Chapter 41: Names
The Ocelotians did arrive the next morning. However, whatever business they needed to get done with Chief Bogo and the ZIA, it took the entire day. So long in fact, that between their arrival and the meetings getting to a close, a full shift had gone and gone.
Judy was staring at her microwaving dinner when the phone rang. Despite Nick's endless teasing over her eating habits, one thing her tiny shoe-box of an apartment didn't allow for was for any sort of kitchen appliances other than the single microwave on her table.
And with one glance at who was calling, and the half-second conversation with the Chief that followed, she did feel vindicated over her choice of dinner that allowed her to inhale it on the subway ride right back to the station where she had come from. It wasn't like this was the first time she had to rush back to work even after thinking that she was done for the day.
If anything, the only odd thing about now was that Bogo made sure to let her know that he wasn't going to tolerate waiting on her to change back to a police uniform, which meant that she walked into the precinct building in her civilian sweats.
Heading straight to Bogo's office, she was greeted by an annoyed looking Nick, still in his own uniform, and an equally befuddled James, who like her, had also found the time to get into casual wear.
Which meant that Nick was instantly able to take the opportunity to break into a proud smirk. "Never thought I'd be the one to catch you out of uniform, Carrots!" he teased. "Nagging Wolfy about it here was starting to get old, I'm afraid. So glad you showed up to make my evening even better!"
Judy rolled her eyes. "All three of us know I don't show up here like this unless I have a good reason to. Why aren't you inside Bogo's office?"
"Because we're not going to Bogo's office," James grunted. "Not right away at least. Now that you're here, we need to go and grab the pilots. Then, we go inside the office." Taking the lead, he guided them down to the room that served as Count's and Trigger's sleeping quarters.
Count was absentmindedly reading a loaned book, while Trigger simply lay backwards on his bed, silently staring at the ceiling. At least the smaller pilot had been able to find a shirt more his size than the one they put him in the night before.
"Come to take us over to the firing squad?" Count asked, setting the book down. "I supposed you're only doing your jobs though, so it won't be fair to be angry at you, would it?"
Judy frowned at his tone. Was he aware of something that she wasn't. "I wish you wouldn't talk like that. We don't actually know what will be done," she said. "Are you going to make it difficult, or will you behave?"
"I'll behave as long as I have a reason to," Count scoffed. "So for now? Sure. But no promises. Come on, Trig. Let's get to it." He helped the smaller pilot off the bed, guiding Trigger along despite the numb motions from the latter.
The walk back to Bogo's office was as awkward as could be, but luckily it didn't take too long. James didn't even bother knocking on the door when they got to it, just opening it and motioning everyone through without a word.
If Bogo's office was normally full with just a few officers inside, now it was downright filled, if only from the tense hanging inside.
As expected, it wasn't just Jack Savage and Skye Winters in there, but a pair of new mammals in there too, a deer like Count sporting the camo fatigues of the Ocelotian military, while the squirrel occupying a tall stool was dressed in a simple civilian business suit. If the squirrel had the decency to look relieved to see the two pilots walk in, the same couldn't be said same thing about his college, who glared at the two with raw disdain for the two of them, but especially at Trigger.
"Well…" The deer gritted his teeth as he spoke. "I finally meet the fraudster-" this he spoke to Count, "and the murderer. Especially you, murderer, you caused us a lot of trouble with that little stunt of yours. Both of your records speak for themselves about your ability to follow orders, but while I'm here cleaning up your mess, you will recognize that as a colonel, I outrank the both of you combined, and you will address me as such." He tapped the insignia on his uniform, and the name tag on his chest. "Colonel Silva. But out of you, I only want to hear sir. Am I understood?"
While both pilots stood up straight in attention, it was only Count who answered back. "Yes sir." There was no hiding his own disdain at being ordered around.
Which, having found an empty chair to occupy next to Jack, Judy couldn't argue all that much against. She wasn't OADF, and this guy was already getting on her nerves.
Especially when he turned his attention to Trigger. "I didn't hear you, murderer."
Trigger stiffened even further. "Yes sir." While his own answer was barely more than a whisper, it was enough for the colonel to back off with a grunt not unlike Chief Bogo would give.
"I'm civilian, name's David Bishopine" the squirrel piped up. "No rank, but I'm OIA. Have been working with Savage and Winters here for… ever since that transport was shot down, really. First time in Zootopia though, if I'll be honest." He sounded rather nervous, but that could easily be chalked down to being the smallest person in the room if he wasn't already used to this sort of thing. "Uhh-" he watched Count and Trigger. "Why not take a seat? There's two right there…" He was speaking to the two seats reserved for the pilots right in front of Bog's desk.
"Didn't you hear him?" Colonel Silva was clearly taking a delight in ordering the two around. "Take a seat." Wordlessly and efficiently, the two pilots sat down before they can do something else to get on his nerve.
"And the rest of us are all familiar with each other," Bogo spoke up. "These are the officers that were responsible with apprehending the pilots and keeping them here with the ZPD, as per the agreement Animalia and Ocelotia created in terms of not sending them somewhere more permanent."
"A responsibility that you failed at, Chief Bogo," Silva pointed out sternly. "Three Strikes was able to escape!"
"He's here now," Bogo pointed out the obvious. "We've been through this many times today, I don't want to discuss it again. You're here now, and so are they. This is where you two let me know what you're planning to do with your pilots." He gave a rather uncharacteristic smirk to colonel Silva. "Or is it that you're used to being in charge, but now you find yourself just being a mere messenger?"
Colonel Silva looked positively livid. "You better watch your mouth, chief. You might be in charge here, but I am OADF. These pilots will be answering to me."
Bogo grinned and leaned back against his own seat. "But while they're here, they still have to answer to me. Even if they are OADF. This city is my domain, colonel, not yous. And the deal was that as long as they're here, I'm in charge." He turned to Jack and Skye. "Which, also if I recall correctly, I believe we weren't going to release them back to the OADF. Or did the plan change?" He nodded in David's direction. "I believe this is also your area of expertise." The OIA agent didn't respond, tapping away at a laptop perched on his legs instead, and only giving the slightest of signs that he was listening.
Jack cleared his voice. "We were working out a deal to loan out Count and Trigger to the USAF. Almost completed the transfer too- no, we did complete it. Which is why I am convinced that we got leaked their files and the true nature of your Four Four Four squadron. I'll give you Animalians credit though, I've been there myself and didn't even guess that it was anything less than legitimate."
"I am in charge of a proper air base," Colonel Silva scoffed. "Not some lousy penal unit. Zapland is Colonel McKiney's command. Although, I might add, if he was able to run it in such a way as to make a use out of you two?" He snarled in Count and Trigger's direction. "And to the point that Urusia is afraid of the return of a 'Three Strikes'? Well, then he must be doing something right. High command guessed correctly that he was the right mammal for the job."
As the only ones who ever dealt directly with McKinsey, the two pilots and Jack all tried to hide how much they disagreed with the sentiment.
Nick went for a different strategy, flashing his phone screen behind his back where Judy can see it. The words slowly scrolling along the screen in a large, easy-to-read font. Never let 'em see that they get to you.
She silently thanked her partner for the reminder, the distraction enough to cause her to realize that she was getting really close to showing just how much this colonel Silva was getting on her nerves.
Jack must have seen it too, as he cleared his throat again. "Thing is, that deal was off. But then Bana City happened…"
"Urusia collapsed into a very one-sided civil war," Skye elaborated, "and despite that, is still able to keep Ocelotia from pushing into an offensive. But… In light of the recent events, our president has pledged military support to you Ocelotians. And with it, a new way of transferring the pilots out of ZPD custody and back into active rotation."
Colonel Silva shifted where he stood. "I was under the impression today that you're not releasing them back to the OADF."
"We're not," Jack confirmed, ignoring the disappointed and betrayed look Count shot at him for the answer. "We don't know who else might know that we're harboring convicted criminals. We can't just give them up."
Count's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "So where are we being sent then?"
"The Four Four Four squadron is being deactivated," Colonel Silva said, ignoring the pilot. "High command has determined that it concluded its purpose. All pilots and convicted members who were with it at the start of the unit are being returned into full service."
Count gripped his seat tightly. "Wait, so you're saying-"
"As much as I would love to see you spend the rest of your miserable life clearing out minefields with your face," Colonel Silva spat, "especially considering that you weren't exactly risking your life for several months now, were you? But a Chief Bogo correctly pointed out, I'm only here as a messenger of the OADF. And unlike you, as someone who actually respects the uniform, I do what I am ordered to despite what my personal objections might otherwise say. So with that out of the way, I am here to inform you that as per the conditions of your… 'volunteering'-" At this specific word, several of the ZPD officers rolled their eyes. "-along with the wiping clean of your record, you are also granted a return to proper OADF status, Count."
Silva let out a disgruntled sigh. "Or should I say first lieutenant Ryan Klepton Velveton? I would normally say congratulations, but frankly, you don't deserve it."
A stunned silence filled the room as everyone processed the revelation. Well, almost everyone. Jack, Skye, and Bogo all shared a knowing smirk, no doubt glad to be hearing confirmation of some hidden information that they found way back but weren't allowed to reveal.
But stunned most of all was Count himself.
"Ryan?" Judy asked softly, almost entirely to herself. "Wait… Velveton? A Velveton? You're not related to-" Her mind was racing, as finally, she knew his real name.
It was already well known that she was the one most likely in the entire precinct to call her fellow officers by their first names rather than last name, contrary to Nick who was just as well known to never call anyone by their name. So while she had gotten used to calling the pilots by their call signs, she was freshly reminded of the disappointment she felt at Nick revealing that at least Chief Bogo had already identified their identities. As well as the hurt later at confronting Trigger about it and being told that no, she won't be finding out their names. But finally, this was all changed.
"No!" Count spat at her, bringing Judy out of her thoughts. "Why do you think I was in this mess in the first place? "I'm not royalty! Just happen to share the name! Which, I might add, is not even that uncommon!" He smirked at her as she backed down sheepishly, realizing just how foolish she was since she really should have been aware of the fact already. "But I do have to say, it's nice to have my name back!" Blinking, his smirk morphed into a look of daze. "I mean… Must have been half a year now since anyone referred to me by my name… Forgot how good it feels..."
"You will find your personal belongings back in your room," Bogo grunted. "I can't verify that it's all there, but I was told everything that was confiscated from you has been flown in. But before we get carried away, Savage? Where next?"
"Count? uhh-" Jack stumbled over his words. "Ryan-? No, um, Lieutenant Velveton, what will happen next is that you will be loaned out to the USAF. Specifically to the unit you and Trigger flew with. Their CO is more than eager to get you flying with the rest as soon as possible. Since he was also one of the recipients of the leaked files, I already spoke to him about it. He's willing to overlook your previous record, now that it's being deleted. Just, you know, don't try anything like that again."
"If you're talking about Major Easley, he already knows that Lieutenant Velveton's file is being cleaned," Colonel Silva added, still glaring at Count, who was too busy looking pleased with himself to care. "The UASF doesn't need to worry about willingly taking on a convict. And while he's less than pleased with our secrecy, he is willing to overlook it in exchange for the loan of a trained and combat tested pilot. As far as Animalia is concerned, the lieutenant here was on a special, classified, assignment that was his stint at the penal unit. When transferred to the, you'll be flying there. What and how exactly, I can't say, especially not with the ZPD officers here. But you'll be taking the fight to Urusia, and hitting them back for what they did to us. Don't waste this opportunity. You might be a garbage mammal, but you're a damn fine pilot. While you don't answer directly to me, I can still order you to make the Urusians bleed. Call it the price for having me fly down here."
Count looked quite excited at the prospect of flying again. "That I can certainly do, sir!" His excited grin slowly faded away as he realized something else important. "Wait, you said everyone who was in the unit at the start is being reactivated. Trigger joined later. What about him?" The pilot next to him, silent all this time, continued to stare blankly at Bogo's desk.
Silva shot a hateful look at Trigger's direction. "We're not reactivating a murderer! It was dangerous enough to keep him in a penal unit!"
"The colonel flew here to help along the process to transfer you out of here," Bogo explained to Count in more relaxed tone. "But Trigger stays here." At these words, the coyote's ears flattened in shame and fear, the only outward signs that he was actually listening to what was being said around him.
Despite knowing that this was technically bad news, Judy couldn't help but feel a pang of relief at hearing this. The idea of him leaving to go and fight in a war again just felt… wrong.
"I recall making it explicitly clear that I'm not leaving Trigger behind," Count said firmly. "So either he goes with me, or I swear, I'll commit a crime just so that you'll have to arrest and keep me locked up here!" He spread his arms out wide. "After all, my record just got cleared? I'm a free mammal without a past history! Just need to throw a punch and I get locked with assaulting an officer!"
"That won't be necessary, lieutenant…" Despite his eyes still glued to his laptop, the words came from David, a sign that the OIA agent was in fact paying attention. "And I won't recommend getting a new criminal record right after purging your previous one."
"We are not releasing a murderer," Colonel Silva hissed. "And not a mere murderer. He killed a retired president! Extended the war to who knows how long, all by himself!" He glared at the police officers in the room. "And frankly, it's a damned disgrace that all of you know that! We worked hard to make sure as few people as possible know about it, and for all of that effort, the files got leaked to a bunch of city cops! Barely anyone back home have a clue, but you all know what he did!"
The most quiet of protests to the contrary escaped Trigger's muzzle, but whether he didn't actually want to argue against the accusation, or was incapable of doing so, the effect was the same as barely anyone even heard him complain.
But as someone who heard it too many times before, Jack Savage gave out a low groan of contempt. "Trigger, how many times? I've seen the footage. Your HUD footage. You targeted Hareling's plane and shot it down. It was no accident."
Colonel Silva nodded in agreement at the statement. "So you get to stay in jail, murderer. While your fellow pilot gets to go up and take the fight to the enemy."
David Bishopine finally shut the lid of his laptop. "As of only a few minutes ago? He didn't do it."
Jack looked bewildered. "W-What?" He wasn't the only one looking around the room, confused.
In fact, the only one not looking surprised, apart from David, was Trigger himself. The pilot kept his head hung low, dejected and unwilling to raise his hopes up even for a little.
"I didn't see the HUD tapes," James spoke up slowly, "but the ZIA agents here did. As did Chief Bogo. I- even the Colonel here knows it! Are you saying what they all saw is wrong?"
All eyes on him short of a single pilot, David nodded confidently. "Yes. The footage they all saw is edited."
This time, Trigger did look up, eyes wide with shock as anyone else in the room.
"Those HUD tapes were locked away the moment they were taken out of the jet," Colonel Silva argued. "All data transmitted between aircraft is encoded and sent through secure channels to our satellite network, so no one can get in the middle. How can any of that be edited? And the rest of the tribunal? All of the testimony against Trigger?" He snarled in the pilot's direction. "No less than multiple pilots who gave first-paw accounts as to his guilt! Are you calling all of them liars?"
"About other pilots, we should all know that the battlefield is a busy, dangerous place to be," David spoke back confidently, unfazed by the barrage of questions from the colonel. "We got witness testimony, meaning that it's all unreliable. Even from smart, capable pilots. Ask any of the cops here to recall a situation where their life was at risk?" He turned to a specific cop in the room. "Officer Wolford, it is my understanding that you were involved in a shooting recently?"
"I-I, well, yeah," James stammered, not expecting to be directly asked a question. Let alone about that. Silently, he really started to curse to himself at how much these OIA and ZIA agents knew about him that he wouldn't mind them staying out of.
"How confident would you be in being able to recall exactly what happened?" David asked slowly.
James blinked. "I… Pretty confident, I think. I'll need to review the body cams first, but I think I still remember it all rather clearly."
"You think? And if you weren't allowed to review the cameras? Or any notes that you might have recorded after the event? How confident would you be able to recall every detail without getting anything wrong?"
The uncertain gaze James slowly allowed to linger towards Chief Bogo's direction was all that was needed to be said. Luckily for him, his answer or a lack thereof wasn't even what Bishopine was interested in.
"Most critically, you say that it's impossible that the HUD recordings were tampered with? As it were, I happen to know who was responsible for editing those critical few seconds before Hareling was killed."
Colonel Silva stiffened. "Who was it?"
David didn't even hesitate.
"Me."
A tense silence filled the room.
Judy dared a glance in Trigger's direction, suddenly very worried not only for him, but also scared of him. It was also at this moment that she remembered that she had come in not only in her civilian clothing, but that she didn't have her toolbelt and the tranquilizer gun attached to it.
For his own sake, she hoped that Trigger won't do anything.
Colonel Silva took in a sharp breath of agitation. "Why was I not informed of this?" His words were forced out, him clearly struggling to control his temper. "I- I was instrumental in placing him in that penal unit. Worked closely with McKinsey to make sure that he gets sent to where he can remain useful. And only now I'm being told that he was innocent this entire time? Why wasn't I informed?"
"Because the decision was made to keep the edits secret to even high level command, and you weren't cleared to know." David answered. "Until now. We…" He glanced at the officers in the room, frowning at the implications that they were listening in rather intently. "We had reasons to suspect that Urusia was reading our mail. We also had reasons to believe that they wanted us to think that Hareling was killed by one of our own. At the time… We couldn't risk letting even high level generals to know what we were up to. That order came directly from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. So video and audio evidence was modified to make a pilot-" his eyes locked with Trigger's. "We needed to convince the tribunal that he was guilty. Blaming Urusia for Hareling's death? Just the usual politics, everyone knows that. But even in our sealed documents, we needed to make sure that Urusia didn't suspect that we were on to them. Just to give you an idea of how tightly this information was locked, the number of people who know that the evidence was faked has probably just doubled. That, Colonel, is why I am here today."
"With all do respect?" Trust Jack Savage to throw a wrench into the gears. "But I don't think so. The evidence I've seen on what happened that day is overwhelming. And I'm talking about evidence which I doubt you know that I've seen. Remember that Winters and I are ZIA, after all. It's what we do. Bishopine, we've been in contact at least indirectly since almost the beginning of the war, even before the two pilots landed in our city. Since then, we've been in far closer contact, including first meeting up at the Zapland airbase." He gave a slight snort of amusement. "I still can't believe that I was fooled into thinking that it was a normal installation. Still, I mention all of this because I do think that you're the kind of person who would take a fall if it meant you had something else to gain. After Bana City was attacked… Why wouldn't you look for a way to get Three Strikes back from us? So again, will all do respect, but David Bishopine? I think you're bullshitting us." He pointed at the two pilots. "Both are good pilots, I think we can all agree on that, and what this was is heavily dependent on, is aircraft and pilots. With what happened to Bana City, won't it be natural to try and get them back to flying status? There's already rumors online floating around that Urusia wouldn't have dared to try such an attack if Three Strikes was still actively flying, after all, his last confirmed sighting was a little over two months ago. Perhaps there's even some truth behind these rumors? And now you want to get Three Strikes back, to make Urusia afraid again. There's a certain romantic irony in that, isn't there? Grab Count too, while you're at it. Then loan them out to us to use our unstrained logistics and attack capabilities to go on the offensive. Perhaps not spearheaded, but definitely an attack involving Three Strikes. That's... your plan, right? Something similar? Perhaps overlook their records, after all, isn't that what you were doing by placing them in a penal unit in the first place? While Count is one thing, I'm afraid I won't be able to allow you to reactivate Trigger considering his record, especially into one of our squadrons. Uh, Winters?"
"It might be a lot easier to return Trigger to OADF jurisdiction now that Animalia isn't officially neutral anymore," Skye added, "but he's not going to be loaned out into one of our squadrons with a murder conviction. If you want him back, we can work out a deal. But he won't be flying for us. In our military, someone with his criminal conviction will be locked up in jail, let alone serving in a penal unit."
Count looked downright peeved at the announcement.
If what Jack said was making David agitated, he didn't show it. Instead, he motioned at a rolled up projector screen behind where Nick and Judy stood. "While I won't delve into your speculation, about Trigger here, at least here you're wrong. I'm afraid trying to just talk about it will take too long, so I'll convince you the easier way. You want evidence? I can show it. May I?"
Chief Bogo pulled out a desk drawer and slid over a complicated video adapter. "Before Hopps arrived, I didn't have or need one of these, but I think you'll find it suitable."
David grabbed the adapter, and after examining it for a moment, nodded and plugged one end to his laptop, and another end to a cable running to the wall. With a push of a button from Bogo, the screen lowered itself.
Needing to move out of the way of the screen gave Judy the excuse she needed to shuffle over next to Trigger, needing to get a better idea of how he was handling himself. For someone who was normally very easy to read, now was proving hard for her to figure out what was going on in his head. Like Count, with their seats facing the wrong way, he was resting his head on his arms, crossed over the top of the back rest, glaring silently at the screen as the projector slowly warmed up to life. Judy carefully put a paw on his arm, trying to get a feel on him, but he didn't even react at all to the gesture. All of his attention was fixed to the screen, and the blank image that was slowly fading in on it.
James lowered the lights in the room to allow everyone to see the screen better, at which point David brought up a video file, paused at a certain point, and where he started to narrate over it.
"What you see is the HUD recording taken off Trigger's plane upon landing. This is the mission to rescue Hareling from the space elevator. The Urusians sent in one of their arsenal birds, and more specifically, the drone interceptors they carry, and the ensuing furball is where I am going to unpause the recording. Err..."
The OIA officer glanced around the room, and specifically at the ZPD officers. "While you were all just cleared to view this, I would appreciate it if you leave, which I say knowing that I am inside a ZPD building..."
Normally, just out of politeness, Judy would have taken the comment and leave. But not only was she feeling rather tired of being left out, if this was about Trigger's guilt, she needed to know for certain rather than just keep taking other's words on it. Besides… She really didn't want to leave him right now. Knowing that Nick would stay by her side, that really only left James, who-
"Truth be told, I want to see this for myself," the wolf officer said. "The internet is not the only place filled with rumors, and I don't want to keep having to tell the rest of the building that Trigger is not being locked up due to drug smuggling. If he's guilty or not, I would rather know for myself. It's not like I don't already know what he was charged with already."
"We don't have a lot of time, agent," Colonel Silva's voice reminded them. "If the officers have been cleared to see the evidence, then show it."
"Right…" David let the recording play, immediately adjusting the volume to an appropriate level, and letting everyone immediately understand the frantic panic that was the fight to rescue the ex-president. While the video remained fixed, showing the HUD from Trigger's plane, the audio filled the gaps where the screen wasn't able to show it. From other pilots struggling to keep up with the countless drones, to the overloaded AWACS trying to keep everyone updated on the situation as well as desperately checking in on the damaged aircraft containing Hareling. To the confusion of trying to figure out why it was heading right back to the space elevator where it came from rather than leave the drone-filled skies, repeatedly calling for Hareling to respond and only getting silence in return.
The entire time, the video showed Trigger silently dodging, rolling, and weaving away from drones, targeting and destroying them as the opportunity arose.
The Trigger in the room tensed hard within Judy's grip, causing her to pat him reassuringly even as her eyes were glued to the screen along with everyone else's.
What she didn't see was the radar icon of a drone anywhere near Hareling's plane. The blue outline of a friendly contact flew steadily towards the space elevator, other blue and hostile green contacts darting in and out of the screen, but all far away, even as the AWACS warned of other UAVs approaching the plane.
Targeted, Trigger had to roll and evade as the HUD turned an angry red to indicate a missile locked and fired at him. A few maneuvers later, the warning tones ended with the evasion of the missile, giving Trigger the opportunity to turn back to the objective.
The AWACS called upon Trigger directly to clear out the drones honing in on their target. But the video only showed the single blue icon of Hareling's friendly contact as Trigger leveled out the plane, letting the targeting indicator to slowly lock in on the blue square. About a half second later, it lost the lock, only to regain it moments later.
With the audio tone of a solid lock, the recorded voice of Trigger announced the inevitable. "Mage two, fox two!"
Smoke of a missile filled the HUD as it flew straight and true at its target. A few seconds of silence, and then, all hell broke loose...
Mage two! Mage two!
Oh my God, Mother Goose One has been shot down!
Where the missile come from?
Mage two fired that!
It was Ocelotian! A friendly missile hit them!
Verifying th-
The video halted as David hit the pause button, the lights coming on a second later.
"That was exactly what we saw before," Skye complained, her voice quavering. "Agent Savage, Chief Bogo, and myself. We all saw that. Bishopine, how is that supposed to show us that he's innocent?"
Count had a much more blunt approach. "Trigger, you piece of shit, what the fuck was that? The entire time you were telling us that you were innocent, and now... this? Well fuck you too! No, you know what? Go back to McDicksey right where you belong, you asshole! Stupid moron!" The fact that he wasn't reprimanded by Colonel Silva, nor Chief Bogo, for the complete lack of professionalism, said everything.
Even Judy removed her paw from the pilot in question, even as she felt Trigger stating to silently shake, unsure of how she was supposed to feel now. Shuffling back over closer to Nick, her mind quickly settled on a single word to describe how she felt about the pilot.
Betrayed.
"...To think that I ever felt sorry for you," the clearly hurt James said, agreeing with her.
"Everyone!" David voice struggled to silence everyone before the room could erupt into arguing. "I'm not done yet!"
"Quiet!" Chief Bogo was more successful in getting the room to quiet down. "Agent Bishopine, you mind explaining yourself? Before I start looking for the deepest hole I can toss Trigger down into?"
"You just said you saw this recording before, right?" David asked, removing the video and replacing it with an information dialog on the file. "Look at the recording date? Every newspaper in the world can tell you that Hareling was killed on June sixth!" Sure enough, the time and date field in the dialog box said something else: June 10. 4:43 AM.
Removing the dialog box, he brought up another video. Also a HUD recording, and noticeably clearer and easier to view than the previous one. "So please, compare what you just saw to what you'll see now."
This video was, apart from the improved clarity, completely identical to the previous one. While David had started it at a moment a little earlier than the first recording, it didn't take long for the tow to overlap and this second video to show again what everyone just saw.
Everything was still exactly the same, video and audio.
That is, until Trigger was ordered to go after the drones targeting Hareling, and when he had to avoid a missile that was fired at him. Just as before, he had to evade it before resuming the mission to protect Hareling's plane.
Except for this time, when he leveled out to point at the objective, there was a hostile green icon right next to Hareling's blue, almost completely on top of it. The dark speckle of a dot at the center of this radar contact, just separate of the target dark smudge that was Hareling's plane, proved that there was something there more than just a stray radar signal. Trigger's HUD showed the targeting icon struggle between the two, locking onto the blue box.
But Trigger didn't fire, instead silently forcing the targeting to retry. Second time around, it locked on the green. No hesitation.
"Mage two, fox two!"
"Look there!" David paused the video as smoke filled the HUD from the missile shot at the drone. But he wasn't pointing at it, nor at the targeted icon, highlighted red in lock, and very close to, but also clearly separate of the blue icon that was Hereling's plane. What David was pointing to, was a second smoke trial, a black dot of a missile just barely visible in the recording.
A missile not fired by Trigger, but also heading to the same two targets. The video was unpaused just long enough for everyone to see Trigger's missile head towards the hostile drone icon, taking it out with a small explosion. This second mystery missile streak unmistakably towards the friendly blue icon of Hareling's plane, the ensuing fireball of the two connecting engulfing the first explosion milliseconds after the first missile hit the drone.
For the video, it must have been only a few frames of difference.
A dialog box was brought up over the video, moved to a spot where it didn't block off anything important. The mouse underlining the recording date and time. June 6. 6:14 PM.
No one dared to say anything until David Bishopine ended the tense silence filling the room.
"We're still not sure exactly where or how a drone was able to fly close to Trigger's aircraft in order to shoot down Hareling. But we now know that it's what happened," David elaborated. "Between signal and recording issues, and the drone managing to replicate his aircraft's exact IFF, we weren't nearly confident in calling out Urusia on blatantly committing a war crime. We weren't even sure if they even were replicating our IFF at all until it was confirmed at a later mission! But we figured out that something was up early on, and we knew that for whatever reason, Urusia wanted to make it look like Trigger killed Hareling. At the time, with how little we had pieced together in the one or two days after that botched mission? It was… uncomfortably easy making him look guilty. But, I have even more proof that what you just saw is what actually happened, rather than what I showed you before that, the video from the leaks, which is what we wanted everyone else to think happened. Agents Savage and Winters? You are entirely correct. After Bana City, we need Three Strikes back. And we need him loaned out along with Count to the UASF like we were planning all along. I hope this is sufficient evidence that Trigger can be returned to active duty as originally planned."
Jack sounded completely stunned when he answered back. "I'll need to see a lot more proof of what actually went down back there. But..? Damn, if that's really what happened, then… I'm sorry Trigger. I mean, we've argued, and I mean really argued, over this. I- I was furious at you. As a pilot, you're supposed to know to trust your instruments. That your feelings are more often than not wrong when in conflict with the data. But? You were right all along."
Trigger was still slumped over the back of his seat, head perched on top of his crossed arms, and glaring at the faded screen. In fact, the only thing different about him compared to just before was the hard, unsteady breathing escaping his muzzle.
"Why wasn't I informed that the evidence was fabricated?" Colonel Silva demanded, tone filled with his own sense of betrayal and distrust. "I was under the impression that I flew here with all the relevant information I need, only to find out that most of it is completely bogus? Why did it take so long?"
"Because even you weren't allowed to know!" an agitated David answered. "You think it was easy? Being told that I need to frame an innocent pilot, but not why? Oh sure, they told me later! But at the time? Only that it was a matter of requirements for the war effort. Orders came straight from the JCS, and I was the one tasked with carrying them out… I didn't even need to fly out here, but rumors back in the OIA offices was that we would need to declassify the Hareling rescue mission to get what we need. For most of today, that still didn't happen, there's still a lot of people who think we need to bluff Urusia. Less than an hour ago, they finally changed their minds." He looked at Trigger square in the eyes, even as Trigger barely managed to glare back at him. "Least I can do is tell you what I had to do, face to face. Trig-"
A loud screech pierced the room as Trigger shot up, shoving the chair away from him and toppling it to the floor. The pilot was panting hard, arms pressed tight against his sides, fists clenched shut in rage. "You sent me to hell!" Trigger yelled directly at David. "Why?"
David stared back, the size disparity between the two all too obvious. While he was clearly trying to remain brave, there was no hiding his own fear.
"You heard why he had to do it," Jack tried to intervene, but Trigger wasn't listening.
Trigger's fists loosened, and re-tightened again several times, struggling with his emotions.
"Pilot, you have good reason to be upset, but remember that you have to remain professional," Colonel Silva reminded him.
"You…" Contrary to the rage induced yells just moments before, now Trigger was now barely able to muster anything above a tired, hitching, whisper. "M-My family's dead! I… I've been here m-months, and I never dared to call them! Was too scared to! W-What was I supposed to tell them?" He shook his head, limbs sagging in complete defeat. "I- I would have volunteered! You could have at least let me know that I didn't kill him! W-would have volunteered for that fucking penal unit if you needed me to. Why couldn't- couldn't you have at least let me know? E-even if no one else could? Forget it..."
With another shake of his head, he walked right past David, not letting the OIA officer answer, ZPD the officers in the room parting to let him through and towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Silva asked, although it was hard to tell if he was angry at Trigger directly or not. "Just because you're being cleared of your crime doesn't mean we're not done here. Don't make me to order you to stay put."
"I'll be in my room," Trigger said coldly, voice completely drained. Struggling with the door handle, a desperate whimper escaped his muzzle as he struggled to push the door open.
"You pull it open!" Bogo reminded him, angry at the pilot again struggling with the door.
"I didn't give you permission to leave!" Colonel Silva hissed. "Get back to your seat, pilot!"
Changing directions, Trigger was able to open the door, but a different voice called out to him before he can pry it more than a crack.
"Trigger!" Nick sounded urgent. "Don't leave. I know it's hard, but don't go through that door."
Trigger hesitated, taking his paw off the door handle, looking back over his shoulder with wide eyes. For a moment, it looked like he was strongly considering Nick's advice. But with a final shake of his head, he parted the door wider, and stepped through, dusty tail slipping through before it closed back behind him.
Nick's face fell, the officer staring at the door where Trigger vanished from.
Judy patted his arm reassuringly, proud of her partner for speaking up even when no one else, not even herself, did.
"Wasn't that pilot the same one who ran away?" Colonel Silva asked, scowling at Count's direction, who tried to look innocent underneath the gaze.
"He came back," Bogo reminded him quickly.
"But he still ran away! And he just disobeyed a direct order!"
"And he still came back!" Bogo let out a snort of warning that he wasn't in the mood for this argument. "Hopps? Make sure he's where he said he'll be."
Judy tried not to look to grateful at the order. "Gladly, sir!"
"I'll go with her," Nick added quickly, only to find someone else also hurrying towards the door.
"I'll go with them," James at least had the decency to look at Bogo a second time. "Unless you need me here?"
Before Bogo can answer, Silver beat him to it. "Better out there with Trigger than in here, officer. But? Wait." Silva jerked his head in the door's direction, before noticing Count also making a move. "Not you. You stay here, Lieutenant. We've still got work to finish up here."
Count looked at the door. "Trigger's cleared of his record, right? That means he goes where I go?"
"That's what we still need to work out," Silva answered gruffly. "The process was started when we had you undergo all of that training a few weeks back. Then the leaks… We need to get back to where we were. That's between me, Agent Bishopine, the ZIA agents, and when we get Major Easly, you'll need to work with him. And about you… I was under the impression that you knew how to address superior officers? Didn't they teach you that back at boot camp?"
Count gave a smug shrug. "Must have forgotten how during my stay at the penal unit, sir." He grinned at the unamused look his comment earned him, knowing that despite being of a lower rank, that he still held a lot of power. "But seriously, sir. Does Trigger really to be dragged back in here? He lost his family days ago, and now he also found out that the murder charge that sent him to Zapland was a fraud from the start? Give him a break! Whatever he needs to know, tell it to me first, and I can pass it on later. Before you know it, Three Strikes will be flying again!"
Colonel Silva grumbled, crossing his arms. "Why am I under the impression that you were easier to deal with when you only ever bothered to look after yourself, Lieutenant Velveton?" He glared at the direction of the door. "Officers? Go make sure Trigger isn't about to disappear on us again. You… You don't need to drag him back up here just yet." He lifted a fist in warning. "But if so much as a single strand of fur of his so much as drifts outside…"
James nodded, and thought about saluting the colonel, but decided against it, feeling that the gesture might come off as an insult. "We'll make sure Trigger won't run again." Finally opening the door to Bogo's office, he ushered Nick and Judy out in front of him, almost missing a final request from David.
"O-Officers? Officer Hopps!"
Judy poked her head back inside. "Yes? Agent?"
David looked ashamed over something. "Humphrey... His name's Humphrey Reyevski. Figured you might want to know his real name."
This time, Judy broke into a grateful smile and didn't even bother to try and hide it. "I always wond- Thanks!"
"Second lieutenant Humphrey Delano Reyevski," David clarified. "And for what it's worth? I really am sorry for what we did to him. We meant if for the best."
Judy didn't know what to say for that one, so she settled for a simple nod of her own. "Listen, while I believe you, it's really not me you should be apologizing to. But thanks for the name!"
She closed the door behind her before something else can stop her, where Nick and James were both grimly waiting for her. As soon as she turned away from the door, James was off, heading towards the elevator that was Nick's way of getting down to the pilot's room faster.
Tense minutes passed as they rushed as fast through the corridors of the precinct as they dared, only slowing down when they got close to the room.
"I think you should go first," Judy spoke quietly to James.
He knocked quietly on the door to the room to let anyone inside know that they had arrived. "You heard his name, and get along probably better with him than even I do," he admitted. "After you."
Taking in a deep breath, Judy pushed the door open.
To her relief, she found the pilot right away. Trigger wasn't curled up and hiding in some deep corner like she thought he might be, and was instead simply sitting on his bed, hugging his bent legs and head perched on top of his knees, staring blankly at the opposite wall. And now, despite knowing the pilot by his call sign the entire time, trying to use it now just felt wrong, and so she didn't.
"...Humphrey? Can we come in?"
Her voice alerted him to their presence, odd considering that James did just knock on the door, but there was no mistaking the sudden, startled jolt of his head in her direction when she spoke up. And more importantly, she was able to get a good look at him now. While he had managed to more or less maintain his composure back in Bogo's office, he wasn't even trying to hide anything at this point.
Hastily wiping his nose on the back of his wrist, he then feebly tried to dry his eyes as he waved them in half-heartedly. The three officers cautiously walked into the room, Count's bed covered completely by a backpack and large, stuffed dufflebag.
There was no similar pile near Trigger.
Not sure if she was invading his personal space or not, Judy pushed herself up on top of his bed, sliding up so that she can comfortably sit down next to him. Nick and James didn't have such issues, and simply sat down on the bed close by, but maintaining some distance from the pilot.
"Trigger?.. Humphrey? Talk to us," Judy urged. "Please. Just talk."
Trigger looked down at her, jaw quivering as he struggled to talk. Holding his breath, he let it out slowly.
"I sold my soul to the devil, Judy," he said coldly.
Judy's jaw dropped in shock and a loss for words. Nick winced.
James looked up, alarmed. "Hey, don't be like that pup! Don't say such things!"
"And why not? It's true!" In a single moment, Trigger's grief turned to anger, only to revert back right away again. "T-They were the first ones I wanted to call! W-When I finally got cleared of… that." Closing his eyes, he hugged his knees tighter. "They're dead! I thought… I was willing to give anything to get the proof that I'm not a murderer!.. I didn't… Not them!"
"You didn't kill them," James said cautiously. "The Urusians did. Don't blame yourself. Believe me, I know how easy that is. But especially because it's easy… don't."
"If they didn't die, I would still be labeled a murderer!" Trigger mumbled through his knees. "And try telling me that it wouldn't be like that!"
Judy bit her lip as she struggled to think of the right thing to say, stopping when Nick pulled her slightly.
"They knew you were innocent," Nick pointed out. "That OIA guy upstairs said as much. If that attack didn't happen, you're right, you would still have that false charge on your record. But only for as long as the war would last, most likely. But you would also be safe here with us. And eventually, Ocelotia would have found no more use to keep that false charge a secret, and cleared your name. Sure, it would have taken longer, but you would have called your folks then. So don't think that the attack was the price you had to pay for your freedom, because it is not."
"Then why does it feel like it was?" Trigger whimpered, rubbing at his eyes. "...I could have called them months ago! I- And I didn't! Now I have a reason to call, but they're-" His voice failed him as he reburied his muzzle between his knees, ignoring Judy as she tried to calm him down.
James reached over to grab him by the shoulder. "Because you're looking for a way to justify all of this happening to you. To... rationalize it all. Listen, Trigger..?" He paused, frowning. "Humphrey? The only rational behind it is that… bad things happen. And while you can sometimes stop them, most of the time, you can't."
Trigger slowly looked up, expression hard to make out. "Why does that sound like something you've been told?"
James gave him a grim smile. "Because I was told that recently. Dahlia's still in the hospital, and Brian can hardly get better from being dead. I… Truth be told, I still keep thinking of ways I could have kept everything from going so wrong. I know I did what I could… But it sure doesn't feel like it. I just need to get to the point when I at least understand that." He ran a paw through the fur on the top of his head as he let out a strange laugh. "Sure not easy though!"
Grabbing James' other paw and pulling it off his shoulder, Trigger stared at an empty section of bed in front of him. "We're both rather pathetic now, aren't we?"
"We rather are, aren't we?" James agreed, falling quiet for a few moments. "It's just that, well, I'm sorry, but I'm not really in the best state right now myself, so… yeah. I want to help, really, but I'm rather struggling myself here at the same time."
Trigger nodded feebly. "Yeah… That I know about. Welcome to the club, killer. Once you enter, you can never leave." He silently glared at the patch of bed in front of him, with a stunned James sitting there with a slack jaw.
"Humphrey?" Judy tried to grab his attention again. To find something to distract him with. "What are you thinking right now? I want you to keep talking."
His eyes shifted to her. "About what? That I feel like a complete moron? That…" He struggled to find the right words. "Do you know what that feels like? To be completely… I don't know, homesick? Nostalgic? But for… last week! That I would rather still be a murderer because…" A quiet whimper escaped his muzzle. "That feeling of h-hope, you know? Of only keeping going because I wanted to be able to make that call…" He fell silent again.
While Judy was glad that he was able to open up like that, she was left feeling like it wasn't quite enough. "Humphrey? When I ran my mouth during that press conference, I thought I destroyed my life at that point. But I cam back, and, you can too-" she hesitated when she heard a rumbling growl grow on Trigger's throat, the vibrations shaking the mattress.
"You can't raise the dead, Judy!" he snapped. "You? Y-You got your job back! You got Nick back! And him too! He sill can go and talk to his mother! What do I have to look forward to if I survive the war? My parent's funeral?" He buried his head between his knees again, shoulder shaking.
"Trigger? I- I'm sorry," Judy mumbled, feeling angry at herself, not even noticing herself falling back to the name she was more familiar with. While she felt Nick's reassuring grip on her paw, she was more concerned in knowing that she didn't anger Trigger like the last time she tried to calm him down. To her relief, while his head was still buried, he vaguely waved a limp paw in her direction to let her know that he heard her and accepted the apology.
That was when Nick piped up. "Hey, Trig, I have an idea. Want to hear it?"
Trigger just emitted a slight grunt to let him know that he can voice the idea.
"Fang's still in the hospital," Nick explained. "Wolf, didn't you say that she's being released tomorrow?"
"Late tomorrow," James pointed out with a frown. "There's a final series of tests they want to run tomorrow afternoon on her shoulder muscles before they'll feel confident enough to let her go." But he also felt like he was getting a hint on what Nick was going for. "Trigger? Want to go visit her? It's not that late, I think we can slip into the last visiting hour or so… I'll take it up to Bogo into allowing you to leave the building. I don't think he'll have a problem with it, and frankly, I don't care what some Ocelotian Colonel says."
Slowly, Trigger unburied his head. "I uhh-" While he sounded uncertain, he also looked like he was seriously considering the idea, scratching at his arm uncertainly.
"She would like to know the truth, Humphrey," Judy pointed out, hope in her voice evident that he would accept. Hope that faded the moment the pilot shook his head.
"We can do that tomorrow then," Trigger grumbled, pulling in his legs and forcing them under the bed covers. "I'm tired. I just want to go to sleep now." Not caring that he had to force the others out of the way, he slid the rest of himself below the covers. "Would appreciate being left alone..."
"Humphrey!" Judy sounded alarmed, letting out a squeak as she was unintentionally kicked by one of his legs. "We want to make sure that you'll be okay! And it's not even late. You shouldn't be sleeping already…" Her mind wondered he was actually being truthful or not. After all, it was also likely that his normal sleeping habits were completely disrupted by this point.
Trigger huffed as he rolled himself over, shoving his muzzle into his pillow. "You know I won't be," he mumbled into it. "But I'm not going to do anything!"
"Come on, Trig, you can at least talk normally," James scolded, although rather gently. "What do you mean by that?"
With a groan of complaint, Trigger rolled over, again. Despite only having his head buried into the pillow for a minute or two at most, it was clear why he did that in the first place as he hastily used the back of his arm to dry his eyes again. "You think I came back here because I have some sick fantasy where I enjoy watching how others react to me hurting myself?" he asked coldly. "Look, I know you're all… worried about me. I mean… I would too, if I were one of you." Despite his anger, he started to look really ashamed of himself. "If nothing else, Count should get back here eventually, so it's not like I'll even be on my own the entire time. But… I'd be lying if I said I can think of even a single reason to keep going now. I don't know? Revenge maybe? If they'll let me fly again, I doubt I'll be feeling any regret over killing Urusians like I used to. But otherwise? I really don't know."
"To help end the war sooner so that less people have to suffer?" Judy offered helpfully, heart sinking when he shook his head at her suggestion.
"That's you Judy. But they killed my family. If anything, they need to suffer more, not less." Signaling that he was done with the subject, he lay back down on the bed, rolling back over to bury his muzzle into the pillow again.
But Judy wasn't ready to back down. "Humphrey?"
After a moment, she got a muffled answer. "You want to help? You… All three of you," The pilot lifted his head up just enough to speak more clearly. "Go and do… something. Anything. Something fun that you can enjoy yourselves with. Because I sure can't."
Judy glanced at Nick, uncertain what to say. It was an odd request to say the least. But he nodded back to her.
"I'll see you tomorrow!" Trigger added in a defeated tone. "Now do you mind?"
"Then at risk of sounding like my mother," Nick agreed, sliding off the bed and pulling Judy with him. While James was too big to be pushed off, the larger officer also took the hint and got off the bed as well. "Try to get some rest, and you'll feel better in the morning."
The grunt of disbelief from the pilot let them know how much Trigger agreed with that idea.
