Operation Meteor

Operation Meteor (オペレーション・メテオ, Operēshon Meteo) was an infamous strategic military retaliation plot designed by members of the space colonies in the After Colony timeline. Conceived by Dekim Barton and orchestrated by Quinze Quarante, the original plan called for dropping space colonies onto Earth followed by five Gundams descending to massacre survivors and seize control of the planet. The operation was preemptively initiated on 7 April AC 195 but executed in stark contrast to the original intended plan when the Gundam Scientists subverted it. A final attempt more closely following the original plan was initiated on 24 December AC 196 during the events of Endless Waltz. The operation never successfully came to its intended fruition.

Overview

Operation Meteor was created as retaliation for the assassination of political leader Heero Yuy. As the brainchild of Dekim Barton, the original operational layout was designed as follows:

Several space colonies would abruptly deviate from their stable orbits and crash into Earth, creating political, economic, and environmental disarray on a global scale. One of the colonies the Barton Foundation intended to drop was Colony A-0206—home of the Long Clan—in the plan’s original iteration.
During the initial aftermath of the colony drop, the Gundams—five specific mobile suits designed by the Gundam Scientists—would launch from other orbiting space colonies and descend to Earth as tools of massacre, with the sole objective of forcibly seizing control of the remaining Earth Sphere.
Once the Gundams secured control of the planet and Earth had been rendered uninhabitable by the colony drop, Earth’s survivors would be forced to immigrate to space under colony government control, and the Barton Foundation would assume full control of the Earth Sphere with Dekim as leader.

Though the operation was perceived as counteraction towards the United Earth Sphere Alliance’s oppression of space colonies and avenging the assassination of Heero Yuy, Operation Meteor’s ultimate goal was the Barton Foundation’s complete and uncontested rule of Earth under Dekim.

Prelude

Origins (AC 188)

In AC 188, unsatisfied with merely punishing Heero Yuy’s assassin Odin Lowe, Dekim Barton desired to take revenge against Earth itself in its entirety. To that end, Dekim devised the beginnings of Operation Meteor. Partnering with Quinze Quarante, a twisted follower of the late Heero Yuy, he contacted five disgruntled scientists formerly of OZ to construct powerful mobile suits he planned to use in the operation. These suits were given the name “Gundam.”

Pilot selection (AC 188-194)

As each scientist constructed their Gundams, they needed to select pilots:

Jay Null (Doctor J): Discovered a lost boy wandering Colony X-18999. Admiring the child’s bearing, he offered him the chance to become a Gundam pilot. The boy accepted and was later given the codename Heero Yuy.
Professor G (AC 192): The Sweeper Group caught a stowaway named Duo Maxwell. He later decided to join the Sweeper Group and become a Gundam pilot.
Doctor S: Dekim’s son, Trowa Barton, was selected to pilot the Gundam designed by Doktor S. Whilst in space overseeing construction, Trowa became acquainted with one of its mechanics called “No-Name.” He shared the secret of his niece Mariemaia, whom he believed would rule Earth when the operation succeeded.
Professor H (AC 193): After being taken hostage and subsequently saving the Maganac Corps from an Alliance attack caused by close betrayal, Quatre Raberba Winner returned to the Winner Colony with Instructor H. Though Quatre believed in pacifism, Instructor H convinced him to become a Gundam pilot.
Master O (AC 194): During an assault on Colony A-0206 led by the Alliance, Chang Wufei stole Master O’s incomplete Gundam to chase after his wife-to-be Meilan Long in the Tallgeese. However, Meilan sacrificed herself to protect Wufei from a self-destructing OZ Leo. To avenge her death, Wufei decided to continue Meilan’s fight for justice by becoming a Gundam pilot, referring to the Gundam as “Nataku” in her honour.

Scientists’ subversion (AC 195)

Shortly before initiation, the Gundam Scientists discovered the true purpose of their mobile suits in Dekim’s plan. They disagreed with the operation, stating they refused to allow their creations to be used to commit mass murder. They sought an alternative way to fight for the colonies’ independence.

Meanwhile, Vice Foreign Minister Darlian learned about Operation Meteor. To maintain secrecy, the Barton Foundation hired a hit team to assassinate him upon his arrival at one of the L1 colonies. However, Doctor J learned about this plot and offered his pilot three options: aid the assassination, prevent it, or ignore it. The pilot chose to save Minister Darlian (though he would be assassinated by OZ barely a month later).

Afterwards, the Gundam Scientists informed their pilots of Operation Meteor and convinced them to abandon the operation as originally planned:

Duo Maxwell: Refused to execute the original plan and attempted to destroy Deathscythe using anchored explosives, planning to kill Professor G and everyone involved. However, G had disarmed the explosives and “suggested” Duo should steal the Gundam and fight the Alliance on his own terms as the “God of Death.”
Trowa Barton: The real Trowa Barton, intent on executing the original operation, planned to report Doktor S’s disillusionment to his father Dekim. Before he could act, Trowa was shot and killed by No-Name, a nearby mechanic who had family on Earth. No-Name offered to take Trowa’s identity and pilot Heavyarms, which Doktor S accepted.
Quatre Raberba Winner: Not wanting Quatre to carry out the massacre, Instructor H asked him to ignore the operation and rejoin the Maganac Corps on Earth in Sandrock. Quatre agreed.
Chang Wufei: Argued against Master Long over the decision to drop the Long Clan Colony (Colony A-0206) onto Earth. Opposing his clan’s wishes, Wufei took Shenlong to fight for justice in his own way.
Heero Yuy: After being informed of the operation’s genocidal intent, Doctor J offered three options: proceed as planned, kill Doctor J and escape, or change the plan altogether. The pilot chose the third option. As he prepared Wing Gundam for launch, Doctor J gave him a codename in honour of the late political leader: Heero Yuy.

With all five pilots accepting a modified plan selected by the Gundam Scientists, Operation Meteor proceeded ahead of the intended schedule.

Event

Modified Operation Meteor (7 April AC 195)

On 7 April AC 195, Operation Meteor commenced with the five Gundams launched individually from separate space colonies. They descended to Earth disguised as shooting stars to carry out the operation in a radically different form. Refusing to let their creations become weapons of mass murder, the five Gundam Scientists had informed their respective pilots to disregard the original operational plans, ignore orders from the Barton Foundation, and instead target only selected OZ installations rather than civilians.

Once all five Gundams reached Earth, they proceeded to attack and destroy military bases, mobile suit factories, and active spaceports under OZ and Alliance control throughout AC 195. Crucially, no colony had been dropped on Earth—the scientists and pilots had completely subverted Dekim’s genocidal plan whilst still striking at the oppressive military forces.

White Fang’s attempt (AC 195-196)

Later, during the Eve Wars, White Fang rebels led by Quinze planned to complete Operation Meteor in their own way by dropping the captured OZ battleship Libra onto Earth. The resulting explosion from the impact would produce a nuclear winter, making Earth completely uninhabitable—achieving Dekim’s original goal of forcing humanity into space through different means.

During Libra’s descent, Peacemillion collided with the falling battleship, lodging itself into Libra’s main cannon and managing to keep the battleship in stable orbit using its own engines. However, one of Libra’s blocks tore away and continued falling towards Earth.

In a final attempt to avert disaster, White Fang leader Zechs Merquise sacrificed himself to destroy the block’s power core, whilst the Wing Gundam Zero (piloted by Heero Yuy) used its twin buster rifle to annihilate the remains of the block during re-entry. This prevented the colony drop and triggered the formation of the new Earth Sphere Unified Nation, as well as peace between the space colonies and the Earth Sphere—the final objective of the modified plan of Operation Meteor carried out by the five Gundam pilots.

Mariemaia Incident (24 December AC 196)

On 24 December AC 196, Dekim Barton returned to try and complete the goal he had set after Heero Yuy’s death. As L3 colony X-18999 neared completion, Dekim revealed to the people of Earth the leader he had positioned for the coming age: Mariemaia Khushrenada, daughter of Treize Khushrenada.

Mariemaia made a speech to the Earth Sphere declaring X-18999’s independence whilst simultaneously declaring war on the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. From the resource satellite MO-III, Dekim told the resurfaced Zechs Merquise of his intention to drop X-18999 onto Earth—a final attempt to execute the original Operation Meteor.

With help from Heero and Duo, Trowa was able to restore the colony’s stable orbit, preventing it from plunging to Earth. Ultimately, Operation Meteor was foiled, ironically by the very pilots who were meant to restore order to the chaos created by the destruction in the original planned operation.

Aftermath

The subversion of Operation Meteor had profound consequences for the After Colony era. Rather than achieving Dekim Barton’s goal of Barton Foundation dominance through terror and genocide, the modified operation executed by the five Gundam pilots struck specifically at military oppression whilst avoiding civilian casualties.

This approach won support among colonists who opposed the Alliance’s brutality but rejected genocide as a solution. The Gundams became symbols of colonial resistance rather than instruments of mass murder. The pilots’ refusal to follow orders demonstrated that individuals could choose justice over blind obedience—a theme that resonated throughout the conflicts of AC 195-196.

Legacy

Operation Meteor’s failure—both in its original genocidal form and its modified resistance form—ultimately led to lasting political change. The Eve Wars concluded not with colony drops or massacres but with the formation of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation, creating governmental structures that addressed colonial grievances through representation rather than violence.

The operation’s name became synonymous with the five Gundam pilots, even though they had rejected its original purpose. Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, and Chang Wufei were known as “Operation Meteor Gundams” despite having fought to prevent the atrocity the operation originally entailed.

Dekim Barton’s persistent attempts to execute the operation—even recruiting Mariemaia Khushrenada over a year after the Eve Wars ended—demonstrated his unwavering commitment to his vision of colonial dominance. His assassination by one of his own soldiers during the Mariemaia Incident finally ended the threat of Operation Meteor being executed as originally planned.

Appearances

Operation Meteor appeared in the following works:

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (anime series)
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz (OVA and movie)
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Episode Zero (manga, detailed origins)
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers (manga)

External links

Operation Meteor on the Gundam Wiki