GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam

The GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam is a transformable heavy assault mobile suit, featured in the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
As its name implies, the Destroy Gundam is built for only one purpose: massive destruction. Nearly three times as large as an average MS, this massive unit can destroy an enemy mobile suit by simply stepping upon it. To accomplish its goal of mass destruction, the unit is equipped with a large number of weapons that allows it to singlehandedly destroy a big city like Berlin or take out a large number of mobile suits and support crafts. Its designation, "GFAS-X", stands for "Gressorial Fortress Armament Strategic - EXperimental".

Despite its large size, the Destroy Gundam is piloted only by a single pilot unlike its predecessor, the YMAG-X7F Gells-Ghe. However, the pilot has to be a Biological CPU or someone who has undergone similar enhancement. The Destroy Gundam is classified as a transformable mobile suit and is usually launched in its mobile armor mode that allows it to hover over the ground at low altitudes through the use of several thrusters mounted in its massive backpack. It can transform into MS mode by rotating its lower half 180 degrees, lowering the arms and flipping the backpack to the back. The suit's backpack is equipped with three of the suit's weapons, including four high-energy beam cannons, 20 thermal plasma composite cannons mounted around the backpack's circumference that can fire in every direction and four 6-tube multipurpose missile launchers. Other weapons of the suit include head-mounted 200mm energy cannon and four 75mm CIWS, three chest-mounted 1580mm multi-phase energy cannons, and two detachable arms each equipped with a 5-barrel hand beam cannon. The latter functions like DRAGOON pods, allowing the suit to attack its target at any range, regardless of obstacles standing in the way. Aside from its vast array of offensive weaponry, the Destroy also carries defensive equipment in the form of three positron reflector shields, one is mounted in the backpack and usable only in MA mode, and the other two are on the detachable arms and usable only in MS mode.

Due to its bulk, the Destroy Gundam has poor mobility and serves more as a movable gun platform. This weakness is often exploited by enemy units, particularly high mobility mobile suits piloted by ace pilots, to take the Destroy Gundam down by getting in close and using close combat beam weaponry. Alternatively DRAGOON Pods armed with beam spikes (such as the large DRAGOON Pods of the ZGMF-X666S Legend) can penetrate the Destroy's Positron Reflectors and quickly tear through the interior of the machine.

Armaments

 * "Aufprall Dreizehn" High-energy Beam Cannon
 * Mounted on the backpack of the Destroy, the four "Aufprall Dreizehn" high-energy beam cannons are the suit's most destructive weaponry and they also have the longest attack range. They are capable of destroying anything that is in their firing path, but can only be used in MA mode.


 * "Zorn Mk2" 200mm Energy Cannon
 * Mounted on the mouth section of the Destroy's head, this energy cannon is derived from the GAT-X370 Raider's mouth-mounted energy cannon. It can deal heavy damage to anything that hinders Destroy's rampage, it can be used in conjunction with the Super Scylla cannons for serious destruction. It is usable in MS mode only.


 * "Nefertem 503" Thermal Plasma Composite Cannon
 * A set of 20 beam cannons mounted around the circumference of the Destroy's backpack, these beam cannons appear to be capable of continuous fire for limited amounts of time, and can adjust its shooting angle by rotating its barrels while being fired. These beam cannons are usable in both MA and MS mode.


 * "Igelstellung" 75mm Automatic Multi-barrel CIWS
 * The Destroy Gundam has four "Igelstellung" CIWS mounted in its head, these rapid fire weapons are usable only in MS mode and are normally used to shoot down missiles, weakly armored targets or stop enemy units from closing in. However, the Destroy rarely used them, as most enemy units would have been destroyed by the suit's array of weaponry before they can get too close.


 * "Super Scylla" 1580mm Multi-phase Energy Cannon
 * Derived from both the GAT-X303 Aegis and GAT-X131 Calamity's Scylla Multi-phase Energy Cannon, three of these cannons are mounted on the chest of the Destroy and are usable only when the suit is in MS form. They can deal serious damage against most targets, and can be fired in conjunction with its "Zorn Mk 2" energy beam cannon for maximum effect.


 * "Sturm Faust" Detachable Arm
 * The forearms of the Destroy Gundam can detach and serve as wireless remote controlled weaponry like the DRAGOON Pods. They can be deployed in both MA and MS mode, and can operate in the Earth atmosphere, unlike most other types of remotely operated weapons. Each of the "Sturm Faust" detachable arms is equipped with a 5-barreled beam cannon, and has a positron reflector shield for defensive purposes.


 * MJ-1703 5-barrel Hand Beam Cannon
 * A single beam cannon unit, whose multiple barrels masquerade as the Destroy's fingers. They are mounted in the "Sturm Faust" detachable arms and are used for multi-directional attacks during MS mode.


 * Mark 62 6-tube Multipurpose Missile Launcher
 * Four missile launchers (with two facing the front and the rear) are mounted on the top surface of the backpack, they are primarily used for mobile unit interception and pure offensive barrage.


 * "Schneidschutz" SX1021 Positron Reflector Shield
 * With three such devices mounted on the Destroy: one on each Sturm Faust detachable arm, and one more on the backpack; these positron reflector shields allows the Destroy to block almost every form of ranged weaponry that an enemy can fire at this massive mobile behemoth. The positron reflector shields are generated by the green-colored emitter in each location, and the arm-mounted shields are usable only in MS mode, while the back-mounted shield is usable only in MA mode.

Special Equipment & Features

 * Operating System
 * The Destroy uses the unique yet unit- exclusive- Gigantic Unilateral Numerous Dominating Ammunition Fortress operating system.

Initial Strike: The Battle of Berlin
The first Destroy unit was stationed aboard the land carrier Bonaparte, where it is assigned to Extended Natural pilot, Stella Loussier. Together with a small number of Earth Alliance mobile suits, the massive suit sortied several times against ZAFT-occupied cities in Eurasia, causing massive damage to the ZAFT forces and killing thousands of people. This was ordered by LOGOS Leader Lord Djibril in order to show the world the consequences of aligning themselves with ZAFT.

From the steppes of Russia, Destroy finally reached Berlin, in Germany. While engaging the remaining ZAFT forces in the area, the Archangel and the ZGMF-X10A Freedom intervened. Together they fought against the Destroy, which, after maintaining its mobile armor mode, finally transformed into its mobile suit mode. Later on, the ZAFT battleship Minerva engaged the Destroy under direct yet emergency orders from the PLANT Supreme Council to aide their surviving comrades. As the only functional MS stationed on the Minerva, the ZGMF-X56S Impulse was launched, with its pilot Shinn Asuka being the only one able to deal damage on the Destroy with its beam saber attack. Before he could finish it, he is warned by Phantom Pain Colonel Neo Roanoke in his customized GAT-04+AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Windam, that the Destroy's pilot is none other than- Stella Loussier. Stunned by the revelation, Shinn tried to talk to her and was momentarily able to stop Stella from causing more harm, until an explosion within the cockpit caused her to spot the Freedom. Stella's conditioning kicked in, and she attempted to use the Destroy's Zorn Mk2 and Super Scylla cannons combination attack against the Freedom, forcing Kira Yamato; the Freedom's pilot, to attack the Destroy by stabbing it in the middle chest cannon unit, then strifing the remaining two with its Beam Saber. The attack resulted in the near- destruction of the unit; and the explosions created by its destruction, contributed to the death of its first pilot; Stella Loussier.

The Short- Lived Fortress Defenders: The Battle of Heaven's Base
After PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Gilbert Durandal exposed LOGOS's existence to the world, a large fleet of ZAFT and Earth Alliance renegade forces attacked the LOGOS' main headquarters in Iceland, in the shadow of the Earth Alliance's stronghold- "Heaven's Base". During the battle, five more Destroy units were fielded, one of which was piloted by Extended Natural and former ZGMF-X24S Chaos pilot; Sting Oakley. Their first act was to simultaneously fire their "Aufprall Dreizehn" cannons, destroying dozens of ships in the progress- most of which were former EAF naval units. As they proceed on destroying the remainder of ZAFT's Invasion Force with most of the Destroy Unit's fully utilized; ZAFT pilots Shinn Asuka with his new ZGMF-X42S Destiny, Rey Za Burrel in his new ZGMF-X666S Legend and Lunamaria Hawke in Shinn's former MS, Impulse; were able to put a halt on their rampage once and for all. Together the three Gundam pilots were able to destroy the five Destroy units, carving the path for ZAFT's victory over the remainder of the LOGOS Group.

The Final Blow: The Battle of Daedalus
Followed after the initial attack of the EAF's Requiem superweapon, the Minerva launched a surprise attack on the EAF's Daedalus lunar base. To defend the base, three more Destroys, along with a large number of mobile suits and mobile armors were deployed. The three however proved to be no match for Shinn and Rey in their suits- Destiny and Legend respectively whose weapons had reached their full potential. The downfall of the last of these monstrosities, led to the defeat of the Earth Forces- again.

Notes & Trivia

 * It was unknown if the unit piloted by Stella Loussier was equipped with a Geschmeidig Panzer Energy Deflection Armor (as shown in the anime as it fights initially with the ZAFT Forces in Berlin, and its fight with Kira Yamato's Freedom Gundam and Shinn Asuka's Impulse Gundam) which deflects most of the ZAFT Forces' beam and projectile weapons, the Freedom's Full Burst Mode, and the beam rifle barrage from Impulse.
 * Destroy's concept and design are very similar to the MRX-009 Psyco Gundam/MRX-010 Psyco Gundam Mark II in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and its mobile armor mode closely resembles the MA-08 Big Zam in Mobile Suit Gundam.
 * It should be noted that all 3 of the aforementioned mobile weapons were all destroyed by beam sabers.
 * The detachable hands of the Destroy closely mirror those found on the MSN-02 Zeong and AMX-014 Doven Wolf.
 * This unit should not be confused with the GT-9600-D Gundam Leopard Destroy from After War Gundam X.
 * The final battle between Shinn (Impulse), Kira (Freedom) and Stella (Destroy) can be considered a remake of the battle between Kamille Bidan (Z Gundam), Four Murasame (Psyco Gundam) and Jerid Messa (Byarlant). Shinn and Kamille share the same role in the battle, as well as Stella and Four and Kira and Jerid. Though Kira attacked the Destroy, not Shinn.
 * A curious note is, that all three of the Gundams participating in the battle mentioned above (Impulse, Freedom and Destroy) all have exactly the same number of letters (7) in their respective names.
 * Destroy is the only Earth Alliance Gundam that was mass-produced and not part of the GAT Series, and used a unit- exclusive MS Operating System.
 * Despite it's sheer size and firepower- its power source and armor type are unknown. However, based on speculations and its combat performance; it's possible that the unit is powered by multiple ultracompact batteries, nuclear reactor with N-Jammer Canceller, or power source similar to what Archangel or Minerva uses (which are also unknown).