Three Ships Alliance
Three Ships Alliance
The Three Ships Alliance was created in the wake of the attack by Federation forces on Orb, a neutral nation. Despite the name, it is not limited to a total of three warships; it was named after an alliance between the Federation cruiser Ra Mari (Represented by the refitted Zentradi Monitor Ra Mari II), the ZAFT-operated warship Eternal, and the Nergal Industries-made mobile battleship Nadesico. The name is indicative of its ad hoc nature.
The Three Ships Alliance exists to force an end to the wars of UC 0096-0097, with a focus on the wars between Federation, PLANT, Neo-Zeon, and the Jovian Lizards. This includes creating a settled peace and, in the long-term, systematic reform of the Earth Federation to be democratic and equitable towards the colonies. However, different components of the Alliance have different ideas of what this might look like, and the severity of the conflict's late stages has resulted in its efforts going towards putting out fires rather than pushing big changes.
The Alliance is funded by a network of independent -- and often secret -- financiers, ranging from Republic of Zeon moderates, anti-war factions in PLANT, corporations nervous about the state of the Federation, and moderate and left-leaning Federation political parties. These secret financiers include Nergal Heavy Industries, which pretends to look the other way at the Nadesico's actions but in reality is supporting the Alliance for as long as it's profitable to do so.
The Alliance is a professional military organization, presenting itself as an alternative to the excesses of PLANT, Federation, and Neo-Zeon leadership. The Alliance still differentiates itself from groups like the Black Knights, Shuffle Alliance, and Celestial Being by at least presenting itself as an organized military structure. However, there are some internal cohesion issues, as former Londo Bell, ZAFT, Nergal, and other forces often have very different organizational structures. At the moment, it works more like a collection of different cooperating military units.
Notable Characters
Lacus Clyne: The daughter of the late Siegel Clyne, a moderate on the daughter of the PLANT Supreme Council. Lacus is commander of the Eternal and leads the PLANT-derived portion of the Alliance's forces.
Eight York: A former Zeon experiment-turned Londo Bell field commander, Eight York commands the Ra Mari. Captain York leads the former Federation forces under the Three Ships Alliance's aegis from the base-ship Ra Mari II.
Yurika Misumaru: A brilliant tactician and daughter of a war hero, Yurika Misumaru is Captain of Nergal's Nadesico, and no stranger to opposing the Federation. Her canny leadership supports the forces Nergal has committed to the effort.
Key Questions
- If the Three Ships Alliance can stop the current wars between the Federation, PLANT, and Neo-Zeon, what comes next?
- Can people from very different backgrounds ultimately pursue the same end, especially when they don't entirely agree on the future?
- Is building a new, more equitable order even possible? What does that order look like?
- Is it right to decide for others that wars must end? How far does this go, especially when fundamental problems (such as the independence of colonies, widespread prejudice against Coordinators, and Federation governance) are ones that may be intractable to whole countries?