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Ortega is a character that appears in the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin manga and its OVA adaptation.
Early History[]
An old acquaintance of Ramba Ral, Ortega was one of the first test pilots for Dozle Zabi's Mobile Suit project alongside Mash and Gaia. For his participation, the Ortega is promoted to Warrant Officer and would pilot a Mobile Worker MW-01 Model 01 Late Type as part of Dozle's testing.
U.C. 0078[]
Once tensions flared between Zeon and the Federation following the Dawn Rebellion, both sides began development of their own individual mobile suits. While the Federation's projects faltered, Zeon's was making breakthroughs thanks to Torenov Y. Minovsky. Due to the growing conflict, however, Dr. Minovsky soon attempted to defect to the Federation at Granada. Zeon would catch wind of his plans, and sent the Black Tri-Stars, Ramba Ral, and Char Aznable though both Ortega and Mash expressed disdain for Char's disrespectful nature as he simply obtained his status as a pilot thanks to a favor from Dozle. The mission would also work two-fold as it was to also test the worth of the new MS-05 Zaku I.
The capture mission eventually turned into a full skirmish as Federation ships and RCX-76-02 Guncannons were sent to escort the doctor. The battle would quickly turn into a massacre as the Zaku I outclassed its enemies in leaps and bounds despite their numbers, but the mission would end in failure as Dr. Minovsky was accidentally killed by a falling Guncannon. Nonetheless, Zeon's mobile suit project continued on with confidence over their latest victory.
Following Operation British, Zeon was now anticipating a retaliatory attack from Admiral Johann Ibrahim Revil and Tianem near the strategic Side 5. By this time, Ortega and the other members of the Black Tri-Stars were in the final phases in customizing their MS-06 Zaku II. Ortega would be once again angered by Char's audacity due to his custom unit's red color and horn to distinguish itself from the rest of the others. The three would then be challenged by Char over who would be able to capture the most glory in Loum.
U.C. 0079[]
As part of the battle plan, the Black Tri-Stars and the other mobile suit teams sat behind at A Baoa Qu and allowed Tianem's fleet to engage and chase after Dozle's rear guard. While Tianem had split from Revil's armada, the ambush was sprung as Zeon's mobile suits attacked Revil from all sides as Dozle's fleet would join the attack. The Black Tri-Stars would earn the incredibly high honor of downing both Revil's ship and capturing the commander himself. Ortega would be the one to sink Revil's ship, driving his heat hawk through the ship's bridge. Rather than continue onwards to the heart of Zeon at Side 3, Tianem would concede and turned around to rescue survivors at Loum, giving Zeon a complete victory.
In spite of their achievement, Ortega would once again complain over Char hogging most of the attention though Mash and Ortega would be busy trying to console him as even members of the Zabi family had taken note of the Red Comet.
Following Loum, the group would be assigned to Earth, where they were initially ordered to help M'Quve with the planned attack on Jaburo with the new MS-09 Doms. While at Lima, the three began perfecting their formation "Jet Stream Attack". attempted to attack the Federation warship White Base after its stunning victories against Char and Ramba, the latter of whom was killed despite using the advanced MS-07 Gouf. By chance, the Zeon forces would make a small pit stop in the town of Cuzco, where Ortega would catch their subordinates picking a fight with Hayato Kobayashi, a crewman of the White Base. Despite them confirming to be crewmen of the enemy ship, the Black Tri-Stars choose to leave without further incident; intending to finish the matter in battle instead.
Shortly after, Ortega and the others would sortie as the three looked to engage the White Base, but the ship would instead choose to abandon any fight, leaving Cuzco in haste; much to the confusion of Ortega and the others. Gaia, however, felt that its movements, which were set to go to Jaburo, were off, the three would successfully chase the ship to the Urubamba Gorge.
Using their new Doms, Ortega and his teammates used their "Jet Stream Attack", a simultaneous attack combination with the Doms' different weapons against the White Base's mobile suits. This initially worked as they were able to destroy Hayato's RX-75 Guntank and Job John's RX-77-02 Guncannon, while Amuro Ray's RX-78-02 Gundam also struggled to deal with the combination. Eventually, Amuro noticed the attack's weakness of exposing the others if it failed, and took advantage of the situation, using Gaia as a stepping stone to strike down Mash. Before Ortega could avenge Mash and use his Dom's bazooka, he was pelted and tackled by Matilda Ajan's Medea. In response, Mash crashed the plane by smashing its bridge. Upon seeing Mash's death, Gaia ordered Ortega to retreat, and the two fled.
After Mash's death, Ortega and Gaia would lead a Dom squadron in attacking the White Base again at Lake Van. This time, they would be able to encircle Sayla Mass' FF-X7 Core Fighter which would lead to an attack on Amuro, who had come to rescue Sayla. Despite outnumbering the Gundam, Amuro's skills as a pilot had greatly improved since their last meeting, and he would be able to dispatch all the Doms, including Ortega and Gaia.