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Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations.

—Motto of Orb

The Orb Union (aka Orb) is a South Pacific island nation introduced in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

Overview[]

Orb Union is a nation whose territory encompasses several islands to the east of New Guinea.[1] The official name of the mainland is Yalafath, where the Orb capital, Olofat, is located [1]. In addition, there are four cities aside from the capital[1]. It was originally an oil-producing country, but after the depletion of oil, it used its capital to transform itself into an industrial nation [1]. Geothermal power generation, which took advantage of the characteristics of the volcanic islands, has made it possible for the country to become self-sufficient in energy, the Achilles' heel of modern nations, to a considerable extent. Geothermal power generation became the foundation for supporting industries, and acts as the driving force behind Orb's economic development.[2]

In addition to processing and exporting imported resources, Orb succeeded in attracting a spaceport by taking advantage of its equatorial location, and achieved further development as a trading hub between space and Earth.[1][3] Furthermore, the nation's policy of accepting Coordinators was also based on the idea of survival as a technological nation[1]. The official language is Japanese.[4] The Island nation also has its own Mass Driver, called "Kaguya", a space colony Heliopolis, which serves as a resource satellite, and a military space station Ame-no-Mihashira. Because of Orb's relative political and economic stability and stance as a neutral nation, it is also known as the "Land of Peace."

Government[]

Orb's government consists of both an elected legislature, comprising the Senate and a House of Representatives, and an aristocracy of five noble clans who once ruled the island nation.[5] The leading member of the Orb government is the Chief Representative (who also serves as the Supreme Commander of the Orb Military) elected from among the five noble clans.[6] The five noble clans have enormous influential power, with the heads of the clans and other important individuals serving as the core of the nation. However, the five clans do not always agree on political matters, which caused some of them to violate the decisions of the chief representative.

As of C.E. 73, the five noble clans consisted of the Kiou family, the Mashima family, the Tokino family, the Seiran family, and the Athha family.[7] The Sahaku family was originally one of the five noble clans, but had since distanced itself from Orb.

Military[]

Orb's national military was the Orb National Defense Force (オーブ国防軍).[8] Known branches include the Space Force, the Homeland Defense Ground Force, and the Navy.[8][9] Orb gets most of its weaponry from the indigenous Morgenroete, Inc., which is one of the world's top producers of advanced weaponry. The Morgenröte Headquarters and arsenal, as well as the Orb National Defense Headquarters, are located at Onogoro Island, a small island to the south which is under the control of the Orb military.

Territories[]

Located near New Guinea, the Orb Union is made up of the mainland Yalafath as well as surrounding islands. Some of the smaller surrounding islands supported the Kaguya Mass Driver.

History[]

The Orb Union was created at the end of the Reconstruction War (World War III), which took place at the end of the Anno Domini era[1]. Originally, it was an island nation inhabited by people who had settled in Orb from other countries, but in the past, many Japanese immigrants settled there with their technology and developed the country.[10] It is a confederation of chiefdoms that developed from a small country of five tribes, and as such, the people who ruled the islands before the founding of Orb later reigned as "clans" in the state, and the political form is a council system with a parliament[5]. In C.E. 58, Uzumi Nara Athha became chief representative of Orb and it was also in this year that construction began on the space station Ame-no-Mihashira.

First Alliance-PLANT War[]

When the first war between the Earth Alliance and PLANT broke out, representative Uzumi declared the nation neutral in the conflict in February 8, C.E. 0070. Nevertheless, the Sahaku family used Morgenroete's resources on the Heliopolis colony to assist the Atlantic Federation in constructing five mobile suits that could be piloted by Naturals, and a massive ship called the Archangel. However, the data used in constructing the Mobile Suits were also secretly used in the construction of Orb's own prototype Mobile Suits, the Astray Gold Frame, Astray Red Frame, Astray Blue Frame, and parts for two others. Unfortunately, ZAFT caught wind of EA's construction and attacked the colony. Only four of the units were captured though; the last one, the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam, remained under Alliance control. After the battle, the entire colony imploded, though its population was evacuated. The Gold Frame would fall into the hands of Rondo Gina Sahaku, the Red Frame would end up in Junk Guild possession, the Blue Frame in Serpent Tail and the parts for the two other mobile suits went missing. These missing parts would later be assembled into the Green Frame and Mirage Frame.

En route to Alliance headquarters JOSH-A, the Archangel was under heavy attack by ZAFT forces. Their fight moved closer to Orb's borders, prompting its navy to ward them off. However, Representative Uzumi Nara Athha decided to allow the Archangel to be hidden in Morgenroete after hearing that they had his adoptive daughter, Cagalli Yula Athha on board. He later negotiated with the Archangel's commanding officers, requesting that they give copies of the Strike's combat data to be adapted to their M1 Astrays. With Kira Yamato's help, they were able to give their M1s the ability to be piloted by Naturals. The Orb navy then secretly escorted the Archangel so it could make a safe trip to JOSH-A.

However, a few weeks later, the Alliance's Mass Driver at Panama was destroyed, so they were in desperate need of one to help resupply their bases in space. Director Muruta Azrael of the Defense Committee suggested that they take Orb's Kaguya Mass Driver, under the pretense that as a nation of Earth, it should be standing with them against "mankind's enemy." Because taking either side would make enemies for Orb, the government announced that they will oppose the Alliance's ultimatum. As the civilian population is evacuated elsewhere, the Orb military is assisted by the defecting Archangel, who had survived the destruction of JOSH-A, in opposing the Alliance. However, after two battles, it was obvious Orb couldn't win, so Representative Athha helped Orb's remaining forces, including the Izumo-class battleship Kusanagi and the Archangel, escape to space. He and many other high ranking politicians stayed behind to destroy the Mass Driver, ultimately sacrificing themselves. However, the Alliance later was able to recapture its Mass Driver at Victoria. Orb eventually became a protectorate of the Atlantic Federation.

In space, the Kusanagi and the Archangel joined forces with the stolen ZAFT warship Eternal to form the Three Ships Alliance, which played a critical role during the end of the war. When the war came to an end, the members of the Three Ships Alliance moved to Orb under assumed aliases and Cagalli became Orb's Chief Representative. When the Junius Treaty was signed, the national boundaries of Orb were restored to their pre-war state.

Second Alliance-PLANT War[]

By the time of the Second Alliance-PLANT War, the Seiran family managed to usurp the Parliament and violate Orb's neutrality with predictions of a repeat of the Atlantic Federation's attack on the Union.[11] As a result, Orb entered the Earth Alliance.[12] However, the Seiran family was unable to gain the full support of the military, which remained loyal to the Athha family, including Captain Todaka of the 2nd Defense Fleet and the military became weakened as a result of its low opinion of the Seirans, resulting low morale and motivation to fight. Chief Representative Cagalli Yula Athha was abducted soon afterward by her brother, Kira Yamato, and the crew of the Archangel during her wedding to Yuna Roma Seiran, the son of Prime Minister Unato Ema Seiran.[13] Despite his personal sentiment, Todaka was promoted to Captain and chosen to lead the Orb expeditionary fleet in the nation's first active support of the Alliance. This effort ended in a disaster at Crete, when the flagship Takemikazuchi and most of the other ships present were sunk by Shinn Asuka in his ZGMF-X56S/β Sword Impulse Gundam. Captain Todaka ordered the Takemikazuchi abandoned and remained behind to go down with his ship. After the Battle of Crete, many of the surviving members of the Orb expeditionary fleet joined the crew of the Archangel, including Todaka's second in command Amagi, who became the Archangel's new executive officer.

After Gilbert Durandal's speech about Logos and the attack on Heaven's Base, Lord Djibril fled to Orb where he met with the Seirans. Durandal ordered ZAFT to attack the country in hope of taking Orb down in the process of eliminating Logos. However, due to the Archangel's intervention, Djibril escaped and ZAFT forces withdrew, as there was no longer any reason to continue their assault. During the battle, the Seirans and many Orb politicians were killed, giving Cagalli the chance to regain her position as the leader of the Orb Union. Afterwards Orb, together with the Kingdom of Scandinavia and the Atlantic Federation, opposed Durandal's Destiny Plan and thus the now ZAFT-controlled Requiem. Orb later became the target for ZAFT since it was the last nation that presented a major threat to the Destiny Plan as the Earth Alliance lost most of its military power. Orb sent its three Izumo-class vessels to assist the Archangel and any dissident fleets against the Destiny Plan. After Requiem was destroyed and Durandal killed, Orb made peace with PLANT.[14]

Notable Citizens[]

Nobility[]

Athha family[]

Sahaku family[]

Seiran family[]

Kiou family[]

Commoners[]

Gallery[]

Lineart[]

Anime[]

Games[]

Notes & Trivia[]

Appearances[]

Television Series
OVAs and ONAs
Manga
Games

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Cosmic Era Mechanic & World" Futabasha, November 2012
  2. Ryu Goto, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED 3 Heiwa no Kuni, Kadokawa Shoten, September 1, 2003
  3. Ryu Goto, "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY 1 Ikakeru Hitomi," Kadokawa Shoten, February 2005
  4. "SEED DESTINY MSV Senki" Character & Field Map, Shigeru Morita, (included in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny Models Vol. 2, Hobby Japan MOOK)
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Great Mechanic 9" Futabasha, June 2003,
  6. The Official Gundam Perfect File, Issue 84, pg. 24
  7. Perfect Archive Series Gundam SEED Destiny, p.21
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY Model VOL.2 DESTINY MSV Edition" Hobby Japan, March 31, 2006
  9. "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Official File Character Edition Vol.2" Kodansha, May 2003
  10. "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED RGB ILLUSTRATIONS DESTINY" Kadokawa Shoten, August 2006
  11. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-08, Junction
  12. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-12, Blood in the Water
  13. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-14, Flight to Tomorrow
  14. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-50, The Final Power
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This article is part of Project: SEED

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Project Leader: User:CD298

Cosmic Era Nations and Factions
Earth Alliance
Earth Alliance Subdivisions
Atlantic Federation | Earth Alliance Council | Eurasian Federation | OMNI Enforcer | Republic of East Asia | South African Union | United States of South America
OMNI Enforcer Subdivisions
3rd Space Fleet | 7th Space Fleet | 8th Space Fleet | 13th Autonomous Corps | 4th Naval Fleet | Archangel Corps | Phantom Pain
3rd Space Fleet Subdivisions
Moebius Zero Corps
7th Space Fleet Subdivisions
Dominion Corps | Peacemaker Force
Eurasian Federation Subdivisions
Task Force X
Earth Alliance Affiliates
Azrael Conglomerate | Blue Cosmos | Logos | National Defense Industry Association | PMP | The Clan | United News Alliance | World Security Treaty Organization
Earth Alliance Predecessors
United Nations
PLANT
PLANT Subdivisions
PLANT Supreme Council | ZAFT
PLANT Supreme Council Subdivisions
Moderate Faction | Neutral Faction | Radical Faction
ZAFT Subdivisions
FAITH | Gaze Team | Glasgow Corps | Ruddle Team | Joule Team | Laconi Team | Le Creuset Team | Minerva Corps | Morassim Corps | National Defense Committee | Porto Team | Waltfeld Corps | Willard Corps | Yuna Law Team
PLANT Affiliates
African Community | DEFROCK | Integrated Design Bureau | Maius Military Industries | Oceania Union
Orb Union
Orb Union Subdivisions
Five Great Clans | Orb Disaster Relief Team | Orb National Defense Force
Orb Union Noble Families
Athha family | Kiou family | Mashima family | Sahaku family | Seiran family | Tokino family
Orb National Defense Force Subdivisions
21st Airborne Team | M1 Astray Team | Second Escort Fleet | Second Space Fleet
Second Space Fleet Subdivisions
Archangel Corps | Kusanagi Corps
Orb Union Affiliates
Morgenroete
Three Ships Alliance
Three Ships Alliance Subdivisions
Archangel Corps | Clyne Faction | Kusanagi Corps
Clyne Faction Subdivisions
DOM Trooper Team
Kusanagi Corps Subdivisions
M1 Astray Team
Three Ships Alliance Affiliates
Terminal
Foundation
Foundation Subdivisions
Black Knight Squad
Neutral Entities
Equatorial Union | Kingdom of Scandinavia | Martian Government
Martian Government Subdivisions
Mars Sphere Austrell Colony Delegation
Non-Governmental Organizations
Actaeon Industries | Adukurf Mechano-Industries | Agstar-Sikorsky | Anti-factice | DSSD | Desert Dawn | Fujiyama Company | G.A.R.M. R&D | Junk Guild | Librarian Works | Mercenary Unit X | Rogue ZAFT Terrorists | Serpent Tail | Winslet World Konzern
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