galfore's fist stopped only inches from Zasz's face.
"I can see that my company is not good for some people, remove him from the cell." Zasz said in his robotic voice. "I wish to speak to the prisoners alone."
The Centauri guards nodded, then quickly took the struggling Galfore out the door.
When the Tamaranian emperor was outside, trying to fight his way past the guards, the door slammed shut, leaving Starfire alone to talk with her accuser.
"So….nothing left to say Tamaranian?" Zasz said smoothly.
Starfire said nothing, she just bowed her head even lower as she stood behind the bars of the cell.
"No, there is nothing I wish to say." She finally replied.
"Good, because I have a few things I want to say to you." Zasz began, walking closer to the cell bars.
"You may think that I want to have you executed Starfire, but that is mistaken. I have no interest in any harm coming to you." The Locrix spoke sincerely.
Starfire widened her eyes at this statement. "Then…..this trial, why was I put on?"
"Because I believed even you deserved a fair trial Tamaranian. Despite what your friend may think, I did not do anything to influence the tribunal's ruling, nor did I 'fix' it in any way. I wanted to see justice at work and sure enough, you were guilty." Zasz said calmly.
"You say you wish to not harm me? And yet I am to be executed?" Starfire was finding this situation growing increasingly absurd. Just moments ago, she had thought that this would be the last hours of her life, and that she would try and spend them with as much dignity as she could, but this? This was a farce.
Zasz chuckled.
"No, you won't be, I will make sure of it. Before your sentence is carried out, I shall have you released. No harm will come to you."
Starfire could not believe her ears. Was this Zasz simply trying to taunt her with a flash of hope before her execution? To put hopes inside of her that he could easily crush within the next sentence? Starfire leaned forward now, clasping the bars with her hands, she didn't want to, but her eyes were beginning to show a sign of hope.
But the Locrix was being extremely honest, he sounded sincere. "No harm will come to you." He repeated again.
"I despise the death penalty Starfire. It may be hard for you to believe, a mindless drone having opinions, but I believe that it is barbaric, too uncivilized."
"Don't. Misunderstand me though." Zasz's voice suddenly went completely dark, opposite in the hopeful tone had conveyed just a second ago.
"I think the death penalty is uncivilized because it is indiscriminate. No matter what horrific crime the offender does, each one will always get the same punishment. A swift end. I simply don't believe in that." Zasz continued.
"What are you saying?" Starfire asked apprehensively.
"Like I said before Starfire, I believe in justice." Zasz droned on mechanically. "And with justice, comes retribution. A special crime, deserves a special kind of punishment."
He leaned in closer towards the bars, so his face was just inches from Starfire's. He whispered the next words, barely audible, but all too clear to Starfire.
"I had to watch my planet die with my own eyes, and now, you will too." Zasz finished off.
Starfire gasped in horror, just as Zasz pulled out a holocube from his robotic arm.
A holographic image instantly appeared above the device, it showed the schematics of a weapon. It was a simplistic design, a large laser cannon similar to the one that Prof. Chang had used on them months ago, only this one was massive, perhaps at least ten times as large.
"It's a planet destroyer. The Centauri empire's greatest weapon, located right here. How else can the tribunal get so many races to cooperate in its proceedings? Ironic though, isn't it? That a galactic federation bent on preserving the peace in the galaxy, owns a weapon powerful enough to destroy a planet." Zasz chuckled. "Say…Earth?"
"You will do no such thing!" Starfire lunged at Zasz, but the bars were too strong, she couldn't go through.
"Please! This matter involves only you and me, there are many innocent people on Earth!" Starfire pleaded.
Zasz turned the holocube off, putting it coldly back inside his robotic compartment in his arm. "If there is anything that I have learned, it is that justice is blind. It is cold, and objective."
The Locrix continued on. "That is how it is fair, that is how it should work. It does not take into consideration anyone's feelings or personal connections to others. In order to achieve pure justice, you must be willing to sacrifice anything in order to achieve it. ANYTHING." He said this last one with a fanatical resolute tone.
"And right now, I will restore the balance between us. The death of a whole people demands something more than just a simple imprisonment or execution." Zasz finally finished.
He turned, heading towards the door while a helpless Starfire looked on.
Before leaving, he turned around to see Starfire one last time.
"Do not worry, you will be released eventually, when my team is done with this tribunal." The Locrix added on, and as if on cue, the very ground shook as the sound of distant explosions rocked the building.
"Which should be now." The villain said smoothly.
He turned to Starfire again.
"Farewell, Tamaranian."
Then he closed the door.
"What's going on!" Cron, captain of the Centauri guards, yelled to his subordinates as more blasts tore through the building. The Alien congregation was in full panic as thousands of spectators got up from their seats in the courtroom, trying to push their way out.
Cron turned to his officers. "Check the source of the blasts, I want a full team dispatched to investigate."
The Centauri officer saluted. "At once sir!"
At that instant however, both officers were cut off as a huge blast tore through the gigantic double doors that led into the courtroom. Each door was torn off its hinges, and thrown a good few feet as they collapsed into dust and rubble.
More screaming came from the audience as blue laser blasts emerged from the dust, hitting several Centauri guards as well as causing more explosions to ring through the courtroom.
Through the smoke, was the silhouette of a very familiar figure, who was flanked by a small army of mercenary gunmen.
"There's nothing to worry about folks!" Splicer said casually as he wore his full blue cybernetic battle armor. In each hand, he carried a laser rifle so large that he had to prop each one on his shoulders.
"Remain calm and stay in your seats people!" Splicer said as put down on large gun, using his free hand to load a few small shells into his other gun. When he was done, he instantly lifted the gun, and cocked it with loud clicking sound. He then turned to the audience with a dark smirk.
"You make much better targets this way." He then lifted the two guns and fired. The aliens panicked as an entire section of the bleachers exploded from two shells, leaving two giant craters where three rows of seats used to be.
"FIRE!" Cron shouted as a dozen more centauri's with guns arrived, they all let loose a furious barrage of lasers at Splicer.
Only for some reason, the villain wasn't going down. He went semi transparent, and the lasers simply went through his body, hitting the wall behind him.
"I was wondering how long it would take for you blokes to get here." Splicer smirked, lifting the two giant rail guns he carried and aiming them at the Centauris.
Then the explosions…and screams began.
Security in the planet destroy chamber was tight, at least fifty Centauri guards barricaded the doors with anything they could find, while the others armed themselves with a whole slew of laser rifles and cannons.
"Don't let anyone in!" The Centauri episode shout as all fifty guards aimed their rifles at the door, which was soon being pounded on by some outside force.
All the guards concentrated their cannons on the doorway as well.
Suddenly however, an inhuman screech echoed through the chamber, coming from all directions.
The Centauri guards felt shivers down their spines as they heard it, they quickly focused on the rest of the room, the rooftops, the windows….
Nothing.
"Forget that," The commander replied, "Focus on the do-"
The screech came back, louder than ever, and the commander soon found himself swept away by a dark inhuman shape. The rest of the soldiers watched helplessly as their commander disappeared into the rooftop, screams echoing through the room.
Seconds later, the commander's body fell onto the ground.
"Finally, a chance to feast." The Crysalis hunter laughed, then lunged at the soldiers.
"FIRE!"
At that moment, the doors to the chamber exploded in a red inferno as a giant fireball tore its way into the cannon room.
Several soldiers were thrown back by the intense heat as the ball quickly formed into a humanoid shape, a demonic figure with wings that spread out like some savage bat.
"Give it up freak, you're outnumbered." The Centauri guards all trained their rifles at Scourge, there must have been at least thirty of them left.
Scourge did not reply, he merely crossed his arms and watched the look on the Centauri's faces as the floor began melting into molten lava, and from the ashes rose at least fifty more firnusium.
"Now, we can begin." Scourge roared with laughter.
Starfire slammed her entire body against the bars, but they did not budge an inch, even as she used all of her immense Tamaranian strength.
"We must find a way out of here Val Yor!" Starfire pleaded with her fellow captive.
"You think I haven't tried? Besides, didn't you say you wanted to accept the consequences?" Val Yor said coldly.
"Yes, but they are mine alone to accept, not my friends, we must save them!" Starfire replied, hitting her shackles against the wall in an attempt to break them.
"How can you be so uncaring? Were you not a captain? A hero?" Starfire, slightly outraged by Val Yor's indifference, shot back.
"That was in the past." Val Yor said broodingly. "Besides, I've already done enough, the Crixies are gone, there's nothing else for me to do."
Starfire was stung by the coldness of that statement, as if Val Yor had felt no guilt over the crime they were convicted for.
Starfire suddenly stopped her attempts to free herself, and instead, approached Val Yor, until she was a few feet away from him.
"Why do you hate the Locrix so much?" Starfire asked, to Val Yor's surprise, in an sincere and amicable voice.
Val Yor grunted defensively, as if avoiding the question, but Starfire's honest face slowly cracked away at his composure.
"I wasn't always a captain by myself you know. I had a crew, a bunch of good friends who traveled the galaxy with me. Doing missions, bringing the criminals in, that kind of stuff." Val Yor began quietly.
"Then, on a routine scouting mission, I was supposed to make contact with a newly discovered race, on behalf of the galactic federation. This race, was the Locrix."
Starfire suddenly began to realize where this story was going.
"They ambushed us, I was injured in the fight and I told my friends to bail. They would not listen, so….they knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I woke up inside an escape pod. I never saw them again."
He turned to Starfire now, and for the first time ever, she saw something in his face that she never thought she would see on Val Yor.
Vulnerability.
"So….you attacked the Locrix, for revenge."
Val Yor said nothing, his soldier-like face was back on. He grunted again.
"How do you feel now?" Starfire asked with concern.
"I don't know Starfire. I just don't know." Val Yor replied.
"Well, you have your revenge now….and because of that, my world is going to pay for it." Starfire said, even though she didn't mean it to be harsh, the meaning was still the same. Val Yor had lied to them from the very beginning.
"I lost my crew Starfire, my friends. Would you have done any different?" Val Yor replied seriously.
Starfire shook her head, this time, standing up. Her eyes lit up with a green determination as she violently blasted the shackles on her hands. With a determined cry, the Tamaranian forced her hands apart, shattering the pieces of the shackles across the entire cell with a ferocity that surprised Val Yor.
"I do not wish to find out." The Tamaranian said with determination.
She quickly turned back to Val Yor. "Val Yor, we have had our differences in the past, and I am sorry for your pain, but now we must focus on the danger now. My planet…my friends in danger. So I ask you now Val Yor, please…..help."
Val Yor was surprised at this request, because he was still in his despondant mood. However, the determination and sincerity in Starfire's eyes was enough to lift even him out of his gloom.
"I guess you aren't as soft as I thought you were Tamaranian."
Val Yor gave a smirk.
"Well…. no one's gonna say Captain Val Yor of Vernathia backed out from a fight." He stood up, and Starfire instantly ripped his shackles to pieces.
"I'm in."