The Trial of General Aspinaca

## The Invasion of Voice

In 2288, Commonwealth armies led by the ever charismatic General Branicki descended; under the covering fire of Task Force Manticore, upon the Biluan homeworld of Voice. 16 million soldiers participated in the invasion, the largest army ever mustered by the Commonwealth at the time, of which 13 million of the sixteen million troops mustered would lose their lives on that now blasted hellscape birthed of battles untold and unwanted.

Tried and tested military doctrines and stratagems would fall flat in the face of the Biluan swarms - orbital bombardment, carpet bombing from aircraft, encirclement, and even the Commonwealth's famous trench and charge warfare was unable to stem the coneheaded hoards.

Doctrines known at the time, were ineffective to the Biluan mind, in which entire frontlines would collapse in minutes and unlucky survivors would find their fall-back points abandoned or eviscerated by newly risen hoards

Such times, meant it was time for new tactics, which involved sacrificial legions of men dying to spare time, and deliberate encirclement of Commonwealth pockets to give attention to hoards away from the the "GZ400" mining drills.

Additional tactics by the once famous Brancki include: ordering the fleet under Satayesh Ibrahim to vaporize the (admittedly thin) ozone layer of Voice, forcing commanders to throw away the lives of up to a million people in deliberate suicide pockets so as to force major battles onto the planet and the use of the infamous 23E17 poison gas across the planet, leading to the deaths of untold thousands of Kithri who where later discovered to be supseptable to cancer and internal hemorrhaging from the gas. The course of the conflict the military racked up more records of war-crimes than in any conflict to date, not crimes against the Biluan of course but crimes against humanity.

In the final hours of the great conflict as Commonwealth forces beat a hasty retreat off-world; General Branicki the leading general of the entirety of the armed forces, lost his life in a final sacrifice to fulfill the mission. The mission was complete; the Biluan destroyed, the fallout of what had transpired however, fell to Branicki's sub-ordinate. General Aspinaca. Grieving families and aghast citizens called for recompense, for justice.

The most controversial trial of the 23rd century was to begin in erst.

## The Prelude

Before the armies of the Commonwealth even set course for home-space the public backlash that the Council was facing had already given rise to great concern within the government; when news of the final hours and the great loses came in however, the tension reached a breaking point. The more excitable beings in the Commonwealth were inciting (or at least trying to incite) riots and vandalism; however, the long-term loss of public faith was a possibility the council was acutely aware of. So pre-emptive action was taken; before the public could shoehorn the Council into a public trial, the Council pressed the top-brass in the military to quell this outcry however deemed necessary.

> *"It is not a matter of 'if' the public turns against us but rather one of 'when' and 'when' that happens the outcome is neither alterable or distant; the conduct of the military has reflected badly on our leadership, we would be honest and inform you that your military performance has left much to be desired by the Council. Someone must be held accountable for this; deal with this yourselves before official intervention is required, I don't care how you do it or who you blame, just sort this mess out quick"*
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> **- Private message sent from one Councillor an unknown recipient, undoubtedly the recipient was a high ranking member of the military** -
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And so the stage was set, all that was required now was someone to blame, without Branicki around anymore it was all to clear who was next on the chopping block. Aspinacha.

> CSV Operator: *"Hail Phalanx Station **[REDACTED]**; this is CSV **[REDACTED]** permission to enter Commonwealth void-space requested, identification code is as follows: Charlie Echo Niner Niner, please confirm"*
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> Phalanx Station Operator: *"Confirmed CSV **[REDACTED]**; return code is as follows: Zulu One Golf* Juliet, you are cleared for wormhole jump... wait... countermanded CSV ***[REDACTED]** the immediate apprehension of General Aspinacha is required; once under custody he must be ready for immediate transferal to Ortus by way of military escort"*
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> CSV Operator: *"Orders received and understood; for clarification, under what charges is he to be arrested"*
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> Phalanx Station Operator: *"… Crimes against humanity"*
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> CSV Operator: *"… Confirmed"*
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## The Military Tribunal

Whilst the streets ran rampart with rioters the inner rooms of the courthouse faired little better, the trial had hardly been going five minutes and already a single controversial statement pushed the occupants close to brawling; the rough start aside though, the entire trial lasted a week as it was hampered with constant delay.

### Trial Summary

Overall two sides formed in the case, one side defended Aspinacha whilst the other called for a life sentence in jail.

#### The Defence

* Aspinacha was a subordinate, acting under the order of Branicki, he had little choice in the matter.
* The strategy laid out by the two generals worked, it was the unexpected surge of Biluan that no one could have predicted that caused the damage.
* The generals had to make the best of a bad situation, leadership and action in a time of crisis can be difficult and generals should not be persecuted for making the hard choices.
* Ultimately Aspinacha saved as many lives as he could, without him the war could have been a complete loss.
* A battle like this had never been fought before and ultimately it needed to be done, Aspinacha was just the last person standing at the end of the battle.

#### The Prosecution

* The army was led by a general whose tactics were famously offensive in nature and he lacked a defensive mindset, Aspinacha should have protested against Branicki and his lack of action shows complicity.
* In general the tactics used were not only outdated but also untrialled against a hive army, more preparation should have been taken.
* The lives saved were done so at the cost of sacrifice, entire hospitals were used as bait for the hordes and many were left to hold their own in the belief that help was coming.
* The heavy use of combat drugs was blamed as the cause of many mental breaks and Aspinacha was accused of knowingly using these drugs to haze the fear of death in his own troops.

### The Verdict

* Guilty on charges of complicity and failure to recognise the potential loss of life
* Innocent on charges of crimes against humanity, Aspinacha was not the leading general and the war crimes committed were done in the interest of saving life
* Sentenced to serve as leading general of the Commonwealth so that he may right his wrongs in later service.