The Alliance of Zeon
Although starting its life as a peaceful opposition movement to the complete dominance of the Earth-Mars Federation , the Alliance of Zeon is now synonymous with armed rebellion and terrorism in the inner planets and freedom and resistance in the outer colonies.
Structure
Throughout its history Zeon has had many shapes, and whilst the original Alliance of Zeon was organized as a political party, with a leader, ministers and party members, the current Zeon is closer to a resistance movement.
Few know the full shape of the modern day Zeon movement, as it has mostly fallen into shadow. Occasionally a cell of Zeon remnants will attack an Federation patrol och raid an outpost, but in Federation media these are attributed to terrorists and criminals.
The last time Zeon was united was under the leadership of the legendary Char Aznable, but since his disappearance and presumed death in 0064 there has been none influential and powerful enough to unite the increasingly more disparate Zeon-reminants.
While currently mostly ignored by the leadership of the Federation, the civilian branch of the Alliance of Zeon once had a significant presence in Federation politics. However the few politicians that dare take the side of the "Zeon remnants" nowadays are swiftly branded as traitors or cowards. As such what remains of Zeon is mostly structured after the military and few truly civilian roles remain.
While not officially part of Zeon, the population of many outer system colonies and more than a few colonies in the asteroid belt openly praise Zeon for standing up for them. In many less fortunate colonies Zeon is viewed as saviors of the spacenoid people and the only real way of them gaining representation in the Federation, or in more extreme cases, full independence.
Culture
The Alliance of Zeon is a political idea, an ideology focused around mankind's place in space and equality between those born on Earth, Mars and in Space. At it´s roots is a philosophy writen down by one of it´s founders Racha Zum Zeon . She wrote that if mankind was to take the next step into the stars, humans would have to evolve as we did when we first stepped onto land from the oceans of earth, as well as adapt to not only a new way of live, but a completely different understanding of the spaces between humans. What she meant was that as humanity expands, we can no longer assume that space and distance will behave in the same way as it did on Earth, or Mars. Space cannot have borders, neither can a message reach the other end of the human world in a heartbeat as it did before.
This optimistic message of peace and understanding for a common future has over the decades been distorted and interpreted many times over. The current philosophy of many loyal to Zeon is much more pessimistic, seeing the evolution of mankind instead as something being hindered by the Federation and that the "oldtypes" are actively attempting to prevent the coming of the true Newtype Human . In some cells of the Zeon militia, this hatred towards the Federation has spiraled into fanaticism, where only the complete destruction of the Federation will bring an end to the age of Earth and Mars and pave the way for a new, golden future among the stars.
Meanwhile, some still hold true to the old teachings of Racha and hope for a peaceful reform of the Federation government to include spacenoids in governance and policy.
Public Agenda
The main goal of Zeon has always been the recognition of space born humans (spacenoids) as a equal part of humanity and the Federation. While this is true at their core, most modern splinter groups have been known to instead advocate the destruction of the Federation and establishment of a new Principality of Zeon instead of seeking co-operation.
Assets
The complete assets of the alliance is known to none but the top leadership of the military branch of Zeon, but experts have noted that they possess a small but highly mobile and advanced force of mobile suits and ships. These forces are spread out in cells, most fewer than a hundred people strong and hidden in the outer reaches of the solar system or within population centers of sympathizing space colonies. As a resistance movement they have been very effective, building support in the outer colonies and occasionally performing acts of sabotage or terrorism in the inner system. But few within the higher echelons of the Federation see them as a real threat to their power, as the manufacturing, logistics and manpower that Zeon can muster is estimated to be a minor inconvenience at worst to the massed fleets of Earth and Mars.
History
Tracing its origins back to the early days of the Earth-Mars Federation, the Alliance of Zeon was founded as a response to the growing concerns that the new government for the human race did not take the issue of the growing space population seriously enough. The organization spent its first years as a unnamed political movement but soon rallied behind the ideas of Racha Zum Zien , whom soon published the first of many manifests discussing the future of mankind in space. Shortly after that the alliance was formed at a congress held on Zeon - Colony L5 , which also gave its name to the new organization.
The Alliance of Zeon was at this time a political party and activist group and had no militant arm. While they gained some recognition in the Federation senate on space related issues, they made little practical progress in improving the lives of spacenoids as both Earth and Mars spent most of the Federations scarce resources on rebuilding after the war.
Zeon Riots
As the lobbying continued over the years with little progress, some Zeonists took to protesting or publishing more targeted anti-earth/mars manifestos declaring their frustrations. The tipping point comes as the Federations new capital Nangija is officially inaugurated after a long and expensive construction period. Zeon sympathizers and frustrated spacenoids take to streets and squares all across the human sphere in impromptu protests. The protests quickly turn to riots as Federation and local police forces try to contain the protestors. What will later become known as the Zeon Riots lasted for almost a year and was ultimately a political disaster for the sitting Federation government. In the wake of the riot more extremist elements of the alliance began to form. Mostly comprised of loyal Zeonists that had tired of seeing the politicians ignoring their pleas, these groups began arming themselves in any way they could in preparation for a potential uprising, although few were ready to take action on their own and still had faith in their leadership.Racha Zum Zien Dies
The founder of Zeon Racha Zum Zien died of old age in her home on Zeon. Racha had long since stepped down as head of the organization but was still considered as the spiritual heart of Zeon. Her funeral was broadcast across the colonies and was attended by some 34 000 loyal supporters. In the years following Rachas death, Zeon became more splintered. A more organized militia was forming was previously radical cells became more normalized and began communicating their goals and ambitions more openly. The old political party core kept trying to gain influence in the Federation senate and had some limited success with new initiatives intended to make travel and work visas more obtainable for those traveling from corporate colonies into the inner system colonies. This was intended so increase economic growth and opportunity for those that had previously not had a chance to leave their home colonies in search of jobs and higher education.Zeon and Celestine Halida
Zeon eventually found themselves with a unexpected ally in the form of Celestine Halida , a rising star in Earth politics and a open spacenoid sympathiser. Although controversial in some circles, Celestines charisma and genuine concern for the people of the solar system was enough to propel her career all the way into the Presidential office. In her first years in office she, in collaboration with lobbyist from Zeon, write and present changes to both the constitution and several laws that equalize rights across all territories of the Federation and beyond. But the bureaucracy of the Federation moves slow and while some of the less extensive reforms were indeed voted on and in most cases implemented (including the right to higher education, solar-system spanning health and safety standards and the new colonies act) President Celestines largest project was never completed.The Destruction of Zeon
In DC 0092 President Celestine Halida was killed along with most of her cabinet as they were traveling from Zeon back to Nangija in what was immediately stamped as a assassination by her co-president Yue Woods. Just hours before the explosion of her ship, President Celestine had been on a diplomatic visit to the colony of Zeon to discuss the future of the spacenoids within the Federation as well as to pay her respects to the grave of Racha Zum Zien. Before the leadership of Zeon had time to react to the catastrophe, President Yue had already presented evidence pointing towards Zeon being behind the deed. 4 days later, in a speech in front of the senate, the now sole president of the Federation Yue Woods would declare that further evidence had been found confirming that the assassination of Celestine and her cabinet was a pre-planned strike conducted by the then-relatively obscure but accomplished Lieutenant Char Aznable. This announcement was quickly followed by the mobilization of a taskforce tasked with heading to Zeon - Colony L5 and arresting Char Aznable. Federation forces, whether on the order of Federation high command or by their own initiative begin an attack on L5 within hours of their arrival at the colony. The colony is mostly defenceless and can do nothing against Federation mobile suits and ships. When the fighting is over Char and his forces are nowhere to be found. The death toll among civilians living on the station is estimated to at least as high as 14 500 people, but many are unaccounted for, likely lost to space as sections of the colony was depressurised during the battle. L5 - Zeon itself is deemed to damage to salvage and declared a dead colony. The remaining survivors flee to other nearby colonies on the few remaining shuttles still operational. Outrage against the L5 massacre spreads like wildfire through the outer colonies and voices are raised but silenced in the Federation senate. Federation propaganda proclaims the destruction of Zeon as the doings of Char Aznable, that his forces used the civilians there as human shields and then left them to their fate. These accusations and Char Aznables now legendary status in the colonies becomes the springboard from which he launches his rebellion against the Federation.Char´s Rebellion
In response to the destruction of Zeon and the being accused for the death of thousands of civilians, Char Aznable, in his role as leader of the militant wing of the alliance launches a military campaign against the Earth-Mars Federation. While presented to the public as a crusade of vengeance for Zeon, Char´s plans for an invasion of Earth was already in place before the death of President Celestine. The all out rebellion lasted for 5 years and saw Zeon´s militia grow into an organised military, albeit one vastly outnumbered by the Federation forces they were fighting. Utilizing guerrilla tactics and taking advantage of the popular support Zeon had in the outer colonies Char managed to mostly avoid confronting the Federation in open battle, all while conducting raids and sabotage against military and government installation on Earth and Mars. The rebellion never succeeded in forcing the Federation to the negotiating table and so failed to realise Zeons dreams of spacenoid rights. Most historians agree that Char Aznables military leadership was unparalleled, but that he failed because he and the other Zeon commanders naively assumed that the Federation would be unwilling to sacrifice its civilians and military in a fight that could be so easily resolved by giving the outer colonies equal rights. Char Aznables failure to understand how deeply rooted the corruption within the Federation truly was became his downfall. In a last attempt to force the Federation to the table and knowing that the fighting will of Zeon would soon run out, Char Aznable personally lead a force of ships and mobile suits to capture Otompan Colony in orbit around Mars. Zeon forces infiltrated Martian space and closed in on the colony with mobile suits hidden on civilian cargo vessels and quickly boarded and took control of the colony.. An ultimatum was immediately sent out to the Federation Senate and Presidents; Give the outer colonies constitutional rights equal to those living in the Federation core worlds, or Otompan Colony will be destroyed. After 4 days of silence from the Federation, their military assaulted Otompan in a violent attempt to retake the colony. They where met by fierce resistance from the Zeon occupiers and damage to the colony was extreme. As the battle reached its peak the colony was shaken by a massive eruption of plasma and gas from the space dock side of the station as one of the main powerplants of the colony cracked open. The force of the plasma was more than enough to destabilise the station and knock it from its orbit around Mars. Otompan colony quickly lost altitude and began its doomed plummet towards the surface of Mars. Otompan colony impacted south of Alba Mons, 130km outside one of Mars´s largest terraforming facilities. The blast wave and earthquakes from the impact of the massive colony destroyed not only the terraforming facility but the surrounding towns as well. There are few reliable sources on the events of the Otompan colony drop, but as many as 6 million civilians are believed to have been killed, as well as several hundred soldiers, from both the battle on the colony and the impact itself. No one knows for sure whether the explosion that sent the colony into the surface of Mars was an accident or triggered intentionally by either side, although the Federation was quick to put the blame on Zeon. Zeons remaining military either fled or surrendered to Federation forces after the 18th February and the rebellion was over. In all practical aspects of life, Chars rebellion made life harder for those of the outer colonies; Federation forces impost stricter regulations on travel and weapons possession, even education and healthcare was limited on the most Zeon loyal colonies. But the rebellion and the image of Char Aznable still live on in the hearts of many on the outer rim. The rebellion strengthened the spacenoid dream of independence and bonded the disparate outer colonies under one common identity. In direct response to the events of Char´s rebellion, the Federation would found the anti-terrorism group called Behemoth .Chars disappearance
A few years after the official end of Char´s rebellion, Char Aznable and a small group of Zeon pilots traveling with him were tracked down and ambushed at the Europa orbital shipyards by the newly founded Federation counter-insurgency group Behemoth. Witnesses say Behemoth lost 13 mobile suits and one cruiser to the Red Comet. The famed pilot and his mobile suit was last seen engulfed by a massive explosion and lost among the debris of the crumbling spaceport. The Federation was quick to declare Char dead after this, despite the lack of a body to identify. But in the outer colonies and among Zeon military groups Char is always referred to as missing, as many hope he will return one day to lead them again.
21th of November 0024 DC - 18th of February 0057 DC
Alternative Names
Zeon, The Principality of Zeon
Demonym
Zeonist
Leader
