Saturday, March 31, 2012

Robot Damashii: Gundam Unicorn (Destroy Mode)

The RX-0 Unicorn Gundam (or Unicorn Gundam, Unicorn, RX-0) is the titular mobile suit of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, piloted by Banagher Links. When used for noble reasons by a pilot possessing the proper character, the RX-0 is the "key" to opening a mysterious object known only as "Laplace's Box".

Produced as a part of the E.F.S.F's reorganization plan - the "U.C. Project" - the Unicorn Gundam is a revolutionary design and to be the main symbol of the "U.C. project's" main goal - to destroy any traces of Zeonism in the Earth Sphere - and thus not only does it features a Gundam design, but also incorporates an anti-Newtype system. However, when the Vist Foundation took control of the project, they turned the Gundam into a symbol of possibility by making it the key to finding Laplace's Box - the embodied hope of the Universal Century. Featuring the most advanced mobile suit technology of the time, the machine's performance is unmatched.
Incorporating test data obtained from the experimental MSN-06S Sinanju Stein, the entire frame is lined with psyco-frame receptors, drastically increasing the responsiveness of the unit and allowing it to be piloted like an extension of the pilot's body. In some cases, this responsiveness is so high that it appears the suit acts on its own without any actions from the pilot. In addition, the Unicorn utilizes a special "La+ Program" OS and a system known as the "NT-D" (or Newtype Destroyer) which activates the suit's psyco-frame and dramatically increases the suit's performance.
In its normal mode, the Unicorn's head is similar in appearance to those of Londo Bell's mass-produced mobile suits, with the addition of a single, horn-like antenna extending from the forehead (hence the name "Unicorn"). In terms of its armaments in normal mode, the Unicorn is very lightly armed, with half of its built-in weaponry only being available in Destroy Mode.
Destroy Mode is the form the Unicorn Gundam takes when its NT-D System is activated. The transformation is marked by an expansion of the suit's frame. The armor seams separate and lock down into various hard-points, while the newly exposed psyco-frame emits a pinkish-red glow (attributed to a psyco-frame luminescence phenomenon). In this mode, the mobile suit becomes taller and its head transforms to one having standard Gundam features, the visor and face guard retracts into the head to reveal the mouth plate and the antenna splitting into a V-fin. In order to prevent its transformation being interrupted, its I-Field strength will be increased, at least temporary. Additionally a pair of beam Vulcan guns will be revealed on the shoulders, and two additional beam sabers will extend out of the backpack.
In this form, the suit's psyco-frame scans the pilot's thoughts and directly transmits them to the suit's drive system; in other words, the Unicorn can ultimately be controlled by the pilot's thoughts alone. The machine's performance - its mobility in particular - is dramatically increased when the NT-D is active partially due to the exposure and activation of six additional thrusters. In addition to the performance boost, the NT-D also allows the Unicorn to take control of an enemy's psycommu weapons. However, the stress placed on the mind by manipulating an object more than tenfold the size of an average human is extraordinary.
Even with the aid of the psyco-frame the pilot's mind can only endure roughly five minutes of operation before a safeguard is believed to activate, deactivating the psyco-frame and returning the mobile suit to its normal form. Furthermore, the system activates not according to the pilot's discretion, but automatically upon the detection of another Newtype. The system also directs the movement of the suit when active, and does not completely depend on the pilot for commands. By default, the system will automatically attempt to destroy any Newtype enemies it detects, but requires the pilot to give it a conscience so it does not merely become a killing machine.

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