The Cost of War (Part 4)
03 Aug 2016Jubei Himura
"Why?! Why did you kill my Daniel?! You killed them! “The woman broke down as she demanded the same thing the others did.
Why.
To be honest, I was starting to question that myself. Why did it happen? Was I so sure of my motives? Hearing person after person talk about how their loved one was a such good and just person until I killed them, well, that kind of thing will wear a guy out. Of course, I didn't need their words and stories and blame to make me question what I did, or feel shame because of it. The instant I found out that the men at the security checkpoint weren't part of Drumpè's private military corps, I felt ill, and I hated Drumpè for setting up such a dishonourable scenario.
The courtroom was filled with people, most of whom wanted my head. Unionists came to support the families of the men I killed and maybe get a little payback from somebody who shot down their ships. Members of the Chapterhouse sat behind me murmuring amongst themselves. Most inquisitors were off on missions, but Noxa, Dub, and Tan Gorn were present. while Edgar acted as my lawyer. We were all dressed in our Imperial military dress uniforms that displayed our achievements and Imperial rank.
Although in this situation I'd rather be wearing anything else.
Three patrons, including Viscount von Flettner, sat amongst the members of their patronage government. One of the remaining two was most likely the man who backed Drumpè. Flettner wore his old military dress military uniform, as was customary of retired veterans, while the others wore gaudy high class fashion. From HIP 35531: Patron Marq Antius, who was known to dabble in corporate matters, simply looked about the courtroom trying to appear caring and concerned. Beside Antius was Patron Trevor Formont, a man whose disdain for the working class was very well known throughout the sphere. Both patrons had paid careful attention to the ongoing trial, but neither seemed more interested than the other. If there was any jump in interest, it was always when the plaintiff added to the case against me.
As the people continued to give their testimony, I tried desperately to remember the events aboard the corvette. Much of my memory was still cloudy but I still had memories of the extreme emotion that I felt. However, through those strong emotions, some of the events unfortunately started coming back to me.
"Haven't you realized yet?" Drumpè nearly laughed. "I call you killer because that's what you are. A stone cold killer. You killed my PMC crew, the guys at security, and my PMC elite. Oh, riiiight, you didn't know... the men at security weren't part of my PMC group. They were Unionist peace negotiators, seeking support to diplomatically end the war. Haha! I was going to use them as meat puppets for experimentation, but you ended that possibility."
After he said that I was ill with shame after he said that., Tand that shame quickly turned to anger:. a Anger against Drumpè, and an devilish need to make him suffer.
That's when it hit me...
I thought back to the bodies lying on the ground of the security checkpoint. Each expertly killed by me. All but one died painlessly:, I owed every warrior that. However, there was something that bothered me about the six soldiers that were there originally. My gaze followed to the one closest to where I appeared, he had landed sideways on the ground. His eyes were wide and his mouth open in silent shock. Behind him was his friend who had seen the carnage happen right in front of him. He held a hand to his chest where his heart once was, but his eyes... they were still wet from the tears he shed just before dying.
They must have been pretty green to meet their end like this. Their training had been lacking, there was absolutely no combat awareness.
...no combat awareness... crying before death... eyes wide and in shock...
I felt hot... my insides burned...
Edgar was in front of the judge talking about my involvement in the publicly known Chapterhouse operations as I snapped back to the present. A sudden heat built up in my throat and I wretched, barely reaching a wastebasket in time to catch what used to be my breakfast.
"Do we need to take a recess?” the judge asked as all the eyes in the room turned to me. The families, Union executives, Inquisitors, and the three patrons were stunned. None were more shocked than the inquisitors.
"No your honour,” I said weakly as I reached for my glass of water. "I'm fine.”
Edgar turned to re-address the court, continuing to explain the missions I had on public record and their positive outcomes. I could see that some of the Unionists were actually listening to him, opting to use their head to think instead of their rage. That goodwill dissipated as the plaintiff made his counter-case. He alleged that I knew that the men were trying to diplomatically end the war and that I had taken steps to prevent any outcome that would benefit the Union. The argument that he put forth was wholly based on the fact that I didn’t hesitate to kill them, that I had already deemed them as my enemy.
Waves of guilt and doubt were washing over me, drowning out any practical thought. Like I said before, these kind of accusations will wear a guy out. The more the plaintiff talked, the more it seemed like the case was lost. The Unionists were overcome with emotion, fueling their anger and clouding their reason. Manipulation was clearly the plaintiff's plan for swaying the the court. I almost didn't care that the judge seemed more intent on listening to him than the truth, I was ready for it to just be done.
As the judge stood to say something, there was a commotion outside of the courtroom. The sounds of people upset at something or someone could be heard through the large heavy doors, and they were getting closer. The doors split open as they reached them, letting in bright beams of artificial sunlight. Through that light appeared the smug, smiling face of Endincite as he walked in. He was followed in by a Royal Imperial Guardsman.
That sonofabitch loved to make an entrance.
"Members of the court, may I present to you, Chancellor Anders Blaine.” announced Endincite as he made his way to the front of the court. The Imperial guard placed a holocube on the edge of a table and pressed the activate button. Chancellor Blaine materialized before the court, fading from a neon green hue into the full colour spectrum. The Chancellor first looked around the room and then glared hard at the Judge and patrons.
"As one of the only two people in the Empire who hold authority over the Chapterhouse, I am saddened that one of our members has been accused of such a vile act.” he said with an air of authority. Even at his age, he still commanded respect. "I apologize for not being there in person. I was not informed of this incident until this morning. Rest assured, the cause for the lack of communication will be routed out. Commander Endincite has brought me up to speed of the events in question and I have listened to the testimony so far, with the exception of Commander Starwalker's latest defence.”
The Chancellor moved in front of the judge’s bench and looked directly at the judge before he turned to rest of the court to make an announcement.
"Henceforth, I will be presiding over this case. If guilt is proven, I will authorize punishment.”
The courtroom was filled with the sound of angry murmuring as Chancellor Blaine took his seat. I could see from across the room Flettner was smiling as the patrons beside him scowled. Everyone settled within a few moments and Edgar finished his statement. The plaintiff rose from his seat and walked to the centre of the courtroom, bowing to Chancellor Blaine before turning.
"The court calls Inquisitor Jubei Himura to the stand." he said. Scores of booing and jeering came from the Unionists as I rose to move to the centre of the courtroom.
I took my place in the centre of floor, in clear view of everyone present and directly of the Chancellor. My back felt like pins and needles, this was the first time I've ever stood as the accused. The glares from the room didn't help. The plaintiff simply walked around me while rubbing his chin. He was measuring me up, much like I do to my opponents. The difference is that he was looking for any body language that he could exploit to prove his point. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.
You're just a puppet whose strings are being pulled by someone in this room.
"Mr. Himura, you were aboard the Corvette when those men died, were you not?" he asked.
"Yes, I was." I answered.
"You're a calculating man, known to follow targets for days or even weeks to conduct research."
"Correct."
"So it stands to reason that you knew about the peaceful nature of these men. But that did not matter. You wanted to make an example of them while on your way to kill the honourable Douglas Drumpè." He turned to face the crowd. "All in an attempt to cause all of the workers to lose their jobs... and boost your slave trade."
The courtroom exploded into verbal chaos.
Unionists yelled all sorts of obscenities my way, while the present inquisitors demanded proof. Viscount von Flettner was angry and let it be known by shouting at the plaintiff. Patron Antius whispered something to his assistant, keeping his gaze firmly directed to the me. Patron Formont simply leaned forward and smiled at me, stroking his mustache.
He seemed to like that accusation.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the court, I do not throw these accusations wildly. I have proof."
I knew it, that bastard was sitting on something.
The plaintiff smiled as he reached into his jacket and produced a datapad. "I have a copy of the Corvettes last moments!"
With a few taps on the datapad's screen the court's main holo-screen lit up. There was only a still image of me smiling as I addressed the men at the security checkpoint just before I killed them. He was nice enough to let the crowd calm down a bit before speaking again.
When the room was sufficiently quiet, the plaintiff hit 'Play' and the hologram set into motion. It was surreal to see myself in front of me. The nearly crazed smile that I showed was eerie and sadistic. I remembered the upcoming scene clearly; the blood, the silent screams... but now there was the overwhelming guilt weighing down on me. As I looked up, I could see my hand gripping the pistol and quickly drawing up before-
"STOP!"
The image froze just before my finger finished pulling on the trigger. Chancellor Blaine was standing and looking upset. He turned his head to look at the unionists, and the colour briefly drained from his face, only to have it return a second later to turn his face a deeper shade of red. That deep red face then turned to the plaintiff.
"How dare you." He said. His voice then raised to a shout "How dare you! Have these people not been through enough? You wish to torture them further with the images of their loved ones being slain?!"
"Bu-but sir, this is evidence! Proof of guilt!" the plaintiff stammered.
"You wish for proof? Here is your proof!" Chancellor Blaine was practically yelling at this point. "Inquisitor Jubei! On your honour, did you kill those men at the security checkpoint?"
"I did."
My head was down to hide the tears forming in my eyes as I admitted my guilt. The crowd erupted with shouts of anger and venom. The plaintiff didn't get to show the footage, but was none the less satisfied. Patron Antius covered his mouth in shock and looked around at the crowd, but then gave the faintest of smiles while Patron Formont simply narrowed his eyes and chuckled.
"Now for the more important question of why." Edgar spoke up as his rose from his seat. "Jubei may have a record of... excessive force. However, his record states that he has never killed an non-combatant. In fact, who here fought in the combat zone battles?"
Several hands in the Unionist group went up. A few here and there got nudged in the ribs before reluctantly raising their hand. These people may be angry, but they're still honest hard-working people.
"I have heard reports of several ships being shot down whose escape pods malfunctioned. Did anyone here suffer that fate?" Edgar said as he looked at the crowd. All but three hands went down. Edgar turned to one. "Please tell us how you survived. a malfunctioning escape pod in the middle of a combat zone usually means certain death."
"I... uhh... well sir, I don't remember as I was knocked out from ejecting but..." the dark skinned man explained, clearly nervous at speaking to the court. "I'm told that my pod was shuttled back to base by an... enemy... ship."
His eyes widened with a realisation as he finished the sentence. Two more times the same story was repeated and afterwards the courtroom was alive with muffled talking. The plaintiff sat in his chair and just glared at me, looking for any small indication that the implied story was a lie.
"Inquisitor Jubei," Edgar began to ask. He looked serious as he spoke, but there was a twinkle in his eye, telling me that he was either about to mock me or this was his ace up his sleeve. "on your honour, did you or did you not violate Imperial orders and abandon the battle to shuttle three escape pods into enemy territory?"
"I did." I said, rather defiantly.
"That's not the point!" The plaintiff shouted. "He admitted his guilt! He murdered those men in cold blood!"
"Have you ever been in the middle of a battlefield, plaintiff?"
My voice was as deadpan as I could make it. I already knew the answer. Creampuffs like this guy had only seen war from a screen. News reports or holo-games or documentaries. There was always a disconnect, a separation that didn't quite make war a real and tangible thing.
"No. he said coldly.
"Hm. So you have no idea what it's like to be in the thick of it, surrounded by the carnage. The pain of watching comrades die in front of you while there was nothing you could do, because you were busy fighting for your own life. You have no idea of knowing that the people you're fighting and killing really aren't that different than you, just soldiers fighting for what they believe in. Soldiers who are now dead so that you can be safe and secure in your bubble."
I turned my gaze toward toward the Patrons and scowled. My emotions were clearly getting the better of me, yet I continued.
"Soldiers are expendable to you people! That is, until you find out that someone you know who got killed in action. Then it hits close to home. We march off to the fields and fly to the combat zones hoping to have the good fortune to come back to our families! At the very least, we hope our deaths mean something. All this, while you criticize from the comfort of your chairs! Out there, we have to make split second decisions without having the luxury of time to consider the consequences. We make a choice based on the situation and we have to deal with the outcome, whatever that will be."
The room went silent. Unionists looked at their feet, ashamed. The Inquisitors stood firm. I knew their thoughts wandered to memories of fallen comrades. The Patrons began assuring everyone that the dead were never mere playthings. I was actually quite pleased with myself for having such an effect.
So pleased in fact, that I didn't see Endincite walking up to me.
By the time I sensed he was near me it was too late, his fist was buried into my gut and I doubled over in pain. A second later he cold-clocked me in the head, sending me to the floor.
"Do not speak out of turn!" he ordered as I coughed and gagged.
"Yes sir." was all I could get out.
I could hear whispering between Edgar, Noxa, and Endincite. Something about decoding. I couldn't make it out clearly. There was some shuffling and then Edgar spoke.
"Your honour, our intel team has successfully decoded the information that was taken from Drumpe's ship," Edgar reported. "including all financial transactions and complete video surveillance."
There was a collective gasp from all present, then murmuring. Obviously no one expected this, especially a patron who swore loudly.
Gotcha.
Edgar moved in front of me to address the court. "With your permission your honour, we would like to play the last recording taken on the Corvette bridge."
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Special thanks to Alex Harrow for helping with editing this entry!