RGM-96X Jesta

The RGM-96X Jesta is a specialized escort and special operations mobile suit featured in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. The RGM-96X is based on the RGM-89 Jegan and is used by the Earth Federation.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
The Jesta is a high performance special operations mobile suit of the Jegan series developed by Anaheim Electronics to escort the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, as the Unicorn Gundam's operating time in its Destroy Mode is limited. Furthermore, aside from escorting the Unicorn Gundam, the Jesta's intended mission is to dispatch ordinary enemy forces. By eliminating ordinary non-Newtype enemy forces, the Jesta attempts to produce "situations" in which the Unicorn Gundam can directly confront and destroy enemy Newtype weapons.

The Jesta is fitted with a redesigned backpack capable of tremendous thrust for the sake of keeping up with the Unicorn Gundam. Although the Jesta's weapon loadout is similar to the Jegan's, the Jesta features improved and more advanced weapons. Examples of the Jesta's superior armaments include the Jesta's more advanced beam carbine and movable shield which contains eight missiles compared to the Jegan's shield which contains four missiles. In addition to having more advanced weaponry over the Jegan, the Jesta also has three spare energy caps mounted on the unit's right forearm, and a beam saber on its left forearm for easier access.

Despite the fact that the Jesta is intended to be a escort unit, its high performance surpasses most Federation mobile suits of its time. The Jesta is essentially a product of the UC Project, however this fact has been kept hidden even within the Earth Federation military organization.

Armaments

 * 60mm Vulcan Gun Pod
 * The 60mm vulcan gun pod is an head mounted armament that is based on the technology of the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II. These head mounted shell firing weapons have a high-rate of fire but have little power and are generally ineffective against mobile suits, though it can damage lightly armored areas such as the sensors. These weapons are ideal for shooting down small, fast moving, lightly armored targets such as missiles or small vehicles.


 * 3-Slot Hand Grenade Rack
 * The Jesta mounts two 3-slot hand grenade racks on the waist. These waist mounted grenades can be thrown like regular grenades and set to detonate upon impact with the target or timed to explode after a preset time.


 * Beam Saber
 * The standard close range armament for most Federation mobile suits. The beam saber is a small cylindrical device held in the mobile suit's hands when operated and is powered by an energy capacitor that is recharged from special racks. The beam saber emits a blade of plasma contained by an I-Field and is capable of cutting through almost any metal that has not been treated with anti-beam coating. The Jesta is equipped with a single beam saber stored in a recharge rack located in the mobile suit's left forearm.


 * Beam Carbine
 * The Jesta's beam carbine is a rapid firing beam weapon, it has a higher rate of fire than the beam rifle of Jegan series. Furthermore, the Jesta's beam carbine is more advanced than the standard beam rifle found on Jegan units. Like all other beam weapons the beam carbine's shots can penetrate almost any armor that has not been treated with specific counter-measures. Like most beam weapons of its time, the Jesta's beam carbine is powered by a energy cap. If the beam carbine runs out of energy, the current energy cap can be replaced by a new one.


 * The beam carbine features a stock, a different pistol grip, a vertical fore-grip, a suppressor, an EOtech-like sight, folding front and back post iron sights, and picatinny-like railings at 3 and 9'o'clock.


 * Beam Rifle
 * The Jesta's beam rifle is a modified version of the Jegan's standard beam rifle. It features a selector switch which allows the rifle to fire in a regular firing mode and a beam machine gun mode. [citation needed] The particle beam fired from a beam rifle can penetrate almost any armor that has not been treated with specific counter-measures. The beam rifle carried by the Jesta, like the one equipped on the Jegan, is a rapid fire and short range type. If the energy cap runs out of energy it can be replaced with a fresh one. Like most beam weapons of the period, it is powered by a replaceable energy cap. If the beam rifle runs out of energy, the current energy cap can be replaced by a new one. The Jesta is equipped with three spare energy caps held in the right forearm of the mobile suit.


 * Shield
 * A basic optional arm-mounted defense armament for many Federation mobile suits. The shield is a thick sheet of armor designed to take severe punishment that would normally destroy a mobile suit. Since the introduction of beam weaponry, shields have been treated with an anti-beam coating allowing it to withstand several beam shots before the coating wears off. Typically physical shields can only take so much damage before they succumb to the pressure and break. Unlike the Jegan's shield which has a fixed placement, the Jesta's shield is mounted on a moveable arm at the back of the unit. In the OVA, the shields were shown to be positioned over the back while the mobile suit was on a sub-flight unit.


 * 2-Tube Small Missile Launcher
 * Similar to the Jegan's shield, the Jesta's shield also possesses minor offensive capabilities as it is built with 2-tube small missile launchers. However, unlike the Jegan's shield, the Jesta's shield is equipped with four 2-tube missile launchers instead of two. These small missiles are not very effective against large ships, but are ideal mid-range anti-mobile suit weapons.

History
In UC 0096, 12 RGM-96X Jesta units are assigned to the Ra Cailum mobile suit team for testing and evaluation, including the Londo Bell and its elite MS team, the Tri-Stars.

In UC 0096, three Jesta units, piloted by the Londo Bell "Tri-Star" team were deployed on Base Jabbers during the Zeon assault on Torrington Base. The three Jesta units along with other Federation forces pushed back and eventually destroyed the Zeon attackers.

Variants

 * RGM-96X Jesta Cannon
 * RGM-96X EWAC Jesta