LF Friends, Will Travel

A Guilty Mind

Date: 70 PST (Post Stasis Time).

The courtroom was filled to the brim with members from the Terran Alliance, the rafters and benches packed with all manner of species: a grouping of the reptilian Ritilians, a handful of the ever adorable Hatil, and 3 Schuvva; the rabbit-like newest members to the alliance. Even a single Dunwilian had turned up, the cthulian horror towering over the rest of the galley, the horror of its general egg like appearance muted slightly by the brightly coloured propeller beanie sat atop its head.

Of course there were also Terrans, tens and hundreds of them, all quietly chatting amongst themselves in hushed whispers. This wasn't even including the number of people watching on the numerous streams being provided through Galnet. The case had taken the members of the Terran Alliance by storm, new precedent being made and heated discussion raging through break rooms and dinner tables across the galaxy.

It all came down to one question: does actuality of a crime matter more than intent?

The entire process had only taken three days, as both defence and prosecution agreed on most things as matter of fact, the only thing left were closing statements. The alleged action had taken place, the victims and perpetrators were known, the only thing to decide was simple. Was this a crime?

The defendant sat in his chair, towering over almost everyone else in the courtroom even in his slouched form. He shifted uncomfortably in his suit, his defence lawyer having correctly determined that having General Bolhut Tacorg in his traditional war uniform would come across... badly. So instead he itched and was uncomfortable in the constricting outfit

The Kur were bipedal white furred canines, standing on average 9 ft tall. Sharp claws protruded from each of their four fingers, matching with their giant fangs that grew from their jaws. Almost entirely muscle, with arms that reached past their knees the Kur were an aggressive militaristic race, generally considered terrifying by most intelligent members of the galaxy.

Well apart from one species. To absolutely zero people's surprise Terrans found the "Angry goodbois" to be adorable, which had worked in the Kur's favour after their pacification. The Kur had been just one in a long line of militaristic races who had quickly realised that allying with the insane primates of Earth was a far better long term proposition then going against them.

But before that realisation had been made, the incident had happened.

"Esteemed members of the jury, the facts of this case are simple." The Terran prosecutor stood as he finished his closing statement, looking around and gesturing broadly as he did so.

"The defendant was in charge of the vessel that had captured two Terrans, a Sgt Catrin Hawkins and a Ltc Eiluned Semyon. We have shown that General Tacorg was ultimately the one in charge of their treatment and safety, as defined under the Geneva agreements of conflict and warfare. We have seen the messages from the chief command demanding results and information from the Terran prisoners. We have heard the testimony of others in his chain of command of the defendant ordering the spiking the prisoners' food with two known poisons, both marked by the Kur for the intense pain able to be caused using them."

The prosecutor paused a moment to point towards the defence, causing the defendant to instinctively press their ears against their head in a worried motion.

"The defence wishes to claim 'no harm no foul'. The poisons had no effect on the Terrans so there is no issue? There is a central concept that this legal system is built upon. Mens rea. Most of you won't have the right translator databases to know the real meaning of that phrase, so let me provide it for you."

"A Guilty Mind."

"Being incompetent at committing a crime doesn't absolve you of the crime. The fact that the poisons used are ineffective against Terran biology has no bearing on the nature of this crime. Remember that if it had been any of the many Terran Alliance species susceptible to these poisons we'd be having a far more depressing and serious discussion right now."