Operation Nova is a series of conflicts during featured in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.
Prelude[]
Operation Nova was meticulously planned by the Romefeller Foundation to eliminate the Gundams and their pilots, who were seen as significant threats to their control, as well as the newly formed Trieze Faction of OZ which held significant assets & territory on the Earth. The operation involved deploying advanced mobile suits and military forces to hunt down and destroy the Gundams, the main force would comprise of the newly rolled out Mobile Doll forces.
Production of prototype Taurus Mobile Suits from Lake Victoria base in the initial strikes of Operation Meteor was followed by the transfer operation to Siberia Base to be fitted with a new mobility system (possibly part of the initial mobile doll prototyping), allowed the Taurus to reach production stage. The subsequent data gained from the Taurus Mobile Suit & Mobile Doll performance in space during OZ diplomatic missions & Alliance Remanent sweep operations was promising enough to send back to their Lunar Base where their Mobile Suit production facilities were located. This base would be used by OZ to supply Space Fortress Barge, which Lady Une was in charge of during her diplomatic missions, while the Lunar Base would be overseen by Tubarov to mass produce the Mobile Dolls. While Lady Une initially had full command over Space Operations, the introduction of Tubarov would seed tension that changed the goals of Operation Nova overtime.
Initial tension between Colonel Tubarov & Treize's philosophies on mobile doll deployment & their role in OZ was seen in their test phase, after Treize would interrupt the test demonstration by trespassing on the testing grounds & engaging the Mobile Doll controlled Leos in one he piloted. After a tense & brief discussion on Tubarov's goal to replace soldiers with Mobile Dolls, the engagment continued & Treize dispatched the 3 Leos swiftly, making his intent on the value of soldiers (and by extension humans) clear to OZ. This event would be perceived as minor & did not hurt either Tubarov or Treize's standing within Romefeller, but did set the stage for events afterwards.
After the announcement of full Mobile Doll mobilisation was announced by Duke Dermail to the Romerfeller Foundation, he summoned Trieze as the leader of OZ to ceremonially take command, a command which would Trieze would 'rebel' against. Trieze made a softly spoken but defiant speech on the use of Mobile Dolls & his personal philosophy, one that Duke Dermail replied by ordering Treize to 'fall on his sword' (by bringing out a pistol), which Trieze further refused & simply turned away. This exchange had Trieze relieved of his command & confined to house arrest, but the reaction within OZ was severe & drastic. With their charismatic leader now disowned by the Romerfeller Foundation, the young soldiers of OZ declared themselves the 'Treize Faction' & began a rebellion against Romerfeller in particular for their use of Mobile Dolls. While Treize himself did not personally order or lead the revolt, he nonetheless inspired a split in OZ & by extension Romerfeller's control of Earth & Space.
The first battle would by between the Barge forces lead by Lady Une & the Lunar Base forces of Tubarov, this would also be the first engagement of Mobile Dolls in full scale battle, as well as the debut of the Virgo model. This spark of rebellion saw the liberation of the Gundam Scientists & Gundam pilots Duo & Wufei from OZ captivity (as well as death by suffocation), as well as the first deployment of their rebuilt Gundams. The battle would end in favor of the Lunar Base with Mobile Dolls made on the moon being sent into the atmosphere to reconquer the Earth from the rebellious Treize Faction. The Lunar Base itself, while operational & still productive, was however left understaffed & chaotic atmosphere. The massive complex was large enough for several Treize Faction infiltrators to effectively hide in, alongside their new makeshift allies the now freed scientists, albeit in a disadvantageous position.
The Campaign[]
The Gundam pilots, including Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, and Chang Wufei, faced intense battles against the Romefeller forces. The operation saw various strategic maneuvers, including ambushes and counterattacks by the Gundam pilots to evade capture and destruction.
After the Battle at the Lunar Base & roll out of the Mobile Dolls into full deployment, the Treize Faction was now in open revolt & targeted by their former allies in the OZ Loyalist faction to contest the control of Earth & Space. The initial drops of Mobile Dolls in the atmosphere & deployment around the colonies marked an end to the Diplomatic missions of Lady Une & relations between OZ & the Colonies began to degrade rapidly. Views from the Colonies were that OZ now resembled their former oppressors of the Alliance, a sentiment that was spreading beyond Space & even on to Earth nations as the battles between the two factions raged. Although the Mobile Dolls granted the Loyalist faction many military successes, the subsequent reputational damage OZ & Romerfeller would suffer would become irreparable leading to the many caught between & witnessing their actions to seek new avenues of action.
The initial battles favored the Loyalist faction with the superiority of the Mobile Dolls allowing them to take significantly less casualties than their opposition. The drops of the Mobile Dolls remained contested, but allowed the Loyalists to gain a foothold where ever they were deployed. The Treize Faction on Earth would suffer greatly over the coming battles, but remained a fearsome force that did not give up ground easily. With little concern in military losses & failures, the Loyalist faction was most successful in this front of the Operation, which gave them plenty of room to act for future missions.
On the political side, things were not unfolding as smoothly as Romerfeller desired, with many nations on Earth further repulsed by a new extension of the War & the chaos it brought about, while simultaneously attracted by the philosophy of Total Pacifism. This culminated in many lesser involved & neutral nations granting support or furthering ties to the Sanc Kingdom. Their hope was to form their own alliance strong enough to resist or influence Romerfeller diplomatically with the Sanc Kingdom, & it's heir apparent Relena Peacecraft taking the lead. OZ would keep a close watch on these meetings, deploying security forces to guard the dignitaries, although most likely for intimidation purposes as well, something Relena was able to sternly but gracefully deescalate when encountered.
In Space the reaction to the renewed conflict & oppression was starkly contrasted to Earth, to the point where militarised resistance began forming to oppose OZ. While some leadership did adhere to the Total Pacifism philosophy of Heero Yuy, more active advocates of revolution began working towards the goal of liberation through force. Gathering discontented colonial born OZ recruits & former Alliance soldiers to their cause, this new force would secretly build themselves during the reign of Romerfeller as tensions in space grew.
The Gundam pilots Heero & Quatre were held briefly in the Lunar Base after a battle between them in the Wing Zero & Mercurius, however the Trieze Faction would liberate them under orders from the Gundam Scientists. After a debrief on the situation, the remaining skirmishes within the Lunar Base ended once the Treize Faction was cornered. As an appeasement gesture, the Gundam pilots & scientists were handed over to the Loyalist faction, a demand made by Lieutenant Trant who desired to test the captive Wing Zero's ZERO system. Trant discovered the ZERO system could have an OZ pilot fight on parity with a Mobile Doll & wished to see it fully utilised, which demanded a pilot of a higher caliber. Heero was put into the Wing Zero under guard, where under influence of the ZERO system, began a berserker rampage which activated Wing Zero & was only stopped when engaged by Quatre in the Mercurius. After the brief duel, Quatre takes a sedate Heero away as he activates the Mercurius' self-detonation, the chaos allowing all captives to escape. The surviving scientists once again hide themselves along with the largely undamaged Wing Zero to further modify/complete it, with Treize Faction members escaping elsewhere & the two Gundam pilots commandeering OZ equipment to escape to Earth.
Aftermath[]
Despite the overwhelming odds, the Gundam pilots managed to survive and continue their fight against the oppressive forces. These battles showcased the strategic and tactical prowess of the Gundam pilots as they evaded capture and destruction.
Resistance was not openly declared by any on Earth or in Space aside from the Treize faction, with many nations gathering under the Romerfeller Foundation's rule & acting on their orders, if reluctantly at best. This made for some room to maneuver for those resisting Romerfeller to act, such as the Gundam Pilots, Sally Po, Lucrezia Noin & Quinze. While the start of Operation Nova was successful militarily, the political front was beginning to become contested. The escapes of all high priority targets from OZ meant that a serious threat no longer neutralised & beginning to gain strength again. Romerfeller opposition groups were taking shape in all forms & there was now an active rebellion from within Romerfeller ranks further hampering their operations.
Overall Operation Nova would provide to be a turning point in Romerfeller & OZ's power projection on all fronts in their goals of complete control of Earth & Space. The initial goals of destroying the Gundams, the greatest symbols of resistance against them, through strengthening OZ with the Mobile Dolls ironically made their enemy stronger. Treize's protests about the Mobile Dolls were not accommodated, resulting in divided military structure & open rebellion. Not only did they weaken their own forces, but their subsequent abandoning or lack of diplomacy also strengthened their opposition, from the Earth's pacifist Sanc Kingdom to Space's new White Fang rebel militia.
OZ responded with plans to wipeout the Gundams on Earth gathering forces in two places, one south off the coast of California, with another in northern Australia. The Sanc Kingdom (primarily Noin) acted covertly to gather the Gundam pilots during this time, as well as allies against Romerfeller such as Sally Po's rebels. OZ Loyalists, now shorthanded thanks to rebellion became more belligerent as occupiers, with those under Loyalist rule being press ganged into enlistment when word of the Treize Faction was operating in nearby areas.
The Sanc Kingdom itself would face several tactics of dissuasion from their pacifist ideals by Romerfeller, this included as mentioned intimidation via security deployments, hostile envoys & Loyalists forces driving a detachment of Treize Faction to retreat into their borders. Eventually, after the conclusion of Operation Nova, the successful deployment of a sizable Mobile Doll force used for the suppression of Treize Faction HQ's Luxembourg base, Duke Dermail ordered the destruction of the Sanc Kingdom. The Sanc Kingdom's Total Pacificism ideal had spread too wide even within Romerfeller, thus the removal of this Nation would serve Romerfeller's interest in control over the world via military strength.
The end of this brutal but brief conflict came with a global broadcast. Relena Peacecraft acting in line Total Pacifism, surrendered herself & dissolved the Sanc Kingdom. The Romerfeller Foundation in need of a new uniting symbol after the Treize rebellion, took advantage of this to install Relena as Romerfeller's new figurehead leader, with real control remaining with Duke Dermail. This marked the beginning of the first sovereign of the World, Queen Relena.
Gallery[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- This operation resembles the AEUG drop to Jaburo, however with the entire Earth Sphere as the target as opposed to an enemy Headquarters. It does however take place about halfway through the story arc in relation to the initial Char Saga (being an event around Zeta, with the Eve Wars White Fang being Wing's CCA equivalent). The earlier Raid on New Edwards Base, including the order for its destruction (prevented this time), also take inspiration from the AEUG's drop mission.
Appearances[]
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