Timeline

Pre-Universal Century: The Unification Era

2090: Futurist Aeolia Schenberg publishes suggestions for radical changes to the organization of energy production, military defense, and human society. The prescience of many of these propositions becomes a topic of curiosity in UC 0096, after the name Aeolia Schenberg resurfaces again.

2150: An age of global-scale conflict begins. Nation-scale warfare is a constant for the next three decades. Many attach themselves to colonization projects out of fear of the fighting, leading to an unexpected burst in space colonization.

2180s: Global-scale conflicts end, as global power coalesces into a handful of power blocs: the Advanced European Union, the Oceania Cooperative Union, the Britannian Union of Solar Energy, the South African Union, and the Republic of East Asia. Other smaller power blocs, such as the Kingdom of Scandinavia, also come into being around this time.

2188: The Britannian Union launches the Europa, a manned space exploration vessel aimed at Jupiter. It does not return.

2206: Several lunar colonies attempt to declare their independence. The First Lunar Independence War is generally agreed to be the first war in space, and lasts about four years; the losers pile into stolen ships and propulsion-capable asteroids and leave the Earth Sphere. They are ultimately reported most likely dead, given their resource base could not have conceivably gotten them past the asteroid belt, which they were chased into.

2211: The last year of the Common Era calendar, as the major power blocs agree to form the Earth Federation.

Universal Century 0001-0045: A Cautious Beginning

0001: The Earth Federation Charter is signed, and the Universal Century begins.

0004: The earliest efforts to create what modern people would recognize as mobile armed warfare begin with the Wanderwagen, a bipedal arms platform approximately four meters tall. This project is lauded as one of the first great triumphs of the Federation model, bringing together scientists from every power bloc.

0018: Several blocs within the South African Union go to war with one another essentially simultaneously. This is later found to be the result of political tampering by Advanced European Union arms manufacturers.

0027: The former South African Union blocs reintegrate as the Organization of African Consolidation, thanks to the efforts of former mobile infantryman Earl McCoy to broker peace across the continent. The OAC formally rejoins the Earth Federation, on condition that the AEU pays significant reparations.

0034: The "Emblem of Blood" incident begins in the Britannian Union. Members of the Britannian Imperial Family begin consolidating power, engaging in small skirmishes with one another's holdings and even having one another assassinated in pursuit of the throne.

0039: The Jupiter Exploration Project is announced. This project seeks to establish an energy acquisition organization in the Jupiter Sphere as well as gather information about the rest of the Sol System. The Jupitris-class supertanker ship is commissioned, iterating on the design of the Europa. The Jupitris-class becomes the standard for mass fuel transit thereafter.

0041: Construction of the Orbital Ring, a solar power generation device, begins. Early efforts see the creation of both the Earth-based foundations for orbital elevators. The OCU and AEU do not claim much of a foothold in these proceedings, and begin to slip toward 'minor bloc' status.

Mining in Japan for non-carbon materials for the Orbital Elevator project leads to an archaeological discovery: a pair of bronze bells similar to early Japanese ritual bells, but able to generate massive amounts of energy on command through electromagnetism. Dr. Senjiro Shiba, the lead investigator, takes the bells for further research.

0042: George Glenn, one of history's youngest Nobel laureates (nominated at age 20; currently in his 30s), Olympic athlete, and aviation scientist, discloses that he is a Coordinator -- one with carefully-designed gene selection -- and disseminates all information on the process of making Coordinators. Chaos ensues. George Glenn departs on the Jupiter Exploration Project, aboard its leading vessel, the Jupitris-class Tsiolkovsky.

0043: The creation of Coordinators is officially banned in Federation nations. Non-Federation nations turn birth tourism into an industry, however, and other hospitals, universities, and scientific organizations perform the procedure in secret, so this does little to stem the growth of the Coordinator population.

Construction of mass drivers begins in earnest.

0045: The Sanc Kingdom, an independent micronation bordering the AEU, hosts a summit between AEU and OAC leadership. Long-standing tensions are addressed, and the two blocs ultimately forge a partnership that lasts into the present day, coupling the burgeoning economic power of the OAC with the research infrastructure of the AEU.

Universal Century 0046-0057: We Are Not Alone

0046: Zeon Zum Deikun, a postdoctoral political science and political philosophy fellow at the Ravnui National Institute of Science, publishes an economic, environmental, and moral argument for the independence of space colonies.

A meteor makes impact with the Earth at South Ataria Island. Federation researchers promptly swarm the impact site. The impact leads to significant volcanic activity across the Pacific Ocean, and Huffman Island forms. The OCU and Union clash over territorial rights. A second meteor strikes Japan shortly thereafter, drilling through the side of Mt. Fuji.

The "Great Jama Empire," a legion of monsters, begins to attack Japan. While they are ultimately stopped by Steel Jeeg, a robot made by Dr. Shiba using one of the bronze bells discovered in 0041, much of Kyushu is covered in an impenetrable fog, dubbed "the Zone" after an evacuation.

0049: The Jupiter Exploration Project sends back photographs of a winged space whale corpse found near Jupiter, as well as pictures of strange, vaguely organic matter harvesters on Mars. The Tsiolkovsky is ordered to return immediately.

0051: Juzo Kabuto, an archaeologist, geologist, and roboticist, discovers one completely new isotope and large deposits of another previously thought to only occur in a handful of locations. The former, dubbed japanium, propels materials science forward with its uniquely high toughness while also opening up new forms of radiation research, while the latter, sakuradite, serves well as both a power source and a high temperature superconductor. The quantities of the latter now available turn it from research curiosity to driver of industry.

0052: Zeon Zum Deikun moves to Side 3, continuing to forward the argument for complete colonial independence. He also forwards the idea of the Newtype, a next step in human evolution precipitated by migration to space.

0054: Research based on the South Ataria impact site begins to pay dividends. Numerous iterations on mobile weapons begin at this time. The first Variable Fighter -- a plane which can transform into a humanoid weapon -- rolls out. For urban warfare, the Wanderpanzer (or Wanzer, for short) -- an iteration on the Wanderwagen concept that uses interchangeable limbs in addition to interchangeable weapons -- makes its debut.

Cracks begin to form in the Federation as the OCU and Union come to blows over rights to Huffman Island. What eventually becomes known as the First Huffman Conflict occurs. Despite concerns about the stability of the Federation as a whole, the conflict persists for the better part of two years before ending, as everyone tacitly agrees that wanzer and Variable Fighter combat data is worth the loss of life.

0055: The Republic of East Asia's Peace Mediation Organization brokers a ceasefire in the Huffman Conflict (later known as the First Huffman Conflict) late in the year. As part of the terms of the ceasefire, one of the diplomats -- the Britannian Union's Prince Charles zi Britannia -- demands that Union forces be allowed to monitor the "Zone" in Japan. The OCU balks at the irrelevance of the request, but in the end agrees.

0056: The Tsiolkovsky returns with the space whale fossil, termed Evidence 01, as well as its observations on its return pass through Martian space. Research begins in earnest.

Universal Century 0058-0065: The Age of the World at War Begins

0058: Generally seen as the beginning of modern mechanized warfare. The South Ataria Meteor -- now known as the Alien Star Ship-1, and later the SDF-1 Macross -- destroys an alien ship in orbit on its own and subsequently uses its space folding engine to move to Pluto, conducting a one-ship war with aliens known as Zentradi. Mobile weapon development skyrockets.

BETA -- hostile entities of extraterrestrial origin -- appear on the moon. Some good news comes in that the Zentradi consider these every bit as much of a threat as humanity does, and as a result, humanity enters a three-front war.

Chaos ensues. Side 3 declares its independence as the Autonomous Republic of Munzo, with Zeon Zum Deikun at its head. Due to the shock of the Zentradi's appearance, the move is not immediately opposed.

Over the next two years, fighting with the Zentradi and the BETA claims millions of lives. The first phase of the war ends within the year, but claims roughly 1 billion human lives. As part of the final ceasefire, both species enter a BETA Containment Agreement, which begins with Zentradi-led bombardment of Mars and the establishment of Martian colonies.

The Zentradi share their insights on the BETA, having encountered them in space previously, and what was once a three-front war shifts drastically. Some hostilities with remnant Zentradi forces continue over the next two years.

0059: The Federation establishes the Earth Federal Space-Defense Force (EFSF) as a separate service from bloc militaries, and applies economic sanctions against Side 3.

0060: Hostilities with the Zentradi finally end completely.

Destroyed and decommissioned Zentradi vessels also become the cores of the Neo-Colonies, large habitation structures hooked directly into the Orbital Ring's power grid. With gravity provided by the gravity-based landing craft, these colonies become a more familiar, friendly mode of life in space than moonbases or Island colonies.

Over the next three years, the Federation builds several Macross-class vessels equipped with Fold drives and mobile weapon complements, hoping to colonize distant stars.

0062: The Federation establishes the PLANTs, industrial- and agricultural-optimized colonies with policy designs making them completely dependent on the Federation for basic food and infrastructure.

0064: BETA make planetfall on Earth. Official casualty estimates vary wildly, with most landing between 900,000 and 36,000,000. Ongoing developments in mobile weapon technology manage to achieve tentative containment. Several knock-on effects occur, including significant complications in air and space travel.

The Federation's wealthiest members concentrate into the Neo Colonies and do relatively little about the present state of the Earth; this mass migration using the Orbital Elevator system also causes economic complications.

Colonization of Mars begins. Both humans and Zentradi set down roots on the planet, placing settlements with an eye toward BETA containment while also allowing for totally peaceful "interior" settlements.

0065: An archaeological expedition to the Isle of Bardos, off of the coast of Greece, ends in tragedy as almost all involved are murdered by one of their own. The sole survivor, Juzo Kabuto, recounts a story of a man re-christening himself "Dr. Hell" and murdering the other researchers in order to take control of the fruits of the expedition. Dr. Hell does not emerge from Bardos.

Universal Century 0066-0078: Crying Out Justice

0066: Colonial movement toward independence begins in earnest. Peace activist Heero Yuy is appointed by several colonists' rights and workers' organizations to petition the Federation for a redress of grievances. Zeon Deikun supports the move, but the influential Zabi family -- including Degwin Sodo Zabi, Deikun's minister of state -- does not.

0068: Zeon Zum Deikun is assassinated. Degwin Sodo Zabi succeeds him as head of state.

0069: The Autonomous Republic of Munzo is rechristened the Principality of Zeon in honor of Zeon Zum Deikun, even as Deikun's supporters are purged.

Significant leaps are made in Minovsky physics research. Over the next several years, these lead to fundamental changes in warfare, including the creation of the Minovsky-Ionescu compact fusion reactor, mega particle weapons, and anti-radar technology. Zeon also develops a "critical semi-transparent medium" that completely reflects laser weaponry, enabling the development of solar reflection weapons and presenting a massive obstacle for Federation space forces, which are heavily reliant on laser weaponry.

0074: The Larcus Incident, in which the Union accuses the OCU of sending mobile weapon detachments to destroy or occupy facilities in the Larcus District of Huffman Island, occurs. The OCU denies involvement, but the Union uses this as a pretext to occupy the island. The Second Huffman Conflict begins. Again, mobile weapon combat data is prioritized over human lives in the Federation Assembly, with everyone confident this brush war will put them on a better footing in the long term.

0076: Heero Yuy is assassinated, and mass colonial independence efforts end in favor of small, local independence movements. Early Federation mobile weapon development stalls out as the developers disappear not long after the assassination. Within months, George Glenn is also assassinated.

The Second Huffman Conflict ends early in the year, with the Republic of East Asia's Peace Mediation Organization (PMO) mediating a ceasefire, but aftershocks continue. By the end of the year, it comes out that the REA engineered the conflict. The REA deflects responsibility onto the PMO, which is disbanded. No one pursues the matter further due to concerns about strife in space, and indeed, REA-headquartered political parties like Zaftra gain popularity elsewhere.

Within the PLANTs, Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala form the Zodiac Alliance, a protest organization seeking an end to the colonial food production cap. Tensions rise amid claims this is part of a long-term plan for retaliation for George Glenn's death.

0077: The colonies at Side 6 declare their independence from the Federation. The region plays host to a civil war that serves as a proxy battle between the EFSF and Zeon, with Zeon committing the first Minovsky-powered, combat-ready mobile suits to Side 6's Nationalist faction. Side 6 declares independence, and the Federation, concerned with Zeon's power, does not impose sanctions.

Britannian prince Charles zi Britannia ascends the throne at the age of 43. He seems disinterested in governance other than military policy, leaving most other concerns to the Britannian Senate or his adult children.

Universal Century 0079-0083: Seeking Out Triumphs

0079: The One Year War occurs, with Zeon initiating conflict. The Federation's mobile weapons development efforts are caught with their metaphorical pants down, as land-based strife led to no space-specific weapon development. Ultimately, the Federation is able to defeat Zeon by the turn of the new year. Approximately 25% of the human population is killed in the fighting, but a large number of BETA are destroyed during Operation British as Zeon moves to secure stable airspace on Earth.

Additional colony drops are attempted over the course of the war, as is the use of the Solar Ray System, the first critical semi-transparent medium weapon, which uses mirrors to concentrate solar energy into a highly-destructive beam.

As the war reaches fever pitch in December, Zeon strikes several labs in neutral colonies. Most of these strikes either arrive late or come up short, but do reveal that the Union and Republic of East Asia have been using "civilian" labs in "neutral" colonies for mobile weapon development. One of these colonies is successfully seized by Zeon a few days before Christmas, and sent on a collision course with the Republic of East Asia's space elevator; a full-scale disaster is averted by a mobile weapon developed at the colony, but it ultimately makes impact at the four-way border between Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan.

Union military advisor E.C. Ducer proposes the Gundam Fight as a solution to growing tensions within the Federation, and to encourage continued mobile weapon development, late in the war. Under this proposition, member nations will use the ruined regions of Earth as a battleground, entering a single military unit in a competition for a tiebreaker position on the Federation Central Council. This is signed into law, with the first competition set for the end of the war.

0079 marks the second explosion in mobile weapon research, driven by the war. While mobile suits are the most notable result of this burst of activity, several other research efforts, including Getter Energy and Photonic Power, show promise.

Whispered are born. (See file on Whispered for more details.)

0080: The One Year War ends, and the first Gundam Fight begins. Gentle Chapman, a representative from the Britannian Union's Neo-Britannia, claims victory. The Britain Gundam, a heavily modified GM Sniper II made of luna titanium with an upgraded power plant, becomes the template for future military weapons development, leading to the GM Custom in 0081 and the GM Quel in 0084.

0081: "Second Impact," a meteorite impact centered in Antarctica and named for resembling the impact that killed the dinosaurs, occurs. World sea levels rise, about 10% of the human population is killed within two weeks, and subsequent territorial disputes and other crises brought on by the rising sea levels cause the destruction of several nations. The Federation Assembly refuses to condemn any act by any nation in this time or formally intervene, leading to severe destabilization of the Middle East and much of the AEU. REA forces destabilize much of Eastern Europe by pressing resource claims using deniable operations units, but the AEU pushes them back.

Dealing with this, however, requires sufficient reallocation of resources that the BETA are able to gain a foothold in Eastern Europe. While Ukraine and Ravnui receive support, many of the other areas in the region are evacuated.

Second Impact leads to the appearance of the Dinosaur Empire, which evolved from dinosaurs hiding in caves beneath the Earth's crust. Saotome Labs, a Japanese mecha development firm, deploys Getter Robo; Getter Robo sees significantly higher success rates against the dinosaurs than conventional military hardware.

0083: Chaos continues. Seizing on disunity within the Federation, the Delaz Fleet of Zeon remnants executes Operation Stardust, a colony drop targeted at the heart of Union farmland. The Union extracts further reparations from civilian Zeon, but all reinvestment goes to the Neo Colonies of the Union and food production is essentially ceded to the Republic of East Asia. Several military interventions occur; the targets of the fighting are unclear, but the Sanc Kingdom falls. The Kingdom of Scandinavia withdraws from the Federation due to public frustration with the Federation's refusal to rein in its military action in any meaningful way.

Dr. Hell begins attempting to take over the world. The Federation has its hands full with resource reallocation after Operation Stardust, and elects to leave the problem to the Photon Power Labs' Super Robots, the Mazinger Corps, with assistance from Getter Robo.

Universal Century 0084-0087: The Rise and Fall of the Titans

0084: The second Gundam Fight is held. Yet again, Neo-Britannian representative Gentle Chapman wins the Fight. Earth-based Union territories, already struggling due to damage to the Britannian breadbasket, riot in response; colonial holdings counter-riot. The Federation military substantially rearranges itself at the behest of the Union, and the political landscape shifts. The current governing coalition creates the Titans, a massively-funded unrest suppression organization, which quells the rioting within the colonies.

The Federation recalls all Macross-class ships to the Earth Sphere, citing a need for terrestrial defense over exploration. Over the next three years, most, but not all, return. They are immediately ordered to dock with the Orbital Ring for a readiness inspection.

0085: The 30 Bunch Incident occurs. July protests in Side 1's 30 Bunch colony end in tragedy, as the Titans shut off the colony's air purifier, loading it with G-3 nerve gas seized from Zeon at the end of the One Year War before turning it back on. The entire population of 30 Bunch, approximately 10 million souls, dies.

The Titans manage a total media blackout for around four months. When it finally comes out, the Titans are completely unpunished.

Seeing this as a sign of massive dysfunction within the Federation, colonial Federation members and sympathetic Earthnoids form the Anti Earth-Union Group, a separatist political organization advocating colonial freedom.

Efforts accelerate after several more incidents in which Federation forces either ignore the value of colonists' lives or outright kill peaceful protesters. The Titans gain a reputation as the worst of the lot, never doing anything quite as bad as 30 Bunch again (where anyone can see it) but even managing to bully regular EFSF forces to the point that inter-branch cooperation slows.

This time marks a hard shift in the power of pro-colonial voices. The AEUG's voice in the Federation Assembly is strong enough to confound efforts to "rein in" the PLANTs, leading to the election of several Zodiac Alliance representatives to the PLANT Supreme Council, including both Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala.

0086: The Orbital Elevator system is completed, enabling cheap movement of freight between Earth and space without a mass driver. While the third, La Tour, is in a functional state, improvements necessary to carry mobile weapons and large industrial equipment go unfinished, leaving it only suitable for population and small freight movement; the Union offers to provide monitoring and support via a nearby outpost as improvements are made.

Alordesh secedes from the OCU after a coup, becoming another independent non-Federation micronation.

The Titans are finally allocated to support the Photon Power Labs and Getter Team, and Dr. Hell is defeated.

0087: The Gryps Conflict occurs. Documentation of these events is murky, but the generally agreed-upon history is that the Titans attempted a coup, which was thwarted over the course of a three-way battle between the Titans, a returning Axis Zeon, and the AEUG. The AEUG receives surprising support from the Photon Power Labs and Saotome Labs after efforts by the Titans to take control of these branches of research.

Universal Century 0088-0093: War at Home, War Abroad

0088: Axis Zeon reforms into Neo Zeon. The First Neo Zeon War occurs, but is ultimately ended thanks in no small part to infighting within Zeon. Almost all organized response to Zeon aggression -- including a low-velocity colony drop on Dublin, Ireland -- comes from the AEUG, as the Federation military apparatus is more concerned with the third Gundam Fight.

Federation forces are largely a shambles at this point. Member blocs elect to maintain their own standing armies rather than contribute to joint defense forces.

Over the next two years, the Federation army -- such as it is -- becomes a mix of small cross-bloc autonomous units like the Specials and Londo Bell, which answer to themselves and occasionally elements of the Federal Assembly, and local militias, which are answerable only to their state or bloc sponsors.

Neo-Hong Kong, of the OCU, wins the 0088 Gundam Fight on the strength of Master Asia and his Kowloon Gundam. Prime Minister Wong Yun-fat becomes the Ruler of All Known Space.

0089: Intra-Federation strife begins, emboldened by the ongoing Neo Zeon conflict being solved with virtually no effort on their part. Wong Yun-fat proves uninterested in setting a conciliatory tone, and no nation can get the votes in the Federation to censure any kind of action.

The Union invades OCU Japan for its natural resources; the fighting lasts for the better part of a year, ending with the death of Japanese prime minister Genbu Kururugi under sketchy circumstances. The new Japanese prime minister, Gennosuke Yumi, calls for a ceasefire, ceding all of southwestern Japan save the Ryukyu Islands to the Union, which accepts. This loses Japan many of its natural resources, save for the primary deposit of japanium in Mt. Fuji.

0091: The Dinosaur Empire returns and marches on New Yark City. Musashi Tomoe, pilot of Getter-3, crushes the machine's core, destroying the Dinosaur Empire army as well as much of Manhattan and Long Island.

The Union and OCU, already shaky, nearly enter another shooting war, with near-daily fistfights in the Federation Assembly between representatives. The OCU is banned from accessing the solar power generated by the Orbital Ring as punishment. Japan shutters Saotome Labs and contributes to relief efforts, but this further strains both internal and external relations within the OCU and Union, and technological advances made on one side of the Pacific struggle to cross the pond.

A second Neo Zeon forms, led this time by decorated pilot Char Aznable. While it does not immediately enter a war footing, it does buy several derelict colonies and mining asteroids.

0092: The fourth Gundam Fight occurs, and is won by Neo-Japanese Fighter Domon Kasshu. Prime Minister Yumi refuses appointment to the position of Ruler of All Known Space, leaving Neo-Japanese Gundam Fight Commissioner Shin Karato to take the position.

No sooner is he sworn in than a large portion of the Neo-Japan colony is overtaken by the Devil Gundam, an environmental reclamation project which had gone horribly awry over the course of the last year and been substantially covered up by the Neo-Japanese government. The year closes with the threat of the Devil Gundam's descent to Earth looming.

0093: Complete chaos ensues.

Gundam Fight units and the Orbital Ring's local defense forces are left to handle Neo-Japan and the Devil Gundam themselves in a three-day battle. While the Devil Gundam is quickly defeated, this diverts resources and attention away from the problems the Devil Gundam kicks up.

The BETA on Earth and the Moon respond to the Devil Gundam in force, becoming radically more aggressive than predicted by any model. To achieve containment, the Federation implements Alternative V, in which BETA Hives are bombarded with gravitic weaponry in the order of their size. While this proves successful in destroying the largest BETA Hives, it causes massive damage to the Earth -- well outstripping Operation British.

Neo Zeon enters a war footing, seizing an opportunity to bombard the Earth with mining asteroids and derelict colonies. These primarily target areas ravaged by the BETA, but a handful go off course and land dangerously close to wealthy population centers, causing general unrest. Special task forces respond to these events, with small skirmishes between Neo Zeon and organizations like Londo Bell and what later becomes G-Hound becoming a constant.

After feigning contrition, Char is able to broker a peace with the Federation and purchase Axis back from the Federation military, ostensibly to use as a weapon of last resort, in exchange for a 90% disarmament of Neo Zeon.

Within weeks, Char instead declares total war on the Earth Federation, bombarding it with additional meteorites, revealing the majority of units in his disarmament plan to have been dummies, and eventually attempting to drop Axis on the Earth.

Two Neo-colonies -- Neo-Britannia and Neo-Hong Kong -- abandon the Orbital Ring, taking several Macross-class vessels with them for deep space colonization, in the real Alternative V. Readings indicate these colonies had been secretly equipped with Fold engines to escape the Earth Sphere in the event of catastrophe. Several Macross-class vessels, all docked with Neo-Britannia or Neo-Hong Kong after the recall, discover their Fold drives have been replaced with dummies.

The attempted drop is stopped by Federation forces as well as some Zeon elements, and the resultant rainbow across space comes to be known as the Axis Shock.

In the aftermath of the Axis Shock, Coordinators flock to the PLANTs amid anti-Coordinator sentiment. Ruler of All Known Space Shin Karato is seen as impotent for presiding over an astoundingly chaotic first year, and restoration of order within the Federation takes months. Earthnoids, orbital colony citizens, and spacenoids find something they can all agree on: now is a great time to riot.

Universal Century 0094-0096: The Present Takes Shape

0094: PLANT Chairman Siegel Clyne signs trade treaties in secret with several independent and semi-independent nations, ensuring that the PLANTs can feed themselves without direct support from the Federation apparatus. Emboldened, the PLANTs also purchase intact farm-sphere attachments from several now-destroyed O'Neill cylinder colonies. Riots in the PLANTs end.

An Endra-class cruiser repurposed as a shipping vessel, carrying food from Alordesh to the PLANTs, is shot down by AEU forces. The AEU claims to have mistaken it for a Neo Zeon vessel due to Minovsky interference, but two forensic aviation inquiries indicate the ship adhered to all regulations for decommissioned Zeonic vessels and was able to make a distress call that was picked up at sufficient distances to make the claim of interference impossible. Arms buildup in the PLANTs begins.

0095: In January, Alordesh rejoins the OCU, but only after receiving outsize economic considerations in hopes of quelling unrest. Rebel activity begins in Alordesh again in spite of this, however, as its dealings with the PLANTs ending in deaths leads to anti-Coordinator sentiment.

In February, a terrorist attack wipes out the Federal delegation before a treaty meeting to discuss a new food growth cap for the PLANTs. PLANT Chairman Siegel Clyne's shuttle is delayed in Von Braun airspace, leading to suspicion that PLANT is responsible; PLANT is formally ejected from the Federation days later. Junius Seven is destroyed in a nuclear explosion, and the Bloody Valentine Conflict begins. The Federation issues a formal, unified declaration of war for the first time in 16 years.

In April, the PLANT militia, ZAFT, performs a coordinated strike on areas of the Orbital Ring, destroying Neo-America's Statue of Liberty Cannon. The Neo Colonies are prioritized in energy restoration, leading to protests and demonstrations in Union and OAC-held territory on Earth, especially in former economic hubs like Brazil, Area 11, and northern Britannia. These protests -- including the ones in the OAC -- are crushed by Union military, and military officials come in to operate Earth-based manufacturing and industrial hubs, pushing out civilians. The OAC and AEU protest this in the Federation Assembly, but are unable to get the votes for any meaningful response.

Over the next four months, ZAFT makes Earthfall, setting up forward bases in North Africa, Asia, and the AEU. The war does not move at the same fever pitch that the One Year War did, to the relief of the participants. ZAFT also makes repeated strikes on the moon. The Jovian Lizards increase their activity, but curiously seem totally uninterested in engaging ZAFT in any way; their indiscriminate bombing runs are almost entirely confined to Federation holdings. Passive civilian deaths begin in the OAC and southern Britannia as home heating is unavailable in these regions during the winter; the OCU, meanwhile, copes by shifting greater load onto the Mt. Fuji Photon Power reactor.

In early September, the Orb Union-produced flagship of Nergal Heavy Industries, the Nadesico, breaks through the weakened Earth Sphere defense grid without permission to go to Mars. Upon arrival in early October, it discovers that over 70% of the burgeoning Martian population is dead; virtually everywhere except Alba City and a handful of Zeonic holdings has been destroyed. This number is revised to 80% when the Jovian Lizards attack the Nadesico while it is attempting to evacuate the Martian refugees, leading to the destruction of the refugee holdout.

The conflict starts to find a holding pattern in October; while Jovian Lizard attacks are a constant threat and ZAFT continues to destroy the Earth's solar generation capacity as quickly as it can be rebuilt, neither side gains or loses much ground.

0096:

In January, the tone of the war shifts as independent actors begin to move. Gundams not affiliated with the Federation or ZAFT begin to take action against specific Federation forces, and Zeon remnants intervene on behalf of ZAFT. Londo Bell is mobilized to deal with the Zeon remnants, but organized response to these unaffiliated Gundams is confused at best. Efforts to predict their maneuvers are further compounded by the near-total lack of coordination in their movements.

Amid the chaos, an announcement comes to the Earth Sphere across countless channels: many of the Gundam-led assaults knifing through the war are the brainchild of Aeolia Schenberg, a man thought dead since before the beginning of the Universal Century. These attacks, he explains, come from Celestial Being -- an organization that has resolved to wage war not just on nations but on the concept of war itself.

Fixx Bloodman, the Councillor in Charge of Truth and Reconciliation, attempts to end the war with ZAFT diplomatically in hopes of stopping Celestial Being's attacks, asking Field Marshal Noventa to take many of the Federation's best negotiators and declare a ceasefire. Some of the independent Gundams arrive and shoot down Noventa's shuttle, but are defeated shortly thereafter. The loss of a second attempt to negotiate with ZAFT drives the war to a fever pitch.

In March, the Kyushu Zone comes out from its dense electromagnetic cloud, and the Great Jama Empire returns. They waste no time in striking out at the Earth, focusing on nearby Japan but striking several areas weakened by the war with ZAFT as well. Northern Africa is particularly hard-hit, with its Earth Cradle defensive project hammered by Great Jama attacks and put far behind schedule.

In April, unrest in Area 11 leads the Britannian Union to purge the Naka Ward of Nagoya. While the purge stops partway through, Viceroy Clovis la Britannia is killed in the fighting. Honorary Britannian Suzaku Kururugi is accused of being the murderer, only to be rescued on the way to his execution by a mysterious individual in a mask named Zero, claiming responsibility for the murder. This throws local Britannian forces into chaos, and marks the ascent of Zero's organization -- the Black Knights -- in the public consciousness.

Terrorist organization Grimnir rears its head in Alaska with a daring attack on JOSH-A that nearly succeeds. Free Japanese forces are spotted nearby, but claim to have been pursuing a retreating ZAFT dropship. Grimnir is defeated, and its leader, Morgan Bernard, is confirmed dead.

At roughly the same time, the Nadesico returns from Mars, finally in contact once again. It returns to a world even deeper in the throes of war than it was when it left. Despite being an independent, Orb-based battleship, the Earth Federation demands to place observers with Nergal Heavy Industries; the company agrees, though it emphasizes that this working relationship only applies to attacks by the Jovian Lizards.

In May, several independent colonies are attacked by Zeon or ZAFT forces in the span of a few weeks. Orb-owned Heliopolis is destroyed after a ZAFT attack, while Anaheim-owned Industrial 7 fares somewhat better against the Zeon remnants. This exposes a variety of Federation secret projects.

Britannia begins reapportioning its Area 11 forces under new Viceroy Cornelia li Britannia and Sub-Viceroy Euphemia li Britannia; anti-alien forces -- largely integrated units with significant numbers of Honorary Britannian pilots -- are shifted to NERV, while Blue Cosmos-aligned forces are shipped off to G-Hound. While this does a fair amount to lower the temperature within the occupying Britannian military, it does nothing to appease the Black Knights -- and Build Base, the force monitoring the Kyushu Zone, actually takes the opportunity to throw its weight behind Zero.

Play begins here.