EMCOTS-2 3

=Emergence (Concertverse) Book 2 - Chapter 3=
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==The Way of the Clans==
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===Wolves brooding their next Moves===
Beta Galaxy Command Ship, CWS Blood Fang
Nadir Recharge Station
Tetersen, Donegal Province
Lyran Commonwealth
5th June, 3143
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The view from the exterior cameras of the Blood Fang played over the screen in Alaric Ward's office. It showed him an Olympus-class recharge station just close enough to the Tetersen star to bask in a faint moonglow light. Massive gossamer-winged solar collectors drew in the power emanated from the distant star that remained invisible to his eyes. The camera did not show the cables running from the station to the JumpShip Amberlight, one of a number of captured Lyran and Marik JumpShips commandeered by the Wolf Empire for use by its expanded touman. The Watch from his own command were on the JumpShip, observing its bonded crew and the status of the charge to ensure that the Wolf Clan's newest batch of technician and laborer-caste members did not try any sabotage. The Lyran Commonwealth dies around us, but some may have the embers of loyalty to its flickering flames.
Assuming that the news of their allies from another reality has not fanned such flames with hope, that is.
His eyes drifted back to the main holotank. It displayed him and those at his side for the benefit of the other attendees of the impromptu War Council. Just as he saw Khan Seth Ward, Loremaster Liam Ward, and the commanders of the other Galaxies beside his Beta and Khan Ward's Alpha, they saw him. They also saw his adjutant Star Captain Verena and, more importantly, his bondswoman, the notorious Anastasia Kerensky. A reminder of my accomplishments and that why I, without a Bloodname, sit among them.
"Star Commodore Fariq confirmed a multitude of contacts at Westerstede's Zenith Point." Liam Ward said, drawing Alaric's focus back to a meeting that was sorely trying his patience. At least they discuss a real issue, not the best way to divide spoils they have not even glimpsed yet. "Their jump in was recorded from long range before the Pack Star jumped back to us. Though a direct count of their ships was not possible from the range, analysis of long range magscan and thermal scan confirm a significant number of DropShips attached to their ships. Few separations were noted."
"Could it be a full Aimag of the Foxes?" asked Galaxy Commander Elise Ward of Gamma Galaxy. Alaric snorted at the slight hope in her voice.
"Star Commodore Fariq did not detect the usual transmissions from a Fox fleet." Liam snorted as well, if for an entirely different reason. Mocking the degraded merchant Clan is such a wasted effort, as if any of you would dare say such things to a Merchant Factor's face. "No, our analysts are in full agreement. These must be the allies the Lyrans have so desperately sought from the other side of the anomaly at Timkovichi."
"So we will get to face the vanquishers of Malvina Hazen in battle." Alaric mused aloud. "I wonder if the warrior who landed the final blow on her 'Mech is amongst them."
"Better, for the Lyrans themselves have boasted that the Arcadians' ruler leads their army to Tharkad." Liam replied. For all their mutual disgust and hatred, Alaric had to admit the man pulled off a proper wolf's grin when he set his mind to it. "We will have the chance to slay a Successor Lord of another Inner Sphere, or claim him as a bondsman."
Thoughts of the broken 'Mech of Thaddeus Marik played through Alaric's mind. That will be my victory, Loremaster Ward, not anyone else's. "Two Successor Lords in a single battle, all to topple a Great House and claim their capital as isorla. It will be a victory the Remembrance will need whole pages to praise."
"Aff, Galaxy Commander, the Remembrance will speak well of the warriors who win the battle ahead." Seth agreed. After all, the Khan would get his name listed first.
Movement came from another portion of the holotank. Alaric recognized Galaxy Commander Tyler Cooper of Zeta Galaxy. Aggressive, useful. But likely too eager, he judged. "Perhaps we should consider a new strategy with this information. We can ambush the Arcadians at Westerstede with our fleet and take their entire army as isorla!"
A glint showed in Seth Ward's eye. "An intriguing proposition. We have the Dire Wolf and our two remaining frigates."
A daring strike, yes… if not for our most critical weakness. "A bold and dangerous plan," Alaric said. "The Sea Foxes warned us the Spheroids of the other side possess significant naval power. What sort of forces did they send to escort their troops? The behemoth WarShip that led the annihilation of the Red Talon would be a match for all our WarShips and our squadrons of Isegrims put together."
Cooper recoiled from the screen slightly. He hadn't considered that at all, Alaric realized. When he spoke it was with renewed conviction. "If we kept a full charge in our L-F batteries we could ambush and return if they prove too strong. But we have a chance to crush what little hope the Lyrans have regained since the Glass formed! Our victory would be assured!"
"And if our fleet is ravaged by their fleet, our defeat is assured." Epsilon Galaxy's CO, Galaxy Commander Niels Carns, frowned at the prospect. "Our work at Chukchi is only just begun. Significant damage would mean we have to divert our ships to the distant Fox-run yards and pay their rates. It would remove our aerospace cover from the campaign."
Carns was no friend of Alaric, but he'd taken the bait Alaric laid quite well. Ward nodded in agreement, as did Galaxy Commander Yvonne Vickers of Kappa, a new Galaxy of recruited and freshly-raised Clusters to give them needed manpower. Seeing his Khan was weighing the two options, Alaric made his next move. "There is an alternative to risking a battle with naval forces, my Khan. Let us strike at Gibbs as well."
Khan Ward's appraising look was laced with thinly-veiled suspicion. "What would be the point of dividing our forces further?"
"A minor diversion, we send the rest of Epsilon Galaxy." Alaric replied. "We have already dispatched half of their Clusters to claim Tetersen for the Wolf Clan. The remaining Clusters are not a significant force but include three aerospace Trinaries and a DropShip Binary, do they not? Send them to raid the shipyards and harass the Lyran Regulars on-world once more. Given the importance of Gibbs, I would imagine the Lyrans have a JumpShip ready to ferry warning to Tharkad at all times. Make them believe we come in sufficient force to threaten their yards, it will provoke them into begging for Arcadian aid. Assuming they have not already."
Carns snarled. "You would deny my warriors their rightful place in the conquest of Tharkad!"
"They would share in the glory by contributing to our victory." Seth Ward countered. A good sign. He is agreeing with the idea, Alaric thought. "Galaxy Commander, you will lead your remaining warriors to Gibbs. Feint towards the yards and strike them if you have the opening, then return to your DropShips and join us at Tharkad. If the battle still rages, you may yet play a decisive role there as well."
Carns glanced as the others, as if pleading for them to step in and call this a terrible idea, but none did. The Way of the Clans proclaims the entire Clan shares the glory of every warrior's victory. It is a very useful aphorism, even if rarely so true. Alaric remained silent and uncaring. Carns finally relented. '"Aff, my Khan. I will level a batchall suitable to panic the Lyrans and await the reaction."
"This is a dangerous choice, my Khan," Ward warned. "Losing two Clusters of troops, even aerospace ones, may see our enemies too numerous."
"There is no enemy too numerous for Beta Galaxy." Alaric boasted. "Our clusters can break whole Spheroid regiments. Surely Gamma's warriors can match us?"
That won him a hateful glare. The glare itself was admission the insult had struck home. "Do not let your need for a Bloodname drive you to foolish ends, Galaxy Commander Alaric." she said with acid figuratively dripping from every word. "The Inner Sphere's warriors may be inferior, but they are great in number, and now they have a strong reserve of support from the other side of the Anomaly. We will be a fine blade ground to nothing if we are not mindful of this fact."
"We will be a knife unused in the scabbard if we do not strike boldly." he countered.
"Enough!" Seth's voice bellowed over the line. "The decision is made. Epsilon will jump early for Gibbs using ships with charged L-F batteries. The rest of us will continue to Tharkad when recharging is complete. Maintain your readiness, my Wolves. We shall claim the Lyran den for our own, and stick Melissa Steiner's dezgra corpse on a pole outside the Triad."
And then, Terra, Alaric added in his thoughts.
"Seyla!" Seth said as a finishing touch, and the others echoed, including Alaric himself. He ignored Liam Ward's ritual closing of the war council and glanced towards the others. "Thoughts?"
"Well played, Alaric," Verena said. "You continue to prove yourself superior."
"You maneuvered Carns pretty well there," Anastasia agreed. Her finger fiddled with the bondcord on her wrist, as if she longed to pull it off. Maybe soon, you will, once I am sure of you. "Though you may have made him a foe."
"He already was one, Anastasia." The age-worn voice came from the corner of the office, where the unseen observer of the meeting had sat out of view of the Khan and Alaric's peers. Katherine Steiner-Davion's age had long robbed her of the youthful beauty that entranced the Lyran people and made them love her. It had not stripped her capacity for ruthlessness and her raw unfiltered ambition, traits that eventually turned those same Lyrans against her.
And yet the same was what drew my genefather Vlad's infatuation with her. He was a warrior enough for the both of them. Yet I could never care for a woman like her. He glanced towards Verena. The stirrings of his desire for her were provoked as much by her ferocity on the battlefield as her physical attractiveness. She was, temperamentally, the exact opposite of Katherine.
Oblivious, or at least uncaring, about Alaric's thoughts, Katherine pressed on. "The important part was preventing Cooper's foolish notion. It was too great a risk. You did well to deflect it without losing his support, Alaric. And Melissa or whomever is ruling the Commonwealth can't afford to lose Gibbs, so they'll panic and beg the Arcadians to divert."
"They will, but I do not anticipate them to divert fully," replied Alaric. "The Lyrans may panic, but the Arcadians lack their desperation. They will be sending the majority of their forces to Tharkad. It will be a fight worthy of our conquest." He smiled. "And I will make sure I am the one to kill their High King."
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===Pruning of the Old Feathers===
Clan Jade Falcon Provisional Council Building
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
New Hamarr, Sudeten
Transglass Inner Sphere
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Khan Isaac Roshak was a simple man for his station. His place of work reflected this. The office of the Khan of the Jade Falcon Clan was more austere than it had been in decades. Aside from the Clan's flag and monitors nothing was visible on the walls around the office. The table was a fine hand-carved wooden work of art, and the only reason it remained was that the labor to move it would be more wasteful than the desk itself. Simple chairs were placed on both sides, with none of the couches that had once marred the room.
His eyes were fixed outside the window. The light in his office was just the right angle to create a reflection across the glass, showing Isaac in his black Mongol jumpsuit with the Khan insignia proudly affixed, sharp eyes of jade and the faint mocha skin tone common among his Bloodhouse. Yet his eyes were on the scene past his faint visage, to the proceedings in the courtyard below.
Under the Sudeten sun, rows of a final term sibko stood at attention along the center of the Government Building's courtyard. Armed Watch soldiers in Mongol black stood among them, rifles at standby, while another group pushed and prodded a half-dozen old Falconers into position. Isaac sneered at seeing the doddering old fossils, warriors who had been decanted during and after the Jihad when the Clan was desperately replacing its many losses. For all he knew, the eldest might have even been among the last sibkos to see Ironhold or Strana Mechty, they might have even fought on Terra against the Blakists. To survive that and yet fail to win a Bloodname, not even able to die as solahma. Pathetic.
The Falconers were forced to their knees with punches and shoves. Once they were down, a Watchman brought up a laser pistol and started firing. Six shots, all through the back of the head, within ten seconds. With the executions over, one of the Watch turned and began haranguing the sibkos.
Isaac couldn't hear the words, but he didn't need to. He'd provided the broad points personally. The sibkos would be instructed in how their Falconers had failed them by teaching them outdated old ways that should have been left behind with REVIVAL. The teachings of the Chinghis Khan were to be their guide as warriors. The Jade Falcon Clan was supreme. The penalty for resistance was death, not just death, but complete and utter extermination. They would all learn the fate of worlds like Apostica, and how through such uncompromising tactics, the Spheroids would finally be broken, and the Clan's destiny achieved.
The sound of his door opening prompted Isaac to turn. The entrants wore the same Mongol black with green highlights, and their insignia marked them as Galaxy Commanders. Wanda Helmer and Uther Mattlov were still fresh to command of the Vau and Delta Galaxies, just out of their Trials of Position. They gave him their respect if not their admiration. He suspected both intended to challenge him for the Khanship at some point, and they would be welcome to try. "I will not keep you for long," he said. "Delta Galaxy is ready, quiaff?"
"Aff, my Khan," Helmer replied in her clipped formal tone. She did not like Isaac, but she respected his superiority as a warrior. It was why he trusted her with Delta Galaxy, now his strongest Galaxy with the purges of the "Second Rending" afflicting Alpha and Gamma Galaxies' leadership. "I will be bringing two Clusters formerly of Iota Galaxy with me, their warriors are in need of blooding and learning the Mongol ways."
"See to it. And you, Mattlov?"
"Peregrine's re-organization continues." Mattlov spoke with more disgust in his voice than Helmer had. He still blamed Isaac for Timkovichi, undoubtedly, and more to the point, blamed him for why his voice sounded hollow. The medical technicians could only do so much in repairing his vocal cords, Isaac thought with satisfaction. It was his bullet that had robbed Mattlov's high-pitched voice of its strength. He should feel thankful the angle of the shot only took his larynx instead of splitting his carotid as I'd hoped. "The Second Rending has weakened some of our Clusters. Those who followed the coward Hazen were plentiful."
Isaac narrowed his eyes. Star Colonel Lisa Hazen, formerly of Delta Galaxy's Fifty-Third Falcon Talon Cluster, had been one of the leading Traditionalists under Stephanie Chistu. She'd been on the liquidation lists Isaac drew up with the Watch, but she and many of her warriors had slipped free in the immediate chaos of the Mongol coup, ultimately escaping on DropShips during Isaac's consolidation of the fleet. She either made for Skye to join that doddering old fool, Noritomo Helmer, or has gone to ground among the Clan's conquests. Either way, she and the desant will have to be dealt with eventually. But first I must finish the final stroke of consolidating my power.
"Finish your work soon. It is almost time for our strike."
"Have you decided on the scope of our attack, my Khan?" Helmer asked. "Will we repudiate Chistu's wretched truce and lay waste to the Kell Hounds' lair?"
"Would that we had the strength to, but no, Chistu's truce remains useful." he replied. "We need time to graduate more sibkos and rebuild our forces, and to secure the loyalty of the desant for when the Fortress falls and Terra can be won. It is my intention that we will finish our quarrel with the Arcadians once we are ilClan." Isaac walked over and activated the most expensive piece in the office, the main holotank. An image of Arc-Royal's surface hovered in mid-air, marking Old Connaught and Wolf City. "We will honor our truce by staying only in the territory assigned the dezgra Wolves. We will land with three objectives. Galaxy Commander Helmer, Delta Galaxy will be focused on crushing the Wolves' Alpha Galaxy protecting Wolf City. Galaxy Commander Mattlov, I am making Peregrine responsible for the isorla. Your warriors will support the Watch and infantry cluster I deploy to seize technician, scientist, and skilled laborers from the Wolf factories, as well as every industrial machine and tool that can be taken. Have them ready to strike hard, hold, and ensure the extraction, for our Clan's greatness may depend upon it. I will bring the rebuilt Golden Ordun with Alpha Galaxy to act as your reserve and engage in our final task." Roshak grinned with anticipation. "I will ensure the extermination of the traitor Wolves through the destruction of their sibkos and genetic repositories. There will be no more generations for this pack of Lyran hounds. Any who survive will become Spheroids in fact as well as name."
"This is wasteful." Mattlov protested. "The Horses and Bears bite at our wings, we should strike them with these units."
"I will personally deal with the Horse Khans," Roshak said. "But the Wolves come first."
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===Conducting Instruction without Fail===
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After the meeting Isaac waited patiently for his next appointment. She arrived in an emerald and black suit, well-crafted, as if she were of any importance compared to even a fresh warrior from the sibko with a single kill in their inaugural Trial of Position. Her dark hair and skin nearly matched the secondary color of her suit. She was older than Roshak, as senior merchants tended to be, though not much older. The one insignia she bore marked her the Merchant Factor, the senior-most merchant in the entire Jade Falcon Clan.
Isaac found her posture an insult. He expected her to behave like a subordinate warrior. That Wenceslas Bulhallin and Beckett Malthus had not expected it spoke much to the enfeebling nature of the old Clan ways. "Merchant Factor Marena," he said. "You have troubled my subordinates considerably these past ten weeks."
"Given your elevation, my Khan, I was simply seeking an audience to go over our Clan's economic position," she replied. It was a diplomatic one, but Isaac didn't feel mollified by it. She was being courteous because the Clan ways demanded it, not out of loyalty to the warrior caste.
"Our economic position." Isaac held out a noteputer for her to take. "This is what my warriors require. That is our position."
Marena took the noteputer. Her ice blue eyes scanned the listing on the screen. Isaac watched with amusement as some of the color left her face. "My Khan, these figures are… difficult." she said. "Even before Gray Monday they would be, and with damages from the Rending, attaining these production goals may not be possible for several years."
Impressive. She did not cease once. The records claim she was Trueborn, so she must have learned something from her time before testing down to merchant. Though she is clearly too weak to be a warrior. Isaac's voice lowered to a growl. "Merchant Factor, I am Khan, and I speak with the authority of my caste. We require those weapons in the time specified. It is your duty to provide them, or you and your caste have failed the Clan."
"But we do not have the production facilities or manpower." Marena protested.
"We have conquered many new star systems these past few years. With worlds like Arcturus under our control you expect me to believe our needs cannot be met?"
"Many of our conquests have not been acclimated fully yet," she replied. "Caste testing, material re-allocation, it all takes time."
"Then do not test. All of the untested are hereby laborers. Send them to work. Let those with greater talents prove it through their efforts."
"You are talking about taking many millions of Spheroids and turning them into base laborers, including some who have never done laborer caste tasks. The economic damage to the worlds will leave them worse than useless, my Khan!"
"I do not care. I want the weapons. Deliver them, or admit your inability and I will find a Merchant Factor who will. Additionally, about these VaultShips you have sent about the corners of Clan space. Recall them. I am requisitioning them for warrior caste service."
"My Khan, those ships are what has kept our economy functioning without the HPG Network." Marena replied. "They trade for the weapons and materials you are requesting I expand our supply of. Without them our connection to the rest of the Clans' economy will break apart and our ability to maintain the value of the Kerensky will falter."
"I do not care, Merchant Factor. The economy of the Clan exists for one purpose, and that is to provide us with weapons. The other castes can make do."
For a moment Marena seemed struck dumb. Then he saw it. The fire in her icy eyes. The rage. The contempt. It only appeared for a moment before control asserted, but it was too late. He'd seen it, and he knew without a doubt the lack of respect this merchant had for him.
"If you drive the lower castes to starvation they may—"
"I do not care, Factor Marena!" Isaac shouted the words and slammed a fist on his desk. "You and the other caste exist to support us. If a laborer starves so that a warrior is fed, so be it. One laborer, or a hundred, or a thousand, it does not matter! That is the true Way of the Clans as it has always been! The warrior commands, you obey. The warrior needs, you give. Your existence is for nothing but our needs!"
"My Khan, I will obey, but it is my duty to the Clan to warn—"
Isaac's hand went to his holster. Two seconds later his sidearm was pointed directly at Marena's forehead. "If I hear any other words than 'Yes, my Khan' come from your mouth, merchant, I will shoot you. Am I clear?"
She pursed her lips. Her eyes hardened. The fear showed, as he'd expected and hoped for. Her mouth opened, closed, and opened again. "Yes, my Khan."
He kept the pistol level and spoke his words slowly and methodically. "The VaultShips will be recalled to Sudeten for military purposes."
After a moment she nodded. "Yes, my Khan."
"You will implement my decrees on production immediately. If a factory producing a civilian good must be taken over and converted for military goods, it will be done. If transportation must be diverted, divert it. If a merchant or scientist administrator protests, they will be turned over to the Watch for malingering. Understood?"
"Yes, my Khan." The words were ice.
"All caste assignment testing is suspended. All remaining unassigned civilians from our conquests are laborers and will be assigned the appropriate stipend for basic grade laborers. Let them prove themselves if they wish a better assignment. Implement this immediately."
Seconds of silence caused Isaac's finger to tense over the trigger. Finally, he was rewarded with another "Yes, my Khan."
"Good. Now leave before I shoot you anyway." At that command Marena turned to go. As she reached the door, Isaac called out. "When we see each other again, Factor, the same will apply. Any words, any communication, will be the words 'Yes, my Khan', or I will have you executed."
The disgust showed again, briefly, and her words came out slowly and methodically. "Yes, my Khan." She stepped through the door.
The Watch will have to keep an eye on her. Isaac considered killing her, perhaps even a general reaving of the merchants, and decided he would do so when his power was settled. For now, he would see how well she obeyed his orders. He had other concerns to deal with if he was to uphold the Chinghis Khan's vision for the Clan.
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===Special Tribunal of Khan Malvina Hazen===
Palace of Justice, Laughlin Capital District
Roslyn, Eastern Islay
Arcadia, Arcadia Royal March
Royal Federation
Cisglass Inner Sphere
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"All rise for the Justices of His Majesty's Special Tribunal!"
With those words Doctor Jonathan Albright, Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Federation Navy and licensed psychiatric counselor, stood. Habit and instinct drew him to full military attention in the process, marking him and a few other attendees out from among the others. From his place in the gallery he could see all the other standing figures as the five forms in black judiciary robes with red and blue stoles filed out into the courtroom. They took their place at the bench before the Royal Seal of the Special Tribunal, depicting a crowned hawk perched on top of the balanced scales of Justice.
Through the entire display, only one figure could not stand, and that was the figure strapped into a special chair placed in the dock for her lack of legs or arms. For a woman on trial for her life, Malvina Hazen of the Jade Falcons looked utterly unconcerned with the proceedings, as she had for every other session so far. I doubt she will change. Even if it would be for her benefit.
"Be seated," the clerk called out once the tribunal judges were in their own seats. Everyone took to their seats save the court bailiffs, who stood at the walls and monitored the entry through the bar separating the well from the gallery. Two armed AFRF soldiers sat to either side of Malvina, as if at any moment she might attack. Albright thought it ludicrous but the security protocols were not being waived. The same had denied the provision of prosthetic limbs that might have eased his patient's agonizing crippling. The only thing the AFRF had allowed Malvina, and that at the order of the Tribunal itself, was having a tailor made Jade Falcon uniform using the specifications provided by the Lyrans' data on the Clans. Malvina wore it grudgingly since she was not allowed the all-black "Mongol" variant nor any marking Mongol symbols, only what the Jade Falcon Clan's own uniform codes specified. A gold square with a green star and a vertical green bar on the right side was the rank insignia provided.
The judge in the central chair was an Arabic man with a well-groomed gray beard and mustache, wearing a patterned white and red keffiyeh on his head that wrapped down to his shoulders. Albright took a moment to remember his name, Sir Zayid al-Mansouri. Al-Mansouri pounded the gavel. "His Majesty's Special Tribunal is in session. Today it is our wish to settle this affair of the competency question. Are the Crown and the Defense prepared to proceed?"
Two men stood, one among the attorneys at each table. Sir Jacob Cohen of Gienah and Sir Stanley MacMurray of McAffe represented the prosecution and the defense respectively, though each had a team of attorneys and paralegals advising them. Cohen was a man of modest built, not too thin but not even approaching stocky, with wiry dark hair turning gray at the fringes and a kippah over the top of his head. MacMurray had a thick mustache and beard of dark red hair along with the combed hair on his head. Cohen stood first. "The Crown is ready to proceed."
Next came MacMurray. "As is the Defense." Albright noted the way the attorney glanced towards the dock. "I would ask the Tribunal to record my continued personal objection to these proceedings. Khan Hazen continues to show an inability to conceive of the purpose of these proceedings and cannot act in her own legal defense. Doctor Albright of the Royal Navy has made his notes available to this Tribunal and stands by to testify as to the fact." As Cohen stood MacMurray cast his glance towards him. "Before the Crown protests the use of Doctor Albright's testimony again, I will specify that I am following my client's explicit instructions under strenuous protests. She insists on standing trial. I am ethically obligated as counselor to say the following. The Defense withdraws all motions to rule Khan Hazen incapable or incompetent of standing trial. We are ready to proceed."
One of the other jurists, a man of tan complexion, leaned forward and spoke with a German accent. "Counselor, is Khan Hazen aware of the scope of this trial? She may be hung if this tribunal rules it."
"I have impressed it upon her repeatedly, Justice Hoffner," MacMurray said. He all but sighed the words. "She is adamant that she wishes to face trial."
The jurist nearest the dock, a woman of East Asian features, turned to face Malvina. She spoke with an accent Albright pegged as New Kyotoan. "Khan Hazen, do you understand the nature of this tribunal, and the charges laid against you?"
Malvina smiled cruelly. "I am aware of how you Arcadians feel about my actions before and during my Khanship." She turned her head briefly. Albright sighed as her eyes passed over him. The smile grew. "You have such strange notions of reality. It is those notions that bring this trial, and this concept of 'crime' in war." The questioning jurist — Justice Ishikawa, Albright recalled — was not satisfied. Before she could speak, Malvina continued. "You consider my actions to subdue my foes to be crimes. In this trial, one set of debaters will present evidence that my actions were my own and were crimes, and my 'defense' will claim otherwise and attempt to persuade you it is so. When it is done, you will decide my fate, quiaff?"
The Clanner term was clearly understood by context. Ishikawa turned her head to al-Mansouri. He nodded, as did two others. "Very well. We will proceed with pleading. Khan Malvina Hazen of the Jade Falcons, you stand indicted for crimes against the peoples of the Republic of the Sphere and the Lyran Commonwealth. These crimes are listed in four charges." Al-Mansouri held up a printout. "One, conspiracy to commit crimes against planetary populations, defined in short, but not limited to, as intentional cultural destruction of a population's identity, mass enslavement and forced relocation, mass executions, and the commission of genocide. Two: the commission of crimes against planetary populations, as already laid out in the first charge. Three: crimes committed during the conduct of warfare. Four: crimes against humanity committed in furtherance of the prior charges." He raised his head and, with his four peers, directed his eyes at Malvina. "How do you plead?"
Malvina lifted her chin. "None of my actions were criminal."
For a moment Albright wondered if the reply would be accepted. Al-Mansouri and his peers conferred in hushed whispers. Finally al-Mansouri switched his microphone back on and spoke. "Recorder, note upon the record that the defendant's response is considered a plea of 'Not Guilty'." The Recorder answered with a nod. "The defendant's plea is hereby recorded. We will begin pre-trial proceedings in two weeks time, on June the Twenty-First. The Tribunal is adjourned." Al-Mansouri slammed the gavel to end the session.
All of that for barely five minutes. Albright sighed and stood. Before he could leave, he heard Malvina call out "Commander John!" to him. He turned as her security handlers prepared to strap her to the transfer wheelchair. She smirked at him. "You Spheroids are so patient. So slow. The Way of the Clans is less wasteful of time. A Clan Council would have killed me by now."
"This is how we do justice," Albright replied. "And this is the trial you asked for."
"It is. And whether I win or lose, I promise you this." Her eyes flashed with mad glee. "I will make it worthy of remembrance."
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