Four guards to fetch Nero seemed a little excessive, especially considering that the cuffs were supposed to freeze his control over aether. He put away his cards in the card case attached to his hip, attracting a few eye raises, before presenting his hands to be cuffed.
Nero's history with law enforcement was not exactly the best, but hopefully today there would be no cause for concern.
The soldiers proceeded to cuff his hands tighter than was probably necessary, and gave him what was likely meant to be an intimidating stare. Nero maintained his calm, not giving any significant reaction.
While he studied and took notice of all the soldiers, his mind was occupied with other things. This was not going to be a simple in and out case for a few reasons, number one of which was the fact that someone was clearly targeting him. It had been a few days by now so Gabriel should have delivered the letter he wrote for his father, or at least sent it.
But even assuming that his father already got the letter, wherever he was, the chances that he'd be able to help out on such short notice was next to none.
Though, to be fair, more than once he'd been hinted at the fact that if he got into some trouble Whisper Guard would take care of it. Now he'd just have to find out how much of that was true.
Of everyone else, Nero was most certain that Unity would not want him sentenced to a cursed zone, since they'd already invested in him by ensuring that his cards weren't confiscated. Not unless the whole reason they wanted to work with him was because they needed his help in a particularly cursed zone.
Nero could not help but sigh as he followed the guards through the prison building where he was being kept. To his immense surprise, the prison was actually quite big and densely populated.
Though the laws were quite strict in Kolar, and most convicts didn't actually spend time in prison, it appeared that if the influx of prisoners was high enough over a short period of time, the prisons would still fill up.
He was no longer anywhere near the campsite outside of Lumina. In fact, he had no idea where he was. If it weren't for the very peak of the Aether mountain range visible above the prison walls, Nero would think he'd been taken to the other side of the country.
Fortunately, the site of his hearing was a courtroom within the very prison, so he didn't need to endure another, long commute.
When Nero was brought into the courtroom, he was actually surprised to see a panel of three judges sitting at the very front, with quite a number of fully armoured soldiers filling the seats, though none of them were familiar at all.
The sight gave Nero a pause, though the guards escorting him weren't polite enough to let him take everything in. A strong tug on his cuffs pulled Nero along, keeping pace with the guards.
But Nero still didn't focus on that. Instead, he was trying to recollect everything he knew about the legal system in Kolar. It wasn't really a topic that had been covered in school, but he still knew some things about it.
Unlike the democratic country of Nova, which had a jury system, courts in Kolar were presided over by a single judge. Civilian and military courts were separate, and no civil judge could sentence an active soldier or make a decision in a case that fell under the jurisdiction of the army.
But to prevent rampant corruption that such a system would encourage, the military court was extremely strict and was not answerable to any of the corps.
Their authority extended over all three corps, they had direct command over the military police and it was even said that they enjoyed direct Sage oversight.
If Nero hadn't looked into this stuff specifically to find out what happened to Patrick, he would never know anything about the courts and legal system at all. But Patrick's case was presided over by the civilian court, which is what Nero focused on in his research. By comparison, he knew only very little about military courts.
What he did know was that hearings usually did not call for a panel of judges. In fact, Nero did not know what required an entire panel of judges. This was a rare lapse in his knowledge, but to be fair, between training everyday, keeping up his grades, making contacts and trying to get enough sleep, he'd only had so much time to do research on various topics.
What he did know was that he was supposed to have some form of legal representation at least - but no one had consulted him during the last few days, so he did not know what his current situation was.
Nero looked across the various faces in the room, trying to get a read on them, looking for anyone giving off a friendly or hostile vibe. He saw plenty of the latter, and almost none of the former.
The only one not giving him a death stare was a stunningly beautiful woman with deep green hair that had been tied into a neat bun, wearing a military uniform instead of an armour, standing near the front of the courtroom. She was grinning and waving at Nero as she was an old friend, meeting him at the park instead of in his own criminal trial.
For some reason, that woman intimidated him more than all the others who were giving him a death stare. There was something about the twinkle in her eyes.
Before they got a chance to talk, the soldiers escorted Nero to a stand and one of the judges slammed down his gavel, its thunderous bellow echoing through the hall.
"Private Nero Grant," the middle judge, a handsome yet old man with a scarred face and bright blonde hair, began, "you have been brought to trial, accused of intentional fratricide during a time of war, espionage on behalf of an enemy state, treason against your country, and attempted conspiracy to cause countless deaths to the Neophytes within the ruins of Lumina."
His aggressive and judgmental voice slammed down on Nero, each accusation like artillery fire raining down on him. He had anticipated that someone might be trying to act against him in secret, either because of the Vault or for related reasons, but this was beyond his expectations.
A feeling of solemnity filled him as he realised the immensity of the challenge in front of him, yet his expression did not as much as flinch. His expression remained completely impassive throughout, as if everything was within his expectations.
Nero's thoughts raced as he threw out all his old plans and tried to come up with new ones. Unfortunately, he knew too little about how those accusations came about, so he could not come up with a good defence for them. Not to mention… whoever was targeting him should have already anticipated any easily thought of reaction he might have to the situation.
He would need to come up with an exceptional plan to get out of this situation.
The judge had paused for a moment for the accusation to set in, yet upon seeing Nero's indecipherable expression, he continued deprived of the satisfaction of watching the horror set in.
"Due to the sensitive nature of the case, and to ensure a complete and unbiased account of events, the military police has privately conducted its own investigation into the circumstances of each accusation and turned it over to the court.
At the same time, during the last few days, witnesses have been called to the court to give accounts relating to their interactions with you at or around the time of each individual accusation.
"It needs to be stated, for the record, that over the course of the trial the court has discovered many meritorious actions performed by the accused, but meritorious behaviour does not void or invalidate the crimes.
"Before the trial is concluded, and the court makes its decision, the accused has been summoned to deliver his own accounts regarding each accusation, and offer up defence or explanation if he has any. At the end of these proceedings, the court will announce its final decision regarding the case.
"Nero Grant, you have fifteen minutes to consult your legal counsel who will brief you on your current standing, and what lays ahead of you. Young man, if you are innocent then the court will find it so. If you are not, then no power in this world can protect you. Your time begins now."
The judge slammed his gavel once more, and the beautiful green haired women excitedly approached Nero. Meanwhile, Nero grappled with how dismal his situation seemed.
He had no idea if the court's investigation had been tampered with, and what the witnesses said about him. Without that knowledge, if he were to give a statement that was contradicted by the statements of other witnesses, it was unlikely they would side with him. Or maybe they would look into why there were conflicting reports - he didn't know.
There was too much he didn't know, and not being present for the majority of his own trial put him at a severe disadvantage. He had no idea what he'd be facing. He needed to be ready to respond in the moment.
"Hey Nero," the woman said, with all too much affection in her voice. "My name's June. I don't know if you've heard of me, but I was your dad's old girlfriend before that skank Marilyn showed up!"
Nero, who had faced the full force of the courtroom's attention and aggression unphased, suddenly tripped!
"Oh shit!" he couldn't help but exclaim. He had, in fact, heard of June. He had heard of her extensively.