The Finale: Butcher Of Korriban

[Connor Harrison]

Continued from 'The Fallout'
http://starwarsrp.net/topic/98244-the-fallout-butcher-of-korriban/?hl=fallout

OOC:
If you are NOT a member of Order Of The Silver Jedi and wish to participate, please PM one of the Admins for an invite if it makes logical sense IC. Thank you!​

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66QPKwUeBNI

And so here it was. The trial of Charzon Loulan. The self-proclaimed 'Butcher Of Korriban'.

One one side, the Silver Jedi have fought to keep her alive and return her to the people she betrayed to face justice for her crime. On the other, the Sith and Mandalorians have made it clear they want her head at any cost.

Friendships pushed to breaking point. Alliances tested beyond their limit. There is only one clear verdict to be dealt, but it will be done by the Silver Jedi themselves and they will not bow down to pressure to take the quick and easy way out.

The on-going nightmare will end here, today, and the fate of Charzon Loulan will be decided once and for all...​

​

- - - - - - - - - -
PART III
The Trail​

Silver Jedi Court
Voss, Voss System​

And so here they were. The trial had arrived after what seemed like a life-time.

[member="Charzon Loulan"] stood, alone, in the centre of the walkway before a high pedestal where Grandmaster [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] would lead the court with Master [member="Coci Heavenshield"] present by his side.

Seating to the left and right for the Silver Jedi who wished to watch the trial play out, and a space for those giving evidence to defend or protect the 'Butcher'.

Connor Harrison stood a few feet in front of her on the level, so he could see her at all times, see the court itself and the far double doors guarded by armed Rangers. The fact the court was itself below ground was a nice design move by the Silvers themselves; added protection for such a day like this.

Time seemed to tick on, and the tension and pressure was high around those present. It was a day to finally serve justice to the one who had killed thousands in a heartbeat and defied the Silver Jedi command and, effectively, made the Order one of the most barbaric in the eyes of the galaxy.

It was ghostly quiet, but in that, the silence was deafening as they waited for court to commence.

 

[Serenna]

Her attention was there as the Chiss was looking at everything they would be able to do. She wanted to get the trial over with as it was giving them a whole lot of grief when the chiss was looking around and forward. She would be truthfully happy to be done with it all but they would have to see. The jedi weren't ones to execute people so how would it all play out? Would the silver jedi actually want to deal with what came from this with all fo the other governments in the galaxy who like to declare they are self important enough to tell you how to run your own things? Would she actually have something interesting happening here to work with the others? She was looking at it and yeah she was bored looking to see it start.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio entered the chamber and sat along with the rest of the watching Jedi. He wasn't here to decide what was right and what was wrong, he had not witnessed the happenings at Korriban. Instead, he had been away, training on one of his many hair-brained pilgrimages. In fact, he had just come back from one and was here to witness these happenings.

Aside from the Monk’s spade in his hand that he used as a walking stick, the Chiss carried no discernable weapons. He had no intention of starting anything, and only a fool would under these circumstances—but the galaxy seemed to be rather exceeding in fools as of late. With the acknowledgement of the severity of this case and the backlash from it, he was ready for anything.

Akio himself had been an assassin before Dryzl had set him on the strait and narrow. He was the last to judge on wrong doings and was not one to believe that anyone was past redemption. The Force did work in mysterious ways, after all. But that path, it was paved with consequences. And, it was paved with hardship, work, and crafted through determination. And its result? Well it led to a world that was radically different, sometimes in good ways sometimes in bad. After all, Akio was destitute now without his skills of murder to rely on for income. But it was worth it.

These thoughts and so much more ran through the Blue Pilgrim’s mind as he took his seat among those attending.

 

[NightSister]

How long had it been since that disastrous day on Korriban? Hours had blurred into days; days had blurred into weeks. The whole absurd event had been one long string of chaos, and now at last was the Order's chance, perhaps not to end it, but to end the beginning and begin the end. After today the Silver Jedi could finally say, now we can start to forget, we can move on and become who we used to be all those days and weeks and months ago.

Aria was not going to be absent for that day.

Though she had not been present for the initial chaotic events of Korriban, Aria had certainly born witness to everything that had followed. Just like everyone else, she had had to defend the Order, reevaluate her morals as they considered whether the Silver Jedi were broken for good, hold her head high as she fought to show the galaxy that they were not the monsters that one [member="Charzon Loulan"] had turned them into in the public eye. Ah, Charzon; the one who had given the order that would throw everyone and everything into pandemonium; the one who was going around calling herself the 'butcher of Korriban' as though it were a title to be proud of; today was about her. Aria knew that more than some debate had gone into whether the Order could afford to give up their ways to show the public that they didn't sympathize with the rogue who had betrayed their trust, she had seen the arguments that had ensued over the perpetrator's punishment. Aria herself didn't know what to think; on one hand, they were Jedi and Jedi didn't kill; on the other, what else was there to do? Charzon Loulan had, in her own words, butchered Korriban, she had taken thousands of innocent lives, perhaps millions, Aria wasn't sure. Her own past made her very set against unjustified murder, but Charzon's death, unlike the ones she had caused, would not be unjustified, far from it. By this point, Aria had put so much thought into both sides that she could no longer remember what she had originally thought.

Either way, her opinion would have little effect on today's outcome; she was there to show support for the Order and for her Master [member="Connor Harrison"] in particular, who she knew had taken most of the burden of rectifying what had gone down. She was also there to finally hear what the villain had to say in her defense; or would she just stand there, waiting to get off with her life simply due to the allegiance of her captors? Nothing was certain today.

[member="Serenna"] | [member="Akio Diachi"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

As part of the leadership of the Silver Order, Coci had take up position authority in the room. However, it was not something she enjoyed this day, looking around the room as the Jedi from the Order gathered to witness the trial of Charzon Loulan. There was not even a soft murmur to cut the stillness, those present seemed to be sat in solitude within their own thought, much as she was. Not a joyous day today, to sit in judgement over anything was against the nature of the Jedi but moreso when considering the puniment of someone for crimes against humanity. Not a Jedi, not even a member of the Order but a someone who had willfully engaged the Sith that had attacked them over Korriban in the name of the Order. Coci let out a long sigh, in a hope to releave some of the tension within her own mind and body, just as her black eyes fell on the woman standing alone in the vast room for the first time.

So this is she, the one who calls herself the Butcher of Korriban.

Self proclaimed guilt? who in their right mind would call themselves such? Coci had a mind to take her back to Korriban to see the destruction she had caused, visit the family torn apart by this event she proudly owns. She had been back, saw it all with her own eyes, watched her husband weep with children, spoke to those working among the rumble still, to find the dead to at least let families know what became of loved ones. Not everyone that died that day would be found and for some there would be perpetual mourning, with no sense of closure. If one could have actually have such a thing.

Her black eyes locked onto the woman, the force searching her for any sense of remorse but as yet there was none. Coci sat with missed thoughts on the matter at hand, the Silver Jedi do not execute, and she is Jedi however, Coci is also Silver Shadow and they do. If the order was received with a simple nod from Thurion, the action would be fulfilled, and if necessary Coci would do the deed herself. If one passes the punishment, one must be prepared to bring down the sword.

​

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Aria Vale"] | [member="Akio Diachi"] | [member="Serenna"] | [member="Charzon Loulan"]​

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"I am guilty all right, just that there truly was no one in the Silver Jedi hierarchy, admiralty or not, that ordered the atrocities on Korriban. I acted on my own accord. It was rash, I acknowledge as much. I fethed up so big that alliances were going to be tested, if not broken. Yet the title Butcher of Korriban was awarded to me by the Sith almost immediately after the fact, long before I actually accepted to refer to myself as such. I stopped when the realization came that my intervention caused way too many civilian casualties for what we were supposed to do, so the title is a mark of infamy rather than a badge of honor, it's an admission of guilt on my part. 10,000-15,000 was already an unacceptably high number"

Of course Charzon was nervous. Charzon couldn't be completely evil; she never ran Ringovinda StarYards based on evil, and no one who personally knew her could have predicted she would go rogue by glassing Korriban City. But while Ringo Vinda leaving the Silver Jedi was a tax break to them, and now to Jessica, the latter had to prop up the entire Confederate Jedi roster out of corporate cashflow. Much like it had to prop up the entire complement of Jedi on Ringo Vinda and then some, based on the latest fiscal reports from the Silver Jedi Revenue Service, which taxed Jedi-owned corporations. Unlike the magocratic Silver Jedi, the Confederacy of Independent Systems made very little use of Force-users, but that's mostly a function of Geonosians and Neimoidians providing comparatively few Force-sensitives to train. In the meantime, Jessica was becoming the main symbol of the Jedi serving the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Said Jedi were more similar to the Silver Jedi in doctrine than they were different. They embraced government and corporate activity on their part, to a greater extent than the Silver Jedi were, even when the latter was entirely funded based on corporate contributions. But no, Korriban was not a call for the SJ to cease that method of revenue collection.

"I knew, however, that I couldn't hide for very long: I fought the Rogue One Sith over Castameer right after the fact, so that I could make the most out of the little time I had left before I had to face the justice, because I knew the Sith would hate me for what I have done. Especially given that the ship used for committing the crime has sustained damage against the 1st and 2nd Immortal Commands. After that I surrendered without resistance once the Mateus was docked for repairs. So I have to contribute to the reparations personally given what I have done"

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Kenrath]

Pre-trial

The fall of the Republic had resulted in many things. Among those things was the scattering of people into different remaining governments. Cole in the end had ended up with the Mandalorian Clans. A few of his old buddies had ended up with the silvers. It was through one of those old buddies they Cole heard about the capture and up coming trial of the person quickly becoming known as the Butcher of Korriban. It was a simple thing to be honest. When the delegation that Cole had been part of had been turned away Cole did some checking on his own. Once he found out Cole sent a quick message to Arla Balor letting her know what he was doing and where he was headed.

When Cole made his way there he was of course questioned at every turn. Identifying himself as a Representative of the Mandalorian Clans Cole was able to make it to the building itself before things really got tense. Cole while yes wore the WESTAR armor he had been using as of late with the helmet tucked under his arm was channeled by armed soldiers.

Cole simply took a breath raising his arms his helmet held in one hand.

"My name is Cole Dagos here acting as a Diplomatic Representative of the Mandalorain Clans."

When he was detained Cole complied............when questioned Cole remained even toned.

"Check it out if you want to." "I am simply here to observe the trail." "The Clans have an interest in seeing justice done." "Our intentions had been to talk about it but your government turned our delegation away and refused to speak to us." "An act of mass genocide so close to our borders is of great concern to us." "I am here alone and with the permission of the Alor Council." "They are expecting a report when I return." "Is this really how you treat all Diplomatic envoys from an Allied Government?"

It was clear Cole's words had no impact and he would continued to be treated like a common criminal. However after another round of pointless questions and having to surrender his blaster Cole was permitted to observe the trial from a box while still surrounded by armed Soldiers. Cole sighed as he settled into his seat.


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trial

Cole watched from where he sat arriving just in time for the trial to begin. He was silent simply listening to everything that was said. He noted [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] and [member="Coci Heavenshield"] in there seats as judge for the trial. Two people he did not recognize but could gather from what he had heard about the silvers were probably high ranking Jedi. It was the first statement from [member="Charzon Loulan"] herself that grabbed the largest part of his attention. So this is the so called Butcher of Korriban............and apparently according to her she had been at Omega. He was curious why the silvers would let a murderer retain her command. It was certainly not something he would have done.


[member="Aria Vale"] [member="Akio Diachi"] [member="Serenna"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Sat beside [member="Coci Heavenshield"], Thurion listened to the words of [member="Charzon Loulan"]. He had never met the woman in private or even in person before; she did not look the part of a butcher, and yet her so-called defense flat out pleaded guilty right away. The Grandmaster shifted in his seat, quietly tapping his armrest and looked over at his wife. When she caught his gaze his face softened somewhat, only to become as steel when he looked back down at the accused.

"How," he asked, plain and simple before rising from his seat. "How could you possibly not have thought of the consequences of your actions on Korriban before giving the order? Korriban City is a city of tens of thousands, and the Sith did not invade so they could rule over a pile of rubble. We've received several reports that they even tried to make sure no civilians were harmed during their assault. Did you never stop and ask yourself why the Sith, with the fleet they commanded, never thought to bombard our forces in the city?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed at having to explain the sheer stupidity of her actions. "Do you realise that your actions alone effectively destroyed any chance we had at victory? I had to give the order for our forces to pull out after I learned of what you did, because I would not accept any further bloodshed. Ten thousand men, women and children dead, Charzon! Thousands more reported missing!" His voice filled the room, and for a brief moment he allowed his pent-up frustrations to shine through. "Calling what you did a 'mistake' does not cut it."

Slumping back into his seat, his knuckles whitened as he glared at the woman. He could've crushed the armrests of his seat right there and then. He certainly felt like doing so.

[member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Aria Vale"] | [member="Cole Dagos"] | [member="Serenna"] | [member="Akio Diachi"]​

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"In the heat of space battle, there are so many parameters to take into account that you can't always think about the consequences of your actions. However, my actions are indefensible, and you know it as well as I do. I can't use it but for some unfathomable reason the Force saw me fit to even command a carrier back then"

Charzon pondered what would her answer to the second question asked by [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] would be. That was the toughest of the three questions the Grandmaster asked while at this stage of the trial, which was obviously in its early stages. Oh and [member="Coci Heavenshield"] was on Thurion's side for this entire time. May Jessica be a better military commander than I ever was, Charzon thought, thinking of her former associate Jessica, as she heard Jessica now have some military responsibilities among the Confederacy of Independent Systems, as part of her duties as a Jedi in Confederate service. Oh, for sure, I have the impression that the Silver Jedi's relationship with the Confederacy will be hanging on how they will handle my case, and not only the Mandalorians or the Sith Order. But I had no military training or experience whatsoever, much less naval command experience, she thought. Plus the crimes happened before there even was a Confederacy in the first place.

"I know enough about the Sith to say that they would not spare the population of every world, but certain worlds they would. It just so happened that Korriban was one of those worlds they actually care about and, more generally the Stygian Caldera. Although I do realize the extent of the casualties, and that the bloodshed cost us victory in the Stygian Caldera Campaign, I would accept any punishment, including but not limited to, death. May the Force have mercy on my jailers or executioners, for I won't have any and neither it will on those dead, missing and their families"

 

[Akio Diachi]

A--a Mistake? The Chiss had to be losing his hearing from his time spent out gathering Force Relics because SURELY someone as educated and "Quantum"-y as this woman wouldn't attempt to merely call the death of thousands a mistake. Perhaps the problem was the problem. When someone was able to lead from the armchair, they were able to dismiss these mistakes and be detached.

"Perhaps we should send her to the city," Akio murmured to the one next to him, 'Make her rebuild it brick by brick herself. By hand. Make her shift through the rubble to find the deceased and tell their families that they lost their children. Perhaps she should tell the daughters their fathers will never come home. We will see if its still just a mistake."

His voice, normally calm and gentle, bit with a rare undertone of sarcasm and irony. He valued all life, and was a follower of Toa and Zen ways. Everyone had to find their own path but-but—but to be so glib about ending so many paths by dismissing their existence’s endings as a mere mistake? Oh, goodness no, that was enough to provoke ire from him.

He doubted that this woman had been tasked with the need to tell a daughter her father wouldn’t come home. He had, it was a horrific experience. No, for this woman death was an escape. He would trust whatever the Havenshields would decree but if it were his call? She would hand build everything she destroyed. Every ounce. Every life she would atone for with work until it was taken care of. Then? And only when she was old, worn, and had spent her years and life fixing the reparations would she be rewarded with death so her conscience could be silent and be at peace.

Then—what was this???? Akio’s eyes grew wide with bewilderment. Surely this MADWOMAN could not believe that any being would tolerate this spat in the face of the dead? His mouth hung open wide in shock. Could he believe what he was hearing? He extended his hand at the mad woman and looked at those closest to him, “Did—did she--?” he surely couldn’t believe this, “Did she just blame the battle?”

His voice rose to a much louder pitch at the end of his words. If he were from the outer rim what would have followed would have been something like, “Hold my beer, I got dis” or what have you.

“There is no excuse for that!” his tongue unleashed, rebelling against Akio’s will, “To blame battle? Who among us hasn’t been in the throws of battle?” he rose to his feet, irritation boiling over, “And now she has the brash to compare herself to our enemies? ‘I have committed genocide and killed innocents, but ‘hey at least I didn’t do so as much as our foes?’ Who said this was a sliding scale? Who said you get to decide the terms of your sentence? Who said you garner the right to decide when your penitence ends? Who told you that you were special and the only one to battle? Who told you that anger and rage were justifications to your actions? Who said that inexperience gave you a free pass to mass murder? Who told you that murdering children was ok, so long as you do so less than our foes? Who told you you were even fit to command?” he shook his head, “Admit you’re guilty. Truly own it. Say what you did infanticide. Patricide. Matricide. Fratricide. Sororicide. Not in the tens or the hundreds even. But the thousands.” He shook his head and dusted his hands off, a proverbial and cultural act of ultimate shame. As if he was literally saying, I wash myself of you. You are not worthy of the effort.

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Cole Dagos"] [member="Charzon Loulan"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Aria Vale"]

 

[Serenna]

She was listening to what she was saying and as one fo the jedi who didn't even carry a lightsaber and worked on being the master of form zero well she was trying to understand it in so may words. She wanted to see what it was that would be able to be done here. She said she was guilty and treated it like a simple miscalculation. She had seen other trials like this and well at least the reasoning for metalorn had been saving lives on the ground when your commander walks you into a trap. This was going after non combatants in a city full of sithspawn... which she had doubts it was so perfect as being stated. Sithspawn killed things, it was their nature, to say they excluded people seemed a delusion.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami had entered and taken a seat shortly before Charzon was brought out. He crossed his arms over his chest and rested his right ankle on his left knee. He sat and listened to her words. He shook his head and laughed at her feeble defense. Kurayami was relaxed and coughed as she mentioned it was not a badge of honor but an admission of guilt. She would have done more publicly to make reparations for her actions were she truly sorry. It was clear to him that she had no clear idea as to how an aerial engagement worked. Whether capital ships or starfighters the basic concepts were similar. He spoke up his voice even, showing little emotion.

"You blame the battle. You claim to have known how naval engagements worked well enough to lead our naval forces in such an engagement. You were entrusted with taking care of the Sith fleet due to the supposed knowledge you possessed. If you did have such a well versed command of tactics then you would also know that you must maintain situational awareness and realize that as the battle shifts you will have to adapt along with it. This includes knowing possible effects of the actions which you have in mind. Had you chosen to command a strafing run of the city, or even a bombing run you would have been able to much more accurately and effectively destroy the enemy. You would have to account for the positioning of friendly units and enemies, which given the sensors on a capital ship should have presented you with little to no issue. Especially when you are the one who is in command.

This tells me that you have little to no tactical or strategic decision making skill Which would mean that you are incredibly unfit for command position in a military. Your decision killed at least 10,000 innocents. Clearly this was a result of glassing a population center. How would such an obvious fact be missed by you? A commander must be able to maintain composure under extreme stress. Clearly you were unable to an snapped, making a decision that indicted you. You claim that you know you are guilty, but the manner in which you conduct yourself is not one of a person who shows a hint of remorse for your action. To me the fact that those in power decided to have you brought in alive is more mercy than you deserve, and the fact that you may walk out of here alive...to be frank it sickens me."

Kurayami finished his speech and sat down, going silent once again.

 

[Kenrath]

Cole watched silently. He particularly enjoyed the reactions of A Chiss in the audience. Or at least he was assumed was the audience. Cole was not sure how the Silvers conducted such matters. It even managed to give Cole a sense that justice would be served..................true justice.

Cole leaned back in his chair for a moment his eyes scanning the crowd and reactions. In Cole's mind the defendant by her own words had sealed her fate. Cole's thoughts were interrupted by another outburst. It seems the defendant was going with a fog of war defense and it was not falling on deaf ears.............much worse it seemed to be actively offending people. Cole shared their opinion but it was not his place to speak up. He was simply here as an observer and he would stick to it. He may even enjoy it.



[member="Aria Vale"] [member="Akio Diachi"] [member="Serenna"] [member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Charzon Loulan"] [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Audren Sykes]

Now the trial. From what he understood, Connor had fulfilled the mandate given to him; obviously he'd brought Charzon back alive. Audren had never seen the woman before, hadn't been present when she'd performed the act that had earned her the moniker "Butcher of Korriban", but he was here now. His face was impassive, presence in the Force very much controlled. There were others present that weren't nearly as controlled, and even Thurion had allowed his control to slip somewhat. The frustration the man had been holding back...it was worrisome. But it was also understandable. As the Grand Master, the Valkyr was ultimately responsible in some part for the entire Order, and the woman's actions had made his job all the harder.

Here, now, the fact of the matter was that she admitted her guilt. The woman admitted that she'd given the order. More chilling to him were her claims that one can't think about the consequences of their actions in a space battle and that the Force had put her in command of the carrier. One one hand, she blamed the Force for putting her in command, essentially shifting blame off her shoulders and onto the Force, and on the other shrugged off responsibility by saying she couldn't think about the consequences of her actions. No, the responsibility for her actions, the responsibility for not considering the consequences, lay fully on her and those members of her crew who hadn't objected to shooting at a civilian city.

The nickname accorded to Charzon was actually slightly ironic, given the planet's past. It wasn't undeserved, killing somewhere around ten thousand civilians was no small matter. But the Sith had a history of doing exactly that sort of thing. And the Chiss who'd spoken very much out of turn had a point: even though she hadn't done as much as the Sith in the past, that didn't affect at all the weight of her actions.

Unlike the Chiss and Kurayami, however, the Sephi didn't speak. This wasn't a forum, this was a court. His facial expression hadn't changed, but his presence in the Force was less neutral than it had been. He held no pity for this woman, saw no justification for her actions. There was a reason he'd brought others in to serve as the command staff on the Tarlanc: he had no experience with it. To be in command in a setting one doesn't know means either everyone else has less knowledge of it or that the commander muscled their way forward. That she'd taken the command, even separate of the crime under judgement here, warranted punishment under its own right.

Everything said though, he wasn't sure that killing the woman was the answer. It wasn't the Jedi way. Given the calls for Charzon's death and the popularity of the old texts describing Jedi punishments, the Librarians had held seminars, one of which the Sephi had attended. It seemed, in the past, the Jedi had stripped Forceful beings of their connection to the Force, then exiled them. Rumor had it - though this was spread by Palpatine's Empire, so who knew how accurate it truly was - that the Jedi had tried to kill Palpatine after figuring out he was a Sith Lord. Stripping the woman's connection to the Force he could agree with. Exile seemed too lenient though, and handing her over to the population of Korriban was more than likely signing her death sentence.

He didn't envy the responsibility, the decision that Thurion now held.

[member="Connor Harrison"] | [member=Serenna] | [member="Akio Diachi"] | [member="Aria Vale"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Charzon Loulan"] | [member="Cole Dagos"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

So the court was in session. Silver Jedi all around and observers from outside all here to see the trial of [member="Charzon Loulan"] play out.

Connor stood as still as a statue, hands behind his back, in front of the murderess as she spoke up. Others too, spoke up following the Grandmaster and his address, and a holo-droid zipped around the court to allow those speaking be projected on a larger screen for all to see and hear. Armed guards stood at many points to keep order and protect every perosn in the room, friend or foe, should trouble arise.

Thurion hadn't seemed so rattled by anything in a long time, and why shouldn't he? From defenders of the innocent and becon of hope, the Silver Jedi were now fighting a constant battle to show the galaxy they were still those things fighting to bring a criminal to justice. But all anyone else wanted was to fight fire with fire. War and battle was the solution for many.

It was one thing the Silver Jedi were avoiding. Because they all knew behind this lay the Sith Order, watching and waiting to stoke the fire between these Factions. And while they tore each other apart, they would rise. If nobody saw that beyond the blinkered vision of a single fleet commander about to pay for her crime, then the galaxy was in a sorry state.

A state Connor Harrison wanted to change.

He could end it all now and cleave the head from her shoulders. It would silence those wanting action to be taken for her not leave the room alive, but it would again rock the Order from the inside out. Connor raised his head a little to take stock of the situation.

The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few.

It would be so easy to do right now. His fist clenched.

And relaxed. He exhaled and counted to ten.

If Charzon was sent to the prisons of Wild Space, she still wouldn't be protected. Not from those wanting her dead. Like him.

[member="Audren Sykes"] | [member=Serenna] | [member="Akio Diachi"] | [member="Aria Vale"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Cole Dagos"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Rianna Organa]

Rianna was going to sit quietly and observe. It was hard to be a force user at times, hard to find a balance in the events that played out across the galaxy. This was one of those times that the scale seemed a bit heavier to one side than the other.

She had come back among the Silvers a few months back, she had been quiet while there she had needed to feel the sensations of other force users around her, to feel the harmony that the force offered when near others. She had not quite expected this. Trials were hard on everyone and often presented shadows of doubt, mistrust, uncertainty, but it could also bring about the brightest of lights and reminders that the light prevailed.

Rianna positioned herself in the upper gallery to where she could see out and down, seemed as she aged the thoughts and sensations of small closed spaces prayed on her sense of well-being. So here she could see and be comfortable.


[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Cole Dagos"] [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] [member="Serenna"] [member="Akio Diachi"] [member="Charzon Loulan"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Aria Vale"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"If the last set of statements I made do not make any sense to you, my time on remand on Voss made me highly unstable. That, even though I haven't been mistreated. Nevertheless, I am guilty of having killed too many people at once, there truly was no one in the Admiralty to order such a thing, and I have shown that I am truly unfit for any level of naval command with combat duties. But after the crime of genocide, for which I stand trial today, has been committed, I fought at Omega, punched a hole in the escort screen on the Rogue One Sith's left, while seriously outgunned by them, engaging in a forlorn hope as a sub-unit of a greater fleet, and killing about as many meters of ships as I have lost, maybe a little less. Now, I realize that the genocide, resulting in 10,000-15,000 deaths, has cost us victory in the Stygian Caldera, but, if it makes a sentencing difference, or, in the event that I am sentenced to prison, imprisonment conditions, I am a NFU"

Jessica is with the Confederacy and has taken Julie, as well as Catria, with her in Confederate service. Were it not of that crime, of my excommunication, Julie would still be commanding the Mateus today, and I would still be an admiral in Silver Jedi service, she thought. I know some will be tempted to cut me off from the Force but since I cannot use it, unlike Jessica and Julie, it won't do anything to me. She knew that many prisons in Wild Space will place severe restrictions on, or even flat out reject, FU prisoners. But, if ruled insane, she may well be imprisoned at Valorum Asylum on Coruscant instead. Or some other such facility.

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"]

 

[Aiwaz Khath]

Auron had been sat in the outer stalls to the grand court, his mother Barenziah just beside him and other extended members of the Song family. He heard word after word and it all began to become a blur to him, despite how clear it was all being echoed around the building. As words passed, memories faded back into reality for him, and vibrant visions of fire and blood sought to push at his mind. With each word that he heard, a knife was twisted deeper and deeper into his heart. His dark eyes watched the movements of the inner court, flicking between members of the prosecution and the accused as they interacted, but the pain became too great. His mother, sensing his discomfort, sought to calm him by placing a hand on his, but it was not welcome. Instead, in silence, he stood from that stands. His mother tugged on the arm of his tunic and showed him a face of deep concern and consideration, but it was met with hollow eyes and the face of melancholy. Pulling his arm back, he humbly excused himself from the rest of the meeting, striding down along the outer steps and away. Far away.

 

[Eugen Aker]

Against her better judgement, Suravi had decided to attend the trial. No doubt dealing with Charzon and indignant Mandalorians would test her patience to the extreme, but she just had to be there to witness Charzon in her own words go through her thought process in taking such drastic and unnecessary action right as Suravi was had been ready to begin her operation in the city.

She stood in the space offered for people who wanted to speak up on behalf of Charzon, but Suravi's purpose here was actually to testify against the woman as she had also been present at Korriban as the Directorate's acting ground commander.

As it turned out, there hadn't been much thought in her process at all. Just a horrible case of naivete and panic. A case could have been made that the city was lost to hordes of contagious zombies as reported by ground forces. Thurion had commented that the Sith had purposely avoided civilian casualties - they keenly understood that maintaining a good perception was an important component of warfare - but no one on the Silver side had any idea of that. How would a zombie discern between a Jedi, soldier, or an armed civilian merely trying to defend themselves against a sudden alien threat?

It would have been weak case, though, because military operations had been successfully conducted under similar conditions by both the Republic and Silver Jedi without resorting to indiscriminate orbital strikes. Zombies and other bioweapons had long become synonymous with the Sith. In the instance of Korriban, Suravi had been prepared to take the city with a combination of droid forces immune to the outbreak, and precision air strikes as needed. Still, much a better case than what Charzon was offering, which was nothing but excuses that only served to put her competency to question.

The room bubbled with emotions as many Jedi present struggled to contain themselves, but there were a few verbal outbursts in response to Charzon's bloviations. Even Thurion was losing his cool, but she couldn't blame any of them. While she remained composed, she was quite astonished to see the utter lack of remorse displayed by the shamed executive. She had come to court with the attitude of Charzon as a buffoon but now she was beginning to think of her as a psychopath. Something was definitely loose in that head.

Mr. Bloodborn had made a good rebuttal to Charzon's initial response, but her actions had been more insidious than a simple act of negligence. She decided to speak up herself, making her best efforts to remain cordial.

"Ms. Loulan, you were advised by both myself and the Jedi on the ground to exercise restraint, but you thought you knew better than more experienced commanders to do whatever you saw fit. To add insult to injury, you abandoned me and your other allies in their time of need, in the midst of an active battle to go follow what amounted to a little more than a hunch at the time. The right thing would have been to stick around and pass that information along so that other units out of battle could have responded."

"Your little expedition to Castameer doesn't absolve you of your crimes at Korriban. That's not how it works. I'm not afraid to say that I would be furious with Grandmaster Heavenshield and the rest of the council if they ever thought to give you leniency. It's clear to me that, after your admission of hiding in cowardice, your motivation for fighting at Castemeer was completely self-serving. You didn't give a damn about helping those people at Castemeer anymore than you did for the people you left to suffer at Korriban. Weeks later, and I'm still attending to refugees on my ship. I wonder if these campaigns were little more than excursions to you for testing your toys."

She doubted her words would have any effect on the robot, but speaking had been a much-needed exercise of catharsis.

Spoiler

[member="Auron Song"] [member="Charzon Loulan"] [member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"] [member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Cole Dagos"] [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] [member="Serenna"] [member="Akio Diachi"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Aria Vale"]

 

[Shu Mora]

Shu had come here to watch, thinking that this would be a simple trial in her naive perception of the whole ordeal. She became rattled and afraid as she listened to this hearing. There was something... wrong about this room now. No matter how many bright lights should could feel, she simply felt that it was being consumed by darkness; if not through the force than simply in her mind. She felt that sitting among the crowd was just wrong. She could feel anger building up within several of them

Shu began to wonder: What would she have done if she were in [member="Charzon Loulan"]'s position? Would she have made the same mistake? She couldn't know, she had never been in such a position. The closest thing to battle that she had ever participated in were practices against simple stun drones and tactical games, both of which Shu performed less than average in. She didn't trust herself, nor did she have the experience, to believe that she wouldn't have called for the bombardment of that city.

She needed to get out of this room, she couldn't stand the thought of even hearing the Grandmaster's ire. As [member="Auron Song"] passed by she used it as an excuse to leave, knowing that she was no longer alone in this, and simply followed him without a word. She did not know of his past, or even who he really was at all. She just wanted out of that room and back into the safety of the rest of the temple. The safety of her small room. The safety of her bed. The safety of sleep.

[member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"] | [member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Cole Dagos"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Serenna"] | [member="Akio Diachi"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Aria Vale"]