MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame

This article is about a fictional weapon from the Cosmic Era timeline of the "anime" Gundam metaseries.

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, were used to base the five GAT-X series Gundams 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. Unlike Gold Frame, Red Frame was fitted with only Orb hand plugs, and thus could not use Earth Alliance weapons.

On 25 January 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 Ghina Sahaku, an Orb nobleman, disagreed and attempted to save all three suits. He uploaded all the Astray data into Red Frame’s computer, including the latest Natural-use OS. This proved fortunate for Junk Guild merchant/technician/pilot Lowe Guele, who discovered Red Frame (as well as Blue Frame and Gold Frame’s discarded right arm) shortly afterward, while searching the remains of Heliopolis for valuable salvage. Lowe initially clashed with Gai Murakumo of the Serpent Tail mercenary company, who had been hired to eliminate all evidence of the Astray program, but the two joined forces when Gai’s employer double-crossed him; having seen the mobile suits, Gai himself had become evidence of the program’s existence. Gai took control of Blue Frame, and the two Astray pilots encountered one another several more times, sometimes as allies and sometimes on opposing sides. On one of his earliest missions, he encountered the "Silverwind" under attack from a "Nelson"-class battleship, and diverted their attack long enough for Lacus Clyne to escape.

While Red Frame had the same basic armament of the other two Gundam Astray units, Lowe disliked the high energy requirements of the beam weapons. Therefore, he favored using the “Gerbera Straight,” a mobile suit-sized "katana" given to him by the eccentric old swordsman Un’no after Lowe repaired the damaged sword. Unlike the swords used by ZAFT suits like the ZGMF-1017 GINN, the Gerbera Straight was extremely sharp, and did not rely on the kinetic energy of a high-speed swing to cut through its targets. It was also covered with anti-beam coating, allowing it to parry beam sabers.

Many people and groups attempted to steal Red Frame from Lowe, but his combination of resourcefulness and luck caused these attempts to all fail. The most notable was by Orb test pilot Juri Wu Nien, undercover as Junk Guild technician Marlin, who briefly took control of Red Frame in an attempt to test its Natural-use OS. In the process, she and Lowe accidentally discovered that Red Frame’s hand plugs could emit a sphere of beam energy. Lowe soon put this ability to good use in a battle with Gold Frame pilot Rondo Ghina Sahaku, using the last-ditch weapon to temporarily blind Gold Frame’s sensors. However, Red Frame was forced to enter Earth’s atmosphere during the battle, and lost its right arm in the process. Fortunately, Lowe still had Gold Frame’s discarded arm from the Heliopolis factory, and used it as a replacement. He then brought Red Frame to Orb, where it was fully repaired at the Morgenroete headquarters. He also acquired an MBF-M1 M1 Astray flight pack, and modified it for use with Red Frame. Lowe also bought the severed head of a TMF/TR-2 BuCUE Tactical Reconnaissance Type at a black market auction and mounted it on Red Frame’s right arm to utilize the head’s double-bladed beam saber. However, this unusual weapon was lost almost immediately afterward during a ZAFT attack.

Lowe later built a huge 60 meter tall Power Loader robot for Red Frame to dock with (inspired by the ZGMF-X09A Justice and ZGMF-X10A Freedoms’ METEOR units), allowing it to wield another of his creations: a colossal 150 meter long version of the Gerbera Straight. After the Power Loader was destroyed by ZAFT’s ZGMF-X11A Regenerate, Lowe modified Red Frame into the “Powered Red,” with massive shoulder joints to generate enough power for Red Frame to swing the 150 meter Gerbera Straight on its own. However, Lowe soon restored Red Frame back to its original state. After leaving on a trip to Mars in CE 71, Lowe created a new upgrade adapted to that planet’s conditions, a large external armor package called the “Mars Jacket.” This armor gave Red Frame the appearance of a ZAFT-style mobile suit, and protected its more sensitive components (such as cameras and thruster ports) from Mars’ desert environment. It also allowed Red Frame to withstand the extreme heat of atmospheric re-entry. The bulk of this armor could be quickly jettisoned to reduce Red Frame’s weight and increase its agility, which reveals the mobile suit’s true identity. It mounted two large binders on its backpack, which each doubled as a scabbard for a "katana" similar to the original Gerbera Straight and also contains a beam cannon. The Mars Jacket Red Frame was first seen in action during the “Break the World” terrorist attack of October CE 73, when it used one of its "katanas" to slice apart pieces of Junius Seven in an effort to reduce the damage caused as they fell to Earth. Its pilot, however, was later revealed to be Diego Lowell, a Mars colonist who accompanied Lowe on his return trip to Earth. Diego later returned the Red Frame to Lowe, who transferred the Mars Jacket equipment to a “mass-production Astray” mobile suit which Diego would pilot.

pecifications

MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame

Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc/Orb Union
Users: Junk Guild
Unit type: prototype general purpose mobile suit
Rollout: 10 January, Cosmic Era 71
First Deployment: 25 January, Cosmic Era 71
Head height: 17.53 meters
Base weight: 49.8 metric tons
Special equipment: flight pack, underwater salvage gear, Power Loader
Powerplant: Ultracompact battery
Armament: “Igelstellung” 75 mm multi-barrel CIWS ×2, Type 70 beam saber ×2, Type 71 beam rifle ×1, “Gerbera Straight” "katana" ×1, shield ×1
Optional armament: TMF/TR-2 BuCUE Tactical Reconnaissance Type head with dual beam saber ×1
Pilot(s): Lowe Guele, Marlin also known as Juri Wu Nien

MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame with Power Loader

Manufacturer: Junk Guild
Users: Junk Guild
Unit type: MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame use power loader
Rollout: Cosmic Era 71
First Deployment: Cosmic Era 71
Overall height: 60 meters
Base weight: Unknown
Special equipment: None
Powerplant: Ultracompact battery
Armament: “Igelstellung” 75 mm multi-barrel CIWS ×2, “Gerbera Straight” "katana" ×1, 150 meter “Gerbera Straight” "katana" ×1
Pilot: Lowe Guele

MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame “Powered Red”

Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc/Orb Union
Users: Junk Guild
Unit type: Prototype general purpose mobile suit
Rollout: September, Cosmic Era 71
First Deployment: September, Cosmic Era 71
Head height: 17.53 meters
Base weight: Unknown
Special equipment: “Powered Red” arms
Powerplant: Ultracompact battery
Armament: “Igelstellung” 75 mm multi-barrel CIWS ×2, “Gerbera Straight” "katana" ×1, 150 meter “Gerbera Straight” "katana" ×1
Pilot: Lowe Guele

MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame “Mars Jacket”

Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc/Orb Union
Users: Junk Guild
Unit type: Prototype general purpose mobile suit
Rollout: Unknown
First Deployment: October, Cosmic Era 73
Head height: Unknown
Base weight: Unknown
Special equipment: “Mars Jacket” armor
Powerplant: Ultracompact battery
Armament: “Igelstellung” 75 mm multi-barrel CIWS ×2, “Gerbera Straight” "katana" ×2, high-energy beam cannon ×2, high-energy beam rifle ×1, beam "naginata" ×1, beam shield ×2
Pilot: Lowe Guele, Diego Lowell

Trivia

* The Red Frame strongly resembles the RX-78-5 5th Gundam “Gundam G05”, while Blue Frame and Gold Frame resemble RX-78-4 4th Gundam “Gundam G04” and RX-78-6 6th Gundam “Gundam Mudrock,” respectively.

* The design of the MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame “Powered Red” greatly resembles Tekkaman Blade.

* With the “Mars Jacket” armor equipped, Red Frame strongly resembles Zeon’s MS-14 Gelgoog series of mobile suits from the Universal Century timeline. The colour scheme is similar to Mars Zeon pilot Charles Rochester’s custom RF Gelgoog.

*Some have remarked that the Red Frame Powered Red’s massive arms are reminiscent in design to those of the Titans’ Byalant used by Jerid Messa in Zeta Gundam.

*The Red Frame is the only prototype Astray model to retain its original frame throughout the series. Coincidentally, it is also the only Astray not to have a model kit based on at least one of its upgrades (Power Loader, Powered Red, Mars Jacket or even just the flight pack) unlike the Blue Frame (which has its normal form in 1/144 and the Second L in 1/100) and Gold Frame (normal form in a limited edition 1/100 and Amatu Mina in the same scale, albeit regular edition). Possibly to balance this, a special red version of the Second L was released, though this kit is not canon to the story. Not surprisingly, as the kit is meant to be the Blue Frame in alternate colors, it doesn't come with Junk Guild decals or the Gerbera Straight "katana".