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The First Neo Zeon War (第一次ネオ・ジオン抗争), also known as Haman War (ハマーン戦争), is the name given to the fighting between the Axis-based Zeon remnants (formally known as Axis Zeon) lead by Haman Karn, and the AEUG/Karaba forces remaining after the Gryps War. It was the first of the numerous Neo Zeon Movements that plagued the Earth Sphere during the late U.C. 0080s and the U.C. 0090s.

The war started on March 3, UC 0088, 11 days after the Battle of Gryps, the final pitched battle of the Gryps Conflict that resulted in the annihilation of the Titans and the loss of most of the AEUG combat forces. With both the Earth Federation and AEUG weakened by that civil war, and Axis Zeon suffering minimum loses, Haman renamed her forces "Neo Zeon" and took the chance to revive the glory of the Principality of Zeon, with Mineva Lao Zabi, the last surviving member of the Zabi family, as the figurehead ruler, although Haman was the de facto leader.

However, a rebel faction under the ambitious Glemy Toto turned against Haman, and the war again became a three-way struggle. The conflict ended during the Battle of Axis, after both the loyalist and rebel Neo Zeon factions virtually wiped each other out, with both leaders dying in battle. With its leadership gone, and Mineva revealed to have disappeared after being replaced by a stand-in since the end of the Gryps Conflict, Neo Zeon surrendered to the Earth Federation on January 17, UC 0089.

Technology Aspects[]

During the First Neo Zeon War, there was a technological reversal from the Gryps Conflict. Neo Zeon, who were numerically inferior, introduced a number of high-performance machines that pushed the technological envelope, including several psycommu and quasi-psycommu machines that were produced in limited numbers. Despite this, Neo Zeon also deployed old mobile suits left over from the One Year War, including the MS-06F Zaku II. On the other hand, the Earth Federation Forces, which had continually developed new advanced mobile suits under the aegis of the Titans, changed their development strategy to create more economical mobile suits (such as the RGM-86R GM III) that could be produced quickly to take advantage of their superior numbers. Meanwhile, the crippled AEUG's only true high-end development was the powerful MSZ-010 ΖΖ Gundam and the new SCVA-76 Nahel Argama assault carrier.

Chronology[]

Attacks on the Argama[]

The war began when AEUG's battle-worn Argama assault carrier arrived at Side 1's Shangri-La space colony for supply and repair. Haman Karn considered the remaining AEUG as an obstacle that prevented them from attracting Spacenoids to join Neo Zeon's causes, so she dispatched the Endra, the lead ship of the Endra-class cruiser, commanded by Mashymre Cello, to pursue and destroy the Argama.

Meanwhile, a group of local delinquent teenagers led by Judau Ashta, a young salvage collector working to fund his sister Leina's schooling, tried to steal the damaged MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam at the urging of surviving Titans pilot Yazan Gable. The Zeta Gundam didn't have a designated pilot at that time, as its original pilot Kamille Bidan fell into a vegetative state after his previous battle against Paptimus Scirocco. Judau and his friends' attempts to steal Zeta led them to get involved with the conflicts between the Argama crew and Mashymre's taskforce. After Bright Noa suspected Judau of being a Newtype, all of Judau's gang of teenagers (Judau and his sister Leina, as well as Iino Abbav, Elle Vianno, Beecha Oleg and Mondo Agake) were recruited into Argama's ranks.

Awakening of the Double Zeta[]

Moon Moon Detour[]

Attack on Axis[]

Ambush at Granada[]

Heading towards Earth[]

Journey across Africa[]

The Argama prepared a joint operation with Karaba to retake Dakar. Captain Bright Noa sent Judau and the Gundam Team ahead to Neo Zeon controlled Dakar. During the journey across the desert, Judau and his team came upon several Zeon loyalists who either wanted to prove themselves to Haman, or had personal reasons in stopping the Gundam Team.

Second Battle of Dakar[]

A few weeks after Neo Zeon landed its armed forces on Earth, they launched an attack on the Earth Federation's Assembly on Dakar and seized it temporarily. However, AEUG and Karaba launched a counterattack to retake the assembly, forcing Neo Zeon to retreat.

Battle of Galdai[]

In the midst of battles between the Gundam Team with Neo Zeon or Zeon remnants affiliated with the former, Roux, who grew annoyed with the grieving Judau who thought he lost his sister, left Argama and harbored herself at Galdai. In the same moment, Glemy who was rescued by the Blue Team, an independent MS squad using former Zeon MS but was otherwise unaffiliated with Neo Zeon and fought solely to protect Galdai, was sent for espionage in the town. There, he met Roux again and she escaped from him. The Gundam team, who was searching for her, was spotted and ambushed by the Blue Team and won, while the Blue Team lost their leader who handed his squad to Glemy, choosing him to be their leader due to his charisma. August Gidan, another Neo Zeon officer, on the other hand, made a pact with another group of Zeon remnants, presumably antagonized by the Blue Team themselves, attacked Galdai to strike fear and to attract Argama’s attention. Glemy, returning to Galdai again and hoping to see Roux again, was taken surprised by his underling’s insubordination and them attacking his allied Blue Team. He retook command of Mindra and convinced all them Zeon remnants and Neo Zeon soldiers still under his command to join him in defeating the AEUG and Gundam Team. However, the Gundam Team, now having overcoming their differences, fought and won, saving Galdai from further destruction, finally ending the African front in the war. Glemy, meanwhile, had finally had the purpose to take over Neo Zeon from Haman.

Dublin Colony Drop[]

On October 31, UC 0088, Neo Zeon began a colony drop on Dublin, Ireland, as a show of intimidation. While it was clear that the operation would result in high civilian causalities, the Earth Federation officials chose to remain silent about this. An official of the Federation government even said that it would be better to lose the civilian lives than the government. Had the AEUG and Karaba not taken actions to get some civilians to the Garuda-class ship Audhumla, all the civilians would have died as the Neo Zeon forces had cut off the escape points. The leader of Karaba, Hayato Kobayashi, a One Year War veteran and a decorated member of the legendary White Base, sacrificed himself during the battle. During the aftermath of the colony drop, the Federation government ceded Side 3 to Haman, which angered the Earth Federation military officers and AEUG officers. During this time, Judau would confront the MRX-010 Psycho Gundam Mk-II piloted by the Ple clone Ple Two, and was overpowered in the fight. Ple Two's progenitor, Elpeo Ple, confronted her clone in her damaged AMX-004 Qubeley Mk-II and sacrificed herself to save Judau and helped in the defeat of the Psycho Gundam, but Ple Two survived and escaped.

The Neo Zeon Civil War[]

Soon after, the Gundam Team and crew of Agrama returned to space, having left the Argama on Earth for Karaba to use. Back in space, they were given a brand new battleship, the SCVA-76 Nahel Argama. However, the group was told by the AEUG leadership that they wished to decommission the Gundam Team for the use of the battleship. Unwilling to accept that and with Bright's blessings, Judau and his friends hijacked the Nahel Argama. Learning of this, the AEUG gave the Gundam Team an ultimatum - stop Neo Zeon or be tried as renegades. At the same time, Glemy Toto finally stepped forward with his own ambition, proclaiming himself the true leader of Neo Zeon. Because of this, a major schism formed within Neo Zeon with members siding with either Glemy or Haman. Armed with an army of Ple clones piloting the powerful AMX-004G Qubeley Mass Production Type, the Glemy Faction entered into a heated conflict against Haman loyalists led by Mashymre Cello and Chara Soon, resulting in both Neo Zeon factions being wiped out in a chaotic battle.

Battle of Axis[]

Caught in a three-way conflict, the Gundam Team faced off against Ple Two piloting the monstrous NZ-000 Queen Mansa, resulting in the loss of both the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam and the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II. Haunted by the spirit of Elpeo Ple and convinced by Judau in his FA-010S Full Armor ZZ Gundam, Ple Two eventually abandoned the battle. Glemy himself perished at the hands of Roux Louka, who sniped him using the beam rifle of the critically damaged Zeta Gundam, when he was attempting to restrain Ple Two from defecting to Judau's side.

With all her forces gone, Haman, piloting her AMX-004 Qubeley, challenged Judau and his MSZ-010S Enhanced ZZ Gundam to a final duel on the Axis, resulting in her eventual honor suicide. Ple Two, who was mortally wounded during her defection, used last of her energy to psychically guide the trapped Judau out of the imploding ruins of Moussa, before quietly succumbing to her injury while everyone surrounding her was cheering to the victorious conclusion of the battle.

Conclusion[]

With the demise of both Haman Karn and Glemy Toto, and the mysterious disappearance of the real Mineva Lao Zabi (the one captured by AEUG confessed to be a body-double standing in for Mineva since the end of the Gryps Conflict), Neo Zeon surrendered to the Earth Federation on January 17, UC 0089.

Aftermath[]

After the surrender of Neo Zeon, the AEUG and Karaba disbanded and rejoined the Earth Federation forces. Some surviving members of the AEUG and Karaba eventually became a part of a new elite counter-insurgency taskforce, the Londo Bell, commanded by Bright Noa. Meanwhile, some space remnants of Haman's Neo Zeon joined Char Aznable and his Newborn Neo Zeon, and even provided the latter with a mobile suit brought out of Axis that would become the base of the AMS-119 Geara Doga, the primary mobile suit of Char's forces during the Second Neo Zeon War in UC 0093. During this war, Char attempted to drop the asteroid Axis on Earth but was stopped by the Londo Bell.

On Earth, the remnants of Neo Zeon's Africa Front division refused to surrender and continued fighting against the Earth Federation using geurrilla warfare. In UC 0096, they supported the Sleeves during Full Frontal's Third Neo Zeon War in UC 0096. The real Mineva Lao Zabi herself also resurfaced in UC 0096 under the alias "Audrey Burne" and played a major role in the war.

A survivor of Glemy Toto's Ple clones, Ple Twelve, was taken in by human traffickers and sold into sex slavery, and later resurfaced under the name "Marida Cruz" during the Third Neo Zeon War as a formidable Sleeves ace aboard the Garencieres piloting the formidable NZ-666 Kshatriya. Another Ple clone, unknown if she is a First Neo Zeon War survivor or an additional clone who didn't participate at all, escaped Neo Zeon some years later in a AMX-004G Qubeley Mass Production Type and was rescued from a squad of pursuing AMX-014 Döven Wolfs by the passing Jupitris II's MSZ-010S ZZ-GR piloted by Judau, who was en route to Jupiter serving the Jupiter Energy Fleet along with Roux.

Trivia[]

The First Neo Zeon War is the only major war in Universal Century timeline which is mainly covered by a single TV series, the Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and its manga adaptation, compared to One Year War, Gryps War and Zanscare War. However, there are several other media taking place between the first and second Neo Zeon wars which mainly fill in the gasp between both wars, giving much information to the viewers and readers what happened before Char resurfaced and declared another Neo Zeon war in UC 0093.

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