An excerpt from Non-Violence in Peace and War

> "What difference does it make to the dead, the orphan's and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism, or in the holy name of liberty or democracy" - Mohandas K. Ghandi (1869-1948)

JUNE 25, 2551 (14:32) [Military Calendar]

UNIFIED MILITARY COMMAND HEADQUARTERS

EARTH, SOL SYSTEM, SECTOR 001

Major Mercer sat silently as beads of nervous sweat slowly slid down the base of his neck. As he sat there, his eyes were glued to the bench, and his right hand gripped his naval blue dress pant with a death hold. Glancing down at his hand, he noted that his knuckles had turned white as snow. Unclamping his hand, he rhythmically opened and closed his hand as blood began to rush back to his fingers.

All he could think of was that a panel of judges was sitting on the other side of a wall deciding whether he was guilty. One decision could change his entire life; he could go from a distinguished and decorated military officer to a disgraced naval officer rotting in prison for the remainder of his life and never see his children grow up.

Flattening out his pant leg, he returned his hands to the table and slowly began to mutter a prayer - even though he was sure there was no God. Mercer twitched slightly as he heard a pen drop to the floor. Looking to his right, he watched as the Special Prosecutor reached down to grab the antique pen off the tile flooring. She used The same antique pen to write notes during Mercer's initial deposition and oral report to the Naval Investigative Services.

The Judge Advocate General Corps had assigned her as the military's Trial Counsel after the NIS had concluded their investigation into what had transpired onboard the Columbia during the Battle of the Binary Stars. The Judge Advocate General and the NIS had concluded that Mercer had violated several major rules under the Naval Military Code, and formally charged him with several crimes ranging from negligence all the way to outright mutiny.

Since the NIS Agents had arrested Mercer and brought him back to Earth for his trial, all he could think of was that his life was in the hands of the military officers who had been assigned as both judge and jury. Nearly four hours had passed since Mercer's military appointed advocate and the trial counsel had finished their closing arguments and statements to the tribunal on whether he was guilty on all, or some charges.

The charge of Mutiny alone carried the weight of life in prison, where Mercer would live out the remainder of his natural life at Fort Leavenworth, or be shipped out to a penal colony for "rehabilitative" services, never to see his children grow up.

Trying to snap out of his nervous stupor, Mercer began to calculate the first twenty circular prime numbers, before working on the displacement jump trajectory from Earth to Jupiter - something he had done dozens of times while attending the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Taking deep breaths, Mercer felt his muscles begin to relax and his heart rate dropped considerably. Focusing on his surroundings, he focused on the fine details that dotted the courtroom: the old wooden furniture from the Presidio, that had the smell of mildew, musk and sea salt that permeated it, to the old stone that made up the old building.

As Mercer focused on the features of the room, he began to instinctively focus on the military history of the installation itself. The one class that every single Naval Cadet received during their Pleb year was the history of the war college or academy that they attended, as well as the history of the Unified Military Command Headquarters. However, for 336 years, it had been dedicated to the study of military science and tactics, with the school being shuttered with it's final graduating class in 2138.

It's extended career as the Military Academy had seen over a million students walk through its halls, as they learned of the greatest military minds in history. Since then, the academy had become a shell of its former self. Mercer's ancestor was in the academy's final graduating class of 2138 before it was shuttered once Annapolis had been rebuilt from the nuclear ash. Since then, the classrooms have sat empty with the desks having long been removed and sent to museums and military schools and academies that were dotted throughout Alliance territory. The dorms and lecture halls have been converted into officer housing, war rooms, military archives, computer servers, military meeting rooms and like Washington Hall that Mercer was sitting in - military courtrooms. However, the distinct smell of musk and chow continued to permeate the room.

Mercer glanced back over to the trial counsel as she straightened out her papers, the pen still sitting in front of her papers amongst the other identical black ones. The young officer sat quietly, the same as Mercer, but unlike Mercer who was nervous, she seemed unphased by the outcome. Afterall, she had practically vivisected Mercer on the stand, putting his short lived 35 minute command under the microscope. She questioned every order he made while on the bridge of Columbia, and even asked the question whether or not Mercer had the justification to enact General Order 4 - the relievement of the commanding officer All Mercer knew was that his actions were justified at the moment, had he not acted and taken command, Mercer and the entire crew of Columbia would have perished. While the ship was the fleet's most state-of-the-art destroyer, and well built, it was not designed to take such a beating or go head-to-head with a fleet of ships.

The evidence that backed up his reasoning to enact order 4, and when it came down to it, was that Commander Adar relieved Mercer of duty and asked for his sidearm. It was enough for him, and the fact he refused the order to retreat when the 1st Fleet was crippled.

The smoking gun in Mercer defense was when the black-box was recovered from what was left of Columbia's wreckage. It had the final hour of video recording from the bridge when Admiral Physra issued order 13. It had not only backed up Mercer's claim, but the entire recording was played, which featured the protests of the entire bridge crew. It also caught the little detail that even Mercer missed, Adar grabbed his side arm when Mercer refused to step-down. The split-second decision was life or death.

It was part of their military training, when you see a threat you neutralize it.

During the trial, Mercer's advocate had called the surviving bridge crew who had not been reassigned to testify, and all stood in his defense, all reiterating the same thing, that his actions saved their lives. All of them attributed their survival to Mercer's decision to shoot Adar. The only person absent from the bridge crew was Number 2 - the second in command, and for 35 minutes, the XO. Lieutenant Springsteen volunteered to stay behind and put the Columbia between the enemy fleet and the escape pods. He saved not just Mercer's life, but the lives of 720 people. The last thing he said to Mercer had stayed with him:

"When you save one life, you save the world." Mercer had no idea what he meant, so during a recess after they played the recording, he accessed several files from the National Archives and found that his XO and friend had quoted a section in the Talmud, an ancient document. He had no idea that he was a follower of such an archaic or ancient religion.

As a door slammed loudly, Mercer jumped slightly, and watched as a Military MP walked out from the door and stood at attention and barking:

"All rise!" Doing as said, the military officers in the room stood in unison as the panel of six judges and one magistrate walked out from the magistrates chambers. They had come to deliver their verdict. Walking over to the bench, they all took a seat, settling themselves in. "You may take your seats," said the MP.

Watching as the Judges organized their papers, and straightened out their uniforms, Mercer sat down nervously as his heart began to race. Out of all the assigned judges, there was only one who was objectively biased against Mercer: Admiral Burnham. The two had a complex history going back to when Mercer was at Demetrius Academy for Military Sciences. The whole case Burnham had been glaring daggers at Mercer, the Admiral had been unable to forgive him for the death of his only son, Kyle. Kyle and three other cadets were killed during a training exercise while under Mercer's command as a junior officer. Burnham blamed him then, and continues to do so, even though the accident was a result of a pair of faulty training guns.

Finally settled, the court justice fiddled with a final sheet of paper before clearing his throat. Grabbing the gavel, he swung down, making the distinct "thwact" as it struck the sound box.

"Court is now in session. Major Mercer, please stand." Doing as ordered, Mercer stood up and walked to the podium sitting in the middle of the room. As he walked there, it seemed to take forever. Facing the panel, he waited for the judges to deliver the verdict. "Before we continue, do you have anything else to add to the record?"

"No sir." Mercer said.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Alright. On the charges of loss of a ship, negligence resulting in grave bodily harm or death, murder, insubordination, mutiny and three hundred and forty cases of negligent homicide: it is the opinion of this military panel, that due to a lack of substantial evidence brought before this tribunal, as well as taking into account the extenuating circumstances at the Battle of the Binary Stars, along with your outstanding record of military service, that you are declared not guilty, and all charges are to be dropped immediately." said the Justice.

Standing there socked, Mercer stood for a moment.

"Major Mercer, you are free to go. Court is adjourned." As the gavel was tapped once more, Mercer let out a sigh of relief. Either one judge had gone to a guilty charge, or they had all come to the consensus that he was not guilty. Looking up at the panel, he saw Burnham stand there, who nodded.

Perhaps he had found a way to forgive Mercer, or he just kept his personal feelings out of the trial. Turning to his personal counsel, he shook his head and thanked him. As she said that, he saw standing behind him a very familiar face.

"Thank you." He said to his counsel. Grabbing his hat, he rushed out of the courtroom and into the vestibule. Slowly working his way through the crowd of reporters, officers, and civilians, he eventually made his way into the main annex of the building. Walking across the seal of the United Earth Government, he felt a hand fall upon his shoulder. Cursing under his breath, he turned around to face the man he had no desire to see.

"Johnathan, can we talk?" Said the Old Man.

"Admiral." The very statement was more of a formal title that had been programmed into him since he was a teen.

"Seriously going to call me Admiral, son?"said the Old Man. "After all, I am your grandfather." Looking at his grandfather, Mercer at times did not believe he deserved to be called Grandfather. While they were related by blood, the man had never risen to being both a grandparent, and later guardian - rather shipped Mercer out to a military school. It was why he legally changed his name from Barnes - to his mothers maiden name of Mercer. It distanced himself from his grandfather.

Shaking his head, she shrugged his grandfather's hand off his shoulder, as Mercer continued to walk through the annex and onto the cobblestone pathway. Putting his hat on, he kept a steady pace as he made his way across the old campus towards the transport pad. As he walked along the pathways, he could hear his grandfather following him from behind. Stopping dead in his tracks, Mercer turned around to see him standing only a few paces behind him.

"Johnathan, we need to talk." His grandfather said, putting an emphasis on need. Looking at his grandfather dead in the eye, he walked up to him, to where they were only standing a foot apart.

"About what?" He said angrily, "What do you have to say to me, that is so goddamn important that you bought yourself a quarter of the way across the orion arm, just to attend my fucking court martial. So, we can talk?" He said loudly. As he raised his voice, several people passing by looked at the two of them before moving on. Dropping his voice, Mercer continued:

"You have shown no interest in me since I was a kid, I mean you sent me away to a military school when I landed on your doorstep after mom died."

"It was different." Said his grandfather. "Your grandmother and I both had military obligations; you know that. The thing is, John, this war is bigger than you or I. It's bigger than all of us. At the time, I couldn't be there for you, and I am sorry about that." What his grandfather said turned out to be sincere, something that John had not gotten in a long time. "Walk with me."

Standing there for a moment, he looked as his grandfather began to walk across the plains. Shaking his head in frustration, he looked down at his watch and noted the time. Following his grandfather, they walked across the plains until they arrived at a building. In front of it there was a statue of a Knight, in its left hand was a shield adorned with the coat of arms of West Point and in its right hand, a bronze sword.

"Have you ever been to Cullum Hall?" Asked Mercer's grandfather.

"No." Stated Mercer. As they walked into the building, they passed into the annex which had bronze plaques adorning the wall. Walking into the large hallway, the entire room had rows of bronze plaques running along.

"This once used to be the academy's social hall. They converted this about sixty years ago." Walking down each panel, they progressively got newer. Mercer realized they were walking amongst the names of the dead. Following his grandfather, they arrived at a section labeled 2500-2552. Arriving at a panel, they stopped. Mercer looked at one specific one and saw the title "In Memory to the Officers of the Excalibur" reading the dedication on it, the first name labeled on it was Cmd. James Fyfe Barnes. His father.

As he stood before the panel, he saw the panel with all 700 officers. As Mercer read down the list, he saw his grandfather in his peripheral vision.

"John, you didn't just lose your father." His grandfather said. Looking at his grandfather, Mercer saw down the row a panel that was being installed. His grandfather stepped in his view, and looked at Mercer with a long face. "I lost my son."

For the first time in Mercer's life, his grandfather managed to show a hint of humanity and empathy. "When I heard the news that Columbia had been destroyed . I... I thought you had died."

Mercer watched as his grandfather broke down "In those seventy-two hours, I waited to see your name on the list of the dead, I thought that your name would be on one of these panels, just like your father. I couldn't think of burying my own child, but it was unthinkable that I would be doing the same for my grandson." he said sadly. "When your wife called me that you were alive, it was like a damn boulder was lifted off my chest. I'm glad that your name is not on that plaque." He said pointing to the one being installed.

Mercer walked over to the bronze plaque that was sitting against the wall, and saw the name Columbia, and recognized many of the names. Most of them had become his friends, and Hoffman - his XO - was practically family. He was his children's Godfather.

"I know you can never forgive me."

"For what?"

"The fact that I wasn't there when your mother and father died. I made a mistake for sending you to that damn school." His grandfather said. "I know you wouldn't remember it, but when you were in the coma, I never left your side." Cocking his head to the side, he looked at his grandfather. "I couldn't bear to not be there if you had died."

"I - I didn't know," John said. "If that accident couldn't kill me, I don't know what will at this point." Mercer's grandfather looked at him and suddenly hugged him deeply. For a moment, they hugged silently. It was the first time that Mercer realized that his grandfather had been hurting just as much as him. After a lifetime of being in the military and exposed to the horror of war, they both had become numb to it all. They just shut off their emotions to cope, less they rot from the inside out until they break from the stress.

Looking at his grandfather who had tears in his eye, he looked him in the eye.

"I just need to know if you are okay." Said Mercer's grandfather.

"I am," said Mercer. It was a white lie. Physically he was as healthy as he could get, but the Battle had left him with vivid nightmares of everything that had happened. Looking down at his feet, he admitted the truth: 'I'm not." Mercer stated. "This fucking war, it takes everything from us, out friends, our family, everyone."

"I understand that. This has taken a toll on almost seven generations; I don't think there is a person alive who has not felt the effects of this war – unless they are living under a rock or bunker in that case." His grandfather said. "Look, if you want out, I can see if I can still pull a few strings." His grandfather put his hand on his shoulder and looked at Mercer, smiling.

"I'll think about it." Mercer said, "But first, I need to figure out what I need. If I want to resign, I'll try to do it on my own. I know that if need be, you can help me with it."

"Okay." Said his grandfather. "Just remember, you have allies out there; if you need to, use them." Nodding, Mercer looked down at his wrist tablet and cursed under his breath.

"I have to go, or I'll miss the next transport out." Said Mercer. Turning on his heels, he began to rush towards the transport area.

"John!" shouted his grandfather. Turning around, Mercer looked quickly behind him. "Now that I am thinking about it." Mercer watched as his grandfather removed his old watch. "Catch." Throwing it over to him, Mercer quickly reached out and grabbed it out of the air. "I never had a chance to give it to your father when he was promoted to commander. I got it from my father after I took command, let's just say I consider it lucky."

Mercer took the watch and nodded before quickly rushing to the transport pad. After a brief five-minute walk, he arrived at the pad showing his I.D to the officer standing there. Walking into the transport, he ducked under the baffling before taking a seat. Reaching over his shoulder, he secured himself to the seat, before looking at the antique watch, the hands subtly glowing and the ancient cogs and gears slowly moving as it ticked quietly.