Conrad gently nudged his way through the crowd of cats gathered for the trial, the lean golden tabby's gazed was fixed straight ahead as he moved. He stopped only briefly to rest his tail along Fjord's shoulder in a soothing gesture. He knew many of the Regime felt the same way but, he had no such burden. The new Scout Superior took a seat at the front of the crowd, his golden gaze locked on Limavady.

Limavady had grown skinny. He had refused to eat much, lest they slipped poison to him before today. He would take no more help from these hypocrites.

His green eyes shot a glare at Venus. There she was with her head tall. It would look better severed on the floor. Curse that cheating, conniving skunk.

His optics moved to Fjord. Limavady was never able to poison him like he had planned. If he had died before now, it might have saved Fjord any heartache in the future.

Those scrutinizing eyes of his were sunken from a lack of sleep. He'd be damned if he let any of them take his life without a fight. His fur was puffed out. He was on edge. He was no fool. What a predicament this was. He had made an enemy out of The Regiment.

...

No. They had made an enemy out of him.

He stood before the Commander. His posture was self-righteous, as per usual. In the prison, he had been more defeated. But today, out here in the open, on a stage for everyone to see, he would be confident with his spine straight and his tail held high.

As Limavady's gaze locked with Fjord's for that moment, the large tom's features iced over. His eyes were cold and harsh like winter as they glared back into the delusive turkish angora's. At Conrad's touch, Fjord relaxed just slightly. His head turned to look over at his mate, pride swelling in his chest as he saw how strong she was. The whole situation had been messy, but she was finally released from the narcissistic tom and was bolder because of it.

Laurel watched as her brother-in-law stood there, ragged and overly proud given his crimes. Her gaze swept over to her father, glad that he was hushed for a moment. She loved him dearly, but he had a tendency to over-speak. Loring sat beside his mother with a straight-faced expression. Limavady was his uncle, but had never seemed to care about any of them. Why would they care now? He imagined his grandmother was rolling in her Regime grave. Largo was much more honorable than her son.

"Aunt Lakota. Do you mind sitting by me? I think we should stick together." Loring spoke up, offering her the spot next to him. He had a lot of respect for her, even though she could be overbearing with her justice sometimes. At least she wasn't cruel and a liar.

Conrad glared at Limavady, something about his smug demeanor irked the golden tom. How dare he stand there as if he had done nothing wrong in betraying the Regime? Fighting back a growl the Scout Superior forced his fur to lie flat and sheathed his claws into the earth. Still he kept his calm expression. He refused to give the other tom the satisfaction of a reaction. He would pay for it all soon enough.

The look Hera was giving Limavady was one of contempt. Was there no honor left in this tom? His mother was supposed to have been a highly respected commander and yet here he was on trial for treason. Of course part of her wasn't shocked. Something about him had always felt off and then there was that scene he had caused at the tyke career day event. He had admonished little tykes for thinking of choosing to be a raiser or a guider over a mercenary or a scout. The Regime needed all four ranks. If he couldn't see that, he wouldn't have been a commander she wanted to follow anyway. She was one of the ones calling for his death and she did hope that was the sentence that Mars would choose to carry out.

Almast was sitting near the back of the crowd. Like the rest of the Regime, she was angry. Limavady had betrayed them all when he had decided to attack Mars. She wasn't sure she would want to give him the peace that would come with his death though. Killing him honestly seemed pointless at this point.

~~~

Limavady, you have been accused of treason against the Regime. Instead of fighting for your fellow soldiers, you chose to attack me and defend Foxstar, the leader of the clan that was attacking our home. You have shown yourself to be cruel in how you deal with your fellow soldiers and even your own family." Honestly, he was still angry with the tom for his treatment of Venus and when one added his most recent crime to Limavady's growing list of wrongdoings, Mars wanted nothing more than to kill this tom. He would not stoop to his level though. He would show that he and the rest of the Regime were above the actions Limavady had taken. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

He knew there was nothing Limavady could say to justify his actions, but he was curious. He wanted to hear what the proud tom would say given the chance.

His eyes cracked open.

"In my defense?"

He lifted his head.

"In my defense,
You're all mad here.
You think you have enough laws to keep you safe,
That you have enough shadows to keep you out of harm's way.
You think if you segregate,
You'll be all the better for it.
Nonsense.
I'm sick of this place."

"Do you hate these tunnels, or do you just hate us, Limavady?"
A quiet voice cut through the tense silence following the prisoner's 'defense'. On the tom's other side was a scarred blonde she-cat, who up until this point had kept both silent and emotionless as she escorted the traitor to the trial, despite most of the Regime knowing full well that she had more reason to hate him than anyone. Gardenia had lost her position of Superior because of this tom; provoked into attacking innocent groupmates, her family had been dishonored, her confidence destroyed...she had nearly left the Regime altogether. And yet, as she asked her question, the young she-cat sounded...sad, rather than bitter or hateful. Perhaps everything that had happened had given her a new perspective on life, and the true price of ambition.

The real irony was that Eclipse had been sitting just behind Sean the entire time, hiding in the shadows where she felt the most comfortable. There were quite a few choice words she had for such a fox-hearted traitor, especially considering what he had put her family through. But seeing the dark look in Limavady's eyes, the old Veteran knew immediately that it would all fall on deaf ears. She had seen all too many times how impossible it was to change a cat like that. After Limavady finished talking, the slender black she-cat felt her stomach twist into knots. Unlike most of those present today, Eclipse was one of the very few cats left who had known his mother, Commander Largo, personally. She would've never wanted this for her son.

Conrad closed his eyes, and tensed waiting for the uproar that he knew was to rise from the mouths of his group-mates at any moment. He did not like this one bit. Imprisoning Limavady was one thing. Throwing him into a prison with Foxstar was another and The Scout Superior was hesitant to put the two together again. Not here, not now but, when he had a moment alone with his commander he would try to talk to him about their prisoner's accommodations. For now he opened his eyes, his gaze on Commander Mars. It was clear in his expression that he was displeased with the outcome. A small frown played at his lips and worry shown in his eyes.