Transformations   von chelle76
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                            Kapitel 4: Inquisition
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Transformations…
Chapter 4: Inquisition	

Commander Eagle and Saber approach the board room. Saber takes a deep breath,
trying to calm his nerves. Commander Eagle places a hand on his Saber’s
shoulder. “Are you sure you’re up to this?” 
Saber nods. “Yes, Sir.” He says, trying to sound sure of himself. He takes
another breath and they enter the board room. All conversations cease as he goes
and stands beside his seat, members of the board fall into their positions. He
stands at attention, waiting to be told to sit.
General Whitehawk calls the meeting to order and the board members sit down. He
walks to where Saber is facing him, making eye contact. “You know that you are
expected to answer as truthfully as possible, no matter what the outcome may be
from your answers, Captain Rider?” 
Saber nods. “Yes, Sir, I do.” 
The General nods for him to be seated and he sits in the chair assigned to him.
“Captain Rider, I want to first express my personal condolences to you for
your loss.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Saber replies, looking down slightly, then looks back up
to meet the General’s eyes.
“The purpose of this meeting is basically to see if you are fit for duty in
general, not just the case that would most likely be assigned to your team.”
Saber nods. “If you are deemed fit for general duty, it will then be up to the
committee to decide whether you will be able to work with your team, or be
reassigned to another duty until the case is resolved. Are you prepared to
accept the decision of this board, whatever the outcome?”
Saber nods. “I am, Sir.”
General Whitehawk nods. “Very well, let us begin.” He studies Saber for a
moment. Tell me about your morning yesterday, Captain.”
Saber takes a deep breath, and looks up at the General. “Well, my parents,
Senator Edward Rider, and Mary Rider came in a few days ago to visit with me,
and discuss a few things. They brought along the woman I planned on becoming
engaged to when I returned home after our debriefing meetings were completed.”
Several members nod, he continues. “We had some…debates as to my future with
Calvary Command. My father wanted me to return home, settle down and get
married.” 
General Whitehawk nodded, “He wanted to you to become a civilian, correct?”
Saber nods. “Yes, Sir. However, I knew that I would not be happy as a
civilian. My fiancé also understood this.”
General Whitehawk watches him closely. “But?”
“My parents were not so…eager to accept this. I came to you and we discussed
other possible options.” The General nods. “There has been talk for a while
of establishing outposts for Calvary Command where some of its delegates
reside.” Again, the General nods. “After speaking with you about the
situation, you had suggested that perhaps I could take a teaching position at an
outpost in my homeland. I was discussing this possibility with Sincia, my
fiancé, and my parents, and it seemed that they would all be satisfied with
such an arrangement.”
The general looks at him for a moment. “But would you be happy with the
arrangement, Captain?”
Saber thinks for a moment, then nods. “I believe I could have been, Sir.”
General Whitehawk pauses before continuing. “So, yesterday morning, you had
met your family, correct?”
Saber nods. “Yes, Sir. We met and had breakfast and said our farewells.” He
sighs. “I had promised to see them as soon as I could get away.” He pauses,
looking down, then continues a bit more quietly, “I had promised that I would
make my engagement official, when I returned, so we could start planning a
future.” He grips the arms of his chair, and sighs. “I watched the ship take
off, I then went to my quarters to prepare for the debriefing meetings. I was on
my way to the meetings when the alarms sounded.”
“What did you do when you heard the alarm?” General Whitehawk inquired.
“I turned and ran towards the Command Center. Upon entering I saw chaos. I
spotted Commander Eagle and started to go to him, to see how I could help…The
moment he made eye contact with me, I knew something was definitely wrong. He
looked, shocked. He told me to get the others, go to his office and not leave
until he had personally come for us.”
“Did you follow that order, Captain?” The General asked.
Saber nods. “Yes, Sir. He emphasized that it was a direct order. I immediately
headed to his office, where the other members of my team were coming from. I
told them we had been ordered to wait in the office until Commander Eagle
returned. Mr. Wilcox started to protest, but after I emphasized that it was a
direct order, we went inside and waited. After what seemed to be hours,
Commander Eagle entered his office.” 
“And what was your assessment of Commander Eagle at that point in time?” He
asks. 
Saber thinks for a moment, “My initial reaction is that something was very
obviously wrong. He looked…tired, pale, in shock. He came in and sat down,
then proceeded to tell us about the…incident.”
“And what was your reaction, Captain?” 
“Honestly, I was…floored. I thought I had misheard for a moment.” He
closes his eyes, fighting back tears. “Then I saw the look in his eyes when
his met mine and I knew…” He sighs. “I knew they were gone.” 
He pauses for a bit. The General waits patiently for him to continue. He looks
around the room, his eyes meeting several of the members of the Council, his
eyes stopping to rest on Commander Eagle’s.
“At that moment, I understood why he looked the way he did. I suddenly felt
that I couldn’t breathe, and that everything was just…wrong. Then I felt
anger. I wanted to find out whom and/or what was responsible for the incident.
Then there was numbness…I just was there, but it was like I was seeing and
hearing everything as someone else…it’s hard to describe.” He sighs.
“Then I just wanted to be alone. I was dismissed to my quarters, where I went
and read the journal Sincia had returned to me before they departed, and I
eventually fell asleep in the chair I was in.” 
He paused for moment, “A bit later, I was awoken by a knock at the door. It
was Ms. Eagle and Mr. Hikari. They came into the apartment and we had various
conversations. After a while, Ms. Eagle and Mr. Hikari went to get us some
dinner. I went to take a nap. I was emotionally spent and needed the rest. About
an hour later, Commander Eagle arrived just as Ms. Eagle and Mr. Hikari came
back with the food. Commander Eagle came in to the bedroom to wake me. We then
joined them and ate dinner. After dinner he told us that no one still knew what
happened. He asked me about my plans, how I was feeling, that sort of thing. I
told him that I knew that most likely, I would be pulled from the team and
placed on Administrative leave, but that if at all possible, I would like to
still be part of the team. He nodded and asked me whether I felt I could perform
my duties in an objective way.”
“And what was your reply?” The General asks.
“That I felt that I could. I will be honest; my gut reaction when I heard the
news of what happened was one of anger. I wanted nothing more than to avenge my
loved ones deaths. But after stepping back and looking at the big picture, I
realize that vengeance solves nothing. I am not the only one who lost people
that I loved in that incident. I know that our team is as good at what we do
because we can remain objective even in the most dire of situations. We each
have our strong suits, and our weaknesses. I think that keeping busy and focused
not only would be beneficial to myself, but it would keep a team together that
has been through hardships before and become a closer-knit team. We are familiar
with how we work, and would know if something was getting to be too much for any
one of us. I do however feel that perhaps it would be best to allow another
member to be in charge of our team. After thinking over each team member's
abilities, I would recommend either, Ms. April Eagle or Mr. Shinji Hikari for
the position of Captain.”
A man at the far end of the table raises his hand.
“Yes, Colonel Wyatt?” General Whitehawk says.
“Why would you recommend either of them, Captain Rider?” Colonel Wyatt
asks.
“Well, Ms. Eagle has been part of the Calvary Command for many years, albeit
as a scientist. She has a logical mind and is good at seeing a bigger picture.
All of those things are positive attributes. However, there are some in the
Command, even some that are in this room that would believe she would only be
promoted because of her father.  She also isn't the most likely to ask for help
if something is beyond her.” 
Several member nod, accepting what he says and he continues, “As for Mr.
Hikari, he has not been with Calvary Command for long, but, he is a quick
thinker. He is good at assessing a situation and deciding what to do in a split
second. He is battle trained, whereas Ms. Eagle is mostly support, as opposed to
being in the middle of the action. He is also not afraid to ask for others
opinions or for help if he feels he is in over his head. So, given those facts
and opinions, I would recommend Mr. Hikari for the position of interim Captain
over this case. “
Another hand goes up. “Yes, Admiral Newly?” The General acknowledges.
“What about your other team member, Mr. Bill Wilcox, Captain Rider?” Admiral
Newly asks.
Saber nods, “I would not recommend him for the position of team leader at this
time. Nothing personally against him, but he is a rather unorthodox individual.
His battle skills are excellent and he is a person that I would want to be
beside me in a fight, but he tends to be quick-tempered and does not handle
authority well. He is also not likely to think about the consequences of his
actions. Which is something that a leader has to take into account.”
Admiral Newly nods. “Well spoken, Captain.”
Another hand goes up. “Yes, Commander Hawkins?” Whitehawk asks.
“Captain, you said that you and your parents were at odds over your future, is
that correct?” Hawkins asks.
Saber nods. “We had some...” he pauses for a moment, “discussions. A few
of them were a bit more heated than others. By the time they left, we had agreed
to come up with a compromise. They had agreed to give me a year's time to decide
on my future with Calvary Command. I had also discussed the future with my
fiancé, who said that she would support any decision I made.” He sighs.
“She seemed to be the one to convince my Father to let me come to a decision
in my own time. She convinced him that forcing an immediate decision would put a
strain on their relationship with me, pushing me further away from them. That
made me realize that she truly understood me and helped me to decide that I
wanted to marry her. I was more willing to look into other options, such as a
teaching position, so I wasn't away for long periods of time.” The Commander
nods, accepting the answer.
Commander Eagle stands up. “Are there any more questions for Captain Rider?”
He looks around the room at the various people seated around the table, making
contact with each person for a moment. Finally King Jarre raises his hand.
“Yes?”
King Jarre stands and looks directly at Saber, “Captain Rider, do you honestly
feel you are up to working this case? I have noticed you coming close to
breaking down in the room today, as I am sure other have. How can we be sure
that you will be able to stay focused on the case and not...collapse under the
emotional strains of finding out what happened out there.”
Saber takes a deep breath, “King Jarre, I admire your boldness in asking me
such a direct question. I do feel that I will be able to work this case and stay
objective. I cannot honestly say that it won't take an emotional toll, I am
human. But I know that there is a time and place for grief. I have also given my
word that if I feel that the case is becoming too much for me, that I will
remove myself from the case. I am even willing to undergo counseling if that
will allow me to continue to work with my team. Working is a distraction and it
also allows me to stay close to my friends. A form of support that I feel I will
need in the upcoming days and months.”
King Jarre studies him for a moment, then nods, sitting down.
General Whitehawk again looks over the room. “Are there any other
questions?” No one makes a motion to raise more questions, and he nods.
“Very well then, I recommend we go ahead and decide the on the fate of Captain
Rider.” 
He looks around the room once more. No one motions to object, “On the question
of allowing Captain Rider to continue to work with the Bismarck Team on this
case, raise your hands if you feel he is competent to do so.” Several raise
their hands immediately, slowly all the hands are raised, King Jarre's being the
last one to rise. 
General Whitehawk nods and turns to Saber Rider. “Captain Rider, You will be
allowed to continue on the Bismarck Team. We will further discuss any
stipulations with you tomorrow. It is getting late and we need to discuss the
matter of who shall be in command of your team.” Saber nods. “You are
dismissed until we come for you in the morning. We shall let you know of any
other decisions we make at that time.” 
Saber nods, and rises from his chair. “Yes, Sir.” Nodding to him and then to
the room in general. “Thank You, Sir.” He then turns and leaves the room to
head back to his quarters. 

A few minutes later he enters his quarters and collapses on the couch and sighs,
running his fingers through his hair. He looks around, noticing how quiet things
are and sighs. He turns and looks at the clock; it's nearly 17:00. Closing his
eyes, he stretches out on the couch. 
“Hey, how did it go, Saber?” a familiar voice calls in the darkness. He
slowly opens his eyes to see April looking expectantly at him, Fireball, Colt,
and Robin peeking at him from over the back of the couch. He looks at them
blankly before waking up enough to move and sit up, rubbing his hands across his
face. 
“Well, I'm still on the team. The rest was still up in the air, and they may
still place restrictions on what I can and can't do. We should know more
tomorrow.” He looks at each of them in turn as they all make their way around
in front of him and sit on the couch and chairs near him. “How are things with
all of you?” he asks, trying to read facial expressions. 
He notices a blush on the faces of April and Fireball. Colt and Robin just
smile. He smiles a bit and looks to Colt and Robin. “I'm very happy for you
both. Congratulations.” 
Colt blushes and smiles, “Thank you. I just wish you had been with us.”
Saber nods. “I would have been, if I had a choice.” He looks to April and
Fireball. “Well?”
Fireball blushes furiously and April nods. “We did it.”
Colt laughs. “Funny how a gun to your back makes you a bit more cooperative,
eh, Shinji?” 
Saber looks confused as Fireball blushes, and Colt, Robin, and April start
laughing.
“He's teasing, Saber. There were no guns pointed at anyone.” April states.
“If there had been, we wouldn't be legal.”
Saber shakes his head and smiles. “You lot are impossible. I am happy for all
of you, congratulations to you two as well.” He says, nodding towards April
and Fireball. He looks at the clock and notices how much later it is. “Is that
clock right?” He asks.
April looks and nods. “Yeah, it's nearly 19:00. Why?”
Saber sighs. “Just means I had a longer nap that I thought. Have you
eaten?”
April shakes her head. “No, we were trying to wait for you.”
Saber stands up. “Well, I haven't eaten since breakfast and I am hungry. Want
to go and get something to eat? We can't leave base, but I think we'd be safe to
eat somewhere other than here.”
Colt gets up. “Let's go to the Galley. We should still be able to get
something there.” They all nod.
“After we are allowed to leave base, I will take all of us out to dinner to
celebrate.” Saber says. Everyone stands up and they head out to find dinner,
chatting about the day's events while Saber was in the meeting.

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