To Hell and Back (Hellworlder pirates)

Ch41 Battle for the Confederacy Pt. I

Battle for the Confederacy Pt.I

An electric current of fear and tension pulsed through the crowd as they processed what the King had just said. Aster of course wasn't surprised by the revelation; she had been the one to give it to X'thar after all. Kazlum had leaked the location of the Capital station to the Kruhur four times, the plan had been for them to slay the King, kill the councilors that were aligned against Kazlum, and leave everything in a state of chaos so that Kazlum could take over the Confederacy.

It was all neatly laid out in the folder Domnall had given her, matched with a detailed set of instructions on how she could find all this information on her own. There was the chance that Domnall had planted the information for when she did her own investigation, but the chances of that going unnoticed were slim. She had passed on the evidence against Kazlum to the King who did his own investigation.

The ship's lawyers had all been very disappointed when Astarte told them that the trial would likely be cancelled and replaced with a criminal hearing for Kazlum. They had all worked so hard to find every loophole and advantageous legal precedent in the thousand-year history of the Confederacy. But this was the best chance the King had of getting Kazlum within a sealed room to stand trial before the council of nine.

Loud squeaks and groans came from the ancient mechanisms of the supreme courtroom's titanium vault doors as they sealed everyone within the courtroom. There was a loud KERTHLUNK as two gimbaled plasma turrets emerged from their hidden compartments in the ceiling and aimed themselves at Kazlum and his four massive lackeys.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kazlum rasped, the tentacles under his head going into an enraged frenzy.

X'thar for his part didn't look the least bit cowed by Kazlum's wrath. "It has been brought to my attention that you have leaked our location to the Kruhur in an attempt to have me assassinated." He bellowed imperiously; the acoustics of the chamber were perfectly arranged to amplify X'thar's voice to every corner of the room. Holographic video displays appeared before each council man displaying the evidence of Kazlum's betrayal. Hidden projectors also displayed the evidence before all the assembled pirates in the courtroom as well.

This was the way of the confederacy, the grand chancellor had almost unlimited power, but if he ever abused that power in 'unjust' ways then the assembled pirate crews of the confederacy could just simply leave and ignore him. They only paid a small tithe and a pittance of loyalty to the king because it was convenient. So if a king wanted to eliminate his enemies then he would need to stir his followers into a frenzy and quickly execute the guilty party.

Kazlum glared at the evidence assembled before him with unblinking black beady eyes and glanced away to stare at Astarte "I take it that this was you're doing."

She allowed herself a small confident smirk. "I said nothing less than your complete destruction would satisfy me."

"I see, using this fool of a king to do your dirty work, it seems I have underestimated you. Too bad it is too late for you" he said ominously as the station shuddered from several heavy impacts. The lights switched to a blaring red and a siren began its harsh wail, all signals saying the station was under attack.

Aster realized that just as she had used this trial to lure Kazlum out of his fortress within the Igrathoth, he too had used this trial to lure out his enemies. All the council men, and even the king himself gathered in one spot. All the obstacles in between Kazlum and the throne in one place, and for an added bonus he could also use this to eliminate Aster and her crew.