Bloody Valentine War

In the Cosmic Era alternate universe of the Gundam anime metaseries, the Bloody Valentine War is a war between the Earth Alliance, an alliance of four major governments on Earth; ZAFT, a nation of space colonies located at L5; and the Three Ships Alliance, an alliance of Earth Alliance moderate factions, the Clyne Faction, and the neutral Orb Union.

Introduction

Like other Gundam universes, Cosmic Era humanity has moved into space and built massive space colonies. In the Cosmic Era, conflict arises between the Coordinators, genetically enhanced humans, who are mostly space colonists, and Naturals on Earth. Like always, racism is used as an excuse for strife, and the real political motives behind the conflict are of economical nature.

Development of the first mobile suits

Heavy space fighters called "Mobile Armors" had been in use by the Atlantic Federation military since the early fifties CE (Cosmic Era), but they had many limitations in capabilities. Their small size meant they were tough targets to hit, but they were also difficult to armor adequately. A larger machine, PLANT strategists theorized, could do more than a Mobile Armor for relatively little more cost and would be able to carry more armor as well. To give these new mecha the best multi-environment combat capacity, a humanoid shape was chosen - an enlargement and upgrade of heavy industrial exoskeletons that had been in use since the closing years of the AD calendar. Because of the humanoid shape, they were dubbed "Mobile Suits", and the first mobile suit, the YMF-01A "Proto GINN", was rolled out in CE 65. The first combat mobile suit, the ZGMF-1017 GINN, was rolled out two years later. In CE 69, the Atlantic Federation's Captain Halberton publishes a paper, "The Combat Effectiveness and Applications of Mobile Suits", which prompts the Atlantic Federation to begin development of its own mobile suits, the GAT-X series. After a short development period, the Earth Alliance rolls out its own first mass-production mobile suit, the GAT-01 Strike Dagger, in late May of CE 71.

January, CE 71 marked the rollout of the Alliance's first mobile suits (or "Gundams" as pilot Kira Yamato would later dub them): the base unit GAT-X102 Duel, heavy assault unit GAT-X103 Buster, stealth unit GAT-X207 Blitz, high-powered commander unit GAT-X303 Aegis and most famous of the five, the multi-mode GAT-X105 Strike. The Strike combined aspects of all four of the other units, and was able to change configurations with ease using bolt-on weapon systems called Striker Packs. Many additional units wold be built by both sides during and after the war; see Cosmic Era Mobile Units for a complete listing and development history.

Bloody Valentine War

Tragedy of Copernicus (February 5)/Declaration of War (February 11, C.E. 70)

The war was declared on 11 February, Cosmic Era year 70, after a terrorist attack on a peace conference on the Moon on 5 February wiped out the United Nations's leadership.

Bloody Valentine Incident (February 14)

Three days later, on 14 February, the Earth Alliance used nuclear weapons to destroy Junius 7, a PLANT-type space colony in the Junius City area of ZAFT killing 243,721 civilians. The incident was called Bloody Valentine Incident and marked the opening of hostilities.

Battle of Yggdrasil (February 22)

The first major battle of the war, was fought near the prewar international space station Yggdrasil. The battle lasted about a month and resulted in the destruction of the space station.

Operation Uroboros - April's Fool Crisis (April 1)

In response to the direct nuclear attack, ZAFT modified N-Jammer technology, initially intended to be used against Earth, as a countermeasure against nuclear weaponry in space. With the modified production schedule, the N-Jammers were not dropped on Earth until 1 April, as the first phase of their Operation Uroboros.

The use of N-Jammers on Earth and the subsequent energy crisis, April Fool Crisis, provoked mass starvation due to how heavily people relied on nuclear energy.

The second phase of Operation Uroboros was the actual offensive on Earth surface, that took under ZAFT control most of Africa, all of Australia and many Asian regions, including three of Earth's five major spaceports: Victoria (Africa), Gibraltar (Europe), and Kaohsiung (Taiwan), leaving Porta Panama (Central America) in Alliance hands and Kaguya at Onogoro Island in the Orb Union's control. (A sixth spaceport, the mobile Giga-Float under the auspices of the Junk Guild, did not become functional until late in the war.)

Battle of Carpentaria (April 2)

One of ZAFT's earliest landings took place in the friendly Oceania Union territory. The Earth Alliance Pacific Fleet attacked ZAFT's forces. After two days the Battle of Carpentaria ended in victory for ZAFT, who immediately afterwards began the construction of Carpentaria base.

First Battle of Jachin Due (April 17)

The Earth Alliance ordered its 5th and 6th fleets, stationed on the Moon, to attack PLANT on April 17, C.E. 70. They were intercepted by ZAFT forces and engaged at the resource satellite Jachin Due. In the aftermath of this battle the PLANT Supreme Council decided to convert the entire asteroid of Jachin Due into a defensive base.

Battle of Endymion Crater - Grimaldi Front (May 3 - June 2)

The Battle of Endymion Crater took place on the Moon. The most notable event was the almost complete destruction of OMNI Enforcer's elite TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero mobile armor squadron - the only survivor was LTJG Mu La Flaga, who received the nickname "Hawk of Endymion" for his performance.

First Battle of Casablanca (May 25)

The Mediterranean fleet of the Earth Alliance fought against a ZAFT submarine carrier fleet near Casablanca. ZAFT won the battle and their forces entered the Mediterranean, and advanced further into the south of Africa.

Battle of Suez (May 30)

The Battle of Suez, won by ZAFT invading forces, ensured ZAFT the key Black sea territories and the control of the Suez area.

Battle of Nova (June 14 - July 12)

ZAFT forces launch a drawn out series of raids against the Earth Alliance resource satellite of Nova at Lagrange Point 4. Fighting between the two sides lasts for nearly a month, with neither side ever decisively defeating the other. Ultimately, the Alliance abandons the satellite.

By late August of CE 70, a territorial stalemate on Earth was reached, with northern Africa and Australia firmly in ZAFT hands, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eurasia, South Asia and the Americas in the Alliance, and the majority of Oceania neutral.

Battle of Kaohsiung (January 15-23, C.E. 71)

The Battle of Kaohsiung took place on the island of Taiwan, where ZAFT forces successfully attacked the Earth Alliance spaceport located in the city of Kaohsiung. This was the first of three mass drivers ZAFT had captured from the Earth Alliance. The mass drivers located at Panama and Victoria would either be destroyed or recaptured.

Battle of Heliopolis (January 25)

To put an end to Earth Alliance mobile suit development plans, ZAFT planned an operation to seize the mobile suit prototypes secretly developed on the neutral colony Heliopolis, and to destroy their carrier prototype ship Archangel.

Although ZAFT was able to capture four units, the fifth GAT-X105 Strike unit was activated and engaged them in battle. The resulting Battle of Heliopolis caused the complete destruction of the Heliopolis colony, by ZAFT forces, and was the first of a series of battles between the Rau Le Creuset team and the Archangel crew.

Battle of Artemis (January 27-30)

The Archangel, pursued by the Le Creuset Team, docked at the Eurasian Federation base Artemis. Here the Archangel was taken into custody. Soon after the ZAFT forces attacked the base, and the ship was able to escape. After the battle ended, the Eurasian Federation base Artemis was completely destroyed.

Battle of Orbit (February 13)

After a long pursuit by the Le Creuset Team, the Archangel finally received reinforcements from the Earth Alliance's 8th Fleet. The Archangel was then ordered to bring the GAT-X105 Strike to OMNI headquarters at JOSH-A. The 'Le Creuset team' attacked just before reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Earth Alliance Rear Admiral Lewis Halberton ordered the entire 8th Fleet to defend Archangel at all cost. Though the 8th Fleet was numerically superior to the ZAFT forces, its 130 meter class escort ships and TS-MA2 Moebius Mobile Armors were no match for the stolen units and ZAFT's GINNs and their heavily-armed Laurasia class and Nazca class warships. Admiral Halberton lost the entire fleet and his own life, but achieved his goal, as the Archangel successfully completed reentry.

The battle also resulted in the deaths of several hundred Orb Union civilians, who were refugees from Heliopolis. They were killed as they retreated from the battle in an Earth Alliance shuttle, vaporized in a fit of rage by Yzak Joule.

Second Battle of Victoria (February 13)

In this battle ZAFT was able to capture the Victoria spaceport.

Desert Dawn (February 15-28)

After descending to Earth the Archangel took part in the Desert Dawn resistance movement's battle with ZAFT. She continued to operate with Desert Dawn until they defeated Andrew Waltfeld in the end of February.

Severely damaged, the ship then went to Orb via the Red Sea, while attempting to avoid any confrontation with ZAFT. Unfortunately, they were forced to fight Carpentaria submarine forces, led by Commander Marco Morrassim. While Morrassim's forces were defeated, the ship barely managed to enter Orb territory by early April, especially after another encounter with the members of the Le Creuset team, now lead by Athrun Zala.

Thanks to Cagalli Yula Athha, the daughter of Orb's Chief Representative, Uzumi Nara Athha, the Archangel was permitted to secretly enter the neutral Orb. Repairs to the ship took several weeks and it wasn't until mid April that the Archangel continued to JOSH-A (Joint Operational Supreme Headquarters - Alaska).

Battle near Orb and the Marshall Islands (mid April)

In early June, after a successful reconnaissance mission, members of the Le Creuset Team located and attacked the Archangel as she left Orb for JOSH-A. In this climactic battle, GAT-X207 Blitz, GAT-X105 Strike, GAT-X303 Aegis and one of Archangel's FX-550 Skygraspers were destroyed. Skygrasper pilot Tolle Koenig and Blitz pilot Nicol Amarfi were killed. Strike pilot Kira Yamato was missing in action and presumed dead, but the Buster and its pilot, Dearka Elsman were captured by Archangel crew.

Battle of JOSH-A - Operation Spitbreak (May 8)

The Battle of JOSH-A (Operation Spitbreak) was ZAFT's plan to take JOSH-A, the Earth Alliance's Atlantic Federation HQ, which failed.

Through the betrayal of Rau Le Creuset, the Blue Cosmos group came to know beforehand about the attack and set a trap for both ZAFT, and the Eurasian Federation. The base was primarily staffed and defended by Eurasian Federation personnel, the Atlantic Federation quietly transferred its own personnel elsewhere. When ZAFT attacked, and its attack force was lured into the central bay of JOSH-A, the Cyclops System was activated, killing most of the ZAFT attack force as well as the Eurasian defenders. During this battle, Kira Yamato, with the stolen ZGMF-X10A Freedom reappeared and saved the Archangel. Several ZAFT submarines and pilots with mobile suits fast enough to outrun the Cyclops shockwave managed to escape.

The loss of much of the Eurasian military drastically altered the balance of power in the Earth Alliance in favor of the Blue Cosmos-dominated Atlantic Federation, which guaranteed that no further attempts at peace will be made with ZAFT.

Battle of Porta Panama (May 25)

A few days later, ZAFT retaliated by attacking the Panama mass-driver base with a heavy force. While the Alliance forces introduced their mass-produced GAT-01 Strike Dagger, ZAFT deployed the Gungnir EMP weapon, disabling all Alliance military equipment in the area. Porta Panama, the last mass driver in Alliance hands, was thereby destroyed, cutting off the Alliance space forces from Earth-based resources. It should also be known that several GINN pilots slaughtered the surrendering Alliance soldiers in an act of revenge for the ZAFT personnel that died at JOSH-A.

Battle of Orb (June 15, 16)

With the destruction of their last mass driver in Porta Panama, the Atlantic Federation turned its interest on the Kaguya mass driver in the neutral Orb Union, one of the last mass drivers operating on Earth. When Orb's president, Uzumi Nara Athha, denied the Federation the right to use this mass driver, the Federation attacked ORB, deploying a considerable force. Defending forces were composed of Orb's military, backed up by Archangel and her complement of mobile suits. The AF forces were overwhelming, so rather than allowing the Alliance to take the mass driver, Athha self-destructed the base and the mass driver. Before the nuclear blast the Kusanagi evacuated the base and escaped with Archangel into space. Uzumi Nara Athha died in the explosion of the base.

Third Battle of Victoria (June 18)

Despite the valiant efforts of ZAFT forces, the Alliance managed to recapture the Victoria mass-driver in equatorial Africa with massive deployment of the Strike Dagger and other prototype units. After the battle, an Alliance soldier killed a wounded DINN pilot. It is unknown whether he was ordered to do so, as well as if other Alliance personnel did the same to other surviving ZAFT pilots.

Battle of Mendel (July 12)

After Lacus Clyne, Andrew Waltfeld, and the Clyne Faction stole the Eternal, they sheltered in the abandoned colony of Mendel, where the Archangel and the Kusanagi soon joined them, forming the Three Ships Alliance. Soon after, both Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces attacked, managing to destroy a few M1 Astrays, but were driven off.

Battle of Boaz – Operation Peacemaker (September 23)

After recovering N-Jammer Canceller technology in July, the Alliance mass-produced and mounted them on nuclear weapons, launching Operation Peacemaker: a gambit to end the war by destroying all of PLANT with nuclear missiles. They started their operation by destroying the ZAFT space fortress Boaz with their nuclear missiles.

Second Battle of Jachin Due (September 26, 27)

The Second Battle of Jachin Due was both the apex of the Operation Peacemaker and the decisive battle of the Bloody Valentine War.

As the Earth Alliance forces proceeded to attack PLANT with nuclear missiles, the ZAFT GENESIS superweapon was entering its final stages and was ready to fire. Both factions were strongly determined not only to wipe out the opposing military forces, but also to massively retaliate on the opposing civil population. Firing the nuclear missiles on the colonies was the Blue Cosmos's main objective. Similarly ZAFT Chairman Patrick Zala intended to fire the superweapon not only on the lunar base but also directly at Earth, with cataclysmic consequences on the climate. Additionally, Rau Le Creuset, whose twisted logic wanted both Coordinators and Naturals to perish, secretly rigged the Jachin Due asteroid to self-destruct after firing GENESIS.

Between the two warring factions there was the Three Ships Alliance, whose main purpose was to thwart any attack on civilian population, and end the hostilities if possible.

The nuclear missiles fired at the PLANT space colonies were all intercepted, mostly by Freedom and Justice with their METEOR units, thus no PLANT colony was destroyed. The GENESIS weapon fired twice, once on the main Earth Alliance fleets, and once on the reinforcements being sent from the Moon and, consequently, the obliterating the Earth Forces's Ptolemaeus Base on the moon and wiping out over half of the Alliance forces. Athrun Zala then managed to detonate his nuclear-powered Justice unit inside the GENESIS, completely destroying it before it fired on the Earth surface.

The Earth Alliance fleet, after being crippled by GENESIS, lost its Blue Cosmos leader, Murata Azrael and his flagship Dominion, destroyed in battle by the Archangel.

The ZAFT fleet suffered less damage, though they did lose both GENESIS and their main military base, Jachin Due. PLANT Chairman and ZAFT Commander-in-Chief Patrick Zala was killed by a ZAFT officer, and the moderate factions took control of the military, ceasing all hostilities as the Earth Alliance crippled fleet retired.

Deployed forces

ZAFT's MS forces included over three thousand GINNs, CGUEs, and GuAIZs. Also included were some variations such as the GINN High Mobility types (one piloted by Mikhail Coast), some CGUEs DEEP Arms (one piloted by Shiho Hahnenfuss), the tethered YFX-600R GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type, the GAT-X102 Duel "Assault Shroud" (piloted by Yzak Joule) and the powerful ZGMF-X13A Providence (piloted by Rau Le Creuset). For their space vessel/asteroid/superweapon forces, there were over five hundred Nazca class destroyers and Laurasia class frigates, along with the Jachin Due space fortress and the powerful GENESIS laser cannon.

ZAFT MS units: ZGMF-1017M GINN High Maneuver Type x20; YFX-200 CGUE DEEP Arms x10; YFX-600R GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type; ZGMF-1017 GINN x1550; ZGMF-515 CGUE x1000; ZGMF-600 GuAIZ x50; GAT-X102 Duel "Assault Shroud"; ZGMF-X13A Providence

Earth Alliance MS forces included over three thousand Strike Daggers. For Dagger variations, there were Buster Daggers (one piloted by Rena Imelia), Duel Daggers, 1 Long Dagger (piloted by Seven Socius) and 105 Daggers (one piloted by Morgan Chevalier). For G-weapon variants, there were the two remaining Sword Calamity units (one piloted by Edward Harrelson). There was also a sighting of the EA renegade Canard Pars and his CAT1-X1/3 Hyperion Unit 1, however this is not yet confirmed. The most powerful mobile suits in their forces were the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider. For their MA forces, it included at least one squadron of Moebius mobile armors equipped with nuclear missiles. For their space vessel forces, it included one Archangel-class assault ship Dominion, four Agamemnon-class flagships, and over five hundred Nelson-class battleships, and Drake-class escort ships.

Earth Alliance MS/MA units: GAT/A-01E2 Buster Dagger x10; GAT-01A1 105 Dagger x4; GAT-01D Long Dagger; GAT-01D1 Duel Dagger x10; GAT-01 Strike Dagger x3000; TS-MA2 Moebius x100 GAT-X133 Sword Calamity x2; GAT-X131 Calamity; GAT-X252 Forbidden; GAT-X370 Raider

The Three Ships Alliance's forces included about ten M1 Astray units (most of them were destroyed), one M1A Astray unit (piloted by Barry Ho), a Strike Rouge modified Strike unit (piloted by Cagalli Yula Athha), the Strike (piloted by Mu La Flaga), the Buster (piloted by Dearka Elsman), the Justice (piloted by Athrun Zala), and the Freedom (piloted by Kira Yamato). For MA units, there were the powerful METEOR units used by the Justice and the Freedom. For their space vessel forces, there were the Eternal, the Izumo-class battleship Kusanagi, and the Archangel-class assault ship Archangel.

TSA MS/MA units: MBF-M1 Astray x10; MBF-M1 Astray Jean Carry Custom; MBF-M1A Astray; GAT-X105 Strike; MBF-02 Strike Rouge; GAT-X103 Buster; ZGMF-X09A Justice; ZGMF-X10A Freedom; METEOR x2

Treaty of Junius

By the start of Cosmic Era year 72, the Alliance's nuclear stockpile was destroyed, as was the ZAFT GENESIS superweapon. More importantly, the instigators of the war - Blue Cosmos leader Murata Azrael, ZAFT Supreme Council Chairman Patrick Zala, and rogue ZAFT commander Rau Le Creuset - were killed in action. Parties amendable to peace were now in control of the major factions. On March 10, CE 72, their representatives met at the ruins of Junius Seven and signed a formal treaty, ending the Bloody Valentine War.

The Treaty of Junius specifically outlined several points:

• The territory of the Orb Union, seized by the Alliance during the Battle of Orb, was to revert back to Orb control.
• Orb was forbidden to transfer any military technology (either in weapon shipments or aid) to either the Alliance or ZAFT.
• Nuclear technologies (N-Jammer and N-Jammer Canceller, as well as the Mirage Colloid) were prohibited from military use.

A black marble monument was placed upon the ruins of Junius Seven on March 10, to both honor those who perished in the Bloody Valentine Incident and as a pledge by the signitories of the treaty to protect peace.

Nuclear power plants on Earth were fitted with N-Jammer Cancellers to restore their operation and satisfy the power needs of the severely crippled terrestrial economy. The long and costly process of digging out the hundreds of N-Jammers dropped on Earth during the war began.

Aftermath

The Treaty of Junius's main shortcoming was the failure in dismantling the Blue Cosmos organization.

Two years after the war, in CE 73, the Blue Cosmos had already rebuild their powerbase in the Atlantic Federation, and reorganized under the leadership of Lord Djibril. As before, Blue Cosmos had major influence on the Earth's political elite, and was still driven by racial hate towards Coordinators.

The Armory One Theft incident and soon later the Junius 7 Colony Drop, known as Operation Break the World, lead again to open conflict between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, eventually leading to the Second Bloody Valentine War.

Ultimately, the Treaty of Junius failed in all its objectives. Both factions secretly continued their development of nuclear and stealth weapons, and the Earth Alliance deployed them again in the first day of the second war. Orb allied with the Earth Alliance shortly thereafter, rendering the ban on technology sharing a moot point.