The Trial of Captain Taiga Aisaka - Day 2 (Part 4)

Posted on Thu Jun 3rd, 2021 @ 1:04pm by Admiral Nyanta & Captain Taiga Aisaka & Captain Minori Kushieda & Jennifer Daxer & Commander Nicolas Trigman 'Trigger' & Commander Alora Knight & Commander Alexander "Alex" Knight & Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato 'Zack' & Admiral Tanaka Miyahara & Lieutenant Shingo Shoji
Edited on on Sat Jun 5th, 2021 @ 5:48am

2,267 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Allegations
Location: Starfleet JAG Court

Previously on Star Trek Tokyo:

Marok took the PADD and glanced at its contents being careful not to press any buttons. He then passed it upto Nyanta to look at. "Thankyou for that" he said simply. "Its also stated in the logs that you arrested Lieutenant Nakazato during the trip back to Earth. Do you believe that he may be responsible for this damage to the Tokyo?"

"No." Jen replied simply. "He was arrested, before the system was compromised, and sitting in the Brig at the time. It was impossible for him to have done this."

Marok raised an eyebrow. "I see" he stated. He turned towards Nyanta. "Your honour. I have no further questions for Lieutenant Commander Daxer"

Nyanta nodded. "Very well" the Caitian purred. "You are dismissed Lieutenant Commander". He gently took the PADD that had been passed to him and read through the contents before placing it back down. "Miss Lena, do you have any other witnesses to call forward?" he asked.

"No, your honor." Lena said, from her seat. "The Lieutenant Commander was the last one on my list."

And now the continuation...

"Very well" Nyanta replied. "Then I shall take all the evidence that has been presented to me and come to a verdict"

She hadn't expected both parties to finish quite so soon. With no time left for her special guests to arrive, the woman in the back stood. "If you will excuse the interruption," she said, addressing the judge. "I am Admiral Kathryn Burke, Starfleet. I have evidence pertinent to this case and wish to present it as an amicus curiae."

The room fell silent for a few seconds. Nyanta looked Burked up and down. "This is highly unorthodox, however it seems this entire trial has been. I shall allow it" He replied indicating for her to step forward. "Admiral, present your evidence"

"This was sent to me by Starfleet Intelligence," Kathryn said. "I did not receive it in time to present it as evidence, but it has direct bearing on the matter at hand." She activated a program on her PADD. A viewscreen on the wall began to show a battle between Starfleet fighters and a number of alien ships. The audio between the fighters and their ship identified them as being from the USS Tokyo. "This is the battle Captain Aisaka mentioned." The recording was clearly not from the Tokyo or one of its fighters, but another craft that moved away from the battle. An alien ship came into view as the smaller vessel approached. "And that is the alien ship. My sources identify it as belonging to a people who call themselves the Elachi."

Suddenly Miyahara stood up in the Proscecution box.

"Your honor; If I may have a word here?" He requested, pushing up his glasses.

Nyanta held up a hand to stop Miyahara. "Admiral, you will have your chance to ask questions shortly" he said simply before turning back to Burke.

"Admiral Burke. Where did you acquire this evidence?" He asked curiously. "And why wait until now to present it?" He asked his eyes locking with hers.

Taiga sat bolt upright, perching on the edge of her seat. She watched the holorecording of her ship battling the alien ship, which was apparently operated by a species called the Elachi. She couldn't also help but wonder where this recording had come from, everything on the Tokyo had been tampered with somehow.

"I received it from Covert Ops, who received it from the Prowler, Lieutenant Commander Alexander Knight's ship," Burke said. "Intel will be happy to verify its authenticity, if you so require." She paused before answering the other question. "I was waiting for the verification, but as you were about to call this proceeding to a close, I felt it necessary to introduce it as is."

The room fell quiet. "The official mission reports lists Lieutenant Commander Knight and the vessel known as The Prowler as 'missing in action presumed destroyed'" Nyanta replied. "Are you saying this is not the case?"

Marok leant over to one of the other Romulan delegates and began to whisper something into his ear. This didn't go unnoticed by Taiga who stared at Marok, ensuring that her gaze showed she knew that something wasn't quite right.

"I'm saying that a branch of covert operations obtained the data," Burke replied calmly. She, too, was aware of Marok's actions. She wasn't sure how long she'd need to stretch this out, but she trusted Max to make sure things ran smoothly on his end. "What you saw is the data they sent me."

The doors to the court room opened as Max's assistant walked in. She kept her head down as she walked to an empty seat, in the front row, before sitting down. Briefly, so looked up toward Admiral Burke, locking eyes with her. A slight smile formed on her face before she nodded and her expression disappeared.

Nyanta raised an eyebrow. He looked over towards the Romulans and then back towards Lena and Taiga. "I see. This does change things"

Kathryn smiled, more relaxed now that she knew Max and the Knights were in the building. "That's why I felt it necessary to bring it up before I had the proper verification."

"On the contrary, the only thing this changes is the speed at which the destruction of the Federation is occurring." Miyahara suddenly said, now tired of being held back. "For two decades, radical pacifists have been conspiring to take over the Federation, and silence true patriots such as myself and Lieutenant Nakazato, and over the years, they've only grown bolder. This sham trial has been the most sheer bravado on their behalf I've ever seen! So let me tell you this, Burke: You're going to have to do a lot better than that if you want to take our Federation from us, because you'll never, ever take it with weakness; you have to show strength, and you have to be strong. So riddle me this, Burke: If this evidence is more than just pacifist-manufactured propaganda, where are the people you claim sent it?"

Kathryn noticed the door opening. As always, Max's timing was impeccable. "True patriots do not lie and falsify evidence to get their way. They do not use threats and intimidation because they believe diplomacy and logic are a waste of time." She had enough with Miyahara. he was nothing but a bully. Unlike the other Admiral, Burke refused to engage in a shouting match. She held the high ground, and she had every intention of keeping it. "This trial is a sham."

She turned to the judge. "Your honor, I believe I can now present the proof the Admiral requires."

Nyanta looked at Burke, then towards Miyahara and then towards the doors of the courtroom. "This is giving this old Caitian a bit of a headache..." he thought to himself. "Proceed" he said simply.

The doors to the courtroom opened and it was as if the world suddenly stopped. Like in those old Earth western movies, when the gunslinger walks into the tavern and everything seems to stop and focus on him, the people gathered in the courtroom turned their attention to who was walking through the door.

It was Admiral Hunter, in a black suit, black vest, white buttoned shirt, and black tie. A typical choice of attire for him, but odd considering his last appearance he had on a Starfleet Grey Uniform. At his side two security officers walk in, as if holding the doors for him, allowing him to walk the rest of the way through. "Forgive me for being late. I wanted to be here before Admiral Burke presented the evidence I gave her, but I was called back to my ship to receive an important piece of cargo." He took a moment to focus on Miyahara, a slight devilish smile forming, before adding. "However, I feel I came right on time to watch the end of an interesting show. I'll have to ask my assistance for the highlights. I wouldn't want to have missed anything important."

Max's assistance stood up and walked over to him, whispering something in his ear, before taking her place at his right.

"Apparently, the thing I missed was Admiral Burke making a point and someone else's hot air." Max cleared his throat and before anyone could reply, he raised his hand towards the judge and said. "My apologizes, your honor. I'll do my best to conduct myself properly." He gave the judge a nod before looking to Admiral Burke to ask. "Please continue, Admiral. I'll make sure our guests find a good seat."

Max looked to his assistant and nodded his head, prompting her to walk out the door. The woman soon returned with two people by her side. Two people that caused the entire courtroom to begin to gasp and whisper. Taiga would, no doubt, be even more so shocked and relieved as she immediately recognized both people as Lieutenant Commander Alexander Knight and Commander Alora Knight. Two officers, along with many others, she was allegedly responsible for losing in her last mission.

Kathryn Burke smiled sweetly at Admiral Miyahara before addressing the judge. "Your honor, the proof that the information I presented is factual and unaltered. Commander Alora Knight, first officer of hte USS Tokyo and her husband, Lieutenant Commander Alexander Knight, leader of the SWORD team and commander of the Prowler. They have other evidence that will help answer why the evidence against Captain Aisaka was...altered."

Miyahara couldn't help but feel like the sweetness of Burke's smile held malicious undertones.

Alora walked up to the front. "My name is Alora Knight. I am the first officer aboard the Tokyo. We crossed into the neutral zone to answer a distress call from the colony. We were attacked by an alien ship, as the footage you saw demonstrated. The Prowler was dispatched to gather intel on the alien ship. That's why our information was not altered." She paused to let that sink in. "While we were on the ship, which we learned was a species called the Elachi--we found information in their computers that showed they were working with the Tal'Shiar." She pulled out a data chip. "Here is a copy of the information. It's already been turned over to Starfleet Intelligence."

Marok stood up from the prosecution side. "Your honour, I have a question for Commander Knight" he asked.

Nyanta nodded to allow it.

Marok stepped around the prosecution desk. "Commander Knight. You claim that the evidence you present is not 'altered'. You also claim that this alien ship... Elachi was it? Was the attacker. Apart from your visual logs from this Prowler, do you have anything else to prove that this was not put together in a holosuite" he paused as he turned to the prosecution before looking back at the two Admirals.

"I find it a little... too convenient that at the very last minute, two high ranking officers walk into this court with supposedly 'new evidence' which points the blame to us Romulans" Marok explained. "And to present a team which was 'supposedly' lost in action during the battle. Now they show up? That seems a little too convenient to me"

"So, answer me this Commander. How can we believe you of these rather serious acquisations and that it was not created by Starfleet Intelligence to protect Captain Aisaka and the Federation? Bear in mind that you are essentially blaming the Tal Shiar of the Romulan Star Empire on causing this whole situation. A situation which could easily lead to a war if not properly resolved" Marok asked Alora his eyes locking with hers.

She met his gaze, not yet ready to reveal that she knew exactly who and what he was. "You would rather believe that every single person aboard the Tokyo would help murder a colony of innocent Romulans without mutinying?" She shook her head. "The away team aboard the Elachi ship when it jumped out of our space," Alora said, outwardly calm and composed. "The Prowler attached itself to the hull to stay with us. We came back to this reality with the ship and were able to slip away unnoticed. Commander Knight will present that evidence. Because we were not on the Tokyo, our information is unaltered. And yes, we do have irrefutable evidence. We came here as soon as we dropped back into our own space. Admiral Hunter was notified and helped facilitate us getting here as soon as we did. As for fabricating the evidence," she paused. "I guarantee it will be proven authentic by forensic experts. I doubt your evidence will hold up to the same scrutiny."

Marok seemed a little taken aback by Alora's answer. He simply smiled at the officer before turning back to Nyanta. "I would like to see the evidence validated before I can accept it" he stated simply. "Plus, I would need to see more evidence of these 'Elachi' before I can accept the Commanders Testimony. Therefore until this has been provided, I have no further questions". Satisifed he returned back to his table.

"Commander Knight. Do you have any more evidence to present to the court?" Nyanta asked.

She pulled out the data pad she'd taken from the Elachi ship. "I have this. I'm still analyzing it. My husband has the rest."

"Thank you Commander. Dismissed" Nyanta said. Then he turned his attention back towards the Admirals. "I believe you have another witness to present?"

To be continued...

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