Trial Of Heath Layress 1

You stand accused of the following charges;

Unlawful detention of Federation personnel, i.e. the captain of the timeship Blue Rose

Unlawful use of Federation property, i.e. the timeship Blue Rose

Unlawful possession and use of foreign property, i.e. a Klingon cloaking device

Assaulting Federation personnel i.e. the crew uss Lexington. Each crewman counting as a separate charge

Sabotage of the uss Lexington

Inciting panic throughout the quadrant.

Reckless endangerment of the crews of the USS Constellation, USS Athena, and USS Lexington.

And if I were to read off the claims of threatened abuse and intimidation from your own crew we would be here for a week. But they shall be entered in to the record.

Judge 2: Admiral T'Shoak, you claim that this is just culmination of a pattern of behavior and that she never should have been made a captain in the first place.

T'Shoak: Correct ma'am.

Judge 3: Before we continue, the charges involving the timeship and her captain are here by dismissed.

T'Shoak: Ma'am?

Judge 2: Temporal investigations has, for their own reasons, withdrawn the charges against her. It is their prerogative.

T'Shoak: Yes ma'am.

Judge 1: Also, any charges related to the endangerment of USS Lexington due to its collision with the USS Los Lobos are also dismissed.

T'Shoak: Ma'am. I must protest...

Judge 2: It has been proven that Captain Heath and her crew were not in control of their ship at the time of the incident.

Judge 3: That's an entirely different matter to be addressed at another date.

T'Shoak: Yes ma'am.

Judge 1: Now Captain Heath in light of all this, you have submitted to the court a plea agreement that in exchange for clemency for your crew, you would agree to plead guilty.

Heath: Yes ma'am.

*crowd noises*

Judge 3: Order. You do realize, that by pleading guilty, you would be stripped of all rank, title and commission and given the charges, stand to spend at least the next twenty years on a penal colony?

Heath: Yes ma'am.

Judge 2: And why would you do this?

Heath: As you read in the charges, I threatened them into obeying me. They acted out of fear. They should not be punished for my actions.

Judge 2: Admiral, does that not sound like the actions of a captain trying to protect their crew?

T'Shoak: Do humans not have an saying that even a broken clock is right twice a day? Just because she demonstrates it once, doesn't mean it's an established pattern.

Judge 2: I see.

Judge 3: So then admiral, would the captain's plea deal be acceptable to you?

T'Shoak: I find it's terms... agreeable.

Judge 1: I see

Judge 1: It's a pity then that her officers flatly refused the offer.

Both: What?

Judge 1: In fact, they insisted on standing trial with you. 

Judge 2: While the rest of your crew are still onboard awaiting final clearance of not being contaminated by Borg nanotechnology, they are here to stand with you

Heath: Ma'am, you can't let them do that!

Judge 3: And why is that?

Heath: They haven't got the common sense the Prophets gave rocks.

T'Shoak: As much as it troubles me, I must concur with her. Your honors have all read their personal files?

Judge 1: Yes, we did.

Judge 2: It made for quite... interesting reading

T'Shoak: Then you can see that a bunch of barely functional rejects...

Tru: Took down your little ship with no problem.

Judge 3: Ltd. Cmd Lodus, you will keep your remarks to yourself

T'Shoak: Your honors, this is what humans once called Stockholm syndrome. Bonding with their abuser to prevent them from hurting them. Anything they may say should be considered tainted.

Lorrie: Oh well said. Congratulations. Considering you've been preparing that speech ever since you assigned us to her.

T'Shoak: I don't know what you are...

Lorrie: I can't read Vulcans from a distance, but at this range? The joy you're feeling is almost tangible

T'Shoak: Your honors, I move to remove anything they say from the record. The insinuation that I am experiencing emotions should immediately demonstrate....

Judge 1: Order! No further outbursts or we will hold you all in contempt.

R'shee: Your honors, may we each make a statement for the record regarding our decision to reject the captain's plea deal?

Judge 2: We will allow it. Do either of you have a reason object to that?

Both: No

Judge 3: You may proceed.

R'shee: Thank you. 

R'shee: You've said you'd read our records. You know what we're like. As the admiral said, we're rejects. The dregs of Starfleet. The ones nobody wants or wants to deal with. Everyone had given up on us. No one expected anything of us, and then she came along

Tru: She was all wide eyed, optimistic, about her first crew. Then she met us, all our collective problems, and general not caring about anything. And she wasn't having it

Naynta: She literally kicked our butts and got us moving. She said our personality problems didn't matter, that we had jobs to and she expected us to do them

T'praang: She made it clear that whatever issues the crew had, as long as it didn't interfere with ship operations or endanger anyone or themselves we're not a problem. If it became a problem, she would come down on them, hard

Paris:  Because she believes we could be better than we were, even when we don't. And she gets upset when we don't live up to that. So yes she yells at us, threatens us, and to be honest, we deserve it. 

Aunlel: Do you know how it feels to have someone believe you when no one else does? To stand up for you when everyone else has given up on you? So Hell yes. No matter what we'll stand with her

Lorrie: Because underneath all that anger, despite everything we've done, and all the problems we've caused her, she's still willing to sacrifice herself to protect us

Siouban: She's our captain. Where she goes, we willingly follow

Judge 1: Tell me admiral, how does someone who should never have been a captain, inspire such loyalty?

T'Shoak: A defective crew will cling to anything...

Heath: Shut up.

T'Shoak: What?

Heath: Your honors, I protest at the constant insults that she addresses at my crew!

Judge 2: Captain, are you crying?

Heath: They are Starfleet officers and they will be treated them as such!

Judge 3: Control yourself captain.

Heath: And the fact that your honors have said nothing to her about that only confirms that the bias against them they spoke about is true!

Judges:...

Judge 2: Captain Heath does raise a valid point. 

Judge 3: Admiral, You will refrain from using such derogatory terms in the future.

T'Shoak: Yes ma'am.

Judge 1: For now, court will recess for two hours so the defendants can mount their arguments.

Heath: Listen you lot, I was trying to protect you...

T'praang : We are aware of that. 

R'shee: But for once ma'am, let us protect you.

Heath: I...

Paris: ...we need you...

Heath:...idiots...

All: Yes ma'am.

Heath: Well, we're going to need a good lawyer

T'praang : I believe I know of a good candidate.

Heath: Good. By the way, Where's Thyl?

Naynta: Last I saw, he was still in sickbay being scanned

Lolo: Going to testify against the captain to save yourself? Mistress Lolo will punish you for your treachery. Fetch Mistress Lolo her toys

Kristin: Here you are

Tomiko: Thank you for informing us of his intentions

Selet: It was our...my pleasure. He is a misogynistic fool, openly talking about his plans. Still, is this a good idea?

Tomiko: we needed to charge her holo emitter before we left the ship. Since we have to deal with her... more enthusiastic side, why not put it to good use?