Guest Appearance JP Pt. II

Posted on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 @ 11:24am by Vice Admiral Iluvar

Mission: Episode 1.3 - "The Time of Trial"
Location: Courtroom, Deep Space Four
Timeline: Mission Day 04, 1008 hours

ON: [[Courtroom, Deep Space Four, Mission Day 04, 1008]]

Once Captain Jorian Dao (NPC) had stepped down from the witness stand, Joseph (NPC) nodded to Aerus. The lieutenant had been well prepared to handle the examination of the Trill and Joseph didn't see any reason not to let the younger man continue.

"The defense would like to call Admiral Alynna Necheyev (NPC) to the stand," Aerus (NPC) said, rising to his feet again. Now that he had conducted one examination before the board, he felt a little more confident about taking the floor again. He paused a moment to remind himself not to get too carried away and that he still needed to be careful of the opportunities any testimony might provide to the prosecution.

Slowly, the slightly older woman dressed in an immaculate uniform stood from the front row of seating. Alynna, while being a somewhat soft spoken woman, was known to carry a big stick with her, as it were. Glancing from defense to prosecution, she gently walked to the witness stand and took her seat.

"Thank you for joining us, admiral," Aerus said with a small smile, "Would you be so kind as to state your name and position for the record?"

"Of course, Lieutenant." Alynna said with a smile. "Admiral Alynna Necheyev, Starfleet Operations Commander in sector 441."

Once again, Aerus was starting by laying the groundwork that would connect the witness to the defendant. It was an important step because it validated the witness testimony as it related to the inquiry. "What has been your interaction with Rear Admiral Iluvar," Aerus asked politely.

"I have been keeping my command post aboard Deep Space 12, inside the Briar Patch, for quite a few years. Mister Iluvar has spent a great deal of time both on the station and in the patch. As senior flag officer in the sector, I have had a great deal of interaction with him."

Aerus nodded. It was to be expected that the senior flag officer in the sector would have had a great deal of interaction with Iluvar during his many years spent in the Briar Patch. What he needed were more specifics though. "What was your impression of Rear Admiral Iluvar when you first met him," Aerus inquired.

Alynna leaned back in the chair, thinking back to when the station was still in its infancy. "He was a very eager young officer, as I recall. He was very capable, which is why he climbed through positions the way he did."

"During his assignment aboard Deep Space Twelve, did you ever have any reason to question his abilities to carry out his duties as a Starfleet Officer," Aerus asked.

Shaking her head, Alynna answered, "None at all. At least none that I can remember. He performed marvelously on several unique and stressful occasions."

Now he had established both an association and a valid character witness for the period that Iluvar had served under the admiral's command aboard Deep Space Twelve. Commander Harking's (NPC) cross-examination had brought up one major point of controversy in that part of Iluvar's record and Aerus hoped that Admiral Necheyev's testimony might help to shed a little more light on the situation. He just needed to take it one step at a time. "According to record, you were the one to authorize then-Lieutenant JG Iluvar's request to take an extended leave on the surface of the Ba'ku planet," Aerus began, consulting his memory for the details, "Since the attempt to forceably relocate the planet's population was disrupted by Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise, Starfleet has had a strict policy regarding visitation to the surface. Would you care to explain why you authorized Iluvar's request?"

Necheyev sighed shallowly, she had been asked this more times than she could remember when she had first allowed it, and now she was being asked it again. "A few months before he transfered to the Valar, Mister Iluvar had been requested to run close-up scans on the rings of Ba'ku. His shuttle encountered an aftereffect of an ion storm that had passed through the system a few days prior. The shuttle crashed on the planet and, due to the same aftereffects, we were unable to transport him up or to get another shuttle to him for several weeks. The Baku nursed him back to health and he formed a close bond with a few of them, a young man by the name of Artim especially. If the Ba'ku had not wished him to be allowed on the planet, he would not have been."

Aerus nodded slowly as he allowed the admiral's explanation to sink in for a moment. "Do you believe that his time on the surface was beneficial to him," he asked.

"Physically, I think we could all use some time on Ba'ku." Alynna said, a slight bit of humor in her voice. "Emotionally, I think it was just was young Mister Iluvar needed. The Ba'ku helped to pull him through something that some never come back from."

A small smile crossed Aerus' face as he listened to the admiral describe the situation that a younger Iluvar had found himself in. It made Aerus admire the man even more for how well Iluvar had been able to deal with what he had gone through. "Something that some never come back from," Aerus repeated, "According to the record, Iluvar was assigned as Executive Officer of the USS Pharos in 2383. Would you care to clarify this?"

"Actually, he chose to return to duty himself," Alynna responded, "The Tholians were becoming aggressive inside the patch."

"Did you have any reservations about Iluvar returning to active duty at that time," Aerus asked.

"Of course I did." Alynna said, bluntly. "What good Admiral wouldn't have a concern or two about someone returning to duty that suffered that kind of loss? But they were soon dispelled as Iluvar came back to work and performed excellently."

"Thank you, admiral," Aerus said, satisfied with the answers he had received, "I have no more questions at this time." He smiled politely in the admiral's direction before turning and returning to his seat at the defense table.

Commander Harking (NPC) did not wait for the young lieutenant to clear the floor before rising from her own seat and stepping around the table. "Let us return, for a moment, to your earlier statement regarding Rear Admiral Iluvar's service aboard Deep Space Twelve," she said, "It is said that Rear Admiral Iluvar is one of Starfleet's foremost experts on the region known as the Briar Patch, is it not?"

"It is, and he is." Alynna responded. "He has been in the Patch as long, if not longer, than anyone else in Starfleet and has done extensive work there."

"Naturally, such a capable officer would keep his superiors informed of all information he had available to him," Harking said as if no one could assume otherwise, "correct?"

"Not necessarily." Alynna answered. "Some of the work we have done in the Briar Patch has been classified at the highest levels."

Harking nodded slowly at the admiral's response. "Understandable, I'm sure," she said, reaching for another PADD on the prosecution table and glancing down at its contents, "Would it surprise you to learn that Rear Admiral Iluvar has not divulged the full extent of his knowledge regarding the Briar Patch?"

"We all have our secrets, Commander." Alynna said, somewhat cryptically. "Especially with enemies knocking on our doors and throwing rocks through our windows, many choose to hold onto some tidbit of information that could give them a needed edge."

"So you admit that Iluvar may have withheld vital information regarding the Briar Patch to give himself a needed edge," Harking said, snatching up the admiral's words with relish, "Is this really indicative of an upstanding Starfleet officer?"

Alynna thought for a moment. The commander was indeed good at mincing words. "If by 'upstanding' you mean following the rules of the book to the letter, then no. But I would then ask you to show me one starship captain within Starfleet that *is* an upstanding officer." she said, "The rules are there for a reason, yes, but there comes a time in every officers career that they must decide which is more important, the rules or their conscience. Most of the best officers in Starfleet history have bent or outright broken the rules. Not because they were incompetent, but because it was the right thing to do."

Harking tapped a command into the PADD, activating the nearby display terminal and calling up an image of an alien vessel. "Can you identify this vessel, admiral," Harking asked, looking at the woman in the witness stand.

Alynna leaned forward to get a better look at the image on the screen. Shaking her head, she said, "No, I do not."

The image on the viewscreen changed to a view of another alien vessel that was clearly different from the first. "What about this vessel," Harking asked.

Again, not recognizing the vessel, and wondering where the Commander was taking this, she responded, "I don't recognize that one either."

"These images were recorded by the USS Independence during an engagement that took place during negotiations with the Tzenkethi...negotiations that then-Captain Iluvar was supposed to be presiding over," Harking explained, "Both of these vessels originated from within the Briar Patch, but there had been no record of them in any Starfleet database prior to this encounter. How would you explain this?"

"There are many mysteries within the Patch, Commander. To date we've only been able to explore approximately thirty-seven percent of it. Just because we haven't had official first contact with a species doesn't mean that they aren't there." Alynna responded.

Harking seemed to smile a bit at the admiral's response, as if she had been expecting it. She tapped another control and the screen went blank for a moment before revealing a visual recording of then-Captain Iluvar.

"Looks like you've gotten yourself into quite a predicament," Iluvar said as he appeared on the main viewscreen. Behind him, alien figures were moving about at various workstations and consoles in a determined manner.

The sound of a sigh could be heard before a woman's voice said, "Captain, good to see you. I don't suppose any of this has anything to do with you?"

"It's a long story," Iluvar said, "Sufficed to say the ship that has been causing problems belongs to a race known as the Rhokari and they don't take kindly to our presence in the Patch. I am transmitting the tactical information to you now."

Iluvar's image vanished from the screen and Commander Harking tapped another sequence into the PADD she held in her hand. A moment later, Iluvar's image reappeared on the viewscreen.

"Commander, I shall be returning to the Tethys aboard my shuttle shortly," he said, "Then perhaps you and Captain Webster can fill me in on what's been going on around here. Iluvar out."

The image shifted to a still-view of three Federation ships, along with the the second alien vessel that Harking had shown a visual of to the assembled room. "These visuals were taken from the record of the USS Tethys during the same engagement as the previous two images," Harking explained. She paused a moment to let the evidence sink in before turning to face the admiral seated in the witness stand. "Why would Iluvar be familiar with these species if there has been no previous record of any encounter with them," Harking asked.

"As I recall, from the mission report from Captain Johns," Alynna started, "Iluvar had been kidnapped by the hostile aliens while investigating the Valar's destruction. The second species, the one viewable in the background of the first video, had rescued him. It may be hard for some who spend their careers behind a table to believe, Commander, but just because we are unfamiliar with a race does not mean we have not encountered them."

"If Iluvar believed this race to be such a threat, he should have made a thorough report to Starfleet Command," Harking said in a low voice.

Joseph had seen more than enough. "Objection," he said, rising halfway from his seat, "counsel is drawing conclusions based on speculation." He looked from Arnold to the inquiry board, ready to argue his point if need be.

"Sustained," Gareth said after a moment of silence.

"No further questions," Harking said curtly, turning on her heel and crossing back to her seat behind the prosecution table.

"The witness may step down," Gareth said, nodding politely to Alynna. He knew that she had traveled some distance for these proceedings, which showed that she had a genuine interest in their outcome. The testimony so far had given the board a lot to think about already and they still had several more witnesses to go.

Alynna smiled towards Gareth, nodded, and stood. Straightening her stance quickly, she slowly made her way back to the seating area and took her seat again.

OFF

A JP by:

Admiral Gareth Bullock (NPC)
Station Commander
Deep Space Four
Played by: RAdm Iluvar

Admiral Alynna Necheyev (NPC)
Commanding Officer
Starfleet Operations, Sector 441
Played by: RAdm Androski (guest)

Rear Admiral Iluvar
Commanding Officer
USS Pandora

Captain Joseph Wells (NPC)
Legal Officer
Starfleet Judge Advocate-General
Played by: RAdm Iluvar

Captain Arnold Mercer (NPC)
Legal Officer
Starfleet Judge Advocate-General
Played by: RAdm Iluvar

Commander Anne Harking (NPC)
Deputy Legal Officer
Starfleet Judge Advocate-General
Played by: RAdm Iluvar

and

Lieutenant Aerus (NPC)
Deputy Legal Officer
Starfleet Judge Advocate-General
Played by: RAdm Iluvar