Sweetwater

Sweetwater
Sweetwater
Data
Location	Side 5
Usage	Space Colony
Builder	Earth Federation
Controller	Earth Federation Newborn Neo Zeon
Miscellaneous
Debut	Crisis at Side 2

Sweetwater is a location introduced in the animated film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack.

Overview

Sweetwater is a space colony located on the outskirts of the Side 5 colony cluster.

History

Sweetwater was originally an Island-3 "open-type" space colony. Prior to the First Neo Zeon War of U.C. 0088, it housed a Psycommu technology research lab that Char Aznable took an interest in and financially supported. It was there that he met researcher Nanai Miguel, who would go on to become a leading figure in Aznable's Newborn Neo Zeon organization.

In February of U.C. 0090, the Earth Federation hastily expanded Sweetwater to provide living space for refugees displaced by the One Year War, the Gryps Conflict, and the First Neo Zeon War. For the sake of reducing construction time and expenses, an unfinished "closed-type" space colony shell was attached to Sweetwater's Island-3 cylinder. Not only did this leave the enlarged space colony structurally unstable, it was still insufficient to properly house the millions of refugees who were resettled to Sweetwater. Even so, the Federation did not see fit to build any additional space colonies for refugees to relieve the strain.

On December 22, U.C. 0092, Char Aznable and Newborn Neo Zeon arrived at Sweetwater, intent on using it as a base for operations against the Federation. The occupation was bloodless; rather than resist Neo Zeon, the citizens of Sweetwater welcomed Aznable with open arms and made him their leader by popular acclamation. For the next two months, Neo Zeon quietly prepared to carry out Aznable's plan to destroy the Federation. Aznable revealed himself and declared war on the Federation on February 27, U.C. 0093, starting the Second Neo Zeon War. After the successful drop of the asteroid Fifth Luna on Lhasa on March 4, which caused immense yet manageable devastation, some observers speculated that Aznable's intent was only to coerce the Federation into recognizing Sweetwater as a sovereign state under Neo Zeon control. This was seemingly affirmed by a peace treaty signed by the Federation and Neo Zeon on March 6 at Londenion, wherein Neo Zeon agreed to disarm in exchange for the asteroid Axis, which it claimed it would relocate to Sweetwater to create more habitable space for the colonists. However, Aznable unveiled his true plan in a speech delivered to his troops at Sweetwater: to trigger a nuclear winter on Earth by dropping Axis and thus compel humanity to abandon its homeworld entirely. The space colony avoided becoming embroiled in the ensuing clash between Neo Zeon and the Federation on March 12 as Axis was launched at Earth (specifically at Hong Kong), but the battle ended with the asteroid drop being averted and Aznable disappearing amid the "Axis Shock". With Newborn Neo Zeon's defeat and subsequent dispersal, Sweetwater presumably returned to Federation control thereafter.

Gallery

The middle of Sweetwater, where the two different space colony structures are joined

The Island-3 "open-type" segment of Sweetwater

The Neo Zeon fleet departing Sweetwater to carry out the Raid on Luna II

A city inside Sweetwater

A rural area inside Sweetwater at night

Notes & Trivia

• The scene where Sweetwater is first shown in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack marked the first time computer graphics were used in any Gundam production.

Appearances

Television Series

• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
  • Episode 29, Crisis at Side 2
    • First Mentioned

Movies

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
  • First Appearance

Manga

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack - Beyond the Time

Novels

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack - Beltorchika's Children

See Also

• Moon Moon, a Sweetwater-type colony