Phoenix was momentarily consumed by the flashback of the intense case where he had faced off against the almighty Manfred von Karma. Fear was obvious in his face, and his legs started to shake. Maya had also been affected by the news, so much so that Phoenix thought she spied a small convulsion of her body, as if she had suffered a small shock.
"B-But that's impossible! It can't be him!" Phoenix exclaimed, still in denial of the situation. "Not after what happened in that case…"
"Natural reaction. We were pretty surprised too when we heard it." Eagle said, his arms still crossed. He kept an image of coldness in him at all times when he crossed his arms. "I naturally had followed the case where you faced off against this beast of a prosecutor. I know what happened. And yet, he is here, ready for the trial. Only Blue Moon to pull that off." Eagle spoke the last sentence with certain annoyance.
"I'll explain." Jess walked around the cell while speaking. "The victim has a considerable wealth behind her, as does the Blue Moon country in general. It was one of the biggest countries, it not the biggest, before our unification. That said, the victim has a brother, who, despite his age, is a high-ranking official on the Blue Moon. His name is Colin, and there is no wealthier family than his, to the best of my knowledge. Now, having all that wealth in hand, it's not strange to have a big influence in all sorts of areas. Colin wanted to give her sister the best of treatment, the best of medicine and, of course, the best prosecutor to ensure she was properly avenged." She paused. Phoenix gulped. "I don't know how much money it was needed to get von Karma here, but the fact is that he's around, and I have reason to believe he is positively more dangerous than before, having Blue Moon as his support."
Phoenix listened with attention and horror mixed in one. He made no remark. Jess looked in Eagle's direction.
"I envisioned such a reaction." Eagle said with a sigh. "That's why I didn't want to tell you sooner… before we arrived here. My apologies."
Phoenix was still deaf to his words, thinking about how much more difficult would a trial be against such a formidable opponent. Would he be up to the task? He couldn't count on luck again. Von Karma would be even more ruthless than before. The trial could easily before a large-scale battlefield.
"I have one question." Phoenix faltered. Both members of Green Earth averted their eyes towards the attorney. "Are you truly innocent?"
"Yes." Jess said simply, but serious. Phoenix looked into her eyes, and sneakily touched the Magatama, which was on his pocket, with his right hand. No locks appeared. She seemed to be telling the truth. He sighed.
"Alright. I'll take your case, then. Not that I have much of a choice, after being brought here."
"Capital!" Eagle smiled slightly. "So we should lose no time in exposing the facts to you. Jess, if you please?"
"Yeah, sure…" Jess replied, which still didn't act like she was excited. "I'll expose the facts as I know them. Listen closely."
"First of all, though, it's important that you know where we stand. The people of the Cosmo Land waged war for a long time. We are 4 factions: Orange Star, Blue Moon, Green Earth and Yellow Comet. However, the appearance of a faction called Black Hole made the war go into full scale, as they used strategy to deceive us, thinking we needed to fight amongst ourselves. Years after the Black Hole was no more, all factions united as one, and you're now standing in its headquarters. That is the background of this place. Now for the facts."
"We are all at peace, but our rigorous preparation for war has compelled us to have some military drills every now and then. On the day of the incident, I had worked with my indirect attack units, artilleries, shooting a specified target by the edge of the island. The event wasn't anything special, as I often practice with my vehicles around the island. That day, I did as normal, and withdrew my units before it got dark. The day passed by quite normally, and by midnight, I was going to my quarters. When I got there, I received a call from an Orange Star commander, Nell, saying that one of my artilleries was left by the prairie north to this building. I looked through my window with some binoculars, and indeed there was a green artillery."
"But you said you withdrew all your units… if I understood correctly." Phoenix remarked, trying to keep up with the military terms he was dealing with. Jess nodded.
"Indeed, which is strange on itself. I would never commit this kind of mistake. Anyway, it was still an unit from Green Earth, so it was my responsibility to deal with it. Well, I set off at once."
"You were alone, then?" Maya asked, thoughtful. She knew they were getting to the big scene, so it was possible that she wanted to hear it in a bit more detail.
"Yes, I was. All the other commanders were on their quarters already, and the soldiers seemed to be as well. I didn't see a single soul on my way."
"How did you get to your unit? If you did at all." Asked Phoenix.
"My intention was to use the APC deployed near the HQ to move to the artillery unit, then tie the two vehicles together and bring the APC back to the HQ with the artillery."
"Hold on." Phoenix stopped her. "I thought you had a base where you stored these units? Why not store it there, like it should be?"
"Ah, that." Jess said, remembering something. "I couldn't use the base. Andy, an Orange Star commander, is usually in charge of such bases, as he is always repairing the damaged units. He goes to sleep at around 9, so I wouldn't be able to put my unit back in place until next morning. I thought I should as well leave it near the HQ, then."
"I see… go on." Phoenix said, trying to absorb all the facts of that most singular incident.
"Well, I did just as I planned, Mr. Wright. Took the APC, got it to bring the unit in question to headquarters. It was then that the incident happened. I heard something crossing through the air, and then a loud explosion. My instincts all told me that it was something like a bombardment, so I stopped and tried to make out where it was coming from, as to find the escape route and take cover. I found nothing, though, but then I heard a loud thud at some distance in front of me. It wasn't like a bomb this time. I exited to see what was going on, and much to my surprise, I saw that the Blue Moon corner of the headquarters was damaged around one window. Some fire was spreading, and some parts of the wall were falling. Obviously, something had attacked the room, but there was no other unit around, or plane in the air, as far as I could see. So, despite the Fog of War, I went straight back to the building and…"
"Fog of War?" Asked Phoenix, confused. Eagle stepped up to answer.
"The Fog of War is a most common condition here in Cosmo Land. It is pretty much like normal fog. We only call it that way because it constantly appeared when we were at war, and it played an important part in strategy."
"Oh, I understand." Phoenix said with a nod. Jess then continued.
"I arrived at the scene roughly 5 minutes after the explosion. I went to the 7th floor as quickly as I could, and there I found most of the commanders of the alliance aiding the victim. She seemed to be badly injured, but didn't complain about the pain, which is actually pretty becoming of her. I noticed I was the last to show up, and some of them noticed it too, deeming it suspicious right off the bat. Olaf, the head of the Blue Moon, was especially angry, shouting curses around madly. He eyed me with evil in his eyes, but we focused in getting Sasha to the med room first."
"Was everyone there?" Phoenix asked, ascertaining himself of the situation.
"To the best of my knowledge, only one person was missing." Jess answered, after thinking for some moments. "Grit. He's also a Blue Moon commander. He was out of the island at the day of the incident, running some issues with the other governments. He does hate to do so, but Olaf is always bossing him around with this kind of thing. Other than he, every commander was present. Nell, which is usually renown as our great leader, ordered a search to be made all around the island. Each corner of the island was inspected by one group, and Yellow Comet happened to come across the markings on the ground of both my drill in the afternoon and the lone artillery they tracked down to the HQ. Once their report reached Nell, and through some minor testimony of other officers, I was arrested. That is it, Mr. Wright."
Phoenix thought over it all for several minutes. Maya was also making an effort in assimilating it all. Eagle and Jess left them to their own minds for some time, until Phoenix finally spoke.
"This case doesn't seem as solid as I thought it'd be for either side. Despite that, von Karma is sure to bring every weapon he can to the fray, so I definitely have to watch out. Who is the detective in this case?" He asked that last part, almost hoping it would be a familiar face like Gumshoe, but once he remembered where he was, he lost hope.
"Sonja's doing that job." Eagle commented, scratching his head. "I heard she called a friend of hers for the forensics related to the case. She should be arriving today's evening. And speaking of today…" He took a glance at his watch. "It's almost 1 AM. It'd be very rude to keep both of you up any longer. Jess, I trust you have no objection?"
"I said what I needed." Jess replied, turning around in such a fashion that Phoenix was reminded of Lana. "I trust that the truth will be revealed in the trial. Investigate. If you need to discuss anything else with me, you'll find me here."
"Well, I do have one question, though it's not really related to the case." Phoenix said shyly. Jess made no complaints, so he went on. "What is that thing you're carrying?" He then pointed to the large yellow object she was sustaining so naturally during the whole conversation, that it looked effortless.
"Nick, it's obviously a giant crayon. I mean, what other thing would have that format and color?" Maya blurted, earning a glance of disbelief by Phoenix. Jess turned to them again, looking not as much annoyed as surprised.
"A crayon! Dear me, of course not. This is a tank shell." She said, waving the shell around as to show it entirely. "Geez, why do people always think it's a pencil or something..? I just like having one with me, OK?"
"It sure must make you feel… loaded." Maya said with a smile. If not for the glare received by his client, Phoenix would have laughed at that joke. Eagle made no ceremony to laugh out loud, though.
"Well, we should go now, shall we?" He said between laughs. "Good night, Jess: I'll take our guests to their rooms. I'll come to check on you tomorrow." As he finished the sentence, he called Phoenix and Maya with a wave of his hand, and they made their way to leave.
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Author's Note: If there are any questions you want answered by the characters in the next chapter, you can send reviews or PMs naming them, and I'll do my best to fit the explanation on the story. I have a full plot planned, though, so I won't be able to change anything major. Feel free to guess and speculate. Thanks for the people who follow this story, and I hope I won't let you down in the future.