7th Space War

7th Space War
7th Space War
Belligerents
Space Revolutionary Army
United Nations Earth
Miscellaneous

The 7th Space War (第7次宇宙戦争, Dai nanaji uchū sensō^?) was a conflict between the United Nations Earth and the Space Revolutionary Army which ended with devastating results. The devastation caused by the 7th Space War led to the After War era. This conflict was featured in the series After War Gundam X.

Overview

The war was fought by two factions, the unified Earth government known as the United Nations Earth (UNE) and a alliance of colonies known as the Space Revolutionary Army (SRA). The war was fought in both space and on Earth. During the war, both sides deployed and developed new mobile weapon for the war. Both the UNE and SRA also heavily relied upon Newtypes, people with special powers and heightened awareness, although both governments had different views of them. While the UNE simply saw them as tools of war, the SRA considered Newtypes to be the next step in human evolution that only Spacenoids could achieve. Despite different views, both factions created special mobile weapons and systems during the war which could only be used by Newtypes.

Although the SRA managed to capture some of parts of Earth and push the forces of the UNE back, the war entered an eight month phase of stalemate. In an attempt to end this stalemate and win the war, the SRA threatened the UNE with a mass colony drop. The UNE responded to this action by deploying an unknown number of their advanced Gundam-type mobile suits to intercept the SRA forces. Events took a turn for the worst when the higher ups of the UNE ordered the usage of the GX-9900 Gundam X's Satellite Cannon against the SRA forces. An unknown number of Gundam X units and their FX-9900 GX-Bit Bit Mobile Suits attacked and destroyed a small number of the colonies and SRA mobile suits with their Satellite Cannons. However, the UNE's Satellite Cannon attack provokes the SRA to rashly initiate their mass colony drop operation which led to devastating results. As the colonies began their descent towards Earth, UNE and SRA forces engaged in a battle that would mark the advent of the After War era.

The SRA's mass colony drop marked the end of the 7th Space War and the death of 99% of humanity on Earth. The planet also entered a seven year state of nuclear winter.

History

Beginning

Although the exact reasons for the start of the war are unknown, one of the known causes of the 7th Space War was the secession of a colony from the Earth's government due to ideological differences regarding the existence of Newtypes.

Special Operations

Both the United Nations Earth (UNE) and Space Revolutionary Army (SRA) carried out a number of special operations in an attempt to weaken or defeat the other side. Most of the known operations included special types of mobile weapon.

• Operation Lilac - In this operation conducted by the SRA in the last months of the war the large mobile armor MAN-003 Patulia as well as five RMSN-008 Bertigo mobile suits were used. It was planned to send the Patulia guarded by the Bertigos down to Earth to destroy the UNE headquarters. However the Bertigos were destroyed in atmospheric combat and the Patulia crash landed on the planet.

• Operation Dahlia - An operation of the SRA which planned to use a weapon known as Colony Laser to fire on Earth. In the resulting chaos the SRA would take control over the planet. Construction of the laser was however abandoned during the war. The Colony Laser was finally finished in A.W. 0015.

• Operation L - A secret operation conducted by the UNE in the Pacific Ocean. The plan involved the Newtype Lucille Liliant, several FX-9900 GX-Bit units and the L System. The L System boosted Lucille's Newtype powers and allowed her to deactivate all machines in a certain area. During the time the operation was to be carried out, the colony drop occurred and the ship carrying the container with all parts of it (including Lucille in suspended animation) sunk. The container then stayed at the bottom of the Sea of Lorelei for 15 years. How this operation was planned to be conducted is unknown but it is said that if it was carried out it would have changed the course of war.

In the end, most if not all of these operations ended in failure or were never carried out.

The Final Battle

The mass colony drop operation.

After an unknown amount of time, the war reached a stalemate which lasted eight months until the SRA threatened to drop dozens of colonies on Earth. Unwavering to the SRA's threats, the UNE responses by deploying its most advanced and powerful series of mobile weapons known as the Gundam-type mobile suit series. An unknown number of GT-9600 Gundam Leopards, GW-9800 Gundam Airmasters, and GX-9900 Gundam Xs were deployed alongside their respective Bit Mobile Suits to intercept the SRA forces and stop the mass colony drop.

In an attempt to intercept the mass colony drop, the UNE ordered its Gundam X units and its mobile bits to destroy the colonies with their Satellite Cannons which were powerful long-ranged energy beams capable of destroying a single space colony in one shot. One notable Gundam X pilot was the Newtype ace Jamil Neate, who used his Gundam's and its bits' Satellite Cannons to intercept some of the colonies used by the SRA for their colony drop operation. Although the UNE's Gundam X units and their bits were able to intercept a number of the colonies, they were unable to significantly cripple the number of colonies the SRA needed to continue their operation. After the UNE's first volley of Satellite Cannon attacks, the SRA responded by initiating the operation and hastily launched the colonies at Earth.

After the initiation of the SRA's mass colony drop operation, the deployed forces of both sides desperately engaged in battle in space which would later be remembered as the infamous final battle of the 7th Space War. The battle ended with no clear victor and huge casualties for both sides.

Aftermath

The effects of the 7th Space War were:

• Loss of nine billion human lives, with only around a hundred million survivors after the mass colony drop
• Large areas of Earth were destroyed, with South America still being a mess even in A.W. 0015
• Massive climate changes on the planet
• A nuclear winter on Earth that lasted the first seven years of the AW era
• Appearance of new diseases, among them the "Colony Disease"
• The collapse of the United Nations Earth, the unified government of Earth

The human race survived despite the hardships created by the war and started to rebuild its civilization. Furthermore, many mobile weapons survived the war and became powerful tools in the post-war era. The After War era saw the appearance of a new group of people known as the Vultures, who travel throughout the land to search for any technology that they can salvage and sell.

Behind the Scenes

• The term "7th Space War" is a reference to the fact that After War Gundam X is the seventh Gundam TV series.