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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Z GUNDAM : MECHANICS |
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Specifications
AEUG
Titans
Earth Federation
Axis |
AEUG The AEUG's pilots have the dubious privilege of serving as guinea pigs for all the latest gadgets from sponsor Anaheim Electronics. One sample of Anaheim's largesse is the RMS-099 Rick Dias, the first mobile suit armored with super-lightweight Gundarium Gamma armor. The AEUG only receives a few of these, however - the bulk of its mobile suit forces are equipped with the antiquated GM II and the GM-derived MSA-003 Nemo. The AEUG also receives spinoffs from Anaheim's Project Zeta, a massive development effort to create a next-generation variable mobile suit. Anticipating the Titans' movable frame technology, Anaheim creates the MSN-00100 Type 100, based on the Rick Dias but far more agile thanks to its rudimentary movable frame and maneuvering binders. The MSA-005 Methuss, meanwhile, serves as an experiment in variable mobile suit design. The capture of the Titans' RX-178 Gundam Mark II further aids the progress of Project Zeta, and during the AEUG's attack on Jaburo the Mark II is outfitted with the Flying Armor re-entry device in order to test another of the project's components. The completed MSZ-006 Z Gundam combines the Type 100's maneuverability, the Mark II's movable frame technology, and the Flying Armor's re-entry capabilities. It can transform into a re-entry capable "Wave Rider" mode and fly unsupported in Earth's atmosphere, and it can carry a powerful hyper mega launcher based on the self-contained mega bazooka launcher occasionally used by the Type 100. It also has a crude psycommu system, a mysterious device called a "biosensor." Anaheim's engineers have little idea how this device operates or what it does, but they install it in the Z Gundam in the spirit of experimentation, which is pretty typical of their relationship with the AEUG. The majority of the AEUG's fleet consists of captured Federation cruisers. Their flagship is the Ahgama, constructed in secret at the AEUG's Sweetwater hideout. The Irish-class battleship Radish was constructed in a Federation dock, under the supervision of turncoat officers who handed it over to the AEUG upon its completion. The AEUG also has a terrestrial branch, the Kalaba. Like their space counterparts, the Kalaba use the Nemo as their standard mobile suit, while ace pilot Amuro Rei pilots first a Rick Dias and later the MSK-008 Dijeh. A captured Garuda-class carrier, the Audhumla, serves as the Kalaba's mobile base.
Titans The Titans are initially equipped with the RMS-106 Hizack, an unsuccessful hybrid of Federation and Zeon mobile suit technology. The first all-new mobile suit introduced since the One Year War, the Hizack sports the now-standard panoramic cockpit display, but suffers from poor power output and an inability to use two beam weapons simultaneously. The RMS-108 Marasai addresses most of the Hizack's shortcomings, but it's the RMS-154 Barzam that ultimately replaces the Hizack as the Titans' mass-production mobile suit. Meanwhile, Titans engineers pioneer the development of the movable frame, for which the Gundam Mark II serves as a testbed. In a movable frame design, the mobile suit is built around an articulated skeleton, to which the designers add armor only where it's really necessary. The result is a mobile suit that's lighter and more agile than older designs, with their shell-like construction. The Titans also develop variable mobile suits, which can change into fast and powerful non-humanoid forms akin to those of the Zeon Dukedom's mobile armors. It turns out that movable frame technology makes it far easier to design variable mobile suits, and for the bulk of the series the Titans churn out one limited-edition variable prototype after another. One such is the MRX-009 Psyco Gundam, the first Federation design to incorporate a psycommu system. Externally similar to the RX-78 Gundam, it's scaled up by a factor of two to accommodate the bulk of the psycommu system, and can turn into a "mobile fortress" mode equipped with a gravity-countering Minovski craft system. Its successor, the MRX-010 Psyco Gundam Mark II, is destroyed in its first outing and subsequently recovered by the Axis Zeons, who dissect it to discover all its technological secrets. Also noteworthy is the quartet of handmade mobile suits created by Titans member and Jupiter Energy Fleet captain Paptimus Scirocco. Scirocco's first creation was the PMX-000 Messala, designed for use in Jupiter's intense gravity well, which has the distinction of being the first variable mobile armor seen in the series. The other members of the PMX family are the weapon-laden PMX-001 Pallas Athene, the reconnaissance-oriented PMX-002 Bolinoak Samaan, and the super-maneuverable and biosensor-equipped PMX-003 The O. Like the AEUG, the Titans rely on refurbished Salamis-class cruisers. They also have a handful of newly-designed Alexandria-class cruisers, and the mighty battleship Dogos Gear. Scirocco's transport ship Jupitoris, though not a warship, becomes a mobile Titans base of sorts. Still, until the Titans receive the full support of the Federation, their fleet is quite small; thus, they borrow Musai-class cruisers from the Zeon Republic for major operations.
Earth Federation In addition to Hizacks, the regular Federal Forces are equipped with the vintage RMS-117 Galbaldy Beta, developed by the Zeon Dukedom at the very end of the One Year War and subsequently produced by the Federation. During the AEUG's attack on the Jaburo base, the Federation defenders also employ a motley menagerie of One Year War-era mobile suits and variations. By this point, the Federation fleet has finally been upgraded to carry mobile suits. The Salamis Kai class introduced in this series becomes the backbone of the Federal Forces for at least the next 75 years. The Federal Forces also have a handful of huge Garuda-class transport planes, capable of ferrying dozens of mobile suits and launching space shuttles.
Axis The Zeon Dukedom loyalists who flee to the asteroid base Axis have more pressing concerns on their minds than building the ultimate war machine. The first order of business is making Axis truly habitable, a massive construction project for which the Gaza A and B are developed. Planning their return to the Earth sphere, the Axis renegades adapt the Gaza series into a combat-worthy mobile suit. The result is the AMX-003 Gaza C, a crude and curious-looking variable mobile suit with impressive firepower but poor performance and a very limited pilot talent pool. Meanwhile, the Axis engineers have been working on a more advanced mobile suit design. The AMX-004 Qubeley is the first regular-sized mobile suit to accommodate a true psycommu system, and it's equipped with scaled-down versions of the MAN-08 Elmeth's bits. Lacking built-in generators, these miniature "funnels" must return frequently to the Qubeley to recharge their beam cannons and replenish their fuel supplies. While its mobile suit forces are second-rate, the Axis has a powerful and modern fleet. The kilometer-long battleship Gwadan and the smaller Gwanban serve as flagships, with the rest of the fleet made up of the Musai-derived Endora-class cruiser.
Mobile Suit Gundam, Z Gundam, Gundam ZZ, Char's Counterattack, Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Gundam F91, Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Gundam 0083: Last Blitz of Zeon, Gundam: The 08th MS Team, and Gundam W: Endless Waltz are copyright Sotsu Agency and Sunrise. V Gundam, G Gundam, Gundam W, and Gundam X are copyright Sotsu Agency, Sunrise and TV Asahi. |