AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra

The AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra (ガーベラ・テトラ) is a mobile suit in the fictional Gundam Universal Century universe. First appearing in the series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, designed by Mika Akitaka.

Real life history
In the model of AGX-04, the following plot has been depicted as how the unit came to be: ''As part of its military reconstruction following the One Year War, the Earth Federation Forces began its Gundam Development Project, the goal to produce advanced new Gundam-series mobile suit prototypes to test new technology and concepts. The intended fourth unit in this GP series was the RX-78GP04G Gundam Gerbera. This ill-fated mobile suit designed never saw the light of day, as its goal conflicted with its sister unit, the RX-78GP01 Gundam Zephyranthes. Since then, the full vernian parts were designed to adjust the ground use GP01 into a space use model RX-78GP01Fb Gundam Zephyranthes.

The Gerbera was designed around the Zeon tactic (of which came great success against the Federation in the One Year War) to perform high speed assault with mobile suits. The Federation forces had little or no time to react before being attacked by large groups of mobile suits. The Federation recognized this as a superior tactic, and sought to produce mobile suits to do the same in return.

However, the Zephryanthes was also being designed around the same goal, just a ground used unit, and it made no sense tactically or financially to produce two mobile suits to do the similar task for ground and space, and chose to keep the weaker (yet more economical) design Zephryanthes instead of keeping the Gerbera. Anaheim Electronics was left with an almost completed prototype, and no one to sell it to. ''

And thus influenced a design of RX-78GP04G Gundam Gerbera by Mika Akitaka, featured in Hobby Japan as a garage kit, due to the popularity of the legendary GP04G, having no visual design other than its disguised Zeon style look.

Continuing the plot on the official setting instead of the animated story, since the Gerbera was designed to be faster and more powerful than the common Zeon mobile suits of the time, it excelled at high speed assaults. The division within Anaheim Electronics that produced the Gebera was created from the Zeonic Company (which still had strong loyality to Zeon) and was approached by the Delaz Fleet. By request, the division revised the design of the Gerbera and produced the AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra mobile suit.

Due to the fact that it is the first Gundam disguised as a Zeon Mobile Suit, various Model shows displays a garage kit featuring a GP04G stuggling/bursting out of the AGX-04 armour pieces. Although this provides a great visual impact, it is impossible for the original design to do so.

SD Gundam
In the SD Gundam Musha series (a series featuring SD Gundams in an alternating universe with a background world like the Sengoku period of Japan) Story The seven Super Generals, the Last of the seven Super Generals Tetra Gundam (Katakana as テトラガンダム TetoraGandamu, Kanji as 鉄斗羅頑駄無 TetsutoraGandamu) is modeled after AGX-04, while normally having a Gundam appearance (Modeled after GP04G before the recognition of the design of Hobby Japan, and thus looks more like GP03S), it got a mask and breast plate armour to make its appearance to be like the Dark General(Originally modeled after Zaku but later became a term of all the Zeonic models), an rivalling enemy of the Gundam Generals and was believed to be a reincarnation of the first Dark General Zakuto who was controlled by the Ultimate villain in the series, the Dark Emperor. Tetra at first appeared in the armoured, masked form and is an enemy of the Gundam Generals but due to on of the seven shards of the late General resided within him, he was moved by the new Gundam Great General, Shisei Daishogun (leader of all the Super Generals) and became a real Gundam Super General among the others. The plot is basically a modified form of how the AGX-04 and GP04G are related.

The Gerbera Tetra would again be used as influence for a prominent character for the later Superior Defender Gundam Force in the form of the villain Professor Gerbera. The character established to have originally been known as GP04 Madnug, a future Gundam based on the series main hero Captain Gundam. A simple scientist, Madnug researched a way to use the series established dimensional gates in order to easier travel through outer space. An accident during the test sent Madnug back through space and time, where he was captured by lead villain General Zeong and brainwashed. Along with replacing his existing white and blue paint scheme, Madnug became a polar opposite of his former personality, a cold and calculating scientific mind who was devoted to the General. He also renounced his former identity by adopting a set of Gerbera Tetra/AMA-002 Neue Ziel inspired armour, along with the new title of Professor Gerbera.

In the Animation
In UC 0083, the Delaz Fleet launched Operation Stardust, an uprising against the Federation. Anaheim Electronics (playing both sides against each other to make a quick buck) offered to support to Aiguille Delaz when Vice-President O'Sullivan gave the completed Gerbera Tetra to Lieutenant Colonel Cima Garahau as a political gesture.

Some say that branch of the Earth Federation which later developed into Titans cancelled the development in order to provide in secret this mobile suit to the spy Cima Garahau. Although highly possible, no actual record could be traced to support this argument.

During the last stages of Operation Stardust, Cima was killed (and the Gerbera Tetra destroyed) by Federation pilot Kou Uraki (piloting the RX-78GP03S Gundam Dendrobium Orchis) when Kou impaled the Tetra on the end of its beam cannon and blasted the suit in half.

Design Focus
The Gerbera Tetra was designed after MS-18E Kämpfer, and is able to carry a powerful beam machine gun, and could be equipped with a "stürm booster", which was ultimately a giant external propellant tank with extra thrusters. The "stürm booster" would make the Gerbera Tetra the fastest and most maneuverable mobile suit in existence at that time. Just like the official stand point of GP04G, It is the best Mobile Suit at that point of time, without any other Mobile suit getting even close to the specification of it.

Therefore, the official specification of the unit is even higher than a lot of Mobile Suits appearing later in the Universal Century. However, like its ancestor Kämpfer, it would only have a very short operation time. In addition, the cost of producing it is so high it is never considered for mass-production.

The argument of a later redesign from Katoki Hajime is that the original contract with the Earth Federation follows the tradition of a Power display strategy, where the unit was never meant to fight in normal battle. Instead, it is merely a display of power of the great forces and capability of the Earth Federation and thus lowering the enemy's will to fight against them.

Shortcomings of the modification
Although the GP-04G was the most powerful (and most expensive) mobile suit designed and manufactured during the period, the modification to AGX-04 eventually proves to be a most devastating downgrade to the mobile suit.

While AGX-04 is only GP-04 in disguise, the armour of the unit has been placed in different positions. This results in spreading the mass outward from the center of mass. This would ultimately decrease the turning speed of the unit and thus its manuverablity as well. The 2 boosters of the GP-04G are merged into one big booster in the back of the AGX-04, and the efficiency of the booster is decreased by having more material. The shoulder boosters have been enlarged and this would cause turbulence to the outlet nozzles and further adding to the reduced maneuverability. To overcome all of these problems, the stürm booster has to be used but this only further increases the price of the unit.

Variants
A AGX-04 A1 unit was designed by Katoki Hajime to improve the AGX-04's short comings in the modification. It is a unit with less modified parts from the GP-04G and would be able to maintain more specification of the GP-04G. However, this design would only be a design for the Gundam Fix Figuration series from Katoki Hajime and does not appear in the UC timeline in any story plot.

AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics Company Operator: Cima Fleet Unit type: prototype general purpose assault mobile suit Dimensions: overall height 18.0 meters Weight: empty: 46.7 metric tons standard, 48.5 metric tons with sturm booster; max gross: 73.2 metric tons standard, 86.0 metric tons with sturm booster Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 1710 kW Special Equipment: optional sturm booster, stores extra propellant, mounts additional thrusters and 2 x ejectable external propellant tanks Armament: 4 x 110mm machinecannon, mounted in pairs in arms, each pair fire-linked; 2 x beam saber, stored in recharge racks in hip armor, hand-carried in use; beam machine gun, powered by rechargeable energy cap Pilot: Cima Garahau

ガンダム開発計画