Chapter 5 : Last Stand at TK1075A, Part 4

In the last episode the party were told they would be charged with piracy for taking and holding the asteroid TK1075A this chapter see the start of the trial process.

A ship from the Imperial occupying force at Tyrfing

Ragnar Ivaldsson Long receives a call from their legal defender, Lt Shad McRaven of the Imperial Navy. He wants the issue of the unknown man, aka Wyatt Earpe, cleared up. After being presented with the evidence that when they arrived in system their ship was stopped by an Imperial Patrol where all the members of the party identified themselves and said they were working for Ragnar who held the papers to the asteroid in question, Ragnar admits that Wyatt Earpe did not exist (at least not in this century).

The party travel to Niflehel Station for the pretrial. In advance of the trial starting they are advised to get a civilian lawyer and so hire one on Niflehel. The lawyer, one Valbrand Bjornson Kruhl, after listening to their side of the affair advises them to seek an extension of time so as to find passengers from the Selene who may be able to provide some proof of good character as the players were instrumental in saving one of the ships boats along with a large number of passengers.

On Niflehel, Ragnar also meets up with a representative of Ling Standard Products who agrees in principle to purchase the entire quantity of tantalum from him, providing the court case goes in his favour.

Sali and Edlend fight it out in lego

Before the trial starts, Sali Hasvirsson Hjalmir has a run in with one of the Slodi clan. He is barged out of the way by a local who then starts insulting him. When he retaliates in kind he is challenged to a harmgang (as the modern version of a holmgang duel is now known in the Sword Worlds) by his assailant. This turns out to be Edlend Asorson Slodi, another uncle to Alvar and Dolf. Edlend is another follower of Aesirism and so favours the direct approach of settling arguments with the sword.

The harmgang is held the next day at dawn, Sali and Edlend face each other bare chested armed with broadswords. The fight is brutal, both protagonists swinging wild blows at each other. Edlend lands the first blow, a massive strike that wounds Sali quite badly. Sali quickly recovers and strikes Edlend with an equally damaging blow. The two men circle each other, both staining the grass with their blood, each unwilling to give up. Edlend swings a mighty overhead blow...and misses, Sali quickly counterstrikes and stabs Edlend under his arm. This wound takes all the strength from Edlend and he backs away. Sali pauses to give Edlend the opportunity to surrender the fight and realising his chances of survival are small if he continues, Edlend drops his sword and surrenders.

Sali's wound is bound up by Ansgar, making use of his military first aid training, while Edlend is rushed to the hospital for intensive surgery. Sali spends the next couple of days before the pretrial resting and healing with the assistance of Ansgar.

This is not the judge (honest)

The pretrial starts and the party are charged with piracy. They elect to be all tried together, rather than separately, although the judge, Commander Joachim Sanchex, warns them that although their guilt will be determined as a group, their punishments if found guilty may vary dependant on their level of involvement in the crime. Their defence lawyer successfully pleads for an extension of time to find witnesses and is granted six weeks.

The prosecutor, Lieutenant Commander Baldwin Wei, protests but is overruled. He also asks that the party are held in custody until the trial commences, however the defence lawyer successfully argues that if the party fled, they would lose the very thing the case is trying to determine, the ownership of the asteroid. The judge agrees and formalises the situation, the parties will have to put the asteroid up as a bond to ensure that they return. If they fail to attend the court case in six weeks then they will lose the asteroid, be declared outlaws and hunted down and executed.

...to be continued...