Chapter 40: "Priority: Dream come true"
-Reaper's mainframe, Harvest Hub, Auraelm-
"Man down! Man down! Jimmy!" Ashley shouts somewhat panicking in her voice.
Jimmy looks back at where Ava is laying and sees the same thing as Ashley. He immediately rushes over to the commander.
"No, no, no, no, no" he mumbles as he's rushing towards Ava "please don't be too late, please don't be too late".
He slides to kneeling next to Ava's body, deploys his field medical kit and dematerializes Ava's helmet. The commander's eyes are wide open and red with blood, Rob takes out a medical nanite tube and pieces it through one of Ava's eyes to inject so that the tiny bots could prevent further damage. He's so focused on trying to stop Ava's condition from degrading further, which will reduce the chance of reviving her, that he could hear nothing but his heart beating and everything other sounds are muffled. After he's done minimizing the damages, Jimmy materializes Ava's helmet and activates statis mod putting her in a state of suspended animation.
"LC, we need to get her to a hospital on one of the capital ships, stat!" Jimmy shouts out to Ashley.
"Roger that" Ashley replies. Since there's no reason to maintain radio silence anymore as the reapers know where they are anyway, Ashley decides to reconnect to Mnet and call for help "This is Sierra 5 to any friendly units that can here this, we have 1 KIA and multiple wounded, the situation is critical requesting immediate assistance, coordinate uploaded. I repeat…".
As Ashley is transmitting, the D-20s that carry the sangheili company is approaching the Harvest Hub uncontested as SF-40s from the orbiting carriers are keeping the sky clear.
"The humans need help, let's go get them warriors" the captain, commander of the company, says.
The D-20s hover above the harvest hub, their cannons each rain 5000 rounds/minute down the reapers below, while the troops and SAT8 combat bots jump out of them to being their assault. There are 100 soldiers, 5 platoons, in a company. 4 of them are combat platoons and 1 is a command/logistic platoon that also controls the assigned SAT8s. For this mission, 50 SAT8s are assigned to the company.
Three combat platoons are ordered to head straight for the power core to destroy it as it is the most efficient way to neutralize the hub. The command platoon with the SAT8s and the other combat platoon are going to smash their way straight to the SIFs, and hope that they will make it in time. With reaper reinforcements are being stopped by the overwhelming allies' space and air superiority, the sangheilis make their way to the SIFs relatively easy and quick.
Taking cover before turning the corner to the hallway that leads to the SIFs, the commander asks the SIFs to cease fire "Sierra 5, the area is clear, we're coming in. Over".
"Roger that" Ashley replies.
Ava's body is taken out to an evac D-20 waiting outside of the building and then transported to flagship HSS Blake along with the SIFs. They are all wounded and most of them are heavily wounded, if a soldier from 21st were to take the damage that they're having he would surely have died. Ashley orders the rest of the platoon to let the doctors take care of them while she, Rob, Jimmy and David rush after Ava to the emergency room. Along the way, Jimmy reports what happened and Ava's situation as well as the combat first aid that he performed.
Once they reach the emergency room, the nurses block the SIFs from entering with Ava so that the doctors could focus on doing their job and insist that they get their wounds taken care of while waiting. Although they want to be with their friend, they know that Ava best chance is to let the doctors do what they do best and there's nothing they can help now but wait. They stare helplessly as the doors are closing in front of them while the doctors and nurses are busy saving their friend.
-Ellie Fleet Medical Center, Utopia Ring-
2 weeks later.
After Aurealm, the entire platoon was transferred to this medical center so they can heal. Despite they are all healed and ready to be back on duty, ISOC is still keeping them there so they have some extra R&R time after months of non-stop combat. Rob, David and Jimmy are sitting in the hospital cafeteria, sipping their hot tea, talking and viewing the beautiful scenery of the ringworld outside. The cafeteria's decoration is like a fancy restaurant giving a relaxing atmosphere for patients and visitors to enjoy.
"Hi guys" Ashley greets them as she's approaching.
"LC" each of them greet her back.
"So, how's the sleeping beauty?" Jimmy asks about Ava.
Ava was placed in a resurrection pod, these pods are only available at land base medical centers, where she is being healed. This technology can bring dead people back to life if they are not too far gone and the head is mostly intact. How long it would take to heal is depended on how serious is their condition by the time they were placed into the pod and there's no way to accurately predict that.
"She's healing well, doc said she'll be back alive in no time" Ashley replies as she sits down and brings up a holoscreen menu, then she continues "Met some of the guys down there, everyone can't wait for her to be back on her feet".
"Don't we all?" Rob says.
The men and women of the 5th SIFs have been visiting Ava's pod since they were transferred here. Often, they tell her stories about their family, friends, what is going on in the galaxy or just random stuffs and jokes. Of course, they all know that Ava can't hear them but they just want to keep the company of their friend and commander.
"Any word on when they're gonna let us get back at kicking reaper's asses?" David asks.
"Nope" Ashley shakes her head "If you ask me, they'll keep us here until Ava is back" she continues.
"Well then, she better get well soon 'cause I'm itching for some action!" David says.
"Here's to our beloved commander" Rob raises his drink as the others do the same.
-Geneva Hall of Justice, Switzerland Sector, Earth-
The situation in Falmart is relatively stable with the help of UNE. Empress Pina formed a parliament including The House of Lords is the upper chamber and The House of Commons is the lower chamber. This government body has a similar function to the United Kingdom parliament from ancient Earth history in the 21st century. The only different is that the monarch holds greater power and influence than the UK's royal family in the 21st century. Pina's brother, Diabo, is the head of The House of Lords and ex-senator, pro-peace faction leader, Philotheus Serapio is the head of The House of Commons.
Saderan's Empire military structure remains mostly the same. Pina tried to reform the military, switching from fighting with swords and shields to fighting with the new rapid-fire crossbows with normal bolts as magic bolts require human sacrifice. However, the empire is unable to support the immense logistic requirement to effectively supply and maintain such weapons for potentially millions of legionnaires across the empire, they retain the old legion formation with a few modifications. Earth's historians and advisors help Grey organize Saderan Legion the same faction with ancient Earth's Roman legion but with better equipment, training and logistic. Pilum replaces javelin as throwable weapon used by the legionnaires.
The Rose Order is renamed as The Rose Guard now consist of 2 branches. Panache Fure Kalgi is the general of the White Rose tasked with protecting the palace as well as the Empress. Bozes Co Palesti is the general of the Red Rose, this is the empress's personal expeditionary force. Grey Co Aldo was appointed supreme general status by the empress and took command of the land and air forces of the empire. The navy falls under Norma Co Igloo, who was appointed supreme admiral status by the empress.
Pina and Diabo, as family members, now at the Geneva Hall of Justice, on Earth, along with Hamilton as Pina's body guard to attend the trial of everyone involved with the Saderan Empire's invasion through the gate. The capital of the UNE is as beautiful as ever, green trees, colorful flowers and beautiful blue sky. However, Pina's mind is filled with sorrow as she follows a DSA agent, alongside Diabo and Serapio, towards the court room. Today is the beginning of a series of shameful, humiliating days while the trials of her brother and fellow countrymen go on.
The first accused to be prosecuted are Zoral, Tiberius and Calvus. Their prosecution levelled an indictment of four charges, including charge of waging war of aggression, slavery, war crime and crime against humanity. This also includes the following, torture and ill treatment of prisoners of war, murder and enslavement of civilians.
Pina is surprised by how magnificent and grand is the courtroom, it is even grander than her throne room and could accommodate thousands of people comfortably. Even so, it seems to be crowded at the moment as thousands of people who lost their loved ones are presented to witness justice being served. Looking down the room, she can see admiral Ruby Bennett is talking to a few other civilians. Having no idea why the admiral is here as Pina is unfamiliar with the UNE's judicial proceedings, she decides to approach to greet Ruby.
The closer she gets the clearer is Ruby's beauty. Like her daughter Ava, Ruby's beauty is natural without any genetic manipulation but astonishing enough to make all women envy and men yearn for her attention. Standing next to the admiral Pina greets "Greeting admiral Ruby" as she slightly bows when Ruby turns to face her.
"Empress…" Hamilton tries to stop Pina from bowing because an empress bows to no one, but was stopped by Diabo before she could finish.
Hamilton looks over to Diabo confused but she only receives a slight head shake from him.
"Empress Pina, Lady Hamilton, Lord Diabo" Ruby bows back then she nods at the people who she was talking to and they leave.
Before they leave, most of them either give Pina a disgusted look or an angry stare. From their action alone, Pina could guess who they are "They are…".
Ruby interrupts and finishes Pina sentence "The people who were captured and tortured by the Saderan Empire. They're here to testify against your brother and Tiberius, as am I".
"I…I am truly sorry for what happened, admiral, I hope we can put it all to rest after this trial" facing a battle harden and confident officer such as Ruby makes Pina, an empress of the empire, can't help but feel intimidated.
With a light smile, Ruby replies "It's not your fault" she looks briefly over to where Zoral and Tiberius are sitting, underguard, then looks back at Pina and continues "Your brother is a monster, but you are a different person. I can see you have a good heart, but you have a lot to learn before you can be a true leader, so let the next few days serve as a reminder that you need to keep learning to avoid the mistakes that your father made".
Ruby's word implies that Pina is not a leader yet, and Pina knows that the admiral is right. However, the truth is always hurt, she is now speechless while just standing there without any expression.
Seeing the judge and jury are about to enter the room, Ruby nods her head at the direction of them "Those are the judges, get to your seats now as the trial is about to begin. Good talk, Empress" she slightly bows and turns away, walking towards her assigned seat in the witness section.
As she walks pass where Zoral is sitting, he looks at her and in an angered voice he calls "YOU!".
Ruby stops but barely looks at Zoral "Hello kid, dream comes true huh?" she puts on a calm smile but it is sarcastic and cold.
"What nonsense are you talking, woman" Zoral says.
Ruby looks up and extend her arms "Did you not tell me that it's only a matter of time before you get to our capital? Well, here we are, the capital world of the UNE, home of humanity and your ancestors" she says as Zoral faces starting to turn red from anger, Ruby slightly lean at him and continues "How 'ya feeling now? Excited?".
Zoral rages and tries to go for the admiral, but the MP, in TAC suit, guarding him holds him down effortlessly with 1 hand "Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to keep your distance with the prison, please" the MP says.
"Sorry officer" Ruby nods then back off calmly.
"I will have your head served on a plate when I got out, whore!" Zoral rages.
The MP squeezes Zoral's lightly with the hand that is keeping him down, light but enough to cause Zoral pain "Mind your language and be respectful" he says to Zoral.
Ruby at this point, ignores Zoral and looks at Tiberius "Greeting, general".
Ruby respects Tiberius as a good soldier, a commander who cares for his man and a brilliant strategist. However, he disgusts her with all the cruelty, murder and torture that he did in the name of an evil empire that thrive on the suffering of others. If the empire technology level were equal to that of the UNE, the Imperial Army would have been a great threat under Tiberius command.
"Admiral" Tiberius nods at her then back to staring down the table.
Calvus is just sitting there hugging his head in silence, the time spent in the Alcatraz Solitude Station has clearly taken a heavy toll on him. The man is used to luxurious life and socializing when he was a senator of the mightiest empire of his world, now he is nothing more than animal in a cage. No hope to escape, no hope to speak his way out, no hope to just lose his mind and goes insane so none of this would be matter.
Since the moment the UNE troops arrived at Sadera, Calvus had realized how blinded he was and a fool to ignored Pina's warning. The arrival of the 9th Terra's flagship, his imprisonment and transportation off world when he saw the vast fleet of enormous vessels of what the UNE call "spaceship" showed him how tiny the empire actually is. Molt saw it coming, Tiberius saw it coming, his opposition Philotheus saw it, even the naïve brad Pina realized what was coming, it was only him being a hopeless fool and now it's too late. He now has to pay for his pride and ego.
As the time for the trial is approaching, everyone finds their seat and settle down before the judge begins the process. In front of the judge is a golden plate with his name on it, Abdul Hakim. The plate is made of nanobots with golden shell so it could change the name of the plate easily.
"Mr. Evan, please bring the jury in" Judge Hakim ask a guard to open the jury door for the jurors "All raise for the jury" he then orders the courtroom to stand up. Once the jurors are all at their seats in the jury box, judge Hakim asks the room to sit down "You may now be seated".
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen jury, you're still under the same instruction that I have previously given to you. You are not required to take any note, but if you wish to, you may. All your notes will be stored in the court's offline server when you leave for the day, and at the conclusion of the trial they will be wiped. Please do remember that your notes are for your personal use only and not to be considered as official transcripts. Additional instruction on how to utilize those notes if you do take notes is on the holoscreen in front of you" judge Hakim speaks to the jury.
He then turns to the rest of the room "The trial will now begin".
Before judge Hakim could continue, Zoral interrupts by shouting "HOW GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE US RIGHT OR WRONG?". The MP once again squeeze Zoral's shoulder causing him pain as the judge push a button creating 2 loud thumping noise that echo the room.
"You gave us that right the moment you invaded one of our worlds, Mr. Zoral El Ceasar. Now stay silent until it is your turn" judge Hakim says "Ms. Lea Goring, we're ready for your statement".
Lea Goring, from Germany sector, is the representative of the UNE government in this case against the ex-imperials "Thank you, your honor" she says as she stands up and the holoscreen adjusts to her eye level "This is the case of the United Nations of Earth versus Zoral El Ceasar, Tiberius Deusdedit and Calvus. In the name and by the authority of the government of the United Nations of Earth, the grand jurors duly elected, duty selected, organized, sworn and impaneled for the Geneva Hall of Justice, Switzerland Sector. Count one Zoral El Ceasar, Tiberius Deusdedit and Calvus, did then and there intentionally or knowingly taking part in planning and initiating aggressive war against humanity falls into the catalog of crime against peace. Count two, the aforementioned defendants intentionally killing civilians, taking hostage and torturing captured civilians, indiscriminate pillaging and sexual assault toward civilians fall into the catalog of crime against humanity. Count three, the aforementioned defendants intentionally and knowingly taking part, encourage, condone and tolerate the ownership of a sentient being as property or chattel, this falls into the catalog of slavery. Count four, the aforementioned defendants' mistreatment, sexual assault, and execution of prisoners of war (captured soldiers of the smaller kingdoms) falls into the catalog of war crime".
"Defendants plea to the charges?" Judge Hakim looks over to the defendants' side.
Each of them was offered to have an attorney to defend them in court before the trial take place. Out of pride and ego, Zoral refused any attempts to convince him to have an attorney therefore he doesn't have one. Tiberius and Calvus on the other hand, accepted the offer and each has an attorney to help defend and advise them in court. While it won't help them to get away from their crime free of charge, it potentially moves them from Alcatraz Solitude Station to one of the prison worlds which is so much better for their mental health.
Zoral is the first to speak up, being an arrogant fool, even now, he still believes that everything he did was right. He laughs loudly "Yes! I did all that, and I will do more once I'm out of here" he continues laughing.
"Not guilty, your honor" Tiberus and Calvus respectively reply, pleads not guilty according to their attorney's advice.
-Ellie Fleet Medical Center, Utopia Ring-
Ashley, Rob, Jimmy and David took a holoscreen down to Ava's pod to watch the trial together.
"Did that bubblehead just plead guilty right off the bat?" Jimmy says.
"I know! Effing idiot" Ashley replies with a chuckle, almost a laugh.
"Why's the judge keep asking him questions? Just send the bastard to the Solitude and be done with it" David asks.
"Well, it's the law, judge Hakim has to make sure the idiot knows what he's getting himself into. But listen, his questions are vague, he doesn't want Zoral to change his mind but the law forces him to do what he's doing" Rob replies.
"Yeah, his crime is undeniable, by admitting it he's saving them a lot of time" Ashley comments.
As the group is discussing about the trial, Ava's healing pod give out a continuous high-pitch beep as the light strip around the pod turns from yellow to green. That got the attention of them.
"Erm, what does that mean?" Rob asks.
"That means her revival is completed and now she's in the process of regaining strength. In a day or 2 when that light turn blue our dear Ava will be all good and ready to kick some ass" Jimmy replies with an excited tone.
"And we get to go back at kicking asses too" Ashley says.
"To kicking asses!" David raises his glass of grape juice for a toast. They're not allowed to drink alcohol in the hospital.
-Geneva Hall of Justice, Switzerland Sector, Earth-
"…the evidence is showing, that on February 22th of 3001, an army of 500 thousand consist of Saderan legionnaires and auxiliaries, under the command of General Aurelius, who was KIA, unprovokingly assaulted the city of New Ginza, planet Eden Prime…" Ms. Goring continues speaking as multiple large holographic screens on the side of the courtroom are playing different footages of the New Ginza incident. Civilians got stabbed, beheaded, chained up, children and babies got eaten by wyverns, trolls and orcs, women got sexually assaulted right under security camera "…approximated 7498 deaths during and after the incident, with only 1287 of the cases revivable. Another 104 were captured and enslaved…"
Zoral is now considered guilty without any chance of changing his mind, the ongoing argument is for Tiberius and Calvus. However, the judge allows him to stay so that he can see the horror that he took part of. After Ms. Lea Goring presented her statement against them, it's the defendants' turn.
"Good morning ladies and gentleman" Tiberius's attorney greets the room then continues "The evidence that Ms. Lea Goring showed did not proved that my client, Mr. Tiberius Deusdedit, had directly or indirectly taken part in planning, plotting and concur with the invasion…" the attorney continues.
Diabo whispers to Pina "This is remarkable, the attorney is really trying to defend Tiberius. There really is some fairness in this trial. These people never cease to amaze me".
"But why are they doing this? What's the point?" Pina asks, whisper back.
"Politics, dear sister, they're doing this to show that they're the good guy, to give closure for the UNE families that lost their loved ones and the prevent further call for blood" Diabo replies.
"…the evidence so far, and the testimony only proved that Mr. Deusdedit was presented in the throne room when the late Saderan emperor Molt Sol Augutus gave the order. Studies into the Saderan empire's culture suggested that my client had no choice but to remain silent, but that did not equal to him approving the order of his superior. Again, testimony of his arrival at the command camp before general Aurelius began his march through the gate could only prove his presence and not him took part or approved of the invasion…" the attorney continues with the defense statement.
The defendant's statement for Tiberius lasts for more than an hour. Mostly trying to reduce his involvement in the crimes of aggressive war, war crime by pointing out that he did not directly involve. As for slavery and crime against humanity, the evidence provided by a variety of sources, including admiral Ruby, is undeniable. Calvus's attorney makes similar statements.
"Call for the first witness" Judge Hakim orders Ms. Goring to bring in her first witness.
"Please call for admiral Ruby Bennett" Ms. Goring says.
Ruby stands up from her seat in the witness section and walk towards the witness box next to the judge bench.
-Presidential Complex, Pacific, Earth-
President Liam is sitting at his desk in the Oval Room, facing the window, looking out the vast and beautiful ocean of the Pacific while listening to the trial. A beep sound mutes the trial, he presses the answer button to receive the call.
"Yes?" He asks.
"The joint chief is on the line, sir" his secretary replies.
"Put him through" president Liam orders.
"Good evening, Mr. President" Brooklyn greets as the sun is setting at the location of the complex.
"Hello, Brooklyn, so what is it?" Liam asks.
"It's the Citadel Council, sir. We are now condition Sat Clostridium" Brooklyn reports.
"They did what!?" Liam lost his calm and turns right back at his desk.