Criminal court judge Ken Hirano was nearing the end of his rope.

Two weeks ago, a law had been hastily passed, granting criminal court judges the power to sentence convicted felons to compulsory service in the armed forces. Such a decision had seemed a little extreme even in the midst of the recent crisis, but after news had begun to surface of more than a hundred combat casualties in the mining quadrant, Ken had realized that such a decision was tantamount to a death sentence.

Almost every judge of the criminal court circuit had flatly refused to pass such sentences, hoping that, as had happened so many times before, the council would understand that they had been hasty in passing the law, and allow it to be in effect tacitly revoked through sheer disregard for its tenets.

Instead the Council had decided to enact Article Thirteen of the offending law. In an ultimate insult to any self-respecting judge, the article called for attachés from the Military Justice Department to be appointed to assist at criminal trials, and to advise their civilian counterparts on the best way to go about fulfilling the Council's wishes.

Lieutenant-colonel Germano Gutierrez smiled at him as the moment for sentencing arrived, making plain his intention that the four youths accused of engaging in a street fight be inducted into the forces.

Sighing heavily, Ken shook his head at the officer, and he thought hard on a justifiable reason to spare the boys as he watched Germano's smile grow daggers. Finally clearing his throat, Ken passed his ruling.

"It is the decision of this court that, on the day of the facts previously described, the four defendants engaged in the crime of public disorder. The fact that the defendants have accused each other of provoking the altercation is insignificant, since provocation as a justification does not legitimize the criminal act. In light of the proven facts, it is the decision of this court –"

He hesitated, aware that the colonel possessed the authority to usurp sentencing from his hands and make his own ruling, and finally decided upon a concession.

"... that Donovan Lieberman and Rikku Thomasson, each being the elder of the opposing pair, be sentenced to no less than eight months of compulsory military service, with the possibility of said period being extended at the pleasure of his Excellency the Commander of the CDF."

The decision carried through the courthouse like a sonic boom, and the looks of terror on the elder boys' faces tore at his heart. Both families lost their composure, and it took the intervention of several members of the court Police to stop them from forcefully approaching his bench. The younger two, who had only recently finished high school and had good perspectives for higher studies, both collapsed into their seats as if by common agreement.

Whatever their objections, Ken had no doubt that it had been the two older boys who had begun the fight. Wishing them well, he sentenced the remaining pair to eighty hours of community service each.

The lieutenant-colonel gave him a sly look and then followed with a discreet nod, and the beginnings of an understanding began to form between the two judges.

"Next case!" Ken ordered.

The bailiff squared her slim shoulders and leaned up to whisper to him.

"You honor, this next case is that queer one we were discussing yesterday ..."

"The ... oh hell ..." he remarked, remembering. "Call the boys in."

At the bailiff's soft beckoning, a rugged crew of eight young men trudged into the courtroom, followed by a squad of metropolitan policemen. The detainees sneered at the court officials as they entered and then gazed indolently at their surroundings. The last to enter was the smallest among their number, clothed in a trench coat a size too large for him. Lieutenant-colonel Gutierrez watched the group like a hawk as they formed a line before the dock.

"Very well," Ken began, "the case before us regards the group of young men known among police officers as the Pirates of the Periphery. I have come to know of this misfit group over the last few months due to their ... uh, activities. We will begin with a confirmation of your identities."

The old judge read each youth's name in turn, taking care to confirm home address and date of birth. He wasn't surprised to discover that the boy in the trench coat was the youngest of the group, at nineteen. The remainder ranged from twenty to twenty four years old, and all without exception hailed from the research stations.

That was one of the unusual aspects of the group. Every gang he knew of was local, those hailing from the hubs usually arriving in town only for birth, study or employment. He turned to the man studying documents to his right.

"Prosecutor, please present your case."

"Thank you, your honor," the prosecutor said. "On the eighteenth of June of the present year, a purported separatist movement known as Core Hack simultaneously hacked into the Leiben Metropolitan and Underground Transit Systems. The computing power for this act originated from the twelve computers of Leiben Varsity's Central Library, but by the time the Campus Policing Authority had made its appearance there, no one was to be found. Not even the librarian, it seems.

"However, the hack was ultimately successful only because two groups of varsity students infiltrated city administrative facilities and connected to terminals there, shutting down the systems and creating the wireless connections necessary for the hack to proceed. These groups, consisting of four students each, were subsequently arrested and stand before Your Honor today."

"And how was the arrest achieved?" Ken inquired.

"The shutting down of the transit systems did not deactivate the installations' security cameras. Metro and UTS security officials detected the intrusions and informed the LPD. Officers converged on both locations, Metro Administrative headquarters and UTS Services. Due to the UTS being of great proximity to LPD personnel's sleeping lodges, an abundant number of off-duty police officers made the arrest on location. The only problem was deciding who would get recognition for the arrests .The final tally of arresting officers was twenty-six."

Ken whistled at the number.

"Was there resistance? Who are the detainees from the UTS?"

"Darryl Hikari, Fumio Fukitsu, Peter Kojima and Timothy Bowker. All four resisted vigorously, they're members of Leiben Varsity's Kendo club, but apparently they dab in other arts as well. Seven injuries among the officers," the prosecutor finished with distaste.

"And what of the Metro group?"

"They –" the prosecutor suddenly stopped, and Ken was alarmed at the expression he saw there.

"Well?"

"Perhaps it would be best if the senior arresting officer speaks about that," the prosecutor proposed carefully.

"Is there any particular reason why you shouldn't be able to explain that yourself?" the judge asked, mystified.

"Indeed I read the documents pertaining to the arrests, and it was all so convoluted I have a few questions myself," the prosecutor answered in embarrassment.

"Very well, then, prosecutor. Please have the holographics of the security cameras set up. While this is done I will hear your officer."

*****

Ken blinked as he digested the officer's words.

"Sergeant-chief Portento, could you run that last part by me again?"

The sergeant sighed and rubbed his shaven head.

"A tram. An electrical tra –"

"With or without the passengers?"

"With."

"How many passengers?"

"Four hundred and fifty-seven, Your Honor."

The judge studied the sergeant for a few moments. He then laid his eyes upon the defendants, as if seeing them anew. The lieutenant-colonel tisked, a delighted expression stamped on his face.

"What insane band of baboons would see fit to hijack a tramfull's worth of our nation's citizens?!"

The sergeant cleared his throat.

"Eleven, sir."

"What?!"

"Eleven tramfulls' worth, sir."

"And they hacked it?"

"That and other vehicles, Your Honor."

"Please continue."

The sergeant rubbed his hands together, trying to remember where his story had been interrupted. Then it came to him.

"So when metro security informed us that the suspects were on the move towards Neumann Station, we raised camp and set south. Traffic was high so, in order to gain time and prevent accidents, we activated the Sudden Stop contingency."

"Could you explain that last part, Sergeant-chief?" the prosecutor interjected.

"When we request the Sudden Stop contingency to our radio central, they commandeer the ATS systems and paralyze all automated surface vehicles. They simply pull over to the curb and leave us free to move."

"And the hack wouldn't have prevented that?"

"No, prosecutor. That system was not hacked."

"And this could not have been done with the metropolitan tram?"

"No, prosecutor. That system was hacked, they could do what they wanted."

"So you activated the contingency ..." the judge interrupted. "Proceed with your testimony."

"Activating the contingency became part of the problem," the officer remarked angrily before continuing. "When we got there, we surrounded the station's exits. We were about to make entry when we were swamped by the tram passengers. We found out fast that the suspects had already abandoned the location.

"Then one of my officers approached me. He had arrived from the 14th Precinct, opposite from our heading, and he told me that an ATS cab had passed him by when he was closing in. He hadn't thought much about it at the time, but then he remembered that no cab was supposed to be moving. And he also remembered the four young males who were inside the vehicle."

"No. Don't tell me ..." the judge huffed in disbelief.

"Yes, Your Honor. They hacked the ATS cab ..." the sergeant admitted, as if he himself were to blame.

There were sniggers from within the group of defendants.

The judge banged his gavel and bid all be quiet, warning of consequences if they were to test him again. He then asked the sergeant to continue.

"We came across the couple they'd kicked off the cab. When we activated the Sudden Stop, their vehicle came to a stop in front of Neumann station. They were simply waiting for the vehicle's system to reactivate when the four showed up and threw them out. They literally threw them, Your Honor. Then the victims got mixed up with the throng of metro passengers and we only heard from them a minute later. We informed radio central of the development, and requested that personnel keep an eye out for any mobile ATS cabs. We then dispersed all over Leiben. Destiny had it that mine would be the patrol car to come across them. We found the fugitive vehicle grinding against almost every parked ATS cab on Eric Vandenburg street."

"Vandalism?"

"No sir. The ATS cabs have no actual wheel to drive with, as you may well know. Our technicians explained that steering, accelerating and braking information to the cab is supplied by the vehicle's CPU. The boy somehow managed to supply direct orders to the vehicle at real-time speeds."

"And who is this boy you're speaking about?"

The sergeant pointed out the boy in the trench coat.

"That one. Isogu Kitsune. He looks like a high school boy but the others listen to him. He's more of a troublemaker than he looks. Mister Kitsune was the Metropolitan tram driver and the ATS cab driver, he was imputing the instructions to both vehicles with a heavily modified qwerty keyboard. But as soon as we showed up and it became a pursuit, he simply wasn't able to type fast enough. The ATS cab managed to keep going another four hundred meters, and then it clipped two parked cars and hit a patrol car."

"How many injured?" the judge asked.

"None. The vehicle's officers had positioned it to block the road. They were outside the car, Your Honor."

"Did the defendants put up a fight?"

"We didn't give them the chance. The collision left the suspects shaken up long enough for us to make the arrests without incident."

"What else can you tell us, Sergeant-chief?"

The sergeant appeared indecisive for a brief moment, and then he clapped his hands determinedly together and began to speak.

"I know the group, Your Honor. The 'Pirates of the Periphery' is the name we had for the group before we could put faces to their hacker aliases. We now know that they call themselves Core Hack, and that they're a computer hacking community bent on enabling independence of the research hubs from centralized government. Within that community is a hard core of activists known as the Alphas. Our informants declare that this nucleus has command and control over the remainder, and that they consist of a group of eight individuals, mostly from the Terminator hub, just like the detainees present in this very –"

A choked guffaw interrupted his monologue. The judge instantly banged his gavel and ordered the offending defendant to be gagged. The attempt to gag the boy sent the remainder into laughing hysterics, and it took seven additional gags to put an end to the laughter. Once silence had been reestablished, Ken turned to Sergeant-chief Portento, a severe expression set on his face.

"I hardly think the leaders of a movement would have exposed themselves in the way these fools have. How did you get by this information?" he asked critically.

The question put the sergeant on guard.

"Varsity sources, Your Honor. Surely there's no requirement for me to be more specific."

"There is not, " the judge decided after some thought.

"Your Honor," the Lieutenant-colonel intruded, "I am satisfied. Regarding the evidence presented against the defendants, I mean. Moreover, I agree with you about the supposed leadership role of these boys. These boys aren't leaders, they're adventurers. If they want a real adventure, I've got one for them. I want them. All of them," the officer declared, his gaze fixed on Ken.

The old judge grimaced, knowing the old soldier was right. He stared at the haughty youths, and his gaze paused on the boy with the trench coat. There was an almost vulnerable demeanor to him, as if a war would tear him apart in the first clash. Then he considered the sheer panic the city had suffered at their hands, and his heart began to harden. He thanked the police officer for his testimony and dispensed him from further questioning. He then cleared his throat and made his judgment.

"The defendants before me have managed to simultaneously paralyze the Metropolitan, Underground Transit and Automated Transit systems. Had this happened at the eve of the Great Rains, what might have happened? Hundreds would have been stranded above-ground to brave the Winds at their most intense, and if the Rains had happened to pelt down at that time, how many would have been washed into the floodplains? Perhaps your friends took this into consideration or perhaps they didn't care. The people of Leiben have always been brother and sister to you, and now that the Earth-born have arrived to put an end to all indigenous inhabitants, that truth is all the clearer now. At least for those sensible enough to see it.

"You young men seem not to have seen it. And blindness has consequences in the real world. The consequences in this case will be severe.

"Darryl Hikari, Fumio Fukitsu, Peter Kojima and Timothy Bowker. You are convicted of Civil Net piracy, qualified intrusion, sabotage, resistance and seven counts of qualified assault. You are sentenced to no less than two years of compulsory military service, with the possibility of said period being extended at the pleasure of his Excellency the Commander of the CDF.

"Wolfram Kurayami, Drakum Balog, Maderu Scindia and Isougo Kitsune. You are convicted of Civil Net piracy, qualified intrusion, sabotage, qualified damages, resistance, four hundred and fifty-seven counts of sequester, wanton vandalism and two counts of simple assault and coercion. You are sentenced to no less than four years of compulsory military service, with the possibility of said period being extended at the pleasure of his Excellency the Commander of the CDF."

He expected the storm to break. It did not. Several of the newly convicted smiled beneath their gags, while others merely appeared annoyed at the sentence. The boy in the trench coat maintained an impassive expression, and the old judge began to wonder about him.

*****

The moment the judge wished them well, policemen removed the convicts' gags and shushed them as soon as they began to complain. The group was then led away to the courthouse detention block to the building's rear.

The eldest among them smiled as they walked along, thinking of how it had all worked out. The Movement's greatest weakness was not a lack of personnel. It was quality and training that they was lacking. Not one soldier, not one police officer, not even a fireman was to be found among them. They were a horde of overeducated undergraduates. It was that very dominant quality within Core Hack that had motivated the Wolf to form his own pack. Unfortunately, there was only one within it who possessed the intellect for elaborate planning. The remainder, if he was uncomfortably honest with himself, were little more than muscle.

Which was why they were known as the Alphas. It was not a name they had chosen for themselves. It was the depiction the members of Core Hack had of them, a derogatory adjective that had slowly become a name. The Fox's recruitment had been meant to make up for that.

As they entered the cell block where delinquents awaited transport to the army recruitment office, the Wolf gave the Fox a one-armed bear-hug and pulled him close.

"Sorry about this, Isougo, it looks like study time is over."

The Fox shrugged.

"Thank the gods. I was sick of it any way. Do you realize how fortunate we are?"

The Wolf smiled from his two meter frame, letting loose a chuckle at the thought.

"Free training and operational experience. Access to weaponry and ammunition. This is a wet dream for me. What's your analysis?"

The Fox furrowed his brow as he thought on the matter, ignoring the congratulatory slaps his pack mates were laying into his back.

"It would be inconvenient if we were all to die. We need to volunteer for different operational units. And –"

"No, my hasty fox. We need to stick together. I know it would be more rewarding information-wise if we were to separate, but you're not considering that we are a pack. So, what do you think of the earthlings in all this?"

The Fox peered up at his senior with a quizzical expression.

"You know well that the people from the hubs will be used as cannon fodder against the earthborn. We'll simply have to defeat them. And then we can finish what they started when they tried to level Leiben."

The Wolf grinned and leaned down to his junior's ear.

"It seems my hasty fox has unwittingly become a wolf. Good for you."

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