The Trial of Captain Taiga Aisaka - Day 2 (Part 1)

Posted on Sat Mar 20th, 2021 @ 6:07am by Admiral Nyanta & Captain Taiga Aisaka & Jennifer Daxer & Commander Nicolas Trigman 'Trigger' & Commander Alora Knight & Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato 'Zack' & Admiral Tanaka Miyahara
Edited on on Mon Apr 12th, 2021 @ 7:21am

1,992 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Allegations
Location: Starfleet JAG Court

ON:

It was the second day in the JAG Courts at Starfleet Headquarters. Taiga under guard was escorted to the court room where she took her seat. Today was the day that they could make their own stand against the Romulans. She felt like she had done the right thing, however the evidence against her was damning.

A middle-aged woman in a dark blue skirt and blazer sat on the back row. She came early so she could observe people coming in to the courtroom. While it was a closed session, she'd been given special permission to be here to make sure the proceedings were going well.

Admiral Tanaka Miyahara and Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato had retaken their places on the prosecution side. This time, however, they were joined by the Myogi's Chief Security Officer, Lieutenant Tristana, for the sake of keeping Takeshi on a tighter leash than the previous day.

The doors opened at the front of the room and Admiral Nyanta walked through, his long coat gliding behind him in the air. The Caitian Admiral took his place at the judge's podium and slowly looked around the room. "Court is now in session" he announced ringing the large bell with a small hammer. "The case of Captain Taiga Aisaka vs The Romulan Star Empire over the destruction of the Alvatar Colony" he explained simply. He had spent the majority of yesterday evening going over the evidence that the Romulans had produced.

"Now" he said simply. "Since the Prosecution finished calling their witnesses yesterday. I now hand over to the defendant to take the floor"

"Thank you, your Honor." Lena said, standing up. She knew that yesterday had been bad, but she was hoping that her revised witness list would prove beneficial. She cleared her throat, then looked at the judge. "The defense would like to call Captain Taiga Aisaka to testify."

Taiga took a deep breath and stepped up to the stand. She sat down in the seat and simply looked at Lena.

Once Taiga was sworn in, Lena gave her an almost imperceptible smile. "Can you tell the court your name, rank, and position for the record please?"

"I am Captain Taiga Aisaka, Commanding Officer of the Federation Starship Tokyo" she stated simply.

"Very good, Captain." Lena replied, without hesitation. "We've heard the Romulan Commander's side, now would you be so kind as to tell the court what happened, in your own words?"

Taiga nodded. "The Tokyo was assigned to the Neutral Zone to complete a standard patrol. Nothing too special" Taiga began. "We had stopped at a nearby Asteroid Field on our side of the Neutral Zone. We were going to perform some standard weapons and starfighter air combat drills. We had a fair few new pilots on board, so protocol dictates that we run drills and practice on regular occassions" she explained.

"Just before we were due to start however, we recieved a distress call from Romulan Space. We determined that it was coming from the Alvatar Colony on the Romulan Side of the Neutral Zone" Taiga took a moment to pause. "The Colony reported that they were under attack by and unknown vessel"

She paused again. "At first I was unsure if we should respond to a Romulan Distress Call as it was technically an internal matter of the Romulan Star Empire. However. I could not stand by when lives were in danger. So I gave the order to cross the Neutral Zone and assist the colony" Taiga explained. "A life is a life" she stated. "Whether that be Human, Romulan, Caitian or Vulcan"

"I see..." Lena said, still seeming all business. "And what did you find when you arrived at Alvatar colony?"

"Initial Scans showed a large vessel in orbit of the colony" Taiga said. "The configuration of the ship was unknown to our computers. We couldn't communicate with the colony. Our hails were not getting through. Once I determined that the alien ship was a threat, I ordered the launch of the Tokyo's fighter wings and to engage the vessel in order to protect the colony" Taiga explained.

"A threat?" Lena asked, looking for a more clear answer. "To who? Your ship, or the colony?"

"The alien vessel seemed to be attacking the colony" Taiga said simply. "So I deemed it a threat to everyone in the system" she explaind.

"Fair enough." Lena replied, tapping on the padd in her hand. "So you engaged this unknown vessel, putting your ship at risk in defense of the colony?"

"Thats correct" Taiga said. "However. We were unable to penetrate its shields"

"Tell us about the battle, Captain." Lena prompted. This was already sounding like her first instincts were correct. She'd known when questioning the Romulan commander that the Tokyo's damage couldn't have been sustained by the few defensive satellites he'd claimed were in orbit. "What happened, when you engaged them?"

The woman in the back remained casually observant. Every so often, she'd make a note on her PADD.

Taiga took a deep breath. "It didn't go very well" she explained. "Our fighters and ship weapons couldn't penetrate the alien ships shields. We tried to punch a hole by focusing fire on one small section. The idea was to get a strike team aboard and disable the vessel from within" she paused for a second. "However, their shields were too quick to adapt to our phaser fire. We managed to lead the alien vessel away from the colony" she explained.

"We then used a moon as cover to elude them long enough to launch the Prowler. I was assured by Commander Knight that they could somehow sneak aboard. I didn't question it at the time, I was only thinking that we needed to stop the vessels enslaught" she paused. "When we came back around the moon, the vessel had disappeared. We then returned to the colony to find it destroyed" she paused as she looked over at the Romulan on the other side. "That is when a Romulan warbird decloaked and attacked us"

"So all of the damage that was done to your ship, before the Romulan warbird arrived, was done by this unknown Alien ship?" Lena asked curiously. "Was any of it done by the Colony's orbital satellites?"

Taiga nodded. "That is correct" she replied. "All of the orbital satellites had been destroyed by the time we had arrived in the system"

"One more question." Lena said thoughtfully, already knowing the answer from various other reports. "Did you offer any resistance, when the Romulan warbird arrived?"

Taiga nodded. "Only in defense" she stated. "And only to disable. At first the warbird didn't respond to hails" she explained.

"Thank you for your time, Captain." Lena said, then looked at Nyanta. "I have no further questions at this time, your Honor."

"Thankyou Miss Lena" Nyanta said in response. He turned and looked towards the Romulans and Admiral Miyahara. "Would you like to cross examine?" He asked.

Miyahara stood up and pushed up his glasses, looking the Caitian dead in the eye, hoping this time his actions would be recognized by the judge:

"Your honor;" He said. "I do wish to cross examine."

"Very well. Ask your questions Admiral" Nyanta replied.

Admiral Miyahara stepped down from the prosecution area and approached the stand. The smile on his face held both friendly and malicious undertones:

"Captain Aisaka;" He began. "Did anybody on your crew question your command decisions during the events you've just described?"

"One person did question my orders" Taiga said. "That being Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato" she paused. "I made it clear that we could have not got involved due to treaty violations and it could be classed as a internal affair of the Romulan Star Empire. However" she took a second to pause. "I could not sit by knowing that innocent civilians may be dying, knowing full well that we could save them as scans indicated we were the only ship in the immediate area. Starfleet doesn't ignore a distress call"

"Captain, is there any chance nobody else questioned your orders because they were afraid of possible consequences?" Miyahara questioned, knowing that such an answer wouldn't fly, and he needed more. "Say, a swift demotion? Or a loss of their job? Could it be that Lieutenant Nakazato was the only one that spoke out because you do not have him so firmly entrenched in your back pocket as everyone else?"

"Objection!" Lena stood up from her spot at the defense table. "Counsel is testifying, and badgering the witness!"

Nyanta held up a hand to stop the questions. "Your objection is noted" he said to Lena. Then he turned towards Miyahara "Admiral Miyahara, that is out of line. As you should know, like everyone else in this room. Officers can question orders under certain circumstances" he paused. "However, it appears to me that Captain Aisaka had noted Lieutenant Nakazato's Obkection and chose to proceed. Your reference to 'not having him so firmly entrenched into your back pocket' is uncalled for and will not be taken in ths room" he warned with a purr. "Do you have any reasonable questions to ask? One more unreasonable question and I shall remove you from this court!"

Miyahara stared the Caitian down for several tense seconds before he turned back to Taiga:

"Captain, you said Lieutenant Nakazato mentioned treaty violations for trespassing in Romulan space." He said, taking a different angle and compounding the Romulan's questions for him the previous day. "Have you violated treaties in the past?"

Taiga glanced over at Lena and then towards Nyanta. She had crossed the Neutral Zone before, but only when ordered to by Starfleet Command. But she couldn't lie, but to admit that could cause more trouble, especially with Intelligence. "I have entered Romulan space before, however only when ordered or cleared to do so" she bit her tongue, she only hoped that was the right way to put it.

"And could you explain this previous incursion into Romulan Space for the court as well as name who gave you the clearance to do so?" Miyahara asked, glancing at Lena and then Nyanta to make sure he wasn't going too far too fast.

Taiga looked around the room for a quick second. "The last time that the Tokyo crossed into Romulan space. It was authorised by Admiral Jepson" she explained simply. "However" her eyes met with Miyahara. "I don't see how past events and orders have anything to do with this"

"Objection" Lena stood again, this time calmer than before, as she looked at the judge. "Your Honor, the information counsel requests is deemed classified, and cannot be provided by my client."

Miyahara glared angrily at Lena. Now he was getting annoyed:

"Then the counsel demands immediate declassification of the information." He said.

Nyanta held up a hand to stop them both. "I can't declassify information" he said simply. "That is beyond my abilities as the Judge Advocate General. If the reason why Captain Aisaka was in Romulan Space before the incident is classified, then it can not be brought up at this trial" he explained simply. He looked over towards the Romulans. "In the interest of peaceful co-operation I will not allow it" he said simply.

"Now, do you have any questions regarding the incident Admiral Miyahara and not the previous orders of the Starship Tokyo's Commander?" he asked narrowing his eyes slightly. "If not, then I will dismiss Captain Aisaka from the stand"

Miyahara shook his head.

"It appears I have run out of questions to ask, your honor:" He said cooly.

After responding to the judge, Miyahara looked over at Mendor.

I hope you're happy, Mendor: He thought. You may not be showing it, but I can tell that internally, you're smiling about as wide as a Galaxy Class saucer. But, don't get too complacent: I will damn your precious client in time...

To be continued...

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