Liberty Force on Trial

((An official court summons arrives!))

To: Liberty Force

Dear Sirs/Madams

It has been brought to the attention of Rhode Island authorities, by courtesy of "Oracle Incorporated," that one or more individuals (including but not limited to: members, associates and leaders) of the registered supergroup "Liberty Force," may have been, or are still, involved with numerous acts that violate several articles of the Citizen Crime Fighting Act of 1952, as well as possible charges of international/dimensional terrorism.

For reference, though not the sole incidence, members of Liberty Force members are believed to have sunk a super tank off the coast of Paragon City. Said sinking resulted in the spillage of several hundred tons of fuel into Paragon bay, property damage above the value of $500,000 as well as the destruction of evidence into other cases of criminal activity.

As such, a minimum of two representatives of said supergroup are to turn themselves in to Paragon Police Department staff as soon as possible so as to attend a court meeting. Should this not be achieved by the 29th February, 2012, then a guilty verdict will be assumed in accordance with article 28.e of the aforementioned Citizen Crime Fighting Act of 1952 and all known members of Liberty Force will have their hero licenses revoked and arrested on sight.

- Judge Harrison, dictated but not read.

((Anyone is free to take part in this or ignore it (at your own peril!). Also feel free to skip straight to court proceedings, or hold a LF meeting regarding it!))

((I rather forgot about this...Don't think it was just me either.

Clarification: Is this forum RP, in game, or what? Athena'll show up if she has to (at literally the last minute), although she really doesn't want to. Better than no-one, though.))

((Unless you can think of a way to RP it ingame, it'll just be forum RP. Feel free to ignore it, if you want. I have consequences planned either way!))

((I swear this wasn't here before!! Sorry, honestly didn't see it, but I'd be involved for sure =) ))

((Best be quick then! Deadline is today!))

Outside a PPD station in Steel canyon.

"I don't like it..."
A young man simply known as Bolt was glaring at the building, he'd repeated the sentence at least twice now but still seemed to think it needed a third.
""I REALLY don't like it...."
Of the two men with him, only one of them smiled, the other ruffling his hair with a sigh.
"Liberty Force isn't above the law Bolt, everyone answers to someone eventually. Now...Cosmic will be looking after you for however long is needed..."
Andrew immediately held up a hand to silence Bolt, knowing the reply he would come out with.
"Even though I know you don't need to be looked after, but you are under 18 after all."

Andrew turned to the other man, the hero Cosmic, though he was out of uniform, wearing a brown leather jacket and jeans instead.
Cosmic smiled, holding out a hand to shake that Andrew gladly took.
"Back two minutes and already in trouble eh?"
Andrew smiled, as he had told Cosmic earlier, all evidence pointed here, what or who they were after in the UK had moved to Paragon. Coming back for a courts summon was as good a reason as any to return home.

"Don't worry, we'll have this sorted out in no time"
He gave his best reassuring smile before entering the building, honestly not knowing what outcome to expect from it all.
Walking to the front desk he wasn't really sure what to say, so decided to go with whatever came into his head first.
"Hi...My names Andrew Scott, Registered hero name Thunderer....I'm here to hand myself in?"
It would have to do...

The receptionist, a middle-aged, kind-hearted woman, smiled warmly.

"Ah, yes, we've been told to keep a look out for you boys. Don't you worry your little self now hon, I'll get everything sorted and tell you where you need to be. Just need to make a few quick calls, please, take a seat."

With another kind smile and gesture to a few old benches, the receptionist went about making her calls. Before getting connected however, she lent over her desk and shot another, slightly mischievous grin towards the hero.

"And just so you know, you've all got my backing. I know a true hero when I see one!"

____________________________________

*In a courtroom within Steel Canyon*

The well-dressed, blond-haired man put away his flashy new cell phone and took yet another draw from his equally expensive cigar. The move was met with a look of disapproval from a typist sitting patiently in the middle of the ornate, wooden room but the judge on duty did not seem to care and was too preoccupied tapping his desk and repeatedly looking at his watch.

"Well!?" Judge Harrison snapped at the smoker.

"Don't worry. One is on their way. Best get the jury all warmed up. Wouldn't want them making any silly choices now, would we?" the smoker replied as casually as he was sitting.

"One!? I requested two! This is an organisation we are dealing with, we need a greater appeal!" the judge continued to fluster.

The finely-dressed smoker looked up at the judge over his silver-tinted aviator glasses and smirked. "Oh, I wouldn't be too concerned about that. I'm sure another will turn up all in good time. Of course, even if they don't, this one is one of their 'higher-ups'. So alls good. If the good old 'Thunderer' can't even defend them, I seriously doubt any of them will. But heroes do have a habit of surprising. SO who knows? Exciting, huh?"

It was then that the courtroom doors burst open.

((Apologising in advance for any mistakes. First time doing any forum RP ever.))
---

Two minutes ago

"Wait, someone already came through?"

The receptionist replied, but the woman wasn't listening.

"Huh. Well, shoot. Which courthouse is it?"

There was barely time to reply before the heroine vanished in a cloud of snowflakes, leaving a thoroughly confused receptionist behind her.

---

Presently

A palid skinned woman in a short, black trenchcoat strode through the doors, one of them now a bit loose on its hinges after she'd telekinetically thrown them open with her arrival.

Okay, so maybe I used a bit too much force.

Hands still in pockets, she smiled cheerfully across the courtroom.

"Yo. Athena Dawnlight, reporting for trial. Something about my kids causing trouble?"

With the jury gathered, the room was packed and each person turned to stare at the intruder. All but the blond haired man still smoking casually.

"Hey, Athena. Good to see you made it. Well, it isn't really, but no matter! Now that you're here, all we need is your little thunder pal and we can be on our way!" Another long draw on his cigar. "Oh, and yeah. You and your kids. Causing all kinds of trouble! Like murdering and destroying peoples lives, the usual thing, see?"

As Athena strode further into the room, the man pulled himself out of his chair on the prosecutions side and strolled over to meet her, extending a hand to be shook. "Adam Smith. C.E.O of Oracle Inc. I'll be just a tiny bit surprised if you're heard of us. We're new and all." Before waiting for a response, the man's face glowed with a somewhat sadistic grin. "Oh, and how's little Annamary?"

She took the offered hand and shook.

"A pleasure, Mr. Smith. She's doing quite well, I believe."

Athena's composure did not appear to have slipped one bit- until she opened her eyes fully. There was something incredibly offputting about the way she looked at Mr. Smith in the eye, something which no mortal being could mimic. It was only there for a moment, however, before she resumed her cheery outlook.

"Let's try to keep accusations off the table until we are ready to start, hm? May as well keep things civil as long as possible."

With that, she ambled over to her seat, hand clasped behind her back.

"Snazzy place..."

Despite the inhuman stare levelled at him, Adam Smith retained his happy smirk and shook the hero's hand with just as much vigour.

"Snazzy? I wouldn't describe oak as snazzy. But then, the word has no real definition."

"If you two are done, may we start?" Judge Harrison snapped once more. He was frustrated enough that the accused had decided to turn themselves in so late, but for one of them to then stroll into his courtroom seemingly without a care in the world, was incredibly annoying for the old judge.

"Calm down, Harrison. All we have to do is wait for Mr. Scott, who is apparently on his way, to show, then we can begin. Unless you want to start with just Ms. - Is it Ms.? - Dawnlight here? Keeping in mind of course that you were the one who said they wanted both here before beginning. Personally, I don't really care. Your choice." Much like the women he was about to try and prosecute, Mr. Smith walked nonchalantly back to his chair and plonked himself down with a thud. He then proceeded to put his feet up on the desk in front of him and start smoking once more.

"...Fine. We will give Mr. Scott some more time. I suggest in the meantime that the jury reviews the evidence and that Ms... Dawnlight can better prepare her defence, for whatever Mr. Smith has to accuse her and the 'Liberty Force' of."

The judge went back to his waiting, staring steel-eyed at the courtroom doors in anticipation of the hero, Thunderer, or indeed any hero who could represent the Liberty Force and hope to save them in what could be their last few hours as a legal supergroup.

Athena leaned back in her chair, apparating a small computer tablet and stylus out of nowhere. She played with it for a few seconds, flicking through the menus.

"While we're waiting, could I get the full list of charges? I think I get the gist of it, but need to make sure my notes are up to date."

She glanced up at the judge before elaborating futher.

"I'm afraid a few things may have gotten lost in the system- hence the tardiness- so it's better to be safe than sorry, right?" she said, just barely managing to stop herself adding what she was learning to be her quite patronising "kid" verbal tic.

"Oh, and Miss Dawnlight's fine. Or you can just call me Athena, if you want. Or any of the hero aliases..."

"Then I suppose Mr Scott will do for me"
Andrew walked into the room, a lot less casually than perhaps Athena had, but with just as much confidence, wearing a rather smart suit with a blue tie. Two police officers had escorted him so far, he turned and smiled at them both before making his way to the seat next to Athena, giving her a very happy grin.

As he made his way to his seat, he remained standing for just a moment more to address the Judge.
"I apologise for my lateness your honor. I was out of the Country until just last night in fact and of course on my way here, an escort was provided. I haven't been driven anywhere in a while but being in a car was...fun, all the same."
He bowed his head slightly as he sat down, glancing at Athena next to him with a sly smile.

"I swear you're always getting me into trouble.."
He chuckled a little, despite the setting, he really was happy to be home.

Judge Harrison sighed in relief. "Good, now that both defendants are here, we may begin," the judge proceeded to happily smash his gavel down. "Mr. Smith, if you would like to begin...?"

Mr. Smith did just that and rose from his chair from where he began to pace back and forth centre-stage, turning his gaze from jury, judge and defendant. "Good stuff. Now, as you may or may not all be aware, we are gathered here to day to review and decide on the legality of the supergroup 'Liberty Force'. Now, I'm not a hateful man nor do I wish to see evil rise and take everything we hold dear. BUT, we at Oracle Inc. have been following Liberty Force's progress and have found some... disturbing things. I don't deny that their intentions, or even many of their actions, are good. However, heroism in this city, in this country was founded on a principle of law. A principle that on many occasions Liberty Force has decided to ignore." The man looked to the two defendants with a expression of disapproval, though whether it was genuine was hard to tell.

"Yes, yes, quite. If you would like to put forward your first charge Mr. Smith?" The judge impatiently asked.

Smith smiled in response. "Of course. The full list is rather long, you'll have to ask my secretary for it, but I can put forward a recent one which I think shows my point quite well," he took a quick draw of his cigar before continuing. "Not long ago, members of Liberty Force are believed to have boarded a super tanker being used by..." Smith quickly checked a small notepad from his coat. "The 'Forged Conclave.' An elusive and suspected villain group. Now, as any true hero would have done, Liberty Force subdued and disabled all the villains aboard, at which point I should add that the Conclave's members include civilians forced or tricked into serving them with the promise of power, immortality, etc."

Another puff on his cigar.

"The interesting bit comes next. Rather than inform the proper authorities and hand over control of the vessel, Liberty Force members are suspected of being the ones who blew it up. Not only were many unwilling members of the Conclave killed by this, what may have literally been tons of potential evidence to help investigate the Conclave was lost, the company which the tanker was stolen from has lost millions in profits and may have to file for bankruptcy and several hundred tons of fuel was leaked into Paragon Bay; the exact amount of environmental damage this will or already has caused is still being estimated but is believed to be catastrophic."

"These are serious matters indeed..." Judge Harrison muttered while looking over several reports on the subject matter.

"They most certainly are, your honour." Smith then twirled round and pointed an accusing finger at both Athena and Andrew. "Now. What do you have to say?"

Athena smirked at her friend.

"Well, your dad did say to keep you in trouble. Or was it out...I can never tell the difference."

The immortal winked at Thunderer before standing up, expression now stern, to address the judge.

"In regards to the cargo ship incident, I can confirm that the ship was indeed destroyed by Liberty Force. As such, the damages were our responsibility."

The statement provoked quite a bit of chatter. She waited for the room to quiet before continuing.

"However. It was the unfortunate case of...what's the phrase? A lesser of two evils. The alternitive was to allow the Conclave to recover several pieces of highly advanced, highly illegal and highly dangerous technology- and before I hear claims that we should have simply destroyed the technology alone, it would literally have to have been atomised- every last piece of it- for me to feel completely reassured that the Conclave could not recover it. As it is, incineration and being spread around the ocean feels like it may just be enough to stop them. I speak from experience. And allowing them to recover the technology was unacceptable: to be blunt, the results would have been catastrophic, wheras the current state is merely "bad"."

Another smatter of chatter, but Athena raised her vocie and quickly drowned them out, walking out in front of the judge's desk.

"In particular, the technology included the means to forcibily convert, mentally damage, or indirecrtly kill hundreds, if not thousands, of civillians." She paused to pull out a neat envelope and pass it up to Harrison. "This contains the full report. I believe you will agree my view here- that the team responsible for the destruction of the ship were correct in their judgement."

Athena walked back to her seat, but just before she sat she looked back.

"And for the final matter, of possibly coerced members of the Conclave being killed? Please see the pictures enclosed at the back." Her expression darkened "Although I despise this loss of life, I believe that the term here would be "mercy kill". Thank you, your honour."

With that, Athena sat down, leaning back in her seat. She glanced across at Andrew, and gave a faint, reasurring smile.

"Not bad, huh?" she murmured.

((The pictures are of what, exactly, was on the ship. Not pretty.))

Andrew smiled at Athena
"Not bad indeed"
Standing up he looked towards the judge, addressing him directly.
"Of course Liberty force is willing to reimburse the company for the loss of the tanker and we continue to work alongside the PPD to gain the evidence needed to bring down the forged conclave. The terrorist acts they inflict upon Paragon city and its citizens, such as those stated during the tanker incident, simply cannot be allowed to continue."

He sat back down, hoping the token offering would help appease the court, if even slightly.
He looked over at the prosecution, Mr smith. Something didn't seem right with him, but now was hardly the time to figure it out.

A single round of slow applause echoed around the courtroom.

"Admirable. Truly admirable. Of course, when you say that the technology the Conclave was after would have to be atomized to be sure... why didn't you do just that then? I have a file here, Ms. Dawnlight, which would suggest both you yourself as well as several other members of your group are more than capable of just that. It may have taken sometime, but I'm quite certain that whoever was there at the time could have either destroyed every one of those weapons, or called someone else in to do it. Someone who can teleport, perhaps?"

The courtroom was once again filled with chatter, though Smith held up a hand to silence them.

"But might I add, I am very impressed with one thing. A supergroup, willing to fork out... let's see... 27,932,543 dollars and 89 cents to help keep a company afloat. I don't suppose you'd also be as charitable to all the little fishies, birds and other poor animals who have been poisoned by the fuel inadvertently leaked from the tanker you didn't help stay afloat. Which also begs the question: where does a supergroup like yourselves get the level of funding so as to allow you to happily throw away such a sum of money?"

The jury and judge's attention snapped back to the defendants.

"Let's not dwell on the whole tanker business though. There are a lot things your being held accountable for, after all. Next case! Let me see now... Ah, yes, another recent one."

At this, Mr. Smith snapped his fingers and a TV was rolled in to the courtroom.

"Here we have footage from a CCTV camera outside the Steel Canyon branch of the 22nd National Bank, and... what's this? A number of Liberty Force members plus a less than reputable character, one 'Alphaea' I believe, running in, followed by screaming and general panic, and a Crey security team moving in to investigate. Now... if we fast forward a bit, you'll find that said security team has been beaten to a pulp, many of them killed and numerous eyewitness accounts stating that the aforementioned Liberty Force members assisted this Alphaea in robbing a private safe box. The PPD investigations that followed supported these claims. AND that's not all!"

The prosecuter pulled forth yet another sheet of official paper: a report.

"On the very same day, we get several reports, this is just one of many, by magic based heroes that a crypt in the area near Croatoa was, for lack of a better term, desecrated. And by who else? Liberty Force! Once again, with the aid of this 'Alphaea'. Oh, and when I say desecrated, I mean that the souls laid to rest there were tormented horrifically. Now, in the olden days, souls, spirits and all that sort of thing didn't have much in the way of civil rights. But this is Paragon City! The place where those sort of phenomena are quite common and in the 21st Century, they do have rights. Rights which your friends trampled on and burned. So, it's that time again; what do you have to say?"

Andrew stood to address the Judge and Jury.
"The two incidents in question were to rescue one of our own, Mary. Lucius Macbain had kidnapped her, from the reports my team filed, they made it clear that they needed what was in the safety deposit box and to gain access to one grave in particular to save her.
This led to Lucius being captured and once again held in police custody making the public all the more safe from maniacs like him.
As for the particulars of what happened at both events I'm afraid I can't say, I wasn't there at the time, however regarding Alphaea, if she works with us, there's a chance we can make her better than perhaps some people think of her...

Andrew looked over at Mr Smith, keeping his gaze fixed for just a moment to see if there was any sort of reaction from him before turning back to the Judge.
"We fight to make the world a better place, to make the future a brighter tomorrow.
Its not about telling the world that the things we believe in, that truth, justice and the American way, is the right way to live. its about making them BELIEVE it
Its about showing them that by helping others, they can be better people, all of us.
Alphaea may not have started out as Paragons most prized citizen, but if there's a chance we can help her, if there's a chance we can help anyone....Liberty force will always be willing to try."

He sat back down again. hoping Athena would be able to fill in the blanks. If what Mr Smith was saying was true, people had been killed. By who? And why?

As Athena returned to her seat , a smart, well-dressed looking man strode into the room, inspecting the contents critically. Attired in a suit and black leather gloves, he strode before the judge and stepped into the witness box, radiating a sense of confidence as he stroked his neatly-trimmed beard.
"Maximillian James Hart. Formerly Brigadier of the British armed forces, formerly governmental agent rank Civil Servant, formerly Liberty Force organisational member. Resigned in disgrace, would you believe it?"
At this point, he flicked a glance to Andrew, gave a slightly malicious smirk, then turned to meet the judge's eye.
"Ah, yes, and I am here to testify for the innocence of Liberty Force."
He leaned back into his seat, chuckling contentedly to himself. This could be fun after all.

The jury and judge both blinked. They had not expected the move.

"Mr. Smith, do you have any...?"

"Objections? None at all."

The prosecutor continued to smile as he had been.

"I can only hope that Mr. Hart is aware of at least some of the charges set against his former comrades and why they are here. Not because we are judging them as necessarily evil people, but because their actions are unethical, illegal and/or more destructive than they are beneficial. By all means, Mr. Hart, make your case."

Smith leaned back in his chair. It was not a totally unanticipated twist, perhaps one that could even work in his favour and certainly not one that mattered in the overall scheme of things.

Max leaned back in his seat, nodding along.
"Well, as you may or may not know, after a... psychotic outburst, I was ousted from both the team and my country. As you may expect, this had quite a destabilising effect."
He gave a cold look at the court at that moment, for extra emphasis.
"And so you can imagine I was quite upset with my former comrades at the time. In fact, I was so struck with grief, that I devoted much of my time to attempting at revenge on them. Eventually, however, I came to a conclusion."
Flicking a glance at the judge, he sensed a possible impatience.
"Yes, this IS going somewhere. You are aware of the incident involving the group where a team of thugs were disguised via hologram and committed atrocities against the Crey organisation?"
There was a general murmur of consensus from the crowd. Max smiled slyly.
"Well, that is precisely what I did."
He leaned back and waitied for the hushed clamour of surprise to cease.
"I had some small-time mercenaries disguise themselves as the heroes using imaging technology I had... acquired, shall we say, from my governmental role. I had them rob a bank, and torment the souls of the defiled you mentioned earlier. And why, I hear you ask? Well, to discredit my beloved brothers and sisters in arms, of course."
He leaned forwards and tented his fingers, levelling his gaze with the judge. "Questions? Comments?"

Oh, he was good.

Smith casually took another draw on his cigar. "Well, that certainly is convenient, isn't it? But quite interesting. After all, Mr. Hart's story is radically different from the claim Mr. Scott just gave us a few minutes ago, something about saving one of their own? Especially considering that this 'Mary,' who I presume is none other than 'Annamary,' had for the days before the incident, all but disappeared from the public eye at large. She is, as far as sources go, quite an active member of your team, is she not? But, funnily enough, not long after this whole incident blew over, she suddenly reappeared! On holiday, perhaps? Or maybe in the clutches of a dangerous and possibly insane Praetorian agent who had kidnapped her? Either way, someone in this room is lying, which I'm sure Judge Harrison need not remind you is quite a serious offence in court."

Once again, the jury's gaze turned itself back to the accused and their new witness.

"Oh, and before I forget to point out. Let's all assume, just for a moment, that Mr. Hart is telling the truth and he orchestrated the whole thing. And let's also assume for a moment, that these, and I quote, 'small-time mercenaries' are capable of the amazing, superhuman feats that eyewitnesses describe. With these two assumptions in mind, what Mr. Hart is essentially telling us is that, contrary to Mr. Scott's rousing speech earlier, Liberty Force helped drive a one-time hero to acts of vengeance that resulted in the deaths of quite a number of people, the descration of many souls, etc. etc. Now, and this might just be me, but I'm quite certain that this isn't the effect one would want a legitimate supergroup to be having on it's members."

Smith leaned back in his seat. Things certainly were starting to get interesting.

"You would be correct in saying, Mr Smith, that someone has lied."

Athena had stood up, hand clasped behind her back.

"However, I am afraid to say, it was not in this courtroom."

Frowns, turning heads. Athena continued on regardless.

"I only became aware of Mr. Hart's story recently- by which I mean, in
the past twenty-four hours. Before that, we were still investigating the perpretrator
of the attacks. And this time, we did not want to drag local authorities
into the confusion. And so we were deceitful about the incident, and
did not publicly release what we knew about it."

She shot an apologetic over at Andrew.

"As previously stated, Mr Scott was not there at the time of the
incident, and also as stated, Mr Scott was out of the country until very
recently. I am afraid that he recieved false information, and for that,
I am to be held responsible. I did not consider the implications of
leaving him "out of the loop"- I was hoping to deal with this incident at a later time, rather than immediately after contact with Mr Hart. For the confusion caused by this, the
court and Mr Scott have my deepest apologies."

"Mr Scott's story was, essentially, our "official" story of what
happened- that we did so under duress. Annamary had indeed been
kidnapped for the duration of this incident, and we were looking into
the matter. I do not know if Mr Hart's actions were linked or merely
coincidental. McBain was, indeed, apprehended a few days ago. I can
personally attest to this, unlike the previous matters where I
was...indesposed."

"Onto Mr Hart's testimony. I can assure you that he is indeed quite
capable of organising such a feat- his intellect is what meant that he
held one of the leadership positions in Liberty Force, when he was still
with us. "Small time" mercenaries are, in fact, quite capable of imitating
these "superhuman feats" you speak of- given the right technology. In
fact, I do not believe Mr Hart specified if any of these mercenaries
were also metahumans- there are more who lean to such an alignment than
you may think."

"And as for the matter of Mr Hart's departure from out team. He did so
after he was heavily injured and mutilated during a battle with a
villain, Pseudonym- you may have heard of him. Such an experience does
not leave one unchanged, physically or mentally. Although we tried to
help him, in the end it was decided that he had changed to the point it
was necessary for him to go his own way. The change of heart was not of our doing."

"Of course, I do not believe that we can be charged for the actions of a former member of Liberty Force, is there?"

"So. Unless you have solid evidence that we were responsible for these
actions, regardless of whether it was indeed under duress or else on our
own accord, then I do not see reason for you to doubt Mr Hart's
testimony, given he has essentially confessed that he is the
perpetrator in this case. As such, I believe that his story is
sufficient for these particular charges against Liberty Force to be
dropped. Thank you, your honour."

With that, Athena sat down, staring straight ahead as she waited for the rebuttal.

Andrew watched Athena as she spoke, the moment she stopped his eyes went to Civil....Max.
Had he really fallen so far? Had his hatred grown so much that he would do something like this? Or was he just a fall guy for these events? A willing one though...that didn't make sense.
If he did indeed hate Liberty force, why would he take the fall for their actions?

Whatever the court decided, Andrew wouldn't let this issue go, either Max or Athena would tell him the truth, one way or another.
He had let Max go too easily before, sure he tried talking to him when he was with Liberty force, but once he'd gone, he had all but given up.
He wasn't going to let that happen again.