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The Sleeves

Neo Zeon remnant group that operated as a paramilitary organisation during the Laplace Incident.
Jenxi Seow Published 17 Jan 2025 Updated 17 Jan 2025
The Sleeves

The Sleeves (袖付き, Sodetsuki) was a Neo Zeon remnant group that operated as a paramilitary organisation during the Laplace Incident of UC 0096. Formed from survivors of Newborn Neo Zeon and led by Full Frontal, the organisation derived its name from the ornate sleeve designs that decorated their mobile suits.

The Earth Federation classified The Sleeves as a terrorist group due to their lack of formal ties to the Republic of Zeon government. However, the organisation maintained secret connections with Zeon sympathiser cells on Earth, certain government officials, and right-wing political activists within the Republic of Zeon. Operating primarily from the asteroid base Palau, The Sleeves sought to obtain Laplace’s Box to further their goal of spacenoid independence.

History

Formation

The Sleeves emerged in UC 0094 from the remnants of Char Aznable’s Newborn Neo Zeon movement following the Second Neo Zeon War. After Char’s apparent death during Axis Shock in UC 0093, surviving Neo Zeon forces went into hiding before reorganising under new leadership three years later.

Full Frontal, a genetically altered Cyber Newtype designed to resemble Char Aznable, gathered these scattered remnants into a cohesive organisation. Politicians from the Republic of Zeon covertly funded the project that created Full Frontal, hoping to use The Sleeves as a tool to prevent the Republic’s dissolution into the Earth Federation.

The organisation’s name came from Federation Forces personnel who noted the distinctive ornate sleeve designs that adorned their mobile suits—decorative markings that became the group’s trademark visual identifier.

The Laplace Incident

In UC 0096, The Sleeves initiated their most significant operation when the Vist Foundation offered to provide them with Laplace’s Box, a legendary object rumoured capable of toppling the Federation. The organisation planned to use this artefact to coerce the Federation into allowing the Republic of Zeon to remain independent long enough to establish what Full Frontal termed the “Side Co-Prosperity Sphere”—a self-sufficient economic system uniting the space colonies whilst boycotting Earth.

The exchange was arranged to take place at Industrial 7 colony, where Sleeves forces led by Captain Suberoa Zinnerman aboard the disguised freighter Garencieres would receive the Box from Cardeas Vist. However, the transaction was compromised when Princess Mineva Lao Zabi secretly stowed away aboard the Sleeves vessel with the intention of preventing the transfer.

The situation deteriorated further when Federation intelligence became aware of the negotiations and deployed Londo Bell and the special forces unit ECOAS to intercept the Sleeves force. The ensuing battle resulted in significant damage to Industrial 7 and the death of Cardeas Vist, though The Sleeves successfully obtained the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, which served as the key to Laplace’s Box.

Military operations

Following the Industrial 7 incident, The Sleeves conducted a series of military operations to secure Laplace’s Box. The organisation coordinated with Zeon remnants on Earth to launch attacks on Dakar and Torrington Base, demonstrating their continued ability to operate across multiple theatres despite their limited resources.

The Federation mounted a counter-offensive, launching a joint Londo Bell and ECOAS operation against The Sleeves’ primary base at Palau. The attack severely damaged the organisation’s infrastructure and military assets, forcing them to relocate their operations whilst continuing their pursuit of Laplace’s Box.

Final confrontation and dissolution

The climax of The Sleeves’ campaign occurred when Full Frontal deployed the massive NZ-999 Neo Zeong mobile armour in a final attempt to secure Laplace’s Box at the colony builder Magallanica. During this battle, Full Frontal was killed in combat with Banagher Links and Riddhe Marcenas, who piloted the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam and RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee respectively.

With their leader’s death and the public revelation of Laplace’s Box’s contents—the original Universal Century Charter—The Sleeves’ objectives became unattainable. The organisation’s remaining military assets were largely destroyed during the conflict, and the surviving members dispersed following the conclusion of the Laplace Incident.

Legacy

In UC 0097, a group of Republic of Zeon members led by Zoltan Akkanen appropriated The Sleeves’ iconography and name in an attempt to capture the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex. This group utilised remaining mobile suits from The Sleeves, including the MSN-06S-2 Sinanju Stein and NZ-999 II Neo Zeong, but was ultimately defeated.

The Republic of Zeon officially ceded its autonomy and rejoined the Earth Federation in UC 0100 under the Granada Treaty, effectively marking the end of Neo Zeon movements in the Earth Sphere until the emergence of Mars Zeon in UC 0120.

Organisation

Structure

The Sleeves operated as a relatively small paramilitary organisation structured along traditional military lines. Despite their limited size, they maintained secret connections with numerous Zeon sympathiser cells hidden throughout Earth and had covert ties to government officials within the Republic of Zeon.

The organisation’s command structure was hierarchical, with Full Frontal serving as the supreme leader. Below him were various unit commanders including his personal Royal Guard led by Lieutenant Angelo Sauper, and ship captains such as Suberoa Zinnerman of the Garencieres and Hill Dawson of the Rewloola.

Base of operations

The Sleeves established their primary base on Palau, a civilian mining asteroid in Side 6 that had been brought into the Earth sphere from the asteroid belt. The asteroid’s Governor General, an ardent Zeon sympathiser, offered Palau to The Sleeves as their base of operations. The asteroid housed approximately 30,000 residents, mostly miners, in its residential blocks.

Palau’s strategic value lay in its dual nature as both a civilian mining facility and a military stronghold. This allowed The Sleeves to maintain a degree of camouflage whilst providing adequate facilities for their mobile suit forces and fleet operations.

Military

Mobile suit forces

The Sleeves’ mobile suit arsenal consisted primarily of refurbished machines from previous conflicts dating back to the One Year War, as well as newer and one-off models obtained from Anaheim Electronics’ factory in Granada following the Second Neo Zeon War in UC 0093. Due to resource limitations, the organisation had no capability for mass production of new mobile suits.

Their primary mobile suit was the AMS-129 Geara Zulu, developed by Anaheim Electronics to replace the AMS-119 Geara Doga as the main machine of Neo Zeon forces. The Geara Zulu featured the chest and wrist markings that gave The Sleeves their nickname, with designs varying according to the pilot’s rank and unit assignment.

Notable mobile suits operated by The Sleeves included:

Command units:

  • MSN-06S Sinanju - Full Frontal’s personal mobile suit
  • AMS-129 Geara Zulu (Angelo Sauper Custom) - painted in distinctive violet colours
  • AMS-129 Geara Zulu Guards Type - enhanced variants used by the Royal Guard

Newtype mobile suits:

Support and older units:

  • AMX-009 Dreissen - heavy mobile suit for base defence
  • AMX-003 Gaza-C - transformable mobile suit
  • MS-05L Zaku I Sniper Type - upgraded vintage unit
  • AMX-011S Zaku III Custom - modified for various roles

The Sleeves operated a small but capable fleet centred around two primary vessels:

The Rewloola, a Rewloola-class battleship that served as the organisation’s flagship under Captain Hill Dawson, had previously served as Char Aznable’s flagship during the Second Neo Zeon War and was repaired and recommissioned for Sleeves service.

The Garencieres operated as a disguised freighter commanded by Captain Suberoa Zinnerman. This vessel served dual purposes as both a transport and combat vessel, featuring hidden armaments and mobile suit deployment capabilities beneath its civilian exterior.

Notable members

Leadership:

Pilots and crew:

Behind the scenes

The Sleeves were created by Harutoshi Fukui for the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn novel series, serving as the primary antagonist faction. The organisation’s design reflected Fukui’s intention to explore themes of political legitimacy and the cyclical nature of conflict in the Universal Century timeline.

The name “Sleeves” was chosen to reflect both the visual design element of their mobile suits and to suggest an organisation that operated “off the sleeve”—implying improvisation and resourcefulness in the face of limited resources. The ornate sleeve decorations on their mobile suits were designed by Hajime Katoki to distinguish them visually from previous Neo Zeon factions whilst maintaining recognisable Zeon design elements.

Full Frontal’s character was specifically crafted as a “ghost of Char,” representing the lingering influence of Char Aznable’s ideology whilst exploring what happens when that ideology becomes divorced from its original human context. This concept influenced The Sleeves’ portrayal as an organisation caught between past and future, neither fully embracing restoration nor genuine evolution.

Appearances

See also