Memento Mori
From the The Gundam Wiki, the ultimate guide to Gundam
| Memento Mori | |
|---|---|
| |
| Memento Mori (standby mode) | |
| |
| Memento Mori (active) | |
| Production Information | |
| Manufacturer | Earth Sphere Federation |
| Designer | Innovators |
| Type | Energy weapon |
| Model | Satellite weapon |
| Technical Specifications | |
| Discharge | Energy beam |
| Power source | Solar energy |
| Control systems | Unknown |
| Usage | |
| Affiliation | |
| Timeline | Anno Domini |
Memento Mori is a satellite particle beam cannon that was installed onto the lower orbital ring of the solar satellite system in season 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00.
Memento mori is a Latin phrase that may be translated as "Remember that you are mortal," "Remember you will die," "Remember that you must die," or "Remember your death". It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose, which is to remind people of their own mortality.
Contents |
Technology & Combat Charactistics
Memento Mori has the destructive yield of nukes, capable of instantly vaporizing an entire small country off the map. The weapon itself can fire downward to raze any target on Earth (relative to the side of the planet its facing) or upwards into space from where it's stationed; Memento Mori has its drawbacks, it can't fire at any target below or above its body, a 30-45 degree limitation (relative to distance). Unlike other particle weaponry that draws power from GN Particles, it draws power from solar energy from the orbital ring. The satellite weapon itself is stationary, a very vulnerable stand-alone weapon without the protection of an A-Laws battle-fleet; Memento Mori can anticipate enemy targets by long-ranged firing before the enemy can reach their intended destination.
It's greatest weakness is its "electromagnetic photon resonance chamber", a component critical to firing Memento Mori. Should the chamber be destroyed or damaged, Memento Mori's energy systems will go critical and will result in a chain reaction explosion; the chamber itself is built under the right side of its hull armor. It's very difficult to destroy and/or penetrate its thickly armored body without superior firepower. In Celestial Being's case, the quickest solution was to use 00 Gundam's Trans-Am Raiser to create an ultra-sized beam saber to cut down the weapon(s). It's unclear how many were intended to be made, but at least 3 were known to be made (2 Mk I's and 1 Mk II, 3 total).
History
Development
It's unknown when the Memento Mori was designed or built, but Innovator's Ribbons Almark forwarded the technology to the Federation for development. Wang Liu Mei was Ribbon's sponsor for the project in their mutual beliefs to Aeolia Schenberg's plan for planetary unification and preparing humanity into space.
Unifying Earth
Destroying Suille
To accelerate the unification of the world, Ribbons decided to activate Memento Mori to test its capabilities and wipe out the Suille Kingdom (last country(s) left to oppose the Federation) at the same time. A-Laws successfully vaporized the Suille Kingdom instantly with a single blast, nearly taking several nearby Federation Army units as well.
Assault on Memento Mori
The A-Laws had plans to eradicate any Katharon base they can find. At the same time, Katharon deployed their entire fleet to destroy the weapon. However during this time the Memento Mori showed that it was not only capable to fire on Earth but also into space. It used this ability to destroy several ships of the Katharon fleet.
The remainder of the Katharon forces were decimated by the A-Laws mobile suits defending Memento Mori, until Setsuna F. Seiei arrived in the 00 Raiser. While Setsuna diverted the defending mobile suits, including Healing Care's Gadessa, the Ptolemaios 2 moved into position to attack. After using Arios's Trans-Am to dodge Memento Mori's beam, Tieria Erde uses Seravee GN Bazooka II to blast a hole in the weapon's outer bulkhead, allowing Lockon Stratos to snipe its light resonance chamber with Cherudim's GN Sniper Rifle II. This caused a chain reaction that destroyed Memento Mori.
Aftermath
In the aftermath of the superweapon's destruction, the Federation Government publicly announced that it was a simple satellite in geosynchronous orbit. This gave the A-Laws the leverage to take direct control of the regular army to enhance security, prompting discontent over a small faction of the military, who planned a coup d'etat.
Break Pillar Incident
Second Memento Mori
During the coup d'etat, in which the dissidents occupy the AEU's orbital elevator, the A-Laws unveil another Memento Mori. Setsuna and Saji sortie against it in 00 Raiser and destroy the second Memento Mori with an enormous GN beam saber, but not before it fires and causes the orbital elevator to collapse.
Post Break Pillar
After the Federation successfully covered up their debacle (with the aid of Veda). A third Memento Mori was built, Memento Mori No. 2 (as in second series). The new satellite weapon was short lived as Celestial Being intervened and destroyed the new weapon before it even fired its first shot.
Boxed
With the death of Wang Liu Mei (weapon's sponser), the fall of Innovators, and the ESF ending A-Laws, no more further versions of Memento Mori were built. While the weapon was powerful, it was a costly weapon delivery system and publicly unfavored. The designs were "mothballed", but unclear were the designs salvaged for different or newer developments in the future.
