ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam

The ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam is a mobile suit in the series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. It is piloted by Rau Le Creuset.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Like the other ZGMF-X series of Gundams created by ZAFT in CE 71, the Providence is equipped with Neutron Jammer Canceller and powered by a nuclear reactor. It is also armored with Phase Shift armor and features armaments reverse engineered from the stolen mobile suits of the Earth Alliance. Initially designed as a close combat unit, the Providence is later changed into a DRAGOON system equipped unit when Rau Le Creuset is designated to be its pilot but it still retains the heavy armor of the former's design. As this change is made after the main body's design is completed, some of the new parts are not properly integrated into the body and an example of this is the cables that run from the backpack to the chest..

The DRAGOON system is the Providence's main weapon and is first tested in the YMF-X000A Dreadnought. It allows the pilot to remotely control mutiple weapon pods for a devastating attack from multiple directions. The Providence DRAGOON system is mounted on the large backpack and the hips of the mobile suit and includes 11 units, which mount a total of 43 beam gun nozzles. The only drawback of the system is the fact, that it can only be used by people with high spatial awareness. Later, a more advanced version of the DRAGOON system is developed which removes this drawback, one such system is used by the ZGMF-X24S Chaos. Other armaments of the Providence include four CIWS guns, a shield with two small beam guns and a beam saber, and a hand-carried large beam rifle.

Armaments

 * DRAGOON System


 * Large DRAGOON Pod
 * A remote weapon pod sporting nine beam guns. One is mounted at the top of the backpack, the other two are mounted at right angles from it with a smaller DRAGOON Pod in between each.


 * Small DRAGOON Pod
 * A smaller remote weapon with two beam guns, two are mounted on the backpack, one pair on each side skirt armor and another pair on the back skirt armor. The ones on the backpack can flip forward to function as beam cannons when they are still attached.


 * MA-M221 "Judicium" Beam Rifle
 * A handheld weapon used by the Providence, the "Judicium" beam rifle is substantially larger than conventional beam rifles, making it quite unwieldy. However, it has higher output than ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam or ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam's "Lupus" beam rifle.


 * MA-MV05A Composite Armed Shield System
 * The composite armed shield system is mounted on the left arm and has both defensive and offensive properties. The system is armed with a large beam saber and two small beam guns.


 * MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS
 * Four CIWS guns are mounted on Providence, two on the head and two on the shoulder. These guns are not powerful enough to seriously damage other mobile suits but suitable for shooting down missiles and suppressive fire.

Special Equipment & Features

 * Neutron Jammer Canceller
 * As with the other four ZGMF-X Gundam units produced by ZAFT at its time, the Providence is equipped with a Neutron Jammer Canceller, which counters the effects of the ubiquitous Neutron Jammers and allows these suits to be powered by nuclear reactors. This gives them almost limitless combat endurance, even with Phase Shift armor activated.


 * Operating System
 * The Providence uses the operating system Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Module complex.


 * Phase Shift Armor
 * Like the other four units, the Providence is equipped with Phase Shift armor. Thanks to its N-Jammer Canceller and nuclear reactor the PS armor is capable of being active for a lot longer than on non-nuclear powered suits such as the Strike.

History
In mid CE 71, ZAFT creates a series of advanced mobile suits based on technology reverse-engineered from the captured Earth Alliance G Project suits. Like their EA predecessors, the ZAFT Gundams are armed with advanced beam weaponry and protected by Phase Shift armor. However, an additional technology is incorporated as well: the Neutron Jammer Canceller, which counters the effects of the ubiquitous Neutron Jammers and allows these suits to be powered by nuclear reactors. This gives them almost limitless combat endurance, even with Phase Shift armor activated.

One of these suits is the ZGMF-X13A Providence, which is the last of the series. The suit does not enter service until the final day of the war, September 26, CE 71, but it is used to great effect by Rau Le Creuset, who finally reveals his plot to destroy humanity. Rau proves the Providence's power by overwhelming and severely damaging Mu's GAT-X105 Strike and former subordinate Dearka Elsman's GAT-X103 Buster with its power. He then heavily damages Kira Yamato's ZGMF-X10A Freedom, destroying its METEOR unit in the process. However, Kira ultimately prevails, as Le Creuset is mortally wounded when Kira's beam saber pierced his cockpit, then vaporized by a misfire of the sabotaged GENESIS laser.

During the Second Alliance-PLANT War, ZAFT creates a more advanced version of the Providence, the ZGMF-X666S Legend Gundam, which ironically is piloted by Rey Za Burrel, who, like Rau, is a failed clone of Mu's father Al Da Flaga.

Variants

 * LN-ZGMF-X13A Nix Providence

In Video Games

 * In Gundam vs. Gundam NEXT PLUS the Providence is an unlockable & PSP exclusive unit.

Notes & Trivia

 * Curiously, whereas the head crests of the Justice and Freedom display the machine's model number ("nove" (9) and "dieci" (10) respectively), this is not the case for the Providence: Despite its model number being "13", Providence's head crest displays the text "UNDICI", which means "Eleven" in Italian. This is a reference to the Providence being the eleventh Gundam to appear in the series (with the five original Gundams, the three Earth Alliance second-stage Gundams, the Justice and the Freedom, Providence is number 11).
 * The number 13 is deemed as an unlucky number by certain countries and is also deemed as a number of misfortune.
 * The Providence is originally listed as having only 2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS although their locations are unknown. The 1/144 HG model kit shows them to be head-mounted while in the anime, during the battle with Freedom, they are shown to be the protrusions at the shoulders. Later, source books simply combine this two locations together and states that Providence has 4 CIWS.
 * Much like other MS units in the CE era, the Providence is based on a UC mobile suit, the closest being the MSN-02 Zeong. It shares the same color scheme, it having a slightly muted and darker version of the lead Gundam's color and performs a slew of lethal all-range beam showers with its mind-controlled weapons. It is also the final unit their pilot used in the war. The Providence itself was made based on the data of the G Weapons, similar to how Zeong would have originally been named the "Zeon Gundam".
 * Despite its final boss-esque status, in all of the installations of the Gundam Vs series it appears in, Providence's cost is always lower than that of its rivaling units. In the crossover games, it consistently holds a cost of 2000, the amount usually reserved for ace custom suits or starter Gundams while other mobile suits of its nature tend to have 2500 or 3000.
 * The Backpack's thrusters are similar in arrangment to those found on the FF-X7 Core Fighter from the original Mobile Suit Gundam.