All That Glitters Ch. 24

The JAG spoke in standard so that all could understand.

"I would like to state openly, for the record, that hindsight is 20/20 and that the members of the ship's command team were approaching these events as they occurred under the active threats and in the heat of the moment.

"After going through the testimony, the interviews, the ships logs, and the personal logs of those involved, the investigation team had found several issues that need to be addressed.

"First, The Wanderer had been ordered to go to New Hadria as part of a Navy Intel investigation into the practices of slavery on New Hadria. In this, the crew confirmed the open existence of slavery, and some of the conditions of the slaves that were seen.

"Second, despite the misgivings of Raymond Clark, the ship was tricked into allowing the Captain and the two owners to be off the ship at the same time. This should never have occurred in a hostile environment, however, Mr. Clark had to continue to perform as if The Wanderer was, in fact, a civilian ship.

"Third, it is evident that the kidnapping of Capt. Henadi Noor was orchestrated by one person, Artura Handren, as was proved by the message from New Hadria Planetary Control.

"Fourth, Captain Noor was kidnapped. Did the ship have the right to rescue the Captain from New Hadria justice? And, if so, did the ship conduct itself in an appropriate manner?

"Fifth, the incident during the kidnapping that led to the death of Analisa Talbot, the critical injuries to three members of the crew, the injuries to the remaining members of the Combat Team, and the successful kidnapping by the Handren Station, of Captain Noor.

"Sixth, the incident at the Handren Villa, which resulted in the killing of a New Hadria citizen by bodyguard Kim Oshiiru, the subsequent injury to many of the private guards of Artura Handren, the destruction of parts of the villa during the escape, and unknowingly providing an opportunity for a senior member of the Handren Company to attempt a coup.

"Seventh, the rescue attempt of Captain Noor, which basically was an assault on the New Handren Station, a civilian orbital station.

"Eighth, the battle between The Wanderer and the ships of the New Hadria Planetary Defence Force. And finally.

"Ninth, the escape of the Blue Harmony with Captain Noor aboard, and the failure of the ship to intercept it.

"I will respond to these issues in order.

"First, the mission. The ship brought back concise information on the condition of slavery in Frogus System. The information confirms intelligence that had been provided by a new source. In this, the ship successfully completed its mission proving not only the value of the new source of intelligence but confirming that slavery has become much more open on New Hadria which had, until recently, kept slavery concealed from non-members of the Alliance of Free Planets.

"Second, all three of the senior personnel off the ship simultaneously while the ship was in a hostile environment. This is an issue of deliberate manipulation by the host planet and in particular Artura Handren. There was little that the senior members of the command structure could have done but ignore the invitation and leave as soon as the Handren group left The Wanderer. As the intent was to perpetrate the fallacy of The Wanderer's civilian status for future visits, this would have left you in an awkward position.

"The key issue here was the lack of Command Protocols to cover such an incident. As The Wanderer is very much a unique ship, this could not have been foreseen. The Command Structure made a decision by the seat of its pants that wound up hurting the ship's personnel. However, this is an issue of hindsight being 20/20. Decisions made in the heat of the moment, have to reflect the ongoing situation and not the future results, which could not be known.

"The recommendation from this inquiry will order a modification to the Command Protocols to be more inline with those of Navy protocols and prevent all senior command elements from leaving the ship in a hostile environment in future.

"Third, there is clear evidence, as indicated in the broadcast of New Hadria Planetary Control, that the kidnapping of Captain Henadi Noor was orchestrated by one person, Artura Handren, purportedly for the known bounty on her. As such, Artura Handren has broken Terran Union, Interplanetary Law, and even New Hadria Law, as he intended to keep the bounty for himself which was apparently not in keeping with New Hadria Law and Handren Company policies.

"This inquiry will request a warrant for the arrest of Artura Handren for the kidnapping of a Union Citizen and a Navy Captain. Whether or not we will be able to enforce this warrant on New Hadria is another matter. However, Artura Handren will be persona-non-grata in Terran Union space. Should he ever enter Union space, he will be arrested on sight.

"Fourth, the Captain was kidnapped under suspicious circumstances, in that the fictitious customs requirement that lured the Captain from the ship, led only to the application of a bogus arrest warrant. The warrant for her arrest indicated that she had been performing activities that the ship knew was not factual and that ship's logs and the Captain's personal logs show was not factual. In fact, Captain Noor only left the ship once, and that was disastrous for her.

"The senior command structure still intact on the ship, namely the Ex O, Commander James Hull, decided to retrieve the Captain, whom he correctly assumed had in fact been kidnapped.

"Questions arose when Handren Station informed the ship that the captain had been removed from the station. However, the ship still had a lock on the Captain's personal comp, which was on the station. This led Cdr. Hull to think that Captain Noor was in fact, still on the station.

"Under these circumstances, the rescue attempt was justified. The ship correctly identified its purpose for sending combat shuttles against the station, and the rescue mission actually did no damage to the station itself. They also retrieved proof of where the Captain was and that her arrest was in fact not an act of law but a criminal act, for which the ship was justified in its actions.

"Under New Hadria law, the ship could have been attacked and boarded, but the senior command structure blocked that possibility, or at least heavily mitigated it, by transmitting the data on the actions recorded by the NS Jean Jacques Aucoin, or should I say PV Jean Jacques Aucoin. This led to the eventual dismissal of charges against The Wanderer but under circumstances of pure luck.

"Fifth, Captain Noor's kidnapping. That she should have remained on the ship is now evident. But circumstances led to the Command Structure being manipulated by local authorities. The senior command structure correctly assumed this might be a kidnapping attempt and provided extra security for the Captain, in the form of twelve Marines in Combat EVA suits on her shuttle.

"It becomes evident from viewing the personal comp data, that the station flooded the shuttle bay with more than thirty station guards, who were intent on preventing the Captain's escape from 'justice'. When the Marines initially left the shuttle, they definitely had the upper hand. However, the station had additional guards in EVA suits of their own, not combat versions, but police EVA versions.

"The station, however, did arm those guards with pulse rifles and grenades, in contravention of local police/guard charters, which the guards used with devastating effect to both sides. The grand majority of casualties to the guards were caused by their own personnel, with only three having been killed by the Marines, and only when they engaged the Marines directly, using pulse rifles instead of proper police stun weapons in one-on-one actions to which the Marines replied with deadly force of their own.

"It was during the indiscriminate use of the grenades that the majority of injuries to our personnel occurred and that the Captain, and Ms. Talbot were initially separated from the group. It was also at this time that Analisa Talbot likely sustained her fatal injury.

"The Marines managed to retrieve the body of Ms. Talbot, but could not get to the Captain, who was spirited away. Knowing that all of the Marines were injured in some way or another, the Section Sergeant did the right thing and returned to the ship as quickly as possible. Without re-enforcements, an assault on the station by ten injured Marines would have been impractical and potentially suicidal.

"I would personally like to commend DPN Ayesha Seito, who managed to save the lives of three critically injured personnel, and who, according to the Medical Examiner, did her best under very limited circumstances in her attempt to save the life of Analisa Talbot. Had Ayesha Seito managed to get Analisa Talbot back to the ship within a reasonable period of time, the outcome might have been dramatically different.

"It is unknown if DPN Seito could have successfully dealt with the critical injuries to Ms. Talbot, but it is certain that the twenty-minute delay in returning to the ship was fatal for Ms. Talbot. Dr. Domuchelle speculates that at the very least, DNP Seito could have postponed the death of Ms. Talbot until she could have been brought to the necessary surgical care required to prevent her ultimate fate.

"The shuttle did broadcast that it had critical injuries aboard and the New Hadria Planetary Defence Force prevented direct access for the shuttle in direct contravention to Interplanetary Law. Thus, New Hadria is at least partially culpable for the death of Analisa Talbot.

"This inquiry will recommend criminal charges be brought against the New Hadria government, specifically those in Planetary Control who were in charge of the Planetary Defence Force during the incident. Having said that, the likelihood of a successful case in this issue is remote.

"Sixth, the incident at the Handren Villa. It is evident that Artura Handren had intended to kidnap both Raymond Clark and Liea Samson, in order to have control and potentially seize The Wanderer under New Hadria Law and possibly for potential personal ransom. He needed to eliminate bodyguard Kim Oshiiru in order to do this and concocted a fictitious challenge to do just that. Which, wound up being unsuccessful due only to Ms. Oshiiru's skill with her weapons and resulted in the death of Artura Handren's champion Hamden Colden.

"Again, the senior command structure anticipated an event at the Handren Villa and had armed Marines in Combat EVA suits ready in case of need. These Marines successfully retrieved Mr. Clark, Ms. Samson, and Ms. Oshiiru, and the Jean Jacques Aucoin successfully escaped the planet, principally by destroying the offensive/defensive capability of the Handren Villa, namely, by knocking out the Mk-48 turrets mounted on the villa's roof structure.

"However, the confusion of the incident allowed Marcario Handren, a member of the Handren Company and eldest son of Artura Handren, to attempt a coup and permanently take out Artura Handren as head of the company.

"Having said that, Lt. Marneau acted swiftly and correctly once contact with the personal comps of the three in question were lost. The subsequent actions were concise, deliberate, and effective and successfully managed to retrieve the key personnel and extract the ship from a dangerous situation. This inquiry will be recommending Lt. Marneau, the crew of the Jean Jacques Aucoin, and the Marine extraction team for citations.

"Seventh, the rescue attempt of Captain Noor. Once it was established that Captain Noor had been taken, the ship enacted a rescue plan which basically was an assault on the New Handren Station, a civilian orbital station.

"Normally, when a member of a ship's crew is arrested by the local authority, the ship is then obliged to negotiate with the local authority for the release of the crew member. This would not have been possible in this incident as it is glaringly obvious from the data that the Captain's arrest was under fabricated circumstances.

"The speculation is that, with all three of the senior command off the ship, Artura Handren would have impounded the ship and ultimately taken the ship for his own. This is not a farfetched supposition as the Handren Company has done so in the past. The Wanderer would have been an excellent prize for Artura Handren and the Handren Company. In addition, Artura Handren was determined to personally gain the bounty on Captain Noor.

"Once it was decided to rescue the Captain, the ship acted quickly, advising New Hadria Planetary Control and the Handren Station that it was going to do so and then enacting that fact. Normally, advertising your intent to your enemy is not advisable, however, since Handren Station is technically a civilian station, the ship was obliged to inform them of their intent. This resulted in the attempted blockade by the Planetary Defence Force of The Wanderer and the rescue shuttles, a blockade which proved to be inadequate on their part.

"The rescue mission entered Handren Station in sufficient force to overpower any defensive action by the station guards, which did not occur. They made their way to where the Captain's Personal Comp Unit was and found that the unit had been separated from the Captain.

"The rescue mission then acted to determine the location of the Captain on the station, only to find that the Blue Harmony had already taken the Captain on board and was told later by Planetary Control that the Blue Harmony was fleeing the system. By the time The Wanderer had identified the location of the Captain, the ship was already on its way out of the system and beyond the reach of The Wanderer. The rescue mission then exited the station with no damage to the station other than disturbing the Station Security Guards and frightening the local populace.

"Had it not been for the admission by Planetary Control of the Handren Company's involvement in the kidnapping of the Captain, this would have been an inexcusable action anywhere in Union space. Fortunately for you, this action took place outside of Union space, and did in fact involve criminal actions on the part of the Handren Company. Since New Hadria has dropped charges in this incident, this inquiry will take no further actions other than to issue a note of caution on such events. Luck will not always be in favour of the actions of future captains in such incidents. We advise all ships captains to follow the law or be prepared to suffer the consequences.

"Eighth, the battle between The Wanderer and the ships of the New Hadria Planetary Defence Force.

"The Wanderer faced twelve ships of the Planetary Defence Force, four Hadria Class Escort ships equivalent to Whippet Class Escort Ships, three Forma Class Frigate ships equivalent to Tung Class Frigates, two Handren Class Frigates larger than a Tung Class but smaller than a Fairling Class, and two Fairling Class Frigates which were legally purchased from the Union Navy on their retirement. All told, a formidable defence fleet and had they been competently commanded, rather dangerous.

"Fortunately for The Wanderer, the ships were not competently commanded, nor were they properly directed by Planetary Control which was proved by the initial refusal of the captains of the Defence Force ships at one point to continue the attack against The Wanderer.

"The Wanderer issued a warning to all vessels that it would not tolerate any offensive actions on the part of any ships marshalling against The Wanderer, the Valour Class ships, or the rescue mission. When that warning was ignored, The Wanderer and its subordinate fleet acted aggressively but with restraint against those ships that fired on the ship or its subordinate vessels. The Wanderer then advised that further aggressive actions by the defence fleet would result in fatal force being used against the ships that engaged The Wanderer.

"In each case, The Wanderer or its subordinate vessels acted with restraint and only after being fired upon. They did act decisively when the group of modified fighters attacked the rescue fleet by destroying the fighters. Fortunately, the cockpits of those fighters were designed to detach in the event of catastrophic destruction of the fighters in order to protect the pilot. Thus there is no known loss of life during this engagement.

"In this situation, Planetary Control escalated each event, and The Wanderer and its subordinate vessels reacted first with restraint, and then with definitive action. Once again, as the New Hadria government had dropped charges against The Wanderer, no further action will be taken by this inquiry other than to offer a cautionary note of duty under the law.

"Ninth, the escape of the Blue Harmony with Captain Noor aboard, and the failure of the ship to intercept it.

"By the time the rescue mission had determine the location of Captain Noor on the Blue Harmony, it was already too late to rescue her. When Planetary Control had admitted the Handren Company's actions, the Blue Harmony was already in the process of fleeing the system and beyond the reach of The Wanderer. The rescue mission was likely a failure from the point that Handren Station had advised that Captain Noor was no longer on the station.

"In Conclusion: As already stated, hindsight is 20/20. The ship had to act on the evidence that it had. The ship's command structure did use great restraint under severe provocation and attempted to anticipate the actions of their hosts while the senior command structure was off the ship. In the case of the action at Handren Villa, this anticipation resulted in a successful extraction and as far as can be determined, the loss of only one life, that of Hamden Colden, Artura Handren's champion which under New Hadria Law should not have resulted in further action.

"While the ship was initially held responsible for the injury to Artura Handren, the review of the evidence resulted in the discovery of a coup attempt within the Handren Company, and the subsequent removal of the arrest warrant against the ship and its personnel.

"In the case of the customs setup and subsequent arrest of Capt. Noor, the anticipated actions still resulted in the loss of the Captain, in the loss of Analisa Talbot, in two critically injured Marines, in one critically injured ship security personnel, and in non-critical injuries to ten Marines. The only persons from the shuttle not injured in the melee were Ayesha 'Doc' Seito, who wound up successfully fighting for the lives of three of the crew, and the two pilots.

"While many deaths occurred to the Station Guards, most of those deaths can be attributed to the indiscriminate use of force by those same guards. In effect, they were responsible for the greater majority of their own injuries and fatalities. From the evidence that was reviewed, only three Station Guards were likely killed by the Marines, and only while in self defence against security forces using pulse rifles and determined to kill those same Marines.

"The ship's senior command had successfully anticipated the action by the Handren Company against Capt. Noor but did not anticipate the level to which the station was going to act to ensure her capture. In essence, the Marines were simply overwhelmed and were fortunate to extract themselves with the loss of only one life, and the capture of the Captain.

"The later rescue mission, was a proportional response to that level of threat from the Station Guards, in that the rescue team consisted of forty-eight heavily armed and armoured Marines. Reportedly, the Station Guards simply declined to take action against this level of threat and did not oppose the rescue attempt staying out of the fight and in, fact, out of sight.

"However, it is the admission by Planetary Control of the culpability of Artura Handren and the Handren Company, that places The Wanderer on the right side of the law in this situation. Had this not occurred, this inquiry would probably be issuing arrest warrants for the senior command of this ship, as would be required by Union Law.