Scott woke up that morning and looked to his side. His arm was pinned under Darjeeling but they had a few hours yet before they needed to head to the court. He knew that the next few months were going to be interesting for them, but for now, he took in the sight of his wife-to-be, and soon-to-be mother of his child, sleeping peacefully. Then, her eyes sprung open and she ran for the attached ensuite, the sound of her retching springing Scott from the bed and by her side. Pulling her hair out of her face, Scott rubbed her back, "It's begun then," he whispered.

It took Darjeeling a minute to respond, "That or it's just nerves, a case could be made for both," she replied before leaning against him, "I blame you for this," she murmured.

Scott pressed a kiss to her hair, "That's fine sweetheart, just remember, it took two."

Darjeeling cracked a small smile at that, "I don't regret it, Scott, I just wish it didn't involve this."

Scott nodded before rubbing her back some more, "If I remember my reading correctly, then Morning Sickness should pass after the first trimester," he remarked.

Darjeeling moaned, "That's two months away! We'll be married by then and I don't fancy spending our wedding night hovering over the toilet because I made poor choices with dinner."

Scott sighed, "We might want to think about telling everyone soon."

Darjeeling nodded before regretting that immediately as her head started throbbing. Just then, the church bell rang seven times. Scott came to a decision, "I'll go tell everyone now, I get the feeling we'll need to hold onto a happy thought to get through today, why don't you rest, I'll come when we need to get dressed," he said.

Darjeeling voiced her agreement and Scott carried her back to bed, much to her amusement. Kissing her forehead, Scott put on some jeans and a simple shirt to meet everyone for breakfast.

Coming to the group in the lobby, Rosehip was the first to notice Darjeeling wasn't him, "Is Lady Darjeeling on her way?"

Scott grimaced, "Darjeeling is having a lay-in today," he remarked before smirking, "Morning Sickness is a pain in the morning."

Everyone did a double-take on what he said, not sure if he was insinuating what he was saying. Finally, Josh spoke up, "Milord? Are you saying…"

"That Darjeeling and I need to make sure that you two are still up to being our child's Godparents? Yes, yes I am," Scott remarked before smiling, "Darjeeling and I knew the day after we got back from the tournament, we plan on visiting the doctor's office just after the wedding, hopefully, we'll find out the gender."

Everyone congratulated Scott and Josh nodded, saying that they would do it. Soon, too soon for Scott, he was leaning over Darjeeling, waking her so they could get dressed, it only took him a moment, but they soon were dressed in their best clothes and walking into the Peace Palace.

After they took their seats, both sets of lawyers entered. Scott quickly ran his eyes over them, the prosecutor looked serious but also calm. Catching Scott's eye running over him, the prosecutor gave him a single nod, one of respect and of deference. The defence team gave off an air of defiance and privilege, Scott picked up on that quite quickly thanks to his yesteryears.

Soon, the fifteen judges walked in and everyone rose, President Yusuf spoke, "Be seated," he ordered before looking at the file in front of him, "The case of USA versus UK, Germany, Japan, Russia, Italy, France and Finland; Subject: Vladimir Lavrinenko's committing of the following: Knowingly and Wilfully committing and planning to commit Grave Breaches to the Third Geneva Convention, Knowingly and Willfully committing and planning to commit Grave Breaches to the Second Geneva Convention, Capital Murder, Sexual Assault, Assault and Battery, and Kidnapping is in session," he barked before noting something, "Defense is recognised."

The defence lawyer stood up, "Your Honours, this case is, put simply, a complete fabrication. Slander even, against my client. Therefore, I move that the case be dismissed."

With those words, the lawyer caused a stir amongst the general public. Scott's Dutch was slightly rusty, but he thought he heard the words for coward and rat thrown about quite a bit. Finally, President Yusuf banged his gavel, "I shall have order!" he called. Once he finally got it, he fixed the lawyer with a withering stare, "Considering that the evidence has been vetted through INTERPOL, and the International Laws are quite clear on these matters, I dismiss your proposal."

The defence lawyer spluttered before sitting back down. Yusuf looked up at where the witnesses sat, concern in his eyes, but eager to get on with it, "If there are no further interruptions, then the Prosecution shall lead with their opening statements."

The prosecuting lawyer stood up, "Thank you, your honour," he began before walking to the front of his desk, "I, John Lothian of Britain, represent the interests of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Federated Republic of Germany, Japan, Russia, Italy, France and Finland in this case," here he paused for a moment to steel himself for the outbursts that were sure to come, "As the prosecution, it is my duty to prove to you that the crimes which Mister Lavrinenko stands accused of were committed by him with full stability of mind. That these crimes breach the laws of Warfare only strengthens our resolve to see this to its conclusion. The amount of evidence is overwhelming and it disgusts me to be of the same species as the perpetrator. I do believe that the evidence will support our statement: that Vladimir Lavrinenko Knowingly and Willingly committed these crimes with the intent for Lord Scott Perkins of Great Britain to be amongst the dead!"

Sitting, they listened to the defence lawyer belittle them before finishing his opening statement with the remark: "Clearly someone is lying here, and it isn't me."

Yusuf looked up at Lothian, "Prosecution may call their first witness," to which he called Scott up to the stand.

After taking the Oath all witnesses would take regarding telling nothing but the truth, Lothian looked at his notes, "Would you, for the record, state your name and titles?"

Scott nodded, "Lord Scott George Perkins GC, former Duke of Norfolk."

Lothian bowed his head slightly in respect for him, "My Lord, would you, in your own words, please tell the story of what happened on the first of March, this year?"

Scott thought for a moment, "With the World War Tournament having started a mere twenty-eight days ago, everyone was getting tense, none of the other teams had been spotted yet and our scouting parties had been suggesting that we were alone for a radius varying between ten and twenty miles. I walked into the command tent to be greeted by Lady Assam with information before I had taken a single sip of my morning cup of tea. Her intelligence had said that Saunders had played the part of Poland circa 1939, for Pravda and Kuromorimine. It was then that we got word that we had spotted a group of infantry that we believed to be an Anzio and Jakasota alliance forces in origin. Wasting little time, I sent out two groups of Armour and Infantry while also ordering our Air Wings to take to the sky, just to be safe."

Lothian nodded, looking at his notes, "I understand that the pilots of your Air Wings failed to obey your orders?"

Scott sighed, "Yes, and I called them out on what I learned later was our General Radio Channel, meaning that everyone heard me rant at them."

Lothian nodded, gesturing for him to continue, "After berating our pilots, I listened with half an ear to the reports from the front until I heard Lady Darjeeling order a fighting withdrawal, knowing that she wouldn't order a withdrawal unless things were dire, I told them to belay the fighting part of their retreat as their reinforcements were at least ten minutes away from them. They managed to turn the battle around without any air cover and, after ordering everyone to return to base and give me figures on losses, I assigned Joshua Hall and Lady Assam onto a simple supply run to the Drop Zone where supplies were being dropped every Sunday and Wednesday."

Here, Scott took a few breathes to calm himself, and, much to his relief, Lothian spoke up, "Where-after you were informed that due to your Air Force not flying the ordered operation, you lost around ten per cent of your ground-based fighting force, is that correct?"

Scott nodded, "That is correct, I then removed the commander of the Air Force from command of combat operations, leaving him as a member of the base guard. It was then, after receiving a health scare, that I got the word that Mister Hall and Lady Assam were missing."

Lothian nodded before looking at his notes, "Let us fast forward to the first of April," he remarked, glossing over the relative inactivity of them searching for their friends, "You were contacted that evening by a member of Ōarai stating that a turncoat had rescued both your members and their commander, what happened after that?"

Scott took a steadying breath, this would be difficult, "Well, after alerting Joshua's brother, Foster Hall, as to what had happened, we reached the predetermined meeting place with minutes to spare. I had the crews of four Matildas, one Churchill VII and the Centurion III with me for my armoured support and fifty infantry under the command of Lieutenant William Wallace of the Highland Academy running overwatch operations for us. We, that is Darjeeling and myself, knew that Miho wouldn't resort to such dirty tactics, but at this point, everyone was tense and flinched at the slightest noise," he remarked before looking down slightly, "I'll admit, at that point, I didn't care how it ended, I just wanted to go home."

Lothian shook his head, "If I was in your position, I have no doubt that I would too, but regardless, what happened?"

"Upon Lady Nishizumi's arrival, she immediately turned over Joshua and Assam to our care," he remarked before gripping the armrests, "It was then that we heard a large explosion and we saw a crater and in a moment after that, a member of my infantry force dragged a member of East High out of the nearby forest, it was then that we noticed that Mister Wallace was missing and it was only after looking closely at a person who was near the explosion that I realized that he had been at the centre of the detonation."

Most of the public gallery gasped at that, while those that hadn't were currently regretting their breakfast choices. But Lothian had to push on, "It was then that a former member of East High informed you that it was probable that his former allies conducted this attack, what did you do?"

Scott shifted in his seat, ready for this, "Between Miho and I, we accumulated about six hundred people and, with the information that Carolus gave us, prepared an assault upon their base," he said before looking up, "Those that surrendered were evacuated as per tournament regulations, bar Lavrinenko, who was kept around as Lady Orange Pekoe had discovered the files you have."

Lothian nodded, "Copies have been given to the Justices for review, please continue."

Scott shrugged, "There's not much left to tell, I ordered, with the agreement of Lady Nishizumi, the termination of Mister Lavrinenko's participation in the tournament; whereafter, it was discovered that we were the only remaining teams on the field."

Lothian nodded, "Wherein Lady Darjeeling and Lady Nishizumi conducted a 'flag tank duel' in order to determine the victor of the tournament. Thank you, My Lord," he remarked before turning to the Justices, "Prosecution yields."

Nodding, Yusef moved his mic in front of him, "The court recognizes the Defense."

The Defense lawyer swaggered up, his body language confusing Scott until the lecherous vermin opened his mouth, "Perkins," he began.

Lothian stood, "Objection! The current witness is a member of the nobility of Great Britain and should be addressed as such!"

Yusef nodded, "Sustained," he said before turning back to the defence, "You will either refer to him as 'My Lord' or 'Lord Perkins' I will not tolerate any further attempts to smear upon the credibility of the witnesses. Consider this your final warning!" he sneered.

The defence seemed to bit his tongue before nodding, "Very well then," he muttered, "Lord Perkins," he began again, clearly sarcastically using Scott's title, "I have it under good authority that you said quote: 'East High has forfeited their last chance for mercy.' did you not?"

Scott internally rolled his eyes, "Considering that I do not give undeserved second chances to murderers and rapists, I stand by my statement, though I reference that all prisoners…"

The defence cut across him, "But you clearly had the intent to ensure that my client would suffer, would you disagree?"

Scott kept his temper in check, though some of the audience were clearly getting riled up, even if he couldn't tell whose side they were on, "I would."

The defence blinked, "You would?"

Scott nodded, "I and Lady Nishizumi decided to completely eliminate the forces of East High from the tournament. That was what I was referring to, nothing more."

The defence seemed to break as he asked, "But you did intend harm towards my client, correct?"

Scott raised an eyebrow, "No, I knew he would be tried by the ICJ so let justice take its course."

The defence just opened and shut his mouth like a fish, prompting Scott to look to the Justices, confusion on his face before Yusef nodded, "That will be all Lord Perkins, thank you for your cooperation."

Scott inclined his head and returned to his seat next to Darjeeling. Lothian continued calling witnesses, first Miho, then Günther, then on and on it went until Rukuriri was the only one left to call. However, considering the lateness of the hour, Yusef adjourned the court for the evening.

Upon their return to the hotel, Scott turned on the TV to see what the world thought about the proceedings. He didn't wait long before a news anchor began reporting on the story, "And now onto our main story of the day and what looks to be a few days yet as the International Court of Justice's president, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf just announced the adjournment of the day's session. Our team of legal analysts join us tonight along with our Chief Political analyst, James Williams, as well as a team on the ground, reporting from the Peace Palace in The Hague. Let's start with Anne's team in The Hague and see what the situation on the ground is. Anne?"

Here the screen flicked to one of the insets showing a young reporter, "Thank you, George," she began, "After the Court was called to session, almost immediately, the Defense Lawyer for Mister Lavrinenko, one John Witfield of the United States, attempted to dismiss the case by claiming that the case was merely slander against his client," she remarked. Scott didn't know much about reporting, but he assumed that one of the first rules would have been about showing anger on camera. As it was, everyone could see that she didn't believe Witfield's argument.

Continuing on after showing Witfield making the case for dismissal and Yusef's rejection, she said: "After they made their opening statements, the Prosecution led by questioning Lord Scott Perkins GC of the United Kingdom, and he had this to say…" they then showed the end of his testimony from the point where he started to talk about the final assault on East High.

Then the original anchor came back, "Thank you, Anne," he said before looking to the camera, "We are now joined by our team of Legal Experts, John Melbourn and Stewart Falcon. John, how did the two sides start off with their opening statements?"

John turned to George, "Well George, to look at them, the Prosecuting Lawyer set the bar quite high as he laid out their case and that they felt confident about their chances."

George nodded, "And what of the defence?"

"Well George, I expected more from them," he remarked, "After all, they are defending against the accusations of committing War Crimes, those are crimes that you just need to be suspected of having committed in order to face punishment and so far, they handed the first day to the Prosecution."

George nodded before turning to the other man there, "Stewart, you've battled in court, what did you make of how the Prosecution handled their witnesses?"

Stewart leaned forward as the network showed video from Darjeeling's testimony next to him, "They handled themselves quite well, they asked clear, concise questions and the witnesses gave as much information as was relevant to the case and never any more. But I think the star of the day was Lord Perkins' handling of the broken record questions from the defence."

George nodded before turning to the camera, "Thank you, Stewart, we turn now to Chief White House Correspondent, Anthony Exeter for the political stances on the matter. Good evening Anthony."

Anthony nodded, "Good Evening George. The White House hasn't officially said anything, but most of the country and people on the Hill have seen the President's Tweet, stating quote: 'Clearly these British and Japanese are trying to slander our GREAT nation. America will NOT give into BULLIES' already, this has caused rumblings as both the British and Japanese Diplomats have withdrawn into private counsel with their governments, the world waiting to see how these two staunchest of America's allies respond."

George nodded, "Thank you, Anthony, in other news, Buckingham Palace confirms that the planned celebrations for the Queen's centenary birthday will go forward, even as rumours swirl that the Queen is preparing for some other celebration."

After hearing that, Scott turned off the TV. It seemed as though most of the world, bar America, was behind them. Though he would soon find out just how far the international community was willing to go…

Well, another chapter in the bag, I can safely say that on the 12th of January, Coat of Arms will come to an end. However, it will not be the end of this series as I do have yet another story for the Boys of Yorkshire planned, if it is a bit down the line. That said, on my Discord channel, after I complete each story, I'm putting a poll up wherein the members of my Discord, and anyone they inform, get to choose my next story. However, I want to cut the number of projects I have that are started down by half before I begin work on the next instalment of Boys of Yorkshire, meaning that after I finish my current project, I have three more to finish before I put the next new story on it.

In case you are wondering, my current story: Valkyria Chronicles: Alliance of Blood and Iron, sits at a comfortable reader base and is looking to be a long fic, perhaps even longer than my current longest story yet, the original Boys of Yorkshire.

Right, Review: bauers374: Actually, April 20 was done for convenience, rather than any significance attached to the date.

Until Next Time: Panzer Vor!