Day had broken.
The venue for PLANT's princess was completely packed.
It was not only Naturals in attendance. A large number of Coordinators had gathered here as well, making up roughly one-third of the audience.
Most Coordinators had not actually emigrated to PLANT's colonies. There were still nearly five hundred million Coordinators living on Earth.
For various reasons, some were attached to their homeland, while others could not bear to leave behind their Natural parents, among other reasons, so they remained on Earth.
They mainly lived in countries that did not show hostility toward Coordinators the way the Atlantic Federation did. That was why they were, in a sense, its wasted dead.
In other words, there were around five hundred million Coordinators on Earth, far more than the tens of millions living in PLANT.
If the people of Earth had simply treated those five hundred million Coordinators a little better, and if the Atlantic Federation had used them properly, they would have become an incredibly powerful force. Things would never have reached the point where PLANT could push the war down to the Earth itself.
Before coming to Lacus's world, Kain had never quite understood why the Atlantic Federation was so stupid.
Now, it seemed they really were just that stupid.
They had abused public opinion, using propaganda to brainwash their own citizens about the dangers of Coordinators. But they had overdone it. The result was too many religiously fanatical believers and extremists, making the situation impossible to reverse.
Once things reached that point, they could only keep walking down that road, because turning back would require paying a huge price, and those merchants were unwilling to pay it.
In their eyes, it only meant a few more people would die. It would not affect them.
"Haro, Haro, Big Haro!"
That was Lacus's Haro addressing him that way, because right now, he looked like a giant Haro. He was wearing an oversized Haro mascot costume.
He would appear onstage beside Lacus in this form, as a mascot for people to hit or play with however they liked.
Kain looked toward the audience, trying to see whether anyone seemed suspicious.
At the same time, in the VIP seats:
"Kisaka, how does it look?"
As Orb's chief representative, Uzumi Nara Athha was asking a trusted subordinate over his communicator.
"We can confirm it's the Seiran family. They have also secretly dispatched a team to the venue. Lord Uzumi, are you certain this will be all right?"
From atop a building five kilometers away from the venue, the man replied with clear concern.
If they still did not act now, and did not arrange for their own security forces to enter, then once the Seiran family made its move, the Athha faction and the others hated by the Seirans would almost certainly be caught in one sweep.
In addition, Miss Lacus would also fall into danger. According to the intelligence, members of the Earth Alliance had also slipped in, along with extremists.
In truth, even acting now was already somewhat late, but they could at least save some people.
"It will be fine."
"I understand."
The call ended.
"Father."
"What is it, Cagalli?"
Uzumi looked gently at his hesitant daughter beside him.
"It's just..."
Cagalli was still hesitating over whether to confirm whether that boy named Kira was really her younger brother, and whether she was truly her father's adopted daughter.
"You're very concerned about what relationship that child named Kira has with you, aren't you?"
Uzumi Nara Athha directly saw through his daughter's thoughts.
Cagalli had used the national system to investigate that child's family circumstances, which told him she had learned something of the truth.
After exposing what was on his daughter's mind, he took a photograph from his pocket and handed it over.
"This is..."
Cagalli's pupils widened. The back of the photo was facing her, and there were two names written on it. One was hers. The other was the name of the person she was trying to confirm.
With slightly trembling hands, she turned the photo over. It showed a gentle-looking woman holding two babies, one blond and one brown-haired.
"As for the rest, once the performance is over, we'll talk about it properly at home."
"Okay."
Cagalli nodded, then pulled back her somewhat unseemly expression and turned her gaze toward the stage.
At the same time, in one corner of the audience:
"I really didn't expect our princess to be this popular on Earth too."
Andrew Waltfeld pressed down the brim of his straw hat and spoke in astonishment.
"Isn't that obvious? How many people can resist Lacus's charm?"
Dearka said those words with a hint of pride. This was PLANT's princess, unlike those princesses on Earth.
Lacus gave people the impression of a princess from a fairy tale.
That was why he really did envy Athrun, because he was Lacus's fiancé.
"Nicol?"
Yzak suddenly called out from beside them. He had apparently spotted Nicol through his binoculars.
The others immediately lifted their own binoculars and followed the direction Yzak was looking. Sure enough, they really saw Nicol.
"He wasn't locked up?"
Dearka was rather stunned. They were just letting that kid move around freely?
It was probably for Lacus's sake.
The kid was following the team beside Lacus, finally stopping at the edge of the stage.
"Athrun, did you notice? Those two silver-haired women beside Lacus."
Yzak suddenly said that.
"Yes. Their movements are too standardized and too synchronized."
Athrun answered with a faintly grave expression.
Movements that precise could only belong to people who had undergone extremely harsh training, making them look almost like machines.
Those two were very likely members of the force that owned that abnormal fighter craft. What was their purpose in staying beside Lacus like this?
Still, what they most wanted to know was the identity of the pilot who had flown that fighter.
The pilot was male and about 1.8 meters tall.
Because he had also been wearing a combat suit, there had been no way to see his face. Trying to determine which person he was would be almost impossible.
"...Looks like this is another brand-new CG sequence. I'm looking forward to it."
Dearka could not help whistling. The princess's performance was about to begin.
The next second, an image appeared on the stage. It was a star system, but it did not seem to be the solar system.
After all, the solar system had no planet like that: a planet with a scorched, glassed-over surface and shocking fissures running across it.
It looked as though the slightest touch would cause that inconspicuous world to shatter like a glass bead or a marble.
At the same time, a faintly sorrowful song began to play, and the princess's figure gradually appeared, as though emerging from the starry sky.
As the melody of her song flowed onward, the background changed along with it, revealing even more devastating sights.
There were planets that had truly been shattered, planets missing huge chunks, and planets split cleanly in half.
The entire star system was filled with death. Everywhere was ruin.
When the camera turned toward the stars themselves, the scene became especially shocking. There were three stars that looked as though they might die at any moment.
They were like malfunctioning light bulbs, their radiance flickering between bright and dim.
When what seemed like a vast amount of celestial debris was drawn in, the stars briefly burned brighter, as though using it to prolong their lives.
As the song approached its end, the camera seemed to be falling toward a Jupiter-like planet. Then, as if it had suddenly detected something, the view turned.
"Ohhh, now that is an incredible effect."
Countless warships had warped into this dead star system. They began releasing innumerable celestial bodies, striking down interstellar warships.
The image froze there, locked on the magnificent scene of what seemed to be the opening moment of a war against something unknown.
At that moment, a faint crackle of electricity sounded.
Yzak's expression changed slightly. He immediately pulled out the communicator on his person.
It was smoking.
And it was not just him. The devices carried by Athrun and the others beside him were the same.
More precisely, every electronic device in the entire venue had begun to malfunction.
(End of Chapter)
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