Gundam 00: Rise of China

Chapter 92 The Princess's View of Iolia's Plan

"Miss Royal, have you discovered something?"

Following Miss Huang to the observation deck, Lockon, who had seemed quite agitated earlier, instantly calmed down.

Or, to put it another way, as the oldest and most mature of the four Gundam pilots, Lockon, in terms of the responsibilities he bears as a Gundam pilot.

He is the most perfect candidate and the most representative figure of adult thinking.

"You noticed it too?"

Leaning against the railing of the observation deck, with my back to the dark cosmic sky and the dazzling man-made solar-powered ring.

The young lady's face was shrouded in shadow, and in Lockon's eyes she appeared incredibly forlorn.

"What is the mission of the People's Revolutionary Alliance this time?"

Pulling himself out of his feelings of concern for Alleluia and anger towards Tieria, Lockon's mind raced as he began to sort out his thoughts.

"The new energy source of the People's Revolutionary Alliance is most likely atomic energy."

Without giving Lockon enough time to think, Miss Royal blurted out her guess and pulled Lockon to the observation deck.

Actually, I don't need Lockon to advise me on anything; I just want to find someone I can talk to so I can express some of my true feelings.

"atomic energy?"

"Yes, what else could it be besides atomic energy?"

Give Lockon some time, and he'll figure it out himself, so when Miss Royal gave the answer about atomic energy...

Lockon showed no surprise whatsoever; instead, everything seemed perfectly natural and inevitable.

"Is the order issued by Veda actually intended for us to sabotage the Atomic Energy Agency, which has been restarted by the United Nations Reform Movement of Independence?"

Leaning against the railing next to the princess, Lockon began to speculate on the true intentions of those above.

"It cannot be destroyed."

Looking up, Miss Huang's eyes revealed confusion. She stated definitively that the task they were about to undertake was utterly futile.

"That's true, that's the People's Revolutionary Alliance."

If it weren't Lockon by the Empress's side, but Setsuna or Tieria, she definitely wouldn't have heard such an answer. One of them would definitely say, "0 l ayvaGundamMei ster," and the other would shout, "Iolia's plan is absolute."

In short, they are not people you can reason with.

Fortunately, the young lady approached Lockon, a Gundam pilot who could understand human speech and think independently.

Nodding, Lockon fully understood what Miss Royal meant, and helplessly raised his head.

After all, it's the People's Revolutionary Alliance. Since they restarted the Atomic Energy Agency and quickly produced finished products, you can imagine how tightly the relevant agencies are protected.

And what scale the supporting industrial chain will be built up.

The power that the Human Revolutionary Alliance, possessing a complete industrial chain, can unleash is unparalleled in the entire gravity circle!

They wanted to use their four Gundams to destroy the Human Reform League's atomic energy facilities and all its affiliated companies.

Don't say you can't do it, you can.

What's the difference between succeeding and destroying the entire People's Revolutionary Alliance?

This is not about eradicating war; it's about actively provoking war and annihilating a nation!

Completely contrary to the ideals of the Celestial Organization—

"So, what are you trying to tell me?"

After a moment of silence, perhaps unable to bear the heavy atmosphere, or perhaps Lockon felt nothing for Miss Royal.

Given that he had a very good relationship with the ship's helmsman, Lasse, Lockon took the initiative to speak up and try to break the damned heaviness.

"I'm thinking about Aeolia's plans."

Perhaps sensing the atmosphere was off, and considering the Hollywood storyline, shouldn't they have used a stick to break the mattress if things continued like this?

She gave an awkward laugh, which turned out to be more like a grimace, and whispered.

"The plan Tieria mentioned about Aeolia?"

Lockon was a little caught off guard by the princess's abrupt shifts in topic, and then he instinctively felt a bit nauseous.

Perhaps Tieria, a dogmatist, talked too much?

This caused Lockon to develop a deep-seated aversion to this kind of high-sounding rhetoric, which gradually evolved into something resembling religious fervor.

The thought of those who treat regulations like sacred decrees, who cannot tolerate the slightest dissent, and who willingly hand over their own brains...

Shaking his head, Lockon felt a chill run down his spine.

"Didn't we all join Celestial Being for Aeolia's plan?"

"At least on the surface, we are all serving Aeolia's plan."

Seeing the hidden thoughts in Lockon's expression, Miss Royal reached out and tapped his forehead with her finger.

"Don't touch me, I have no such thoughts."

Lockon shuddered slightly and said that he and Lasse were good friends.

"What are you thinking about? What you should really be thinking about is what Aeolia's plan is."

"And what exactly is our Celestial Being organization?!"

Staring intently into Lockon's eyes, Miss Royal indicated that she had no such thoughts; she was simply using this gesture to bring your wandering thoughts back to reality.

"Why did you, me, Setsuna, and the people on this ship join the Celestials? And under what circumstances did we join them?"

As someone who, despite facing Manekin with flawed intelligence, managed a narrow victory and a draw, her tactical abilities are not bad, which implies that her logical reasoning abilities are even better.

She judged others by her own standards. Because of the devastating results of the battle and the death of her fiancé under her wrong command, she was disheartened and came into contact with the Celestial Organization's philosophy of eradicating war.

He then became the captain of the Ptolemy, a warship in the Armed Operations Department, with the intention of atonement and escape.

How much better can they be?

Although Lockon and his crew's past backgrounds were protected by strict confidentiality clauses, even they themselves could not see them.

But Miss Huang wasn't stupid; with her keen eyesight, she could discern things from everyday life.

"Join the Celestials."

Lockon understood the unspoken meaning behind Miss Royal's words; it's true that sometimes, communication between adults is just like that, unspoken and tacit.

Touching his chest, Lockon seemed to recall that night of blazing fire.

My parents and sister became sacrifices to an illegal armed group that night, giving their lives for something that wasn't their fault.

Lockon, who wanted revenge but didn't want to become one of the illegal armed groups, joined Celestial Being because he resonated with their ideals.

"Eliminate war!"

With a smile, Lockon looked at Miss Royal and gave a seemingly nonsensical answer, but the real answer was already understood in his heart.

Are we eradicating war now?

With her head lowered, Miss Huang was deeply moved by Veda's latest instructions, and issues that she had deliberately ignored in the past due to her tendency to avoid sadness resurfaced in her mind.

"Attacks on the AEU and the People's Revolutionary Alliance can be interpreted as a demonstration of strength."

"Attacking illegal armed groups, mining areas, and plantations is an act of punishing evil and upholding justice."

"Attack Taliban—"

Miss Huang paused, struggled for a moment, and then gritted her teeth and said.

"Veda claims that it was the root cause of the war."

"How should we interpret the current instructions?"

"Did the People's Revolutionary Alliance violate the agreement because of the nuclear energy ban?"

"Have they developed another weapon utilizing atomic energy?"

"Weapons and tools are just weapons and tools; it depends on who uses them."

"Instead of assuming they bear an unforgivable original sin the moment they appear."

"Throughout the history of gravity, the deadliest killers have never been atomic weapons; quite the opposite, it is precisely because of their existence."

"This ensured that for a considerable period of time, humanity did not engage in another large-scale global war."

"After they were banned, the solar energy war broke out immediately, and the number of deaths and the intensity of the war far exceeded those of the past."

There's one more thing you wanted to say but didn't, isn't there?

Taking a deep breath, Lockon took the opportunity to bring up something he had been thinking about since the Taliban war.

"Our actions have never involved the Union, neither directly nor indirectly."

"Is Uni on as pure and innocent as a white lotus flower?"

"In the Taliban incident, Veda's instructions revealed his biases very clearly."