Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Astray R

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Astray R (機動戦士ガンダムSEED DESTINY ASTRAY R) is newly released side-story published alongside Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Astray B to celebrate the HD Remastering of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny anime series. It first debuted on March 25th of 2013 in the Dengeki Hobby magazine.

Story
After Lowe Guele of the Junk Guild returned to Earth from his journey to Mars, the world was entering a new era of turmoil.

Episode.01: Junk Guild Assembly
Once a year, a general assembly for junk shops around the world is held. Here, products are determined for mass production to be officially sold. Lowe Guele brings his Caletvwlch equipment he designed to showcase in front of other junk shops. The sudden appearance of a N Dagger N wreaks havoc in the venue, prompting Lowe to act and launch in the Gundam Astray Red Frame equipped with the Caletvwlch to help his companions.

Episode.02: To the D.S.S.D
Lowe gets approval from Junk Guild chairman Liam Garfield to visit one of DSSD's space stations, feeling he could offer them help with some of the insight gained from his martian excursion. Arriving at the DSSD station, Lowe begins to market a customized Civilian Astray which is actually a prototype for another mobile suit that he is working on for a martian girl. The custom DSSD Astray features an experimental shield that also incorporates a beam shield emitter, and a modified electromagnetic propulsion system which allows the prototype to convert received energy to keep the shield powered potentially indefinitely. However, Lowe's sales pitch is interrupted by alarms as unidentified Mobile Suits approach the station. As DSSD mobilizes its Civilian Astrays to intercept them, Lowe decides it would be a fine opportunity to show off his prototype's capabilities.

Lowe approaches the ZAFT deserters, which are piloting GINN High Maneuver Type II's and blocks an attack with his beam shield. Inside the space station Kisato is not happy that Lowe is out fighting and begins to worry as another man in the room, Valerio Valeri notes that the DSSD forces are being pushed back, and is bothered with her mewling, professing a disgust for Naturals. V.V. is secretly the one who ordered the N Dagger N's to attack the Junk Guild previously, although this attack is merely coincidental, he still is hopeful it lead lead to the demise of the junker Lowe Guele. But then additional Mobile Suits enter the area, Gai Murakumo's Astray Blue Frame and Elijah Kiel's ZAKU, who had been pursuing the ZAFT rebels. With the assistance of his allies from Serpent Tail, the tides of the battle are turned and Lowe takes the opportunity to switch to his Astray Red Frame so he can show off the Caletvwlch to Gai. Using it to dispatch the GINNs, Lowe brags about its capabilities, though Elijah asks when it was that the Junk Guild became weapons manufacturers, and in a rare moment of self-reflection Lowe begins to realize that he might have taken his presentation a bit too far.

Episode.03: Your Treasure Hunt
V.V. schemes in private to lure Lowe Guele into a trap, however, because Lowe is a Natural, he doesn't actually feel that he will need to make a very complicated plot to trap the junker and take what he wants from him. On Earth, Lowe and 8 are in the Astray Red Frame, which is equipped with the latest version of underwater salvage unit. They have arrived at the Gigafloat, a mobile mass driver which floats in the sea, pursuing a hidden pirate treasure with a map sent to Lowe by a professed fan. Despite the obvious suspicion of the letter, Lowe thought that a treasure hunt would be fun even if it was fake, but as they follow the clues he wonders if there may actually be something to it, as they are being stealthily pursued by two ASH.

Lowe enters an underwater system of caverns, following it as it forks upwards until he notices that he is actually no longer in the water. Lowe ejects the underwater salvage gear, noting that he remodeled it so that it can be refit easily now for the return trip out. It is pitch black inside the cavern, so it is difficult for Lowe to make out his surroundings. The two ASH attack Lowe, and due to the darkness he has trouble pin-pointing their locations visually. Lowe activates the Red Frame's experimental Ddraig Head beam antenna, and using it as a light source is able to disable one of the ASH. Lowe gives the other ASH pilot an ultimatum, allowing him to retrieve his fellow pilot and withdraw, and they do. Lowe then finds a chest, which he believes must contain the treasure of the pirate king.

When V.V. gets the report that his plan failed, he is angry that a Natural could outwit his trap, and wonders if it was Lowe's computer assistant, 8, that helped him out of it, as capturing 8 has been V.V.'s true objective the whole time. V.V. vows to get Lowe next time, and hopes he enjoys the treasure he prepared for him. Back at the Gigafloat, Lowe opens the treasure chest and finds that it contains only old pairs of cloths, remarking that the pirate king must have had an awful fashion sense.

Junk Guild

 * Lowe Guele
 * 8
 * Kisato Yamabuki
 * Liam Garfield

Serpent Tail

 * Gai Murakumo
 * Elijah Kiel

Orb Union

 * Rondo Mina Sahaku

Others

 * Valerio Valeri

Junk Guild

 * MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame
 * MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame Red Dragon
 * MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame "Powered Red"
 * MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame Salvage unit
 * TMF/A-802 P-Mod.W BuCUE Waltfeld Custom Type
 * ZGMF-1017 Works GINN

Serpent Tail

 * MBF-P03secondL Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second L
 * ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Elijah Kiel Custom

Earth Alliance

 * GAT-SO2R N Dagger N

Orb Union

 * MBF-P01-Re2AMATU Gundam Astray Gold Frame Amatsu Mina Custom

ZAFT

 * UMF/SSO-3 ASH
 * ZGMF-X56S Destiny Impulse R

ZAFT Deserters

 * ZGMF-1017M2 GINN High Maneuver Type II

Civilians

 * MWF-JGP99G Gundam Astray Violence Geist