RMS-099 Rick Dias

Template:Infobox/Mobile Weapon Ver.2The RMS-099 Rick Dias (RMS-099 リック・ディアス, Rikku Diasu^?) is a second-generation mass production attack-use mobile suit featured in the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam television series.

Technology & Combat Characteristics

Developed by Anaheim Electronics, the RMS-099 (MSA-099, MSA-009) Rick Dias (codename: "γ Gundam" (Gamma Gundam) became one of the first mass-produced mobile suits of the AEUG's Zeta Project for their fight against the corrupt Titans. Because many engineers who worked on the Rick Dias were former Principality of Zeon members, the Rick Dias featured many similarities to Zeon mobile suits such as a mono-eye sensor. The Rick Dias ("Dias" is derived from Bartolomeu Dias, the Portuguese explorer who first rounded the Cape of Good Hope) was originally to be called Gundam γ as it is built out of the new Gundarium γ. This material was developed by Axis and has strength similar to standard Gundarium yet is structurally lighter, making the suit lighter and thus allowing it to accommodate a greater fuel capacity.

The Rick Dias is one of the earlier mobile suits to use the 360-degree panoramic cockpit, and the first original design to be constructed by the AEUG. One notable feature is that unlike other mobile suits at the time, the cockpit of the Rick Dias is built into the head and not the chest. Built into its hands are specialized launchers that can be used to launch fire-suppressing gas or a binding adhesive. For combat, the Rick Dias is equipped with a large variety of weapons, making it a versatile mobile suit. Among its built-in weapons include a 2-barrel 55mm vulcan phalanx in its head and a beam saber stored in a rack on the backpack. For ranged combat, the Rick Dias is equipped with a pair of beam pistols stored in backpack storage racks. It can also be optionally equipped with a clay bazooka and a beam rifle.

Armaments

• 2-barrel 55mm Vulcan Phalanx

Mounted in the top of the Rick Dias' head, and covered by a hinged hood when not in use, they are equivalent to the vulcan guns commonly used by other mobile suits. These shell firing weapons have a high-rate of fire, but little power and are generally ineffective against mobile suits; however, they can damage lightly armored areas such as the sensors. These weapons are ideal for shooting down small, lightly armored targets such as missiles, small vehicles, etc.

• AE/ZIM.C-BAZ-531 300mm Clay Bazooka

An innovative projectile-firing weapon, the Clay Bazooka was originally designed to fire adhesive rounds which immobilize enemy machines rather than destroying them outright. However, it could also be loaded with other types of ammunition, including conventional explosive round as well as pellet shot round. The Clay Bazooka has 1 round in its chamber with 7 more rounds in a reloadable magazine. A retractable hook is present on top of the bazooka's barrel for mounting onto Rick Dias's backpack when not in use.

• BP-L-86 Beam Pistol

The Rick Dias is equipped with a pair of Beam Pistols as its primary ranged beam weapon. Despite its compact size, it is powerful enough to destroy an enemy mobile suit with a single shot. The Beam Pistols are stored on a storage rack on the Rick Dias' backpack when not in use, and while stowed, they could fire directly with a limited firing arc.

• Beam Rifle

A standard hand carried ranged beam weapon is the beam rifle. Capable of firing concentrated mega particles, attacks from a beam rifle can damage any ordinary armor that has not been specially treated to resist it. It is the same one used by the RMS-117 Galbaldy β.

• Beam Saber

The beam saber is a small device held in the mobile suit's hands when operated and is powered by a rechargeable energy capacitor. It emits a blade of plasma contained by an I-Field and can cut through any armor not treated with anti-beam coating. The Rick Dias stores a single beam saber in a rack located under the beam pistol's storage rack. Power rated at 0.4 MW, the model of beam saber used by Rick Dias is also used by other mobile suits such as Hyaku Shiki and Nemo.

Special Equipment & Features

• Random Binder

Mounted on the Rick Dias' backpack, the pair of Random Binders are a combination of vernier thrusters with propellant tanks and are capable of Active Mass Balance Auto-Control (AMBAC) like the suit's limbs. Thanks to these binders, the suit has excellent mobility. They could be ejected when not required.

• Sealant Launchers

This device sprays a sticky sealant, similar to the wall film used to mend breaches in warship hulls. This substance can be used to seal ruptures in spacecraft and space colony exteriors. By the time of the Gryps Conflict most mobile suits have sealant launchers built into the fingers of their manipulators, as well as utility devices like signal flares, dummy dispensers, and fire extinguishers.

• Ballute System

An atmospheric entry device designed to be used by a multitude of different mobile suit models. As the mobile suit enters the atmosphere, a bowl-shaped ballute (balloon parachute) deploys to protect it from the friction heat of atmospheric entry. The balloon then detaches, leaving the mobile suit with chest and leg hover units which ease its descent to the ground. If the mobile suit reaches the ground without expending all the fuel in the leg units, these devices can also be used for hovering and high-speed strike missions.

History

The Rick Dias was AEUG's first original and most powerful mass-production mobile suit, making its first known major use during the mission to infiltrate Gryps and steal the new RX-178 Gundam Mk-II. Three Rick Dias were used to infiltrate the colony, led by AEUG ace pilot Quattro Bajeena in his custom painted red Rick Dias. The mission was successful and proved the value of the Rick Dias.

For all following missions, Rick Dias were assigned to the AEUG's top pilots who did not possess their own custom unit such as the Gundam Mk-II or the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki. Initially, the standard color scheme for the Rick Dias was black and dark gray. However at some point, while the AEUG was on Earth, the standard color scheme was switched over to the same red coloring scheme used on Quattro Bajeena's unit and later piloted by Emma Sheen.

Despite being technologically advanced and state of the art at the start of the Gryps Conflict (to the point that the Titans tried to steal some of the Argama's compliment), the Rick Dias was soon overshadowed by the increasingly more advanced designs in the AEUG and the Titans. By the start of the First Neo Zeon War, there were only a few operational units left, but they would see little use, as what remained of the AEUG and Karaba would use the newer RGM-86R GM III.

Variants

• RMS-099BD Break Dias
• RMS-099B Schuzrum Dias
• RMS-99K Kanone Dias
• RMS-099NT Röten Dias
• RMS-099RS Sturm Dias
• RMS-099S Rick Dias S
• MSA-099 Rick Dias [Delphi Squad]
• MSA-099 Rick Dias [Stutzer]
• MSA-099-2 Rick Dias II

Gallery

Lineart for animation

Cockpit and head unit

Hand launcher

55mm Vulcan Phalanx

Beam Saber

AE/ZIM.C-BAZ-531 Clay Bazooka

Beam Pistol

Beam Rifle

"Gundam-jack inside Green Noah"

Stabbing a NRX-044 Asshimar (from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam TV series)

Gundam Evolve Version in Quattro Bajeena colors / New Standard colors

Early design line art by Mamoru Nagano

Alternate design as 'MS-24' illustrated by Mamoru Nagano

Line art for 1/100 Master Grade model

Art from Gundam Perfect File

In Mobile Suit Bible

Custom Rick Dias Gunpla as seen on Gundam Build Fighters

Custom Rick Dias Gunpla as seen on Gundam Build Fighters Try

Custom Rick Dias Gunpla as depicted in Gundam Build Divers Prologue

Wreckage of a Rick Dias Gunpla of the 7th Panzer Division

Gunpla

1/144 Original RMS-099 Rick Dias [Quattro Bajeena Colors/New Standard Colors] (1985): box art

1/144 HGUC RMS-099 Rick Dias [Early Standard Colors] (2000): box art

1/144 HGUC RMS-099 Rick Dias [Quattro Bajeena Colors/New Standard Colors] (2002): box art

Rick Dias (Quattro Bajeena Color) as part of 1/144 HGUC "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Metallic Version Set " quadruple pack (Chara Hobby 2004 exclusive; 2004): box art

1/100 Original RMS-099 Rick Dias [Quattro Bajeena Colors/New Standard Colors] (1985): box art

1/100 MG RMS-099 Rick Dias [Early Standard Colors] (2004): box art

1/100 MG RMS-099 Rick Dias [Quattro Bajeena Colors/New Standard Colors] (2004): box art

1/220 Original RMS-099 Rick Dias [Quattro Bajeena Colors/New Standard Colors] (1985): box art

Rick Dias "Infiltration of Side 7": top - diorama illustration by Mamoru Nagano; bottom: diorama reproduction with 1/100 Original Rick Dias models

Unknown scale modelling of RMS-099 Rick Dias (Amuro Ray Use)

Action Figures

Mobile Suit in Action (MSiA / MIA) "RMS-099 Rick Dias (Quattro Bajeena / Late Standard Color)" (2003): package front view.

MSiA / MIA "RMS-099 Rick Dias (Early Standard Color)" (2004): package front view.

Robot Damashii "RMS-099 Rick Dias (Quattro Bajeena's Unit)" (2015): package front view.

Robot Damashii "RMS-099 Rick Dias (Early Production Type)" (Tamashii Web exclusive; 2016): package front view.

Gashapon

Real Type color

Notes and Trivia

• In the Zeta Gundam novelization, the Rick Dias is named after Bartolomeu Dias, a Portuguese explorer who discovered the Cape of Good Hope.
• The Vulcan Phalanx System borrows its name from the close-in weapons systems used by modern-day naval vessels, which are in turn named after the massed phalanx formations of ancient Greek infantry soldiers.
• The design of the Rick Dias' beam pistols resembles the Borchardt C-93 semi-automatic pistol.
• In the U.C Arms Gallery Volume 3, the Rick Dias' BP-L-86 Beam Pistol and Hyaku Shiki's BR-M-87 Beam Rifle have interchangeable parts. It is unknown if this is true in-universe, or just done for the gallery.

References

Parts and specifications (from Bandai's Enterainment Bible)

Gundam Zeta Define version's profile

External Links

• RMS-099 Rick Dias on MAHQ.net