A Courts Martial

Posted on Wed Oct 1st, 2025 @ 1:29pm by Commander Anastasia Aventnova & Lieutenant Cassian Massy

1,171 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Let That Be Your Last
Location: Earth, Hearing Room, Starfleet HQ

"And what happened next, Commander Aventnova?" The Commodore that centered the panel of five officers asked as her eyes bored into Commander Anastasia Aventnova's own figure with no inflection whatsoever. The two Commanders, two Captains and this Commodore had listened to her account of the assassination of Admiral S'iraa and the aftermath of the situation carefully and without giving any sort of hint what was going on behind those eyes. Then they'd dug in even further, going over every minor event, every decision made or not made.

And Ana had stood there in full dress uniform and answered them in just the same way. No inflection, no emotion in her statements, no nothing, just the straight facts. "After the missile detonated, ma'am, we were contacted independently by all three of the factions and informed that we were no longer welcome on the planet or in system. Our sensors observed additional missiles launching, ships lifting off and other movements that indicated a resumption of hostilities on the surface. We were in the process of recovering the craft that had attempted to intercept the missile, but I began to order our other fighters to close-orbit vectors to intercept any additional missiles when we received the messages."

"And then, Commander?" This was a Captain in the gold uniform of security.

"I gave the order to withdraw, in accordance with the Prime Directive, your Honors." Ana stated, a bitter taste in her mouth. She'd wanted to do nothing of the sort, but precedence was clear as were the orders she'd been given by the Admiral himself. "We recovered our fighters and set course out-system." It was a clean and simple statement, 'And the planet burned behind us.' Was unstated. "Once clear of the system, I made the decision to return to Earth even while I put together the report on the Admiral's death and barring other superceding orders."

"And the rationale behind your decision?" A blue-uniformed Commander asked, even as he took notes, "As Captain of the ship, even Acting, certainly there were other duties needing performed."

"With the Admiral's body unrecoverable, as per local statement, there was nothing further to be accomplished in the sector. Dreadnought has never been intended to be a Commander's command and Earth was the best option at the time. It gave us enough time to make repairs to the ship that could be made out of local resources and catalog any repairs we would need a shipyard to assist with. Those repairs were appended to my final report when we were a week out of Sol."

"So noted." The Commodore stated, "Though the argument could be made that you were derelict in your duty to not remain in the area to render assistance once the situation had settled down. We do not abrogate our responsibilities to life, no matter the odds. Did you call in any other ships to the sector for a follow-up?"

"No sir, I did not." Anastasia stated, "I reported in to the local command structure with the situation at hand and appended a partial report at that time and followed up with the full report once it was put together. I am not aware of the actions of Commodore J'Banthe afterwards."

"I see. Do you have anything else to add, Commander Aventnova?" The Commodore's eyes were still devoid of emotion or any hint of what she was thinking.

"No, your Honor, I have nothing else to state." Ana knew it was almost over, but what was over? Her trial? Her assignment? Her career?

"Very well, you may step down." The Commodore made a notation on her PADD, then glanced out over the limited spectators, "This court martial will recess until Sixteen hundred hours while the court is in deliberations. If we require more time, we will send a message out." She reached out and picked up a small hammer, ringing the crystal bell on the bench before standing with the rest of the panel and exiting to the left.

Anastasia waited standing behind the table she'd been assigned for her use. After the panel had departed, she heard a murmur and a rustling behind her as the spectators began to shuffle out of the courtroom before she too turned and made her way out. Once out of the courtroom, she stopped and leaned against the wall as she unfastened the neck of her jacket and shook her head. There was no telling what the decision would be.

Cassian watched the brutal onslaught brought on by the panel before Ana. Everyone saw it coming, losing an Admiral was not trivial and this was only an expected step in the process. Still though, he found it hard watching Ana be torn up like that. He filed out of the room with the rest of the officers that were in the galley observing, only when he saw her leaning against the wall did he make his move. "It's not right, there wasn't anything you could have done."

Ana looked up and to the side to see Cassian standing near her and wondered how he'd gotten there. She hadn't paid any attention to the others in the courtroom that weren't questioning her and the familiar face was a relief, "It's something that has to happen. 'Dereliction of duty'? 'Lack of preparedness'? 'Failure to follow protocol'? It's all part of the investigation and remember, they haven't relieved me of my position while this is happening, which means they don't have anything solid. If they were seriously going for a conviction, they would have me at least under close arrest here on the ground."

"That still doesn't make it right, you did everything you could at the time, surely they see that?" While he saw her point about not being removed from position, he couldn't help but wonder what this would do to her reputation and for her career.

"That, unfortunately, is not very relevant to the matter." Ana hauled herself off the wall and tugged her uniform straight again, "An Admiral of Starfleet was killed on a diplomatic mission, there was no security escort, which is protocol, there was no sort of close protection aside from a single flight of fighters that weren't in good position and Dreadnought wasn't in a location to be able to transport him out of danger. They could find me guilty of all three charges without so much as blinking an eye, but this is to see if I'm 'salvageable', if I'm reading the room right. Worst case, my career is over, dishonourably discharged and I go back home."

He didn't like that hint of defeat, the twist of resignation to the situation. "Let's get out of here, no point in sticking around." He suggested feeling that removing themselves from the situation for a breath of fresh air, or something to eat...or something as simple as peace and quiet.

Ana looked at him and gave a slight smile, they had at least three hours, more than enough time, "Sounds good, Cassian, let's go."

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