AUTHOR'S NOTES: A short chapter tonight, as I'm getting ready for the new semester and I reached a good stopping point.

This story probably only has a few more chapters left, once the defense calls their witnesses, then the verdict, then the aftermath...and then ORW VI will come to a close. What happens after that? Well, that's up to WB, Crunchyroll, and Rooster Teeth-but like I said before, one way or the other, I will finish this story, God willing and the creek don't rise.

Building 8923 (Judge Advocate General Courtroom)

Fort Presley, North Carolina, United States of Canada

27 September 2001

"Sergeant Vogelmord," Captain Jane Chapel began, "state your whereabouts on 29 August 2001."

Vogelmord didn't answer at first. He glanced down at the rows of ribbons on his dress USAF blues. There were a number there, more than average for a master sergeant. Chapel began to repeat the question, but Vogelmord spoke. "I was working on Captain Rose's F-16. All the enlisted people of the 77th were getting our birds ready for combat air patrols that evening."

"When did you learn that Captain Rose intended to disobey General Ironwood's orders?"

"I didn't."

That brought Chapel up short. "Excuse me, Sergeant?"

"I didn't," Vogelmord repeated.

"I would remind the Sergeant that he is under oath."

"I understand, ma'am, but Captain Rose never said she intended to disobey General Ironwood's orders. Not in my presence."

Chapel was now the one to pause, clearly surprised at his words. "But she gave a speech publicly saying she was committing a mutiny."

"Ma'am," Vogelmord said in the tone of an enlisted man dealing with a slow officer, "she never did that. I don't know where you're getting your information from, ma'am—with respect." Chapel stared at him as if his mustache had started spontaneously curling. "She gave a speech, ma'am, but all she said was that her eight aircraft were moving to Lakenheath, per the general's orders. We were staying at Poznan—the enlisted crews, ma'am. I think we joked about being mutineers, but that was not taken seriously, ma'am."

Chapel walked back to her desk while Yang tried to smother a smile and failed miserably. Forrest looked interested; it wasn't often that Chapel looked flustered, but she did now. She flipped through her notes and brought them forward. "Sergeant Vogelmord, I have sworn testimony from several people there that day, including one Oberfeldwebel Freud." Ruby recognized the name of Weiss' crew chief. "The statements say that a chant began of 'no, no' and 'no, Captain, no, no.' Was that in response to her speech?"

"It was, ma'am, but only because we refused to leave our pilots." Vogelmord sat up a little straighter in the chair. "Ma'am, I don't know how much combat you've seen, but I've seen a lot—both before I met Captain Rose, and during. Some of my people got killed when the White Fang hit Beacon. But those aircraft that the accused and others fly belong to us, ma'am, the crew chiefs, and it's our responsibility to make sure they are in superb shape." He shook his head. "Captain Rose said she was going to Lakenheath. We refused to leave her. So she said she'd try and find transportation from us. That was it, ma'am."

"She never said the word mutiny?"

"No, ma'am. Only that we enlisted people were probably committing it by leaving Poznan and going to Lakenheath with her. I responded that I didn't want some strangers screwing up Crescent Rose or whichever aircraft. I know that F-16—well, knew—inside and out, literally, and I didn't want some lousy slick sleeve to drop a wrench down an intake or fail to secure an AIM-9 correctly. Ma'am," he added quickly.

Chapel checked her testimonies, then looked back up. "So Captain Rose never said she was disobeying orders."

"No, ma'am."

"When did she leave Poznan for Swidwin and the Happy Huntresses?"

"I think the next day, ma'am."

"Why did she do that?"

Vogelmord shrugged. "I don't know, ma'am."

"Do you think General Ironwood was wrong to order her and the other accused out of the theater?"

"Objection," Forrest said, not even getting out of his chair. "Calls for speculation."

"Sustained," Beck agreed.

Ruby glanced at the jury. Some of them were leaning forward, intent on hearing more. Others were smiling—the ones with wings on their uniforms. They clearly had known a few enlisted people like Vogelmord. Chapel gave a minute shake of the head. "No further questions." She walked back to the table.

Beck turned to Forrest. "Would the defense like to cross-examine?"

"No, Your Honor." Forrest knew that Vogelmord had just fired a broadside into Chapel's case, and he wasn't going to give her an opportunity to recover.

"The witness is excused."

"Thank you, sir." Vogelmord got down from the witness stand. He didn't look at Ruby or the others as he walked out, but idly scratched at one of his ribbons. It was the Air Force Commendation Medal that Ruby had put him in for after Beacon. There was a smile on his face.

"The court will recess for one hour," Beck announced. It was lunchtime.

There was a nice park not too far from the courtroom. The rain from earlier had cleared, leaving a partly cloudy sky, and though it was a bit humid, there was a breeze that cooled everything off. The rain left a pleasant smell in the air. They had gotten lunch and were sitting on the lawn. "Nice day out," Yang commented. She munched on fries from the base Burger King. She grinned at Blake. "You see the look on that Jarhead lawyer's face when Sarge said Ruby had never said anything about mutiny? She was freaking out!"

"It definitely helped," Blake agreed. "Forrest got Saunders as well."

"You think we're doing okay?" Oscar asked.

"Hell yeah!" Yang exulted. "We're gonna beat this." She devoured a few more fries. "How about you, Rubes?" Ruby didn't answer, just stared at her Whopper. The other three shared a look, instant concern on their faces. All of them remembered Ruby's meltdown. "Ruby?" Yang asked.

"Huh?" Ruby shook herself. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah," Yang said gently. "I said we're gonna beat this."

"Oh…sure."

Oscar got up and walked to her side. So did Yang. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. I mean…we're doing good on the trial, but it's just gotten me thinking…" Ruby looked up at them. "I never apologized to you for what I said at Silac. When I chewed all of you out." Her eyes went back to her hamburger again. "I shouldn't have said those things."

"Actually," Yang said, "I think you did apologize…but you were still coming out of the kerasine, so maybe you don't remember."

"Yeah, I guess." Ruby sighed. "I…I really haven't been a good leader, folks. I got us into this."

Blake got up and walked over. "That's not true, Ruby. We all went along with this. Sure, some of us were more reluctant than others, but we did it. We all agreed, because it was the right thing to do."

"I hope so," Ruby said. She looked up and saw Forrest walking towards them. She started to get up, but he waved them down. He held up some papers. "From the prosecutor. Chapel wants to put the three of you on the stand." He pointed to Yang, Blake and Oscar.

"Is that a problem?" Blake asked.

"It's unusual…and risky, for both sides. You could get up there and torpedo her case even more, or screw up our case. It depends on what you say." Forrest showed them the written request. "I think Chapel had this in reserve, in case she needed it, but she's not doing too well. Sergeant Vogelmord caught her by surprise—I think she expected him to say that Ruby called everyone to mutiny, and then he testifies that you were going to leave Poland peacefully."

"Didn't she do any research?" Yang reached out and grabbed her fries.

"She did. I know Jane Chapel. But I wonder if someone gave her bad information." He scanned the paper again. "Anyway, this is kind of a Hail Mary play. I think if the jury ruled this afternoon, you stand a good chance of being acquitted."

Yang smirked. "Well, hell, Commander, let's finish her off."

Forrest reached over and stole some of her fries. "It's dangerous, Yang. You say the wrong thing, and the jury will remember it. This is why this is unusual. A defendant can just take the Fifth. That's bad for both sides—it makes the prosecution look bad for wasting everyone's time, but it also makes the defendant look like they have something to hide."

"But that's not true," Oscar said. "Taking the Fifth just means you don't want to incriminate yourself. It doesn't mean you have something to hide."

"In a perfect world, yes, Oscar," Forrest agreed. "But remember that the jury in there—most of their experience with courtrooms comes from watching it on TV. Someone gets on the stand and says 'I invoke my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States against self-incrimination,' they remember all the episodes of Law and Order where someone did that because they're the real killer or whatever. Legally, all it means is that you don't want to get yourself in trouble, but human nature is human nature."

"Yeah," Ruby grumbled. "We're learning a lot about that."

"Well, it's up to you." Forrest put his hands behind his back. "Technically, Chapel can force you to take the stand, but it's considered unethical and it'll piss off Judge Beck; she could get a nice letter of counseling from him. That's why she came to me first. You have the right to tell her to go to hell, and she'll accept that, because she doesn't want to get in trouble with the judge. Or you can accept and take the stand. Maybe we wreck her case more, but…maybe we don't." He shrugged. "I can also ask the judge for a continuance of a day to give you some time to think about it. I've already filed one because one of my witnesses is having trouble arranging transport—or he's dragging his feet."

"Which one?" Yang asked.

"Victor March, Ironwood's JAG officer."

"Why him?" Ruby wanted to know. "What good does he do?"

Forrest looked down at her. "If I can get him to admit this is mostly political bullshit—a witch hunt for a scapegoat that doesn't exist—then we win. That jury will want to crucify him, not you, for trying to nail four heroic fighter pilots because he's mad that Ironwood got killed, or worse, because Senator Brighton is twisting the screws on him. I think I can do that." Ruby noticed something cross Forrest's face, something that looked like shame. She had seen it on her own face enough to recognize it. Then it was gone, and he had his trial face on again.

"Why isn't Chapel calling me to the stand?" Ruby handed her hamburger to Yang. "Not hungry."

"I thought you knew, Ruby," Forrest said. "You're my star witness."

They finished lunch and walked back together. Yang and Blake agreed to go on the stand; Oscar refused, and said if Chapel called him anyway he'd take his chances with invoking the Fifth Amendment. Once back in the courtroom, Chapel and Forrest went up to Beck to present their respective cases for the new witnesses. Weiss had not joined her friends—she was not allowed to while the trial was on—but she met Ruby's eyes and quickly raised her hands. They were clasped together in prayer. Keep the faith, she mouthed, but then the jury filed in and the trial was back into session.

Beck turned and addressed the jury. "The prosecution has filed a motion to call Captain Xiao Long, Captain Belladonna, and Ensign Pine to the stand as witnesses for the prosecution. Both Captains Xiao Long and Belladonna have agreed. Ensign Pine has not. This should in no way reflect on him or his guilt or innocence, as the defendant has the right to refuse to incriminate himself." He nodded to Chapel. "You may resume, Captain."

Yang was called first, and she took the oath with her right hand raised, the artificial one. She stole a quick glance at the jury; several of them seemed visibly startled by it. When she sat, she rested the metal hand on her real one, keeping it in sight. Yeah, she thought, go ahead, Miss Clean Marine. Go ahead and try and come after someone who literally gave her right hand for her country.

Chapel once more resumed her spot in front of the witness box. "Captain Xiao Long, Sergeant Vogelmord has testified that there was no speech about mutiny. Yet you and the others stand accused of it. Did you or did you not leave Poznan for Swidwin in direct contravention of your orders to proceed to RAF Lakenheath?"

Yang wished she hadn't thought what she had, because Chapel was indeed coming after her, hard. Her rear end came up slightly from the chair, the same way it would if a GRIMM dropped in behind her in combat. "Yes, we did," she answered.

"And this was after Ruby gave her speech about leaving for Lakenheath?"

"Yes."

Chapel gave her a nod. "Was there a specific time you came to this decision?"

"No," Yang answered. "It was actually kind of spontaneous."

A raised eyebrow. "All right, Captain. I'll ask you the same question I asked Hauptmann Schnee. Did you disobey a direct order?"

"Yes, but there were reasons. There were—"

Chapel didn't wait for her to finish. "Was the order given by a legitimate authority?"

"No," Yang said firmly. Cut me off, bitch.

"No?" Both eyebrows went up this time.

"No," Yang repeated, louder this time. "General Ironwood was tired, stressed, and he'd just been shot. I don't think he was in his right mind, and therefore I believe it was an unlawful order. And we're taught from basic on up that we don't obey unlawful orders." She remembered what she had thrown in Winter Schnee's face about Auschwitz. She regretted saying it to Winter, but it might be useful now. "We're not the Germans in World War II."

"I see." Chapel still did not move, rooted to her spot. It was unnerving, and Yang knew that was exactly the effect the Marine woman was trying to employ. "Are you an expert on combat fatigue, Captain?"

"Well, ma'am, it's like the man said about porn: I know it when I see it." That brought some chuckles from the jury, and even Chapel's mouth briefly quirked into a smile.

"And how do you know it?" the prosecutor asked.

Yang raised her metal hand. "No one asked me to make big decisions when I was sitting in bed with a new arm. Ironwood had been shot in the shoulder, and he was obviously in pain." She spread her hands. "Ma'am, we all saw it. I had nothing against Ironwood—I still don't." That was a bit of a lie. "But he just looked exhausted. So I—we—didn't think he was in his right mind."

"Rather convenient for you," Chapel stated.

"Objection!" Forrest stood. "Argumentative. The prosecution is making a statement, not asking a question."

"Sustained," Beck said.

"I withdraw the statement." Chapel returned her attention to Yang. "Let's leave off for a moment whether or not the general was in or not in his right mind. Do you believe that his punishment was just?"

"No, I think it was crazy," Yang replied.

"How so?"

"Look…we knew Salem was going to come after us. The ceasefire was already just about up. Hell, her bunch attacked us at Poznan not even twenty minutes after Ruby made her speech—when Penny Polendina and Ensign Pine were shot. We were the eight best pilots in Europe, and Iron—General Ironwood was pulling us out. It makes no sense!"

"But you stand accused of lying to a superior officer about what you told Robyn Hill," Chapel pointed out.

"Sure," Yang said, wondering if she had just incriminated herself, "but that was pretty small potatoes. He put me and Blake in hack for it, and Robyn knew about the Commando Solo anyway. So because of all of that, because he got pissed off, he was going to take his eight best out and send us to Lakenheath, or here in the States? That's not just cutting off your nose to spite your face, ma'am, that's cutting off your dick right before you have sex."

That brought more snickers. Beck leaned over towards Yang. "Captain Xiao Long, comport yourself as an officer and a lady, please."

"Yes, sir. My apologies, sir."

"One last question, Captain," Chapel said. "Why do you think Ironwood even gave the order in the first place?"

"Objection," Forrest said. "Calls for speculation."

"Sustained—" Beck began.

Yang raised her hand. "Your Honor, I'd like to answer the question, actually. Can I do that?"

Beck nodded. "You may."

Yang leaned forward a bit, fixing Chapel's eyes with her own. "He was lashing out at us because he couldn't get at Salem. Ironwood needed a target that he could hurt, and we were it."

Chapel didn't blink, and once more Yang wondered if she had just hurt them more than she'd helped. "No further questions." She about-faced and returned to the prosecution's table.

"Defense?" Beck looked to Forrest.

"Defense chooses not to cross-examine, but reserves the right to call the witness back," Forrest said.

"Understood. You may sit, Captain Xiao Long."

Yang got up and walked back to the defendants' seats. She smiled at them. "How did I do?" she whispered, as Chapel shuffled some papers. Forrest waggled his hand—so-so. Yang's heart sank. "Oh shit."

"You did good, Yang," Ruby whispered back. She hoped it was true.

"The government calls Captain Blake Belladonna to the stand," Chapel said.

Blake took the oath crisply, snapping out the words. When she sat, she sat up straight, almost at attention, her hands on her thighs. She determined to do the same thing that she had in both basic training and officers' candidate school: treat Chapel like her drill instructors. She noticed that the jruy was definitely interested in two Marine women going head to head.

Chapel once more assumed her position. "Captain Belladonna. Did you disobey a direct order from a lawful authority?"

"Yes, ma'am," Blake nearly barked.

"Do you believe there were mitigating circumstances?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Explain." Chapel was falling into the routine as well, rapping out her requests as Blake did her answers.

"Ma'am. As Captain Xiao Long said, the general was not in his right mind, ma'am."

"How so?"

"Ma'am! He was tired and stressed, ma'am!"

"Explain!" Both their voices were raised now-not in anger, but in the roles they were suddenly playing.

Beck cleared his throat. "Ladies," he said with a smile. "Relax. Captain Chapel, you're not a DI at Parris Island, and Captain Belladonna, you're not a cadet who just got found with dirty fingernails."

Chapel actually smiled, as did Blake, who sat back a little. "Yes, sir," Chapel answered for both of them. "Captain, do you think being stressed and tired disqualifies an officer from giving orders?"

"No, ma'am; I do not. However, I do think that when an order is given under such circumstances, it must be considered. If I may explain…" Chapel gave her a have-at-it gesture. "If you're under fire and your colonel tells you to take a hill, even though he's stressed and tired, that's a legitimate order and you should obey it. If you're being told to leave a combat zone because of a minor infraction, with your superior telling you in one sentence that you're going to be court-martialed, and in the next being told that he's sending letters of commendation along to avoid such a fate, you're left feeling confused and not sure what your superior's state of mind is."

"And what authority—let me rephrase the question," Chapel said. "Do you consider yourself qualified to make that decision, Captain?"

"Yes, ma'am; I do. I am a Marine officer. I have been in combat continually since April 2001. I myself have been under extreme stress. After I saw my friend, Captain Xiao Long, have her hand blown off and I was forced to land my aircraft to save her life with a tourniquet…I seriously considered leaving the battlefield. I didn't, but I was afraid, desperately so. To have seen a friend so broken and hurt…and to know…you had something to do with that…" Blake was surprised at herself, as her façade of the sharp Marine officer began to come apart. She remembered Yang lying in her parachute, the stump of her arm weakly spurting more blood in a ground already saturated with it, her friend's face pale and waxy. She remembered Adam Taurus' taunts that she would run. In her mind's eye, she saw first Yang's F-15 disintegrate, then Adam's Moonslice hit the water, then Yang's F-23 disappear into its lake.

Chapel clearly wanted to ask what Blake had to do with Yang's injury, but restrained herself. More to Blake's surprise, the other woman's own façade of the tough Marine lawyer had broken a little. Her eyes flicked to the Navy Cross atop Blake's impressive row of ribbons; she had already seen Yang's Purple Heart. "Do you need a moment, Captain?" she asked gently.

Blake took a deep breath. "No, ma'am. I apologize for my lapse."

"No apologies necessary, Captain." Chapel paused. "Captain Belladonna, a final question. Have you considered that you yourself may have been stressed and fatigued on 29 August 2001?"

Blake was silent for a moment. "We all were," she admitted.

"All, as in the 77th squadron, or all as in everyone in that tent?"

"Everyone," Blake said.

Chapel nodded. "No further questions, Your Honor."

"The defense has no further questions either," Forrest said after Beck's prompt. Once excused, Blake got up and walked slowly back to the defendants' seats, her head down, one ear twitching. She sat down and put her head in her hands. She felt Yang's warm, real hand on her back, but she didn't acknowledge it. I've killed us, she thought bitterly. I've killed us. She heard Adam's mocking laughter in her mind.

Chapel checked her papers, then faced the judge. "Your Honor, the government rests."

"Very well." Beck looked to the jury. "The defense has filed a 24-hour continuance due to his first witness being delayed by travel issues from Europe. I'm going to extend that out to next Monday, so we can all enjoy a long weekend. The defendants are not confined to base, but are not allowed to speak to anyone outside this room." He nodded to Weiss, who smiled back. She at least could talk to them now. "Court will reconvene here at 0800 hours on Monday, October 1."

AUTHOR'S ADDITIONAL NOTES: In reality, Chapel suddenly calling in witnesses would never happen; Judge Beck would either refuse it or give Forrest a few days to consider it. That's my fault: I had already written out that Yang and Blake would go on the stand for the prosecution, before I realized that it opens up a defendant to incriminate themselves. Since to drop them meant I wrote myself into a corner, I came up with Chapel's surprise witness request. This is why I'm a historian, not a lawyer! I also originally had Harriet taking the stand against Ruby Flight, but she contributed nothing to the story (other than turning Harriet into a punching bag), so I dropped her out.

The next chapter will be a small break from the courtroom action; I want to do some character building with Ruby. There's still some unresolved things...