The Colony Laser is a weapon of mass destruction which appeared several times in the Gundam universe. As the name implies, the weapon is an empty shell of an orbiting space colony which is converted into a large laser to destroy several targets at once.
Universal Century
Mobile Suit Gundam
Built by Gihren Zabi of the Principality of Zeon, the first colony laser was planned to be used by Zeon to attack the Earth Federation. Instead,however, he chose to use it to eliminate his father Degwin Sodo Zabi, who was in negotiations with the Federation. The premature firing caused the Colony Laser to burn out, which contributed to the Principality of Zeon's loss during the battle of A Baoa Qu by depriving Gihren and Kycilia Zabi of the ability to strike at the Federation from a distance.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
A second colony laser was built in UC 0087 this time by the Titans, referred to as the Gryps Laser. Unlike the Solar Ray Cannon, which burned out after firing, the Gryps Colony Laser can fire indefinitely, although its primary flaws were the time-consuming process of recharging between shots and the fact that it was ponderously slow and a huge (but resilient) target. Power is supplied by an array of solar panels, whilst a thermonuclear pulse thruster provides a limited degree of mobility. It was first used by the Titans to destroy Colony 18 of Side 2, and later captured by the AEUG and used to eradicate the remnants of the Titans. The Colony Laser was destroyed following the conclusion of "Operation Maelstrom" at the end of the Gryps Conflict.
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
to be written
Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam
Another colony laser was built in the later UC 0130s by the remnants of the Jupiter Empire, who planned to use it in their "Zeus Thunder" project, a plan to attack Earth with the laser from Jupiter.
After War
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Colony Laser as seen in After War Gundam X
Built for Operation Dahlia by the Space Revolutionary Army, the Colony Laser is built from the remains of an abandoned space colony and powered by a large network of solar panels positioned behind it. Construction of the laser was started during the 7th Space War but work on it was delayed for over a decade. In AW 0015 it was finally completed and SRA leader Seidel Rasso planed to use it to attack Earth and, in the following chaos, the SRA would take control of the planet.
When Operation Dahlia began, Seidel and a large fleet were at the colony laser to oversee the attack. However at the same time, Gundam pilot Garrod Ran used the Satellite Cannon of his GX-9901-DX Gundam Double X to fire two times at the laser, only to miss it each time narrowly. He threatened Seidel with the weapon's total destuction if the SRA leader wouldn't hand out Tiffa Adill to him. Seidel grudgingly accepted but after Tiffa was handed over, Garrod nevertheless destroyed the laser since it was a far too dangerous weapon.