All That Glitters Ch. 41

"You did good," she told him, smiling.

The guard growled and yelled at the women to get out of the cell. The ladies screamed and fled in terror as three more guards entered and quickly pulled Raymond to his feet, securing his hands behind his back and placing chains around his feet. The chains were short. He could walk, sort of, but the shortness of the chains meant his walking was strained. The guards didn't care as they pulled him naked from the cell.

Raymond hadn't yet recovered enough to walk at any speed, so he let the guards carry him wherever they wanted to take him...

Landstradt HQ, Adenomere City, Planet Adenomere, Adenomere System

Raymond was pulled naked out of a van and carried into a waiting room. He found himself with the other five members of his team, including Sgt. Brianna Wilder, who was carried in naked and unconscious on a stretcher.

The prison guards had at least provided rudimentary care for her. She had a shunt in her arm leading to a bag of saline solution and a bag of nutrients. It would keep her alive, for a time.

Raymond greeted the others, asking them how they were doing, before the guards told them not to speak to each other.

Raymond smiled at the others, lifting his chin up slightly. The Marines grinned, giving slight nods to indicate they got the message 'Keep your chin up!'. Raymond looked each in the eye, then gave them all a saucy wink.

Each of them had been through hell in the last ten days but, with one exception, each had survived in their own way. They knew what the likely outcome of this trial would be. None of them had any illusions as to that but they were determined to stick it in their captor's eyes.

*************

The Landstradt reconvened at 09:00 hrs. It was apparent to all, early on, that some kind of deal had be conducted overnight, as many of the Patriarchs were pointedly avoiding Aurelia and the Yunki Twins.

The Patriarch of House Corsair, a Great House from Vuelta, stood.

"The Chair recognizes Master Corsair."

"Chair, we have been going round and round on issues that are the result of the recent Great Raid. We need to address the raid itself.

"The Union attacked the Alliance, with no warning, and with much loss of life. We must deal with this issue now!

"There are prisoners captured during the raid, six personnel who dared to breach the sovereignty of the Alliance. They put their feet on Adenomere soil, showing utter contempt for the Alliance and its laws.

"THEY MUST BE PUNISHED!"

As Walter Corsair bellowed out the last of his pretty speech, the Landstradt rose as one, crying out for justice.

Aurelia had a bad feeling as she witnessed the event.

The Chair was forced to acknowledge the will of the members. He had just been informed by the guards that the prisoners where in a holding room. Angry at being outmanoeuvered, he nodded to the guards at a door on his left. The door opened and one of the guards bellowed out, 'Bring in the prisoners!' to cheers from the floor of the Landstradt.

************

The guards came back into the room in force. A door opened and the prisoners heard someone shout to 'Bring in the prisoners!'. Raymond stood, the Marines following his example. They all shuffled out and into the courtroom under their own power.

The members of the Landstradt were surprised. Any time that a prisoner had been sent to Hollern Prison, they were subject to great indignities. The Landstradt knew this. They expected to see injuries and prisoners broken in mind and body.

At first cursing and jeering at the prisoners, the Landstradt slowly went silent as they watched the prisoners enter the floor.

Five naked men and women, fit, proud, warriors, walked into the Landstradt under their own power, their heads held high. The prisoners were all excellent examples of their genders, men and women at the peak of physical conditioning, except for the woman strapped to a gurney, though even she was a remarkable specimen. The men and women of the Landstradt were envious of the physical appearance that the prisoners projected.

Nudity was not uncommon in the Alliance. Slaves were frequently naked. However, slaves did not have anywhere near the conditioning of these prisoners. Not even the slaves of the Death Games, who often fought naked.

The people of the Alliance didn't understand that the fighters in the Death Games used ritualistic moves and had their bodies modified to enhance the viewing pleasure of the audience. It was obvious to all that the prisoner's well toned musculature was aimed at something else all together.

The men and women of the Landstradt found themselves envious of the near perfection of body they saw on the floor. The obvious injuries that they had suffered while in prison were evident on their bodies. Evil looking bruises and open sores, whip marks and other marks caused by instruments that the Landstradt could only guess at covered the skin of the prisoners.

The prisoners were turned to face the Landstradt. Raymond stepped ahead of the others, showing himself to be their superior and the one in command of the group. The man had a series of old scars on his body, showing that he had been in many a battle. He also carried two tattoos on his left chest, one the crest of the Union Navy Engineers, the second, a simple Black Lightning Blaze. That told the members of the Landstradt everything about this man.

"NAME!" The Chair bellowed out in stentorian tones.

"No thank-you, I already have one," Raymond returned the half-remembered joke before he could quell his unruly tongue.

He heard the combined intake of breath of the Landstradt and barely had time to think Oh, Shit! before...

PAIN!! Unbelievable, unparalleled, PAIN!!

This wasn't the surgical use of pain that Harold the Inquisitor used on him, meant to elicit specific responses. This was an all encompassing pain meant to brutally punish the recipient.

Raymond's muscles pulsed in time with the jolts of impulses fired by the collar. Every muscle in his body went rigid, including his cock, which snapped to instant attention. Due to the brutality he had endured in the prison, Raymond had not had any sexual urges for more than a week. The pulses caused his testicles to fire sending jet after jet of long, thick, strings of sperm to shoot out onto the floor over a meter in front of him, to his utter embarrassment.

The shock of the pain took his breath away. But, paradoxically, this was something against which he could fight. Unlike the surgical use of pain that Harold applied, this pain was something that he could block.

As Raymond fell to his knees he let his anger at the situation and the pain build. He suddenly let out all of his frustration. Ten days of being subject to torture and interrogations. Ten days of being beaten and forced to endure listening to his team being subjected to the same indignities. He let it all out in a roar that deafened the members of the Landstradt, who clapped hands to ears to protect their hearing.

Vibrating from the anger he had now charged himself with, Raymond slowly stood. His body was still being subjected to the electronic pain emissions; however, his mind was now successfully allowing him to move, his body now vibrating for a different reason.

Raymond looked around and saw a man holding a device he recognized. He took step after laborious step toward the man.

The Landstradt only saw his vibrating form and assumed he was still being subjected to the pain stimuli. They were surprised that he managed to move forward, not understanding the significance of his movements.

"Stop it! You'll kill him!" a woman's voice shouted.

Raymond saw the woman stand but ignored her voice. His eyes were focused on a person he half remembered, holding the controls to a collar. Raymond slowly stumbled toward the man, causing real fear to show in his eyes. The man thumbed the controls and even more pain stimuli was shunted to the collar. Raymond ignored it.

"Take that control away from that fool!" the Chair shouted.

Instantly, guards surrounded the man and pulled the control from him. Raymond suddenly sagged as the pain stimuli abruptly ceased.

"You would do well not to anger the members of the Landstradt, prisoner," the Chair boomed.

"Or what?" Raymond returned, equally as loud. "What would you do? Kill me? That does not seem like much of a deterrent under the circumstances, does it, Chair?"

"Do you not understand what is happening here, Miss?" Raymond asked, turning on the woman who had attempted to interrupt his punishment. "The Landstradt wants its pound of flesh. They intend to take it from the six of us.

"We have already been subject to abuses that are illegal in any theatre of war. The mistreatment of prisoners is something that the Union will not tolerate and will demand explanations for.

"But the Alliance doesn't care about that at the moment. They want to punish someone for their recent spectacular defeat. They will find us guilty and we will be executed. So threats of punishment and death are of no consequence to us. We know what is about to happen to us.

"You should be under no illusion, Miss. We are going to be executed by the will of the Landstradt. Even if this trial is illegal," Raymond finished.

"What do you mean illegal?" someone one the floor shouted the question.

"Under the constitution of the Landstradt, the Landstradt does not have the authority to judge anyone other than a member of the Landstradt who has broken Landstradt protocols and regulations," Raymond stated. "Only a judge and jury named by the courts, or a Military Tribunal, has the authority to try us."

The Landstradt went silent. Raymond saw people opening their comps, looking up regulations. Raymond could see a small smile on the lips of the young lady who had spoken in his defence. She wasn't looking at her comp, which meant she was aware of the regulations.

"Chair?" someone asked from the floor.

"The Landstradt can act as jury to these prisoners, as their actions were conducted against the Alliance as a whole," the Chair explained. "However, the prisoner is correct, the Landstradt cannot appoint a member as a judge nor act as in unison as a judge. Only a dully appointed member of the bench can sit as judge in this situation. The Landstradt needs to request the presence of a judicial team."

The Landstradt went silent. A non-member of the Landstradt knew the laws and regulations of the body better than the members themselves. Not only that, he knew how best to employ that knowledge.

"What happened to the prisoner on the stretcher, Chair?" Raymond saw the same woman ask.

"SHE, WAS, RAPED!!" Raymond roared. "As were the other two ladies and at least one of the men.

"Your fucking interrogation methods are reminiscent of those used by the Confederation of Planets. Those same interrogators were tried by the Union after the war. Most were executed for their actions against military prisoners, Union civilians, and even civilians of the Confederation. Those that weren't executed are still imprisoned for their crimes and will be for sometime to come.

"One of their favourite techniques for the 'interrogation' of females is to use rape to break them. Six men of the Adenomere family, assisted in the interrogation of Sgt. Brianna Wilder, to soften her up. They thought they had succeeded at doing that and released her from her chains, to better enjoy their new toy. They swiftly found that, even naked and unarmed, a Marine is a formidable enemy.

"Brianna gave Aedan Adenomere three broken ribs, Caedmon a broken jaw, Fabian a broken leg, Nathanial a major concussion, and Lucius and Adolphus suffered several bruises.

"In retaliation, Adolphus hit her with a stun rod multiple times in his anger, putting her in the condition she is now in. All because she fought back at being raped by these FOOLS!" Raymond finished the last word with evident anger in his voice.

"Where is Inquisitor Harold?" the woman asked.

"He has not yet arrived, Lady Adenomere," the Chair replied.

"Oh? And why is that?" Lady Adenomere demanded. "Should he, the man who interrogated these prisoners not be here to answer the questions of the Landstradt?"

"He should be, Lady Adenomere, I have no explanation for his whereabouts," the Chair replied.

"If he is not here to answer for his actions, Chair, then, as per the regulations of the Landstradt, we cannot try these prisoners. I would suggest a recess of this trial until such time as Inquisitor Harold can be brought before the Landstradt. That should also give us time to find a judge to sit for this trial," Lady Adenomere advised.

Several members of the Landstradt stood to second the motion, which was quickly passed. The prisoners were taken back to the side room while the Landstradt broke out in recriminations against one another.

Lady Adenomere stood. The Chair recognized her.

"It is obvious to me that this trial was hastily conceived as a means of avoiding the significant issues now before the Landstradt, namely, what do we do from here?" Aurelia began. "If we wish to continue to be the body which governs the Alliance, we must begin to do our job here in the Landstradt. That means we must own up to the facts that the situation is not as we wish it to be. The Landstradt must decide what to do going forward.

"This afternoon, the Union Ambassador will stand before the Landstradt. What will we do when he demands that his people be returned? What do we do in the face of the threat that the Union posses to us?

"The Ambassador said he will be here to 'negotiate' with us for the release of their people. What kind of negotiations can we expect? What could the Union possibly offer to us for the expected loss of slaves they will demand of us? How do we put up a united front to the Union when we cannot even put up a united front within the Landstradt?

"Too long have the Great Houses ruled the Landstradt to the detriment of all. It was to the point that many of the Houses that formed the Landstradt did not even come to attend the sittings so that for almost forty years there has not been a quorum when the Landstradt sat. It was unusual even for the Great Houses to form a quorum, when they did, that allowed a small group of Great Houses to lord it over all of us, passing laws and regulations that went uncontested, much to the detriment of the Alliance.

"The Landstradt must act. In order to do that, the Landstradt must change. I do not know what form the Landstradt must have in order to move forward but one thing I do know; the rights of the Great Houses to dictate to the Landstradt must be revoked," Aurelia stated, then sat to pandemonium on the floor.

The bickering went back and forth for an hour before Aurelia stood once more, the Landstradt went quiet when she rose. The Chair nodded to her.

"I have listened to the debate and been sickened by what I have heard. The men of this council are unable to think for themselves in any manner other than that dictated by the regulations of the Landstradt, even when it is imperative that those regulations must change. You are too used to getting whatever you desire for yourselves rather than working for the people of the Alliance.

"I shall make a proposal. Since the regulations state that the Great Houses have priority, then let us change the definition of a Great House: a Great House is defined as one what has assets of over one billion AP, while a lesser house is defined as one that has assets of one hundred million AP.

"Let's decide today that there will be no more Great or Lesser Houses. Let us decide on a new definition of 'Great House' that allows for those who meet the definition to be given status in the Landstradt. What should that definition be?" Aurelia threw that out to the attendees and sat back down.

The debate was much more lively, ending in a decision to call a house that has 250 million AP as having membership in the Landstradt. That was opposed by many of the Lesser Houses, as many of those houses currently in the Landstradt did not meet the new definition and would lose their status as members.

"There are currently upwards of twenty Houses set to meet the current standard of Lesser House. If we change the threshold of Lesser House for that of the new threshold of Great House, many of these Houses will not be able to join the Landstradt for some time," someone commented from the floor.

Once again Aurelia stood. "Chair, I propose that those Houses currently a member of the Landstradt be grandfathered in as continued members until such time as they meet the new definition of Great House or such time as they fall below the current threshold.

"For them to achieve status after such a fall, they must meet the new definition," Aurelia suggested. "As well, we shall give all of those now on the cusp of achieving Lesser House status until the end of this fiscal year, ten months from now, to make that threshold and be grandfathered with those currently at Lesser House status but not yet ready to reach the new definition of Great House."

This suggestion was well received by the members of the Landstradt, as it did not change the current status of the Landstradt membership and gave an opportunity for the twenty Houses on the cusp of recognition as Lesser House to achieve status in the Landstradt. The debate went on for a bit longer before a vote was called for from the floor.

Twenty-eight of the thirty-eight Great Houses opposed the new standards but they were voted down by the remainder of the Landstradt.

"Very well," the Chair stood before the Landstradt. "The following amendments have been accepted by the Landstradt. There is no longer any definition for Lesser Houses in the Landstradt. All who are currently members will be referred to as a Great House, giving equal voting rights to all in the Landstradt.

"The new definition of a Great House is a house that has assets of 250 million AP as verified by the banks, vice the current definition of a house with one billion in assets.

"All houses currently noted as a member of the Landstradt, but not having assets to meet the new definition of a Great House, will continue to be recognized as members of the Landstradt until such time as they meet the new definition or they fall under the current threshold of a Lesser House, at which point they must meet the new definition of a Great House to return as a member of the Landstradt.

"Those Houses currently on the threshold of Lesser House status, have until the end of this fiscal year, to achieve this status and be recognized as a member of the Landstradt and grandfathered along with the current Lesser Houses as a member in good standing of the Landstradt as a Great House until such time as they actually achieve status under the new threshold or fall under the current threshold of a Lesser House.

"The six Great Houses that constitute the original Houses of the Landstradt: House Adenomere, House Erden, House Gaetan, House Handren, House Surdend, and House Vuelta, shall retain their placement in the front row of the Landstradt, all other houses will have their seating location modified to reflect when they became a member of the Landstradt.

"This action may take a little time as I am sure there will be disputes," that brought laughter from the floor. "Once the House Order has been established, the Chair will answer requests to speak from the floor in order of the six eldest houses followed in order of seniority until all who wish to speak on a given subject have spoken.

"Are there any further proposals for amendments to this structure?" the Chair asked. There where none. The Chair banged his gavel. "The motion is carried."

A great cheer went up from the majority of the Landstradt, while a moan was heard from the former Great Houses who had opposed the motion.