Under Luther's description, brimming with "the charm of a moment in journalism," Captain Rau Le Creuset had undoubtedly become the central figure.
Luther had chosen to frame it this way for two main reasons.
First, by building his argument step by step, he made it seem that Rau had acted unilaterally, and that this was not an order from ZAFT, much less the will of Plant as a whole. Of course, for that to have any practical effect, someone on Plant's or ZAFT's side would have to cooperate in distancing themselves from him.
Second, it cast even more suspicion on Rau, whose record was already far from clean, and put him squarely in the spotlight.
Together, these points made it harder for Plant or ZAFT to shield Rau, while also offering them a way to distance themselves from him and reach out to Celestial Being—or, so to speak, extending an olive branch.
As for the Archangel being dragged into this, besides the fact that its own record was not exactly clean, it was also an excuse for Celestial Being's subsequent use of force.
After all, even if the live broadcast of the "Fall of Heliopolis" had given Celestial Being a place on the Cosmic Era's grand stage, they would naturally go on to reveal their ideals as well.
But as Lacus, who had been "turned into a villain" in the original timeline, famously said:
"Having ideals alone, or having strength alone, is not enough."
After the Luther Fleet officially became a participant in the Cosmic Era's turmoil as Celestial Being, it also had to fully demonstrate its strength to earn influence commensurate with its power and ideals.
And the "unsinkable ship," the Archangel, which had darted all over the place in the original timeline, was obviously very useful for that.
How useful it would be as the timeline continued to change remained to be seen. But at the very least, after Luther took on the Four Junior Gundams by himself, they could also use the Artemis Fortress to make an example of their power.
To achieve all these overt and covert aims, just as when Luther had argued that "Orb, the Earth Alliance, and Plant were all to blame," solid evidence was indispensable alongside his words.
Fortunately, with Luther's advance guidance and the efforts of everyone aboard the Gwameir—including Monica, who had personally led the team and served as a special operations captain in the General Headquarters' Special Services Department of the former Principality of Zeon—Celestial Being had promptly completed the copying and screening of Heliopolis's surveillance footage and other records.
This allowed them, during the full-frequency public address, to accompany Luther's words and explanations with footage presented in roughly chronological order, showing audiences around the world how both sides had fought without any regard for the civilians or Heliopolis's safety.
The first half naturally showed the Creuset Team infiltrating Heliopolis to seize the Gundam models.
First came the Heliopolis port authorities' calls to the Creuset Team, followed by footage of the team completely ignoring the warnings and brazenly sending mobile suits to attack.
Next came a Federation warship entering port in the "neutral nation of Orb," along with the sorties of the Moebius and Moebius Zero.
Finally came footage of the three parties—including Heliopolis's defensive forces—exchanging fire outside the colony.
"Some of you may think the events so far were still acceptable. Then let us take a look at how Heliopolis, home to a large civilian population, was gradually torn apart."
With Luther's introduction and the accompanying captions, the evidence of the "Fall of Heliopolis" entered its second half. After the initial fighting, in which both sides—or all three parties—had shown some restraint, the battle dragged on, and they became increasingly reckless—or, to put it more charitably, found it harder and harder to hold back.
First came the Moebius Zero and the CGUE, which had broken through the main shaft.
Next was the Archangel, firing missiles recklessly inside the colony and eventually striking the main shaft.
Then came the Strike Gundam, whose artillery equipment damaged the CGUE while also blasting a huge hole in Heliopolis.
After that was the Ginn, equipped with D Equipment, bursting through the colony wall without the slightest concern.
Finally, both sides fought recklessly inside the colony, ultimately causing Heliopolis to break apart.
"As you can all see, Heliopolis was once arguably the last peaceful haven in the world untouched by war. In the end, with its owners also bearing an undeniable share of responsibility, it was reduced to rubble drifting through space by the war between Plant and the Earth Alliance.
"Before today, many of you might have been able to deceive yourselves with Heliopolis or the neutral nation of Orb.
"But after today, we must all face a cruel reality: 'The Earth is vast, yet there is no longer anywhere peaceful and safe.'"
Having presented ample, detailed evidence that the government of Orb, as Heliopolis's owner, and the warring forces of ZAFT and the Earth Alliance all bore undeniable responsibility for the "Fall of Heliopolis," Luther's next step was to elevate the message.
"Let us look back on this past year of war!
"First came the Bloody Valentine and the April Fool's Crisis, then the fighting spread across the globe. Now Heliopolis, once the only place more or less untouched by war, has met this fate.
"If the war goes on like this, it could bring about a crisis that wipes out humanity. Is that really what we want?!
"And when we look back at the cause of the war, it seems laughable now.
"The people in power pushed each other to the limit for their own selfish interests. When negotiations finally collapsed, it was every one of us who had to bear the consequences, while they remained in high office, living in luxury and using their wealth and power to send others—including women and teenagers—to the battlefield. Can we really accept that?"
Luther would have liked to go straight to accusing the "war criminals."
But although Celestial Being had begun to earn the public's trust and had prompted people to think, the conflict between Naturals and Coordinators was deeply rooted.
So before that, he still needed to "make a case" for both sides, while laying the groundwork for identifying the "masterminds behind the scenes."
"Those of you on Earth may think, 'It's all the Coordinators' fault,' or 'For the blue and pure world.'
"But when all is said and done, Coordinators came about because we hoped our children would be better.
"Before Coordinator technology emerged, we had already sought to improve our children through nutrition, education, and other means. Coordinator technology was simply a new method.
"Not to mention that Coordinators did not choose to become Coordinators themselves. They were born because of their parents' fervent wishes.
"Moreover, today's Coordinator technology still has many problems. Second-Generation Coordinators face extreme difficulties having children; they are hardly perfect beings.
"Isn't the fundamental problem that those with wealth tried to use Coordinator technology to cement their class position, then, when the technology failed to meet their expectations, chose to make Coordinators scapegoats and shift the blame rather than share the technology with the public and improve it further?!"
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