- Joined
- Feb 9, 2022
- Messages
- 670
- Thread Author
- #1
"Hugh Inglis. You stand accused of crimes against The Combine and the United Nations. How do you plead?"
"Not Guilty," the suited man says. Even now, his composure holds. Even as his face is bloodied, his left eye black and swollen from beatings. The man stands straight.
"Very well. Prosecution," the judge says, looking at a Rank Leader of the Civil Protection.
This affair was not afforded to normal citizens. A normal citizen would have been taken out back and shot. But this was no ordinary citizen.
This was the Finance Minister of City Two. London.
And now, on televised trial, said Minister was being accused of corruption. Shady, back-alley deals with slum lords, deals with those who seek to undermine The Combine's rule.
The straw that broke the camel's back was the diverted shipment of assault rifles. A single box missing was enough to cause the entire house of cards to crumble around the man. Auditors came, going through every document with a fine comb.
Even his clever forgery could not hold against such level of scrutiny.
And so, he finds himself here.
The Rank Leader begins his opening statement. Outlining the charges. Outlining the evidence to be presented today. Finally, he outlines the proposed punishment.
Forced Experimentation.
The one sentence worse than death.
---
The trial could not have been more of a Kangaroo court if it had been held in Australia. The Judge has made up his mind days beforehand.
So why was it held?
For this very particular moment.
"Mister Inglis," the Rank Leader approaches him, placing a few personnel files in front of him. "Or, do you prefer your underground moniker, Mister Nullwick?" he asks.
Hugh Inglis says nothing.
"Suit yourself," he says, before pointing at two files. "We would quite like to know - Who assisted you in these endeavours? If you give us names," the man says, looking to the Judge on his right, "I'm sure the sentence can be made more lenient."
The man seemed deep in thought.
He looks at the Rank Leader.
He looks at the Judge.
He then looks at the ceiling.
Hugh thinks of his daughter. He thinks of what she would do without him.
'She has Hugo.'
Hugh Inglis was not a religious man. He did not believe in life after death.
Which is why, to him, this life matters. It is all that matters.
Thus, with a smile, Hugh Inglis looks at the Rank Leader.
"I worked alone. I don't know who or where these people are."
---
The rest of the trial proceeded as expected. The Guilty verdict being rendered within the hour. The man was shipped to a blacksite, and the flames of whatever resistance City Two had died with him.
...Right?
