Slavegear - Part 2

After the transfusion, Twilight sat on her bed pondering, until she catched a fine smell. The source being the food Al had taken from the party. With little recluance, only guessing he wouldn't respond gently, they sat together to eat while catching up on the news.

"Has this been on the tv before?"
"A few times, but mostly on Artemis channels."

"I see."

After Fluttershy has called for the group to gather. Twilight got up, while Al stayed behind on the couch.

"... You don't really care about any of us I guess."
Al: "I was dragged here because I knew too much. The less I know, the less reason to keep me here."
Twi: "Hmmm, your honesty is fair on the subject. I guess we'll see you later."
Al: "Bye."

Twilight heads to the Council of Equestria, preparing herself for an extensive meeting.

Fluttershy led you out of the medical complex and proceeded to walk through the naval base. The sky was slowly turning dark, and several stars already began to shine from above.

As you neared another impressively tall building, Fluttershy began to slowly catch a nervous, unsettled look. She opened the door to the nearest building and led you through several corridors, until she finally stopped in front a large double door.

"...u-um.. the Equestrian Councilor is just behind these doors..." she nervously mumbled: "U-um.. I'll just.. wait outside.. if that's okay..." she stiffly looked away.





Kaylee looked at her in confusion, then opened the doors and went inside.
You appear to have entered a small conference room. There was only one table and no chairs. The lighting was very dim, and the room was half engulfed in darkness.

Only one person was here. A woman, somewhere in her fifties. She wore civilian clothing, a dark formal suit and a tie.
Twilight and Wyvern could recognize her as Katherin Mercer. She is Cassandra's mother, though last time you saw her, she was an Equestrian General, helping you during the B-401-Bodewig crisis.



Katherin was standing in the room alone, holding a massive folder in her hands. It was filled with so many documents, it looked like it was about to explode at any moment.
As you began to enter the conference room, you noticed that Fluttershy somehow managed to successfully vanish in thin air.


Katherin was quietly staring at you, waiting for everyone to enter. Even in this dim light, it wasn't hard to read her expression. She was furious.
Cold, deep anger was written all over her face, as she silently waited, standing perfectly still like a statue.

Rain sighs, "I already know... Im guessing were not going to be having tea and talking about this, and instead your goingnto show what evidence you have to prove that they all did it, even though we just figured out it was mind control." she frowns and gives a just stares at her, not at all amused, "im guessing your upset because you almost died because of them?" she huffs, "...honestly... They have been through some shit so far so take ot easy..."

Heres the thing about Rain... Worrying about rank never got her anywhere, she didnt care who the person was, or if they were a higher power or not, everyone was equal in her eyes. Everyone had the chance to face off against het cynical and uncaring personality, and most of the time in an argument there were no winners as rain never really gives it a second thought.

The mare is ANYTHING but bright or happy, normally seeming to be devoid of feeling. Yet the things she did care about were her friends, and the protection of bat ponies... She felt strongly about such things and looked to eliminate anything that got in the way of her goals.

"I get it" Katherin quietly said with a nod:
"No, really, I do. The Slavegear incident was a tragedy that no one could prepare for. A horror like that, can change a man. It can warp him. But some of you are soldiers"

She quietly looked at Kaylee and Rain: "And what I'm about to say, may sound cruel, but you have a responsibility to every man, woman and child, to keep your heads clear and never allow your emotions to take over you.

You have a responsibility, to not only keep your heads clear, but help your team mates do the same.


And no, we're not here to talk about the Slavegear incident. I know some of you personally, and well enough to understand that you were framed. I knew that, the moment Slavegear was activated.
And I know Dr. Zarovee by reputation. I trust his word. If he says you were mind controlled, then you were.
That's why I organized this black ops unit, and ordered your extraction from Nyx.



No, we're here to talk about everything you did, after the Slavegear incident" She turned and began slowly walking along the room, holding her massive folder.
She seems highly upset, but slightly less so, than she was at the beginning.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"I get it" Katherin quietly said with a nod:
"No, really, I do. The Slavegear incident was a tragedy that no one could prepare for. A horror like that, can change a man. It can warp him. But some of you are soldiers"

She quietly looked at Kaylee and Rain: "And what I'm about to say, may sound cruel, but you have a responsibility to every man, woman and child, to keep your heads clear and never allow your emotions to take over you.

You have a responsibility, to not only keep your heads clear, but help your team mates do the same.


And no, we're not here to talk about the Slavegear incident. I know some of you personally, and well enough to understand that you were framed. I knew that, the moment Slavegear was activated.
And I know Dr. Zarovee by reputation. I trust his word. If he says you were mind controlled, then you were.
That's why I organized this black ops unit, and ordered your extraction from Nyx.



No, we're here to talk about everything you did, after the Slavegear incident" She turned and began slowly walking along the room, holding her massive folder.
She seems highly upset, but slightly less so, than she was at the beginning.

"If this is about the motorbike, i fully intended to give it back to the Artemis army once i'd finished with it..." Lord Wyvern "... They just happened to blow it up with a helicopter before i could"

Twilight pulls an odd face, slightly wincing, as she knows EXACTLY what she has said and done. She also knows that she has said some controversial things about what happened.

She takes a simple step forward, taking the lead.

"Miss Mercer, I suppose we have done some questionable stuff, but I think we can explain most of it. How much has come to your ears about us?"

(Tarmikos)
Tarmikos folded his arms across his chest staying silent.

(Radiance)
Radiance shifted to a more formal stance folding his hands behind his back.

Katherin froze, the anger visibly boiling inside her and she looked at Wyvern:
"... you think this is funny?"

She slammed the folder on the table with a deafening bang, so suddenly that Kaylee flinched back.

Katherin slowly turned around, her eyes burning with anger:
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE DONE TO EQUESTRIA?!
Assassination of an Artemis General, murder and injury of several Artemis soldiers, assault on the mansion, theft..

Do you have any idea, what you've done to your own country? Its not enough that half the Union thinks I ordered you to assassinate the Union council, just so I can take over the Union, but now you're starting your own private war againt Artemis?! Who said you can do that!?


And now, according to the media, I ORDERED you to assassinate General Dakova, just so I could sabotage Artemis operations in Nyx, and take over their Tilerium production apparently!


Every thing you do, will reflect on Equestria! Don't you understand that!!!" Katherin was staring at you with a scowl. For a brief moment, the anger in her eyes changed to sadness, before it became swallowed by rage again.

Twilight let the barrage go over her, merely nodding at Cetherine's justified outburst. She knows she would be just like her, no, maybe even more agressive in tone, even violent, when she would stand in her shoes. So she merely lowered her head for a moment, then looks up.

"It's dawning. And I have a theory, sadly, a very dark one..."

She swallows once, then spoke again.
"I have reasons to believe our puppet master might want to start a world war between the great pony nations."

"Yeah... probably.." Katherin sighed and began walking around the room again.
All her anger suddenly faded and severe exhaustion reflected over her face. It takes you a moment to notice her bloodshot eyes, the dark circles under them. It doesn't look like she had much sleep these past few days:

"He's succeeding you know" she quietly said: "The Union is tearing itself apart, from within. Everyone's blaming each other, for the Slavegear attack.
A lot of them blame me. Because you were there" She looked at Twilight, then looked forward again:


"I have been in full damage control mode, doing my best to keep the world from falling apart, and your random acts of theft and street justice, aint making my life easier.
So I would greatly appreciate, if you would stop giving other countries, more reasons to suspect Equestria as the main villain"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Yeah... probably.." Katherin sighed and began walking around the room again.
All her anger suddenly faded and severe exhaustion reflected over her face. It takes you a moment to notice her bloodshot eyes, the dark circles under them. It doesn't look like she had much sleep these past few days:

"He's succeeding you know" she quietly said: "The Union is tearing itself apart, from within. Everyone's blaming each other, for the Slavegear attack.
A lot of them blame me. Because you were there" She looked at Twilight, then looked forward again:


"I have been in full damage control mode, doing my best to keep the world from falling apart, and your random acts of theft and street justice, aint making my life easier.
So I would greatly appreciate, if you would stop giving other countries, more reasons to suspect Equestria as the main villain"

"Is there any other country on Equestria's side?" Lord Wyvern asks Katherin.

A voice behind the group speaks... To Kathren the being appeared from nowhere, "thats not their fault..." the voice is instantly recignizable, "...Its mine..." fire steps forward, she was doned in gold and black armor that seemed to shine even in the absence of light, a large greatsword gives off a white glow on her back. Her stance was formal, and her expession shows that same determined look she had when she went to kill the general, "that has nothing to do with them... If your going to be talking to anyone about darcovas death... It will be me..." her tone was powerful and it held a royalty to it, "now... Madam... You were saying?" she crosses her arms.

Lord Wyvern wrote:"Is there any other country on Equestria's side?" Lord Wyvern asks Katherin.

"No" Katherin shook her head: "No one is taking sides. No one trusts each other.
Every country is looking out for itself and suspects everyone else, because a lot of them had at least one reason to assassinate the Union Council..

I can explain in detail if you want, what motives each country has, but, that's the sum of it.

firewing11 wrote:"that has nothing to do with them... If your going to be talking to anyone about darcovas death... It will be me..." her tone was powerful and it held a royalty to it, "now... Madam... You were saying?" she crosses her arms.

Although the sudden appearance, Katherin held her own and didn't seemingly flinch. Her expression remained a stone mask for the most part:
"Oh, its not their fault? Well that's great. I hope you have extensive evidence to support that claim, which you can later present in the court of law.
And you will.. appear in the court of law... all of you" Katherin slowly scanned everyone in the room:


"Because, maybe, I can prove your innocence with the Slavegear incident, and that's a big maybe.
But I can't do anything about what you did after that.
Once this whole mess is over, every one of you will have to stand before the court of law and account for everything you did. Every relic you stole, every soldier you killed or injured.

And if you have evidence that your actions were in self defense, or you had no other choice, that's great. Because I won't be able to help you there.

Your actions will have consequences and you will have to face them. I'm sorry"

Twilight nods. "Of course Miss Mercer. And as for the evidence, I may be able to help. I wanted to see the recordings about the scene once, because there are already a ton of plotholes in the reasoning, I want to expand on that. It may not be evidence for our innocence, but it will weaken the arguments that they may make about us."

She then looks at her, with a serious look in her eyes. "Whatever it takes, I will not make this war happen."

"It may not be up to you, Twilight" Katherin sighed: "We can't control what other people are thinking. Tomorrow, some councilor may flip and decide he has enough evidence to start a war with another country, and drag the whole world into chaos.
We're.. hoping... that no one is that stupid but..." she rubbed the side of her head:

"All we can do is, end this crisis quickly. Find Marek, expose his plan. Find the evidence"
She sighed and looked at her folder again:


"I have the recording of the Slavegear incident, what happened inside its storage facility and the footage of the cockpit, inside the robot. Would you like to see it now? or I can ask Fluttershy to give it to you later"

Fire huffs and suddenly shes gone again.

Rain gives Kathren a little smirk, "cant control what others are thinking eh?" she chuckles sounds a little contridictory concidering they all were mind controled."

"Yes please. And please, make me keep watching. I need to know it all, I cannot look away."

"Woah, wait a second...We have to go to court? I do not like the sound of that. Even if they don't execute us in the first place, i don't trust the law." She scowled.

(Tarmikos)
Tarmikos steps forward finally speaking "Then it may be best to keep me on this base for the foreseeable future. I've been finding it harder and harder to keep myself in check. I don't trust myself to be anywhere but here"

He glances down looking at his hands

"There's already enough blood on these, I don't want any more"

(Radiance)
"Moon, the law is designed to protect us," Radiance says trying to reassure her "this trial goes further than just our personal feelings." he then looks up at Katherin "Can we be guaranteed that this trial will be performed without any bias and take only into account our actions after our mind control?"

"Last time I trusted the law I got thrown into an asylum." She frowned "Bias is to be expected anyway."

"Miss Moon, answer honestly" Katherin called: "Would you classify me as biased?
The men and women of the high court, are no different than me.

We live in a society, governed by rules and laws we must obey. When those rules are broken, consequences must take place, otherwise everyone would do whatever they want. We can't live in a world of chaos.




I believe due to the gravity of your situation, the trial will probably take place in the Union High Court of Adelheid. The judges will be high ranking ex-military officers or veterans of the law. This will be an official trial, at the center of the Union.

A lot of independent organizations will be present to oversee the trial, councilors, ambassador and attorneys from different countries. Equestrian lawyers that will oversee the hearing, who's objective is to make sure that everything goes strictly by the book.


This won't be some street justice trial, held by a mob in an alley. This will be one of the most important trials this year, held in the highest court of the Union, by the most high ranking members of the law. There will be no bias. I'll make sure of that personally" Katherin crossed her arms:

"Its in my best interests to make sure the citizens of my country, are treated fairly and hopefully proven not guilty. But the trial will be done by the book, and the verdict will be fair. I'll make sure of that"




Katherin nodded, then reached out to a small ear piece radio, over her ear and pressed a button on it:
"..Fluttershy, could you bring a laptop with the Slavegear recording to the conference room please?"

"..yes councilor" Fluttershy's muffled voice, echoed from the ear piece and several moments later, Fluttershy quietly opened the door and walked in with a compact laptop. She shyly smiled to everyone and sat the laptop on the table.



"The recording is ready" Fluttershy nodded: "..you can watch it now or, take the laptop with you, to watch it later... um.. councilor?" She called Katherin.




"That will be all" Katherin nodded to everyone in the room: "...thank you for your time everyone, you are dismissed. A helicopter is being prepared to take you back to the mainland, it should be ready in a few hours. Fluttershy will answer any questions you may have. Good luck everyone"

She began walking toward the door, holding her folder, then looked at Tarmikos:
"...Mr. Tarmikos, may I speak with you privately for a moment?" She said, as she opened the door, getting ready to leave the room.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Miss Moon, answer honestly" Katherin called: "Would you classify me as biased?
The men and women of the high court, are no different than me.

We live in a society, governed by rules and laws we must obey. When those rules are broken, consequences must take place, otherwise everyone would do whatever they want. We can't live in a world of chaos.




I believe due to the gravity of your situation, the trial will probably take place in the Union High Court of Adelheid. The judges will be high ranking ex-military officers or veterans of the law. This will be an official trial, at the center of the Union.

A lot of independent organizations will be present to oversee the trial, councilors, ambassador and attorneys from different countries. Equestrian lawyers that will oversee the hearing, who's objective is to make sure that everything goes strictly by the book.


This won't be some street justice trial, held by a mob in an alley. This will be one of the most important trials this year, held in the highest court of the Union, by the most high ranking members of the law. There will be no bias. I'll make sure of that personally" Katherin crossed her arms:

"Its in my best interests to make sure the citizens of my country, are treated fairly and hopefully proven not guilty. But the trial will be done by the book, and the verdict will be fair. I'll make sure of that"




Katherin nodded, then reached out to a small ear piece radio, over her ear and pressed a button on it:
"..Fluttershy, could you bring a laptop with the Slavegear recording to the conference room please?"

"..yes councilor" Fluttershy's muffled voice, echoed from the ear piece and several moments later, Fluttershy quietly opened the door and walked in with a compact laptop. She shyly smiled to everyone and sat the laptop on the table.



"The recording is ready" Fluttershy nodded: "..you can watch it now or, take the laptop with you, to watch it later... um.. councilor?" She called Katherin.




"That will be all" Katherin nodded to everyone in the room: "...thank you for your time everyone, you are dismissed. A helicopter is being prepared to take you back to the mainland, it should be ready in a few hours. Fluttershy will answer any questions you may have. Good luck everyone"

She began walking toward the door, holding her folder, then looked at Tarmikos:
"...Mr. Tarmikos, may I speak with you privately for a moment?" She said, as she opened the door, getting ready to leave the room.

"Why are we going back to the mainland again?" Lord Wyvern asks.

"We need to find Marek" Kaylee said, thinking:


"Our only lead right now is the vanished Slavegear. Its such a massive, gigantic machine that it couldn't have disappeared without leaving some kind of trace.
I think its best if we went back to the country of Artemis, to the place where we left the robot. See if there's any trace of where it went.

If we find the robot, we'll find Marek.. I hope.." Kaylee looked at the floor, quickly falling into thought.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"We need to find Marek" Kaylee said, thinking:


"Our only lead right now is the vanished Slavegear. Its such a massive, gigantic machine that it couldn't have disappeared without leaving some kind of trace.
I think its best if we went back to the country of Artemis, to the place where we left the robot. See if there's any trace of where it went.

If we find the robot, we'll find Marek.. I hope.." Kaylee looked at the floor, quickly falling into thought.

"But we lost it in a tunnel and experts have already checked the tunnel, they didn't find anything right?" Lord Wyvern replies "How can we be expected to do any better?"

Twilight looks at the device, and swallows. She exhales once, a shaky breath. This was one of the most horrible things she had to sit through, a willing subjugation to crime against humanity, that she and her teammates have wrought upon this world. But she knew she had to do this. She said that no matter what, she'd prevent war. And for that, she needed to see the scenes of the crime. Taking a deep breath, and doing a solid exhale of that one, she went and sat down. She opened the laptop, searching for the file, and once found, she hesitated for a second....


Before clicking start.

".... So, what have we done?"