The Best Ship for Pondering an Orb – We Breakdown Gundam SEED’s Archangel
During the Cosmic Era of Gundam, one ship managed to save the Orb Union, and indeed, the Earth itself: the LCAM-01XA Archangel.
In the time outside the Universal Century, during the Cosmic Era, the nations of Earth formed a loose alliance—an Earth Alliance if you will. The Earth Alliance was at war with the space-borne nation of PLANT (People Liberation Acting Nation of Technology). PLANT and its military leadership known as the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty or ZAFT. During this war, one ship, not allied with either side managed to turn the tide of the war. The LCAM-01XA Archangel, was a mobile assault ship. It was capable of deploying prototype Mobile Suits. It was not aligned with the Earth alliance or PLANT, but rather they served the neutral nation of the Orb Union.
So how did a neutral ship come to play such a pivotal role in the war? And what gave it the ability to save the Earth? To answer these, we must venture to the place it was developed, the Orb Union—a tiny island nation in the South Pacific, to the east of New Guinea which had a motto of neutrality:
Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations.
Gundam SEED
Let’s see how well that worked for them.
The LCAM-01XA Archangel Mobile Assault Ship – Design and Capailities
Designed by the state arms manufacturer of Orb Union, Morgenrote, the Archangel was the pinnacle of Orb’s technological development. Of course, it wasn’t developed by Orb alone. It was only through a joint venture with the Atlantic Federation of the Earth Alliance that the advanced technology needed for the powerful ship to support its complement of experimental mobile suits known as the G Project, was brought to bear.
The ship was extraordinarily well-armed. Its primary weapons were two Lohengrin Positron Blaster Cannons. These were the most powerful weapons in the Orb arsenal, which used positron beams to destroy its foes.
Accompanying this, two Gottfried Mk.71 225cm Dual High-Energy Beam Cannons, which could rotate and retract as needed.
Surprisingly, though, the Archangel boasted firepower that was more kinetic in nature. Namely a Valiant Mk.8 110cm Linear Cannon, which could operate underwater. This allowed the Archangel to target submarine foes as well as air or landborne enemies.
Just as important, though, its special defensive features. It was one of the first ships outfitted with a heat-absorbing ablative gel. This gel could help protect it from atmospheric re-entry. It so had a suite of anti-beam depth charges, which could disperse enemy beam weapons.
Finally, the ship boasted a special Laminated Armor plate—this armor covered the entire outer hull of the Archangel, allowing it to dissipate the energy from incoming beam weapons by converting it to heat—which could potentially endanger the ship.
Orbs, PLANTS, and Archangels
The Archangel was the first ship of its class. And it was almost the last. It launched in the middle of a surprise ZAFT attack. The ZAFT forces had learned of the G Project and the new assault ship. In the initial attack, most of the Archangel’s crew was killed. Only the junior officers and a handful of officers survived.
Lieutenant Murrue Ramius captained the ship, with Ensign Natarle Badgiruel acting as XO. While ZAFT stole fourof the G-Weapons, the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam was left. And thanks to the quick piloting of Kira Yamato, who would come to be known as the Ultimate Coordinator, and the skilled maneuvering of Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, the Archangel escaped.
It waas then on the run from ZAFT forces, and beat a hasty retreat to the Atlantic Federation. It was refueling at JOSH-A, an Atlantic Federation base when ZAFT attacked, destroying the base. but not before the Archangel made off with a stolen ZAFT Mobile Suit, the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam.
The Archangel fought in the Battle of Orb, and then later, launched into space in direct violation of Earth Alliance orders. The Archangel was joined by a renegade ZAFT hip and the Orb Alliance battlecruiser Kusanagi, forming a pact known as the Three Ships Alliance.
The Three Ships Alliance wanted nothing more than to end the ongoing war, promoting peace and understanding. Which is why they were targeted by both Earth and PLANT forces. Their leadership wanted nothing more than to annihilate the other side.
To the point where nuclear attacks weren’t just on the table, but threatened the total destruction of everything. Superweapons armed with nuclear missiles were deployed by Earth and ZAFT. If not for the heroic actions of the Three Ships Alliance, which comprised members from all three factions—Orb, the Earth Alliance, and ZAFT renegades—nuclear war might have thrown humanity back into the darkness of space.
Instead, they forged an uneasy peace, and labored on to a bright new tomorrow.
