theairlock | first trial

[When the announcement sounds and the evidence gathered it’s time for a trial. When the remaining champions are all gathered by the repaired docking bay doors they slide slowly slide open.

There are two lines of robots, silent as sentries, creating a border path from the docking bay doors to the circle of metal podiums. The podiums themselves were made of strange metals in red and gold and orange and black, each one etched with the name of one of the Champions. There are flood lights - like spot lights - in front of each podium, but the lights in front of Shirou, Hamilton, and Albel are dark, and hung on the front of their podiums are greyscale portraits, printed from their profiles.

Blaze Dudely stands on a repair deck on top of his ship, which looms over the proceedings ominously. Rather than the glee the Champions may think he would take in this kind of display, he merely stands there with his arms crossed, expression unreadable and his cyborg eye scanning the Champions with a piercing scrutiny, like he's searching for one of them to act out of line.]

Mornin’, Champions. Here’s how this is goin’ to go: take the evidence ya found, piece together what happened and find who took out the Champion Swordsman. If ya find them, they’ll be dealt with. If ya don’t, they’ll be free to go and the rest of ya will face punishment. Take the time ya need but don’t bore me.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[With Diego’s final words done the floodlight illuminating his name goes dark and, a few seconds later, so do the rest of the lights in the docking bay. The lights stay down for a long minute with just the ominous mechanical sounds with no clear origin and whatever sounds the Champions themselves make in the blackness.

Then there’s a soft click and mechanical whirr of a projector kicking on somewhere in the background. With Blaze Dudely’s metallic black ship as the screen, a video begins:

Diego is thrown, with little ceremony and even less gentleness, into a dimly lit room with the doors slammed shut behind him. There’s no sound but, still pantless, Diego turns and slams his fists against the door with muted angry shouts. This goes on for a few seconds before a pair of glowing yellow eyes light up behind him and he freezes, turning his head slowly to look over his shoulder as the lights blow up to full brightness to reveal a round pen, not unlike one someone would keep a large animal in.

Behind Diego is a triceratops, massive and dangerous and pawing at the hard ground. The dinosaur is made of the same shiny black metal as every other robot related to Blaze Dudely’s takeover, with its horns a marbling of red, orange and yellow. Diego turns around fully, his face stricken with terror, and tries to back away only to have his back hit the door.

A massive foot paws at the ground and the triceratops lowers its head to charge. Diego runs. He sprints toward the eastern side of the room, away from this massive robot dinosaur, and pounds his fists against the walls as he tries to find some other door out. When there’s no other door to be found he claws at the walls instead, trying and failing miserably to climb his way out.

The robot turns with speed something that size shouldn’t be able to wield and charges him. The vibrant horn pierces his back, going straight through his chest and effectively pinning him to the wall. Diego’s terrified face contorts in pain as blood bubbles from between his lips and he opens his mouth in a silent howl of agony. The triceratops jerks forward and drives the horn in deeper until the Champion Backstabber’s arms finally go limp. It backs off slowly, letting the body drop to the ground.

The video lingers on Diego’s prone, bloody body for a solid minute before abruptly turning off and the lights spring back on. Blaze Dudely, who is still watching the spot where the execution projection was with a fierce intensity, spares the Champions a glance.]

Get back the the Penitentiary. We’re done here.

first trial

EXECUTION: Open the Door, Get on the Floor