A statement issued by the Atlantic Federation on February 7, C.E. 70, in the wake of the Tragedy of Copernicus. On behalf of all the PLANT sponsor nations, the Atlantic Federation declared that the attack on Copernicus had been carried out by the PLANTs, and amounted to a declaration of war against Earth and all Naturals. The establishment of the Earth Alliance, a new international organization to replace the defunct United Nations, was announced as part of the Alaska Declaration. Four days later, the Alliance formally declared war against the PLANTs, and the conflict began in earnest.

On April 1, C.E. 70, ZAFT launched the Earth invasion campaign known as Operation Uroboros. As its opening move, ZAFT scattered N-Jammers across the planet's surface, disabling all nuclear powerplants and plunging Earth's nations into a severe energy crisis. This catastrophe, which led to economic collapse and mass starvation, was dubbed the April Fool Crisis.

The first stage of Operation 8.8, the Earth Alliance's invasion of the Oceania Union. This landing operation takes place on August 8, C.E. 71, using mobile suit forces which launch into orbit from the Victoria spaceport and then descend into the interior of the Australian continent.

On September 23, C.E. 71, the Earth Alliance attacks the ZAFT space fortress Boaz as part of its Operation Elvis campaign. After clearing a path with its mobile suit forces, the Alliance fleet dispatches the Peacemaker Force to attack Boaz with nuclear missiles, and the fortress is completely destroyed.

On April 2, C.E. 70, ZAFT set out to establish a terrestrial foothold by dropping the disassembled components of a military base into the friendly territory of the Oceania Union. The site of this new base was the Gulf of Carpentaria, on the northern coast of Australia. The Earth Alliance's Pacific Fleet attempted to stop the ZAFT incursion, but the Battle of Carpentaria ended in a ZAFT victory, and the construction of the Carpentaria Base was successfully completed.

On April 17, C.E. 70, the Earth Alliance's 5th and 6th Fleets, dispatched from the moon to attack the PLANT homeland, were intercepted by ZAFT forces near the resource satellite Jachin Due After this first Battle of Jachin Due, the PLANT Supreme Council decided to convert the asteroid itself into a defensive base.

On September 26, C.E. 71, the Earth Alliance continues its Operation Elvis campaign by launching a nuclear attack on the PLANT homeland. After the attack fails due to the intervention of the Three Ships Alliance, ZAFT retaliates by using GENESIS, its ultimate weapon, to wipe out more than 40% of the Alliance fleet. The Earth Alliance then regroups for an attack on GENESIS, which is stationed at the space fortress Jachin Due. This final conflict, which continues until September 27, becomes known as the Second Battle of Jachin Due.

On May 25, C.E. 71, ZAFT launches an attack on the Earth Alliance's Panama spaceport. The operation's objective is to destroy the Porta Panama mass driver, leaving the Alliance with no access to space. Although its fighting strength has been severely depleted by Operation Spit Break, ZAFT is able to overcome the Alliance forces massed at Panama thanks to its new Gungnir System, which disables the enemy's machines and destroys the mass driver itself.

This battle also sees the first appearance of the Alliance's mass-produced mobile suits, as the 13th Autonomous Corps stationed at Panama enters combat against the ZAFT forces.

On March 8, C.E. 70, ZAFT launched a hasty invasion of Earth, motivated in part by the need to secure a reliable food supply for the PLANTs (although this motive was greatly exaggerated in the Earth Alliance's reports). The target of the first orbital landing operation was the Victoria spaceport. However, since the operation lacked ground support, the first Battle of Victoria ended in a ZAFT defeat. The lessons learned from this failure inspired the PLANT Supreme Council to draft the battle plan known as Operation Uroboros.

On February 13, C.E. 71, the second Battle of Victoria takes place. Having reinforced its African forces and moved the frontlines steadily south into the territory of the South African Union, ZAFT at last succeeds in capturing the Victoria spaceport and the Habilis mass driver After this battle, only the Porta Panama mass driver remains in Alliance hands.

The third Battle of Victoria begins on June 18, C.E. 71, as the Earth Alliance launches a full-scale assault on the Victoria spaceport. The Alliance offensive is carried out mainly by Eurasian Federation forces, along with numerous Dagger variations and new prototype mobile suits. The spaceport finally falls on June 25, and an Alliance special forces team disables its self-destruct system so that its facilities can be captured intact. The Victoria spaceport and its Habilis mass driver subsequently become the Alliance's main means of access to space.

A human being who has been artificially enhanced for the purpose of operating mobile suits. Although ordinary Naturals are unable to pilot mobile suits without the help of specially designed operating systems, these enhanced humans have abilities equal to or greater than those of a Coordinator. The Earth Alliance classifies them as equipment rather than pilots, and views them as human equivalents of a computer's central processing unit (CPU).

These biological CPUs have micro-implants surgically installed in their brains and glands, and they are mentally conditioned to eliminate their sense of fear and increase their aggression during combat. They are also given regular doses of Gamma Glipheptin to enhance their stamina and reaction speed, but they suffer agonizing withdrawal symptoms as the effects of the stimulant wear off, forcing them to withdraw from battle when their time limit expires.

The Extended soldiers developed by the Earth Alliance forces are individually conditioned to respond to particular key phrases in order to control their behavior. Although these block words are meant to serve as brakes to rein in the Extendeds, repeated use of them can also send the subject into a state of panic.

On February 14, C.E. 70, three days after its formal declaration of war, the Earth Alliance carried out its first attack on the PLANTs. Using nuclear missiles which had been secretly loaded aboard the mobile armor carrier Roosevelt, the Alliance forces destroyed the PLANT known as Junius Seven and massacred its 243,721 inhabitants. The Alliance subsequently claimed that Junius Seven had deliberately self-destructed, but the people of the PLANTs knew better, and the Bloody Valentine tragedy became a rallying cry for the young Coordinators who rushed to join the ZAFT forces in the wake of this horrifying act of mass murder.

The nickname the Minerva crew use to refer to the mysterious warship Girty Lue. "Bogey" is a military term used to describe an unidentified and potentially hostile vessel. Once confirmed to be an enemy, such a vessel would traditionally be referred to as a "bandit" instead.

The second war between Earth and the PLANTs is triggered by the catastrophic fall of Junius Seven, an event which becomes known as the Break The World incident. Although the damage to Earth is kept to a minimum through the efforts of ZAFT forces such as the Minerva and the Joule Team, the nations of Earth soon learn that the disaster was caused by a group of Coordinator extremists, and they use the Break The World incident as the pretext for a renewed war against the PLANTs.

Following the completion of the Carpentaria Base on May 20, C.E. 70, the ZAFT forces set out to expand their control of Earth. Two days later, a ZAFT submarine carrier fleet was dispatched to the Mediterranean region, and on May 25 this force engaged the Alliance's Mediterranean fleet in a naval battle near Casablanca. The underwater mobile suit GOOhN was introduced into combat during this first Casablanca Sea Battle, which ended in victory for the ZAFT forces. The ZAFT forces then proceeded into the Mediterranean Sea, where they began the construction of the Gibraltar Base and launched a southward African offensive.

The Second Casablanca Sea Battle takes place on July 24, C.E. 71. The Earth Alliance, which has now developed underwater mobile suits of its own, launches an attack on ZAFT's Gibraltar Base. The ZAFT forces abandon the base and begin withdrawing from Europe.

Beneath the main bridge of the Earth Alliance warship Archangel is a secondary command center devoted to data analysis and tactical support. This Combat Information Center has dedicated stations for electronic warfare, enemy search and detection, and field support for the ship's complement of mobile suits and mobile armors. The CIC is supervised by the Archangel's deputy captain and combat commander, Natarle Badgiruel.

A human being whose mental and physical abilities have been enhanced through genetic engineering. Coordinators learn more quickly than normal humans, and their bodies are stronger, faster, and virtually immune to disease. Due to these differences, they have often been viewed with jealousy and mistrust by unmodified Naturals. In recent decades, a worldwide ban on genetic modification and a rising tide of anti-Coordinator sentiment have driven most of Earth's Coordinators to relocate to the orbital settlements known as PLANTs.

The genetic modifications that create a Coordinator can be performed only in the earliest stages of embryonic development. However, these genetic enhancements are then passed on to the Coordinator's children. When normal parents have their children turned into Coordinators, the children are described as first-generation Coordinators, whose own children will then be second-generation Coordinators, and so forth.

The era of the Coordinators began in the year C.E. 15, when George Glenn revealed the secret of his origins and released the necessary genetic engineering techniques onto the worldwide network. However, such genetic modification remained illegal for many years, and so the earliest Coordinators were born and raised in secret. The Coordinator boom started in earnest in C.E. 30, and came to an end with the adoption of the Torino Protocol in C.E. 55, when genetic modification was once again prohibited everywhere on Earth.

An international treaty that governs, among other things, the treatment of civilians during wartime.

The new calendar adopted during the age of space exploration in which Gundam Seed takes place. The Cosmic Era calendar was adopted by the United Nations at the end of the Reconstruction War, and the final use of nuclear weapons during the Kashmir conflict was chosen to mark the first year of the new era. Simultaneously with the adoption of this new calendar, the United Nations launched a new space development program. Construction of the fourth-generation international space station Yggdrasil, which had been interrupted by the global war, resumed in C.E. 9, and the following year the foundations of the lunar city Copernicus were laid.

The story of Gundam Seed begins on January 25, C.E. 71, almost one year after the outbreak of open war between the PLANTs and the Earth Alliance. The story of Gundam Seed Destiny begins two years later on October 2, C.E. 73.

The nickname of ZAFT commander Andrew Waltfeld, who is renowned for his tactical skill and his talent for desert warfare. Waltfeld earned this name with his accomplishments in the Suez Battle of May 30, C.E. 70.

A mysterious fossil discovered by George Glenn, the first Coordinator, during his voyage to Jupiter aboard the exploration ship Tsiolkovsky. The skeleton preserved within it resembles that of a winged whale, and is seemingly proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life.

Glenn discovered Evidence 01 inside an asteroid in the vicinity of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, in C.E. 22. Seven years later, Glenn returned to Earth with his discovery, and it was taken to the research colony Zodiac at Lagrange point 5 for intensive examination. The investigators could find no indication that the fossil was a fake and, furthermore, concluded that this creature must have possessed intelligence equal to or greater than that of a terrestrial whale. Their findings served to undermine the authority of the religious leaders who had spearheaded the opposition to genetic modification, and thus indirectly led to public acceptance of Coordinators.

After four decades of research, the origin and meaning of Evidence 01 remain unclear. The fossil itself is currently located inside the PLANT Supreme Council building at Aprilius One, the capital of the PLANTs.

A type of artificially enhanced human developed by the Earth Alliance forces. Through surgery, doping, mental conditioning, and rigorous combat training, these Extendeds have been given fighting abilities comparable to those of genetically engineered Coordinators. Sting Oakley, Stella Loussier, and Auel Neider of Phantom Pain are products of this Extended program, as were the biological CPUs used in the first war between Earth and the PLANTs.

Unlike their predecessors, the three Extended soldiers assigned to Phantom Pain do not appear to be dependent on chemical stimulants such as Gamma Glipheptin. However, they require regular maintenance using special equipment to regulate their physical and mental state.

A stimulant used to enhance the stamina and reaction speed of the Earth Alliance's biological CPUs, who suffer agonizing withdrawal symptoms as the chemical wears off. Although this means they can only remain in combat for a limited time, the fact that these biological CPUs require periodic doses of Gamma Glipheptin also makes it impossible for them to ever abandon or betray the Alliance, thus assuring their continued loyalty.

A line of prototype mobile suits developed by the Atlantic Federation, which bear the designation Gressorial Armament Tactical-eXperimental, the first word of which is a technical term that means "adapted for walking." The designations of the GAT-X machines indicate whether their structural frames are part of the basic X100 series, the specialized X200 series, or the transformable X300 series. These prototype machines are also referred to as Gundams, a nickname devised by Strike Gundam pilot Kira Yamato.

The first Coordinator. Born 16 years before the start of the Cosmic Era, George Glenn was the product of advanced genetic engineering techniques which endowed him with mental and physical abilities far beyond those of naturally born humans. By age 20, he had already been nominated for a Nobel Prize, and he went on to become an ace pilot and a star employee of the Atlantic Federation's Federal Aeronautics and Space Administration (FASA). In C.E. 15, Glenn set off on a mission to Jupiter aboard the exploration ship Tsiolkovsky, and as he departed he revealed his secret to the world and released the genetic engineering technology used to create him onto the worldwide networks.

Glenn's journey to Jupiter was to produce even further controversy. In the vicinity of the moon Europa, he discovered the fossil later known as Evidence 01, which appeared to prove the existence of extraterrestrial life. Following his return to Earth in C.E. 29, Glenn devoted himself to the study of this fossil at the research colony Zodiac, and in C.E. 38 he announced a new concept for space colony construction which was used to create the PLANTs. In C.E. 53, Glenn was assassinated by a young Natural who was angry that he hadn't been born a Coordinator, an event which further increased the gulf of suspicion and distrust between Naturals and Coordinators.

On May 3, C.E. 70, ZAFT launched an offensive whose ultimate target was the Earth Alliance's Ptolemaeus Lunar Base. The moon was soon divided into ZAFT and Alliance territory, with the boundary between the two marked by the Grimaldi Crater, and the lunar frontline was thus known as the Grimaldi Front.

Skirmishing continued along the Grimaldi Front for roughly a month, culminating in a fierce battle at the Endymion Crater, the site of a major Alliance resource base. The Alliance forces ultimately used a Cyclops System to destroy their own base, wiping out friend and foe alike. The Alliance's 3rd Fleet was destroyed in this battle, along with its elite mobile armor corps, while the ZAFT forces sustained losses so severe that they were forced to abandon the Grimaldi Front and withdraw from the moon.

Both sides sought to salvage individual tales of heroism from their losses in the Endymion Crater battle. Mu La Flaga, the only survivor of the 3rd Fleet's elite Moebius Zero mobile armor corps, was acclaimed as the "Hawk of Endymion" for shooting down five GINN mobile suits. And Rau Le Creuset of ZAFT, then commander of the Laurasia-class frigate Galvani, was rewarded for his accomplishments by being placed in command of the newly constructed Nazca-class destroyer Vesalius.

A nickname for the advanced GAT-X series mobile suits developed by the Atlantic Federation. Kira Yamato creates this name when he reads the words "General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver system" on the Strike Gundam's startup screen, but other Atlantic Federation personnel simply use the codename "G" to refer to these mobile suits. Though the five prototype Gundams developed at the resource satellite Heliopolis vary greatly in their armament and abilities, they all share certain key features, notably their projectile-resistant Phase Shift Armor.

Of the five prototype Gundams developed at Heliopolis, four are captured by ZAFT, which goes on to duplicate their technology and create its own series of Gundams. ZAFT's Gundams are the first in a new generation of nuclear-powered mobile suits equipped with N-Jammer Cancelers, and in their case the name is an acronym for "Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive/Assault Module complex."

After the Junius Treaty prohibits the use of N-Jammer Cancelers in mobile suits and military weapons, ZAFT develops a new Second Stage Series equipped with a deuterion beam energy transmission system. In these mobile suits, the Gundam name is an acronym for "Generation Unrestricted Network Drive Assault Module."

A mass driver facility located at the Victoria spaceport in eastern Africa. The Habilis mass driver was jointly developed by the Eurasian Federation and the South African Union.

The nickname of Earth Alliance ace pilot Mu La Flaga, which is echoed by the white feather that serves as his personal emblem. Mu earned this title by shooting down five GINN mobile suits during the final battle of the Grimaldi Front, which took place around the moon's Endymion Crater. This battle also left Mu as the last survivor of the Alliance's elite Moebius Zero mobile armor corps.

The peace treaty that officially ends the first war between Earth and the PLANTs. The Junius Treaty is negotiated at the Nairobi Peace Conference and signed on March 10, C.E. 72, at the ruins of Junius Seven. In addition to restoring all national boundaries to their pre-war state, thus restoring the sovereignty of the United States of South America and other nations that had been invaded or conquered during the war, the treaty places several restrictions on the military forces of both sides.

The Junius Treaty prohibits the use of N-Jammer Cancelers in mobile suits and military weapons, and all use of Mirage Colloid is banned outright. As a result, both sides are prohibited from developing or deploying mobile suits equipped with nuclear engines or Mirage Colloid stealth systems. The treaty also places strict limits on the number of ships, mobile suits, and mobile armors that each side can maintain, as per the proposals of the Lindemann Plan.

Other constraints are also established as part of the postwar settlement. For example, the Orb Union is prohibited by treaty from providing direct military assistance to the PLANTs, but it is unclear as to whether this restriction is imposed by the Junius Treaty itself or by a separate agreement.

A mass driver facility owned and operated by the Orb Union. The Kaguya mass driver is anchored to a small island to the northeast of Onogoro, and extends for roughly 50 kilometers over open water.

The name Kaguya is borrowed from a princess in Japanese mythology who was raised on Earth and then departed for the moon.

An area of gravitational stability created by the interactions of a planet and its satellite. These points are named after Joseph Louis Lagrange, the 18th-century mathematician who first predicted their existence. There are five such regions in the Earth-moon system, referred to as L1 through L5, which make ideal sites for space colonies. [See Map of Space]

In the Cosmic Era, the largest clusters of space colonies are located at L4 and L5, which lie along the moon's orbital path, 60 degrees to either side of the moon itself. These regions are more stable than L1, L2, and L3, which respectively lie in front of, behind, and 180 degrees opposite the moon.

A key proposal adopted during the Nairobi Peace Conference and incorporated into the Junius Treaty. Originally suggested by Foreign Minister Lindemann of the neutral Kingdom of Scandinavia, this plan places strict limits on the number of ships, mobile suits, and mobile armors that each side can maintain. The armament limits imposed on each nation by the Lindemann Plan are proportional to national resources such as population and economic output, thus placing the PLANTs at a substantial military disadvantage.

A fortification constructed by the Earth Alliance to guard the valley that leads to Gulnahan. The Lohengrin Gate is defended by a positron blaster cannon whose high vantage point enables it to destroy any target that enters the valley, and the cannon itself is protected by the mobile armor Gells-Ghe and a system of protective shutters.

In C.E. 68, the PLANT Supreme Council formally decided to seek political autonomy and economic independence, and made secret arrangements with the United States of South America and the Oceania Union to exchange manufactured goods for vital food supplies. That same year, a cargo convoy carrying food from South America to the PLANTs was destroyed, claiming the lives of hundreds of Coordinators. This event, referred to as the Mandelbrot Incident after one of the vessels involved, further increased tensions between the PLANTs and their disgruntled sponsor nations, and led to the reorganization of ZAFT into a military force.

The peace negotiations that officially conclude the first war between Earth and the PLANTs are conducted at the city of Nairobi in eastern Africa. After the two sides agree on peace terms and accept the limits on their armaments proposed by the Lindemann Plan, the final treaty is signed at the remains of Junius Seven, and the treaty itself becomes known as the Junius Treaty.

A naturally born human being, who has not undergone the process of genetic enhancement that creates Coordinators. In the Cosmic Era, genetic engineering is also used to correct hereditary genetic defects, but people who have merely received this kind of corrective modification are considered to be Naturals rather than true Coordinators. For the most part Naturals regard Coordinators with envy and resentment, and these attitudes have led to widespread persecution - and, in some cases, radical anti-Coordinator activities like those of the terror group Blue Cosmos.

A series of mass production mobile suits introduced by ZAFT after the conclusion of the first war between Earth and the PLANTs. After evaluating several different machines in a design competition, ZAFT selects the ZAKU as the basis for the New Millennium series, but the design undergoes significant changes due to the adoption of the Junius Treaty. The Second Stage Series, which is developed after the Junius Treaty, introduces several new technologies in an attempt to cope with the treaty's restrictions.

An Earth Alliance offensive launched on August 8, C.E. 71. The target of this operation is the PLANT-aligned Oceania Union, and its final objective is the capture of the Carpentaria Base. The Alliance's plan is to capture the northern and eastern coasts of Australia with a pincer attack, carried out by the Pacific Fleet and by the mobile suit forces dropped into the interior of the continent in the Ayers Rock Landing Operation.

On September 11, C.E. 71, the Earth Alliance launches Operation Elvis, a space campaign whose final objective is an attack on the PLANT homeland. As part of this operation, the Peacemaker Force is deployed to attack space fortresses and PLANTs with nuclear missiles. The campaign leads to the Battle of Boaz on September 23, and ends with the Second Battle of Jachin Due on September 26 and 27.

After the Break The World incident and the nuclear attack on the PLANT homeland, the Earth Alliance deploys its forces to surround ZAFT's Gibraltar and Carpentaria Bases. The PLANT Supreme Council responds by approving Operation Spear of Twilight, an orbital landing operation in which mobile suit reinforcements are sent to Earth to counterattack the gathering enemy. According to the declarations of Chairman Durandal, this deployment is undertaken as a form of active self-defense.

A major terrestrial offensive launched by ZAFT in order to complete Operation Uroboros. Although the official target of Operation Spit Break is Panama, the Earth Alliance's last remaining spaceport, its true target is JOSH-A, the Alliance's central headquarters in Alaska. The details of the operation are hidden from the participating soldiers, and even the members of the PLANT Supreme Council, until the offensive is launched on May 5, C.E. 71. Due to this change in plans, the actual assault on Alaska doesn't begin until three days later.

The operation's name is derived from the opening move in a game of pool or billiards, in which the balls are scattered by a powerful blow. In this case, Earth is the ball, which is to be skewered on a spit.

The Earth invasion campaign launched by ZAFT in the early stages of the war. The operation plan, devised on March 15, C.E. 70, had three major objectives - securing military bases on Earth's surface, trapping the Alliance forces on Earth by capturing the spaceports and mass driver facilities located around the planet's equator, and scattering N-Jammers around the planet to prevent the use of nuclear weapons and cut off supplies of fission energy.

Operation Uroboros began on April 1, C.E. 70, with the mass deployment of N-Jammers across the planet's surface. The following day ZAFT forces descended to Earth and laid the foundations of the Carpentaria Base. However, the operation's remaining objective proved harder to achieve, and at the start of C.E. 71 the ZAFT forces are still striving to capture or destroy the Alliance's remaining equatorial spaceports at Kaohsiung, Victoria, and Panama.

A decoration awarded to ZAFT's most outstanding soldiers. Rau Le Creuset was awarded this honor after the Yggdrasil battle on February 22, C.E. 70, in which he used his GINN mobile suit to destroy 37 mobile armors and six warships.

A mass driver facility located at the Panama spaceport in Central America. The Porta Panama mass driver was jointly developed by the Atlantic Federation and the United States of South America.

A new definition for the term PLANT, which is adopted by the citizens of the PLANTs after the first war to reflect their independent status.

A new type of space settlement, created chiefly by Coordinators. Roughly 120 of these constructs are gathered at Lagrange point 5, a gravitationally stable area in Earth orbit, and these settlements have become a new homeland for Coordinators fleeing the persecution they experienced on Earth. As their name suggests, the PLANTs were created to serve as research and manufacturing sites, but their unique design also enables them to recreate a lush natural environment, with abundant vegetation and open water.

These hourglass-style structures consist of two disc-shaped living areas, each ten kilometers in diameter, which rotate around a central hub to produce artificial gravity. Each living area is anchored to the hub by a 30-kilometer central shaft and a network of high-tension strings, and a high-speed elevator runs up the central shaft to provide access to the hub. A set of external mirrors, attached to the central hub, are used to reflect sunlight into the inner surfaces of the living areas.

The PLANTs are grouped into twelve sectors, or "cities," each with its own scientific or industrial specialty. These cities are named after the months of the Roman calendar, and each is made up of roughly ten individual PLANT settlements, which are referred to as Januarius One, Januarius Two, and so forth.

The construction of the PLANTs began in C.E. 38, with funding supplied by the Atlantic Federation, the Eurasian Federation, and the Republic of East Asia. The PLANT settlements were initially managed by a directorate controlled by these sponsor nations, but in C.E. 53 their inhabitants formed a PLANT Supreme Council to represent them in their dealings with the directorate. With the start of open hostilities between the PLANTs and the Earth Alliance in C.E. 70, the PLANTs effectively became an independent nation, governed solely by the Supreme Council.

After the first war between Earth and the PLANTs, the citizens of the PLANTs adopt a new name for their space settlements to reflect their independent status, and this acronym is redefined to mean People Liberation Acting Nation of Technology.

At the end of the A.D. era, the exhaustion of Earth's petroleum resources and worsening environmental pollution brought about a worldwide economic collapse. The world's nations formed economic blocs, dividing the planet into a handful of major powers. Increasing ethnic and religious strife soon led to a third world war, known as the Reconstruction War, in which the world's nations were merged and reorganized. The conflict continued to escalate until nuclear weapons were employed on the frontlines of central Asia's Kashmir region. The resulting shock motivated the combatants to resolve their conflicts peacefully, and the Reconstruction War eventually came to an end in the year C.E. 9.

A new line of mobile suits developed by ZAFT after the adoption of the Junius Treaty. The Second Stage Series introduces a number of new technologies to deal with the treaty's restrictions on the use of nuclear power and the number of mobile suits each side can possess.

All Second Stage mobile suits can use the Deuterion Beam Energy Transmission System to replenish their energy supply during battle, and they are equipped with energy-efficient Variable Phase Shift Armor. Many of these machines can also transform into a specialized mobile armor form, allowing a single machine to perform multiple combat roles, while the Impulse Gundam can be adapted for different tasks using the Silhouette System and gains added tactical flexibility from its modular design and independent Core Splendor cockpit.

An artificial structure which reproduces Earth-like living conditions in space. Simulated gravity is produced by the rotation of the colony, which generates a powerful centrifugal force across its inner walls. Since these colonies are floating in Earth orbit, outside the planet's gravity well, their inhabitants can travel to and from other celestial bodies without expending large amounts of energy.

There are several different types of space colony, including older models like the resource satellite Heliopolis, a massive cylinder which relies on a central axial shaft to provide structural support. Many such colonies were constructed at Lagrange points 3 and 4, but they were eventually rendered obsolete by the new PLANT settlements, and most of these older colonies were destroyed in the early months of the war.

On May 30, C.E. 70, ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces met in battle at El Alamein, in northern Africa. The ZAFT forces were hard-pressed by a massive Eurasian Federation tank corps but, thanks to their BuCUE mobile suits and the cunning tactics of Andrew Waltfeld, this Suez Battle ended in a ZAFT victory.

A factor that determines the course of a species' evolution. The existence of the SEED factor has yet to be proven, and it remains a subject of intense controversy in scientific circles. But in theory, those who possess the SEED factor have the ability to advance to the next stage of human evolution - an ability unrelated to whether the carrier is a Natural or a Coordinator.

An international agreement adopted in C.E. 55, in the wake of George Glenn's assassination and the Type S2 influenza outbreak, which prohibited genetic modification anywhere on Earth.

A new strain of the influenza virus which appeared during the last years of the A.D. calendar. Together with the destruction of the Reconstruction War, this disease produced massive casualties, and its later reappearance in the form of the Type S2 strain caused worldwide panic.

A mutant form of the Type S influenza virus, immune to all existing vaccines, which appeared in C.E. 54. Rumors quickly spread that the Type S2 virus was created by Coordinators as revenge for the assassination of George Glenn a year earlier, while religious authorities claimed it was divine punishment for humanity's genetic tampering. The Type S2 outbreak once again turned public opinion against genetic modification, leading to the adoption of the Torino Protocol and increased anti-Coordinator sentiments.

A vaccine for the Type S2 virus was developed at the end of C.E. 55, thanks to the scientists of the Februarius City PLANTs. Even though it was the Coordinators who brought an end to the plague, public opinion remained hostile, and those Coordinators who still remained on Earth began leaving for the relative safety of the PLANTs.

The final goal of the genetic engineers who created the Coordinators. Although Coordinators are mentally and physically superior to ordinary humans, their embryonic development is still affected by the environment of the mother's body. To eliminate this variable, the researcher Ulen Hibiki developed an artificial womb designed to produce biologically perfect children. The result would be the Ultimate Coordinator, whose every attribute could be scientifically controlled. Of the countless embryos which Hibiki used as test subjects for this artificial womb, his son Kira Yamato is believed to be the only survivor.

An honor awarded to the top graduates of ZAFT's military academy. ZAFT Red members are given special red uniforms as a mark of their elite status. However, ZAFT Red members usually switch to the standard white commander uniforms when they assume command of their own teams.

Rau Le Creuset, Athrun Zala, Yzak Joule, Dearka Elsman, Nicol Amalfi, Rusty Mackenzie, Shiho Hahnenfuss, Shinn Asuka, Rey Za Burrel, Lunamaria Hawke, and Heine Westenfluss are among the academy graduates who have earned ZAFT Red status. Dearka Elsman is later demoted from ZAFT Red status when he rejoins ZAFT after the second Battle of Jachin Due.