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The Trial of Darth Vader

Chapter 7

"All rise," Trugg ordered as Ulic came into the room.

Ulic sat down at the bench and motioned for everyone to do the same. "This hearing to determine the fate of Anakin Skywalker. Court shall now come to order. Counsellor Ahtze, do you have any questions for the witness?"

"I do, your honor."

"Very well. Admiral Greelanx, if you would please return to the witness stand?"

Ulic didn't have to ask Greelanx to return to the stand as he was already approaching it as soon as he heard that Tristain still intended to question him. Nor did he get a chance to remind him he was still under oath. Greelanx sat down and immediatly propped his feet up on the railing to the witness stand as he leaned back in his seat and announced to the court that he was still under oath.

"The witness will also show this court the respect it deserves and conduct himself with the proper dignity and decorum expected of an individual of his rank and status," Ulic reprimanded Greelanx. He immediately did as he was told.

"Admiral, isn't it true that you were hired to loose the battle?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Come now, Admiral, this acting coy doesn't become you. Or do you really need to be reminded of your meeting with that smuggler."

"No, that won't be necessary." Greelanx gave a defeated sigh. Anakin realized that Greelax had deliberately tried to refuse answering because he wanted to see him banished for killing him.

"Then if you would be so kind as to answer the question."

"The Hutt's sent an envoy to buy me off. I gave him my battle plans and he told me to follow the plans and withdraw my squadron when I felt it justifiable. Hardly a consideration considering my orders."

"Hardly, you say. Indeed, you'd received the Excomm orders just before the Hutt bribe. There was no need to provide your battle plans, you could have shown up and surprised the smugglers, let them get lucky enough to maybe take out a part of your squadron. The Hutt bribe would have fit in well with those orders without supplying your plans."

"True, but then I would have looked like I was someone who could be easily bought."

"Excuse me, Admiral, but isn't that what occurred when you gave them your plans?"

"Well, I suppose you could look at it that way."

"Even if you're already planning to loose, was selling your battle plans without amending them afterwards the way things were done in the Imperial Navy?"

"No, certainly not. For starters, we never planned to loose any battle we were to fight. Though my Excomm orders were contradictory to the way things were run, of course. If we were to sell our own plans to the enemy, we'd sell them fake plans, or amend the plan afterwards to ensure our enemy was still unprepared for what we threw at them."

"Yet you failed to do so. You had orders that said you were to loose and then came the bribe. Wasn't there any other way you could have allowed your plans to fall into your opponents hands?"

"I suppose I could have accidentally left a copy of them someplace where the Hutt's envoy could have swiped them. That way I would have been able to say that I had not given them the plans."

"And yet you allowed yourself to be bought. You sold the Hutts the plans and never changed them."

"I had orders to loose the battle. Selling my battle plans to the Hutts was a way to allow me to follow those orders without looking incompetent."

"Yes, it all comes down to your Excomm orders, doesn't it.

"You're honor, the defense has already made it plain that the witness allowed himself to be bought so as to carry through on his orders. Is their a point to this line of questioning?"

"You're honor, if you would allow me to continue, I'm sure the court will see my point soon enough," Tristain asked as she turned to face Ulic.

"Make it quick, counselor."

"Of course." Tristain turned back to the witness. "Admiral, according to Imperial law, how is a traitor in the Imperial Military supposed to dealt with.

"Objection, is the defense now claiming that the witness is a traitor for allowing himself to be bought despite the fact that he already had orders to loose?"

"You're honor, I assure the court that this is an important question."

"Objection overruled. This had better be a damn important question, counselor as the court is beginning to wonder if you actually have anything to contribute to your client's defense by questioning the witness or if you are just stalling for time."

"Please answer the question, Admiral," Tristain said.

"If it was felt that information could be extracted from them, then a suspected traitor would be arrested and held for questioning. If not, then according to Imperial law 11432-17 section III paragraph c they were to be executed as soon as possible for their acts of treason."

"Were you aware that at the time you were issued you're orders that the Empire suspected that there had been a traitor to the Empire who managed to have an agent infiltrate Excomm and dispatch orders that went against those the Empire itself was issuing?"

Greelanx's face began to go white as what she was saying sank in. "No. But my orders came from Excomm. I wasn't in league with these traitors. I could merely say that I'd received my orders and that I didn't know that it had been traitors who sent them.

"And I suppose you were also familiar with order Sigma Alpha-001-Nu-020?"

"Yes," Greelanx said, defeated. "It said that if we were to recieve orders from Excomm to loose a battle, that we send confirmation of reception as soon as possible. But the Excomm answered directly to the Emperor or the defendant. I had assumed that the defendant had temporarily abolished that order when I received my Excomm orders."

"And is it possible that the traitor had managed to learn of the Hutt's buying you off and leaked that info as well so as to make you look as if you were in league with them?"

"Yes."

"Would it thus be easy for you to assume that the defendant, and possibly even the Emperor himself, felt that there was nothing to be gained from questioning you?"

"If they had managed to get the traitor and he or she had claimed I was in league with them, filling them in on my real and supposed activities, then yes, under the aforementioned Imperial law I would have been sentenced to immediate execution. Even if the traitor had not been captured but had merely implicated me to the point where questioning me would have been pointless my execution notice would already have been signed.

"Thank you, Admiral. You have been most helpful."