The XM-X Crossbone Gundam, also known as the F97 Gundam Formula 97, is a series of high-performance mobile suits developed by the Earth Federation's Strategic Naval Research Institute (SNRI) in the Universal Century timeline of the fictional Gundam metaseries. It appears in Yoshiyuki Tomino's manga Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam, as well as its sequels Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam: Skull Heart and Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam: Steel Seven.
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After the Cosmo Babylon Wars, Cosmo Babylonia collapses from civil conflicts after Cecily Fairchild denounces the nation's aristocratic ideals. However, new threats to peace began to surface in the UC (Universal Century) 130s, when it is discovered the Jupiter Empire is conspiring to invade and conquer the Earth Sphere. After staging her death to avoid attention from the Jupiter Empire, Cecily takes on her original name of "Berah Ronah" and re-establishes the Crossbone Vanguard, garnering public support in her war against the ruthless Jupiter Empire. To aid the Vanguard, SNRI develops the newly designed Formula 97 series of mobile suits, which are based on the success of SNRI's F91 series.
Unlike many mobile suits developed by the SNRI, which are designed to operate around the Earth, the F97 is specifically designed to be used in Jupiter's strong gravitational field, which will generate serious propulsion problems. Among the Earth Sphere, the trend for high mobility involves putting numerous thrusters all over its body. However, under Jupiter's gravitational influence, this requires enlargement of the thrusters, which leads to an increase of the mobile suit is size and mass. In order to use the larger thrusters, a more powerful, thus, larger and massive generator must be built, but becomes deadweight when not in use, adding a further dilemma to the design.
To solve this problem, the F97 is equipped with a long variable X-shaped thrusters: with the addition of AMBAC, the main thrusters, composed of four thrusters that can be pointed at any direction, or combined into one huge rocket column for increased speed, allows the mobile suit high mobility around Jupiter's orbit without increasing the size and mass of the unit. Due to the fact it is designed specifically for use in Jupiter's orbit, the F97 can also be used on Earth, abeit with slight difficulty for the pilot. In order to increase pilot survival rate, the F97 is equipped with a plug-in type "core fighter", where the variable thrusters and the two standard beam sabers are attached.
Another new feature utilized by the F97 is the anti-beam coating cloak, which is stored in the back and unfolded when needed. When unfolded, it covers the entire body and disperses energy over the cloak. It can usually withstand five standard beam shots without using any energy, with an additional advantage of stealth. Armaments include standard beam sabers, heat daggers (underneath the feet), a "scissors anchor" (mounted on the front skirts as a hidden weapon), as well as two "brand markers", which acts as beam shields or a shorter beam saber. Like its F91 predecessor, the F97's mouth can open as a vent to dissipate excess heat from its bio-computer system.
In total, three F97 units were made and all given to the Crossbone Vanguard. In order to cover this under-the-table deal, the "F97" designation is re-assigned as the XM-X, and the three suits dubbed the Crossbone Gundam X-1, X-2 and X-3, respectively.
The XM-X1 Crossbone Gundam X-1, colored in the standard blue-on-white, is piloted by Kincaid Nau. The X-1 is equipped with a "Zan Buster" beam rifle, which can separate with the barrel and front handle into a beam rifle called the "Buster Gun", while its rear into a cutlass-like beam saber named the "Beam Zanber". In addition, the Gundam's beam shield can be used as a punching dagger, nicknamed the "brand marker", as it leave a distinctive X-shaped burn on a target. The X-1 is later modified to better combat the Jovian EMS-VSX1 Quavarze. This modification, named the X-1 Kai, involves adding "Screw Whips", long heat whips with a spinning drill at the end, on its rear skirt armor. The whips can penetrate armor quite easily, including the thick cockpit armor of the large mobile armor EMA-10 Divinidad.
The X-1 Kai becomes one of the few mobile suits at the time capable of atmospheric re-entry without ballute modules, thanks to Kincaid's ingenuity. When his X-1 Kai (previously damaged from a fight against the X-2 Zabine(X-2's pilot)'s Rebellion) is attacked and kicked into the Earth's atmosphere, Kincaid survives by using the beam shield for re-entry. This maneuver marks a trend for later mobile suit pilots as a technique widely adopted for re-entry operations.
The XM-X2 Crossbone Gundam X-2, colored entirely in black, was piloted by Zabine Chareux, former ace leader of the old Crossbone Vanguard's elite "Black Vanguard" squadron. In addition to the identical weapons system as the X-1, the X-2 is also equipped with a shot lancer, a habitual customization from Zabine's Cosmo Babylon years. When Zabine defects to the Jupiter Empire, his X-2 is left without a cockpit, after a captured Tobia manages to hijack the core fighter and escape. The Jovians rebuild a standard cockpit for the X2, with X-shaped thrusters permanently attached to the mobile suit, as well as mounting additional thrusters. This refitted X-2 Kai is destroyed when Zabine is overpowered by Kincaid in the X-1 Kai.
The XM-X3 Crossbone Gundam X-3, however, is drastically different from the other two. Instead of mounting beam shields, it is equipped with two I-field generators on each arm, which completely disperse beam attacks, sometimes even those from VSBRs and battleship-grade beam cannons (which beam shields cannot deflect). However, even after being used for so many years, I-fields still suffer the problem of overheating. As a result, each generator can only operate for 105 seconds before needing to cool off for another 120 seconds; alternating between the two I-field generators still leaves the Gundam defenseless for about 15 seconds.
The X-3's main weapon is replaced with the "Muramasa Blaster", a large sword mounting a beam cannon at its tip and a set of 14 beam sabers on its side (7 per side). Effectively, this is the most powerful mobile suit during the UC 0130s, and is piloted by 13 year-old Tobia Arronax, a mere amateur during the initial Jupiter Empire conflict. His eventually sacrifices the X-3 with a suicide ram in order to destroy Jupiter Empire leader Crux Dogatie's massive Divinidad mobile armor.
After the X-3 is destroyed and Crux Dogatie killed, Kincaid retires from the war with Berah, and his X-1 Kai falls into Tobia's hands. The machine is modified for Tobia's specifications, turning it into the X-1 Kai Kai "Skull Heart" (featuring a skull & crossbones on its chest, much like the X-3). Its new weapon is the "Peacock Smasher", a beam "crossbow" with 9 mounted beam guns. The Skull Heart's later "Full Armor" variant gains further offensive capabilities with a reactor-fed "Hi-Muramasa Blaster" and "Pile Bunker", a large shield mounting two powerful pile driver spikes. With this armor, the Skull Heart is also nicknamed the X-4.
In UC 0136, remnants of the Jupiter Empire re-emerges, led by the psyker Callisto, a relative of Dogatie. During a battle with the advanced mobile suit Kolnigs, the Skull Heart is badly damaged. Left with few resources, Crossbone Vanguard engineer Umon Samon repairs the Gundam using leftover parts from the X-3. This resultant "Patchwork" features an odd combination of features from the X-1 and X-3, sporting a beam shield on one arm and an I-field in the other, among other changes. Later in the conflict, the Patchwork is fully repaired into Crossbone Gundam Full Cloth, which features an armored version of the ABC cloak and a pair of I-Field generators doubling as skull-shaped "boxing gloves".
A simplified version of the Crossbone Gundams, the XM-10 Flint is produced by SNRI for a trial mass-production. The Flint retains the X-shaped thruster and core fighter, as well as having the ABC cloak, a pair of beam sabers, beam shields, the head-mounted vulcans and beam rifle. One notable feature is its movable right "eyepatch", a special weapon targeting sensor normally situated on the forehead. The Flints are field in limited mass-production during the first and second Jupiter Empire Wars, only for the remaining Flints to be defeated by the Jovians' unmanned Amakusa mobile suits (which has an AI "clone" system based on the legendary ace pilot Amuro Ray).