Gundam SEED the Long War



Mobile Suit Gundam SEED The Long War CE:105 is actually a text based role playing game based off of the events of much hated Gundam Seed Destiny, taking place roughly 30 years after the events of Destiny. Originally started in October of 2006 on Gundams.net forums by GM 'Night Bringer' the setting of the role play took place in both the Earth sphere and on Mars, detailing a new kind of conflict started after the Treaty of Orb was signed in CE:72. During the gap between Destiny and The Long War, the militaries of all Earth based countries were reduced by a staggering 60% the peace following the Bloody Valentine Wars however, did not last long at all. As conflicts began to arise, but without being able to involve military personnel, countries began to contract Mercenaries to carry out their military interests without being directly involved in combat, creating an Enforced Cold War which nations fight battles by proxy under the guise of mercenary plausible deniability. Thus, evolving the shape of war from grand battles of armies, to elite seasoned Mercenaries.

Overall, about half of the fiction within the story was corroborated among multiple members of the Gundam forums over the course of three years. Who include the following people under their user names, Night Bringer, Razor the Red, The Black Hawk, The Black Knight, Excalibur, Commando Dude, Wolf, Davius, The Green Flame, Gendarme, Silver Wind, Nu Strike, Raven Sly, And Crimson, among other short lived members. Each of them brought something new, unique, and enjoyable to the world of The Long War, or TLW as it was affectionately dubbed. As you can imagine, the sheer number of players involved over the course of the writting means that there were Loads and Loads of Characters, to the point it was dizzingly hard to keep up with most of the plot that didn't involve one's self (Infamously, a Situation Report was created so hopelessly lost players could be brought up to speed on anything they missed).

By the year CE:105, it is important to note the important events that helped shape the political climate of the time. During the lull of the Enforcer Cold War, the Earth Federation broke up into its three original member states, the political and social fallout of the collapse of the Federation was devastating to the countries involved. Most suffered from economic depression to minor civil wars. Whilst, in the mean time, a new world power was rising in South Africa, the South African Combine. PLANTS in the meantime, came under the despotic rule of Chairwoman Lacus Clyne, whilst Orb came under similar rule by Cagalli Yula Attha. And in Mars, the powerful Ares Republic began a military buildup that would rival several Earth nations combined. And, after a successful defection from the East Asian Republic, a pirate enclave known simply as 'Liangshan' was formed in the Debris Belt. The year CE: 100 having been commemorated by a grand project undertaken by the nations of the Earth to build, the Sky Hook orbital elevator, a neutral symbol of peace between the major powers. While, in the mean time, the nation of Orb rebuild its colonies at L3 known as the Heliopolis II cluster, a space shared in part by the Eurasian Federation's new Verdun colony cluster. The area of L4 becoming the site of the Urenbrek space catapult station, designed to facilitate travel to and from Mars.

It would only be 5 years afterwards however, that a handful of mercenary squadrons would become center playing pieces in events that would change the entire political, technological, and military atmosphere of the Earth Sphere. When, during a Zaft science experiment, a ship from the Universal Century would end up being pulled into the CE timeline, creating both a race to acquire the new technology on board, and igniting a series of events that would set in motion a renewal of conflict on Earth.



Mobile Suit Gundam SEED The Long War CE: 105 "Rearmament"

Though the season of the original The Long War was never really ended at any point. The role play was redubbed "Rearmament" after many major changes in the universe altered the political sphere greatly. Specifically, the release of several high-tech prototype technologies each fostered from the unknown dimensional UC ship. Not to mention, the Ares Republican being expelled from their base of operations in L4, and indeed from the Earth Sphere by PLANTS. Which, during the messy political fallout of a Martian withdrawl to the planet, happened to set off a full scale rebellion that had been brewing for years, effectively splitting half of the military between the Loyalist royal fleet supporting the Sovereign ruler of the Republic, and the Rebel fleet comprising of those who were oppressed by the caste system of the Ares government. Whilst effectively isolated to its own planet during the civil war, tensions between the major powers of Earth began to come to a head as well, with each one supporting civil rebellions in many of the country's disfranchised regions that had been plagued with unrest for years. By this point, the use of PM Cs as a use of plausible deniability was something used only in word only, as several faction's militaries began to meet head to head in small, but strategic battle grounds. Effectively turning the role of a mercenary from a de facto military force, into a semi-autonomous extended military elite corps.

Unfortunately, during this time period, the role play began to be bogged down by lots of player drama, between Night Bringer, the GM, a megalomaniac, Excalibur, a forum moderator, and leader of the Ares Republic, and The Black Knight, leader of the South African Combine. Though, those are just the major names. Many of the conflicts were eventually resolved, but the underlying tensions never managed to completely evaporate. Eventually after conflict with the moderators of Seed Forums, The Long War was moved to an independently hosted site.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED The Long War CE:106 "Flash Point"

The year CE:105 draws to a close, with it, another chapter in The Long War saga ending, and another stage, from the ashes of its predecessor, emerges. The Republic of Ares has been embroiled in an exhausting war that the Loyalist military has barely been able to keep from ending, both sides having been largely decimated. However, the real action of Flash Point focuses away from Mars, and back towards Earth, where, after several failed insurrections, the world has become devided into two camps, setting the stage for an almost all out war. The Atlantic Federation and South African Combine, both having been mutual enemies for decades, have signed a treaty of alliance with each other, the Orb Union, and PLANTS, to form the Terran Confederation, who's goal is initially, to create a military force that could handle the vast Ares military. However, The Eurasian Federation and East Asian Republic, bitter enemies, in a bid to unite for a common cause, form an unexpected alliance of their own, the Pan-Eurasian Treaty Organization. The pirate state of Liangshan, being invaded by the East Asian Republic, struck a deal with the Precentor Martial of the Combine, abandoning the Debris Belt and taking refuge in Madagascar, founding their own country.

The situation for the Terran Confederation, facing the hostile and powerful alliance of PETO, turns for the worst as the Combine is invaded by the African Confederation, which is immediately followed by a Coup 'de ta by the Precentor Martial's younger brother. In space, the PLAN Ts are embroiled in an outright civil war of their own against Lacus Clyne by her own jaded daughter, taking ZAFT troops by complete and utter surprise. Which, should it succeed, could mean PLANTS withdrawing from the T.C. and, at the same time, the Atlantic Federation faces a crisis as Great Britain is invaded by the Eurasian Federation. With elections coming, the Incumbent President, and supporter of the T.C. could be ousted. The crumbling leadership of the Terran Confederation making it a prime target with war almost virtually declared.

A Map detailing the National Situation in CE:106

A Map detailing the boundaries of the two Alliances

Unfortunately, during this season was when the player drama that had been building for so long finally spilled over in a shocking turn of events. In a fit of self-centered rage, GM 'Night Bringer' attempted to 'Delete' The Long War by closing down the hosting site. As a result, a large amount of data in the RP, including much of the story, was simply lost. At the same time, The Black Knight, whom, had a hand in the destruction of The Long War, after facing much scorn, decided to leave the role play. While most were pleased to see he who should not be named leave, Arguably the withdrawl of Black Knight left a hole in the role play that it could never recover from, as he had been an integeral person in the evolution of the Combine in universe. The RP was also plagued by a loss of members due to work/school/or family matters. Even those who remained did not retain their former capacities, and new recruits became almost impossible to keep. This largely shifted a great amount of weight onto the new GM 'Razor the Red' and his assistant Black Hawk. Especially as player drama for the most part, did not end just there.

The Long War eventually ground to a halt after a huge amount of player drama between Commando Dude and Black Hawk, additionally Wolf. In which all three basically stopped their role in The Long War altogether unfortunately. Which, the first two former being 2/3 of the mod staff, made the role play virtually uncontinuable.

Aftermath:

Because of this, The Long War completed what amounted to only half or so of the story that was originally planned, which would have resulted in at least 3 other seasons. Which probably would have featured a war between PETO and the Confederation at some point, and the grand finale a climactic clash between Earth and Mars most probably.

If you would like, the first and some of the second season can be found Here while some of the third season can be found Here.

The website domain is http://Thelongwar.x.am

This Role Play provides examples of:

 * Ace Pilot: Most mercenaries
 * Achilles Heel: Explicitly implied in some technologies, such as lightwave barriers being vulnerable to anti-beam coated weapons.
 * All There in the Manual: The glossary, which defines the capability of some weapons and equipment beyond the scope of what is inferred in roleplay. Some tech, such as Gewichtig weaponry, are outlined there. Plus, all the character backstories.
 * Applied Phlebotinum: Several, outside of the Gundam Seed universe, there is Amiant Lumiere propulsion, Gewichtig matter transfer, 'beam eater' armor, and 'plasma bombs'
 * Asteroid Thicket
 * A Team Firing
 * Ax Crazy
 * Badass Crew
 * Balance of Power
 * Batman Gambit
 * Big Red Button
 * Bio Augmentation
 * Brother Sister Incest: James and his long last sister Elli. Also between Vergil and his twin Ghanima.
 * Char Clone: Gilbert
 * Chivalrous Pervert
 * Complete Monster: Joachim Knight
 * Cool Spaceship
 * Death Is Dramatic
 * Deflector Shields
 * Deus Angst Machina
 * Dirty Old Man: Captain Oars
 * Dodge the Bullet
 * Energy Weapons
 * Enforced Cold War
 * Evil Plan
 * Fighter Launching Sequence
 * Fun With Acronyms
 * Gambit Roulette
 * Game Breaker
 * Game Master
 * Gundamjack
 * Hard Light: Lightwave barriers
 * Humongous Mecha
 * Improbable Age
 * Incest Subtext
 * Loads and Loads of Characters
 * Lost Technology
 * Macross Missile Massacre: High Speed Missile Dodge Point Defenseless
 * Magnificent Bastard
 * Mid Season Upgrade: Many examples. Razor Salber inherits a modified Destiny Gundam from Shinn Auska. James Starwind rebuilds a scraped Aurora Gundam into the Helios Gundam, then later receives a modified Breaker Mk II Gundam when that is destroyed, and improves that into the Breaker MkIII. Toudou steals the latest Combine stealth suit for East Asia and recieves the Strike Double Dagger. Nina builds the 'Doggie' based on a Be Cue.
 * Milestone Celebration: 'Christmas' at the turn of the year in CE 104.
 * Mildly Military: Most of the mercenary outfits.
 * Military Brat
 * Military Mashup Machine: Seaworthy flight capable atmospherically renterable assault space ship carriers. (In Gundam tradition).
 * Minovsky Physics
 * More Dakka
 * Nuke Em: 'Plasma' missiles.
 * Old School Dogfighting
 * Old Soldier
 * Officer and A Gentleman
 * Pure Energy
 * Private Military Contractors: Runs on this trope.
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Crew of the Illumination and Stellar Butterfly.
 * Red Alert
 * Recycled in Space
 * Role Playing Game
 * Rule of Cool
 * Schematized Prop
 * Self Destruct Mechanism: All mobile suits, ships, bases, etc have this ability. Pulled off in dramatic fashion by James Starwind, who uses this to destroy his Gundam after reentering the atmosphere. Barely survives the nuclear blast.
 * Shell Shocked Veteran
 * Space Friction
 * Space Is an Ocean
 * Spam Attack
 * Super Soldier
 * Super Prototype: The Gundams.
 * Stealth in Space: Mirage Calloid.
 * Techno Babble
 * The Atoner
 * The Quiet One
 * The Woobie
 * Thanatos Gambit
 * Too Awesome to Use
 * Transforming Mecha
 * Twenty Minutes Into the Future: Twenty minutes into the future of a show that is already twenty minutes into the future.
 * Unwitting Pawn
 * Wave Motion Gun
 * Weapon of Mass Destruction
 * Well Intentioned Extremist
 * Woobie Destroyer of Worlds
 * You Fail Nuclear Physics: Nuclear reactors are not nuclear bombs.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness