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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

References[]

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