Author's Note: Another Update, this time on Saturday. This story has been flowing slowly for me. Writing a trial is not easy for me. But the end results I think will be worth the exercise. A Special thank you to Wispr for the reviews. Its a huge incentive for me to keep writing and releasing this story knowing I have people who are interested in it. I apologize for the author's note in Chapter 15. I didn't mean to give it away too much. I'm just excited to see where this is going.
The world was silent around her. As quiet as death itself. She smelled the acrid hint of smoke from a wildfire that torched in the distance. She breathed in and the energizing feeling that near totally pure oxygen gave her drifted in to her very being, but it did nothing to steady her nerves. All around her vegetation had reclaimed the world. As she looked about her the ugly twists and tangles of leaves and vines encroached on ever facet of stone and steel. Their greedy tendrils snaking across the path where she walked.
This is Mine! Was their silent yell.
She continued forward through a twisted alley. Her hands roving over engravings and scratches.
No Hope - was their message.
Doom - their voice.
A rustle came from behind and she threw her glance back to see, but only the empty rented path lay behind her, and she continued on. The orange and red sky above her had started to fill with towers of pain and light shrieked down. It's crash deafening. Her pace quickened, but the storm continued to build. The walls of the alley began to press in around her, the plants reaching out like the hands of the undead to claim the trespasser.
Another flash of anger and shriek of thunder cascaded down and she fell to her knees. She looked up and her eyes beheld a statue, or was it a corpse? She did not know. The vines roped around it's neck, the visages 'eyes' gazing on her.
"Butcher..." A low growl whispered.
She looked around but again saw no one. Nothing. She looked up at the sculpture as it still sat motionless.
The world went blank white followed by another sonic boom. The ground shook below her. The angry mass twisted above her in the sky.
She pushed herself up and started running to where she didn't know, but she knew she was close. The sweet smell of the sea filled her nostrils. As she ran further the sound of the crashing waves greeted her.
She came to a grinding halt and looked out to the horizon. The sea churned and swirled with wonton desire. A stark hunger that could never be filled. Abandoned spires rose out from the see like necropoli. The waves lapping feverishly at their bases, demanding their fall and surrender to the deep.
As she drew closer to the cliffs edge she saw a simple panel before her. She knew what would happen when she pressed the switch. She had done it before. Bahak. Her simple action had spelled doom for many then as it would later. So what did it matter if she did it again? What would another planet matter, especially one that was already dead?
The switch called to her. It spoke to her seductively, telling her it was the only way. That this time it would all be over. It would end. Her hand reached for it like a child reaching for an apple or a door knob.
No!...NO! She screamed, but she had no will over her own hand. The button was pushed, and the end would come. But instead of a burst of light and sound, all went deaf around her as the sky darkened further and the clashes of light increased. Yet not a noise could be heard.
"Silence, the Grim Reaper's call. The tone that closes call..."
El'Jaid froze.
"Whether given by foe or friend, or as words to mend. The hand is clocked; death's hour struck. Silence closes all, the Grim Reaper's call."
She turned around and before her stood Ashley Williams. Her armor was a pristine white with pink trim. Her skin a pale white, and her lips a bloody red. But her eyes were as black as midnight, her hair the color of jet.
El'Jaid recoiled back, drawing closer to the clift's edge and Ashley pressed in forward. She was close enough that El'Jaid should have felt her breath, but she felt nothing come from the ghost before her.
"Apostate." Ashley said, her voice ethereal. "Apostate of friends. Apostate of Trust. Apostate of Words."
El'Jaid's mouth was dry, her throat felt as if it was filled with sand. Her mind raced through every conceivable reply. Every answer to the gnawing question that she read on Ashley's deathly lips.
Why didn't you come back for me?
Ashley pressed closer. Her eyes of oblivion saying nothing, speaking nothing, but a cold cruel silence. The flashes of light intensified and the sea below had grown to be a tempest, but still all was silent.
El'Jaid's heart was racing. She was cornered with no way out. Ashley stood before her, the vast angry sea below her. Even the scornful sky above refused her any reprieve.
Then all went black and she felt a hand shove against her chest. The last thing she remembered was feeling her feet leave the ledge's edge and the sickening feeling that she was falling.
[][][][][]
El'Jaid was shocked to the waking world by the screeching groan of her cell door.
What time is it? What day is it? She wondered, as she swung her legs off of the hard cell cot. Her orange jumpsuit was soiled with sweat and grime, her hair oily and unkept. She felt grungy but at the same time she didn't care how she looked any more.
Two C-Sec guards stood in the door way fully clad in heavy armor and armed with assault rifles.
"Lets go." One of them said.
So this is it. She mused as she got up and moved forward, her feet still wearing the painfully thin orange flip flops.
The door to the solitary confinement cell groaned shut as she fell in step behind one of her guards, the other following close behind.
The long walk to a short end. Her mind stated with the tone of the void.
She Looked down at her untarnished bracelet. I'm sorry I can't keep this promise, but a dead woman's love is not of any good.
Onward they walked to a waiting elevator. She looked about the cold uninviting tube as it steadily rose upward. Hr mind trying to piece together some kind of defense. But in the end she could not grasp the breadth of her charges. She could do nothing to stem the feeling of emptiness that stood to engulf her.
Angel, I wish I could just see you again, to hold you again.
As the elevator passed up through C-Sec headquarters El'Jaid peered out the window in to the atrium. As she looked out below, gone was the orderly controlled scene she had known C-Sec to be in the past. It was now replaced by calamity. The tapestries that once hung from the walls had been torn down, some of the trees that lined the atrium's walls had been uprooted, and the sheer number of people was astonishing, even for such an area of the atrium's size. C-Sec Agents were arguing with citizens, taking people away in handcuffs, or were seen holding back protesters who flew signs and flags with slogans such as, Death to the Butcher!...or Free the Savior! As the elevator rose higher El'Jaid saw smoke pouring from offices, their windows shattered.
"Never have I seen so much chaos over one person." One of her guards spoke.
El'Jaid gave him a quizzical look. He returned her gaze, with almost a reverence in his eyes. His compatriot threw him a scowl and he quickly looked away.
Council trials are never publicized. What is going on? El'Jaid wondered.
As the elevator continued to rise, it passed the docking platforms for the Skycars and shuttles. She had been expecting to be tried in person by the Council, Where am I being taken to now?
As the elevator rose up past the shuttle platform El'Jaid caught a glimpse of the Capitol below. Her eyes were wide by the spectacle she held. The sky was bronzed with smoke, fires were seen burning as far across the city as she could see. Masses of people were in the streets or on building tops. The city had gone mad.
By the Goddess. What is happening?
The doors silently opened out she walked with her escort. As they passed down the hall she coughed at the acrid smell that snaked through the corridor, tell tale signs that fires were still burning within C-Sec. As they rounded a corner El'Jaid saw two identical guards to her own standing side by side in front of a door way.
So I'm to be tried by holoprojector. Well at least the Council is predictable... She mused sourly.
The two gate keepers parted each to a side. Her own escort standing behind her barring her escape down the path that she had come.
There is never going back...
"Inside." Said one of the gate keepers, and the door opened to her like a hungry demon.
El'Jaid stepped inside and the door slammed close with a hiss. The room was a light cream color and in front of her was a blank wall.
"Shepard, please, take a seat." Came a warm welcoming voice.
El'Jaid looked to her right and seated at a short table was an impeccably dressed woman. Her raven hair was pulled back by a simple back comb. She wore a light shade of lipstick, and no jewelry. Her earthen face wearing the look that spoke both friend and business all at once. She was dressed in a black business suite with a white blouse and black short heels adding the finishing touches to her feet.
"Gianna?" El'Jaid said aghast. She rushed forward to shake her hand.
"Good to see you too Shepard. Wish it was under better circumstances." Gianna gave her a look over. "You look like hell."
El'Jaid gave her a broad smile, but she was still having a hard time processing the vents that she just happened. "How? Why are you...What's going on?" She finally let out as she sank down in to the seat opposite of Gianna.
"You have caused quite the uproar. In the past twenty four hours, the entire Galaxy has practically descended on Esthasia. What else could the Council have expected when they decided to the Galaxy's most famous, or to some people infamous, Specter on a public trial." A smug smile tugged at Gianna's mouth.
"A public trial...but I thought I was going to be a tried by the Council." El'Jaid said wide eyed.
"Humm, well I guess plans change..." Gianna said. "...and I will be your legal representative."
El'Jaid shook her head. This has to be a dream... "But I thought you were just a cop for Novearia."
Gianna gave El'Jaid a coy smile. "An important stock holder asked the Board that I be your representative. As far as me being your legal representative; every Internal Affairs Agent on Noveria has to understand how every law works, especially Council law. That helps keep Noveria in the free and gray. As such, every Internal Affairs Agent has to be able to practice Council Law."
El'Jaid's mouth was open in surprise. She didn't know what to say.
Gianna opened her terminal at the desk and looked over the screen. 'So your being charged with 'High Crimes Against Galactic Society, and Genocide against Humanity.' Humph...The Council certainly didn't try using a broad paintbrush there did they..." Gianna mocked as she typed commands in to the terminal. El'Jaid just peered on listening.
"The first charge should be thrown out due to technicality, but since that won't happen we will just have to roll with it."
"Do you know what they could be trying to get at?" El'Jaid asked.
"No clue, maybe they're just pissed at some graffiti you did." Gianna retorted, and El'Jaid couldn't help but give out a snort.
"The second charge is what concerns me..." Gianna said.
"Why's that?" El'Jaid wondered.
Gianna looked up at her, and gave her a serious look. "Well first off its the nature of the charge, Genocide."
El'Jaid looked down at the steel table in front of them. Genocide... she repeated in her head. She had given so much thought to the meaning of the word, but it was so vast in thought and so horrendous in meaning that no coherent representation of an image rose in her mind. Earth...How do you balance billions of lives for the sake of trillions? Both are numbers to large for me to even put an image to...
"Second is that Council law really does not define Genocide very well." Gianna said intruding in on El'Jaid's thought.
"How's that?" El'Jaid asked.
"Well in the first part, it would have to be proven that the person, or people committing Genocide, were doing it for their own personal gain or goals, not defense. It was not considered Genocide when the Council wiped out the Rachni when they did. It was seen in the eyes of Council law as an act of defense for the war."
"That's convenient..." El'Jaid scowled.
"The second part is that Genocide can't be committed by a member of the 'targeted' people. For example, if a Volus from a specific clan decimates his entire clan, even if it was for personal gain, it would still be only seen as Mass Murder, not Genocide, because the Volus was from the same clan." Gianna said peering over more of her terminal.
"Wha...wait, what is the difference between Mass Murder and Genocide?" El'Jaid asked in disbelief.
Gianna give her a wicked smile. "In reality very little, yet in the eyes of Council Law everything. Normally the Council does not use the death penalty, even in cases of Mass Murder. But Genocide is a mandatory death penalty charge."
"That's comforting..." El'Jaid said jokingly.
"Well unless your a Batarian masquerading around in a human body, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Worst case is that the charge is dropped down to Mass murder, best case is that its thrown out because the prosecution doesn't know what the hell they are doing."
"Great." El'Jaid said teasingly. "So where do we go from here Gianna?"
"I want to get that first charge nailed. Its too broad, but the Prosecution is going to try to use that to their advantage. " She tilted her head towards the far end of the room where two cots sat. "We have at most a day and a half before the trial starts. I need to know everything about you for your defense and defend you against the witnesses the Council will call. So I think its best if we start at the beginning..."
"Wait a second. Can't you call witnesses?" El'Jaid asked.
Gianna scowled. "No. In the eyes of the law, technically your already guilty Shepard. That is how Council law works. The Prosecution now has to try to prove your guilt. Now with that said I already have the names of the witnesses that the Council will call. I can still question them, but beyond that the Prosecution leads in this little waltz."
El'Jaid closed her eyes in frustration.
"But that is the silver lining. If the prosecution fails to prove your guilt, your a free woman." Gianna said reassuringly.
"Alright..." El'Jaid exhaled as she sat back in to her seat knowing this would take a while. She relaxed in what seemed like the first time in an age, and began to talk with Gianna like she was reacquainting herself with an old friend. "I was a colony kid and my homeworld was Mindoir..."