GN-001 Gundam Exia

Gundam Exia is the mobile suit featured in seasons 1-2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. The unit is piloted by Setsuna F. Seiei.

Exia derives from Exusia and/or Exousia, the biblical Greek word for the power of choice and/or authority.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Exia, also known as the Gundam of Seven Swords is the close quarters combat specialist of Celestial Being's armed intervention team consiting of Dynames, Kyrios, and Virtue/Nadleeh. Although Exia and Dynames are closely related designs, the final results are worlds appart. The Gundam that would eventually fall to Setsuna F. Seiei was built to be the tip of Celestial Being's spear. While its fellows operate in primarily supporting roles, Exia takes the fight to enemy. Setsuna would repeatedly use the speed and stealth granted by the GN Drive to rapidly close with and decimate enemy forces.

The GN Sword Rifle's rifle mode provides Exia with a single mid-range, mid-power weapon. The overall performance is comparable to Dyanmes' GN Pistols. GN Vulcans on each wrist can be used for point defense or to engage soft targets. The rest of Exia's weapons are pure melee. Small beam blades, GN Beam Daggers are used as throwing weapons or when an enemy gets too close for anything else. Virtually weightless GN Beam Sabers allow Exia to match faster oppoents, who might otherwise evade a physical blade. The true reason for Exia's creation is the GN Long Sword, GN Short Sword, and the GN Sword Rifle. Physical blades coupled with a layer of GN Particles on the cutting surfaces are almost as devastating as a beam blade. Despite their anachronistic nature, these weapons are critical to Aeolia Schenberg's overall plan. He foresaw the day when his GN technology would fall into the hands of those who would use it for selfish ends. Against that day, he ordered the creation of Exia, with its three GN charged physical blades. Blades that made specifically to cleave through a GN Field.

Setsuna was educated in combat by Ali Al-Saachez (trained in a unidentified form of martial arts), training reflected in Exia's combat style. When facing overwhelming numbers and firepower such as the GN-X, Exia can dock with the GNR-001 GN Arms to drastically enhance its firepower, or use its Trans-Am system to increase its speed far beyond anything that can match it.

GN Beam Saber & Beam Dagger''
Beam equipment in the Anno Domini continuity is still in the process of being developed by most military powers as a 2nd generation mobile suit armament. The Gundams are the first series of units to actually employ them on the battlefield. The Exia has a total of four beam sabers: two of standard length, mounted behind either shoulder; and two beam daggers, mounted behind the waist. Though such weapons are more versatile than solid blades, the GN particles composing the blade body may be subject to dispersion and other forms of disruption and grow less effective in an atmosphere. The sabers function by emitting a positron field which helds condensed GN Particles in the form of a blade. When in contact with another surface, the positron field breaks and releases the condensed particles directly onto the contact surface.

GN Long Blade & Short Blade
A pair of solid blades differing in length, sheathed at either side of the Exia's waist when not in use. The blades are lined with GN particles to increase the effectiveness of armor-cutting. Normally dual-wielded.

GN Sword/Rifle
A solid blade attached to a miniature forearm shield, which serves as the Exia's primary weapon -- the longest blade amongst the Seven Swords. The cutting edge is lined with GN particles, allowing it to easily split MS armor. The sword can be vertically folded along the forearm, exposing the muzzle of a short-range, high-speed beam rifle concealed behind the shield. A single shot can destroy a conventional enemy unit. The sword can also be used as a physical blade to pierce/negate GN Field equipped opponents.

GN Shield
Defensive equipment composed of durable E-Carbon, superior to the armor class of conventional mobile weapons and extremely difficult to destroy. As the Exia is designed for close-quarters combat, the shield it's equipped with is relatively small and light-weight. Both ends of the shield are bladed and of sufficient consistency to be used as a piercing weapon.

GN Vulcan Cannon
A small beam-based vulcan cannon, built into the Exia's forearms. As all of the its capabilities are inferior to that of the GN Sword - Rifle Mode, it is used primarily for threatening and limiting enemy movement.

Optical Camouflage
Exia features a cloaking system based on Celestial Being's optical camouflage technology. When performing missions that need Exia to be hidden, the optical camouflage blends Exia into its surroundings; the cloak isn't perfect. The cloak isn't an active cloaking field, it's only applicable when Exia is stationary. Should Exia move during cloak, the optical camouflage would reveal Exia. The optical camouflage is also capable of expanding its cloak field. It's able to cloak another Gundam inches away from its position, but it's unclear if it is capable of cloaking a non-Gundam MS and/or foreign object.

Trans-Am System
Trans-Am grants Exia three times it's normal capabilities. It's overall speed, firepower, and strength is temporarily increased at three times its normal specs. When activated Exia becomes a high speed MS combatant, capable of hyper vector CQC combat. Because CB engineers didn't know about Trans-Am, no secondary features or special abilities were given to Exia when Trans-Am is activated. The system utilizes the maximum potential of its GN Drive in particle generation. Once all it's particles are spent, Exia is temporarily under powered until the GN Drive recharges Exia's particle levels to normal performance parameters.

GN-001RE Gundam Exia Repair
Due to lack of contact with Celestial Being during the five years between Season 1 and Season 2 of Gundam 00, Gundam Exia was never fully repaired from the damage it sustained in combat with Graham Aker and his GN Flag. As a result, when it reappears five years later, Exia is heavily damaged and poorly maintained. The left arm severed by the GN Flag's beam saber has been lost, replaced instead with a camouflage sheet that creates the illusion of a cloak. The Gundam's head has been reattached, but the right eye remains gutted, leaving a glowing red eye taken from a Tieren in its place. As most of its weapons were destroyed, the Exia Repair only has access to its GN Sword/Rifle (now broken) and its right arm's GN Vulcan. Though Setsuna's increased piloting skill allows the Exia Repair to hold its own against the far superior Ahead units, it is quickly dispatched, only to be rescued by the new GN-008 Seravee Gundam. Its GN Drive was then removed in for use in the GN-0000 00 Gundam.