The Gundam Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
The Gundam Wiki
GUNDAM WIKI
9,781
pages
in: Conflicts, Cosmic Era Conflicts, Project: SEED, Conflicts of the First Alliance-PLANT War

Operation Spitbreak

Sign in to edit

Operation Spitbreak (Battle of JOSH-A) is a conflict of the First Alliance-PLANT War, featured in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

Prelude[]

Though both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance had suffered massive losses during the war, the former was finding ways to strike at the Atlantic Federation's core as it was the most powerful member of the Alliance. Rigorous planning from the new, aggressive, PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, Patrick Zala eventually decided the large power base of Alaska to be their target, though this information was only known to a select few, and even former Chairman Siegel Clyne was left in the dark as the attack itself was not even approved by the PLANT Supreme Council.[1]

Rau Le Creuset, a high-ranking ZAFT commander, who secretly held great disdain for humanity as a whole and wished to further the violence, tipped off the Atlantic Federation, which was under the thumb of the anti-Coordinator group, Blue Cosmos of ZAFT's impending attack.[2] As a result, the Atlantic Federation pulled out most of their own faction as well as other desirable officers such as Natarle Badgiruel and Mu La Flaga.[3] Their plan was to abandon their main political rivals in the Alliance, the Eurasian Federation and other expendable forces such as the Archangel-class battleship, Archangel,[4] to defend the base and lure in the invaders before detonating the Cyclops System underneath and causing a nuclear explosion to annihilate both parties.[2]

Siegel, and his daughter, Lacus were appalled to learn that a major battle would now be hitting Alaska from Eileen Canaver, and Kira Yamato, the former pilot of the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam and former crewmember of the Archangel, pleaded for the Clynes' help in allowing him to return to his friends. In response, Lacus disguised Kira as a ZAFT pilot and took him to a secret hangar containing the nuclear-powered ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam. As soon as Kira hijacked the unit, he immediately blew his way out and began heading for Earth.[1]

The Battle[]

At PLANT Supreme Chairman Patrick Zala's call, "Operation Spitbreak" was announced and the invasion of JOSH-A began. The revelation came as equally a surprise to numerous ZAFT soldiers and captains who were standing by at separate posts. Space, air and sea craft all launched for the ultimate strike. A multi-pronged assault was now underway as several ZGMF-1017 GINNs, ZGMF-515 CGUEs and TMF/A-802 BuCUEs were deployed and made short work of the base's basic defenses. JOSH-A’s main gate defenders, however, led by the Archangel were able to hold the line against the overwhelming ZAFT forces. Base Commander, William Sutherland of the Atlantic Federation, continued giving suicidal orders for the defenders to hold ZAFT off, as he discreetly joined other Atlantic Federation personnel in abandoning the base.

ZAFT Splitbreak Battle Plan 01 (SEED HD Ep32)

ZAFT's Mobile Suit Deployment Plan for Operation Spitbreak

Rau, launching in a AMF-101 DINN, stealthily broke off from his forces and became the first ZAFT officer to infiltrate the base, looking for information of the Atlantic Federation's plan. Mu La Flaga, who had split from the evacuating personnel, sensed Rau and the two held a brief firefight before Rau escaped. During his escape, Rau had also taken Flay Allster hostage, intending to use her as a pawn in his future plans. When Mu began to investigate, he soon realized the Atlantic Federation's true intentions and immediately commandeered an F-7D Spearhead to inform the Archangel.[2] Mu's revelation shocked the Archangel’s crew to the core and Lieutenant Commander Murrue Ramius announced to her them and to nearby forces that they needed to abandon the battlefield.

As his Spearhead was damaged, Mu piloted his Skygrasper, armed with the Strike's Launcher Striker Pack to defend the ship. However, he lost the Agni Impulse Cannon in combat with Yzak Joule's Duel Gundam. As the Archangel continued suffering heavy damage, the ship started to list, allowing a GINN to take aim at the ship's bridge. Before it could fire, a beam of light struck its machine cannon and destroyed it as the Freedom Gundam descended, disarmed it and beheaded the mobile suit. After recovering from the shock of Kira's return, Murrue told him about the Cyclops System, and the Atlantic Federation's plan. Using the Freedom Gundam's Hi-MAT Mode to disable many ZAFT mobile suits, he contacted all combatants and warned them of what was going on and that they needed to retreat. Yzak, however, attacked Kira, who promptly cut off both of the Duel's knees before continuing his request for all forces in the area to escape.[2]

Believing the time was right and chanting a haunting phrase - "For the preservation of our blue and pure world" - Captain Sutherland and an Atlantic Federation Rear Admiral used their keys to activate the Cyclops System. Those inside the base were the first to die, their bodies popping like balloons as the radiation cooked them alive, with the mobile suits being obliterated soon after. In seconds, JOSH-A was no more, a barren wasteland of charred mobile suits all that left behind.[2]

Aftermath[]

The aftermath saw a major shift in power for both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. With the Eurasia Federation having lost most of their personnel, control of the Earth Alliance fell to the Atlantic Federation and their masters within Blue Cosmos with the organization's leader, Muruta Azrael, becoming the EA’s de facto leader. With this change, the Earth Alliance's goal would shift radically. No longer would they fight to defend Earth from ZAFT, they instead fought for the complete eradication of the Coordinator population. As it became known that Lacus had aided in the robbery of the Freedom Gundam, an outraged Patrick Zala believed that the moderates had colluded with the Alliance and hunted down the Clyne family, eventually succeeding in assassinating Siegel.[5] With 80% of ZAFT's forces wiped out in the destruction of JOSH-A, ZAFT soldiers sought to have their own revenge, taking it out on helpless Naturals after the Battle of Porta Panama.[6]

The Archangel, alongside Kira, would choose to seek asylum in Orb, informing its leader, Uzumi Nara Athha, of the true nature of the battle as well as the growing extremism between both sides of the war.[6]

Gallery[]

Notes & Trivia[]

  • Operation Spitbreak parallels both the First and Second Battle of Jaburo from Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam respectively. Like both battles in the UC, they are operations planned by a space-based faction (Zeon/A.E.U.G and ZAFT) to invade the headquarters of their Earth-based enemy (Earth Federation/Titans and Blue Cosmos controlled Earth Alliance). Like the second battle, the space faction attempted its decisive attack, only for the Earth faction to be informed of the invasion beforehand and use it to eliminate their enemies by destroying their base. (However, in Zeta Gundam, this plan failed as the A.E.U.G was able to escape from Jaburo with minor losses before the base was destroyed.) In addition, both the Second Battle of Jaburo and Operation Spitbreak involved the Earth HQ self destructed by the more extremist cell within the main Earth faction.
    • Not only does it parallel the Second of Battle of Jaburo, but also Operation Stardust, in which both were orchestrated by the corrupt space faction (Zeon Remnants and Patrick Zala-controlled ZAFT) to try and inflict fatal damage against the Earth faction. The corrupt Terrans of both events would exploit their respective events to seize control of the Earth faction as a whole (The Titans forming after the damage from Operation Stardust and Blue Cosmos gaining more control after sacrificing the more moderate elements from within during Operation Spitbreak).
  • Operation Daybreak from the After Colony parallels Operation Spitbreak in many ways. Not only do they have "-break" in the second half of their names, but both were also events of a climactic operation attempted by the space faction (Colony Liberation Organization's Gundam pilots / ZAFT) that would serve as a turning point in which the more radical cell within the main Earth faction would usurp control and eliminate moderates within their side. (OZ eliminating the UESA and Field Marshal Noventa for taking a more peace-oriented approach; Blue Cosmos controlled Atlantic Federation eliminating the Coordinator tolerant Eurasian Federation and moderate elements within the Atlantic, such as the Archangel crew having Kira Yamato, a Coordinator, among their crew). The only difference is that Daybreak was directly done by OZ, whereas Spitbreak was a ZAFT operation that was exploited by Blue Cosmos.
  • The battle is featured in Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn as the third stage in the Gundam SEED storyline, where players take Kira's perspective in defending the Archangel. Aside from keeping the ship safe, Mu will ask for Kira to meet up with other survivors inside the base and help escort them out as well. Upon seeing this, Rau orders Yzak to seal off the exit and launch an attack on the Archangel; acting as the Archangel's last obstacle from escaping.
  • Operation Spitbreak appears in SD Gundam Battle Alliance, where a tear in the universe causes Allelujah Haptism to appear inside JOSH-A and the Archangel would be sunk by Aina Sahalin's Apsaras III. In the fixed version, the player moves to assist Mu and the Archangel in escaping the base before helping Kira fend off ZAFT forces continuing to chase them.

Appearances[]

Television Series
Manga

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-34, Seen and Unseen
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-35, The Descending Sword
  3. ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-33, Gathering Darkness
  4. ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-32, In the Promised Land
  5. ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-40, Into the Dawn Skies
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-37, Divine Thunder
Logo Mobile Suit Gundam Seed
This article is part of Project: SEED

Please read the linked project page before editing this article.

Project Leader: User:CD298

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More The Gundam Wiki