Mirage Colloid

Mirage Colloid is a synthetic particle which is used for a variety of purposes in the Cosmic Era timeline.

Technical Information
Colloid particles are a particulate gas made up of microscopic prisms. These prisms can be used to bend different forms of energy, allowing it to be used for a variety of military purposes. Over the years, several different technologies using Colloid gas have been developed.

Mirage Colloid stealth system
The first use discovered was as a stealth device, and this technology was incorporated into the GAT-X207 Blitz. With the Mirage Colloid system activated, the mobile suit was covered by the particles, which bent light and radar waves around it, rendering the Blitz invisible to both visual and electronic detection. By the end of CE 73, the Mirage Colloid stealth system had been greatly improved. Librarian Works incorporated Mirage Colloid into two of their mobile suits, the LH-GAT-X103 Hail Buster Gundam and LN-GAT-X207 Nebula Blitz Gundam, the mass-produced nature of both the latter and its pilot leading to a trick known as Mirage Colloid Teleport, where one Mirage Colloid equipped unit would activate the system only for another to reappear elsewhere, giving it the appearance of having teleported.

Geschmeidig Panzer
The next development of Mirage Colloid was the "Geschmeidig Panzer" Energy Deflection Armor. This system utilized different Colloid particles to bend energy beams away from the mobile suit, providing excellent defensive capabilities. The "Geschmeidig Panzer" pods can also deflect water for use as a propulsion system. This system can also be used on a much larger scale inside space colonies to bend massive energy beams.

Mirage Colloid Virus Spreader
While the initial advances in Mirage Colloid technology were made by the Atlantic Federation, a more novel development came from another source: the Mirage Colloid virus spreader, created by the defense conglomerate Actaeon Industries and utilized in their prototype NMS-X07PO Gel Finieto. This system used Mirage Colloid particles to access the operating systems of nearby mobile suits and infect them with a computer virus, unimpeded by Neutron Jammer interference. However, the Gel Finieto was otherwise lightly armed and generally unremarkable, and there was little military interest in the mobile suit.

Wings of Light
The Wings of Light (Hikari no Tsubasa), fielded by ZAFT's ZGMF-X42S Destiny; is the most recent technology to incorporate the Mirage Colloid Technology. While their primary function is as a propulsion system (using a variant of the Voiture Lumiere propulsion system), which gives the suit acceleration superiority over any contemporary mobile suit, they also incorporate another technological marvel- the Mirage Colloid Holographic Projection System. This system spreads Colloid particles, leaving a trail of visible after-images that can confuse enemy sensors and visuals, as well as the naked eye. The Mars-built MMF-JG73L Turn Δ Astray later has the Wings of Light installed through the same method as the Destiny through splitting the large triangle on its back.

Another variation of the Wings of Light can be found on the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom; they can only be activated when its DRAGOON pods are deployed. Other than a cosmetic feature, however, they serve no other known purpose. Rather, they are simply due to the fact that the thruster layout on Strike Freedom's "wings" is similar to that of the Destiny. However, they do allow Strike Freedom to accelerate much faster, shown how Kira was able to dodge Legend's Dragoons easily.

Yata-no-Kagami
The Yata-no-Kagami" Anti-Beam Reflection System is a unique piece of technology. It is a specialized mirror coating called "Yata no Kagami", which is most likely an applied coating of the Geschmeidig Panzer particle technology and as such is capable of deflecting beam fire or reflecting the shots right back to the source. Due to this coating, it is able to block beam weapons and is even able to block shots fired from a Positron Blaster Cannon. Despite this strength, the armor provides no protection against attacks from a beam saber, since Shinn Asuka was able to cut off one of the Akatsuki's arms with his beam boomerang.

History
Colloid particles were first discovered by the Earth Alliance's Atlantic Federation, who used it first on the Blitz during the first Bloody Valentine War. When the Blitz was stolen, ZAFT copied this technology and used the cloaking technology on their massive GENESIS superweapon. When the Blitz was destroyed, its severed arm was salvaged by Rondo Ghina Sahaku, which granted his MBF-P01-Re&lt;AMATU&gt; Astray Gold Frame Amatu access to the Mirage Colloid cloaking technology.

During the first war, the EA also first created the Geschmeidig Panzer technology, which they first used on their GAT-X252 Forbidden and its descendants, the GAT-X255 Forbidden Blue, GAT-706S Deep Forbidden and GAT-707E Forbidden Vortex; all three of which utilizes the Geschmeidig Panzer as a means of underwater propulsion. During the Second Bloody Valentine War the Earth Alliance later loaded extra-large Geschmeidig Panzers within abandoned O'Neill- type space colonies for use with another EA superweapon- the Requiem Orbital All- Aspect Tactical Beam Cannon. While the beam cannon is located at the Daedalus Lunar Base Complex, it is possible for the Requiem to freely aim at any target in the Earth Sphere, by changing the positions of the colonies and bending the beam between each point it passes.

At the end of the Bloody Valentine War, the Treaty of Junius was signed by representatives of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. One of its provisions was- total ban on the military application of Mirage Colloid Technology and its derivatives, seemingly putting an end to further development of this highly versatile particle. Nevertheless, development of this technology continued in secret and eventually, several new units as well as structures using this technology were produced- and fielded.

In CE 73, the top secret Earth Alliance battleship Girty Lue used the now illegal Mirage Colloid Stealth System to launch a sneak attack on ZAFT's Armory One Base and steal three prototype Gundam- type mobile suits. The cloaking system was also used on the undercover GAT-SO2R N Dagger N mobile suit. The EA also produced further versions of the Mirage Colloid Virus Spreader despite the poor reputation of the Gel Finieto. These new spreaders were later installed into two mobile suits: the first was the ZGMF-X12A Testament and the second the ZGMF-YX21R Proto-Saviour. Both were ZAFT-produced mobile suits which fell into the hands of the Earth Alliance.

Trivia

 * The Mirage Colloid Technology has many similarities to the Minovsky Technology of the Universal Century.
 * The Colloid Particles are also similar to the GN Particles used in the Anno Domini timeline. Also, the after-image effect of the Destiny's Wings of Light creates a similar effect to the multi-layered armor system of the Gundam F91. The later Trans-Am System likewise replicates the Destiny's after-image effect.
 * In Super Robot Wars series, the units with Mirage Colloid ability have a higher chance to avoid attacks.
 * In SD Gundam Capsule Fighter Online, the Mirage Colloid ability is activated once either the Blitz Gundam or the Astray Gold Frame Amatsu series fires off their lancer darts. It grants the unit invisiblity, increased speed and attack in exchange for lower defense.