Ton Garin
Mar 13th, 2002, 07:35:18 PM
"Mister Garin, there is ample circumstantial evidence that suggests you are a member of the Black Seed Confederacy. I ask you one more time, how do you plead?"
What was most surprising to me were the words coming out of each and every witness's mouth. These false testimonies inspired by greed were the final nail in my proverbial coffin. None of them were true of course, but how could I convince anybody of that? Though circumstantial, the evidence was still enough to lock me up for good, or even execute me. I wasn't really sure what the New Republic did to their enemies these days. It would make more sense to kill me as a lesson to those who were conspiring against the Government. To think that all of this was a result of one huge mistunderstanding, and I was caught in the thick of it...
...But the story that needs to be told is better told from beginning to end. I have to warn you though, this ain't no fairy tale filled with a moral and a good ending. Hopefully there won't be an ending to this story for a long time. Sad to say, but hope is usually what blind fools use to shield themselves from the real truth that lies underneath. No one really wants to know the absolute truth, just the most convenient. This fact alone is probably what insures the end of my existence. Only time will tell, I suppose. Time, something I wish I had a lot more of.
The story starts much like any other story would start, in the middle of a meeting with my superiors. I was being briefed on the building of a new weapons facility, located in some asteroid belt. I knew I wouldn't remember the names they were giving me, but that is what datapads are created for, no? Anyway, the weapons facility was supposed to be a relatively "hush hush" project, until a group of terrorists known as the Black Seed Confederates became known of its presence. Instead of starting a political war with the Government or announcing this to the public, they kept quiet themselves. Silence is one of the most lethal weapons because it has the power to force one to make deadly assumptions. The assumption was that they were planning an attack and of course I'd been called in to guard the construction site.
The next day I found myself seated on the command chair of my new flagship Lightspear. It made me a bit uneasy to be commanding a ship of this size. I'd been newly promoted to General, fresh off the block and a little doubtful of my own capabilities. My task force was relatively small to say the least, well smaller by most standards. It was comprised of the Lightspear, a patched up MC-80, two Nebulon B frigates and two A-wing squadrons. A lot of people tell me that flying around in ships with big guns makes them feel safer more than anything in the galaxy. I could never understand that kind of mentality myself. Here I was with at least three big ships under my command, and I felt very vulnerable. I knew as well as anyone else that big did not mean indestructible. For proof of that theory, one needed only to read about the Death Star projects.
We arrived at the construction site within two days of our immediate departure from Chandrila. The first few hours of arrival were packed with formal meetings and an overall tour of what was already built. Most of the tour was uninteresting and energy consuming. It took a lot out of me to walk and pretend to listen at the same time. Luckily, the rest of my mission would be to wait it out and hope that the Black Seed terrorists never showed themselves at all.
I felt myself struggling with the desire to doze off on my command chair. It would be easier to retire to my quarters, but I always enjoyed the view of open space. Off in the distance, I could hear the warning klaxons sound, but I wasn't too sure if it was a dream or not. I was brought back to reality by a shrill shout that echoed through the bridge area. I could remember vividly what the words said. Supposedly the flagship had been infiltrated from the inside, and the Black Seeds had been here all along. The guards were in pursuit of one of the suspects, and I was needed to issue orders. I issued out as many orders as I could and took off for my quarters. Inside there I had a blaster rifle packed away that would come in handy for any mutiny that was about to take place.
An hour later, the Black Seed conspirator was caught and cuffed by one of our guards. Lieutenant Jervas, Captain Dren and myself all took part in the initial stages of interrogation. I remember that it was then that my life began to fall apart before my eyes like a badly constructed building. The Black Seed confessed everything, including a list of names of who else was planning to participate in an effort to sabotage the facility. Dren was the one to ask the fateful question, "Who is your leader?" Not expecting a thing, I was interested to hear the answer myself. The man just simply turned and glared straight at me, "Why, he is." None of us actually believed the stupid answer, so we proceeded to take every member of the Black Seed onboard into custody. Each one confessed that I was their leader, and they passed the lie detector test with no sign of cheating. Too surprised to say or do anything, I became very nervous and agitated. Each of these terrorists claimed I gave them the access codes and the jobs on the ship.
The variable that prompted my untimely arrest was the eyewitness report of a man not affiliated with Black Seed. He tipped Jervas that I was conferring with a few of them moments before the ship finished its journey to the construction site. Not knowing what to say or do, I gave myself up without a word or a struggle. I knew that anything I said could have been twisted and used against me, like an ewok turned into a rancor. What I couldn't grasp is why these people accused me. I'd barely ever talked to any of them, and when I did it was strictly to issue orders.
A few weeks later, I find myself in a court room charged with high counts of treason. I knew the jury had been trained against me by the media and the court critics. This trial was not permitted to be live, but there sure were many people attending. Sooner or later, the jury would come to a decision and the verdict would be issued out. In a few days my life had gone from newly promoted general to newly demoted criminal. What was worst of all was that I couldn't make any sense of it all. Even when I considered the possibility that I was a member of Black Seed it did not make sense. Only I knew the truth, but the others couldn't see inside of my head. The evidence was all circumstantial thus far, but it still didn't look good.
"If it please the court, we will call our first witness. The prosecution calls Ensign Wettel to the stand."
The prosecution was a Twi'lek woman Ya'alia D'ker. Very professional looking and in possession of a heart of ice. The first time I laid eyes on her I got the chills, knowing this lady was out for blood. Even the Ensign looked a bit shaky as he took his seat. Hastily he gulped the glass of water on the stand, making me wish I had some of that.
"Ensign Wettel. Before we start I would like you to think back to the day where this all started. Think back to the time where you were present on the ship Lightspear."
"O-okay..."
"Good. Where were you at that time?"
"I was s-simply doing background checks on the central computer's database retainer."
"And you were present on that ship as an assignment given to the Lightspear taskforce, correct?"
"Yes."
"Now could you kindly restate all of the events that occured that day? In your estimation of course."
The Twi'lek turned around to face me for a moment, her lekku swaying back and forth. She had the slightest condescending grin on her face, directed at me of course. She picked up her own glass of water and turned back to listen to the witness's story. Things were not looking good.
What was most surprising to me were the words coming out of each and every witness's mouth. These false testimonies inspired by greed were the final nail in my proverbial coffin. None of them were true of course, but how could I convince anybody of that? Though circumstantial, the evidence was still enough to lock me up for good, or even execute me. I wasn't really sure what the New Republic did to their enemies these days. It would make more sense to kill me as a lesson to those who were conspiring against the Government. To think that all of this was a result of one huge mistunderstanding, and I was caught in the thick of it...
...But the story that needs to be told is better told from beginning to end. I have to warn you though, this ain't no fairy tale filled with a moral and a good ending. Hopefully there won't be an ending to this story for a long time. Sad to say, but hope is usually what blind fools use to shield themselves from the real truth that lies underneath. No one really wants to know the absolute truth, just the most convenient. This fact alone is probably what insures the end of my existence. Only time will tell, I suppose. Time, something I wish I had a lot more of.
The story starts much like any other story would start, in the middle of a meeting with my superiors. I was being briefed on the building of a new weapons facility, located in some asteroid belt. I knew I wouldn't remember the names they were giving me, but that is what datapads are created for, no? Anyway, the weapons facility was supposed to be a relatively "hush hush" project, until a group of terrorists known as the Black Seed Confederates became known of its presence. Instead of starting a political war with the Government or announcing this to the public, they kept quiet themselves. Silence is one of the most lethal weapons because it has the power to force one to make deadly assumptions. The assumption was that they were planning an attack and of course I'd been called in to guard the construction site.
The next day I found myself seated on the command chair of my new flagship Lightspear. It made me a bit uneasy to be commanding a ship of this size. I'd been newly promoted to General, fresh off the block and a little doubtful of my own capabilities. My task force was relatively small to say the least, well smaller by most standards. It was comprised of the Lightspear, a patched up MC-80, two Nebulon B frigates and two A-wing squadrons. A lot of people tell me that flying around in ships with big guns makes them feel safer more than anything in the galaxy. I could never understand that kind of mentality myself. Here I was with at least three big ships under my command, and I felt very vulnerable. I knew as well as anyone else that big did not mean indestructible. For proof of that theory, one needed only to read about the Death Star projects.
We arrived at the construction site within two days of our immediate departure from Chandrila. The first few hours of arrival were packed with formal meetings and an overall tour of what was already built. Most of the tour was uninteresting and energy consuming. It took a lot out of me to walk and pretend to listen at the same time. Luckily, the rest of my mission would be to wait it out and hope that the Black Seed terrorists never showed themselves at all.
I felt myself struggling with the desire to doze off on my command chair. It would be easier to retire to my quarters, but I always enjoyed the view of open space. Off in the distance, I could hear the warning klaxons sound, but I wasn't too sure if it was a dream or not. I was brought back to reality by a shrill shout that echoed through the bridge area. I could remember vividly what the words said. Supposedly the flagship had been infiltrated from the inside, and the Black Seeds had been here all along. The guards were in pursuit of one of the suspects, and I was needed to issue orders. I issued out as many orders as I could and took off for my quarters. Inside there I had a blaster rifle packed away that would come in handy for any mutiny that was about to take place.
An hour later, the Black Seed conspirator was caught and cuffed by one of our guards. Lieutenant Jervas, Captain Dren and myself all took part in the initial stages of interrogation. I remember that it was then that my life began to fall apart before my eyes like a badly constructed building. The Black Seed confessed everything, including a list of names of who else was planning to participate in an effort to sabotage the facility. Dren was the one to ask the fateful question, "Who is your leader?" Not expecting a thing, I was interested to hear the answer myself. The man just simply turned and glared straight at me, "Why, he is." None of us actually believed the stupid answer, so we proceeded to take every member of the Black Seed onboard into custody. Each one confessed that I was their leader, and they passed the lie detector test with no sign of cheating. Too surprised to say or do anything, I became very nervous and agitated. Each of these terrorists claimed I gave them the access codes and the jobs on the ship.
The variable that prompted my untimely arrest was the eyewitness report of a man not affiliated with Black Seed. He tipped Jervas that I was conferring with a few of them moments before the ship finished its journey to the construction site. Not knowing what to say or do, I gave myself up without a word or a struggle. I knew that anything I said could have been twisted and used against me, like an ewok turned into a rancor. What I couldn't grasp is why these people accused me. I'd barely ever talked to any of them, and when I did it was strictly to issue orders.
A few weeks later, I find myself in a court room charged with high counts of treason. I knew the jury had been trained against me by the media and the court critics. This trial was not permitted to be live, but there sure were many people attending. Sooner or later, the jury would come to a decision and the verdict would be issued out. In a few days my life had gone from newly promoted general to newly demoted criminal. What was worst of all was that I couldn't make any sense of it all. Even when I considered the possibility that I was a member of Black Seed it did not make sense. Only I knew the truth, but the others couldn't see inside of my head. The evidence was all circumstantial thus far, but it still didn't look good.
"If it please the court, we will call our first witness. The prosecution calls Ensign Wettel to the stand."
The prosecution was a Twi'lek woman Ya'alia D'ker. Very professional looking and in possession of a heart of ice. The first time I laid eyes on her I got the chills, knowing this lady was out for blood. Even the Ensign looked a bit shaky as he took his seat. Hastily he gulped the glass of water on the stand, making me wish I had some of that.
"Ensign Wettel. Before we start I would like you to think back to the day where this all started. Think back to the time where you were present on the ship Lightspear."
"O-okay..."
"Good. Where were you at that time?"
"I was s-simply doing background checks on the central computer's database retainer."
"And you were present on that ship as an assignment given to the Lightspear taskforce, correct?"
"Yes."
"Now could you kindly restate all of the events that occured that day? In your estimation of course."
The Twi'lek turned around to face me for a moment, her lekku swaying back and forth. She had the slightest condescending grin on her face, directed at me of course. She picked up her own glass of water and turned back to listen to the witness's story. Things were not looking good.