Strike Gundam

This article is about a series of fictional mobile weapons from the Cosmic Era timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries.

The GAT-X105 Strike Gundam is initially designed by Junichi Akutsu and cleaned up by Kunio Okawara for the series "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" as one of the five mobile suits developed under the Earth Alliance's G Project. In the real world, the GAT-X105's base design is closely (though not entirely) based on the original RX-78-2 Gundam and also shows strong design influences from the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam.Fact|date=February 2007

Design

The base configuration of the GAT-X105 Strike is armed with two "Igelstellung" 75mm CIWS, two "Armor Schneider" combat knives, and a 57mm high-energy beam rifle. Like all the other mobile suits of the G Project, the Strike is equipped with Phase Shift armor, which renders it virtually immune to all manner of physical attacks; due to the armor's high energy requirements and the limited power reserves afforded by its energy battery, however, the Strike cannot keep PS armor activated for long. The Strike and its variants all use the General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver Synthesis System operating system.Fact|date=February 2007

The GAT-X105 Strike's greatest strength is its compatibility with the Striker Pack system, which consists of a set of backpack units containing equipment sets designed to fulfill a specific role in combat; the Strike can thus be adapted to various combat situations simply by attaching the appropriate Striker Pack. With the first three Striker Packs, the Strike can be equipped for flight and all-purpose combat (Aile Strike), heavy melee combat (Sword Strike), or heavy ranged assault (Launcher Strike).Fact|date=February 2007

The GAT-X105 Strike should not be confused with the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom from "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny" or the GAT-01 Strike Dagger.

Role in Plot

Of the five G Project mobile suits, the GAT-X105 Strike is the only one not stolen by the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty during its attack on the Heliopolis colony, where the Strike and its companion units were being developed in secret by the Orb Union's Morgenroete corporation. The Strike's first pilot was future "Archangel" captain Murrue Ramius, who used it to little effect against a ZGMF-1017 GINN piloted by Miguel Aiman; at the time, the suit's operating system was incomplete. A young Coordinator named Kira Yamato, who had tagged along with Murrue, was able to modify the Strike's OS and make it combat-ready; after the destruction of Heliopolis, Kira became the Strike's default pilot, enlisting in the Earth Alliance and joining the crew of the "Archangel" as a result. In Kira's hands, the Strike acquitted itself in combat against the stolen G Project suits and their pilots, who all belonged to ZAFT's elite Le Creuset team; GAT-X102 Duel pilot Yzak Joule nursed a grudge against Kira for quite some time due to injuries he sustained in a battle with the Strike, during which the Strike stabbed the Duel's torso with its "Armor Schneider" knife and scarred Yzak's face.

When the "Archangel" rendezvoused with the Alliance's 8th Fleet, Rear Admiral Lewis Halberton ordered the ship to deliver the Strike to the Alliance's military HQ at JOSH-A, Alaska. Both units wound up in North Africa instead, where Kira and the "Archangel"'s crew assisted Cagalli Yula Athha and the Desert Dawn resistance against ZAFT commander Andrew Waltfeld; Kira would ultimately use the Strike to destroy Andrew's TMF/A-803 LaGOWE mobile suit in open combat. (As an aside, "Archangel" crewman Sai Argyle would briefly attempt to pilot the Strike while the "Archangel" was still in North Africa, with no success.) When the "Archangel" arrived in the Orb Union, thanks largely in part to Kira using the Strike to combat a ZAFT submarine fleet (the suit was found to be somewhat deficient in underwater combat), the Strike was studied in detail by Morgenroete engineer Erica Simmons; the data collected by Morgenroete would go towards various future endeavors by that company. After departing from Orb, Kira and the Strike found themselves once more in combat against the Le Creuset team and their Gundams; in the battle that followed, the Strike was nearly destroyed after GAT-X303 Aegis pilot Athrun Zala self-destructed his mobile suit in retaliation for the death of GAT-X207 Blitz pilot Nicol Amalfi.

Orb salvaged the remains of the Strike and rebuilt the mobile suit, and after Kira's theft of the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam and the defection of the "Archangel" to the Orb Union after Operation Spitbreak, the Strike was passed on to former FX-550 Skygrasper pilot Mu La Flaga. Mu would not display as much success piloting the Strike as Kira did, however; while he fought capably with the Strike during the Battle of Orb, the suit sustained moderate damage in combat against Rau Le Creuset's ZGMF-600 GuAIZ at the Battle of Mendel. The GAT-X105 Strike's final combat deployment was at the Second Battle of Jachin Due; during the battle, Mu sacrificed himself and the Strike to save the "Archangel" from a positron cannon blast from the Earth Alliance assault ship "Dominion". Though the Strike itself was completely annihilated, Mu inexplicably survived the ordeal, as would be revealed during the later parts of "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny".

Variants

The GAT-X105 Strike would spawn two known variants: The MBF-02 Strike Rouge and the GAT-X105E Strike E. Additional Striker Packs would also be designed for use by the GAT-X105 and its variants.

MBF-02 Strike Rouge

The MBF-02 Strike Rouge was built from spare GAT-X105 Strike parts stored onboard the "Izumo" class battleship "Kusanagi". For all intents and purposes, the Strike Rouge is an almost-exact copy of the Strike, with a few minor modifications and improvements made by Morgenroete. The most obvious difference between the two units is that the Strike Rouge's Phase Shift armor is colored red and pink instead of red, white, and blue; this color change can be attributed to minor improvements in PS armor energy efficiency and the usage of a power extender to increase the suit's battery life. In addition, the Strike Rouge uses a Natural-use operating system and a pilot-assisting artificial intelligence.

The Strike Rouge was first piloted by Cagalli Yula Athha, who used the suit for a relatively brief period during the Second Battle of Jachin Due; she used it to rescue Athrun Zala after he planned to self-destruct the ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam to destroy the GENESIS superlaser. The Strike Rouge also saw service during the Second Bloody Valentine War. Cagalli Yula Athha launched in the Strike Rouge a couple of times but never actually engaged in combat, instead broadcasting largely useless pleas for the Orb fleet to stop fighting. The Strike Rouge was later commandeered by Kira Yamato to defend the "Eternal" from a ZAFT attack. It was severely damaged in that brief encounter and was never used again, as Kira redeployed immediately in the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam.

GAT-X105E Strike E Gundam (Strike Noir Gundam)

In the ONA ', the GAT-X105E Strike E Gundam"' ("E" standing for "Enhanced") is a variant of the original GAT-X105 Strike, created by the Eurasian corporation Actaeon Industries for the 81st Independent Mobile Battalion. Artistically, BEE-CRAFT contributed the initial design, which was later cleaned up by Kunio Okawara.

The structural and design changes implemented by Actaeon were intended to extend the unit's operating time by improving its energy efficiency. The Strike E's base weapon compliment differs radically from the Strike's, with two M2M5 "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm CIWS, two M8F-SB1 "Shorty" beam rifles stored on its waist armor, and six EQS1358 rocket anchors mounted in its hands and feet (one in each hand, two in each foot); it can also carry two additional beam rifles with attached 175mm grenade launchers, similar to those used by the GAT-X102 Duel. Like its predecessor, the Strike E is compatible with the Striker Pack system and comes equipped with its own custom pack, the AQM/X-09S Noir Striker.

Assigned to Phantom Pain pilot Lieutenant Junior Grade Sven Cal Bayan, the Strike E was part of a special combat MS platoon that included the GAT-X1022 Blu Duel and GAT-X103AP Verde Buster. The Strike E was designed to work as part of a unit, since basic Phantom Pain battle tactics do not allow for solo operations. Sven and the Strike E first saw combat in the aftermath of Operation Break the World, when they were pitted against ZAFT guerrillas loyal to Patrick Zala; Sven supervised a squad of GAT-01AR2 Slaughter Daggers in destroying a Coordinator refugee camp where some of the guerrillas were supposedly trained.

Later in CE 73, Sven engaged in a brief, inconclusive duel with Martian Coordinator Agnes Brahe in the GSF-YAM01 Δ Astray; after the duel, Agnes escaped in the ship "Acidalium". When Orb joined in a treaty with the Earth Alliance, Sven led a squad of five Slaughter Daggers piloted by Orb soldiers in pursuit of Agnes' ship. When Sven's Noir Striker was damaged during the fight, he attached an Integrated Weapons Striker Pack from an Orb Slaughter Dagger to the Strike E and managed to severely cripple the Δ Astray. At some point after the fight with the Δ Astray, Sven and the Strike E returned to the Phantom Pain and were assigned to escort the land battleship "Bonaparte" as it delivered the GFAS-X1 Destroy to Neo Roanoke's unit; the "Bonaparte" was attacked by ZAFT along the way, and while Blu Duel pilot Mudie Holcroft died in the resulting battle, the ZAFT force was wiped out and the "Bonaparte" reached its destination safely.

The Strike E's final combat deployment came in CE 74, the remainder of Sven's squad was assigned to attack the Deep Space Survey and Development Organization's space station to capture the GSX-401FW Stargazer's AI unit. During the battle, Sven was caught off guard by the Stargazer's unorthodox anti-beam defense system, resulting in the loss of the Strike E's left arm; Stargazer pilot Selene McGriff then grabbed the Strike Noir and used the DSSD station's propulsion laser to launch both mobile suits away from the battlefield, carrying them some of the way towards Venus. The Strike E was abandoned in Venus' orbit after Selene drained its remaining power into the Stargazer's own power plant and rescued Sven from the now-disabled mobile suit.

According to the Photonovel "PHANTOM PAIN REPORT: ANOTHER TRIAL STRIKER", Additional Strike E Frames were piloted by Dana Snip and Emilio Broderick, who would go on to pilot the Nero Blitz and Rosso Aegis. These two were equipped with modified Sword and Launcher Strikers developed for the Strike E.Additionally, a Sword Strike E is first used in combat in Eastern Asia by Coordinator Lukas O'Donnell. Lukas is an employee of the FUJIYAMA(FUture Japan Industrial Yield And MAnufacturing)company, an arms manufacturer. At the end of Chapter 3 of the manga "Gundam Seed FRAME Astrays" Along with half-blood Coordinator Xist Elwes, Lukas is dispatched to reinforce the Alliance team led by Gai Murakumo.Lukas is also the pilot of a Strike E+IWSP, which was released as a Master Grade 1/100-scale model kit.

triker packs

Although the GAT-X105 Strike is initially designed to use three Striker packs, several more are designed later on. The Alliance sought to increase the Strike's operating time by 150% through the use of a new Striker pack, but the first design proved to be a failure. Later on, Morgenroete stepped in and designed the P204QX Lightning Striker, which features an improved power pack design, 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 first Lightning Striker pack was assembled in late C.E. 71 on the "Kusanagi" after the fall of the Orb Union; after its construction, the Lightning Striker pack was destroyed in combat during a test flight. Another Lightning Striker pack appeared on a Slaughter Dagger piloted by Gard Dell Hokuha.

Another Striker pack was built by Orb specifically for the Strike Rouge: The P202QX Integrated Weapons Striker Pack (IWSP), designed to combine the capabilities of the Sword, Launcher, and Aile packs into one. The IWSP featured a flight pack mounting a pair of beam cannons, a pair of rail cannons, a pair of anti-ship swords, and a shield mounting a 6-barrel Gatling gun and a beam boomerang. Though the pack was completed before the end of the First Bloody Valentine War, Cagalli was not able to master the complicated controls in time; as a result, the IWSP never saw combat, though after the war it was mounted on the Strike Rouge for show (which reportedly caused some to believe that it had, in fact, been used at Jachin Due). Between the First and Second Bloody Valentine Wars, the Earth Alliance commissioned a new IWSP from Actaeon Industries, designated AQM/E-M1 and mounted on Sven Cal Bayan's GAT-X105 Strike Gundam. Data taken from Sven's use of the IWSP in both testing and battle would be used to create the AQM/E-X09S Noir Striker, as well as the AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Striker and AQM/E-M11 Doppelhorn Striker, which the Alliance would employ during the Second Bloody Valentine War. Some time into that war, another IWSP (possibly the same one Sven used) was mounted on Orb pilot Waid Rabby Nadaga's Slaughter Dagger and used in combat against the Δ Astray.

The AQM/E-X09S Noir Striker was a Striker pack designed specifically by Actaeon Industries for use by the Strike E; when equipped with this Striker pack, the Strike E is designated as the Strike Noir. Its design philosophy was similar to that of the IWSP in that it combines the primary features of the Aile, Launcher, and Sword Strikers; indeed, the Noir Striker was based on IWSP test data. It featured a flight pack equipped with dual fire-linked railguns, a pair of heavy beam swords, and a single rocket anchor. In photonovel "Phantom Pain's Report", Actaeon Industries also build improved model of Sword and Launcher stiker, known as "another trial", for Strike E.

Inspired designs

*The GAT-01 Strike Dagger is the first mass-produced version of the GAT-X105 Strike; unlike the Strike, however, it is incompatible with the Striker Pack system. Future mass-produced Earth Alliance suits, from the GAT-01A1 105 Dagger onwards, would feature Striker Pack compatibility; by the events of "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny", the two main Earth Alliance mobile suits are the GAT-02L2 Dagger L and the GAT-04 Windam.
*The ORB-01 Akatsuki is an Orb-produced variant of the original Strike design; both units feature similar backpack systems and cockpit layouts. The Akatsuki was already under development during the First Bloody Valentine War, though it did not see combat until late in the Second War; built as the final will and testament of Orb leader Uzumi Nara Athha, it was briefly used by Cagalli Yula Athha before being passed down to Mu La Flaga/Neo Roanoke.
*The ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam has a purpose similar to the Strike in that it can also adapt to various combat roles by changing its equipment setup; in a similar vein, its Silhouette packs fill the same role as Striker Packs. The two suits are radically different from a mechanical standpoint, however.
*The ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam is inspired by the GAT-X105 Strike in that its weapons layout is modeled after the Striker Packs rather than the Impulse's Silhouettes, according to mechanical designer Kunio Okawara.
*The GAT-FJ108 Raigo Gundam built by the FUJIYAMA company for the Earth Allianceclarifyme is inspired by the StrikeFact|date=June 2008 and capable to use Striker Pack. [ [http://www.astrays.net/mechanics/ms_17.html official site] ]

In other media

The GAT-X105 Strike is one of the most extensively modeled Cosmic Era mobile suits, with 24 model kits and 13 action figures. It has also appeared in many video games, including those of the "Super Robot Wars" franchise.Fact|date=February 2007

In the Japanese video game "Tomo to Kimi to Senjou De" (Here With My Friends on the Battlefield), the player can unlock the Gunbarrel Strike for Mu La Flaga to use. In the three appearances of "Gundam SEED"' in "Super Robot Wars", the IWSP Striker can be unlocked; in "Super Robot Wars Alpha 3", it can only be used by the Strike Rouge, but in "Super Robot Wars Judgement", either the Strike or the Strike Rouge can use it; in "Super Robot Wars W", both the IWSP and Lightning Striker can be unlocked and can be either used by the Strike or Strike Rouge.

In SD Gundam G Generation MONOEYE GUNDAMS, an early design version of the Strike can be acquired if the player has Turn A Gundam's Harry Ord explore a certain square on the game's Moon stage. This early version lacks Phase Shift and Striker Packs, but is closest to the Aile Strike in terms of design and weaponry. As Gundam SEED had not aired at the time Monoeye Gundams was released, its backstory within the game is simply that it is a part of the Dark History recorded by the Moonrace that had not yet been uncovered.

The 1/60 Perfect Grade models of Strike and Strike Rouge and the 1/100 Master Grade model of Strike Gundam + I.W.S.P. include a large sword called the "Grand Slam." This sword never appeared in the anime, but the CG short "Gundam Evolve 08" featured Aile Strike with the Grand Slam.

References

* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed/gat-x105.htm GAT-X105 Strike Gundam] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed/gat-x105+aqme-x01.htm GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed/gat-x105+aqme-x02.htm GAT-X105+AQM/E-X02 Sword Strike Gundam] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed/gat-x105+aqme-x03.htm GAT-X105+AQM/E-X03 Launcher Strike Gundam] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed-msv/gat-x105+p204qx.htm GAT-X105+P204QX Lightning Strike Gundam] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed/mbf-02.htm MBF-02 Strike Rouge] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed/mbf-02+aqme-x01.htm MBF-02+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Rouge] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed-msv/mbf-02+p202qx.htm MBF-02+P202QX Strike Rouge IWSP] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/delta-astray/gat-x105e.htm GAT-X105E Strike E] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed-stargazer/gat-x105e+aqme-x09s.htm GAT-X105E+AQM/E-X09S Strike Noir] . Retrieved on 27 November 2007.