The Pegasus Class: Decoy Ships during the One Year War?

[Amadi Akintunde]

Watching First Gundam, I've noticed during a briefing on where the White Base was to go following the Jaburo attack, one of the Earth Federation officers told Bright and Mirai that the 13th Autonomous Corps were to be used as decoys to cover the Tianem Fleet's advance on Solomon. Now, if I'm correct, the White Base was a part, or were the 13th Auto. Corps.

But my real question; the officer also said that they were sending a second decoy ship to divide any Zeon pursuit groups and buy more time for the Fleet. What are the chances that that ship was the Thoroughbred? And if the canon of Zeonic Front were not taken seriously, the Blanc Rival? Or even the Grey Phantom?

[Black Knight]

Somewhere it's mentioned (timeline, I believe) that four ships were sent out as decoys. Throughbred is indeed supposed to have been another. And yes, the Blanc Rival is generally expected to have been the third. No idea about the fourth, but the timing doesn't quite work out for Grey Phantom's arrival at Side 6, unless it went somewhere else, first (possible; Luna II, perhaps?).

[toysdream]

In episode 31 of First Gundam, Admiral Gopp actually tells Bright that they'll be sending three other decoy ships in addition to the White Base. That's presumably where the timeline info comes from.

In the Gundam II movie, meanwhile, Admiral Gopp initially tells Bright that the White Base will be carrying out a decoy mission "serving as the nucleus of the 13th Autonomous Squadron". But later, after the Jaburo attack, the narrator says that "the Earth Federation Forces general staff decided that the Zeon forces had a high regard for the White Base's strength. Thus, it would be best to entrust the mission of the 13th Autonomous Squadron to their single ship." (Maybe that's why the White Base is formally designated as the 13th Autonomous Corps instead.)

The Thoroughbred, meanwhile, belongs to the 16th Autonomous Squadron. Apparently the two Salamis cruisers that accompany the Thoroughbred were assigned to the 16th Autonomous Squadron at Luna II, so these escort ships wouldn't be part of the initial four. It would be nice to think that the remaining two decoys were also Pegasus-class ships, and it's tempting to fill the gap by assuming that they were assigned to the 14th and 15th Autonomous Squadrons. The Blanc Rival would definitely be a good candidate for one of these slots, and personally I think the Pegasus would be a likely suspect for the remaining one.

-- Mark

[ryo38]

13th Autonomous Corps - White Base
14th Autonomous Corps - White Base II (aka White Base Jr.)
15th Autonomous Corps - Pegasus
16th Autonomous Squadron - Thoroughbred

Personally I think that's probably what it looked like if we went with the novels (excluding any video game appearances since games don't usually seem to be canon).

[toysdream]

13th Autonomous Corps - White Base
14th Autonomous Corps - White Base II (aka White Base Jr.)
15th Autonomous Corps - Pegasus
16th Autonomous Squadron - Thoroughbred

Personally I think that's probably what it looked like if we went with the novels (excluding any video game appearances since games don't usually seem to be canon).

The White Base II wasn't commissioned until after the war, though; it was named White Base II because it was entrusted to the same crew who manned the original White Base. That leaves a slot for the Blanc Rival, methinks.

-- Mark

[ORegan]

The White Base II wasn't commissioned until after the war, though; it was named White Base II because it was entrusted to the same crew who manned the original White Base. That leaves a slot for the Blanc Rival, methinks.

-- Mark

So Bright and Amuro etc were all on it?

[Wulver]

13th Autonomous Corps - White Base
14th Autonomous Corps - White Base II (aka White Base Jr.)
15th Autonomous Corps - Pegasus
16th Autonomous Squadron - Thoroughbred

Personally I think that's probably what it looked like if we went with the novels (excluding any video game appearances since games don't usually seem to be canon).

The White Base II wasn't commissioned until after the war, though; it was named White Base II because it was entrusted to the same crew who manned the original White Base. That leaves a slot for the Blanc Rival, methinks.

-- Mark

This would, I assume, have sprung out of how the Pegasus II in the novels was entrusted to the same crew as the first Pegasus? Same concept and whatnot?

[toysdream]

This would, I assume, have sprung out of how the Pegasus II in the novels was entrusted to the same crew as the first Pegasus? Same concept and whatnot?

Exactly - it's a straightforward homage to Tomino's novels. In the anime continuity, this wouldn't happen until after the war was over, but presumably most of the White Base crew who stayed in the military - definitely Bright, possibly Amuro - would have served aboard the White Base II in the postwar years.

-- Mark

[Duraham]

This would, I assume, have sprung out of how the Pegasus II in the novels was entrusted to the same crew as the first Pegasus? Same concept and whatnot?

Exactly - it's a straightforward homage to Tomino's novels. In the anime continuity, this wouldn't happen until after the war was over, but presumably most of the White Base crew who stayed in the military - definitely Bright, possibly Amuro - would have served aboard the White Base II in the postwar years.

-- Mark

so did they take part in any of the clean-up operations in 0081-0083 to clear away remaining pockets of zeon resistance?

[ryo38]

This would, I assume, have sprung out of how the Pegasus II in the novels was entrusted to the same crew as the first Pegasus? Same concept and whatnot?

Exactly - it's a straightforward homage to Tomino's novels. In the anime continuity, this wouldn't happen until after the war was over, but presumably most of the White Base crew who stayed in the military - definitely Bright, possibly Amuro - would have served aboard the White Base II in the postwar years.

-- Mark

so did they take part in any of the clean-up operations in 0081-0083 to clear away remaining pockets of zeon resistance?

So then it begs a few questions, where were they during Operation Stardust and what were they doing, and when did Bright exactly fall out of favor with the Fed brass and when was Amuro put under house arrest exactly?

[JEFFPIATT]

more than likely it would be between 0080 and 0083 when the titans were in the process of forming the WB2 may have been a early casuilty of the divisions of the fed to continue building on the project v ms types or to switch to the zeon ms tech they just captured. oddly for the titans b eing mad up of anti-zeon forces they tended to use zeon based tech more than the standerd eff.

[SOCL]

Regarding this autonomous fighting warships, in the opening moments of the Battle of Jaburo in movie II, we get a shot of the White Base alongside another warship of a class that appears to be similar and yet totally different from the Pegasus-class (though, granted, that particular class of warship appears to be very fluid in its design...after all, no two of the class appear to be alike...). Would this be a possible candidate for one of these autonomous squadrons? More importantly, what the heck is that? Could this possibly be an early nod to the Thoroughbred, as mention in the novels?

[Calubin_175]

I remembered there was an even weirder looking ship in the Zeon base which Amuro attacked in a Guntank.

[Dark Duel]

no two of the class appear to be alike...

0083 would like to have a word with you about that, with its two identical Pegasus-class ships(The Grey Phantom, IIRC, and another one) getting nuked at the Konpeitoh Naval Review.
Also, 0081 features a ship that's identical to White Base, except blue.

[SOCL]

I remembered there was an even weirder looking ship in the Zeon base which Amuro attacked in a Guntank.

Say again? A Pegasus-like warship in a Zeon base?

no two of the class appear to be alike...

0083 would like to have a word with you about that, with its two identical Pegasus-class ships(The Grey Phantom, IIRC, and another one) getting nuked at the Konpeitoh Naval Review.
Also, 0081 features a ship that's identical to White Base, except blue.

Yes, I seem to have misspoke/typed, in light of the two vessels in 0083. And by 0081, am I to assume you are referring to Mobile Suit Gundam Battlefield Record U.C. 0081, the new PS3 game which I know nothing about except that it exists? Any screenshots, per chance, of this blue Pegasus?

Perhaps it would be better to state that for a "class" of warships, it appears to be very diverse in its design, with the most similarity coming from twins of vessels. I feel like calling them a single "class" is the same thing as calling all cars sedans.

[mcred23]

Regarding this autonomous fighting warships, in the opening moments of the Battle of Jaburo in movie II, we get a shot of the White Base alongside another warship of a class that appears to be similar and yet totally different from the Pegasus-class (though, granted, that particular class of warship appears to be very fluid in its design...after all, no two of the class appear to be alike...). Would this be a possible candidate for one of these autonomous squadrons? More importantly, what the heck is that? Could this possibly be an early nod to the Thoroughbred, as mention in the novels?

Yes. That ship has since been retconned into Thoroughbred, and influenced the design of the ship.

Perhaps it would be better to state that for a "class" of warships, it appears to be very diverse in its design, with the most similarity coming from twins of vessels. I feel like calling them a single "class" is the same thing as calling all cars sedans.

To keep with the car analogy, think of them as the same car design, only one that gets tweaked or improved (Or whatever reason there is for the changes ) with the next years model, or between import/export versions, or clones made by another company, or something like that. They may all be sedans, and more or less the same on paper, but there are differences in their designs.

[ryo38]

Regarding this autonomous fighting warships, in the opening moments of the Battle of Jaburo in movie II, we get a shot of the White Base alongside another warship of a class that appears to be similar and yet totally different from the Pegasus-class (though, granted, that particular class of warship appears to be very fluid in its design...after all, no two of the class appear to be alike...). Would this be a possible candidate for one of these autonomous squadrons? More importantly, what the heck is that? Could this possibly be an early nod to the Thoroughbred, as mention in the novels?

Yes. That ship has since been retconned into Thoroughbred, and influenced the design of the ship.

Are you serious? I always thought that it was just some really weird-looking space shuttle.

[mcred23]

Are you serious? I always thought that it was just some really weird-looking space shuttle.

Yep. As Mark mentioned in this thread, that ship was first just a random background ship, but then became an incomplete Pegasus class mentioned in some early sources, and more recently became the basis for Thoroughbred, which is what it is now. If you look at the lineart used on MAHQ, you'll see some similarities between the design of Thoroughbred and the incomplete version we see at Jaburo.

[ryo38]

So does anyone know of any background info on the Pegasus (the actual ship, not the ship class)?

[Imperial]

Yes, I seem to have misspoke/typed, in light of the two vessels in 0083. And by 0081, am I to assume you are referring to Mobile Suit Gundam Battlefield Record U.C. 0081, the new PS3 game which I know nothing about except that it exists? Any screenshots, per chance, of this blue Pegasus?

Yes, that's the 0081 in question. You can see a picture of the blue Pegasus here, which is the best I can find. As far as I know, it hasn't been identified, leaving us only with conjecture. I've seen some people claiming it's an arbitrarily repainted Thoroughbred, while others seem to believe it's a brand new ship commissioned for the Phantom Sweep Team.

I don't presume to know, but maybe someone can illuminate us on this situation.

Are you serious? I always thought that it was just some really weird-looking space shuttle.

Welcome to Gundam's Strange Stuff, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Retcon.

So does anyone know of any background info on the Pegasus (the actual ship, not the ship class)?

If memory serves, the Pegasus was slated to be the first ship of the class, but fell behind in production, leaving the White Base with the harrowing task of making the trip to Side 7 for the RX mobile suits. The Pegasus was eventually completed and assigned to the Luna II fleet, although what it does before or after this is unclear. Presumably, it lived through the war in relative peace, with how little combat there was in or around Luna II.