Mobile Suit Gundam
The story begins in the fall of UC 0079. The ongoing war between the
Earth Federation and the Duchy of Zeon has settled into a six-month
stalemate. The Federation has taken advantage of this time to
develop its own set of mobile suit prototypes, which have been
undergoing final testing inside a Federation research colony at Side
7. Now the mobile suit carrier White Base has arrived at Side 7 to
pick up the prototypes and transport them to Earth.
Side 7
Unknown to the Federation, the White Base has been pursued by a Zeon
cruiser. The pursuing ship's captain, Char Aznable, sends a
reconnaissance squad of Zaku mobile suits into the colony. Spying
the Federation's prototype mobile suits, the squad leader
impulsively decides to destroy them on the spot, and two Zakus enter
the colony's interior and begin laying waste to the prototypes and
their Federal Forces defenders. 15-year-old civilian Amuro Ray
commandeers one of the prototype mobile suits - the RX-78 Gundam.
With the Gundam's manual in his lap, he quickly destroys both Zakus.
Gathering the three surviving prototypes and as many civilian
refugees as possible, the White Base evacuates the Side 7 colony.
Most of its crew having been killed in the attack, the ship is now
largely manned by young civilians, and Amuro is tapped to become the
Gundam's pilot. Under the command of officer cadet Bright Noah, the
White Base makes its way back to Earth. Amuro and Char clash a
number of times; though Char's piloting skills are far superior, the
Gundam's high performance, advanced weapons and bullet-proof armor
enable Amuro to survive these sparring matches. By the time the
White Base re-enters Earth's atmosphere, Amuro is becoming an
experienced mobile suit pilot.
Earth
During re-entry, an attack by Char forces the White Base to alter
its course. Instead of the Federal Forces' headquarters, the
underground Jaburo base in South America, the ship descends onto
Zeon-occupied North America. The Federal Forces dispatch a supply
corps to retrieve vital test data from the White Base, then leave
the ship to fight its way out of enemy territory unaided. Struggling
westward, the White Base fends off attacks by Garma Zabi, youngest
scion of Zeon's ruling family and commander of Zeon's Earth forces.
Garma is ultimately lured into an ambush by his trusted friend Char,
and after a fiery funeral oration by his older brother Giren he
becomes a martyr to the Zeon people.
The White Base continues westward, across the Pacific and into Asia.
It is pursued by a Zeon special forces team led by ace pilot Ranba
Ral, who has been sent to avenge Garma's death. After Ral and his
soldiers have finally been wiped out, the White Base crosses into
Europe to assist in the Federal Forces' Operation Odessa. In this
three-day offensive, Federation forces led by General Revil
recapture the mineral-rich mining regions of Eastern Europe and
strike a telling blow against the Zeons.
In the Gundam II movie, White Base doesn't make it to Eastern Europe
in time to join Operation Odessa.
Following Operation Odessa, the White Base stops briefly in Belfast,
Ireland, where it is spotted by an old adversary. Char Aznable, now
the commander of a submarine attack group, sends a succession of
amphibious mobile suits against the Federation ship. Then, trailing
the White Base to Jaburo, he leads an attack on the Federal Forces'
underground headquarters. Char's assault fails to destroy the Jaburo
base and its factories, which are now churning out mass-produced
versions of the Gundam.
Operation Star One
General Revil meets with the young White Base crew and suggests that
they may be newtypes, a new generation of humans with advanced
powers of perception and intuition. They are given orders to
participate in Operation Star One, the Federal Forces' multi-step
plan to capture Zeon's space fortresses and take the battle onto the
enemy's own territory. The White Base is dispatched back to space as
a decoy, distracting the Zeons while a newly constructed Federation
fleet launches from the Jaburo factories.
The White Base makes its way to the neutral colonies of Side 6. Here
Amuro is reunited with his father, whose cold-hearted personality
has been compounded by brain damage suffered in the Side 7 attack.
To further complicate his life, Amuro meets a mysterious girl named
Lalah Sun. Lalah is a powerful newtype, and she and Amuro form an
immediate bond - unfortunately, she turns out to be chaperoned by
Char! White Base soon departs Side 6, and in doing so engages a
small Zeon fleet in a televised battle. As millions watch, the
Gundam wipes out virtually the entire Zeon force within minutes.
Amuro is now a seasoned fighter and has grown into his potential as
a newtype; as a result, the Gundam is virtually undefeatable.
From Solomon to Texas Colony
White Base proceeds to rendezvous with the main body of the
Federation fleet for the first phase of Operation Star One, an
attack on the Zeon asteroid fortress of Solomon. After a small
Federation force draws out Solomon's defenders, the Federal Forces
rake the asteroid with the Solar System, an array of four million
mirrors that focuses the sun's light into a single, devastating
point. Zeon commander Dozul Zabi evacuates his wife and his infant
daughter Mineva, then sets out in the mobile armor Big Zam. The
surviving Zeon forces flee as the huge mobile armor attacks the
Federation fleet. Amuro manages to destroy the Big Zam, and the
Federal Forces proceed to occupy Solomon.
On a long-range patrol after the battle, the White Base ventures
into the remains of a Side ravaged at the beginning of the war.
Pursuing Zeon forces into the desolate Texas colony, Amuro discovers
that Char is using the colony to test a new prototype mobile suit.
They clash, and both their mobile suits are immobilized. White Base
crew member Sayla Mass, sent into the colony to find the downed
Gundam, runs into Char instead. As a stunned Bright listens in over
the radio, Char and Sayla greet each other as brother and sister,
and further reveal that they are the orphaned children of Zeon
Daikun himself. Char explains that he has infiltrated the Zeon
military so that he can kill the Zabis, whom he blames for their
father's death.
In the Gundam III movie, the Texas Colony sequence takes place
before the battle of Solomon, not after. In the movie version, the
Texas colony is the rendezvous point for the small Federation fleet
that is to stage the initial attack on Solomon. After leaving Side
6, the White Base arrives early at the rendezvous point and Amuro is
dispatched to patrol the colony's interior, where he clashes with
Char.
Tragedy and Disaster
The White Base returns to Solomon, where the entire Federation fleet
has now gathered. A mysterious force is picking off Federation
ships; this turns out to be the Zeon mobile armor Elmeth, a new
generation of mobile weapon designed expressly for newtypes.
Employing remote-controlled weapons called "bits" to attack the
Federal Forces, the Elmeth is piloted by mystery girl Lalah Sun.
Amuro and Lalah discover that they are newtype soulmates, but when
Char charges into the fray Lalah sacrifices her life to protect him
from Amuro.
As the Federation fleet departs Solomon to attack the asteroid
fortress A Bao A Qu, Zeon's last line of defense, they are contacted
by Duke Degin Zabi himself. Tired of the war and demoralized by the
death of Garma, his favorite son, he has come to make peace with the
Federation's General Revil. But as Degin meets the Federation fleet,
his scheming son Giren triggers Zeon's ultimate weapon. The Solar
Ray - a colony converted into a giant laser cannon - strikes out
from Side 3 and vaporizes a third of the Federation fleet, including
Revil and Degin.
The Battle of A Bao A Qu
Giren, now the supreme leader of Zeon, arrives at A Bao A Qu to
rally the Zeon fleet. The Federal Forces, weakened but still
formidable, begin an all-out attack on the asteroid fortress. Once
again they attack from two directions; their main force meets the
Zeon fleet head-on, while the White Base joins a smaller force that
attacks A Bao A Qu from its vulnerable rear.
Arriving at the fortress, Giren's sister Kishiria confronts him over
their father's death. Unconvinced by his excuses, she shoots him and
takes over. Kishiria promptly dispatches Char, in the
partially-completed newtype mobile suit Zeong, to block the
Federation's secondary assault.
After a brief but effective sortie, Char is sidetracked into a
running duel with Amuro. The longtime rivals blame each other for
Lalah's death, and even after their mobile suits have been destroyed
they continue fighting in person. As they carry their fight into A
Bao A Qu's interior, the Federation's secondary fleet, spearheaded
by the White Base, reaches the fortress. Sayla comes across Char and
Amuro dueling and convinces them to break it off, after which Char
departs to tie up one last loose end. He finds Kishiria preparing to
flee - leaving her troops to cover her escape - and promptly kills
her, fulfilling his vow of vengeance. Amuro, Sayla and the White
Base crew all escape the disintegrating fortress and are tearfully
reunited.
Conclusion
With the destruction of the Zabi family, the Duchy of Zeon returns
to civilian control. The new government declares the
re-establishment of the Republic of Zeon and immediately makes peace
with the Federation. The signing of the truce, on January 1, UC
0080, marks the end of the One Year War.
By the way: In the television series, it's not clear what happened
to Char or whether he escaped A Bao A Qu. The ending of the Gundam
III movie resolves the issue, showing Char aboard one of the fleeing
Zeon ships.