Post by Murrue Ramius on Jul 20, 2007 14:56:45 GMT 9
Class: Archangel
Name: LCAM-01XA Archangel
Ships of the line: Archangel, Dominion
Unit type: assault ship
Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc
Operator(s): Earth Alliance (Atlantic Federation); Three Ships Alliance; Orb Union
First deployment: 25 January C.E. 71
Dimensions: overall length 420 meters; overall height unknown
Wingspan: unknown
Weight: unknown
Propulsion: unknown
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown
Fixed armaments: 2 x "Lohengrin" positron blaster cannon, stored in front 'legs'; 2 x "Gottfried Mk.71" 225cm high-energy beam cannon; 2 x "Valiant Mk.8" 110cm linear cannon; 24 x surface-to-ship missile launcher; 16 x surface-to-air missile launcher; 16 x "Igelstellung" 75mm automatic multi-barrel CIWS
Mobile weapons: GAT-X105 Strike Gundam; GAT-X103 Buster Gundam; ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam; TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero; many x MAW-01 Mistral; 2 x FX-550 Sky Grasper; many x MVF-M11C Murasame; MBF-02 Strike Rouge; ZGMF-X19A Justice Gundam; ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam; ORB-01 Akatsuki
Launch catapults: 2
Technical and Historical Notes: The first of its line, the Archangel enters combat when Heliopolis is attacked by ZAFT on January 25, C.E. 71. As a result of ZAFT's surprise attack, the captain and most of the crew are killed, leaving only a few junior officers. Following the initial battle, Murrue Ramius takes command of the ship as the most senior surviving officer. With a crew made up of Alliance soldiers and Heliopolis volunteers, the Archangel departs the destroyed colony and heads for more friendly territory. After a disastrous orbital battle, the Archangel descends to Earth and unfortunately lands in ZAFT-controlled North Africa. After a long trek, the ship finally arrives at Alliance headquarters JOSH-A in Alaska.
Unfortunately, the Alaska base is the target of ZAFT's Operation Spitbreak. With the crew separated, the damaged Archangel is forced into battle against overwhelming numbers. When Murrue learns that the Alliance plans to use her ship and others as a decoy to deploy their deadly Cyclops System, she violates orders by retreating from the battlefield. The Archangel then heads to Orb for repairs and joins its forces to fight an invasion by the Alliance. After the fall of Orb, the Archangel heads to space and joins with the Orb battleship Kusanagi and the ZAFT ship Eternal to form the Three Ships Alliance, a faction independent of ZAFT and the Alliance that is dedicated to ending the war. In space, Archangel is pursued by the second Archangel class ship Dominion, captained by former Archangel second officer Natarle Badigiruel. In the last battle of the war on September 27 C.E. 71, the Archangel destroys the Dominion. After the war, the Archangel is hidden by Orb for two years and re-enters service as an independent vessel in late C.E. 73. On several occassions throughout the Second Earth/ZAFT war, the Archangel intervenes in battles between the Alliance, ZAFT and Orb. In C.E. 74, the Archangel is formally adopted as a ship of the Orb Union's space fleet. At the end of the war, the Archangel engages in a ship-to-ship duel with the ZAFT battleship Minerva and inflicts heavy damage upon it.
