The Mech Touch

6076 The Larkinson High Court

The third year of the Age of Dawn had cand gone!

The entire clan along with the rest of red humanity held a festive celebration in order to commemorate the start of their independence from the Milky Way.

Though not everyone found the Great Severing to be an occasion worth celebrating about, the Red Two along with other major groups worked hard to build up pride and self- esteem of the humans of the new frontier.

The specter of the upcoming alien offensive loomed tall over everyone's heads. There were even analysts who claimed that the Red Cabal would surely ruin everyone's day by launching a surprise attack!

Fortunately, the troops on high alert ended up doing nothing but look menacing. The third year of the Age of Dawn eventually concluded with renewed expectations towards the future.

Alas, not everyone was able to tackle the new year with an optimistic outlook.

The Larkinsons had becconsumed by the first high- profile trial since the founding of their clan!

This was not the first tthe clan passed judgment over those whose alleged crimes merited serious consideration. With a membership figure that was rapidly approaching 2 million individuals, there were always cases where even the most well-meaning Larkinsons crossed the line.

Minor transgressions took place all of the time. These incidents were not really worth getting wound up over, and were often dealt with internally or through one of the many lower institutions.

Only a handful of cases reached a level of severity that compelled the Larkinson Clan to take them more seriously.

These incidents ranged from faulty maintenance leading to severe injuries or death, to a recruit of Terra origin who leaked a little too much information to one of his former employers.

The Larkinsons invested with the power to cast their judgment over these cases mostly consisted of professional judges from various states. They were all professionals who had been vetted and proved their competence through numerous ways.

Under normal circumstances, these judges possessed enough authority and respect to judge their fellow Larkinsons.

This twas different. The accused parties consisted of two expert pilots who built up their reputations over many years. Both of the newly ascended expert pilots had fought and risked their lives in dozens of battles. Each of them had gone above and beyond what the clan expected from a typical serviceman and made significant contributions.

Given the status and contributions of these two champions who had always been known as upright and honorable among the Larkinsons, both protocol and public demand forced the clan to convene a special tribunal to judge their individual cases.

Shortly after the new year celebrations passed, the concurrent trials of Venerable Taon Melin and Venerable Lanie Larkinson commenced!

Since the decision had been made to broadcast the trials, the solemn occasion took place within a special courthouse built inside the Spirit of Bentheim.

The selection of judges to preside over the special tribunal did not proceed without contention.

For a trial of this scope, the decision had been made to select 3 professional judges, 3 expert pilots of the Larkinson Clan and 1 high-ranking mech designer of the Larkinson Clan.

The selection of judges was done in an instant. Everyone knew that for these important trials, the judges had been reduced to legal clerks in all but name. The three professionals were all expected to attach themselves to an expert pilot and mirror the latter's judgment. The esteemed individuals accepted this and were happy to assist the selected expert pilots in navigating the complex legal processes.

What truly mattered was the selection of expert pilots. Numerous volunteers brought their names forward, but it was not appropriate to select 3 among this enthusiastic group.

In the end, the Larkinson High Court selected Venerable Jannzi Larkinson due to how much she cared about the clan. The Court also selected Commander Casella Ingvar-Larkinson due to her expertise as a mech commander. Furthermore, Venerable Vincent Ricklin got added due to random selection.

"Why do I have to preside over these trials? I am not a judge! I don't have the faintest clue about the law!"

"That doesn't matter. You are not in the special tribunal because of your legal background. You have been selected as a judge for these cases because you represent a part of the soldiers of the Larkinson Clan. Look, don't pay attention to the legalese. Just listen and decide according to your own heart and principles. Decide what you think is best for the Larkinson Clan. An actual judge will accompany you and take care of all of the complicated paperwork and other protocols."

"Oh. Why didn't you mention that first?"

The selection of the mech designer also had to be made with care. Both Ves and Gloriana were the most authoritative ones, but that made them the worst possible choices. Gloriana and especially Ves already held a lot of executive power over the clan. Letting them exercise judicial power violated the principle of separation of powers and could lead to catastrophic abuse in the long run.

Ketis was normally a good choice, but she was in the chain of command when the disastrous mission unfolded, so she was anything but impartial. Her involvement already ruled out her selection.

Eventually, Alexa Streon accepted this important responsibility. She was not among the old-timers of the Larkinson Clan, but she received a rich education and had proven to be professional in all of her jobs.

It took over a week for Taon, Lanie and Alexa to depart from their locations and arrive in the Bortele System where the expeditionary fleet had decided to rest and recuperate. The Larkinson borrowed the Red Association's fastest couriers in order to expedite the journeys.

The special tribunal commenced shortly after the aforementioned individuals rejoined the expeditionary fleet. They had already made numerous preparations during the journey.

Thousands of Larkinsons serving in the expeditionary attended the proceedings in person whenever possible. Hundreds of thousands more clansmen chose to follow the live feed of the trials.

The actual process had been condensed into just two days. Nobody wanted the special tribunal to drag on for months or years. The allegations, while severe, only took place during a brief interval of time, so it was not as if it took a lot of tto go over all of the evidence and arguments.

Plenty of hard evidence becavailable by downloading and processing the recordings and data logs of the living mechs that had the misfortune of observing the unfolding tragedy.

Two key witnesses provided their own testimonies on what had happened. Venerable Joshua and Venerable Dise might not have been able to attend the special tribunal in person due to the fact that they were still a part of Task Force Solus, but they were allowed to take part by remote,

The complication was that Joshua and Dise were both biased and held strong opinions of their own. The judges had to take these variables into account.

At the end of the second day, anticipation throughout the Larkinson Clan rose as the prosecution and the attorneys representing their two clients made their closing statements.

The judges all retreated for a while and returned to their bench.

Of the seven judges, Venerable Jannzi Larkinson assumed the role of chief judge. Her interest and investment in the trial surpassed that of all of her current peers!

Since the rules governing the special tribunal were a bit looser and more flexible than normal trials, Venerable Jannzi decided to turn this occasion into a lecture as well as an opportunity to pass judgment.

"Larkinsons." She spoke as she knew she held the attention of pretty much every Larkinson, no matter whether they were in the courtroom in person or watching from one of the many distant branches scattered across human-occupied space. "I am deeply disappointed today."

Her protective aura which she had honed through many battles and moments of introspection flared up, allowing every viewer to get a feel of how much this trial impacted her mood.

"When the Larkinson High Court initially cinto existence, I hoped that it would never be used on this sort of occasion. How could one of our honorable and well-treated champions ever commit crimes severe enough to warrant this response from our clan? Our expert candidates and expert pilots cfrom different different backgrounds, but the Larkinson Army has always made sure to select soldiers who can be trusted to fight on our collective behalf. If there are any champions who have exhibited disconcerting behavior, then it is the responsibility of the Hall of Heroes to correct their mindsets."

Jannzi exuded a lot of authority as her gaze seemed to penetrate straight into the eyes of every viewer. She along with the rest of the judges enhanced their stature by wearing slightly decorative dark red robes and special headdresses. The luxurious fabrics and the exquisite detailing of their outfits literally made them look taller and larger than life.

This was especially the case for the chief judge, who wore a militaristic gold sash that held all of her medals and decorations!

"The institutions of our clan did not fail." She continued with a voice enhanced by her strong willpower. "There is an abundant amount of evidence and witness testimony that indicate that Taon Melin-Larkinson and Lanie Larkinson have both behaved as exemplary members of the Larkinson Clan. Our tribunal has no reason to cast all of this evidence in doubt. The accused have only truly made missteps during the infamous sample retrieval mission."

The air in the courthouse grew heavier as Jannzi clearly worked her way towards this fateful day and mission.

A proportion of the viewers shifted their attention to the accused. Both Venerable Taon Melin and Lanie Larkinson attended the trial while wearing their military uniforms, though stripped of decorations and anything too fancy.

The two frequently glowered at each other whenever they could. This forced the courthouse to place them far apart from each other while activating an opaque energy shield in the middle.

Now that the thad cfor them to learn about their future in the Larkinson Clan, both Taon and Lanie set aside their irrelevant thoughts and paid close attention to Venerable Jannzi's words.

After Jannzi spoke about the circumstances of the mission for a couple of minutes, she finally addressed the accusations in chronological order.

"Venerable Taon-Melin-Larkinson, former serving and leading the Eye of Ylvaine Mech Legion, you stand accused of committing friendly fire. The evidence conclusively proves that you and the deceased living mech known as 'the Zeal' have both worked together to aim and fire the latter's devastatingly powerful Devora Cannon in the back of the living mech known as the 'Elegant Rage', who was piloted by the the then-expert candidate Lanie Larkinson at the time. This has sparked a disastrous chain of events that compounded every mistake and led to errors that are hard to forgive. The only serious issue of contention is whether your deed is accidental or deliberate."

A lot of people clung to the chief judge's words. They wanted to know if the special tribunal was willing to excuse this outrageous act and whether the judges could justify their decision!

"Based on the evidence, the witness testimonies and other context, we have judged you… innocent of the crof committing deliberate friendly fire on a fellow Larkinson soldier. We judge that you have committed an act of accidental friendly fire, which is a much less severe crthat is associated with much more lenient sanctions."

"What?!"

"This is an outrage!"

"He's a killer!"

The courthouse becnoisy as many Larkinson soldiers becindigant when they heard this verdict!

From their perspective, Taon Melin had committed an unforgivable crby stabbing one of his comrades in the back with a fatal blow!

None of the mech pilots wanted this to happen to themselves one day, so they strongly urged the special tribunal to condemn Taon Melin in the strongest terms!

So what if he managed to break through and becan expert pilot? A Larkinson with the blood of a fellow clansman on his hand did not deserve to be treated as family anymore!