Chapter IX

"Now wait a damn minute!" shouted Miriallia before Phil could put the key in the ignition.

"What?" replied the clearly aggravated inspector.

"That man down there must have known Rykiel. He was the one who gave me the photograph." Phil turned to the woman and dropped his hand from the ignition. "Colbretti told me that he had a secret he needed to tell, and that if he did, he would be targeted. He wanted me to help arrange asylum for him on earth."

"Yes?"

"I'm guessing that Rykiel must've known what this secret was as well. He was the one was in the photograph, wasn't he?" Zavey brought his hand to his chin and scratched it. "Listen, Colbretti said he had a wife. Maybe if we find her, she can tell us." Phil nodded his head.

"Alright, but once we do, you get out of here, understand?" Miri nodded. "Okay, let's go."

XXXXXXX

Krueze stared bullets at general Waltfeld from across the room. The two were alone in the room, and Rau clearly had the upper hand. "We needed Colbtretti alive." he said.

"What did you want my men to do? They were being fired on."

"We're going to have to do something drastic."

"And what would you suggest, sir?" asked Andrew in a clearly mocking tone. Kreuze walked over to Waltfeld's desk and began to finger a small pewter skull that sat next to the man's family pictures.

"Well, I'm sure by now your man Zavey knows more than he should. Let's make sure he can't find out anymore."

XXXXXXXX

It was five-in-the-morning. Phil found himself driving Dearka back to his apartment (his wound being rather minor, but still requiring some quick surgery and a sling), with Miriallia in the backseat. "So," said Dearka, breaking the awkward silence. "You're from Earth Ms. Haw?"

"Yes." she replied.

"Where exactly on Earth?" he further inquired.

"I lived in New York for a little while, until a little before the war. I left to go to college on Heliopolis."

"New York? Phil here saw much of New York during the war…through a periscope."

"That is until the victory parade through Times-Square." said the would-be chauffer.

"Zavey here hunted convoys in the Atlantic from beneath the waves."

"So you were on a submarine?"

"That's right. The Zaft submersible vessel Titan" he replied.

"You know those convoys sometimes carried innocent people." said the Brunette woman.

"Innocent people," he retorted. "As I recall, your attack on the nation of Orb killed more than 7,000 people."

"That wasn't the alliance. That was Murata Azrael."

"And it WAS the Earth Alliance that put that lunatic in a position where he could do it."

"Well you threatened to use nuclear weapons against the United States."

"And you did use them against Junius 7." That remark effectively ended the conversation. The trio sat in the car for another ten minutes until they finally came to Dearka's apartment and dropped him off. Miri got out and hopped into the front seat. "Listen, Phil, I'm sorry about…"

"It's okay." he interrupted. "Let's not open old wounds. The war's over. We're supposed to be friends, right?" She smiled and so did he in reply. Phil got back on the road and continued to drive, passing the hotel she was staying at on the way.

"What're you doing?" she asked anxiously.

"It's too dangerous to leave you at your hotel. You'll sleep at my apartment tonight." The two exited the vehicle and made their to the policeman's apartment.

XXXXXXXX

When morning came, Phil arose to find the journalist asleep on the couch. He didn't bother waking her and instead went downstairs and out to his car. He pressed the direct line button that put him through to the department and waited. "Colonel Zavey, how are you this morning." It was Caryl, the receptionist.

"I'm fine Caryl. Can you put me through to Martin Dacosta the evidence and data recovery office?"

"Yes, right away." The screen blanked, showing the ZAFT police shield before it opened to Martin's face.

"Zavey! I haven't seen you in ages. Where have you been?" he asked

"Not important right now. There's something I need you to do for me." Dacosta expression turned rather grim. "What?" asked the inspector in a tone mixed with tiredness and irritation.

"Well, it's just that…you're not exactly one to be friends with right now, Phil." Phil rubbed his eyes and crossed his arms. He sighed. "I understand what you mean, but I need this file." Dacosta nodded his head and reached forward towards the screen. "No! Wait!" Martin hesitated and brought his hand back. "I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this, but I'm afraid you leave me no choice."

"Go on."

"Martin, if your superiors were to look through your catalog of inventory, they might come across certain discrepancies, including the absence of some illegal pornography." Martin didn't speak and Phil raised his eyebrow.

"You're not one for this world, Phil."

"Call me when you get the fucking file. I'll pick it up outside the station." the Colonel said before he turned off the screen. There was a tapping at the window. Phil looked over to see Miriallia, then opened the door and swung his legs over to the curb.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I just got some information on this Colbretti." He stepped out of the car. "Let's go back upstairs."

XXXXXXXX

It was around five o'clock when Martin phoned. "You have no idea what I had to go through to get this. I don't anything more to do with it." he told Phil when he gave him the file.

"It's alright. You've already done enough." reassured Phil. He drove Miriallia downtown and parked the car outside a restaurant called Deighton's Cafe. The two opened the file and began to rifle through the papers. "Look at this." said Phil. "It says that he was also a member of the Natural Resettlement Committee along. Last year, he received a letter asking for his retirement. In Norton's file, it said he was forcibly retired due to Bronchitis, but also received the same letter."

"What do you bet Rykiel also received one?" asked Miriallia. "Here," she said, holding up a picture of a middle-aged woman with short, silver hair. "This is his wife, Ezaria Jule. All we have to do is find her."

"Shouldn't be too hard. She was a member of the supreme council, you can probably find her on my computer." Miriallia pulled the keyboard out. "Just type her name into that search-bar and it should be able to find her address." The journalist began typing and eventually brought up a picture of the woman with accompanying information. "That's her. 1610 Harbor Way."

XXXXXXX

"So this is where she is. Classy place." commented Miri as she looked at the upscale apartment. The woman opened the door. "You stay here, I'll go talk to her."

"Yes ma'am." replied Phil Jokingly. Miriallia walked into the building and up to the front desk. After finding out the woman lived on the penthouse on the top floor, she got into the elevator and made her way up. The doors to the penthouse were blue and white with gold gilding and were somewhat ostentatious to the natural woman. She knocked quietly at the door and waited. It opened slightly and a silver-haired woman looked out between the cracks

"Who are you? Where is Markus?" she asked.

"He sent me to come get you."

"He told me that if anyone but him came, I should destroy them."

"Ahh… he told me you would say something like that, but you see I've arranged asylum for you two." The hostile woman opened the door further and then turned and walked over to a small dresser.

"That's good. We can't spend much more time here you know."

"I know. He said that you were going to be targeted."

"Yes, it's unfortunate." Miriallia opened her mouth but didn't speak right away. She licked her lips then paused for a few seconds.

"Why would you be targeted?" she asked. The woman turned around and looked at the curious Journalist.

"Because we know what happened to the naturals." Miriallia turned her slightly to one side indicating puzzlement.

"What do you mean? What naturals?"

"The ones that lived here in the colonies." The journalist looked even more puzzled.

"You mean the ones that were sent to Earth. They were resettled weren't they?"

"Yes, they were resettled," Ezaria pointed on finger upwards. "In the air."


After the war was lost, Azrael began to lose power within the Earth Alliance. In a last, desperate attempt to hold onto it, he launched an unauthorized attack against theOrb Union. This was the event that triggered his removal from the Alliance and the beginning of his decade-long war against ZAFT with the forces he still controlled.