Judgment felt like a long time coming for the crime he had committed out of the goodness of his own soul. But yet, Erik stood in the Judiciary with his hands to his sides and his beard long unshaven watching the silent holograms recount his deed across the length of the vast courtroom for everyone to see. He wasn’t ashamed. He was the Captain, and he knew he had done the right thing.
He felt restless at the Defendant’s bench as the Court Marshall Judge reviewed his case. Heart racing, he silently watched the hologram that replayed the image of his ship, the Dreadnaught Mercury, firing on and crippling three Saal blockade runners over the Meristoma, one of the five Rostran home worlds.
"Federal Defense Ministry code states explicitly, in section 19, article 31a, that Federal warships are not to engage in confrontations in Rostran\Saal warspace," the overweight, robed judiciary stated as he looked down over the court from his bench like a bird of prey. "Furthermore, I believe the Dreadnaught Mercury deviated from a defense order. Am I correct in saying this?"
"You would be correct in your assumptions." Captain Erik Mal responded flatly.
"I make no assumptions, Captain. Saying ‘I believe’ is only a figure of speech. I have on record the Dreadnaught Mercury deliberately broke formation and entered Rostran warspace, thus opening a hole in the defense of colony EF 119. There are catastrophic implications to your actions, Captain.”
“If it helps my case, it was just a precautionary defense. We were not involved directly in said conflict. You even said that yourself, Judge.”
“No, it doesn’t help your case.” The Judge rubbed his temples and sighed. “What were you thinking when you deliberately broke orders and intervened?"
"May I refer to our own fleet's code of honor?” Erik cleared his throat and began as he had rehearsed, “As a Captain of the United Federation of Autonomous Republics Ministry of Defense, I am to be the strong hand, I am to make peace, I am to aid the weak."
"You are to follow orders," another voice spoke.
The Judge gazed down from his perch past Erik Mal and the guards who held him in place. A fully decorated Ministry Captain had entered the courtroom. "At all costs, for the good of the Republics,” he said.
Erik glared at the man. The Judge had not recognized him at first, but Erik knew him all too well. He was known here and abroad as Ran Akwai, Captain of the Imperial. Erik knew him as an asshole that was once a friend. They had gone through Academy together, and during so developed a healthy rivalry. One day, almost like a switch in his personality was flicked, it all changed. He became a different person with different values and attitudes almost like he had suffered an untreated concussion. He was once Erik’s greatest friend, but all at once he began inexplicably collecting enemies and Erik found himself occupying the number one spot on that list. It happened almost exactly at the time of their graduation from Academy when they received their first assignments as men of the UFAR Ministry of Defense. Since then, both have gone on to extraordinary careers as Captains, albeit in separate ways. Often, Erik felt like his successes came too easy to him. Not such that he could convince himself that he was wildly talented, he thought he was just lucky. In a lot of ways he felt like a hack, undeserving of all the praise he had
garnered. In truth, most of his military successes began with him in some way. They would stem from an idea of his or something similar, but they would always end with his crew. Erik considered them to be the real heroes mostly out of guilt or fear of his own ego. He attributed most of his good fortune to luck, and always made sure never to forget that. Ran Akwai, however, was the complete opposite. He stepped on fingers and toes to climb to his status, and nobody seemed to catch on to the fact that he would go after whatever he wanted at the expense of whomever happened to be in his way.
