The Cyclops Team was a special forces unit under Principality of Zeon's Mobile Assault Force active during the One Year War.
History[]
The "Cyclops Team" was the nickname for a Zeon special operations unit consisting of around twelve members, all of which were trained in a variety of skills, including mobile suit piloting and espionage, and able to adapt to a wide variety of situations.[1]
In March, U.C. 0079, the Cyclops Team departed from Granada with the 1st Terrestrial Mobile Division and participated in the First Landing Operation, making landfall at Europe. They acted as vanguard to the main force, disrupting communications, capturing bridges, and throwing the Earth Federation Forces into chaos. However, due to the harshness of their missions, the rate of attrition was high.[1]
A month following the disastrous Battle of Odessa the team were ordered to rescue a small group of Zeon youth forces, and more importantly, Accountant Major Gordon from Federation imprisonment. The operation went swimmingly as Steiner easily infiltrated the base, while Gabriel Ramirez Garcia first dropped Mikhail Kaminsky and Andy Strauss' MSM-03 Goggs before launching an attack on the base. Both Strauss and Kaminsky would subsequently ambush the base defenders while Steiner secured the targets, helped Gordon eliminate the base's commander, and escaped through life boats. Before leaving, Garcia would detonate several explosives he had dropped on the base, levelling the Federation forces.
Come November U.C. 0079, news of Odessa's defeat finally reached the Cyclops Team, who were currently operating in Italy with the help of local sympathizers. With orders from Lieutenant Colonel Killing, the team was ordered to abandon the locals and head back towards space on a Zanzibar in order to transport several Soviet-era nukes to Granada. The order to leave the locals, who were now under attack from the Federation's Ripper Squad, was met with reluctance by many members, and both Serhii and Kavi would ignore the command to prepare for departure in order to defend the locals.
As Killing pressed the remaining members to act, Steiner ordered for Andy, Oleksandr, and Garcia to ready the Zanzibar while he would try to convince the others to return. In reality, Steiner opted to support both Serhii and Kavi, ordering Igor, Argyle, and Vilodi to support the group and lure the Ripper Squad into an area that would be shelled by Kaminsky. The plan would work, but the members that had sortied would be unable to return in time for the Zanzibar's launch. While Steiner assured them that he would remain with them, he is stopped by both Oleksandr and Belarus, who, alongside the Serhii and the others, implored Steiner to head with the Zanzibar into space, where his skills could still make an impact. As the Steiner and the remaining members left for space, the failure of the Ripper Squad would cause the Federation to take a more drastic measure; sending out a nuke to destroy the entire area. Both the locals, and all members that did not depart would be killed by the blast.
Consequently, the team was down to only four members: Hardie Steiner, the team leader; Mikhail Kaminsky, the de facto second-in-command; Andy Strauss, vehicle specialist; and Gabriel Ramirez Garcia, firearms and explosives expert.[1] On December 9th, under the order of Colonel Killing, the Cyclops Team launched an attack on the Federation's Arctic Base in an attempt to destroy the shuttle carrying the RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1. While the attack was initially successful, they were unable to destroy the shuttle in time, and Strauss was killed in battle.[2]
After the failure of the mission, the team was recalled to Granada, where Killing informed them that the shuttle dropped off its cargo in the Ribo colony of the neutral Side 6 and assigned rookie pilot Bernard Wiseman to the team to replace Strauss. The team was given a new mission: to infiltrate the Ribo colony and either capture or destroy the Gundam. The codename of this mission was Operation Rubicon.[3]
On December 15th, Wiseman infiltrated the colony in a civilian shuttle carrying the disassembled MS-18E Kämpfer and rendezvoused with the rest of the team.[3] With the help of a local civilian boy, Alfred Izuruha, Wiseman was able to locate the secret Federation base where the Gundam was being tested. However, Steiner realized that the mission was set up for failure, hence why they were assigned a rookie as a replacement and were provided with no extraction.[4]
On December 19th, Kaminsky sortied in the Kämpfer to create a distraction while his three teammates infiltrated the base disguised as Federation soldiers. Both the colony defense force and the Earth Federation's Scarlet Team deployed in an attempt to stop the Kämpfer, but were all quickly destroyed. Unfortunately, a Federation guard in the base saw through the infiltration team's disguises just as they reached the Gundam, forcing them to engage in a firefight. All except Wiseman were killed during the fight.[4]
The Kämpfer eventually reached the base. However, the Gundam's test pilot, Christina Mackenzie, reached the Gundam just in time and engaged the Kämpfer in battle. The Kämpfer attacked the Gundam with a chain mine stored in a nearby truck. However, the Gundam survived the blast thanks to its composite armor, and destroyed the Kämpfer with its arm-mounted Gatling gun, killing Kaminsky.[4]
With the Gundam still intact and the status of the team unknown, Operation Rubicon was declared a failure,[5] and the Cyclops Team was recorded as destroyed.[1]
Members[]
- Hardie Steiner (leader)
- Oleksandr (second-in-command)
- Andy Strauss
- Gabriel Ramirez Garcia
- Mikhail Kaminsky
- James Wong
- Bernard Wiseman
- Andrich
- Argyle
- Belarus
- Igor
- Kavi
- Serhii
- Vilodi
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 U.C. Hardgraph Code Name "Cyclops" Set instruction manual
- ↑ How Many Miles to the Battlefield?
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Reflections in a Brown Eye
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Over the River and Through the Woods
- ↑ Say it Ain't So, Bernie!