AMX-004 Qubeley

The AMX-004 Qubeley (キュベレイ, Kyuberei) is a mobile suit that appears in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ. The unit is piloted by Haman Karn.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The Qubeley is a next generation mobile suit designed for Newtypes that features numerous technological innovations which allow it to fight on par with other advanced mobile suits that appeared during the Gryps Conflict and the First Neo Zeon War.

Developed from the data gathered from the MS-09R4 Psycommu Rick Dom "Schnee Weiss" and the AMX-001 Prototype Qubeley, the Qubeley featured a set of wing binders on its shoulders to assist in AMBAC (Active Mass Balance Auto Control), granting phenomenal mobility. Though appearing like a set of two, the wing binders are actually four independently moving sections with two mounted on each shoulder. Though lacking the full range of motion as the arms and legs, these wing binders bring the Qubeley's total number of movable limbs up to eight. Furthermore the wing binders are the location of the Qubeley's primary thrusters, which cannot be placed on the unit in the form of a backpack as is the standard practice with mobile suits due to the tail binder. The Qubeley is also one of the first Zeon mobile suits to use a dual-type optical sensor instead of the traditional mono-eye. The Qubeley lacks the mega particle cannons of the prototype version, replacing them with a pair of dual-purpose beam guns that can double as beam sabers for close-range combat.

The most incredible feature of the Qubeley is the fact that it is the first combat mobile suit to be equipped with a mobile suit-sized psycommu system with the new remote funnel weapon. The prototype featured a similar system but its psycommu had not been fully miniaturized and the funnels were stored in its main body, leaving the prototype with a large body that stood 25 meters tall. The system aboard the Qubeley had been perfected and its ten funnel weapons were stored in a tail binder allowing for quicker deployment and recall for charging.

Already a formidable mobile suit with its ability to attack from multiple directions with its funnels, the Qubeley was the pinnacle of mobile suit technology in the Gryps Conflict and the First Neo Zeon War.

Armaments

 * Beam Gun/Saber
 * The standard weapons of the Qubeley is a set of dual purpose beam guns/beam sabers that are stored in the forearms. When used as beam guns the weapons remain mounted in the forearms, but when used as beam sabers they are hand carried.


 * Funnels
 * The Qubeley keeps 10 funnels stored in a tail binder. These funnels are technological descendants of the Elmeth's remote bit weapons. The funnels are smaller than the bits as they lack their own power generators, instead using energy capacitors. This allows the funnels to be small enough so that a large number of them can be stored on a mobile suit but requires that the funnels return to the tail binder for recharging after a certain amount of time.

Special Equipment & Features

 * Psycommu system
 * During the One Year War, the researchers of the Flanagan Institute discover that Newtypes emit powerful thoughtwaves - similar to regular brainwaves, but not electrical in nature - which they call psycho-waves. The Flanagan Institute goes on to develop a mind-machine interface called the psycommu (psycho-communicator) system, which receives these thoughtwaves and translates them into computer commands. Using this interface a Newtype pilot can direct remote weapons, and operate huge mobile armors, by thought alone. The Principality forces based at the asteroid Axis succeed in miniaturizing the psycommu system, so that it can be installed in regular-sized mobile suits like the AMX-004 Qubeley. The Federation Forces, meanwhile, concentrate on developing artificially enhanced cyber-Newtypes to operate their psycommu weapons.

History
A next-generation mobile suit development of the Principality of Zeon's MAN-08 Elmeth mobile armor, the AMX-004 Qubeley was designed and built by Axis military leader Haman Karn for her personal use. The Qubeley would be fielded during the Gryps Conflict at the end of which it and its pilot Haman Karn would fight against Quattro Bajeena and his MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki. Despite Quattro Bajeena being one of the best mobile suit pilots and his Hyaku Shiki being one of the most advanced mobile suits fielded by the AEUG during the Gryps Conflict, they were simply outmatched by Haman Karn and the power of her Qubeley.

Haman Karn would continue to use the Qubeley as her personal mobile suit throughout the First Neo Zeon War where it would continually defeat newer mobile suit models. Eventually Haman Karn/Qubeley would duel against Judau Ashta/MSZ-010 ΖΖ Gundam. The fight resulted in a draw with both machines disabling each other, however the war was over as Haman Karn couldn't hope to escape the surrounding Federation forces with her damaged Qubeley. Ultimately, instead of surrendering Haman crashed the Qubeley into an asteroid fragment destroying both the mobile suit and herself.

During the First Neo Zeon War, two variant models would be built and fielded. One would be the AMX-004 Qubeley Mk-II, of which two units were built and were virtually identical to the original aside from two additional funnels and an improvement to the Psycommu System. The other variant is the AMX-004G Qubeley Mass Production Type, which was equipped with a pair of active cannons and had a larger tail binder that could store 30 funnels. The mass production model would be used by the Glemy Faction in a coup d'état against Haman Karn.

Variants

 * AMX-004 Qubeley Mk-II
 * AMX-004G Qubeley Mass Production Type
 * MAN-103 Qubeley
 * MS-35 Hachicca

Notes & Trivia

 * Qubeley's name is derived from the Greek goddess "Cybele". Cybele embodies the fertile Earth, a goddess of caverns and mountains, walls and fortresses, nature, wild animals (especially lions and bees). Phrygian Cybele is often identified with the Hittite-Hurrian goddess Hebat, though this latter deity might have been the origin of only Anatolian Kubaba. The Greeks frequently conflated the two names, the Anatolian "Kubaba" and the Phrygian "Kybele", to refer to the Phrygian deity.
 * Qubeley has the words "2LMES" engraved on its back near the left wing binder, which can be seen in its Gunpla incarnations. This possibly denotes it being the successor of the Mobile Armor Elmeth. (LMES in Japanese phonics will result in LMETH)
 * The RMSN-008 Bertigo from After War Gundam X share a similar color scheme, design, and armaments to the Qubeley.
 * In Gundam Battle Assault 2, Qubeley can only be played by using a Gameshark device.
 * The Qubeley is unique among mobile suits for being the first Zeon mobile suit to not use the traditional mono-eye design found on every other mobile suit up to that point.