Aegis Gundam

The GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam is a command type mobile suit in service during the first half of Cosmic Era year 71. It is stolen by ZAFT pilot Athrun Zala on 25 January and serves as his mobile suit.

The X303 Aegis is a commander-type mobile suit with very advanced sensors and heavy attack power. It can transform into a mobile armor configuration armed with a multi-phase beam cannon (which is later mounted on the GAT-X131 Calamity Gundam). For close-range combat, Aegis is equipped with 4 beam sabers. As these weapons are mounted on the forearms and feet rather than hand-carried, all four can be wielded simultaneously, in either mobile suit or mobile armor configuration.

The Aegis Gundam is transported to Earth shortly after the Battle of Orbit on February 13 to pursue Archangel, it is held at the Carpentaria Base in Australia until the Archangel passes through the Indian Ocean, where it is sent to rendezvous with the Vosgulov-class submarine Cousteau. The Aegis, Duel, Buster and Blitz Gundams successfully intercept Archangel in midocean and force the heavily damaged assault ship to lay over at Orb for repairs.

Finally, its destruction occurs in late May while fighting Kira Yamato in the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam and Tolle Koenig in his FX-550 Skygrasper. Athrun self-destructs the Aegis Gundam while grappling the Strike Gundam, destroying both units. He ejects before self-destruction and is found injured on the shore by Cagalli Yula Athha. Later in that year, he returns to combat piloting the new, Aegis-derived ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam. From June to the end of the war he pilots the Justice Gundam as part of the Clyne Faction, alongside Kira Yamato in the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam.

We last see the Aegis Gundam as fragments of a destroyed mobile suit on the island where Athrun and Kira fought, the remains of this fallen metal giant finding their final, peaceful use as a playground for young children. Its shield was later found, if one looks carefully, at the black market auction for junk where Lowe Guele picked up the TMF/TR-2 BuCUE Tactical Reconnaissance Type head he used temporarily for his MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame. A variation on its transforming system is used by ZAFT, on a much larger scale, in the ZGMF-X11A Regenerate Gundam.

In Cosmic Era 74, the Eurasian Federation fields an upgraded version of the Aegis, the GAT-X303AA Rosso Aegis. The "AA" stands for "Advanced Acceleration". Piloted by Emilio Broderick, a pilot with Phantom Pain, the Rosso Aegis is very similar to the original, in that it retains the same three modes of transformation and has nearly identical armament. However, it has two very significant advantages: Unlike the original, it can fire its devastating "Scylla" multiphase beam cannon while in either Mobile Armor Attack Mode or in a "Mobile Suit Attack Mode" in which the torso component, which covers the barrel, is removed. And it can control the trajectory of the beam, much like the GAT-X252 Forbidden Gundam, but to a somewhat greater degree. Dispatched against the Martian Turn-Delta Gundam, it and the GAT-X207SR Nero Blitz were defeating their opponent, until repreated provocation by Turn-Delta pilot Ergnes Brahe caused Emilio to go berserk.

Specifications
Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc/Earth Alliance
Users: Earth Alliance, Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty
Unit type: prototype commander use transformable mobile suit
Head height: 18.86 meters
Base weight: 79.9 metric tons
Special equipment: Phase Shift armor
Powerplant: Ultracompact battery, sustainable delivery approx. 2-3 megawatts
Armament: "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS x2, beam saber x4, 60mm beam rifle x1, "Scylla" 580mm multi-phase beam cannon
Pilot: Athrun Zala

GAT-X105 Strike Gundam

The GAT-X105 Strike is the most versatile of the five Gundams created by the Alliance's G Project. Because of its bright blue, red and white color scheme, the Strike is easily the most visually distinctive of the five (with the possible exception of the bright red-colored GAT-X303 Aegis). Using its Striker Packs, the Strike can be outfitted for all-purpose combat (Aile Strike), heavy assault (Launcher Strike) or heavy melee combat (Sword Strike). Design wise, the Strike is simply en extenstion of the Duel's frame, allowing for a multi-role function not featured in the Duel, Buster, or Blitz. (In fact, the Strike's Striker Pack allowed it to mimic, to variable degrees, many of the abilities of the first three mobile suits.)

Three Strike units were built: the first Strike was piloted by Kira Yamato; it was destroyed in battle in CE June 71 against Athrun Zala in the Aegis. After Kira stole the ZGMF-X10A Freedom from ZAFT and the subsequent defection of the Archangel crew to the Orb Union in early July, the second Strike (built partially with materials salvaged from the remains of the first) became the personal mobile suit of ace pilot Mu La Flaga. A third Strike, called the MBF-02 Strike Rouge, was built by Orb and piloted by Cagalli Yula Athha. This mobile suit was nearly identical to the first, its only major difference being that its Phase Shift Armor active colours were red and pink (due to minor improvements in the efficiency of the Phase Shift Armor system, which would later be classified Variable Phase shift, and a "power extender" system to increase battery life) rather than the blue, red and white of the first Strike. All three Strike pilots used the Aile Striker as their preferred Striker pack, with its all-purpose combat capabilities. A fourth unit was also apparently built, then later upgraded to the Strike Noir, apparently piloted by Sven Cal Bayang.

Although the GAT-X105 Strike is initially designed to use three Striker packs, several more are designed later on. One of these designs is the combined GAT-X105+P204QX Lightning Strike. The Alliance seeks to increase the Strike's operating time by 150% through the use of a new Striker pack, but the first design proves to be a failure. Later on, Orb's defense contractor Morgenroete steps in and designs the P204QX Lightning Striker. The Lightning Striker features an improved power pack design, along with extra cooling systems and battery packs. In addition, the Lightning Strike is armed with a Type 70-31 electromagnetic cannon, which can be stored as two separate pieces on the Strike's forearms. The Lightning Striker pack is assembled in late C.E. 71 on the Kusanagi after the fall of the Orb Union. After its construction, the Lightning Striker pack is destroyed in combat during a test flight.

The GAT-X105 Strike should not be confused with the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom from Gundam SEED Destiny.

Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc/Earth Alliance
Users: Earth Alliance, Orb Union/Three Ship Alliance
Unit type: prototype all-purpose multi-mode mobile suit
Rollout: 20 January, Cosmic Era 71
First Deployment: 25 January, Cosmic Era 71
Head height: 17.72 meters
Weight: 64.8 metric tons
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery
Special equipment: hardpoints for Striker Packs, Phase Shift armor
Armament: "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS x2, "Armor Schneider" combat knife x2, 57mm high-energy beam rifle x1, bazooka x1, shield x1
Optional equipment: AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker, AQM/E-X02 Sword Striker, AQM/E-X03 Launcher Striker, P204QX Lightning Striker, P202QX Integrated Weapons Striker Pack (IWSP)
Pilot(s): Murrue Ramius, Kira Yamato, Sai Argyle, Mu La Flaga, Sven Cal Bayan