MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame

The Astray Red Frame is a Mobile Suit in the manga series Gundam SEED Astray.

Technology and Combat Characteristics
The MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame is a prototype combat mobile suit developed using stolen data from the Earth Alliance's G Project. Most of the technology from the G Project was successfully copied with the exception of Phase Shift armor. In its place the Astrays' designers made the machines out of a lighter foaming metal compound and were built with minimal armor over the frame. This made the Astray mobile suits lighter and faster than their G Project counterparts.

Originally, the Astray Red Frame was armed with the standard armament of the other prototype Astray suits. These weapons include two head-mounted "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS, two back-mounted beam sabers for close combat, a Type 71 beam rifle and a single physical shield. Red Frame pilot Lowe Guele eventually added another piece of armament to the Red Frame standard armament, which is the "Gerbera Straight" katana. Lowe also created a 150 meters long version of this sword, which however can't be carried by the Red Frame in its normal configuration.

When equipped with the "Mars Jacket" armor, additional armament is added to the suit. These additional weapons include two katanas, two high-energy beam cannons, a single high-energy beam cannon and a dual beam naginata.

Unlike the other Astray units, the Red Frame had an additional feature, which could be used as a weapon. Like other mobile suits that use beam weapons, the Red Frame is equipped with hand plugs to exchange energy with weapons the suit carries. The Red Frame has the ability to emit beam weapon-like energy from his hand plugs which could be used as a emergency weapon, for example to temporarily blind enemies.

Armaments

 * CIWS
 * As with the other Orb Astray prototype, the Red Frame is equipped with head-mounted "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS.


 * "Gerbera Straight" Katana
 * While Red Frame had the same basic armament of the other two Gundam Astray units, Lowe dislikes the high energy requirements of the beam weapons. Therefore, he favors 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 is extremely sharp, and does not rely on the kinetic energy of a high-speed swing to cut through its targets. It is also covered with anti-beam coating, allowing it to parry beam sabers.


 * 150 meter katana
 * After the Junk Guild group to which Lowe belonged found a large piece of rare metal, Lowe forged a huge, 150 meters long version of his "Gerbera Straight" katana out of this metal. Since the standard version of the Red Frame isn't able to handle the sheer size of this sword, Lowe created two additional equipments for his suit to carry and use the large sword. These equipments were first the large Power Loader and later the additional arm equipments of the Red Frame "Powered Red" version.


 * Tactical Arms IIL
 * After the Red Frame is damaged in a fight with Librarian Works' LN-GAT-X207 Nebula Blitz Gundam, the mobile suit is heavily upgraded. The main weapon of the Astray Blue Frame 2nd Revise, the Tactical Arms II was transferred to the Red Frame after the Blue Frame was critically damaged while fighting the MBF-P05LM2 Gundam Astray Mirage Frame 2nd Issue. The Tactical Arms II was modified to Lowe's specifications, and with the help of Ergnes Brahe. Renaming it the Tactical Arms IIL ("L" for Lowe). The weapon is mostly identical to the Blue Frame 2nd Revise's and retains the Sword mode and Sword Arm mode. The flight mode has been changed somewhat where the configuration is similar to a sub lifter wing. The unit also adds the new Arrow mode and a hand carried Beam Torch for standard use. The Tactical Arms IIL can also go through 3 additional modes as well. The Work Mode, which uses the Tactical Arms IIL as a giant pincer, the V-Mode and the Delta Mode, which generates Voiture Lumiere from the backpack due to it's separate power source. This is somehow the same technology the Martian developers used in both the GSF-YAM01 Δ Astray and MMF-JG73L Turn Δ.

System Features

 * Flight unit
 * While staying in Orb, Lowe acquired an MBF-M1 M1 Astray flight pack, and modified it for use with Red Frame. The detachable backpack now features fuel tanks in its left and right wings, which give the modified flight unit greater cruising range than the original version.


 * Underwater salvage gear
 * Using the exterior of a UMF-4A GOOhN mobile suit, Lowe created a diving suit for the Red Frame. This suit not only mounts searchlight when operating in great water depths but also two manipulator arms, since the Red Frame's own arms are hidden underneath the suit. The salvage gear even grants the suit combat abilities underwater since the "Gerbera Straight" katana can be mounted on the back of the suit.


 * Power Loader
 * After forging the large 150 meter katana, Lowe built a huge 60 meter tall Power Loader robot for the Red Frame to dock with (inspired by the ZGMF-X09A Justice and ZGMF-X10A Freedoms' METEOR units), allowing it to wield the large sword. This Power Loader is a large mobile suit-like unit, which is docked with the Red Frame for control. Due to its immense size, the Loader can be split in two parts for easier storage.


 * "Powered Red" arms
 * 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. These joints use new power cylinders created by engineer and mobile suit pilot Jean Carry.


 * "Mars Jacket" armor
 * After leaving on a trip to Mars in 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 identiy. It mounts two large binders on its backpack, which each double as a scabbard for a katana similar to the original Gerbera Straight and also contain a beam cannon. The "Mars Jacket" armor can also be transferred to a mass-produced Astray.

History
In CE 71, the Orb Union's Morgenroete corporation built five Gundam Astray prototype mobile suits at Heliopolis, the MBF-P01 Astray Gold Frame, MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame, MBF-P03 Astray Blue Frame, MBF-P04 Astray Green Frame and MBF-P05 Astray Mirage Frame, which were used to base the five G Project 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 not use Earth Alliance weapons.

On January 25, CE 71, ZAFT's attack on Heliopolis to steal the Alliance Gundams also unknowingly interrupted the Astray project. In order 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.

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 recruit 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 energy, using it to destroy the sensors of another mercenary mobile suit that had come to take Red Frame. 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. 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.

After getting repaired at Morgenroete Lowe would use the Red Frame to aid in the construction, and then defend the Giga-Float mass driver from attack until it was complete. Afterward the Red Frame would be taken back into space where Lowe would use it, alongside Gai's MBF-P03 Astray Blue Frame, to battle Rondo Ghina Sahaku's MBF-P01-ReAMATU Astray Gold Frame Amatu, resulting in the latter's death.

After creating the Power Loader, Lowe used it with the 150 meter katana to slice the fragments of Junius Seven in half to prevent it from crashing into other PLANTs. Afterwards, Lowe and Gai teamed up to fight against insane ZAFT commander Ash Gray and his Regenerate. To fight the large suit, Lowe used the Power Loader and the 150 meter katana, but the Loader was destroyed by Ash. Following this battle, Lowe upgraded the Red Frame to the "Powered Red" configuration to wield the giant sword and with it finally defeated the Regenerate. Afterwards, Lowe restored Red Frame back to its original state.

After leaving for Mars, Lowe created the "Mars Jacket" armor for his Red Frame, with which the suit was still equipped after it returned to the Earth Sphere. It was here that the suit was stolen by Diego Lowell, a Mars colonist who came back with Lowe. Diego used the Mars Jacket Red Frame 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. Diego eventually returned the stolen suit, with Lowe afterwards transferring the "Mars Jacket" armor to an MWF-JG73 Civilian Astray JG Custom.

In Mobile Suit Gundam seed vs Astray, another Red Frame is developed from the mobile suit, the MWF-JG71 Raysta. Lowe's Red Frame however got totally damaged by the Librarian Works's LN-GAT-X207 Nebula Blitz Gundam, piloted by Lily Thevalley. After this, the unit is repaired and upgraded into the MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame Kai using the Tactical Arms IIL as it's standard weapon.

Variants

 * MBF-P02Kai Gundam Astray Red Frame Kai
 * MBF-M1 Astray

Trivia

 * 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.