<//| Fozz |\\>

Old oak with ornate carvings covered the room. It was present in the multiple benches and tables for the involved parties, it made up the rather uncomfortable chair he found himself sitting in, and it was the looming wall that the central judiciary perched upon.

The central judge leaned back and sighed, in a notable display of emotion. The central judiciary was known for their professionalism, but the honorable Judge Ninwhar Figris was very obviously tired of the defense's antics. Or, both defense's antics. His caterpillar-like mustache sagged on each end, and his solitary eyelid drooped low.

This case should have taken years, or decades. Instead it had been brought forward and tried in a matter of months, and Fozz believed he knew why.

"In case 044-A-112, the central judiciary hereby finds DenWu of Dendura guilty on 71 of 85 charges, to be read in full hereafter by the Voice of Details. His sentence shall consist of 400 years imprisonment in isolation, followed by 600 years in rehabilitation. His holdings are forfeit, and will be sold off to further repay the offended parties and the costs of this court, on top of previously distributed funds. For his cooperation with the investigation and this case, Thadden Wheatnick is hereby remanded into the custody of the Cross Cosmic Enforcement Agency, and will not be required to serve time in imprisonment."

DenWu, the armadillan, nodded silently in a single, curt motion. Thad did a small fist pump at the table, and nearly punched the old solid wood. Fozz didn't miss DenWu giving Thad one final hard stare. He made a silent wish for Thad that he would stick to his protected identity - for his sake.

"However, I uphold the forfeiture of Mr. Wheatnick's property, in accordance with servant renumeration clauses. Take this lesson well, Mr. Wheatnick, that even in your cooperation, crime does not pay."

The color drained away from Thad's face, and he glared over at Fozz. He worked to keep himself from touching an earing. It was more than deserved that Thadden lose something out of all this.

"Next, in the resultant case 044-A-117, the central judiciary hereby finds Belar Trade Corporation guilty on all 14 charges related to the use, production, and distribution of step-down equipment. For this, they shall pay a fine of no less than one-hundred times their normal annual earnings, as defined by an average of the last thousand year's worth of accurate data. They are also barred from sponsoring any planetary awakenings for the next two centuries, and will pay out of pocket for full CCE monitoring for the next five thousand planetary awakenings once awakenings resume. An auditor will be dispatched to confirm adherence to both these rulings."

The man seated at the center of Belar's table, dressed in an immaculate and ornate traditional suit, balled his fists and set his jaw as his whole body shook. Angi Belar had been the CEO of his company for as long as Fozz could remember, but he was a reclusive man. Rarely seen outside of official business meetings, the only notable trait he possessed was a legendary temper. Fozz knew two things were supposed to be surefire ways to set the man off - incompetence, and unfair deals.

When they noticed their boss's anger, the deep legal team that had failed to protect Angi Belar's business interests started shouting. Their voices shrank when the court officer stepped away from the wall and walked over to their space. Fozz knew Imran fairly well - he'd attended a number of court cases that the bovine man worked. He was easygoing in social situations, but deadly serious at work. His deep blue power armor clinked softly as he put one hand on an energy pistol, and the other on his warhamer. No one, ever, wanted to mess with a B-Grade Enforcer.

The central judge cleared his throat and gave Blasdej's legal team a glance. "Finally, in the related case 045-T-331, the central judiciary rules in favor of Blasdej Interplanetary Consortium, and awards all requested damages for the violation of a protected heritage site. Belar Trade Corporation must relinquish a swath of holdings equal to the perceived value of the final resting place of the Pathfinder Progenitor's father. I permit that-"

"BULLSHIT!"

Angi Belar's fist slammed the table hard enough to crack the wood. Deep blue veins rose on his face as he practically changed color. Fozz could understand the man's frustration.

It was a potentially flimsy and circumstantial case, established on the idea that as part of the step-down technology testing they were doing with DenWu, Thad had been contracted to 'malfunction and crash' at the heritage site and damage the statue. That Thad's testimony to that case was different from Fozz's earlier recordings 'was inconsequential' in the eyes of the judiciary, and suppressed from the record. That meant Belar, through Thad, were responsible for resulting damages to Earth's original Sanctuary. Whether Belar had intended it or not, they were on the hook for destroying Reid Oliver Calderwall's statue.

A mistake Fozz was unable to correct. Instead, he watched Belar's CEO bluster.

"We refuse this ruling and denounce the central judiciary for their bias! Pressure from Blasdej is the only reason you even heard that farce of a case!" Angi elbowed one of his lawyers in the face when they tried to physically restrain him. Angi pointed at the central judge, then at Blasdej's legal team "If we cannot find justice in a battle of the courts, we will defend our honor all the same! I name Blasdej to be an enemy of the Belar Trade Corporation, and I seek a formal war of retribution for their offense!"

In the box of representatives from Blasdej, an orange woman stood and donned a predatory grin. He recognized her from the recordings of Sara's planetary lord ceremony. A notification told Fozz she'd clipped and distributed Belar's blustering, and was now streaming her response. She casually folded her hands together, and spoke clear and calm.

"As an executive and permitted representative of Blasdej, I accept your declaration for a formal war, in witness of the central judiciary."

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The Blasdej representatives all rose and exited the space before Belar's CEO could string together an intelligible sentence. As Blasdej's exit sunk in, Fozz saw the man's face fall in realization. Normally, declarations like the one he'd made were met with attempts at diplomacy. Blasdej, though, was happy at the prospect of a formal war - as if they'd been hoping for that very outcome.

Or - maybe they'd been planning for it.

Fozz's agonizingly-slow personal investigation into Reid hit many roadblocks, and most were from Blasdej themselves. He was nearly certain he'd found some tangential evidence that they'd suppressed records and data related to the man, and there were too many missing histories and journals from the time of Earth's awakening to be anything but an attempt at censoring the truth. It went beyond an attempt to protect the privacy of the Pathfinder Progenitor. There was a highly coordinated level of secrecy and planning. Now, the same organization was demonstrating the same kind of harmful secrecy by intentionally starting a war that would have large cosmic ramifications. Blasdej and Belar were both B-Grade factions. Each owned thousands of worlds, and more compounds and continents where they hadn't managed to purchase a planet outright.

His theory had to be true.

Blasdej incited Belar by influencing the judiciary. Heck, the evidence of their potential involvement in buying unregulated mana crystals from DenWu hadn't even factored into the trial - it had been suppressed. Fozz still didn't have all the pieces - but he was getting closer. He had started to understand why Reid had disguised himself and why he hadn't tried to reach out to his daughter - even through Fozz himself.

Fozz had no illusions that corporations and consortiums - all factions, really - didn't try to skirt around rules. But seeing this trial, watching Blasdej railroad another B-grade faction with the complicity of the trial and the court itself... Fozz felt his faith in institutional justice falter - just a little.

Fozz shook away the doubt.

He instead turned his mind to the Pathfinder's father. Reid's disguise and his secrecy, that he'd found and declared a familial relationship to Auluwin Ascheron of all people. That the two of them were both found in DenWu's mines. It all felt connected, and every theory led back to Blasdej.

His thoughts ran on as he returned to his ship, and flipped the controls to see what new cases and work had come in. There was a general call for all enforcers to check in with their superiors and get briefed on the new declaration. A flood of requests told Fozz that people were already starting to panic. There was about to be a real trade war, for the first time in hundreds of thousands of years - and that one had only been between D-grade factions. The fires of this conflict were bound to burn through much of the cosmos. Fozz flipped on a central news feed. An evolved crabwoman sitting behind a desk was superimposed into the corner of the screen, talking to larger visuals of planets under fire, and fleets of moving craft.

"and already Blasdej has proven themselves the more competent and coordinated force. Strike teams have been deployed for advanced operations throughout Belar holdings, and new fronts of this conflict will continue to develop in real time, on worlds of every grade. I'm Anita del Throm, and we here at Alminus News will continue to bring you information on time, every time. Subscribe to our live feeds for a small fee, and we'll make sure you have near-real-time conflict maps, and a suite of evacuation and aid resource contact information to keep yourselves and your families safe and informed."

Fozz thumbed his CCE status into the interface, and was taken to the 'premium' Alminus feeds. There were a series of well organized tables to reference different organizations that might help someone with supplies or evac, and a long list of sector specific and planet specific reports. Fozz brought up the main maps, and a chill ran up his spine.

Earth was close enough to the front line that it made a target of opportunity - especially since Angi Belar would likely want it destroyed as a symbolic rejection of the trial's outcome. He took a copy of the visual and fired it off to Walt with a short message to pass the information along.

Fozz used a finger to move the map, and froze completely.

Vuxarina was a Belar world - and as a G-grade, freshly awakened planet, it would normally be safe from a conflict like this. Planetary restrictions were a good deterrent, and only went away after a set period, or if the planet rapidly increased in grade. That was what he expected to find.

Fozz blinked at the screen.

[Vuxarina. Ruling Faction: BTC. Grade: F] NOTICE: Next grade increase expected within 5 years

Vuxarina still had active tutorials. There should've been decades before it even had a chance of becoming a recognized F grade planet. But E grade, within the next 5 years? E grade before the last tutorial instances would close? It was impossible.

He bit his lip.

Impossible like a man waking up after a thousand years in stone.

Fozz took a deep breath to calm himself. Reid was alive. He couldn't tell anyone that. Even with the grade increases, Fozz himself wouldn't be able to land on the world and interfere - not yet, at least. Vuxarina was in danger, as a newly awakened planet. It was at the very edge of Belar's area of control, which made it a prime target for Blasdej to attack. With it becoming E grade within the next five years, he had options. There were local officers he could try and get to intervene - but most or all of those would be busy with the impacts of the nascent war. The mercenary and guild forces he knew and trusted were all either too far removed, or had somehow all already been snapped up to work for one of the two factions now fighting one another.

Fozz didn't trust whatever luck or skill Reid possessed to allow him to survive planetary bombardment, or the salvos of conventional weaponry that the two warring forces would employ. A ticker on the Alminus feeds already showed hundreds of thousands of casualties as a result of the conflict.

He pinched his nose and sighed, then queued up three different apology messages before he flipped over to video recordings, and arranged the data on the conflict and the world where Reid Oliver Calderwall was hiding. This was the last thing he wanted to do, but they were the only available force - and the only one he trusted.

Fozz swallowed and started to record.

"This is important - please don't delete the message. There's a newly awakened planet on the front lines, and it's about to drop restrictions early. Vuxarina and the people there need your help. I can't do it, and I don't trust anyone else to get it right. This is important. Important enough that I'm calling you. I know the peacekeepers are going to get thousands of offers in the coming days. Please, take this one."

Fozz ended the recording and slumped back in his chair. He hadn't yet worked himself up to sending out the apologies by the time he received the response.

A familiar face with tired eyes filled his screen. The figure stared at something Fozz couldn't see, and sighed. He tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling.

"Fuck you, Fozzune."

The recording ended, and the message popped onscreen.

-

[Open Operation Accepted] Supplied Detail - Force Mobilization: 6 Months Time on Mission: Variable and Dependent Force Demobilization: To Be Determined Scope: Vuxarina, Path of Approach, and relevant local space Force: Forward Peacekeepers, All Man, Train, Equip: Rolling, Operationally Funded Mission XO: LTC. Valdiz Mission CO: Cmdr. Benson

-

Fozz took a deep breath and sent out two of his three apology messages, then turned his attention back to the conflict map.

"Just keep your head above water for six months, Reid. Help is on the way."

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