MBF-P01 Gundam Astray Gold Frame
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This article is about a fictional weapon from the Cosmic Era timeline of the anime Gundam metaseries.
In the anime series Gundam SEED Astray, the Orb Union's Morgenroete corporation built three Gundam Astray prototype mobile suits at Heliopolis, the MBF-P01 Astray Gold Frame, MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame, and MBF-P03 Astray Blue Frame,which in turn were used to base the five GAT-X series units that they assisted the Earth Alliance's Atlantic Federation in creating. They successfully copied the EA's beam rifle and saber technology, but Morgenroete did not have access to the Phase Shift armor design, and compensated by making the Gundam Astray units lighter and more agile than their EA counterparts. Gold Frame, unlike the other two, was fitted with both Orb and Earth Alliance style hand plugs, allowing it to use the beam weapons of both nations.
On January 25, CE 71, ZAFT's attack on Heliopolis to steal the Alliance Gundams also unknowingly interrupted the Astray project. In order to hide their progress, Orb's military decided to destroy the Astray lab. Coordinator Rondo Gina Sahaku, an Orb nobleman, disagreed and attempted to save all three suits. He commandeered the Gold Frame and used a heavy bazooka left behind by the stolen GAT-X102 Duel to blow a hole in Heliopolis that Gold Frame could fly out through. Unfortunately, Rondo Gina forgot to calibrate Gold Frame's right arm, which was damaged in the process. He discarded the damaged arm (but kept the bazooka), and escaped the dying colony. Afterward, he piloted the Gold Frame (still missing an arm) in several battles with Red Frame and its pilot Lowe Guele.
In the last of those battles, Gold Frame was severely damaged by atmospheric re-entry, when fighting Lowe, Lowe used an energy sphere produced from Red Frames arm, to destroy half the head of Gold Frame, which also destroyed the Red Frames right arm. Gold Frame was then taken to Orb's main island, where Morgenroete upgraded it to the MBF-P01-Re<AMATU> Astray Gold Frame Amatu. The first stage of the upgrade was refiting the suit with a new head with enhanced sensors, and replacing the lost right arm with that of the destroyed GAT-X207 Blitz. The arm included the "Trikeros" shield, equipped with a beam rifle, beam saber, and 3 "lancer dart" penetrators, as well as the Phase Shift armor and Mirage Colloid cloaking systems. The second stage involved two unique weapon designs. One was a pair "Magashira no Hoko" harpoons, which were equipped with Phase Shift technology and thus could penetrate virtually any armor, then be retracted by tether lines. The other weapon was even more revolutionary: the "Maga no Ikutachi" system. This consisted of two large "claws" on the backpack, which could drain energy from the batteries of enemy mobile suits, weakening them while at the same time recharging Gold Frame Amatu's own battery. Initially, physical contact with the claws was required. The "Trikeros" shield was also modified, reducing its surface area but adding a sharpened edge. This modification allowed the Amatu to break the Red Frame's "Gerbera Straight" katana. Rondo Gina piloted Gold Frame Amatu until he was killed in battle by Blue Frame pilot Gai Murakumo.
His twin sister Rondo Mina Sahaku then recovered the damaged suit, and repaired and upgraded it into the MBF-P01-Re2<AMATU> Astray Gold Frame Amatu Mina Custom. This new version's main visual difference was the spiked toes on its feet (installed after the original legs were torn off by the ZGMF-X11A Regenerate), but more significant were the improvements to its armament. Amatu Mina Custom featured a perfected "Maga no Ikutachi" (which means lterally "Living Sword of Evil), which could drain the battery of any nearby mobile suit, and also had two new additional weapons. Mounted on its hips were two "Totsuka no Tsurugi" sabers, and on the left wrist was the retractable "Tsumuha no Tachi" triple claw.
The Re2-<AMATU> would remain Rondo Mina's personal mobile suit for the duration of the war, and would later be borrowed by freelance mercenary Kaite Madigan in C.E. 73 in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the colony drop of Junius Seven with GENESIS Alpha. During this battle, Gold Frame took serious damage from the RGX-00 Testament. Following its repair, Mina used Amatu to facilitate the escape of Kira Yamato and the Archangel from Orb, blocking the pursuit of Agnes Brahe's GSF-YAM01 Δ Astray. Amatu was upgraded soon afterward with the "Okitsu no Kagami" dual-purpose shield system designed by Yoon Sefan. This system replaced the "Tsumuha no Tachi" claw, and could form either a defensive beam shield or offensive beam dagger, the latter of which could be launched on a whip-like cable. The "Totsuka no Tsurugi" sabers, which had proved ineffective against the Testament, were reduced to optional equipment.
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[edit] Specifications
[edit] MBF-P01 Astray Gold Frame
Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc/Orb Union
Users: Orb Union
Unit type: prototype general purpose mobile suit
Rollout: 10 January, Cosmic Era 71
First Deployment: 25 January, Cosmic Era 71
Head height: 17.53 m
Base weight: 49.8 metric tons
Special equipment: None
Powerplant: Ultracompact battery
Armament: "Igelstellung" 75 mm multi-barrel CIWS x2, Type 70 beam saber x2, Type 71 beam rifle x1, shield x1
Pilot(s): Rondo Gina Sahaku, Rondo Mina Sahaku
[edit] MBF-P01-Re<AMATU> Astray Gold Frame Amatu
Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc/Orb Union
Users: Orb Union
Unit type: prototype general purpose mobile suit
First Deployment: Cosmic Era 71
Head height: 17.99 m
Base weight: 73.2 metric tons
Special equipment: Phase Shift armor, Mirage Colloid
Powerplant: Ultracompact battery
Armament: "Igelstellung" 75 mm multi-barrel CIWS x2, Type 70 beam saber (unequipped Astray Gold Frame Amatu version) x2, "Maga no Ikutachi" energy absorption claw x2, "Magashira no Hoko" harpoon x2, "Trikeros Kai" armed shield (50 mm high-energy beam rifle x1, "Lancer Dart" hypervelocity kinetic energy penetrator x3)
Pilot: Rondo Gina Sahaku
[edit] MBF-P01-Re2<AMATU> Astray Gold Frame Amatu Mina Custom
Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc/Orb Union
Users: Orb Union
Unit type: prototype general purpose mobile suit
First Deployment: Cosmic Era 71
Head height: 17.99 m
Base weight: unknown
Special equipment: Phase Shift armor, Mirage Colloid
Powerplant: Ultracompact battery
Armament: "Igelstellung" 75 mm multi-barrel CIWS x2, "Maga no Ikutachi" energy absorption claw x2, "Magashira no Hoko" harpoon x2, "Trikeros Kai" armed shield (50 mm high-energy beam rifle x1, "Lancer Dart" hypervelocity kinetic energy penetrator x3), "Totsuka no Tsurugi" saber x2, "Tsumuha no Tachi" triple claw x1
Pilot(s): Rondo Mina Sahaku, Kaite Madigan
[edit] MBF-P01-Re2<AMATU> Astray Gold Frame Amatu Mina Custom ("Okitsu no Kagami" Equipment Type)
Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc/Orb Union
Users: Orb Union
Unit type: prototype general purpose mobile suit
First Deployment: Cosmic Era 73
Head height: 17.99 m
Base weight: unknown
Special equipment: Phase Shift armor, Mirage Colloid
Powerplant: Ultracompact battery
Armament: "Igelstellung" 75 mm multi-barrel CIWS x2, Type 70 beam saber (unequipped Astray Gold Frame Amatu version) x2, "Maga no Ikutachi" energy absorption claw x2, "Magashira no Hoko" harpoon x2, "Trikeros Kai" armed shield (50 mm high-energy beam rifle x1, "Lancer Dart" hypervelocity kinetic energy penetrator x3), "Okitsu no Kagami" offense/defense beam shield system x1
Optional armament: "Totsuka no Tsurugi" saber x2
Pilot: Rondo Mina Sahaku
[edit] Trivia
- The Gold Frame bears a resemblance to the RX-78-6 6th Gundam "Gundam Mudrock" from the Universal Century timeline, albeit slightly less so than their respective sister units (Red Frame to RX-78-5 5th Gundam "Gundam G05" and Blue Frame to RX-78-4 4th Gundam "Gundam G04").
- Though the official name of the upgraded Gold Frame is "Amatu", it could possibly have originally been "Amatsu", Japanese for "Heavenly". Some official sources have in fact romanized it as "Amatsu", including its 1/100 model kit.
- An interesting aesthetic difference is that the Amatu Mina custom's feet look somewhat like high-heeled shoes. An interesting fact, as the Amatu's second pilot was a woman, whereas the original was a man.
- The modified version of the "Trikeros" offense/defense system actually has the beam sword removed, instead favoring the sharpened shield/edge. Unfortunately, while it give the suit an advatage over the Astrays, is leaves it more or less ineffective against MSes with Phase Shift armor, which are temporarily resistant, but resistant nonetheless, against physical weaponry (Mina and Kaite found this out the hard way against the Testament). The Amatu's only means of compensation against this substantial weakness other than the beam rifle (which really didn't help much) was the Okitsu-no-Kagami equipment. This situation puts the Amatu in a similar situation to its predecessor of sorts, the Blitz, in that, in respect to the equipment, it is the least adequately equipped mobile suit of its line (Blitz was weak compared to the Strike, Aegis, Buster and Duel while the Amatu was the same to the Red and Blue Frame's upgrades)
- At GENESIS Alpha, when Ash Grey used Testament's Mirage Colloid Virus Spreader on the station, it spread to the Mobile Suits that were docked there - alone, Gold Frame was not affected. Whether that was due to its own Mirage Colloid capabilities or that the virus had simply not yet spread to Gold Frame is unknown, though the latter theory is more likely.
- The 1/100 Gold Frame Amatu was released in the Gundam SEED Destiny line, unlike its two other counterparts, the Red and Blue Frame Second L, which were both released in the SEED MSV/Astray line. None of the Astrays ever appeared in SEED or Destiny, especially the Gold Frame. Furthermore, the kit comes with a number of spare parts for customization, such as making the Amatu's face frame and right arm gold plus black Astray-type beam sabers (minus beam blades) although the latter, unless replacing the backpack with the standard Astray one, cannot fit anywhere without kitbashing.
- The Gold Frame Amatu will be the first of the three Astray units to have two kits of it in different forms released in the same scale as regular edition kits. First released was the Amatu Mina and, already in anticipation, the Amatu Mina in its Oiktsu-no-Kagami mode. It is unknown, however, if the Okitsu-no-Kagami mode will come as merely the weapons to be added to the Amatu kit or it will be a separate Gold Frame kit itself, although the latter is more likely.
- The Gold Frame Amatu, along with the Freedom, Dreadnought H, Testament, Proto Saviour, Delta Astray and a few more other mobile suits, is a direct violation of the Treaty of Junius during the early stages of the second war. However, as the war raged on, the treaty was seemingly ignored as suits like the Destiny were being fielded. Thus, this fact no longer mattered.
