Trial of Jetfire, Day II

Log Title: Trial of Jetfire, Day II

Characters: Crosscut, Docket, Elita One, Jetfire, Junket, Ramrod, Spike, Chief Justice Tyrest, Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack

Location: Tower of Justice, Luna 1

Date: October 20, 2015

TP: Betrayal of the Autobots TP

Summary: Second day of Jetfire’s trial.

As logged by Ultra Magnus - Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 7:24 PM

Tower of Justice

 * The courtroom is large, with seats for a ruling tribunal at the head of the room, a bench before them, a stand for witnesses, a place for representatives to prepare, and a small galley for trial witnesses who wish to attend the hearings. The room is silver and white, with hard, uncomfortable seats that don't encourage loitering without good reason to be here. Over the seats of the tribunal a flag hangs containing a stylized image of Cybertron, with a star-shape representing each of the planet's moons.

<> Herr Doktor Wheeljack says, "I ain't opposed to it but it's going to take time and be pretty intense."

<> Elita One says, "Indeed, but whatever Decepticon is proceeding with..."

<> Elita One says, "hmm, it occurs to me that there is a chance that this could be the work of some other faction."

<> Herr Doktor Wheeljack says, "I do lean towards it being a 'con...but something's not rubbing me right about all this. The network activity on the recharge beds is through the roof during the times of the attacks but we can't get any kind of trace or info on it. I guess that would be normal with the pain they experienced but it's an odd sock."

<> Elita One says, "Perhaps those cultists within Silent Grill have gotten word of our discussions in Helex, their strengths are both strange and savage."

<> Herr Doktor Wheeljack says, "At this point...anything's possible"

<> Elita One says, "hmm..."

<> Elita One says, "Let us put the repair bay into barracks mode. Rehab time will be in full view of a larger number of Autobots. We'll have to break out the additional slabs, but safety is paramount"

<> Herr Doktor Wheeljack says, "It would definitely help. Agreed."

<> Paramount says, "Hmm?"

<> Elita One says, "Not you, Paramount."

<> Paramount says, "Oh....oh-kay, just let me know...if *sigh* you need something."

Spike assumes the stand. Even though it's Cybertron court - not human court, he seemed to feel the need to wear a suit and tie. He stands, waiting for instruction, not giving a nod to either Elita-One or Ultra Magnus

The court has reconvened on Luna 1. Once more Chief Justice Tyrest sits in the center of a tribunal that will decide Jetfire's fate. Next to him sits Emirate Xaaron, Autobot civilian leader, and on the other side of him sits an Autobot military leader. Arranged around the room, in order to enforce the peace, are Tyrest's Legislator robots, massive and silent as they await trouble or Tyrest's commands. A small gallery has been set aside for spectators to today's events - at the end of the trial they, too, will have a say in Jetfire's sentence. To the side of everyone else sits Slamdance, taking notes on the proceedings.

Ultra Magnus sits at the defense stand next to his assistant Docket and the massive accused, Jetfire. A heavy weight seems to have descended on Magnus's massive, heavily-armed shoulders, and he focuses on the dataPADD in front of him as he prepares to once again speak before the court on Jetfire's behalf. Magnus's body is rigid, and tense enough that it looks like he might crush the small dataPADD in his huge hands at any moment.

Chief Justice Tyrest leans forward, his golden optics locked on Ultra Magnus. "The defense may call the next witness," he announces in his deep, gravely tone, and the rest of the troika turn their optics to Magnus as well. Magnus stands somewhat ponderously, and glances at Jetfire before proclaiming, "I call Spike Witwicky to the stand." Magnus comes around the defense table and approaches the witness stand, where Spike Witwicky has taken his seat.

Ultra Magnus crouches slightly to put himself ever-so-slightly closer to Spike's height, although the effect is minimal and just makes his stance look even more uncomfortable. "Mr. Witwicky," Magnus begins, focusing his full attention on Spike. "You have some experience with dangerous Decepticon duplicity. Can you please relate your experience with Megatron's master plan during the Shawn Berger affair?"


 * After the recess and rescheduling, as any court is want to do, Elita One is back at her counsel table, the prosecution. Junket, the short minibot stands next to her, as she looks across at Ultra Magnus and the defense. Once High Justice Tyrest is back at seat, she looks aside to Spike, murmuring softly before the witness is called. "Spike. I wanted to thank you for showing here. Though the law here is not precisely the same as your own the tenants are similar enough. Say your peace and say it true as any other Autobot here would."


 * She coils a hand up to her chinplate as Magnus begins his questioning.

Spike looks over at Elita One, then Jetfire, then at Justice Tyrest and clears his throat. "Uh...sure." He thinks for a few quick seconds, forming the words. "The Decepticons...with the help of Shaun Burger - who was a mayor at the time - he helped with the Decepticons engineer what APPEARED to be an Autobot Raid. The farcical raid was broadcast across channels." He looks at Elita One. "At the time, the Autobots were still pretty new to Earth. People were still scared about them." He concludes. "That's all it took - the public opinion quickly, and overwhelmingly swayed toward the Decepticons. The Autobots were quickly exiled..." He sighs "And we...as a human race, were imprisoned."

Jetfire folds his hands and looks at the judge. A slight frown comes across his faceplate with this approach. It appears that Magnus is trying to interject doubt instead of innocence. But at this juncture in the trail, he realizes how much momentum he'll need just to survive the last few damning days of testimonials.

Ultra Magnus nods, giving a quick glance back at Elita One before turning back to Spike. "You say they engineered what 'appeared' to be an Autobot raid. What had actually occurred?" Magnus grips his dataPADD tightly, his blue-opticked gaze locked on Spike as he testifies.

Spike looks at Elita One and says plainly "The Decepticons had disguised themselves as Autobots. They faked the entire raid." He clears his throat. "We found the evidence, which exonerated the Autobots, but at the time, it looked like it was too late, because Megatron had rerouted the Autobots to fly into our sun, instead of back to Cybertron." Spike breathes out his nose. Tough room.

Elita One had expected this. The Decepticons WERE named Decepticons for a reason... they're deceptive. She folds her hands as she leans forward, waiting for her move. In order to prove innocence, she simply had to push this case as far as she could, if it wasn't bound to break... Jetfire would. Her silent, tactician’s gaze is solely upon Spike at the moment.

Ultra Magnus nods, straightening up slightly, and allowing himself, while not a smile, at least a somewhat less-severe frown. "So you're saying the Decepticons have before faked evidence to implicate an Autobot or Autobots in something they did not do." He pauses for Spike to answer, although the sentence was directed as a declarative statement, not a question.

Spike looks on at Elita One and feels like he's being examined like a lab insect from his high school biology class.

Elita One frowns just slightly at Magnus' words. He skirted the question JUST enough that she had no reason to object yet. Spike was wilting, which... was unfortunate. If he had examined her words closely, perhaps the nervous human would've caught her compliment to him and his deeds.

Spike nods and adds "Yessir." He adds "One time, they knocked Optimus Prime out ... and were able to construct a replica so convincing, that he nearly led the Autobots toward this formation of crystals that could destroy metallic matter on contact."

Spike breathes out, looking at Ultra Magnus. The sweat in his palms seems to have ebbed slightly. But dang if it doesn't feel like someone jacked up the heat 15 degrees.

Jetfire’s optics lock at Elita One, then at Ultra Magnus.

Ultra Magnus glances up at the tribunal, optic ridge slightly raised. He turns back to Spike. "Thank you, Mr. Witwicky." He looks back at Elita One. "Your witness, Commander," he says respectfully. Magnus returns to the defense stand, giving Jetfire a look and a nod. He then seats himself and confers briefly with Docket before returning his full attention to Elita One.

Spike steels his spine as it's time to face Elita One. He almost says "Hi" to her, but realizing where he is, he stops short of that.

Elita One responds with steel in her voice. "No questions your honor. The prosecution thanks the witness for his time." Spike Witwicky was not going to be the witness that she needed to convict Jetfire, he would only serve as a character witness to Jetfire's heroics. She needed evidence, testimony that would be harder to refute.

Jetfire blinks and looks at the Judge. Is this it?

If Ultra Magnus is surprised at Elita One's choice not to cross-examine Spike, he doesn't let on. He merely looks down at his dataPADD a moment before looking up and saying, "I call Chief Engineer Wheeljack to the stand." He glances over as if to reassure himself that Wheeljack is actually here and he hasn't somehow made a fool of himself.


 * A canny observer may see Elita One's posture shift.

Jetfire leans over to say something to Ultra Magnus, but refrains, trusting the Autobot City commander with his tactic so far.

Tyrest nods regally to Spike, gesturing that he can go. Docket gives Spike a big smile and a thumbs up. Magnus is much less enthusiastic, but at least seems minutely less intensely stressed.


 * Elita gestures for Spike, as she leans over towards the small gate separating the tribunal/audience, and the court itself. She pushes the gate open to allow Spike his egress, with all courtesy.

Jetfire nods in appreciation to Docket.

Spike nods in appreciation to Docket! Spike looks at Elita One and gives a cautionary nod.

Docket gets ALL the appreciation!

Wheeljack walks up to the stand, making sure to not step on Spike. He takes his seat and waits to be questioned. His usual loud mouthed swagger is muted...at least for now. He will wait until asked questions.

Ultra Magnus walks rigidly up to the witness stand, his back ramrod straight. He looks at least somewhat more comfortable engaging a fellow Autobot, although 'comfortable' is extremely relative in this situation.


 * Once Wheeljack settles in, Magnus looks down at the Autobot engineer.

"Please state your name, your position with the Autobots, and what you found in your investigation of Jetfire and his version of events."
 * Junket sighs to himself, muttering softly about the lonely road of being the prosecution's aide.


 * Ramrod perks up in the back of the audience, as if someone had called for him. He looks around with anticipation.

Spike climbs back up to his seat and takes a seat next to Crosscut and watches the events unfold.

Wheeljack would smirk if he could...but no lips. Everyone knows the Jack. Who doesn't know the Jack? If you don't know the Jack....don't worry. The Jack will be sure to tell you all about the Jack. "Wheeljack. Chief Science Officer. Head of the Science and Engineering Division." he stops himself from adding "Mad Scientist extraordinaire." he pauses to let everyone process his response. "Jetfire stated that he was null rayed by Starscream and left in a cave for a long period of time. My investigation focused on the medical records from his repair from the alleged encounter and forensic evidence gathered from this cave." he pauses and then carries on, "Jetfire's injuries were consistent with null energy damage and very unique null energy was detected on his frame during the repair process. The cave also bore the same traces of the very unique null energy signatures."

Crosscut looks down at Spike. His face is masked, as always, though, so it's hard to tell if he's disappointed or pleased.  Spike says, "thanks..." Jetfire 's optics flicker in relief. He folds his hands and gives a short, approving nod. Yes. Yes. This is good. This is very, very good. You say, "So, you're saying that the null energy detected in the cave was the exact type found on Jetfire during his repairs. Have you encountered this particular wavelength of null energy before?" Elita One regards Wheeljack impassively. Certainly the testimony had potential, but was this enough for reasonable doubt. She continues her focused stare upon the two for several moments before startling, as Junket offers her a cup of de-ionized energon in a meek hope of getting some praise. She raises her hand in a gentle reproof. Magnus was building a case here, and if he slipped up once...well, Razorclaw'd be impressed with her instantaneous riposte. Spike isn't exactly on team Jetfire, but he loves the sight of a busy, suspenseful trial. He cranes his head to see Elita One's expression. Spike looks up at Crosscut again to gauge his reaction. ...or lack thereof. Magnus stares unblinkingly as Wheeljack speaks, listening raptly and looking at neither Elita One nor at the tribunal while Wheeljack gives his testimony. At the judges' bench, Tyrest retains a look of alert neutrality, while Xaaron nods at the evidence, seeming to follow Wheeljack's trail of evidence to the intended conclusion. Back at the defense table, Docket gives Jetfire a confident grin and a thumbs-up at the testimony thus far. Wheeljack pages: You going to ask another question or should I just continue rambling :) Crosscut says quietly, "You handled yourself well up there. I'm sure the truth will prevail."


 * Junket stares at Docket with the disdain of being on the wrong side of the popular side of a court case for two eons...

Jetfire gives a silent nod to Docket, afraid not to convey too much emotion. After all ... his IS innocent.

Docket looks over and gives Junket a smile. He wasn't expecting to enjoy being on Team Stuffed Shirts, but after the thrashing Elita gave them earlier in the trial, he seems pleased at how things are turning now that Magnus has his turn at bat. He makes sure Magnus has energon and legal notes if Magnus needs them, but doesn't feel the need to try to garner praise for doing so.

Spike gives a small, sideways smirk to Crosscut and mutters "Thanks..."

Wheeljack nods emphatically. "Oh yes. There is none other like it. It cannot be duplicated. It belongs to Starscream. No question about it." he holds up a diagram showing the readings, half-life rates, and other sciency details. YAY Science. "See, Starscream invented null technology. Sure, there's a few knock offs out there amongst the Decepticons and even us. But no one has ever been able to duplicate the potency of his null ray. Wiley as he is...he hasn't shared it. At least not with me. And believe me...I've tried to duplicate it. Even someone of my talents? Ain't been able to score the bacon. No question about it sir. This is Starscream's weapon's signature or I'm a bloated Sharkticon/"

Crosscut looks back up at Wheeljack, listening to the engineer's testimony. It's hard to tell on which side Crosscut is in these proceedings, but he definitely seems interested in both the process and the results of the case.

Ultra Magnus says seriously, "So the science is irrefutable - Jetfire was shot by Starscream's weapon, in the cave where Jetfire said he was null-rayed by Starscream and left for a long period of time."


 * Junket eventually turns aside, returning to the trial's testimony. He just can't stay mad at his Conjunx Endura...

Wheeljack nods and brings up more displays with graphs of weapons degradation rates and energy signatures "Yes sir. I ran the tests and scans 6 times just to be sure. I know how delicate this is even though I knew it on the first time. The results are all contained in my data chit here. It cannot be refuted forensically, sir."

Ultra Magnus has Wheeljack on the stand, as Wheeljack confirms for the record that Jetfire was null-rayed and left in a cave, corroborating Jetfire's story of ambush. Magnus's aid Docket sits beside Jetfire on the defense bench, giving the defendant supportive grins while seeing to Magnus's legal needs. The tribunal, led by Chief Justice Tyrest, watches on impassively - well, aside from Xaaron, who is grinning and nodding like he's pleased with Wheeljack's testimony.

Ultra Magnus nods. He turns to Elita One. "Your witness, Commander," he says, and returns to the defense stand, taking a long drink of energon.

Elita One stands, her hands clasped behind her back as she steps out from behind her desk. "Chief Engineer Wheeljack. Let’s talk about the other discovery you made during your investigation. Let’s review your report..." She draws up a datapad, lightly slapping the back of her hand against it in an absent gesture. "In your report here you described your analysis of the bomb itself"


 * She turns to the assembled masses, the tribunal in this case, "Standard protocol for sabotage attacks as well as any accidental detonation of materiel is to thoroughly scan the base for the same trace elements. This helps the EOD team locate further IEDs and disarm them before any further incidents. Wheeljack... in your search of the Ark you came across only one such spot that contained these trace elements. Please testify to the tribunal as to where these elements were found."

Ultra Magnus sits rigidly at the defense stand, shifting his attention between Elita One and Wheeljack as she asks and he answers.

Wheeljack quirks an optic ridge and shakes his head, "No ma'am. I did not follow that line of investigation. In terrorist and bombing investigation, we segregate the teams on different lines of investigation. If you give me one moment..." he reviews the notes and data on the investigation by MediSci, "Ah. Here it is. Swerve handled that portion of the investigation as I expected. He does specialize in such things." he reads the data, "As you may know, bomb residue is a tricky beast because after the incendiary device goes off the residue it leaves is much different than the raw residue. But in Swerve's investigation he found the only other location was in the side notes of Jetfire's medical records. He ran a smear test and a multi-lateral scan on the residue found on Jetfire's frame. It was a 92.7 match for the burned residue found at the bomb site. In my opinion that can be easily faked but I did not run the tests and would defer to Swerve for his opinion on the testing process and results." he records the data to a chit and presents it to the court, "These are the results of his tests should you call him to testify."

Elita One’s optic twitches as Wheeljack defers himself. She hesitates to accuse him of bias though, perhaps it was simply a mix-up. "The Prosecution enters Exhibits C at this time. Exhibit C is a copy of said report a copy of Medical's post-encounter reports for Jetfire in the timeframe since the encounter with Starscream until more recently."


 * She draws up two more datapads, which flicker into holographics as they detail their contents. "Rank 4 Maintenance Officer Hoist can attest in his report that no such chemical residue was found on Jetfire past the time of said meeting."


 * She adds as a simple fact to the tribunal, "The timeframe for when these explosive markers appeared on Jetfire happened after the meeting with Starscream and before Swerve's report."

Wheeljack wants to state how easy it would be for Starscream to sprinkle dust and residue on a guy when he's prone but he doesn't want to get accused of being biased and figures the judges and audience can draw that conclusion themselves.

Sit-Com is sitting there watching the courtroom drama like it's Perry Mason or Matlock. He's almost expecting a Homer Simpsonesque juror with eyeballs painted onto glasses to appear awake while sleeping.

Tyrest nods patiently. "Do you have any more questions for this witness?" he asks Elita One.

Elita One lets the pregnant moment end, "None at this time. Your Honor." She steps back towards her seat, every yalm of her carrying the weight of confidence.

Tyrest nods. "In that case, we will adjourn for the night. Legislators, take Jetfire below until the trial resumes." Tyrest stands, and with a swirl of his cape, retires to his private chambers.