GN-001REII Gundam Exia Repair II

The GN-001REII Gundam Exia Repair II (aka Gundam Exia Repair II, Exia R2, R2) is the repaired and upgraded version of the original GN-001 Gundam Exia, appearing in episode 25 of season 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. It was piloted by Setsuna F. Seiei.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Exia Repair II (or R2) is the repaired and enhanced version of GN-001RE Gundam Exia Repair. After its GN Drive was salvaged and installed into GN-0000 00 Gundam, Exia was transferred and stored within one of their disclosed asteroid bases. With Celestial Being short on resources and in need of available units, Celestial Being engineers rebuilt Exia with the latest advancements in mobile suit (MS) technology as a reserve/spare Gundam.

One of the huge weaknesses of the original Gundam Exia was the abundant amount of exposed cables that can be found all over its body; including some that are not usually found in other Third Generation Gundams. These cables are important as they are used for both GN Particle transfer as well as posture control due to the particles' weight reducing effects. The reason why Exia had many exposed cables was because they allowed Exia a much finer posture control, but this setup was very risky as they're also vulnerable to attacks. To counter this weakness, the Exia R2's particle transfer system was redesigned and the cables are now internalized within the armor.

The rear of Exia R2 shows notable differences as a series of thrusters and exhaust ports are added upon its rear shoulder armor, rear torso, and calves for enhanced speed and maneuverability in combat. Except for improvements from the internalization of the cables, the armor system appears to remain the same,

Before the discovery of the Trans-Am System, Celestial Being engineers attempted to increase Exia's speed by creating a special function with its GN Drive cone, Burst Mode. The cone would unlock and temporarily release a large amount of particles to give Exia greater bursts of speed. However burst function was proven unstable and as a result, was rarely used.

For weapons and equipment, its damaged GN Sword (primary weapon) has been refitted with an enhanced variant, the GN Sword Kai. The new sword is a cross design between its former and the GN Sword III of 00 Gundam; its blade edge is lined with GN Condenser material. Like its former, the GN Sword Kai  is retractable and equipped with a GN Beam Rifle under the sword for mid-ranged combat. Due to the power of the GN Sword Kai, Exia's original Seven Swords System was omitted; it still retains a pair of GN Beam Sabers (relocated from the back, now on the hip) for high-speed melee combat.

The battle between UN Forces (A.D. 2307) resulted in a significant loss in Exia’s complements. The GNR-001E GN Arms Type-E, and Assault Container was all lost during that conflict. One unknown variable is Exia's Avalanche Dash Armor System, but it too is believed to be no longer available for Exia to utilize.

In terms of combat tactics, R2 relies on high-speed melee combat to destroy its targets. Using a combination of its great mobility and the GN Sword Kai, it can swiftly cut down enemy targets. Because the GN Sword Kai is a large and heavy weapon, it is not effective against fast-acting enemy targets. In such situations, Exia can deploy its GN Beam Sabers for high-speed close quarters combat (CQC). Against intercepting light MSs, GN Fangs, aircrafts, and/or (GN) missiles, R2 can deploy its forearm mounted GN Vulcans to shoot them down. During emergency situations, the Trans-Am System can be activated to temporarily give R2 three times its combat capabilities.

After the battle against GN-000 0 Gundam, Exia was salvaged once again, but its GN Drive was damaged beyond repair. With resources in short supply and MSs in high demand, Celestial Being engineers repaired Exia once more and supplemented its missing GN Drive with a particle storage tank and added a long range rifle for limited assignments and interventions. Celestial Being engineers re-dubbed Exia as GN-001REIII Gundam Exia Repair III (aka R3).

Armaments

 * GN Sword Kai
 * The primary weapon of the repaired Exia is the GN Sword Kai. While virtually identical to Exia's original GN Sword, the new weapon incorporates the new more powerful green Condenser material edge technology that was also seen on the GN Sword III. It is said to be much more powerful than the previous GN Sword that the Seven Sword System was no longer needed.


 * GN Beam Sabers
 * The improved Exia features only two beam sabers compared to Exia's original Seven Blade System complements. The beam saber hilts are stored on the side skirts (they can rotate a full 360 for quick access) where the GN Blades used to be stored. Unlike Exia's standard beam sabers, the lengths of the beam blades can be adjusted; it can be configured to be used as throwing knives (similar to GN Beam Daggers) or the size of a sword, relative to the combat situation.


 * GN Vulcans
 * These weapons are smaller versions of GN Beam weaponry and are located on Exia R2's wrists. Purely secondary weapons, they are used to engage soft targets (missiles, GN Fangs, aircrafts, etc) and in a defensive capacity. Setsuna only fires one shot in the battle with Ribbons Almark piloting GN-000 0 Gundam in Season 2 Episode 25.

Special Equipment & Features

 * "GN Drive Burst Mode"
 * A feature of Exia's GN Drive chassis. By releasing the limiter compartment, a temporary burst state of the GN Drive is possible. Since regular use is not recommended, this ability was rarely activated. This feature was also available on the Original Exia but was only seen onscreen being used once with the R2.


 * Optical Camouflage
 * The system is an advanced camouflage projection system that allows R2 to blend into its surroundings like a chameleon to evade enemy detection. However, it was never clear did Celestial Being engineers restored the system and/or enhance the system to modern capabilities.


 * Trans-Am System
 * In emergency situations, R2 can activate Trans-Am to release all its particles for advanced combat for around three minutes. In this state, R2 has three times its combat capabilities and it is commonly used to quickly end a battle and/or used as a emergency escape measure. The downside to the system is that unit will suffer a sharp reduction of performance after complete usage until the GN Drive and the GN Condensers are recharged.

Variants

 * GN-001REIII Gundam Exia Repair III
 * PPGN-001 Gundam Amazing Exia

History
Setsuna spent the five years after Operation Fallen Angels independent of Celestial being. Both he and a crippled Exia returned to the fold in 2312. After its GN Drive was transferred to 00 Gundam, Exia was moved to an alternate location. Subsequent evaluation found that despite the serious damage inflicted by Graham Aker's GN Flag, wear and tear from nearly half a decade of improvised maintenance, and a crippling defeat at the hands of an A-Laws Ahead, the chassis was still structurally sound. The decision was made to repair and refit Exia for use as a second-line unit, either with a GN Particle storage tank, similar to 0 Gundam's configuration for its final combat sortie under Celestial Being's banner, or by swapping the GN Drive of a front-line Gundam that was too damaged for combat.

Eventually, Exia R2 was deployed under the second configuration. The 00 Raiser was severely damaged after battling Ribbons Almark's CB-0000G/C Reborns Gundam and left with only a single GN Drive. Sumeragi Lee Noriega ordered the remaining drive fitted to R2 so Setsuna could continue to fight. Together once again with his original Gundam, Setsuna faced Ribbons and GN-000 0 Gundam in one final battle. While the victory would go to Setsuna, R2 was severely damaged in battle when the cockpit was penetrated by 0 Gundam's beam saber and when 0 Gundam subsequently exploded, the GN Sword Kai was also destroyed. In this same battle, Exia's GN Drive also somehow got damaged to the point of destruction or non-working state. The circumstances of how it got destroyed is not known nor elaborated, although speculatively it may be related to the usage of the unstable Burst Mode as well as the beam saber damage taken from 0 Gundam. Exia however was eventually repaired and was usable again in the future and was used by Setsuna during his ELS investigation before encountering Saji and Louise.

Notes & Trivia

 * Notice that in episode 25 of the first season, Graham's beam saber pierced Exia's right side, whereas in episode 25 of the second season 0 Gundam pierced its left side.
 * The R2 has the record of having the shortest operation time of a Gundam piloted by a main character before becoming unusable, about 3 minutes including deployment. Since Exia R2 was reused by Setsuna during his investigation in A.D. 2314, this fact is disputed. This, however, doesn't change the fact that Exia R2 has the record of having the shortest animated operation time.
 * Along with the 0 Gundam, Exia R2 did not appear in Super Robot Wars Z2 Saisei-hen, included in the final scenario of Gundam 00 scenario, where they were supposed to replace the role of 00 Raiser and Reborns Gundam. According to the rumors, the lack of funds of the developer is the reason of their absence in the game. Another is that the director didn't want to take away a player's upgrade for a much weaker unit.
 * In the recent bunch of G Generation games (World, Overworld, Wars), it lacks any sort of trans-am attack despite it being possible.
 * Though the reason for this and the lack of trans-am in the final battle may pertain to either the synchronization of the two drives or the amount of particles used up before hand and the risk of post trans-am reduced performance.