The court-martial of Lieutenant General Willy Arden began before the civilian proceedings against Mace.
The military moved first because Willy’s crimes were visible, recorded, and tied directly to command betrayal. The courtroom was packed every day. Soldiers came quietly, not for spectacle, but because the case had shaken something fundamental. Orders depend on trust. Routes depend on trust. Medical calls depend on trust. If a general could sell a route and blame the medic who survived it, then every uniform in the room needed the record corrected.
The prosecution opened with the mess hall.
Not Kharan Ridge.
Not espionage.
The mess hall.
They wanted the panel to see the method before the motive. Willy did not merely betray in secret. He built public lies. He used humiliation as strategy. He used rank as theater. He used Aaron’s death to provoke Ju into becoming the villain he needed.
The video played.
Willy pouring sauce over Ju’s head.
The tray hitting her chest.
The chair kicked.
Ju falling.
Her hand closing around the fork.
Reed’s shot.
The fork flying away.
The prosecutor paused the footage on Willy’s face one frame before the shot.
He was watching the fork.
Not Ju’s eyes.
Not her injuries.
The fork.
“He came for this image,” the prosecutor said. “He did not get it.”
Ju testified on the third day.
She wore a clean uniform, no medals beyond what regulations required, hair tied back tightly. Willy did not look at her when she entered. That bothered her less than she expected. He had looked at her enough when he wanted to break her.
The defense tried to suggest she hated Willy.
“I did,” Ju said.
The attorney paused, surprised by the direct answer.
Ju continued, “After he poured sauce over my head, threw my tray, kicked my chair, blamed me for Aaron, and tried to turn me into evidence against myself, I hated him.”
The room went still.
The attorney asked, “So your testimony is biased?”
“My testimony is documented.”
That answer held.
She described Kharan Ridge, Aaron’s final words, the wafer, the medical pack, the second note, the anonymous threats, the mess hall trap. She did not ask anyone to believe her feelings. She pointed to logs, footage, messages, and physical evidence.
Then Lydia testified.
She read Aaron’s note aloud.
When she reached the line She did her job. He did not, Willy finally lowered his head.
Not in grief.
In defeat.
The panel found him guilty on charges including espionage, conspiracy, obstruction, witness intimidation, falsification of operational records, and conduct unbecoming. Sentencing would come later.
But Ju barely heard the list.
She was looking at Lydia.
For the first time, neither woman had to carry Aaron’s truth alone.