HellOnTrion

From the Trion Legal Journal: The State against Vizlov Turlough, VTECEC9/12/44

The Accused’s Record

Junior Ensign Commander Vizlov Turlough was previously charged with treason against the Trion Republic for his part in supporting the rebellion against the legitimate government. At the conclusion of the late unpleasantness, Turlough and his family were detained and convicted under New Trion’s codes of behaviour. Junior Ensign Commander Turlough’s father and younger brother were consigned to the prison world Sarn, while Turlough himself was of the correct age for assignment to the auxiliary goal, Earth, where his established leadership abilities might be controlled by training in that world’s primitive systems.

Earlier this year, Turlough contacted central command from the remains of his father’s ship on Sarn, having disappeared from Earth some years previously. He requested the dispatch of a rescue mission to remove the Sarn natives before a catastrophic volcanic eruption. Later investigation indicated that this eruption had been provoked by unauthorised interference with the planet’s seismological controls.

The Charges

Junior Ensign Commander Vizlov Turlough is charged as follows:

With escaping legitimate custody on Earth.

With consorting with undesirable aliens.

With conspiring to overthrow client governments, to whit the religious regime on the planet Sarn.

With wilful destruction of government property, to whit the aforementioned planet Sarn.

The Accused’s Plea

The accused pleaded not guilty to all charges, with the exception of the second count, consorting with undesirable aliens. The accused was heard to mention the word ‘Tegan’ before entering this plea. The significance of this comment is unknown.

The Case for the Prosecution

Prosecution testimony was entered by direct data link from the mission logs.

The Case for the Defence

Ensign Turlough began his defense by denying the legitimacy of the court, maintaining that he had been lured to Trion under false pretences. Ensign Turlough claimed that Captain Lomand had assured him amnesty when they met on Sarn, and that he’d agreed to return to Trion under the assurance that political prisoners were no longer persecuted.

Under cross-examination Captain Lomand denied making any such assurances, pledging his honour as an officer in the Republican Forces, and the judges are inclined to accept the word of this much-decorated officer, who singly-handedly saved the inhabitants of Sarn from the consequences of the accused’s folly.

In addition, the judges rejected the implication of the accused’s allegations. At his first trial, Vizlov Turlough and his family were convicted of crimes under the general criminal code committed against the legitimate authorities of Trion. His motivations were irrelevant; it was the nature of the crimes with led to his exile. There are no political prisoners on New Trion, and hence no question of amnesty for political crimes.

The accused argued that his departure from Earth was forced upon him by the intervention of feuding aliens of immense power. His attempts to invoke galactic legends in support of this was dismissed as childish fantasy by the judges.

The defence’s appeal for remission of past sentences was dismissed on the grounds of the accused’s admitted contact with the Tractator infection; the judges ruled that all measures should be applied to quarantine the home-world from all connections to this noxious species.

Verdict

The accused was found guilty on all charges.

Sentence

The accused, Vizlov Turlough, is to be returned to exile on planet Earth, where he may be re-educated by our Agents and those criminals who have seen the error of their ways. In view of his age, the judges ruled that Turlough should not be returned to his former prison at Brendon School, but will instead be placed under the direct charge of our senior agent, who serves as a Solicitor in a Chancery Lane practice, to work under him as a Junior clerk.

We sincerely hope that this merciful opportunity will allow Junior Ensign Commander Turlough to see the error of his ways, and grow into an individual worthy of high office in the Trion Republic.

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Supervisor’s Report, Local Date 1996

I’m pleased to report that Ensign Commander Turlough continues to make positive progress. He has earned himself continued promotion through the legal structure, and is now reaching the point where training under the disciplinary training offered by our political system seems advisable.