| “ | "[Halberton] knows that [the Earth Alliance] can no longer beat us with battleships and mobile armors. He's quite the general. Besides, I hear he had them build [the Gundams]. Then the least I can do is prove to him in this battle that his views have merit." | ” |
—Rau Le Creuset about Duane Halberton and the G Project Gundams, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Stars Falling in Space | ||
The Battle of Orbit is a conflict of the First Alliance-PLANT War, featured in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.
Prelude[]
Following a long pursuit by ZAFT's Le Creuset Team, the Archangel was able to rendezvous with the Earth Alliance's 8th Space Fleet. During the Archangel's resupply, its senior officers met with Rear Admiral Duane Halberton, who ordered the Archangel to depart to Alliance HQ, JOSH-A, Alaska, and deliver the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam. However, before the Archangel could get into position for its descent, a ZAFT task force entered the area.[1]
The Battle[]
Once within range, the ZAFT task force, composed of the Nazca-class Destroyer Vesalius, and two Laurasia-class Frigates, the Gamow and Ziegler, deployed their mobile suit forces, a total of ten GINNs with the four stolen Gundams of the Le Creuset Team, the Aegis, Duel, Buster, and Blitz, forming the vanguard. In response, the 8th Fleet mobilized their forces, deploying several squadrons of TS-MA2 Moebius mobile armors and positioning their ships to protect the Archangel, which was stationed at the rear. Despite a seemingly even initial engagement, the Gundams quickly established battlefield supremacy, utilizing their advanced weapons to quickly and efficiently destroy numerous Moebius armors before targeting the warships. The Gundams pushed their advantage by assaulting several Drake and Nelson-class vessels, while Le Creuset, intending to leave no enemies alive, ordered the Vesalius and the Laurasia-class ships to intercept and destroy any EA vessels trying to escape.[2]
As the 8th Fleet was being decimated, Lieutenant Commander Murrue Ramius, knowing that the Archangel was ZAFT's main target, requested that the ship be allowed to leave the battle-zone and descend to Earth to draw the ZAFT forces away from the 8th Fleet. Agreeing with her plan, Admiral Halbrton ordered the 8th Fleet to cover the Archangel as it descended. Seeing that the Archangel was moving in to descend, Commander Le Creuset ordered his forces to close in on the ship and destroy it before it could escape. Determined to reach the Archangel, the Duel and Buster charged through the 8th Fleet's defense, demolishing any Moebius mobile armors attempting to intercept them.[2]
Onboard the Archangel, Mu La Flaga and Kira Yamato requested to launch, seeking to hold off the ZAFT mobile suits from destroying the remainder of the 8th Fleet before the Archangel descended. The two were allowed to launch, but were ordered to return before the ship began the final phase of descent. Once deployed, the Aile Strike Gundam and Moebius Zero intercepted the Duel and Buster respectively, while all four machines were steadily being drawn closer into orbit due to Earth's gravity. As the battle continued, most of the 8th Fleet had been destroyed, while the Laurasia-class frigate Gamow charged directly into the remainder of the defending ships. During its charge, the Gamow engaged in close-range fire with a Drake-class vessel, and quickly destroyed it before beginning a fierce head on assault on the 8th Fleet's flagship, the Agamemnon-class carrier Menelaos.[2]
As the battle was descending closer to Earth's orbit, Commander Le Creuset ordered his mobile suits to return. Despite the order, the Duel, Buster and Gamow continued their attacks, all three seeking to destroy the Archangel. While the Menelaos and Gamow continued their brutal fight, the two ships descended closer into Earth's orbit and began to suffer damage from the extreme heat of the atmosphere. The situation prompted Admiral Halberton to order the Escape Shuttle, carrying the Orb Union citizens from Heliopolis, to launch. Eventually, both the Menelasos and Gamow succumbed to the heat and exploded.[2]
As the Archangel began entering the final phase of its descent, the Aile Strike and Moebius Zero were ordered to return. While Mu was able to break off from the battle, leaving the Buster to fall in orbit, the Aile Strike was preoccupied with the Duel. Despite being pushed back alongside the Buster, the Duel continued attacking, narrowly missing the Escape Shuttle passing by. Frustrated by the Shuttle's presence and believing that it contained fleeing EA soldiers, Yzak Joule targeted the shuttle with the Duel's beam rifle. Despite Kira rushing to intercept the attack, the shot hit before he could make it and the shuttle exploded, killing all aboard. The force of the blast caused the Aile Strike to be blown off course into a different descent path from the Archangel.[2] In order to rescue the Aile Strike, the Archangel altered its trajectory to move closer to the Aile Strike, and succeeded in recovering it as it descended to Earth.[3]
Aftermath[]
Aside from failing their objective to destroy the Archangel yet again, the destruction of the 8th fleet was a victory for ZAFT. The Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam survived atmospheric entry and Yzak and Dearka were recovered and taken to ZAFT's Gibraltar Base.[4] The remainder of the Le Creuset Team would return to PLANT to finally provide a full report regarding the discovered Gundams developed at Heliopolis and the potential threat they posed to Coordinators.
The Archangel ended up landing in the ZAFT controlled territory of North Africa. Their actions in trying to escape the territory led into the Desert Dawn Campaign.[3]
During the trials following the war, Yzak would be put on the stand for the shooting of the Escape Shuttle, however, he would be acquitted thanks to the defense of new PLANT Chairman Gilbert Durandal.[5]
Gallery[]
.png "ZAFT Task Force 01 (Seed HD Ep12).png (4.25 MB)")
.png "ZAFT Gundams Charging 01 (SEED HD Ep13).png (3.63 MB)")
.png "Alie Strike Gundam Charging 01 (SEED HD Ep13).png (4.85 MB)")
.png "Laurasia-Class vs Agamemnon-Class 03 (SEED HD Ep13).png (4.96 MB)")
.png "Agamemnon Destroyed 01 (Seed HD Ep13).png (3.64 MB)")
.png "Laurasia Destroyed 01 (Seed HD Ep13).png (3.81 MB)")
.png "Archangel Entering the Atmosphere 03 (SEED HD Ep13).png (3.99 MB)")
.png "Duel Gundam Falling to Orbit 01 (SEED HD Ep13).png (3.93 MB)")
.png "Civilian Shuttle Destroyed 01 (SEED HD Ep13).png (3.41 MB)")
.png "Aile Strike Gundam Entering the Atmosphere 01 (SEED HD Ep15).png (6 MB)")
.png "ZAFT Task Force 02 (SEED HD Ep13).png (4.53 MB)")
Notes & Trivia[]
- In Super Robot Wars, the Battle of Orbit tends to play out differently depending on the title:
- In SRW Alpha 3, the Battle of Orbit plays out the same with Natarle Badgiruel ordering the shuttle to launch despite the risk but a major difference is Yzak does not shoot down the shuttle instead three ZGMF-515 CGUE shoot down the shuttle.
- in SRW J, the Battle of Orbit plays out differently instead the Nadesico from Martian Successor Nadesico take in the refugees instead sparing them from their fate.
- In SRW W, the Battle of Orbit play out off screen as The Ardygun Family dose not participate in the battle. A major difference is that Gerard Garcia which refused to take in the refugees in the anime instead takes them in W promising to transfer them to Orb.
Appearances[]
- Television Series
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
- PHASE-13, Stars Falling in Space
- First Appearance; Conclusion
- PHASE-15, The Respective Solitudes
- Flashback(s) Only
- PHASE-16, Burning Sandstorm
- Mentioned only
- PHASE-17, Cagalli Returns
- In Flashback(s)
- PHASE-20, On a Calm Day
- In Flashback(s)
- PHASE-22, The Sea Dyed Red
- Flashback(s) Only
- PHASE-28, Kira
- Flashback(s) Only
- PHASE-33, Gathering Darkness
- Flashback(s) Only
- PHASE-35, The Descending Sword
- Flashback(s) Only
- PHASE-13, Stars Falling in Space
References[]
.jpeg "Battle of Orbit File 01 (Gundam Perfect Files 080-21).jpeg (4.86 MB)")
.jpeg "Battle of Orbit File 02 (Gundam Perfect Files 080-22).jpeg (4.54 MB)")
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-12, Flay's Decision
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-13, Stars Falling in Space
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-15, The Respective Solitudes
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-17, Cagalli Returns
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-11, The Chosen Path
Please read the linked project page before editing this article.
Project Leader: User:CD Freedom
| 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 | |