The Battle of Mendel is a conflict of the First Alliance-PLANT War, featured in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.
Prelude[]
After Lacus Clyne, Andrew Waltfeld, and the Clyne Faction stole the Eternal during their escape from PLANT, they found shelter in the abandoned Mendel colony with the rogue EA crew of the Archangel and the remaining Orb Union military aboard the Kusanagi. Together, the three groups formed the Three Ships Alliance.[1]
Less than two weeks later, both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces attacked the Mendel Colony. The Earth Alliance's objectives were the capture of either the Freedom or the Justice Gundams, and the destruction of the Archangel, debuting the first deployment of the Dominion, captained by former Archangel XO, Natarle Badgiruel. ZAFT's objective was to retake or destroy the Eternal. Although ZAFT commander Rau Le Creuset had a hidden agenda, which included delivering ZAFT's data on the N-Jammer Canceller to the Earth Alliance.[2]
The Battle[]
First Phase - The Dominion Attacks[]
The Dominion arrived first at the Mendel Colony, detecting the Archangel. As an opening shot, the Dominion fired its "Lohengrin" cannon at the colony, further damaging it. The Archangel moved to confront the Dominion, where Natarle called the ship, demanding its immediate and unconditional surrender. However, Murrue Ramius refused, stating that the Earth Forces just couldn't be trusted. Azrael mocked Natarle for her attempt before ordering the GAT-X131 Calamity Gundam, GAT-X252 Forbidden Gundam and GAT-X370 Raider Gundam to launch. In response, the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam, GAT-X105+AQM/E-X03 Launcher Strike Gundam, and GAT-X103 Buster Gundam launched, with the latter two ordered to defend the Archangel. As the Freedom and Justice fought the three Gundams, the Kusanagi joined the battle, only to get tangled up in adrift cables from the colony. Seeing this, the Forbidden broke away to attack the battleship, but was stopped by the Justice.[2]
As this was going on, three Nazca-class vessels arrived at Mendel, but opted to stay back. Rau ordered Yzak Joule to join him in investigating Mendel. Elsewhere, the Dominion had expertly snuck behind the Archangel, forcing them to evade and setting off a missile trap Natarle set up earlier. Despite the Freedom attempting to shoot down the missiles, some of them hit the Archangel, leading Kira Yamato to face his old ally. However, the Calamity and Raider were able to pincer the Freedom, forcing Athrun Zala to damage the Forbidden enough to break away and save Kira, forcing the Calamity's own beam cannon shot back into its chest.[3] The Kusanagi was freed from its entanglements soon after and joined the fight with its MBF-M1 M1 Astrays. Facing additional forces, Natarle ordered a retreat to regroup and recover.[3]
Second Phase - Skirmishes Inside Mendel[]
Meanwhile, Mu La Flaga had sense Rau's presence and flew inside Mendel, with Dearka Elsman following after. As they flew past the Eternal, Dearka told Waltfeld and Lacus of Mu's feeling, leading Lacus to urge the Eternal's preparations to finish faster. Yzak was shocked to see the Buster flying alongside the Strike and Dearka dreaded fighting Yzak and his GAT-X102 Duel Gundam, while Rau used his new ZGMF-600 GuAIZ to battle the Launcher Strike. However, the Launcher Strike proved to be too cumbersome for the more agile GuAIZ, while Dearka refused to fight his old friend, ultimately calling him out. To find out what was going on, the Freedom entered Mendel and encountered the Duel, but Dearka asked Kira not to intervene, wanting to talk to Yzak himself.[3]
Ultimately, the Strike was overpowered by the GuAIZ as its Launcher pack was damaged and it lost its right arm and was struck on the side by the GuAIZ's extensional arrestors, wounding Mu. Kira arrived soon after, destroying the GuAIZ's beam rifle, shooting off its head and slicing off its legs with a beam saber, causing the suit to crash. Rau escaped his crippled suit, leading to a firefight in a building, later revealed to be the G.A.R.M. R&D genetic research laboratory. It was here that Rau revealed to Kira that he was the Ultimate Coordinator, a perfectly bred Coordinator without the flaws that would cripple later-generation Coordinators. As well, he revealed to Mu that he (Rau himself) was the clone of Mu's father, Al Da Flaga, intended to be his replacement after considering Mu "tainted".[4]
Third Phase - Three-way Battle[]
Unwilling to allow ZAFT to get the Freedom and Justice, the Dominion pushed back into the battlefield, launching their mobile suits again, forcing the Archangel and Eternal into battle. Soon after, the Freedom and Buster returned, carrying the damaged Strike and the injured Mu before. Once Mu was returned to the Archangel both the Freedom and the Buster immediately returned to the battlefield to assist the Justice against the Raider, Calamity, and Forbidden. Yzak took Rau and the crippled GuAIZ back and ordered captain Fredrik Ades to launch their suits and prepare a ZGMF-515 CGUE for him before turning to the captive Flay Allster for one last action. As the Nazcas entered the battlefield, Rau contacted the Dominion, letting them know he was returning a captive of theirs. Once he launched, an escape pod holding Flay was released out into space. The Kusanagi and the Eternal found themselves battling the Nazca-class ships with the Astrays defending both vessels. At Lacus' suggestion, the Eternal and Kusanagi turned their weapons on the Vesalius and called on the Archangel to join them in pushing through.[5]
During this, Flay was able to get out a call intended for the Archangel, but going for all ships, needing to be saved as she also has "a key" to end the war. Kira, already rattled by the revelations Rau made, was distracted further and was attacked from behind by the Calamity, destroying its left wing. In an attempt to stop the Calamity from getting to the pod, the Freedom was damaged further, losing its head to the Forbidden and Raider. Despite his attempt, Athrun forced Kira to pull back, the Freedom unable to fight the Dominion and save Flay in its condition.[5]
The Kusanagi and the Eternal were able to damage the Vesalius and sink it, both Athrun and Dearka saluting their old ally as the Archangel passed by before it was completely destroyed. The Three Ships Alliance used the opening to escape the battlefield.[5]
Aftermath[]
In the aftermath of the battle, the "key" Flay had revealed the schematics of the Freedom and the Justice, along with the Neutron Jammer Canceller, which allowed for the reutilization of nuclear weapons. This would lead to the start of "Operation Peacemaker", the complete and utter annihilation of the Coordinator populace.[6]
The Three Ships Alliance was forced to hide once more in order to allow for repairs and recovery after the whole ordeal. During this, the ships are tended to by the Junk Guild tender craft ReHOME, allowing Kira and Lacus to meet Lowe Guele (the person who rescued Kira after the Battle of the Marshall Islands).
Gallery[]
Anime[]
Notes & Trivia[]
Appearances[]
- Television Series
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
- PHASE-43, What Stands in the Way
- First Appearance
- PHASE-44, Spiral of Encounters
- PHASE-45, The Opening Door
- PHASE-46, A Place for the Soul
- Conclusion
- PHASE-47, The Nightmare Reborn
- Flashback(s) Only
- PHASE-48, Day of Wrath
- Flashback(s) Only
- PHASE-43, What Stands in the Way
References[]
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-42, Lacus Strikes
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-43, What Stands in the Way
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-44, Spiral of Encounters
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-45, The Opening Door
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-46, A Place for the Soul
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-47, The Nightmare Reborn
Cosmic Era Conflicts and Events | |
Pre C.E. - C.E. 9 | |
---|---|
Reconstruction War | |
C.E. 15 | |
Coordinator Revelation | Jupiter Exploration Mission | |
C.E. 30’s - C.E. 50 | |
Coordinator Boom | |
C.E. 50’s - C.E. 60’s | |
Assassination of George Glenn | Flaga Estate Burning | Blue Cosmos Attack on Mendel | |
C.E. 60’s - C.E. 69 | |
Mandelbrot Incident | Attack on the Junius Colonies | Mendel Accident | |
C.E. 70 | |
First Alliance-PLANT War Tragedy of Copernicus | Bloody Valentine Incident | Invasion of South America | Battle of Yggdrasil | First Battle of Victoria | Operation Uroboros | Battle of Carpentaria | Battle of Coral Sea | First Battle of Jachin Due | Grimaldi Front (Battle of Endymion Crater) | First Battle of Casablanca | Battle of El Alamein | Battle of Nova | First Nova Recapture Operation | October Talks | |
Unrelated Conflicts First Attack on the Graveyard | |
C.E. 71 | |
First Alliance-PLANT War Battle of Kaohsiung | Battle of Heliopolis | Skirmish near Artemis | Battle of Artemis | Second Nova Recapture Operation | Clash at Junius Seven | Skirmish in the Debris Belt | Battle near Junius Seven | Skirmish in the North African Desert | Skirmish towards Earth | Battle of Orbit | Second Battle of Victoria | Blue Cosmos Attack on PLANT | Desert Dawn Campaign (Attack on the Archangel | Attack on Tassil | Retaliation of the Desert Dawn | Blue Cosmos Attack in Banadiya | Battle of Talbadiya) | First Equatorial Skirmish | Second Equatorial Skirmish | Skirmish on an Uninhabited Island | Strait of Malacca Breakthrough | First Battle near Orb | Orb Infiltration Mission | Second Battle near Orb | Battle of the Marshall Islands | Theft of the Freedom Gundam | Operation Spitbreak | Shoot Out at White Symphony | Mission to Recapture the Freedom Gundam | Battle of Porta Panama | Battle of Orb | Assassination of Siegel Clyne | Third Battle of Victoria | Attack on a ZAFT Fleet | Theft of the Eternal | Battle of Mendel | Second Battle of Casablanca | Operation 8.8 (Ayers Rock Landing Operation) | Operation Elvis (Battle of Boaz | Second Battle of Jachin Due) | |
South American War for Independence Attack on South American Forces Base 12 | Duel at the South American Shore | Battle in the USSA Neutral Zone | Ambush in Low Orbit | |
Unrelated Conflicts Campaign on the ZAFT Supply Route (Attack on a ZAFT Supply Station | Battle at ZAFT Supply Station 4) | Skirmish at Heliopolis | Pirate Attack on the H.O.M.E. | Recapture of Artemis | Skirmish at Artemis | Second Attack on the Graveyard | Actaeon Hostage Incident | Skirmish at Liteiria | Barnacle Incident | First Attack by the Gundam Astray Gold Frame | First Attack on the Lesseps | Second Attack on the Lesseps | Confrontation in the Deep Sea | Infiltration of the Lesseps | First Battle of the Giga-Float | Second Battle of the Giga-Float | Battle of Ame-No-Mihashira | Battle of the Gundam Astrays | Third Attack on the Graveyard | Find Kira Yamato Operation | Skirmish at Mendel | Raid on the Dreadnaught Gundam’s Transport | Attack on the Serpent Tail Transport | First Attack on the Re.H.O.M.E. | Attack on Supply Station 15B | Escape from Artemis | Assault on Ptolemaeus Port Seven | Attack on the Ortygia | Attack on Ame-No-Mihashira | Battle at the Abandon Colony Zone | Battle at the Mobile Suit Auction | Clash at Mendel | Second Attack on the Re.H.O.M.E. | Assault on the Sahaku Force | Erudou Breakthrough | Third Attack on the Re.H.O.M.E. | First Battle of GENESIS Alpha | First Attack on GENESIS Alpha | |
C.E. 72 | |
First Alliance-PLANT War Nairobi Peace Conference (Attack on the Junius Treaty Ceremony) | |
South American War for Independence Battle for South America | |
Unrelated Conflicts Battle of the Blue Cosmos Asteroid Factory | |
C.E. 73 | |
Second Alliance-PLANT War Attack on Armory One | Battle of the Debris Belt | "Break The World" Incident | Battle of Aprilius One | Operation Spear of Twilight | Ambush of the Minerva | Assassination Attempt of Lacus Clyne | Kidnapping of Orb's Chief Representative | Battle of the Indian Ocean | Attack on Lohengrin Gate | Battle of Gulnahan | Battle in Lunar Orbit | Battle of Dardanelles | Skirmish at Lodonia Lab | Lacus Clyne Shuttle Hijacking | Battle of Crete | |
Unrelated Conflicts Second Attack on GENESIS Alpha | Third Attack on GENESIS Alpha | Second Battle of Genesis Alpha | Attack on Ed the Ripper’s Shuttle |Attack in Fortaleza | Attack on Kirgitz | Declaration of the Sky | Attack on The Clan Space Station | Assault on the Coordinator Refugee Camp | |
C.E. 74 | |
Second Alliance-PLANT War Minerva Breakout | Attack on the Bonaparte | Destroy Crisis (First Attack on Eurasia | Second Attack on Eurasia | Third Attack on Eurasia | Battle of Berlin) | Campaign Against Logos | Operation Angel Down | Desertion of Athrun Zala and Meyrin Hawke | Operation Ragnarök | Eternal Chase | Operation Fury | Battle of Requiem Station Gounod | Battle of Daedalus | Assassination Attempt in Copernicus City | Proclamation of the Destiny Plan | Attack on Requiem Station One | Battle of Messiah | |
Unrelated Conflicts Attack on Toroya Station | Foundation Shock | Freedom Hijacking Incident | |
C.E. 75 | |
Blue Cosmos Campaign Battle of Aldrin City | |
Foundation Conflict Eldore Incident | Moscow Tragedy | PLANT Coup d'état | Millennium Hijacking | Lacus Clyne Rescue Operation | Battle of Requiem |