Gundam Sentinel

Gundam Sentinel (ガンダム・センチネル, Gandamu Senchineru) is an original story which takes place in the Universal Century timeline. Set during the same timeline as Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (which is the sequel to Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam), after the fall of the Titans the Federation sends an expeditionary force called Task Force Alpha to deal with a group of elite Federation officers who’ve formed their own Earth-supremacist faction called the New Desides. Conceptualized in the fall of 1987, the Japanese magazine Model Graphix began serializing a monthly Gundam novel named Gundam Sentinel. It ran from September 1987 to August 1988 and was a groundbreaking combination for a Gundam novel, featuring extremely-detailed mechanical designs by Katoki Hajime (Gundam Sentinel being his debut), paving the way to his becoming the main mechanical designer for the Gundam franchise, and the technically detailed storyline by veteran Gundam fan Masaya Takahashi, writer of the "MS Senki" comic called Gundam Sentinel: Alice’s Confession.

The story realistically depicts Mobile Suits as military equipment rather than heroic robots. After Gundam Sentinel completed its run, Model Graphix combined all the work, and with the addition of new material, it was published as Gundam Wars III: Gundam Sentinel -The Battle of Real Gundam-. The story was republished in July 1990 as novel subtitled Alice's Confession.

Plot Synopsis
It is UC 0088, in the last weeks of the struggle between the AEUG and the Titans, when a small group of elite Federal Forces officers stationed at the asteroid fortress Pezun revolt against the pro-AEUG Federation leadership. The rebels, led by Brave Cod, declare themselves the "New Desides" (a hybrid of "decision" and "dissident"). They swear to fight on for the Titans’ ideology of Earthnoid supremacy. A quick battle erupts between the Federation Barzams and the newer New Desides Xeku Eins, and New Desides are successful in gaining control of the asteroid. Although Axis is the major threat on the horizon, the Federation decides that this rebellion must be put down.

Taskforce Alpha, a small force of Federal Forces, AEUG and Karaba veterans, is dispatched to Pezun to suppress the New Desides rebellion before it gets out of hand. In order to intimidate the rebels, Taskforce Alpha is equipped with the very latest advanced mobile suit hardware, including a handful of Gundams - the most powerful of which is the MSA-0011 S Gundam, piloted by 22 year-old pilot Ryu Roots. The Task Force Alpha fleet is made up of an Argama-class assault carrier called the Pegasus III, and four Salamis-Class Cruisers. The Superior Gundam is equipped with an artificial intelligence system called ALICE (Advanced Logistic & Inconsequence Cognizing Equipment), which intervenes several times to save Ryu and, over time, develops true self-awareness.

Pezun
Task Force Alpha arrives at Pezun and sends out an Ewac Nero, which is quickly destroyed by the New Desides' forces. Shortly thereafter, Task Force Alpha launches two FA-010A FAZZ units ahead of the fleet and immediately enters combat with the New Desides' Xeku Eins. After a few skirmishes, the New Desides launches parts of Pezun that have been torn from the main asteroid and given thrusters. Completely surprising them, two of Task Force Alpha's Salamis ships are destroyed. Skirmishes between both sides continue, as the Superior Gundam is launched for the first time, with two MSZ-006A1 Z Plus units as escorts.

It becomes obvious to the New Desides that they won't be able to defend Pezun for long. When New Desides reinforcements arrive in the lunar metropolis, Aires City, they find they are also being pursued by a Federation-allied fleet, led by Admiral Brian Eno. Instead of crushing the New Desides, Admiral Eno, a sympathizer with the New Desides, throws his lot in with them. Task Force Alpha faces not only the New Desides, but its backup fleet, and mounts a full-scale assault on the asteroid. Many of the rebels leave Pezun for Aires City, but leave a small enough contingent on Pezun to hold off Task Force Alpha. As Pezun falls, the remaining rebels retreat hastily, but not before leaving behind a nuclear explosive. Task Force Alpha pilot, Tex West realizes they've been tricked, withdrawing just in time as the asteroid implodes.

With the New Desides holed up in Aires City, this makes the situation politically unfeasible for the Federal Forces to stage an attack. Skirmishes continue, as Task Force Alpha probes the area around the metropolis with units of Neros, and are quickly defeated by Brave Cod in his ORX-013 Gundam MK V. Task Force Alpha then attempts to land mobile suits on the lunar surface and root out the rebels, but the descending pilots are caught in a two-pronged counterattack. New Desides spies have also cracked the software behind Task Force Alpha's mobile suits and fashioned a "logistic bomb" that renders their operating systems useless. Cod's Gundam MK V and other New Desides mobile suits ravage the helpless Task Force Alpha, but the Federal Forces are able to counter the progamming, but high casualties forces them to retreat.

The Federation sends reinforcements to join Task Force Alpha in lunar orbit, and the combined "Eagle Force" stages an all-out assault on Aires City. The reinforcements include the RGM-86R Nouvel GM III and begin the surface attack on the moon. The New Desides had relied on the other lunar cities to oppose the Federation’s aggressive attacks, but the political support they expected never materialized. Fighting between both sides continues for eleven days; at a critical moment of the battle, the Brave Cod and his Gundam MK V single-handedly destroys the three FAZZ units, killing pilots Robert Aldrin and Jon Grissom (Shin Crypt ejects and is picked up by the Pegasus III). While it seems the New Desides are gaining the upper hand, Ryu Roots enters into combat with Cod in the new MSA-0011(Ext) Ex-S Gundam and destroys the Gundam MK V. With the New Desides' leader dead, Aires City mayor, Kaiser Pinefield, decides to surrender.

Just as all seems lost for the New Desides, an Axis fleet arrives on the scene with their massive Gwa-Ley heavy battleship and over a hundred AMX-003 (MMT-1) Gaza-C's and AMX-007 (MMT-3) Gaza-E's. Honoring their previous pact with the Titans, the Axis reinforcements cover the escape of the remaining 28 New Desides rebels from Aires City.

Aires City
The New Desides are now holed up in Aires City, making it politically unfeasible for the Federal Forces to stage a full-scale attack. Skirmishes continue as Task Force Alpha probes the area around Aires City with units of MSA-007 Neros and are quickly defeated by Brave Cod in the ORX-013 Gundam Mk-V. Taskforce Alpha then attempts to land mobile suits on the moon and root out the rebels but the descending pilots are caught in a two-pronged counterattack. New Desides spies have cracked the software of Taskforce Alpha’s mobile suits and fashioned a "logistic bomb" that renders their computer systems useless. Cod’s Gundam Mark V and other New Desides mobile suits ravage the helpless Taskforce Alpha mobile suits. The Federation’s forces are able to counter the Logistic bomb but high casualties forces them to retreat.

The Federation sends reinforcements to join Taskforce Alpha in lunar orbit, and the combined "Eagle Force" stages an all-out assault on Aires City. The Federation reinforcements include the RGM-86R Nouvel GM III and begin the surface attack on the moon. The New Desides had relied on the other lunar cities to oppose the Federation’s act of aggression, but the political support they expected never materializes. A ferocious battle continues for eleven days. At a critical moment of the battle the Gundam Mk.V defeats the three FAZZs in Taskforce Alpha’s arsenal and kills Robert Aldrin and Jon Grissom (Shin Crypt ejects and is picked up by the Pegasus III). Brave Cod is only stopped when he is killed in combat by Ryuu Roots in the EX-S Gundam. With the New Deside’s leader dead, Aires City mayor Kaiser Pinefield decides to surrender.

Just as all seems lost for the New Desides, an Axis fleet arrives on the scene with their massive Gwa-Ley heavy battleship and over a hundred AMX-003 Gaza-C’s and AMX-007 Gaza-E’s. Honoring their pact with the Titans, the Axis forces cover the escape of the remaining 28 New Desides rebels from Aires City.

Penta
The new leader of the New Desides, master strategist, Tosh Cray, devises a desperate plan. The handful of survivors will seize the relay station, Penta, in Earth's satellite orbit, and launch an attack on the Federation senate at Dakkar. To accompany their engagement, Axis loans the New Desides a powerful weapon: the re-entry-capable, AMA-100 Z'od-iacok. This machine is so large that it requires a crew and must be towed by a specially modified Musai-Class Light Cruiser when not in operation.

Meanwhile, the Pegasus III has been assigned to pursue and observe the remaining rebels, while the remainder of Eagle Force secures the moon. Arriving at Penta, the Pegasus III and its remaining mobile suits confront Tosh Cray and the Zodiac. A running battle begins in the upper level of the Earth’s atmosphere, as Federal Forces figure out what New Desides is up to. Cray and his crew pound the Federal Forces with the mighty Zodiac, as a New Desides' shuttle carrying the remaining rebels follows. Ryu, Shin Crypt and Tex West climb into the Superior Gundam, while Sigman Shade and Chung Yung pilot Z Plus units. The Superior Gundam is damaged and cannot fully transform into its G-Cruiser mode, and is forced to separate into the G-Attacker, G-Bomber, and Core Fighter units and fly as separate machines, while Sigman and Chung fly ahead in the faster Z Plus' to hold off the Zodiac. The three components of the Superior Gundam arrive and Chung sacrifices himself to block a shot from the Zodiac, so Ryu and the others can merge again into the Superior Gundam. Sigman’s Z Plus is also destroyed (although Sigman survives) and the last hope for the Federal Forces rests with Ryu.

To Ryu’s shock, the Zodiac separates into two halves, while Tosh Cray launches from the rear of the Zodiac’s hull in a RMS-142 Xeku Zwei. Ryu is able to destroy one half of the Zodiac and is about to destroy the other, when Tosh engages him in close combat. An intense struggle ensues and the Zodiac begins its descent into Earth's atmosphere, along with the shuttle. Tosh is able to break away from the fight and follows the Zodiac to reboard it, before he falls into the atmosphere.

During this critical battle, A.L.I.C.E. begins to manifest its full potential - the Superior Gundam cannot follow them down without being destroyed. At this point, A.L.I.C.E. takes matters into its own hands. Ejecting the re-entry proof Core Fighter containing Ryu, A.L.I.C.E. follows the New Desides down through the atmosphere, managing to wipe them out before the Superior Gundam itself burns up. Sacrificing itself for the sake of her human pilot, A.L.I.C.E. finally achieves its moment of humanity.

History
Bandai originally proposed to Model Graphix on the idea of having the first "non-visual" Gundam, that is, a series totally devoid of visual animations and a manga to originate its source. Model Graphix liked the proposal, since there was a model release vacancy between Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and the next animated Gundam series, and it would be perfect to release their first model kit for the series, the FA-010A FAZZ.

However, after the first few meetings, and with only part of the story and a few of the mechanical designs in place, Bandai began losing interest, due to the anticipation of the release of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, and claiming that the simultaneous release of two Gundam stories will confuse fans. As a result, Bandai abandoned the project with Model Graphix, and placed a "pending" status on Gundam Sentinel. With only an alternate color version of the FAZZ model released, the fan community started to doubt the authenticity of Sentinel (due to the display of a sample model kit at the 1987 Japan Hobby Show). Bandai chose to show no action, in defending the issue.

The editor of Newtype magazine at the time was displeased with these turn of events, and added Gundam Sentinel into the August 1987 issue of Newtype (published on July 10, 1987), with a Gundam Saga II cover special. Six pages of a brief, detailed introduction to the story was inserted, with the words This is REAL!! added to confirm its authenticity. The six pages are as follows:
 * The first two pages showed a detailed mechanical design of the titular machine, MSA-0011 S Gundam.
 * Pages four and five feature a MSA-007 Nero against a RMS-141 Xeku Eins Type-1, drawn by former-animator, now acclaimed director, Hideaki Anno.
 * The last two pages contain more of Hajime Katoki's design of the Superior Gundam.

Once the fan community exploded in excitement and anticipation of Gundam Sentinel, Bandai decided to go ahead with the serialization of Sentinel, beginning with the September issue of Model Graphix. While Model Graphix would hold the rights to the story, characters and mobile units, Bandai would have the sole copyright of releasing its models. Wanting to hold onto their partnership with Model Graphix, Bandai went and displayed all five of the sample model kits for the Gundam Sentinel line, with full descriptions of each model, at the May 19, 1988 Japan Hobby Show. The Model Graphix team regarded that year's event as a "Victory", compared to the previous show in 1987, where only a lone Superior Gundam was displayed without any descriptions.

Copyright issues of Gundam Sentinel
The name Gundam is copyrighted and owned by Bandai, yet Gundam Sentinel was technically created by Model Graphix. Thus, Bandai must receive approval from Model Graphix every time the company wishes to release any mecha or character from the series, since Model Graphix holds the copyright to Sentinel. This is due to the fact that Bandai's copyright management sub-company, 創通 (そうつう or Sou tsuu, 創通), did not manage the copyright well enough, during the period of Sentinel's concept and creation. This gave Bandai a hard time, whenever they try to use Sentinel units in any official release. One example would the Gundam War Collectible Card Game, where the release of the 4th Edition and onwards prevented Sentinel units from appearing.

This has also created difficulty in creating garage kit models for fan modelers to be sold at hobby shows, since the one day copyright release must be obtained from both Bandai and Model Graphix, separately, making costs to acquire them to become expensive. Most of modelers would choose to build cheaper copyright Sentinel models in a Super-Deformed (SD) scale, instead, since Bandai charges less, in this case, for a copyright release.

Earth Federation Forces

 * Ryu Roots
 * Shin Crypt
 * Tex West
 * Eton Heathrow
 * Stole Mannings
 * Sigman Shade
 * Chung Yung

New Desides

 * Brave Cod
 * Tosh Cray
 * Brain Aeno
 * Josh Offshore
 * First Side

Civilians

 * Mike Saotome
 * Kaiser Pinefield

Mobile Weapons

 * FA-010A FAZZ
 * MSA-007 Nero
 * MSA-007E EWAC Nero
 * MSA-007T Nero Trainer
 * MSA-0011 S Gundam
 * MSA-0011(Bst) S Gundam Booster Unit Type
 * MSA-0011(Bst) S Gundam Booster Unit Type Plan 303E "Deep Striker"
 * MSA-0011(Ext) Ex-S Gundam
 * MSZ-006-X Prototype Ζ Gundam
 * MSZ-006A1 (MSK-006) Zeta Plus A1
 * MSZ-006AIB Zeta Plus AIB
 * MSZ-006A2 Ζ Plus A2
 * MSZ-006A3 Zeta Plus A3
 * MSZ-006B Z Plus
 * MSZ-006BN Zeta Plus BN
 * MSZ-006C1 Zeta Plus C1
 * MSZ-006C1 (Bst) Z plus "Humming Bird"
 * MSZ-006C4 Zeta Plus C4
 * MSZ-006D Zeta Plus D
 * MSZ-006E Zeta Plus E
 * MSZ-006R (RGZ-006) Zeta Plus R
 * ORX-013 Gundam Mk-V
 * RGM-86R Nouvel GM III
 * RMS-154 Barzam Refined Type

Vehicles and Support Units

 * Argama class (Pegasus III)
 * FE-08WR Queenbee
 * FF-08GB G-Core (Atmospheric Version)
 * FF-08WR Wivern
 * FF-S4 Daggerfish
 * FXA-08GB G-Core
 * FXA-08GB(Bst) Core Booster
 * G-Attacker
 * G-Bomber
 * Magellan Kai class
 * Salamis Kai class

Mobile Weapons

 * AMA-100 Z'od-iacok
 * AMA-100 Zoon
 * ORX-013 Gundam Mk-V
 * RMS-141 Xeku Eins
 * RMS-142 Xeku Zwei

Vehicles and Support Units

 * Columbus Kai class
 * Enterprise class (refit)

Mobile Weapons

 * AMA-100 Z'od-iacok
 * AMA-100 Zoon
 * AMX-003 (MMT-1) Gaza-C
 * AMX-007 (MMT-3) Gaza-E
 * AMX-011 Gaza-G

Vehicles and Support Units

 * Gwadan-class battleship
 * Musai-class

Mobile Weapons

 * MSA-0012 λ Gundam
 * RX-90 μ Gundam