International Criminal Court (Location 11)
The large room was filled with people from spectators in one half to stern-faced judges seated on the other, but still it felt empty as the accused sat in a line while the robed individuals scrolled over tablets. Finally they lowered these, and turned their attention on to the ITSDA Gaultown team. The justice in the center, a man with Asian features, was the first to speak;
"Probationary Agent Jackson, you and those who followed your command on the night of the incident, stand accused of reckless disregard for the sanctity of human life, as well as treasonous betrayal of the duties assigned to them by the United Nations Security Council. How do you plead?
Frank was sitting in the middle of the table he was at, between Vandal and Peter Vargus. He was dressed in his normal attire, as was the woman save for Black Magic; his costume had been removed, and he was currently clad in a set of gray sweats. In front of all of them were microphones, anchored to the surface before them. The old man leaned in towards his, and responded,
"Not guilty, and unless they've decided otherwise since we've discussed it, I'm speaking for all of us."
"Agent Jackson, due to your past record since joining the ITSDA, your rank has almost consistently stayed at 'probationary'. Yet two months ago, you assumed control of a ITSDA field combat unit. Why?"
"Because their commanding officer had been killed, and I was the agent with the most seniority."
Several heads before the Immortal Soldier nodded in understanding, as the center man spoke again.
"Be that as it may, your team was given clear instructions, but you circumvented them and ordered the Songbird to a different location without authorization."
"I came across information which led me to believe the area we were supposed to move against was in actuality a United States military complex, and sent word of the possibility to the ITSDA. I thought the Namadians were setting us up and found a probable location for their real base, and if they knew we weren't falling for their trap they might evacuate and be gone before we got all the i's dotted and t's crossed."
These words were followed by a bit more head bobbing, then an African Judge spoke;
"Agent Jackson, the battle you and your team instigated by going into a possible hostile situation, without authorization or backup, resulted in much of Gaultown being destroyed. Not to mention your own liberated Songbird, which was made in the first place with taxpayer money. What do you have to say about that?
"Almost all of Gaultown was owned through various shell companies, and ultimately those were linked to Dieter Sievold. As for the Songbird, it was taken down by a United States missile brought to the fight by American soldiers. We held fire on them, and the Agent who opened the back of the transport to allow to munition to hit the controls died immediately after so he's not around to ask about his part in it."
A chubby Middle Eastern woman patted her painfully tight bun of hair, then took her turn to address the old war hero.
"Speaking of Mister Sievold, I didn't notice anywhere in these compiled reports that he was placed under arrest; he was simply beaten on until he was too weak to escape, then trapped and immediately sent to the ITSDA super max prison. Need I remind you Agent Jackson, that you are an officer of the law? It's not only your duty to capture suspects, but to ensure their basic human rights are protected and upheld. You didn't even bother to arrest him, simply blew him up. If that's not an excessive force of violence, I don't know what is."
Frank took in a deep breath, held it, then let it out.
"Dieter Sievold is an internationally wanted criminal, leader of the S.A. who has terrorized the world for years, he was about to kill our healer, and I had to use an explosion because everything else hadn't worked. That includes Dieter fighting another supervillain named Kane, by the way. Oh, and I was caught in the same energy surge."
The woman waved her hand dismissively.
"We have only your word, and the word of who might well be your accomplices, that the situation was as dire as your describe it. You getting caught in the blast means nothing, since it's well known you can't die in any known way, while Mr. Sievold might have well been killed. If he had been, without a trial or a single right upheld, I'd suspect you'd be on trial directly for his murder as well.
"As to Kane Isaiah Armani, it's painfully obvious you haven't taken so much as one single sensitivity class. A reckless teenager is nothing new, but instead of trying to talk him down or help him understand what he does is wrong, you ITSDA thugs just hurt and scare him, make him run all the faster down the wrong path. You're making that poor boy into the very same monster you claim he is! No wonder you're a probationary agent, just look at the sad excuse of a job you do; your team not only pushed him into a corner, but you also almost managed to get a city destroyed in the process. What, was a town not good enough for you? Now Armani will be even harder to rehabilitate, just because cavemen like you think the universal answer to everything is violence!"
"STUFF A CORK IN IT, YOU OLD WINDBAG!!!"
Frank was standing now, his chair laying on it back behind him. His hands had come down on the table with an audible slap, he was staring at the startled faces before him, and he no longer required the microphone to be heard in the room. The judge he'd mouthed off to stared unblinking at him, and gasped;
"I beg your pardon! Just what do you mean with this outburst, Agent Jackson?"
"Are you deaf too, or just so stupid it effects your hearing? You spent all that time in law school, and don't even know when someone's telling you to shut up? My, your parents must be proud..."
Another woman, this one round to the point of looking almost like a ball with a head on it, tried to cut Jackson off without much success;
"Agent Jackson, please remember who you're addressing!"
Frank barked out a laugh in response.
"Oh, I know full well who I'm addressing lady, a bunch of stiffs who think the ability to wear bathrobes and sit on their asses for hours a day is some kind of great accomplishment; if it is, then you've lived a very sad, pathetic life.
"Chicago was almost a complete loss, because we didn't have the resources needed to protect it. The Namadians didn't have any issue, just drove right up and helped themselves to whatever they wanted. The world wanted heroes, the ITSDA was formed, but I feel like we've been two laps behind this entire race. We finally get a chance to catch up, and the ref calls a foul.
"The public is pissed at us for not doing our job in Chicago, and pissed at us for doing our job in Gaultown. Now you want to show sympathy for a sociopath who would cut all your throats if it played into some plan he had, and coddle a nutcase who has managed to kill off enough people to populate a small country! You stay cooped up in this building, your heads in the sand, then have the fucking audacity to tell people who are actually out there trying to make a difference, what was the right and wrong call to make. You know what they call that? Monday morning quarterbacking. Just a quick show of hands, who here wearing black has ever faced a blood crazed, soul stealing psychopath before? Come on, don't be shy. Anyone?"
The man in the center cleared his throat, and tried to regain control of the trial.
"Agent Jackson, there's no need for that. You captured two very dangerous men, exposed an enemy base, and did not fire on American troops. We aren't here to decide if good came out of what you did, but if you handled matters in the best way. You weren't in command of this unit, you deviated from orders, used non-agents in a fight that began simply because you were where you weren't supposed to be, and many people are dead because of your decisions including a Gifted member of the ITSDA.
"The badge you carry is called a shield, because it's supposed to shield the innocent from the wicked; not you from justice. You can't just keep saying you were doing your job, when according all evidence that job is what you decided it should be as it suited you."
Frank's lips turned into a small smile, his head tilted down and shaking back and forth before he looked up at the assembled justices again. One hand reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a wallet which he tossed to the floor in front of him; the cover filled open to reveal a badge.
"There, now you can hide behind that and give the sand a break if you like.
"Let's stop this mock trial right now; I freely admit that I, Frank Jackson, took control of ITSDA forces while in Gaultown. I ordered the detonation that led to the capture of Dieter Sievold, and beat Kane into submission before having him taken to the super max prison. Vandal was following my orders because I pulled Seniority on her, I conscripted Black Magic to help, and as far as they knew they were following official directions.
"There, now you have your scape goat yet again, and I'm resigning so that takes care of that. You're not going to do anything else to me though, because I still did reveal an enemy base hidden on allied land and capture two high profile targets alive. So, I'm going to leave now;
"Oh, before I forget, I'm taking Black Magic and Vandal with me. You'd never catch one to lock her up, and the other would never stay locked up. So, I'm just getting a couple of problems out of your hair before they start. If I'm wrong about you just wanting someone to publicly flog and actually meant to give us a fair trial, just stop me before we get outside..."
No one moved, and the trio emerged into sunlight without issue. Frank took a cigarette out of his pack, struck a match on a 'NO SMOKING' sign, and lit up as his phone rang. As he put it to his ear, he watched as Vandal tossed her ITSDA badge into a garbage can;
"Hello?
"You mean Meta the bight bulb?
"How's everything with you?
"I'm doing good myself, just got done with my court hearing as did Black Magic and Vandal. Yeah I'll say hi to him for you.
"You know, it's a good thing you brought that up, since Vandal and myself are unemployed right now. You do have room for her too, right? We all went through hell together, and I'd hate to break up such a fine team anymore than it has to be."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:49, Sun 12 June 2016.