The story begins in the fall of UC 0079. The ongoing war between the Earth Federation and the Principality 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.
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 Noa, 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.
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 Gihren 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 Ramba 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.
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 Sune. 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.
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 Dozle 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 Deikun 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.
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 Sune. 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 Baoa Qu, Zeon's last line of defense, they are contacted by Sovereign Degwin 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 Degwin meets the Federation fleet, his scheming son Gihren 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 Degwin.
Gihren, now the supreme leader of Zeon, arrives at A Baoa 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 Baoa Qu from its vulnerable rear.
Arriving at the fortress, Gihren's sister Kycilia confronts him over their father's death. Unconvinced by his excuses, she shoots him and takes over. Kycilia 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 Baoa 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 Kycilia 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.
With the destruction of the Zabi family, the Principality 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 Baoa Qu. The ending of the Gundam III movie resolves the issue, showing Char aboard one of the fleeing Zeon ships.
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