ZetaGundamsuit

Model number: MSZ-006
Code name: Zeta Gundam
Unit type: prototype attack use transformable mobile suit
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics Company
Operator: Anti-Earth Union Group
First deployment: UC 0087
Accommodation: pilot only, in panoramic monitor/linear seat cockpit in torso
Dimensions: mobile suit mode: overall height 19.85 meters, head height 18.7 meters; waverider mode: overall length 24.32 meters, wingspan 18.61 meters
Weight: empty 28.7 metric tons; max gross 62.3 metric tons; mass ratio 1.70

Construction: gundarium alloy on moveable frame

Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 2020 kW

Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 5 x 12200 kg, 2 x 10600 kg, 4 x 7600 kg; vernier thrusters/apogee motors: 8

Performance: maximum thruster acceleration 1.81 G

Equipment and design features: sensors, range 14000 meters; bio-sensor system; birdlime launchers in hands

Fixed armaments: 2 x 60 mm vulcan gun, fire-linked, 600 rounds per gun, mounted in head; 2 x 2-tube grenade launcher, 2 rounds per tube, mounted in forearms; 2 x beam saber, power rated at 0.65 MW, stored in recharge racks in hip armor, hand-carried in use, sabers double as fire-linked beam guns in waverider mode with power rated at 1.3 MW total for both

Optional fixed armaments: grenade launcher cartridge, 18+1 rounds, serves as extended ammunition magazine for grenade launcher; 1 x shield, mounted on left forearm

Optional hand armaments: beam rifle, power rated at 5.7 MW, powered by replacable e-pac, doubles as large beam saber, can be mounted on storage rack on back to use in waverider mode, 2 spare e-pacs stored in shield; hyper mega launcher, power rated at 8.3 MW, powered by replacable e-pac, doubles as large beam saber

The Gryps War saw the introduction of many new experimental mobile suit technologies. Anti-Earth Union Group pilot Kamille Bidan, being a mobile suit design hobbyist, began designing a next-generation mobile suit for himself. With the aid of AEUG chief mechanic Astonage Medosso, Kamille's design so impressed the engineers at Anaheim Electronics that they volunteered to build the suit for him under the flag of the AEUG's "Z Project." Called the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam ("Z" being read as the Greek "zeta"), this unit represented many of the changes in mobile suit design philosophies occuring at the time.

Inspired by the RX-178 Gundam Mark II's "movable frame" design, the Zeta Gundam was also built around a movable frame capable of transforming the mobile suit into a fighter-like form called a "waverider." This VMSAWRS (Variable Mobile Suit and WaveRider System) unit not only gave the Zeta Gundam added speed and mobility in waverider mode, but also allowed the Z to make an atmospheric re-entry from space on its own without the aid of ballute packs or other external re-entry systems. Part of the waverider mode's form was composed of "wing binders" - which had already seen experimental use in another Z Project design, the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki - and a "tail binder," all of which not only served as control surfaces for the waverider in atmospheric flight, but also contained extra thrusters and worked as additional "balancing limbs" in mobile suit mode.

The Zeta Gundam's armament was fairly standard, composed of head vulcan guns, a beam rifle and a pair of beam sabers which doubled as forward-firing beam guns in waverider mode. However, the Z had an additional edge with its bio-sensor - a device developed by Anaheim in an attempt to build a smaller-scale, more economical psycommu system. Though the exact nature of the bio-sensor is unknown, its primary purpose was to allow a Newtype pilot to more easily interface with his mobile suit. The bio-sensor could also have a rather surprising side effect when the pilot was mentally and emotionally focused enough (usually when angry or upset) to cause the bio-sensor to amplify the power, speed and strength of the mobile suit for a short period of time. Kamille 's strong emotions created this effect on more than one occasion - turning the Zeta Gundam into a truly unstoppable force when the Newtype pilot was mad enough.

The Zeta Gundam was delivered to the AEUG flagship carrier Argama in mid-UC 0087, where it would serve as a frontline assault unit in the AEUG's war against the corrupt Titans. Following the end of the Gryps War, the Z remained in service for another year, as the AEUG immediately found itself plunged into the Neo Zeon War and fighting for its very survival. Though Kamille was mentally incapacitated at the end of the Gryps War, the Z found itself in other hands, operated by the AEUG's various new pilots - including the equally powerful Newtype youth Judau Ashta - until the end of that war when the Z was critically damaged during a battle inside the Neo Zeon asteroid base Axis.