Operation Meteor

Operation Meteor is an infamous strategic military retaliation plot designed by members of the space colonies in the After Colony timeline of New Mobile Report Gundam Wing. It was preemptively initiated on April 7, AC 195, and executed in stark contrast to the original intended plan, which led to another amended execution of the operation later that year. It would later be properly executed on December 24, AC 196, during the events of New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. The operation never successfully came to its intended fruition.

Overview

Operation Meteor was the name given to the plot conceived by rebellious members of the space colonies as a form of retaliation in response to the assassination of the political leader Heero Yuy. Created as the brainchild of Dekim Barton and orchastrated by Quinze, the original operational layout was designed as such:

1. A pre-appointed space colony will abruptly descend from its orbit and be dropped onto the Earth Sphere, with the intention of creating political, economical, and environmental disarray on a global scale. Note: The Barton Foundation intended to drop Colony A-0206 - home of the Long Clan - in the plan's original iteration.
2. Shortly after the initial aftermath of the colony drop, the Gundams - 5 specific mobile suits designed by the Gundam Scientists - will launch from other orbiting space colonies and descend to Earth as tools of massacre, with the sole objective of forcibly seizing control of the remaining Earth Sphere.
3. Once confirmation of the Gundams securing control of the planet has been received, the Barton Foundation will assume full control of the Earth Sphere, with Dekim as the leader and a pre-selected family member as the heir. Note: Initially, Dekim's son, Trowa Barton, was selected to be his intended heir.

Though the operation was perceived to be a counteraction towards the United Earth Sphere Alliance's oppression of the space colonies and avenge the assassination of Heero Yuy, Operation Meteor's ultimate goal was for the Barton Foundation's complete rule of Earth, under Dekim.

Pre-Wing: Episode Zero

In AC 188, unsatisfied with the murder of Heero Yuy's assassin, Odin Lowe, Dekim desired to take revenge against the Earth itself, in its entirety: to that end, Dekim devised the beginnings of Operation Meteor. Partnering with a twisted follower of the late Heero Yuy, Quinze, he contacted five disgruntled scientists, formerly of the OZ organization, to construct powerful mobile suits he planned on using in the operation: the suits were given the name "Gundam". As each of the Gundam Scientists constructed their Gundam, they would need to select a pilot for each as well.

• Doctor J discovered a lost boy wandering X-18999. Admiring the child's bearing, he offered him the chance to become a Gundam pilot: the boy accepted.

• In AC 192, Professor G and the Sweeper Group caught a stowed away on their spaceship by the name of Duo Maxwell. He would later decide to join the Sweeper Group and choose to become a Gundam pilot.
• Trowa Barton was selected to be the pilot of the Gundam designed by Doktor S. While in space overseeing the construction of the new mobile suit, Trowa became acquainted with one of its mechanics, called "No-Name": he even shared the secret of his niece Mariemaia, who he believed was going to rule the Earth when the operation succeeded.
• In AC 193, after being taken hostage and subsequently saving the Maganac Corps from an Alliance's attack caused by a close betrayal, Quatre Raberba Winner returns to the Winner Colony with Instructor H. Though Quatre believes in the idea of pacifism, Instructor H convinces him to become a Gundam Pilot.
• In AC 194, during an assault on Colony A0206 led by the Alliance, Wufei Chang steals Master O's incomplete Gundam to chase after his wife-to-be Meilan Long in the Tallgeese: however, Wufei was not able to save Meilan. To avenge her death, Wufei decided to continue Meilan's fight for justice by becoming a Gundam pilot, referring to the Gundam as "Nataku" in her honor.

Shortly before its initiation, the Gundam Scientists discovered the use of their Gundams in Dekim's plan of Operation Meteor. They disagreed with the operation, stating they refuse to allow their works to be used to commit mass murder, and sought to fight for an alternative way to fight for the colonies' independence. In the meantime, it was revealed Vice Foreign Minister Darlian had learned about Operation Meteor: to maintain its secrecy, the Barton Foundation hired a hit team to assassinate him upon his arrival at one of the L1 colonies. However, Doctor J learned about this plot and offered his pilot three options: Aid the assassination; prevent the assassination; or ignore the whole thing: the pilot chose to save Minister Darlian. Later, the Gundam Scientists inform their pilots of Operation Meteor, and try to convince their pilots to abandon the operation as is.

• Duo refused to go along with the operation's original plan and attempted to destroy his Gundam, Deathscythe, using anchored explosives. Afterwards, Duo planned to kill Professor G and everyone else involved with the operation. However, Professor G caught him in the act just as his detonator failed to work, revealing to Duo that he disarmed his explosives. G "suggested" that Duo should steal Deathscythe and fight the Alliance on his own terms, as the "God of Death".
• Doktor S failed to convince Trowa, who was intent on executing the original operation and planned on reporting Doktor S's disillusionment to his father. Before he could act however, Trowa was shot and killed by a nearby mechanic, who revealed to have family on Earth. No-Name, witnessing the murder, offered instead to take Trowa's name and pilot his Gundam, Heavyarms, to which Doktor S accepted.
• Not wanting Quatre to carry out the massacre the operation originally called for, Instructor H asked him to ignore the operation and rejoin with the Maganac Corps on Earth in Sandrock: Quatre agreed.
• Wufei argued against Master Long over the decision to drop the Long Clan Colony (Colony A0206) onto Earth in the operation. Opposing the wishes of his clan, Wufei instead took Shenlong to fight for justice in his own way.
• After informing his pilot of the operation being executed per Dekim's intention, which would resulted in a mass genocide of innocent people living on Earth, Doctor J again gave his pilot three options: Proceed as planned; kill Doctor J and escape; or change the plan altogether: the pilot chose the third option. As he prepared Wing Gundam, Doctor J decided to give him a codename, in honor of the late political leader: Heero Yuy.

With all 5 pilots accepting a modified plan of the operation selected from the Gundam Scientists, Operation Meteor proceeded ahead of the intended schedule.

Gundam Wing

On April 7, AC 195, Operation Meteor commenced: the five Gundams were each launched individually from separate space colonies, and descended to Earth disguised as shooting stars to carry out the operation in an albeit radically different form - refusing to let their creations be used as weapons of mass murder, the five Gundam Scientists informed their respective pilots to disregard the original operational plans, ignore orders sent by the Barton Foundation, and instead only target selected OZ installations rather than civilians. Once all five Gundams reached Earth, they proceeded to attack and destroy military bases, mobile suit factories, and active spaceports under the control of OZ and the Alliance. Throughout AC 195, no colony had been dropped on Earth (but Dekim would try again later).

Later, during the Eve Wars, White Fang rebels, led by Quinze, planned on completing Operation Meteor in their own way by dropping the captured OZ battleship Libra onto Earth. The resulting explosion caused by the impact would produce a nuclear winter on Earth, making it completely uninhabitable. During its descent, Peacemillion collided with the falling Libra, lodging itself into the battleship's main cannon and managing to keep Libra in a stable orbit using its own engines. As it did however, one of the Libra's blocks tore away and continued falling towards Earth. In a final attempt to avert disaster, White Fang leader Zechs Merquise sacrificed himself to destroy the block's power core, while Wing Gundam Zero used its twin buster rifle to annihilate the remains of the block during reentry. This event triggered the formation of the new Earth Sphere Unified Nation, as well as peace between the space colonies and the Earth Sphere - the final objective of the modified plan of Operation Meteor carried out by the five Gundam pilots.

Endless Waltz

On December 24, AC 196, Dekim Barton would return to try and complete the goal he had set after the death of Heero Yuy. As the L3 colony X-18999 neared completion, Dekim revealed to the people of Earth the leader he had set up for the coming ages: Mariemaia Khushrenada, the daughter of Treize Khushrenada. During this time, Mariemaia made a speech to the Earth Sphere declaring the independence of X-18999 while simultaneously declaring war on the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. From the resource satellite MO-III, Dekim told the newly resurfaced Zechs Marquise of his intentions of dropping X-18999 onto Earth. With the help of Heero and Duo, Trowa was able to restore the colony's stable orbit, preventing the colony from plunging to Earth.

Ultimately, Operation Meteor was foiled, ironically by the very pilots that were meant to restore order to the chaos created by the destruction of X-18999 in the original planned operation.