Jason’s and Riyala’s arguments were straightforward and perfectly measured in a way that would give them the upper hand in the question segment that would be coming up soon! The two of them had already planned out how they would go about this trial, and they decided that the best way to handle things right now was to take all the blame and remove it from their shoulders. It was true that Radagan had attacked Earth and breached the treaty, and it was also true that Earth had attacked Radagan and breached the treaty. They couldn’t do anything about that situation, no matter how hard they tried! Instead, the only thing that they could do was to try to shift the blame for why all these things had happened! Why did Radagan attack Earth!? Because the Sovereign ordered it! And why did Earth attack Radagan!? They did it in retaliation for what the Sovereign had done!
The Sovereign was the perfect scapegoat to pile all the blame on because the Sovereign was the one who had committed the greatest crimes in all of this! And the best part of all this was the fact that they weren’t even lying! The Sovereign had really been the main reason for all their actions, and since the Sovereign was now dead, the council would have no choice but to use witness testimony and questions to put together a proper idea of what had happened! But no matter what anyone tried to say, there was nothing that they could do to take the blame off the Sovereign’s shoulders! Because Jason had all of the Sovereign’s memories, and Jason knew everything that the Sovereign had done! By the time Jason and Riyala were done here, the council would probably want to take the Sovereign’s dead body and bring it back to life just so they could kill him again!
Both Jason and Riyala focused all of their arguments on the fact that the Sovereign was the one responsible for breaching the treaty, and as they got close to the end of their opening statement, Jason saw how Rubik’s face was pinched into a look of irritation. It was obvious that Rubik was not interested in hearing what Jason or Riyala had to say, and Jason knew that no matter what sort of defence they brought up, Rubik wouldn’t even bother listening, so there was no point in even trying to appeal to him! They just had to make sure that they got the other council members on their side! It took another five minutes before Jason and Riyala were finally done giving their opening statements, and once that was over, the floor was open for the council members to ask them questions. And surprisingly, it was Rubik himself who spoke up in a rusty, metallic voice.
"Are you attempting to make a joke of this council? You stand there and expect us to accept placing all the blame for your crimes on a dead man? How foolish."
Jason narrowed his eyes when he heard Rubik say this, and Riyala took a step forward as she spoke.
"We had no intention of insulting the council with our words, but that does not make our claims any less true. The Sovereign was responsible for the crimes that caused the breach of the Primordial Treaty, and we possess enough proof of his actions to prove it."
Rubik’s impassive eyes trailed towards Riyala, and he spoke in that same robotic tone.
"Perhaps you should’ve read the treaty properly before coming to argue your case. A world whose military attacks another world is held responsible for its actions. There was never a point when the Sovereign carried out a conquest individually. Therefore, it is obvious that the inhabitants of your world were in support of his actions."
"Article 19, subsection 25 of the Primordial Treaty states that if a world is conquered, then the actions carried out by that world while they are under the control of their conqueror will not be labelled as Primordial Crimes. If that is the case, then we have every right to claim immunity."
Rubik’s gaze suddenly shifted to Jason when Jason said this, and Jason felt his body tense as the pressure from Rubik’s intensity slammed into him! If not for the fact that Jason knew that this world was a neutral zone, then Jason would have been preparing for an attack! Rubik narrowed his eyes at Jason and spoke condescendingly.
"That loophole you are trying to exploit was put in place to ensure that innocent worlds were not affected by the actions of conquerors from other worlds. In the case of Radagan, all actions were carried out by the members of the world Military and, by extension, they were carried out by Radagan as a whole. You cannot claim immunity for an act carried out by your own people."
Jason could feel a bit of amusement rise from inside him when he heard this, and Jason immediately spoke up again.
"Article 34 subsection 12 of the Primordial Treaty defines a Conqueror as any being who consciously seeks to subvert and gain absolute or partial control over a world against the will of the inhabitants of that world. Would you not say that this definition perfectly describes the Sovereign?"
Rubik didn’t even flinch as he retorted.
"The definition of a conqueror explicitly states that the inhabitants of the world must be against the conqueror’s actions. From our information, we are aware of multiple members of the Radagan military who willingly supported the Sovereign’s actions. Your point does not stand. Radagan was not conquered. It went through a coup d’état. A natural phenomenon."
"Then, shall we consider what the treaty says about the conditions for ’coup d’état’? The treaty states that a coup d’état occurs when a member of a world usurps the throne from a sitting ruler and takes control of that world through force."
Rubik frowned.
"Yes, it does. And what of it?"
Jason tilted his head to one side.
"But as far as we know, Radagan did not have a sitting ruler by the time the Sovereign carried out his actions. The past king of Radagan had died of natural causes, and before the new king could be sworn in, the Sovereign took control of the world through force. That is not a coup, and therefore the only definition left for the Sovereign’s action is that of a Conqueror."
Jason could see the exact moment when anger flashed through Rubik’s eyes, and there was only dead silence in the entire room for the next few minutes! Everyone in here was shocked to their core as they watched the back and forth between Jason and Rubik! This was not something that they expected at all! Not only was Jason quoting and reciting passages from the treaty like they were second nature, but he was also standing up to someone who was far higher than him in the hierarchy of the Primordial Expanse with ease! Rubik had literally been present during the creation of the Primordial Treaty, so it was obvious that he was meant to have the upper hand in this argument, but it was obvious to everyone that Jason was matching Rubik bar for bar!
At the audience stands, Gina had a proud look on her face as she watched her lover tear into Rubik without restraint, and Gina turned to the side when she sensed an intense wave of anger radiating off Freya! Freya turned to glare at Gina when she felt Gina’s eyes on her, and Freya’s hand clenched when she saw Gina giving her a mocking smile! It was obvious that Freya hated Jason standing up to her ruler this confidently, and Gina was loving every moment of it!
On the stage, Riyala was more than content to stand back and allow Jason to handle Rubik’s questions, but even Riyala couldn’t help but be awed by the ease with which Jason was answering Rubik! Riyala already knew that Jason had memorized a lot of sections in the treaty that would allow him to argue anything that the council brought up, but memorizing something and being able to use it this well in an argument were two completely different things!