ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam
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This article is about a fictional weapon from the Cosmic Era of the anime Gundam metaseries.
In mid CE 71, ZAFT creates a series of advanced mobile suits based on technology reverse-engineered from the captured Earth Alliance G Project suits. Like their EA predecessors, the ZAFT "Gundam"s are armed with advanced beam weaponry and protected by Phase Shift armor. However, an additional technology is incorporated as well: the Neutron Jammer Canceller, which counters the effects of the ubiquitous N-Jammers and allows these suits to be powered by nuclear reactors. This gives them almost limitless combat endurance, even with Phase Shift Armor activated.
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[edit] ZGMF-X10A Freedom
One of these suits is the ZGMF-X10A Freedom. It is the third suit in the series, and features a 10-wing HiMAT (High Mobility Aerial Tactics) mode for superior speed, mobility and agility. In addition to its basic armament of beam sabers, head-mounted CIWS guns, and a beam rifle, the Freedom mounts a pair of shoulder-mounted plasma beam cannons and hip-mounted railguns for use in HiMAT mode. Though it is never explicitly stated, the special effects (which show blue or red, sparkling gas coming off the trailing edges of the wings when in flight) indicate that the wings may house an aerospike propulsion system. However, the suit's most powerful weapon is the optional METEOR (Mobile suit Embedded Tactical EnfORcer) support system, a large mobile weapons platform with powerful thrusters and an even more powerful armament of battleship-caliber beam cannons, large beam swords, and dozens of heavy missile launchers that is designed specifically for the Freedom and its brother unit, ZGMF-X09A Justice.
The ZGMF-X10A Freedom's operating system is: Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Module complex.
Late in CE 71, the Freedom is stolen by Kira Yamato, with the aid of Lacus Clyne. Kira rushes to Earth with the stolen suit and came to the rescue of the Archangel at the Battle of JOSH-A. Along with the Archangel, he defects to neutral Orb and fights alongside his old friend Athrun Zala. Later, he returns to space along with the Archangel and Orb battleship Kusanagi, and meets up with the support vessel Eternal, which had been stolen by Lacus Clyne and her supporters, led by former ZAFT commander Andrew Waltfeld, and which carries both METEOR units. Athrun and Kira use the METEORs' firepower to thwart an Earth Alliance nuclear missile attack on the PLANTs on the final day of the war. Afterward, Kira battles against Rau Le Creuset and his ZGMF-X13A Providence. The Freedom is severely damaged, but Kira manages to impale Rau's cockpit with a beam saber.
After the war, the Freedom is repaired and hidden in a secret underground base in Orb, where it remains for more than a year. It returns to action in December CE 73, after an assassination attempt against Lacus Clyne. Kira launches in Freedom and manages to defeat the assassins' UMF/SSO-3 ASH mobile suits. Later on, the Freedom was used by Kira in two failed attempts to stop the battling between Orb and ZAFT forces. It also destroyed the GFAS-X1 Destroy in Berlin, killing Stellar Loussier. Shortly thereafter, Freedom was destroyed by the ZGMF-X56S Impulse, piloted by Shinn Asuka, during a ZAFT attack against the Archangel. Kira shuts down Freedom's nuclear reactor before losing consciousness, and is rescued by the MBF-02 Strike Rouge, piloted by his sister Cagalli Yula Athha.
The ZGMF-X10A Freedom should not be confused with the RGM-196 Freedom from G-Saviour, or the GF7-023NA Gundam Freedom from G Gundam's 7th Fight manga.
[edit] Specifications
[edit] ZGMF-X10A Freedom
Manufacturer: Integrated Design Bureau
User: ZAFT, Clyne Faction/Three Ship Alliance
Unit type: prototype assault mobile suit
First Deployment: 5th May, Cosmic Era 71
Head height: 18.03 meters
Weight: Max gross 71.5 metric tons
Special equipment: Phase Shift armor, Neutron Jammer Canceller, hardpoint for docking with METEOR unit
Powerplant: Ultracompact nuclear fission reactor, power output 8826 kW
Armament: MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS x2, MA-M01 "Lacerta" beam saber x2, M100 "Balaena" plasma beam cannon x2, MMI-M15 "Xiphias" railgun x2, MA-M20 "Lupus" high-energy beam rifle x1, shield x1
Pilot: Kira Yamato
[edit] Trivia
- Freedom's head crest displays the text "X-10A DIECI", which is a reference to its model number. Note the fact that it is the 9th Gundam to appear on the series.
- A rather popular joke among fans is the idea of the Freedom with a mono-eye head. Since Freedom's design is a radical departure from ZAFT's traditional mono-eye design, ZAFT would have never built the Gundams; logically, Freedom should have looked more like a GuAIZ. This idea was also seen in the sidestory manga Gundam SEED Astray R, in which main character Lowe Guele had the idea of replacing the damaged Freedom's head with a GINN's; he later equips the YMF-X000A Dreadnought Gundam with a GuAIZ head in Astray X. Also note that this idea appears to be inspired by Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, in which the Zeta Gundam's head is destroyed and replaced with a Zaku's.
- It is also speculated that the Freedom is loosely based on the Gundam Double X of After War Gundam X. There is no evidence to support this other than numerous cosmetic similarities (most notably the shoulder-mounted plasma cannons and coloring, which in both is black and white with blue highlights rather than the traditional blue and white with red highlights).
- In SEED Destiny, the Freedom's mere existence in Orb and on the battlefield was a violation of the Treaty of Junius Seven, which banned the use of the N-Jammer Canceller for military purposes. Strangely, no one took note of this fact and used it against Kira, even if it was not part of either the Alliance, ZAFT or Orb forces. The same case applied for equally "guilty" suits such as the Dreadnought H, Astray Gold Frame Amatu Mina, Delta Astray, Testament, Proto Saviour and a few other suits.
