Earlier that day, Gaikotsu dragged Sanada and Ishikawa from their room in the Military hospital of Setagaya's district on Kyushu. As they were being rushed through and out of the corridors, he spoke shortly to explain what was planned that day : "You will.... be..." The Tokkeitai agent took a deep breath, his slight gurgling could be heard after a cough, "taken to... New Tokyo... to the Naval Court... to pass on your judgement... finally..."
Always closely escorted by a few guards and Gaikotsu, they soon reached a shuttle that was waiting just outside the military hospital. "Court-martial?" finally emitted Junko while giving a side look at Ishikawa, as they were taking place in the shuttle.
Gaikotsu raised his finger, "Naval court." and fixed her.
"Hm... Is it as bad as it sounds?" pondered calmly the Captain. "That's when we will receive our rewards then. Good." then said ironically the woman in a not so convincing careless tone.
Gaikotsu remained silent. He fixed his glasses. The shuttle took off, and they were quickly on their way to New Tokyo system.
It didn't take long before they were landing by the docks near the Naval Headquarters. A unit of marines were waiting for them, all lined up on two sides. A naval pilot would see that these guys were a lot more disciplined compared to a pilot, standing up straight on attention and all, all of them like show horses.
Gaikotsu bade the couple to follow him, and their entourage made their way to the courts.
Finally, they were brought into a protected room. Doors made out of cell blocks, a couple of guards standing at watch inside, and a couple outside as well. A few uncomfortable, small seats were laid against the hardened walls. Outside in the corridor, they'd see more of the personnel, from as many as ranks as there would be in the Navy.
Inside the room, though, a friendly face, Shimizu Tetsuo, obviously brought to be judged as well, as he confessed his possible crimes earlier.
As the doors opened, Tetsuo slightly moved his eyelids there, then turned his head to that direction. With a rather calm look he considered the couple for a second, before returning to looking straight forward with his usual indifferent expression.
A while after they took a seat there, waiting, another group arrived.
The former head of the navy, Takahashi, followed by the head of the 'rebels', stepped in.
Takahashi moved to a group composed of high ranked officers and followed them to another room, while Sakamoto headed to the few high ranked 'rebels' officers, who were kept on a good watch by the guards nearby. "Good evening." He simply said, in a calm tone. "I hope you have been treated well during the last weeks. Ishikawa, I'm glad to see you recovered from what happened to you..."
"Greetings. It's been a while." replied Ishikawa with a slight nod. "I'm looking forward to some vacation now." He smiled. "Do your best with getting our name clean."
"Well..." The admiral said after sighing silently. "I will consider us lucky if we are not executed for what we did... For what I ordered you to do."
A short silence followed. Sakamoto eventually added after scratching the back of his head thoughtfully : "This position we are in is my responsibility, and I will take everything on myself, if that can be done."
He added after a short smile. "When things go that wrong, someone always has to pay for it. If my head has to fall for the ones who trusted me to not be worried, then so be it." "It's a small price to pay." eventually added the admiral thoughtfully.
"So noble of you... Hold on, let me shed that tear off my eye." ironically said Junko.
They decided to ignore her. "So what's the worst that could happen? We all die?" Asked Ishikawa to Sakamoto. "It would be a bit disappointing... After all that time."
He sighed. "But in the end, we succeeded. That's what matters most." "Yes. Regardless of what will happen now, we succeeded. Nagata was chased by our Forces, and our personnel is being checked to detect any infected individual which could remain to infiltrate us." Sakamoto replied.
He then added, after having taken a pause : "As about your first question, i cannot tell."
The door opened as he was finishing that sentence, and Akashi Haikiri stepped in, escorted by a few guards. He headed to Sakamoto, Ishikawa, Shimizu and Sanada, and looking at Sakamoto, nodded and said "Sakamoto-sama" while giving him the slight bow. "Akashi. It seems you showed up just before the trial would begin. As you certainly know, we are about to be judged for our actions." "Hai, Sakamoto-sama, I have followed you into hell and successfully managed to get out of it. We will pass this last obstacle as well."
Sakamoto shook his head slightly. "We shall see. That said... Since you are all gathered, i wanted to tell you I'm very proud of you all. You have been through ordeal after ordeal in that operation. You have demonstrated how much dedicated you are to serve our house... Regardless of what you may hear in that room when the court begins."
He smiled to them and then added : "I have a favour to ask you. No matters what happens, please remember I was the one taking the decisions. Let me assume the punishment."
Akashi nodded in denial. "I shall not. The decision to take Honshu's 77th fleet into conflict with the republic was mine only, you will not take false blame on your shoulders alone" "No, Akashi." said Sakamoto in a non-negotiable tone. "This will be my last order, and you will please obey. You have been following me. You shouldn't be punished."
Tetsuo doubtfully gazed at Sakamoto, but did not say anything. He lowered his head after having smirked and closed his eyes in expectation of what would follow.
Sakamoto considered him for a short while, before addressing him. "Shimizu...Do not lower your head. Please remember you did what your conscience dictated to you. While we will be judged, we shouldn't consider ourself as guilty." "We did our best to protect Kusari and its people. It's all what matters."
Without rising his head or looking at Sakamoto, Tetsuo replied : "I doubt that I will be judged in a same way as you. My actions were my own decision, and I am not proud of them. That is why I confessed to the Admiralty."
Following Vice-Admiral Mochizuki to their seats already, Rear-Admiral Kumagaya decided to use the five minutes remaining to have some last words with Takahashi-san before the trials would start.
Addressing her, Mochizuki asked: "So, what do you think, Takahashi-san, did 'they' act out of selfless motives?"
Takahashi reflected for a short while before replying. "Sakamoto-san methods have been questionable.. I'm certain all his actions had only one motive, however : Protecting Kusari."
She made a pause, as if she was considering how to express herself, and eventually added : "It is a difficult stance, when you have to act against the chain of command for the greater good... It questions where a personal opinion should matter more than the orders received." "I was hoping for you to say so. But we will see how the evidences reflect that image.", Mochizuki replied with a nod, before leaving her and continuing to take seat next to Mochizuki-san. "Hai. I stand ready to answer any of your inquiries." replied Takahashi before sitting herself.
Meanwhile, Nakamura tagged along with Taiyouji sama, headed towards the seats reserved for the witnesses, where Takahashi took a seat herself. They were soon followed by an officer holding an ancient Katana, which was quite an oddity within the walls of a court.
Gaikotsu escorted the rebels to their seats, with their hands cuffed in front of them. They were held close to the seats where the two admirals stood, on a higher desk than the gathering.
As he entered in the room, Shimizu calmly rose his head, observing the Admirals circles members and trying to read the attitude on their faces.
The assembly was all there. Everyone were made to wear their ceremonial uniforms, including the ones who'll be judged.
Witnesses were also lined up, at the side of the room in their proper seats, waiting for their turn to speak. Jiro looked at Teta, after a brief stare towards the captives, he really didn't want to be there, but was made to be there, nonetheless.
At last the Vice Admiral slowly stepped in. He took the wooden stairs to his high desk, and sat by his friend, the rear admiral. Gaikotsu bellowed, "Attention! Silence!"
Sakamoto remained silent. But when the Admirals sat, he said : "Honourable ones. I request my officers to be released from those ties. They do not deserve such a treatment, for they risked their lives to protect Kusari people. You can be certain they will be following any orders given to them. They are not criminals."
Kumagaya threw a sharp look at Gaikotsu, signalling him to enforce the silence, as he was a little disappointed of this unruly behaviour of his fellow, Sakamoto-san, to say it himself.
The vice admiral himself said it, "Silence, Sakamoto. Nobody will speak out of turn. Is that clear?"
He turned to look at Kumagaya for a second and nodded, before addressing the gathering. "Today, we are all assembled here in this trial to pass fair judgement on Itto Kaisa Ishikawa Hideaki, Itto Kaisa Akashi Haikiri, ..."
Kumagaya mentioned all the convicts before adding : "all of them the members of an uncooperative task force, led by Kaisho-ho Sakamoto."
"Ryoma-san... now you can speak... How do you explain your actions?"
Sakamoto considered the fellow admirals. "Before answering to your question, I would like to emphasize on the fact the follow officers accused with me followed my orders. I feel the need to state they did obey, and therefore followed the chain of command. The only one you should be judging here is me, for I was the one taking the terrible decisions that lead to this martial court.
Now, about the reason of my actions :
I discovered Nagata Yuri had been infected by an alien being. He sent the Head of the Navy, Takahashi Mikako, to a trap, and took the leadership, trying his best to limit the search I have been doing in the Taus to find her.
He put people he could trust in key positions. I have been trying to warn my fellow Admirals and the Ministry of Defence about it. I have been ignored. I decided actions needed to be taken to cleanse this mortal threat. To protect my house and my people."
The admirals looked at each other before one of them took the liberty to reply. "Your actions might be in good consideration, but you still took arms against your fellow pilots, officers of the navy, and our marines serving in the navy. You've caused so many distractions, caused breaches in our defences, and therefore, weakened Kusari's strength to fight off other threats, which are also a lot more common lately.
Your request that you should be held responsible for this all is being taken into consideration, and will be decided by the end of the meeting...
The evidence you've provided us with, still looks incomplete. However, former head of the navy, Nagata-san's uncooperative behaviour might just serve as a proof of your claims... "
Appearing to reflect on what was just said, Mochizuki eventually spoke himself : "Before we get to the next point of our discussion, I'd like to know what Takahashi-san and the Minister of Defence will say about this."
Takahashi stood up. "Hai."
After recieving a nod from Mochizuki, Kumagaya knew that he was to question Takahashi, as they knew each other a little longer. "Takahasi-san, your return was a stroke of good fortune, as I have seen in your report about what you had to go through to come out alive. Please, tell us again what might have brought you into this position to even let us assume you were K.I.A.?"
Takahashi gazed at the Admirals one by one before beginning to speak. "With a small escort, i moved to Freeport 6 to participate to a meeting organized by Gallic Royal Navy. We were ambushed by aliens. Everyone died but me... I have been eventually... Rescued... by what i assume to be slavers."
Kumagaya nodded.
"I eventually was rescued for good by what seemed to be Colonials. They helped me recover, and they eventually sent me to Sakamoto's forces, that were hiding in the Barrier pass.
That's when i heard about what happened in Kusari lately. Sakamoto-san showed me the evidences he collected about Nagata-san.
As this was too grave to be ignored, i contacted the Ministry of Defence, who ordered us to return to Kusari. As you could see, the Admiral Sakamoto complied to that order."
Mochizuki addressed the Minister of Defence Suwa Katsuko, who was attending to the court among several officials of the Republic. "Suwa-san... Do you confirm what Takahashi-san says?"
His hands folded on the table, Suwa-san gave a short nod. "It is how she said." And in his opinion that was just about all that had to be said.
A little displeased by the short answer of the minister, Kumagaya added: "So the only time you heard about the supposed state of Nagata-san was from Takahashi-san lately?" "Indeed. I wonder why Sakamoto-san did not act like she did." He smiled and leaned back. Curiously eyeing Sakamoto.
Kumagaya nodded. It was this what puzzled the Admirality. So he promptly asked Sakamoto about it: "Why did not you try to share that important piece of information before, Sakamoto san?" "I did. Several times. If you check the internal logs of he Asagao, you will find i have been trying to contact the Parliament and the Ministry of Defence several times. I suspect Nagata somehow succeeded to intercept those transmissions on a neural net node and stopped or redirected them."
He then sighed. "Then, when Nagata labelled us as traitors, we lost access to the Naval Forces communication grid. And anything coming from us would have been labelled as an attempt to cause more havok for that extent. Nagata did his best to ensure we would lose any credibility."
Mochizuki eventually nodded. "It will be investigated, and everyone who has commited a derelict of duty will be punished accordingly. Arigato, Sakamoto-san... And thank you for your answers Suwa-san and Takahashi-san."
"Now on to the next subject... Taiyouji-san, Nakamura-san, please stand up. You two were in the operation that failed to capture Nagata-san..."
With that information, started a crowd of mumbling in the hall. Looks like that was the first time they heard it. "What happened? What made you miss him? Where was he headed?" urged Kumagaya.
Jiro looked at Teta before he stood up.
"Hai, admiral... We took part in the operation... Nagata-san was helped by a squad of Kusari naval ships, either Kempeitai or something we are not aware of, which we did not take into consideration... They were still chased all the way to Tohoku, and after we lost all our hitting power to the enemy, Takeru-san and I could make it out of there alive with the pods of our wing mates, only because of the Ion Storms that blocked our rear and didn't allow the enemy to chase us... I'd say... that the suspicions about Nagata-san are correct, close to sure."
Also being asked to stand up, Nakamura did the same, but had not much to add to the report of Taiyouji san: "It is like Taiyouji-san explained.", she confirmed, "It was not possible for us to stop Nagata-san before we came under heavy attack by unknown forces."
A woman wearing a veil quietly spoke when Nakamura stopped to talk. "If you allow me, Admirals, the Tokkeitai would like to speak."
Mochizuki raised an eyebrow while gazing at the strange woman. "Stand up. And please continue, Tokkeitai-san. What are you known as, first of all?" "I'm operative 'Kiyohime', First trust circle." replied the woman in a concise manner. "What do you want to say regarding this?" "The Tokkeitai had been studying the black-boxes of the Lieutenant-Commander Takeru and the Lieutenant Taiyouji. It leaves no doubt that the cruiser Yamashiro was supported in Tohoku system by vessels belonging to the former 'Hanta Iseijin' division, that, with the disaster of the Arch, was lost and infected by Aliens. We also could confirm the cruiser Yamashiro has been refusing to comply to the orders to stop and to be boarded, and have been firing on the strike force. That is all."
Kiyohime swiftly sat back, merging once again with the crowd.
"I see..." eventually uttered Mochizuki in a troubled tone. He finally took a look at his friend, the rear-admiral besides him. Nodding to him and saying with a low voice that others couldn't hear, "Looks like it is sure then... Unbelievable... What do you think? Should we pass on to the next point now, about the attack on Nansei?" "Really troublesome..." replied Kumagaya in the same tone "but please let me ask one last thing about Sakamoto's motives."
Kumagaya then nodded, and speaking out loud : "It seems that before trying to escape like that, Nagata made sure he had somebody to cover his retreat."
"But right now, it is not Nagata san who is under trial. I would like to ask Sanada-san about what kind of order Sakamoto-san actually issued to his subordinates when he left the regular chain of command, and how he justified this to her."
Junko allowed herself to shrug. "Well... The Admiral Stu..." She suddenly made a pause and smiled "Sakamoto... Asked us to do an undercover mission with the Captain Ishikawa. We used foreigner ships and were tasked to drop Nagata's gunboat shields, so that we could scan the vessel with the powerful scanning devices Sakamoto could requisition from Kansai research station. That's how we were able to confirm something was wrong with Nagata."
She then tilted her head, ignoring Sakamoto's stare. "When we saw this, there was no way to not take part in this, as something had to be done. We agreed to help him getting rid of this threat, with all the means we had. It is correct he gave us orders. But i decided to follow them." "Noted." Said Moshizuki while staring once more at the woman "Looks like we have enough information now... If anyone have concerns about this issue, please sound them now, before we skip to the next subject, regarding the attack on Nansei."
Kumagaya looked to the Vice-Admiral next to him, and then added another small question to Sanada-san, who did fascinate him : "Why did not you consider another way to resolve this situation? As you say, you freely followed Sakamoto-san for this?"
"Another way...?" pondered Junko thoughtfully. "I'm just a Commander, sir. I'm not so much informed about the way Admiralty works or how the channels between Ministry of Defence and the Admiralty work.... What i know is Nagata had to be killed.."
She shrugged before going on. "Now i agree the attempt to kill Nagata in New Tokyo by doing a surprise strike was... Well... But what else could we do either way. The Admiral Sakamoto is the most qualified to answer this, i suppose.." "I see, and thank you, Sanada-san." He continued to look at her for a while, being a little distracted, but then nodded to Otojiro 'Mochimochi' Mochizuki to continue to the next point.
Mochizuki looked at his rear admiral mate, to see if his questions were over, and nodded at him to make sure he was done. "Arigatou. The next subject is the attack on Nansei station. It resulted injuries on the navy personnel and station security, damaged naval equipment and vessels, twelve chimaeras were taken without permission..."
He looked at the side of the witnesses, "Nakamura-san, would you please provide us a background of the incident, since you were in the thick of it."
Nakamura jumped from her seat. "Hai, Mochizuki-sama!" She then considered for a while to remember what happened.
"On 820-xx-xx SMT, we were to launch a patrol under Commander Mitsuki-san, securing the surroundings of Nansei and nearby places. When we were about to board our Chimaeras, unknown personnel, that we assumed to be the hangar technicians, approached us. According to them, there were severe difficulties with our ships!"
She stopped shortly to take a deep breath again. "But moments later, as the alarm sounded, those technicians suddenly turned on us, trying to subdue everybody in the hanger. It was without doubt those officers", she pointed at Sanada-san and the guy next to her, "who were the ones to incapacitate me and Commander Mitsuki." She turned to Taiyouji-san shortly, before looking at Mochizuki again. "It was only thanks to Taiyouji-san, that I was able to survive after being wounded due to Sanada-san' efforts."
Nakamura-san looked now a little out of breath. She took a few seconds to recover.
"Since my condition, I could not follow the incident any further, Mochizuki-sama." she then added in an apologetic tone.
Mochizuki nodded once more after this speech. "Arigatou for your explanation... You may sit down now... Jiro Taiyouji-san, you were also there, do you have anything to add?"
Taiyouji stood up, "No, Admiral... Soon after Nakamura-sama was wounded, the rebels were able to subdue everyone, and made off with the ships, immediately."
He continued, "the station security was lax, and it was apparent they had inside help... I do not think that their intentions were to harm our personnel at all, however, the result is obvious..."
Mochizuki nodded to him as well, and made him sit down.
"Next... Tetsuo Shimizu-san... Earlier, you admitted to be in coordination with the rebels in this case... And that your ship was the one that smuggled them in... Your crew is already under watch and they'll be separately judged on this issue... What do you want to say about this matter?"
Without any sign of worry Tetsuo rose from his seat and slightly bowed to the court. With a calm and smooth voice he then started to speak. "There is something I wanted to say. Just as I confessed, I have given Rebel forces a way to reach Nansei, however, not all of my crew were aware of this."
Lowering slightly his eyes, he eventually carried on. "Those that say they are not guilty are not lying. Only a couple of crews knew about the operation, and supported it. The rest were deceived by me, thus I ask you to free them from charges against them." "That is a separate matter, which will be judged separately and in more detail. No judgement will be given on them in this gathering. You will be the one who might be receiving a penalty here... So tell us about your part... How exactly did you help the rebels? How long have you been in coordination with them? What else did you help them with?"
He started to bombard him with questions, also turning to the rear admiral in case he'd have something. Taking more confident look Tetsuo eventually answered while looking straight at the Admiral. "My aid started since the incident in Tau systems. One of my old reports state that I have been shot down in Tau 37 system by a rebel, and had to drift in space for a couple of days. Originally, it was I who was lucky to capture a said rebel and, instead of bringing him to the prison, decided to interrogate him myself. Hearing him out answered many of my doubts, thus I decided to support them and let that rebel return to his group. This and Nansei operation were the only times when I support the rebels."
He took a short pause to catch a breath, and then continued. "As for your first question, my role on Nansei operation was only delivering them to Kusari. For that I hired a freelancer who brought them in Kyushu on a freighter, under look of workers. Then on Kyushu planet I handed them uniforms and IDs to pass into military docks and then on Hiuchi. Under a sight of the crews they made it on Nansei."
Mochizuki listened to him quietly, eventually nodding when Shimizu was done. "Arigatou, you may sit down if you don't have anything to add."
Bowing in a gratitude Tetsuo calmly sat on his place, putting his hands on a handholds and looking straight. "Ishikawa Hideaki-san, the reports suggest that you were in the charge of this operation..." finally asserted Mochizuki after a moment of silence. "And the video footage shows that you incapacitated the hangar supervisor and got wounded in the process... You've caused damage to the station, naval equipment and vessels, injured naval and security personnel, and threw the defence of Kyushu into confusion. Which would potentially allow our many enemies to take advantage of the case. Within the light of Taiyouji, Nakamura, and Shimizu-san's backgrounds, do you want to say anything about this matter? Was it worth it?"
Ishikawa rose slowly. "What you say is true and I take full responsibility for these actions."
His face didn't show how nervous he was, he knew that he wouldn't get out of this easily. But he was prepared to take the punishment. "When I decided to steal those chimaeras, our group was crippled and without much chance of continued survival. Any decent strike-force sent by the Admiral Nagata could have wiped us out instantly. I wanted to secure scout vessels for us, so we could be warned and flee at least.
I didn't intend to severely hurt anybody and it was planned to cause as little damage as possible. How well that worked? Well, judge for yourself. It was a desperate action by desperate people. But I ask that you place the whole blame for it on me. And punish me accordingly." "You should know by now, Ishikawa-san, that in the navy, nobody gets punished separately. The mistake of one will usually get everyone involved killed, or even worse, the ones who are not involved as well... That is the responsibility of command; knowing that you'll bind the fate of those who choose to follow you with yours."
He then added in thoughts, "We'll still consider your request... Who's got anything to say in this matter before I close it for good? There's one more matter to learn about briefly, before concluding the court."
With nobody raising a voice, Kumagaya nodded at Otojiro to continue.
Mochizuki, satisfied by how swiftly this matter was resolved, checked through the papers in front of him. "Akaishi Hikairi-san. Please stand up..."
"A little earlier before the separation of Sakamoto's forces from the Navy, you were in charge of a task force charged with the defence of Honshu system against possible threats..."
"We can already guess the reasons of your defection, probably the same reasons than everyone else. But I have to stress, your defection gravely endangered the integrity of Honshu system's defences, and Kusari suffered greatly because of it... Do you have anything to say about this?"
Akashi looked up from an invisible point he marked on the table near him. Looking straight to MochiZuki's eyes with an odd calm look "Hai, Mochizuki-sama. When I was requested to meet Sakamoto-sama before this whole mayhem happened, the urgency made me believe that war was coming, and that a rather large force present would allow us to repel or lead a surprise attack.
After the scheme of things were revealed, most of the Honshu 77th fleet, including battlecruiser KDS-Honshu's.First remained in Kyushu, pin-pointed stocked with basic living supplies. Only the 3rd, 5th and 8th squadrons were with me when we were charged by the alien and his followers and we suffered severe damage.
However, the decision to follow Sakamoto-sama along with my soldiers were mine and mine only. I believed that the rest of the force that remained in Kyushu could have been used in the future against Nagata, however they ran low on fuel and any significant act would have made most of the ships ran dry on it, so they were only used as a base to stage low-scale operations."
Akashi sat down, still looking calmly on Mochizuki in a manner that made him feel unease.
Moshizuki listened to him silently, without showing any emotion what so ever. Once Akaishi was done and when he sat down, he looked over to the papers in front of him, the rear admiral next to him and the rest of the jury then sighed.
Coughing once, "The jury will have a 10 minutes discussion, deciding the penalties now... Please leave the court until you're called back."
10 minutes passed. Everyone returned to the hall and eventually sat at their proper places in a hubhub. Eventually, silence filled the court as the Admiralty was taking place.
"After discussing the matter among the chosen juries, we have come to a conclusion." eventually stated Moshizuki.
"Attention," Gaikotsu raised his hand with a motion, telling them to stand up.
"Kaisho-ho Ryoma Sakamoto-san, Itto Kaisa Hideaki Ishikawa-san, Itto Kaisa Akaishi Hikairi-san, Nito Kaisa Junko Sanada-san, " he counted all the other members of the rebels in attendance as well, "In a time of need, when we are heavily pressed by our neighbours, when we have to deal with dissidents at every corner, when there is a great turmoil within our house and our people... when we can't even spare a single personnel... you all decided to separate yourselves from the main body of our Navy, and formed your own chain of command." he paused a second to take a breather.
"As if it was not enough, you worked against the Naval Forces, sabotaged our operations, used our equipment and vessels without authorization, staged attacks on our forces, harmed our equipment and vessels, confused our defences with your knowledge of our operations and made the defence of our home a near impossibility at times, when we also had to focus on other threats even more serious than you. You directly and indirectly caused injuries to our personnel, and some of those were fatal."
"In the end, your uncooperative efforts served to nothing except for saving your own lives and weakening our Navy... The man you claim as being an 'infectee'... held free reign over the Navy. It was Takahashi-san's efforts and her good fortune that saved us in the end from this great calamity.
Regarding this situation, we came to the conclusion you're guilty as you failed in your duty. You are most surely not the only guilty ones, but there will be time for that..." he took a glance towards the Minister and some of the other people in the leading positions among the navy, especially to those he thought were close to Nagata.
"However... We are aware of your good intention as well... Here's is our judgement."
"Former Kaisho-ho Ryoma Sakamoto-san. As you requested in your first sentence when you appeared before us, you'll take the burden of those you made to follow yourself into this senseless act, you'll be penalized for your dereliction of duty, and misuse of command. The charges regarding 'betrayal of duty' have been dropped. You'll be stripped of your ranks, your medals, and you'll be no longer belong to Kusari Naval Forces. In addition, you'll be incarcerated for a year, which may be turned to a house arrest later on."
"The rest of you, except for Tetsuo Shimizu-san. You'll be penalized for your dereliction of duty. You'll also be stripped of your ranks, your medals, and you'll no longer belong to our proud Navy. Your charges regarding betrayal of duty have been dropped."
"Nito Kaisa Tetsuo Shimizu-san. You're also charged with dereliction of duty, as you assisted the rebels in their operation in Nansei, which could turn into a disaster, and it indeed caused a lot of distress among the navy. In addition, it caused injury to our personnel and the station security. However, as your dereliction of duty is not on par with the rebels, the penalty will be lighter."
"You're, hereby, temporarily stripped off your ranks and relieved of your current command posts. You'll also be forced off-duty for an amount of time the Admiralty will decide later on. After that time is over, you'll be given a command of a new ship, and will be assigned a new crew."
"With this, we conclude this assembly. May our judgement prove sufficient for the well-being of our beloved house. Naval personnel, former naval personnel, Tokkeitai, Minister, you may leave now..." he signalled to Gaikotsu, and bid him to escort the ones mentioned out.