NationStates Jolt Archive

(OOC: This is an open RP. However, nearly all of the background information occured in the Szechwitz Civil War, which you can find here: http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=91755&start=60 so if you are new to this sequence of events, you may want to read this short thread.)

General Roberto Narata, the once Third General of Agua Puro, stood handcuffed in the Tribunal chambers. Inside this secluded hall, deep within the sprawling AP Military Command, fluorescent lights flicked on, illuminating the faces of the five military judges. They were seated on a long bench at the end of the room. The judge at the center spoke,
"The Agua Puro military court declares this trial begun.
The furthest right judge addressed, "General, you have been charged with Disobeyance of Orders from Military Command, and Treason. How do you plead?"


"Guilty on the first count."

The judges recoiled. They had all heard the spectacular news, but never could believe it. Narata stood tall and firm, still with his military stance.

"I plead not guilty on the crime of treason."

The second-to-left judge crashed his gavel. "We will sentence on the first count at the end of the court-martial trial. Because you have plead not guilty to one or more of the charges, your case will be deliberated for our Tribunal.
"You will be confined in detention for the duration of your trial. Hoever, you may call anyone to testify for the hearings. This includes members and/or representatives for foreign nations. Press is not allowed but we may reconsider."

The center judge stood. "Court is adjourned until one week from today, 2:00 PM."

Three armed guards led Narata out the door and down the halls to the compound detention facility.

(OOC: All nations who participated in the Szechwitz Civil War are strongly encouraged to take part in this. It will take as long or short as YOU want.)

AP

I'll gladly participate; I am, however, unsure as to how much I can provide.

Yeah, now that you've mentioned it...

I was originally thinkning we'd have countries give supporting, opposing arg's but that's kinda stupid

If you want to still do it that s ok, ill still be in

Joey Brisc was not happy at all. He had joined the Aqua Puro Navy a year ago, just after graduating law school. Sure, he had had fun being a lawyer, but he had mainly had small cases, defending people who were innocent. Now, suddenly, he had been assigned to defend General Narata, one of the biggest men in Aqua Puro, against a charge he was obviously guilty of.

For a day, Brisc had been doing research on his case, and now new just about everything about Narata and his charges. Nonetheless, it did not look good. Not many times in history had people this major been arrested, and usually when they were, they were guilty. And Narata looked as guilty as it got.

Despite his feelings, however, Brisc planned to defend the general to the greatest of his ability. After all, that was his job. And it would look REALLY good on his record. :)

Generalso Grando Vorahim Ycart stormed through his bunker at the news of Narata being tried.

"This isn't good.." he kept repeating.

One of his junior officers walked up to him.

"Sir, what can we do for him?"

"....We'll get him back" replid Ycart. Then he stormed to his private office.

A messenger approached Roberto Narata's cell. "General... I mean, Mr. Narata, you've been assigned counsel."
"Agua Puran, I hope."
"Yes, it's Officer Brisc. I hear he's very talented."
Narata tried to recall the name. Wasn't he on this year's Most Promising Lawyers list?

"Does he know?"
The messenger replied. "Not yet. He should get the call tonight."

I just hope he knows what he's doing, thought Narata.

The cell block guard switched on his handheld VHF television, tuning to the news.
"Thanks, Paco. Tonight's weather over Aurora City looks fine, with some light sprinkles. However, it seems a thunderstorm's brewing to the far east over the state of Uberkhan, an ally in the recent war...


(AP)

A messenger approached Roberto Narata's cell. "General... I mean, Mr. Narata, you've been assigned counsel."
"Agua Puran, I hope."
"Yes, it's Officer Brisc. I hear he's very talented."
Narata tried to recall the name. Wasn't he on this year's Most Promising Lawyers list?

"Does he know?"
The messenger replied. "Not yet. He should get the call tonight."

I just hope he knows what he's doing, thought Narata.

The cell block guard switched on his handheld VHF television, tuning to the news.
"Thanks, Paco. Tonight's weather over Aurora City looks fine, with some light sprinkles. However, it seems a thunderstorm's brewing to the far east over the state of Uberkhan, an ally in the recent war...


(AP)

((An ally indeed. :D Oh, and BTW, when I go OOC, I put my stuff in double brackets, like now.))

Ycart picked up the phone in his office, smiling.
"We cant let our dear friend get into more trouble, can we?" he said to himself.

He dialed a number, and a dark voice answered.
"Ish nay ola far ko."

"Ko nala fa viro." replied Ycart. "Good to hear you, Vladimir."

"Aah..Ycart" replied Vladimir "What..services can we preform for you?"

"You will do exactly as the orders I'm sending you say."
Ycart slides a sheet into a small booklet-shaped object. A green lite eminates as the sound of electronics inside whirr to life.

"Aah..search and resque..."

"Get the job done, and get paid."

"We've never had this conversation. Goodbye, Ycart."

"No..we haven't. I must have the wrong number."

Ycart hung up, a smile on his face.

"And now, we see what the morning brings."

((Yer, we shall. Sleeeep...g'night.))

Officer Brisc walked into the room, and, looking at General Narata, started talking.

"It's a pleasure to meet your sir. Now, about your case... well, you seem to have done well so far. First off, your pleading to guilty for one and not-guilty for the other was a good idea, it shows compassion and remorse. Second off, it allows me more breathing room for defending the second charge, since it leaves you with some dignity."

"Now, I need you to tell me anything and everyting you have ever done illegal, your side of the story in Szechwitz, and I mean everything about what you did there, and finally, I need you to tell me one thing."

"Do you want to go innocent, as in work to get the people on your side and the truth out, or go guilty, and by that I mean just try to kill all the evidence against you. Your choice. Oh, by the way, I hope you don't mind not sleeping, cause this will probably take all night."

So this is the young lawyer they've all been talking about, thought Narata.

"No, I don't mind at all. And to answer your question, I accept that I've disobeyed Military Command. However, I don't believe that I've committed treason towards our country."

"I was somewhat excited when I was appointed head of the Szechwitz operation, our nation's first war. But soon, many of our soldiers were shot or wounded. The battlefield is not as romantic as Military Command makes it seem. We were dedicated but unprepared."

"I couldn't see my men get injured or killed every day. By the time we marched on Chemnitz, 34 of us had died. I saw that Szechwitz had not communicated with us since the war declaration, and that more on both sides would die as long as we weren't speaking."

"It was only when we'd camped in the suburbs of Chemnitz that I saw how scared the men really were. They had no experience before this, not even a precedent. Many of them had only basic training, and even the officers seemed surprised by each new situation."

"I realized that while we were sitting outside the capital, Dreizdein had already been free for weeks. I wasn't sure how far Agua Puro should go to drive the point home. So yes, I did invent news of bombing runs to please Military COmmand, and yes, I did send a secret telegram to the leader of Szechwitz asking to open peace talks."

"I couldn't let my men suffer and die for a cause that I felt was already won: the independence of Dreizdein. I don't feel that is treason."

Narata's face suddenly seemed more relaxed, from the solemn expression during his speech. "So that's how I feel. I'm sure you'll do a great job on your case. And don't worry."

With that, Narata sat down on his cell bench.

(OOC: I probably won't log on for a while. If it's too long, FPS, you can RP Agua Puro for me. I'll likely come on Fri. AP)

"Alright" said Brisc "now let's start discussing the specifics". After about five hours of speaking with Narata, Brisc headed home, spending another six hours preparing for the case...which would be in only two days. He was going to have to be quite ready...his career probably rested on this case.

The day of the trial approached. "It's time to go, sir... er, I mean, Mr. Narata," the cell guard stumbled.

Brisc met him in the hall. The young attorney, the handcuffed man, and the guard all walked down the hall to the tribunal room.

-

"Court is now in session," began the justice seated in the center. "We believe that only one full day will be necessary to hear this case, so let's get started. Counsel may begin."

Brisc stood from the bench. The time was now.

"Your honor...er...Members of the Tribunal, we have before us today a travesty of epic proportions. Our own General Narata, one of the best in our army, has disobeyed orders and stopped a war. However, the question is not whether or not he disobeyed orders, he already plead guilty to that, the question is, whether or not he commited treason." started Brisc

"To answer that question, we must look not only at what he did, but what is meant by what he did. Members of the tribunal, treason is a charge reserved for spies and those who kill fellow officers. Did Mr. Narata kill any fellow officers? No, he did not. In fact, he saved hundreds of these fellow officers from being killed in a war that was quite obviously ours to win. He saved officers who's training was outwieghed by their inexperience. Officers who sit in this building today, wondering whether or not their savior will be sent to prison. Mr. Narata went for peace with a crippled nation, he had compassion, members of the tribunal, compassion. And for that, we are now prosecuting him for treason."

"Tribunal Members, you must look beyond his obvious disobeying of orders, even, if you must, beyond the war in which he was fighting. You must look twenty years in the future. If youe sentence this man to life in prison, or to death, because he had compassion...then you will be making the choice of a lifetime. You will be deciding that being a robot, following orders and allowing death, is better than being a human. You will be sentencing everyone who has ever felt compassion to death. Every child who, instead of doing his homework, helps another child home after a bike crash, will be guilty. All of us in this courtroom will be guilty of treason, for I am sure all of us at one point have felt compassion for another human being. This case is going to be historcial, members of the tribunal, and because of that, we must look into the motives, backround, happenings, and everything else of this case, not just the obvious break down of command. Thank you for your time".
Brisk then sat down, and, looking at Narata, whispered "Here goes nothing".

OOC: Sorry about the length of the post, but I wasn't sure how long opening argument should be.

OOC: I'm not sure if court-martials have prosecutors, so for now let's leave them out and have it as a questioning-panel thing.

IC:

"Impressive, counsel," said the center justice, breaking the period of silence following Brisc's statement. "We will now hear testimony concerning this matter. All relevant persons or evidence may be used, including representatives from foreign nations."

"We ask for counsel to call the first testimonial."

OOC: Could you TG Deustch Demokratie, Aequatio, or Uberkhan to testify? That would really help as I have been busy these past two weeks, and will be till tomorrow. Thanks!

OOC: Sorry, lost internet. Yea, I will TG them ASAP. As for you, Uberkhan, if your going to have those bounty hungers move in to free Narata, have them take Brisc too...add's a bit to the plot. This next part is just to delay untill I can get some other people to testify. As for the court martial, there's two diffirent types. There's a like-civilian court martial, with prosecutor and all, and then there's the questioneer type, which is usually used for high ranking people brought up on high charges (such as treason).
IC:
"Aye sir, the first person I call is Luitenant John Carson"
For the next couple hours, Brisc called up random soldiers who's lives had been saved by Narata's orders, as well as diplomats and political analysts who all testified that he had done everything at the right time.

OOC: No prob, and thanks for the post. BTW I don't think Uberkhan is involved anymore, but I could be wrong. Before we bypass other nations that were involved, let's give everyone a day or so to turn in. Maybe then, we can have a vote thread to decide the case.

IC

The center justice shifted in his seat. "Thank you, Mr. Brisc. We will definitely take your witnesses into consideration."

The far right-seated justice was the next to speak up, "If you have any foreign representatives to call, I'd advise you call them soon."

OOC: I telegramed all three of the people you told me to, but none are reasponding! I'm working on it though.

OOC: Hey, it's over guys. Agua Puro has stopped playing, so it's really pointless to continue. Then again, who am I really talking to? I was the only other one playing this? At any rate, I'm going to say that the court martial found him guilty of disobeying orders, and not guilty of treason. Have a good one.