Part 35: The Verdict

Part 35: The Verdict

Last time, we discovered via a hidden recording that the Republic war hero Sunry, accused of the murder of the Sith Elassa Huros, was in fact guilty of the crime. While killing a Sith, let alone a Dark Jedi, is hardly the worst of crimes, this revelation poses a slight problem to us because we're supposed to defend Sunry in court.



Let's start by having Sunry explain himself.





So Elassa was apparently a spy, at least if Sunry is to be believed. He has changed his story a few times so we can't be sure, but that would certainly explain what Elassa saw in Sunry in the first place. It can't have been his winning personality, that's for sure.



They found the illegal monitoring device that the Sith had planted in the room, altered its recording to hide my part in it and cleared up the evidence. I figured that was the end of it.

Ah, so it was the Sith who planted that camera in the room. For some reason, I assumed the Republic was behind that because they suspected Elassa might have been a spy and decided to keep an eye on Sunry, or something like that. Or maybe Sunry is lying. Who knows.





And so they planted their own evidence. Elassa must have stolen that Hero's Cross from me long ago and given it to her Sith masters, like some kind of trophy. I just thought I'd misplaced it. But when the Cross turned up on her body, I knew the Sith had put it there. So now you know the whole story, what are you going to do?

That... is a very good question.



Sunry is absolutely a pile of sentient trash who cheated on his wife with a Sith mistress whom he then killed in cold blood while she slept (because he knew he couldn't take her in a fight) when he realized she was a spy. Technically speaking, this should be a slam dunk. Sunry is guilty as sin. However, she was a Dark Jedi, and her death is very much a net positive despite the deplorable means Sunry resorted to.



I think we're in the hundreds by now, definitely. Not to mention what Zila might have done in her past life as Darth Revan.



Generally speaking, we've been killing hundreds of people in self-defense like any self-respecting RPG protagonist, so I suppose Jolee is correct.



This is also not wrong.



I wonder what would happen if Sunry just confessed.



Maybe he should've considered this before killing his girlfriend on a planet inhabited by people who take their laws incredibly seriously. Sith or not, that was a bad move.



I'm not so sure about this answer, frankly, but agreeing to keep Sunry's secret actually gives you dark side points. KotOR's ultra-binary morality system has no idea what to make of this quest.



If you turn me in, the Republic will likely lose its kolto export privileges and then we'll lose the war for sure. Are you going to send all those thousands, millions - like on Taris - to their deaths, just for your sense of 'justice'?

No, I just wanted a neutral dialogue option.





No, I'll rot in here if I have to, but I won't betray the Republic. Do what you have to, but know what the consequences will be.

Right. Let's get this trial started.



You off-worlders have a tendency to ignore the rule of law in favor of some rather irrational causes. What is it that I can do for you now?



Actually, before we start the trial, we might as well ask the warden if he knows anything about the disappearances of various young Selkath.



It is likely, though, that it has been perpetrated by out- worlders... ones such as yourself perhaps...

Perhaps. Okay then, that's enough messing around.





You must be certain your investigations are complete before you request a trial. This is the role of the Arbiter. Are you certain you wish to begin the trial now?

So yeah, you should make absolutely sure you've got all the evidence you need before you proceed with the trial because there are no do-overs.





Well, here goes nothing.



We talked to the judges earlier and found some of them probably shouldn't be allowed within a mile of a courtroom. Shelkar is okay, though. He's got common sense unlike some others among the presiding judges.



Jhosa is fine as well.



Naleshekan is an idiot. He's not the biggest idiot among the judges, but he's up there as he claims he doesn't see any difference between the Republic and the Sith.



Kota is a big fan of the Republic and will gladly say as much to anyone who would listen. These guys are supposed to be impartial, obviously, but... well, we will see how that goes when the trial gets underway.



Duula is a fucking moron who doesn't think the Sith have ever done anything wrong and actively wishes for the Sith to take over.



Representing Sunry in his defense is a member of the Jedi Order. Do you have any opening statements?

Well...



...no, we do not. Let's get on with this thing. If we wanted to get this trial over with really quickly, we could present the video evidence and Sunry would get sentenced to death. We could also try to mind trick the judges to find Sunry innocent (well, we can't because we don't have the Affect/Dominate Mind powers), but that will go about as well as you might expect.



I'll bet he is.



And I will see Sunry is executed for the crime he has committed.



Oh, crap. Which one was this judge again? That's Kota, I think, based on the camera angle of the shot. Would it have killed BioWare to create more than one Selkath model or at least swap their colors around a bit? Even their Rodians have differently colored outfits.



Right, let's start by questioning the hotel owner.





That's Jhosa. Okay, I think I've got this.



We could've persuaded or bribed the hotel owner to lie to the judges to potentially get Sunry acquitted more easily, but that's a little bit unethical.



After each witness has given their testimony and you have cross-examined them, you may ask the presiding judges for their opinions on the current state of the case. This is a special privilege given by Manaan law only to the defendant, so use it wisely.

In case you were wondering, I am not looking at any guides for the trial. It's been almost a decade since I last played this section, so I'm just winging it and trying to pick the options that don't look completely idiotic.



There's Firith, the Pazaak player we questioned at the hotel.



Oh! Oh! I know what to do here!





I've never played Ace Attorney. I probably should fix that.







I came out into the hallway after hearing the blaster shot and saw Sunry over there limping down the hall out of the building.

Heh. A very obvious point, your Honors. The accused was seen leaving the scene of the crime after the blaster that killed Elassa was fired.

A very pertinent point, prosecutor.

Even if you bribe the hotel owner, the witnesses will still say they saw Sunry leave after the blaster shot was fired.



All right, Firith, let's do this.





Your point is well-taken Arbiter. Do you have additional questions?

Why, yes. Several, in fact.



I think it may have been. I mean, you'd have to pretty stupid to leave something that important lying around, wouldn't you?

Indeed.



Jhosa seems to agree.







No, this piece of evidence is very important. It establishes the character of Elassa and perhaps her intent in dealing with Sunry.

We might be getting somewhere. Questioning the witnesses at the hotel and persuading them for extra information was definitely a good idea.



That'll do for now, I think. We won't bring up the fact Sunry is disabled (the game will not stop calling him "a cripple" which isn't exactly a term you should use in court or anywhere else for that matter) because we know Sunry was always accused of shooting Elassa in the back. Some of these seemingly stupid options will actually help convince a particular judge at the cost of weakening your case with the rest of them, so there is an optimal way to go through this.



Nah, not yet.





The prosecution may question the witness.

We learned that Gluupor was paid by the Sith to plant the medal on the body, but before we can reveal that information we'll have to sit through the Sith prosecutor going on and on.







Perhaps, Sith, perhaps. It is the turn of the defense to question the witness now.

Wait, that's it? Okay, I'm not complaining.



Zila was actually stuck in this pose and expression here, completely frozen in place with a permanently raised eyebrow. I don't remember seeing this glitch before.



But... Gluupor not see him really kill Sith...



Do you wish to ask the witness anything else?



Okay, good, she's no longer stuck. Now that that's sorted out, we should talk about the medal that anyone could see was planted on the scene.



Gluupor just think these things happen. It is just... odd...

It certainly is, Gluupor.



Something... really shouldn't say fishy in front of the Selkath judges... err... dodgy is going on with Gluupor's testimony, and Kota can tell.



Of course, we know why Gluupor is acting strangely.



Don't do it, Gluupor...

Hm? Did the esteemed prosecutor perhaps pay Gluupor himself?





Naleshekan chiming in as well now.





You are certain of this Gluupor?

Gluupor certain...

This new evidence puts the entire case in a new light.



Again, that's all for now. Let's take the opportunity to poll the judges.



We've got Shelkar.



Jhosa as well.



Naleshekan needs more convincing.



We have Kota too. That means we've got a majority at the moment, so if we keep this up Sunry will walk.



Not even trying to be impartial there, Duula? Duula and Naleshekan will both require more before they're convinced and a full consensus can be attained.



Next, we've got Elora to question.



He was crippled in that war. Do you not believe he'd blame the Sith for his injury?



Why wouldn't he?



I don't think that holds up as well as Mr. Prosecutor here would like.



Certainly.







Be silent! You have already questioned the witness, prosecutor.

He had been seeing her for some time, I think. *sniff* But he said he was going to change!



But now things have become so very complicated...

That is very enlightening evidence. It will influence our deliberation considerably. Do you have any more questions, Arbiter?

Let's see what we've got.



No, I don't think these questions will cut it.



Polling the judges gives us the same result as last time so we've still got the majority on our side.



I wish to call forth Sunry himself, your Honors.

Well, that makes sense at least.



Hopefully, Sunry manages not to do anything stupid while he's up there in front of the judges.







Come on, he's clearly leading the accused! Sadly, we don't actually get the option this time.





Well, yes I... I was... I had been having an affair with Elassa on my wife, yes... But I realized how wrong I had been and I was going there to end it!

You were having an affair with a Sith! You wanted to end it quickly and quietly, so you killed her from behind and tried to flee!

No, I...

I think we can see the answer clear enough, Mr. Sunry!

I think the prosecution should perhaps calm down a little. This is a courtroom, after all.



The Sith prosecutor is making such an ass out of himself that Duula tells him to knock it off with that bullshit. Nice job.





Alright, here we go again.



Was she? That's what we've been told, at least. I don't know if this option actually helps our case much, but my guess would be no.





Yeah, I don't think that went down quite as well as we'd hoped.



The fact remains: Elassa was a Sith and likely a spy as well.

Still, Jhosa seems to be convinced. Too bad we don't really need to convince him any more than we already have.





Right, the medal. He said Elassa might have stolen it earlier and given it to her Sith master.



It's possible the Sith had stolen it and had it planted on the body.



No, it really isn't. We already know Gluupor was paid by the Sith, possibly this fine fellow himself, to plant the medal on the body.



Kota likes it, but again he's not one of the judges that still require convincing.





They... they might have killed her for her failure... or they might have thought she'd turn against them or something like that.



No, they're a lot worse.



Naleshekan isn't having any of his shit.



I think we're looking pretty good at this point.



That said, Duula and Naleshekan still aren't convinced.



I think the facts in this case are very straight forward: Sunry was having an affair with Elassa. He sought to end it, and the simplest, quickest method given his hatred of the Sith was to simply kill her. *Ahem* Witnesses saw Sunry fleeing the scene, and material evidence places him there at the time of the murder as well. I am confident that any informed observation of the facts will lead the judges - your Honors - to this very conclusion.

Indeed. And your closing statements, Arbiter?

Okay then, here comes the moment of truth. Our last chance to convince the judges of Sunry's "innocence".



This is true, of course. No one can prove Sunry did it. He was acting suspicious for obvious reasons, but no one saw him pull the trigger and there were no fingerprints or anything else on the scene to prove it was him.





The prosecutor clearly isn't reading my comments.



Is there another point you would make?



We'll go with this one, which seems to be the most sensible argument.



Your time for arguments has passed, and you would do well to remember that!

The Arbiter's argument does bring up a valid point. Is there anything else you would state?



NO NO ABORT ABORT

We'll only hurt our arguments with this one, but for some reason that completely escaped my mind when I was recording. Sunry is the only one going on about the whole spy thing and no one believes his stupid ass, but I guess he kept yelling it loudly enough that my stupid ass decided to mention it here. I suppose I might've also had some sort of half-baked thought along the lines of "Well, the Sith killed Elassa because Sunry was ending the affair, and while doing so they figured they might as well pin the murder on Sunry... and they didn't totally shoot down the idea of Elassa maybe having been a spy."

I guess the hidden camera in Elassa's room was installed by the Sith, but we only have Sunry's word for that as well. Honestly, nobody looks good in this whole debacle.





Jhosa does consider this a valid argument, but again he is not the person we need to convince, and we have run out of opportunities to convince the ones we have to.





Yeah, I think we're good. While some of the seemingly dumb arguments will help convince certain judges, I don't believe these will do much for our case.



Alright, fingers crossed. Honestly, we don't really care what happens to Sunry one way or the other, but we definitely don't want the Republic to receive any sanctions from the Selkath because that could be a disaster. Sunry is a shithead and probably deserves some sort of punishment, but not like that.



Mission accomplished, I guess. Had we managed to get all the judges on our side, the Sith would also get some sanctions slapped on them and some of the kolto they're getting would be handed over to the Republic instead. Still, at least we managed to stop things from getting worse.



The Sith prosecutor reacts in his usual dignified manner.





We'll take it.



Based on what we've seen, Sunry does not deserve Elora.







Try not to cheat on your wife with any more Dark Jedi, Sunry.



All's well that ends well, I suppose.



With the trial finished and Sunry a free man once again, it's time for us to forget all about that business and continue the main quest. Yeah, we still have a Star Map to find, and that means we first have to go to the Sith base and retrieve the data from the Republic probe droid they stole.



But we Sith have long memories. Soon there will be a day of reckoning - very soon. So what are you doing here?



We managed to create a fake passcard for the Sith base when we cracked their encryption last time, so let's show our shiny new pass to this friendly Sith guard.



Well, excuse me for assuming we needed to present our passcard like we've had to do everywhere else.



Next time, we will kill a lot of Sith. I'm sure that won't land us in any trouble whatsoever.