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The Battle of the Marshall Islands is a conflict of the First Alliance-PLANT War, featured in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

Prelude[]

After failing to destroy the Archangel during a battle near Orb's borders, the Zala Team would remain on the hunt for the ship for several weeks, having correctly deduced that it was hiding in the neutral country instead of the official report claiming that it had already left by itself. The Zala team's commander, Athrun Zala, would launch an ambush near Orb's borders as soon as the ship left its safety, but the team would lose Nicol Amalfi and the GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam.[1] Afterwards, the team's remaining members were able to track the ship down near the Marshall Islands, where it was still moving to its destination, JOSH-A, Alaska.[2]

The Battle[]

Taking advantage of the Archangel's more lax behavior after its previous victory, the Zala Team's GAT-X102 Duel Gundam, GAT-X103 Buster Gundam and GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam, under Yzak Joule, Dearka Elsman and Athrun respectively, struck the ship from behind, with the Buster's Hyper Impulse Long-Range Sniper Rifle grazing the ship's rear. While the Archangel sent out its FX-550 Skygrasper, under Mu La Flaga, and the GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam under Kira Yamato, the battle would split into three fights, with Aile Strike engaging the Duel, La Flaga's Skygrasper fighting against the Buster, and the Aegis attacking the Archangel.[2]

While the former two were evenly matched, Athrun would inflict heavy damage to the Archangel, destroying its Surface-to-Air Missile Launchers, three of its "Igelstellung" 75mm Automatic Multi-Barrel CIWS, and damaging the ship's right Linear Cannon with the Aegis' Scylla Cannon. Seeing the critical situation, Tolle Koenig departed in the second Skygrasper to provide air support for the other units. Meanwhile during the dogfight between both the Strike and the Duel, Kira would ultimately prevail after shooting the leg of the Duel before it could return to its Guul, forcing Yzak to crash land and retreat, though he lost the Strike's beam rifle in the process. Because of this, Athrun shifted his attention to Kira and their battle took to the ground at one of the Marshall Islands, leaving Dearka to continue the battle against La Flaga and the Archangel.[2]

The Archangel, having suffered terrible damage at the hands of the Aegis, was forced to a temporary land as it made attempts to reestablish connection with the Strike. In the dogfight between the Buster and Skygrasper, Mu was finally be able to shoot the Buster's support flyer. As the Buster was falling, the two units traded shots, with the Buster clipping the Skygrasper's wing, forcing it to crash land as well, but losing its right arm as a result. Upon landing, the damage that the Buster had suffered from both the battle and the fall had disabled all its hydraulics, and, with the Archangel's main cannons pointed squarely at him, forced Dearka to emerge from his unit and surrender. As Kira and Athrun's battle raged on, Tolle arrived to try and help Kira by firing a missile at the Aegis, but Athrun avoided the attack and hurled the Aegis' shield towards the fighter jet, smashing its cockpit and killing Tolle instantly.[2]

Enraged by Tolle's death, Kira entered SEED Mode and cut off the Aegis' left arm. More determined than ever to avenge Nicol and kill Kira, Athrun also entered Seed Mode for the first time and proceeded to hack off the Strike's left arm. In retaliation, Kira cut off the Aegis' head, but Athrun retaliated by slicing an opening in front of the Strike's cockpit. Ultimately, Athrun would finally grab the Strike with the Aegis' MA mode, intending to fire at the cockpit directly with the Scylla Cannon. Unfortunately, the Aegis lost enough power to no longer maintain its beam weaponry or Phase Shift armor. Desperate to act before Kira could respond, Athrun immediately set his unit to self-destruct and escaped from the Aegis as its explosion hit the Strike at point-blank range.[2] However, before the explosion, the Strike's emergency shutter automatically activated, sealing the cockpit from the brunt of the blast and narrowly saving Kira from death.[3]

The signals from both the Strike and Tolle's Skygrasper would fall dead silent, and the Archangel would make attempts to reestablish connection in vain. With three AMF-101 DINNs from the nearby ZAFT force, having been alerted to their ally's struggle, closing in on their location, Captain Murrue Ramius was forced to order a retreat and contacting ORB to request to search party. Now-stabilized Archangel scurry towards JOSH-A. Concurrently, Yzak, having safely returned back from his crash, was unable to request for a search party to look for the other members of the Zala Team due to the fear for more Alliance forces in reserve.[4]

Aftermath[]

Following their withdrawal, the battered Archangel would reach its destination at Alaska, but its inability to keep most of the five units at Heliopolis and it being a constant target of ZAFT attacks caused the higher-ups to deem it a liability. The ship was subsequently assigned as part of the JOSH-A defense force, despite it being designed for space combat. Mu La Flaga also volunteered to investigate the Marshall Islands to search for any remains of Kira or Tolle, but was denied by Ramius due to the danger of the operation.[4]

At the same time, Orb had been informed of the nearby battles, and an investigation team led by Cagalli Yula Athha was sent to the Marshall Islands where the wreckage of both the Strike and the Aegis were recovered as well as an unconscious Athrun, who had been caught at the end by the Aegis' explosion.[4] Orb would recover and restore the abandoned Strike Gundam and integrated it with the new Natural OS that Kira had developed during his time in the country.[5] Athrun would be returned to the ZAFT forces, where he was heralded as a hero for his victory against the Strike and sent to space for a special assignment from PLANT Chairman Patrick Zala.[6] Yzak, and several divisions on Earth, however, were sent to prepare for the finalization of Operation Spitbreak, the covert ZAFT attack on the Alliance's base at JOSH-A.

Unknown to all sides, however, was that, Junk Guild member, Lowe Guele had been in the area in the battle's final stages. Upon seeing the explosion of the Aegis, he rushed to the crash site and found an injured Kira. Lowe took Kira to the nearby orphanage of Reverend Malchio, who subsequently sent him to the Clyne family in the PLANTs for medical care.[7][6]

Notes & Trivia[]

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Television Series
Manga

References[]

Logo Mobile Suit Gundam Seed
This article is part of Project: SEED

Please read the linked project page before editing this article.

Project Leader: User:CD298

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