#Infinite Justice Gundam METEOR

[gundamfight]

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Most improved Gundam SEED FREEDOM Character...

Hands down has to be Shinn Asuka. His character improved in every single aspect. Even though I love what they did with Athrun (having him grow into being confident in what he is doing, without being influenced by someone else, settling with Cagalli, being the legendary pilot he has been from the beginning, being absolutely CLUTCH), I know Shinn stole the entire movie because the theatre I was in erupted when he was on scene in the Destiny.

I think the movie did an amazing job of showing that Shinn was actively trying to change, and for the better. In GSD Final Plus, we know Kira invites Shinn to work with him. This is enough to make Shinn join COMPASS to work with Kira. He keeps saying he wants to help Kira shoulder the burden he has. Kira constantly eclipses Shinn's potential as a pilot.

The movie does a fantastic job of showing Shinn in the Immortal Justice, a Gundam that runs on a battery that is acceptable in a non-nuclear world, that is built with Athrun Zala's piloting style in the Infinite Justice in mind. This machine, while symbolically the partner to the Rising Freedom, is not meant for Shinn. It symbolizes that while Shinn wants to work with Kira, his machine isn't meant for him. Shinn not only doesn't like the armaments on the Immortal Justice (his mobile suits, especially the Destiny, seem to have mid-range options, while the Immortal Justice is very much close range), it also runs battery operated. Shinn is one of the only Cosmic Era pilots to drain batteries quickly. In the Impulse, he drained them and needed replacements fast. He isn't like Kira, who can work under constraints.

The moment Shinn receives the Destiny, he gets access to his preferred armaments, to a nuclear powered pack (something that he benefits from immensely), AND to the symbolic power he gave up. The Destiny was his final, all powerful suit, and it was misused in GSD. He was panicky, angry, emotional and unfocused because of what he was doing. He didn't have the backing he did now. The thing I enjoyed the most is that we have not one, but two uses of Shinn's music in GSF. There is the use of Kakusei Shinn Asuka from Gundam SEED DESTINY in parts of the theme while Shinn is in the Destiny Spec II. There is the use of Impulse! Shutsukegi while he is taking off in the Destiny. There is no shortage of callbacks to the Shinn in the beginning of Destiny who was the hero. The music is symbolic that Shinn has gone back to being right. He knows the course he's on.

We have the ultimate tell-all when Meteor by T.M. Revolution, a theme meant for Kira when he is heroically charging into battle, ends with Shinn's Destiny destroying three Black Knight units. Meteor is still the theme of the hero flawlessly saving his allies. But it isn't Kira's, because Kira doesn't flawlessly save his allies. It becomes Shinn's because he is. Shinn is positioned again to be the hero that he didn't get to be in Destiny.

On the far left, we have Kira and Athrun, who win against their enemies with cinematic backdrops. Their choices in music highlight that their battled were difficult. Athrun had meticulous planning and Cagalli's support. Kira needed the Mighty Strike Freedom to fight Orphee, and Lacus's psychic powers. The only person who didn't need anything, who essentially did what Kira did when he received his new Freedom units during SEED and DESTINY, is Shinn.

I was amazed, absolutely amazed, at how Fukuda somehow redeemed a character who we left off with as a childish, angry villain. Shinn had no personality traits that made him likeable at the end of DESTINY. Having him show up with the one thing he could find - wanting to work to a better world with Kira - and highlight how his change in mindset essentially made him better, was genius.

It gets even more intense when you read the novel. You have Aura Maha Khyber constantly going on and on about Durandal, how she was influenced by him. The Black Knight squad constantly goes on about how much Durandal was like a father to them too. But they degrade Shinn, who was Durandal's ace pilot. They look down on him, berate his skills, assume he's no good. When reading all of the above in that context, the added layer that Shinn destroys them in the Destiny Spec II, a machine that Durandal originally made for Shinn, is the best storywriting possible. It shows that they underestimated Durandal's own discovery. Durandal, who might have been wrong about everything, was not wrong about discovering Shinn. Shinn did turn out to be a gem of a pilot. He needed the right armaments (something Kira needs too, fyi), the right motivation, and the right people supporting him.

I really like that Shinn found his support group in Kira and Lunamaria. I like that he grew from where he ended off in Destiny into a dependable ally to Kira. Where Athrun always had the confidence as a pilot, Shinn needed to show that he was always good. That he was the "Freedom Killer" for a reason. He was Durandal's ace pilot for a reason.

Never in a million years would I have thought that a movie titled Gundam SEED FREEDOM would make me love Shinn Asuka and the Destiny more.

Another important thing I think needs to be said is that Durandal also had something correct about Athrun. Athrun is able to pilot anything. He pilots Goufs, GINNs... He pilots the Z'Gok. He pilots the Aegis (basically a mobile armour). He was meant to pilot the Legend. Ironic name aside (Athrun is basically a legend in GSF, with every single villain going on about how good he was), the DRAGOON system in the Legend should have been hard for him to use. In Gundam SEED FREEDOM, Athrun uses the Strike Freedom, with its much more difficult DRAGOON system, and he does it so well that Shura doesn't even realize it isn't Kira.

Durandal knew his pilots and their capabilities so well. How insane that he knew Athrun could handle a DRAGOON system.

[pulseofthestars]

Now with Athrun’s bio and skills down let’s move to his mobile suits, namely the Aegis, the Justice, and the Infinite Justice.

GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam

One of five secretly developed G-Weapons alongside the Blitz, Buster, Duel, and Strike Gundams, the Aegis was taken by Athrun during ZAFT’s attack on Heliopolis. Standing at 18.86 meters tall and weighing at 76.6 tons the Aegis like its fellow G-Weapons is powered by an Ultracompact Energy Battery which powers its energy weapons and its defensive armor. Like the other G-Weapons the Aegis’s main defense is Phase Shift Armor, when this is not active the Gundam has a mainly grey color scheme but once activated the PS Armor gives it the color scheme shown above, it also minimizes damage down by solid based weapons but does not perform so well against beam weapons. For weapons the Aegis has two head mounted  "Igelstellung" 75mm Multi-barrel CIWS mainly used for destroying smaller vehicles and intercepting missiles, 4 beam sabers two mounted in each arm and two mounted on the legs, a 60mm High Energy Beam Rifle, a shield, and as a mobile suit with the rare class X300 frame the Aegis is capable of transforming into a Mobile Armor mode, in this mode the Aegis can utilize the beams sabers on its “arms” and a powerful "Scylla" 580mm Multi-phase Energy Cannon which is only revealed in this mode. The Aegis in Mobile Armor mode can also use its four limbs to latch onto other mobile suits or other objects, either for a point blank attack or to immobilize a target. In the event where there is no other option Athrun can also activate the Aegis’ self-destruct system which results in an explosion big enough it can be seen over a sizable hill. However the full power of the explosion is questionable as the Strike’s PS Armor lasted long enough to leave it mostly intact, leading to Kira’s survival in the final fight in SEED between him and Athrun. With its four beam sabers the Aegis is a nightmare in close range combat and also effective enough at both long and close ranges to destroy mobile armors, mobile suits and ships.

ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam

One of two specially developed prototype mobile suits developed by ZAFT in the latter half of the war in SEED the Justice was granted to Athrun due to his service in combat and to retrieve the Freedom when it was taken by Kira. What separates these two suits from others is that they are equipped with N-Jammer Cancelers, devices used to nullify the effects of N-Jammers around them, allowing the use of nuclear power and thus unlike the Aegis the Justice is powered with an ultracompact nuclear fusion reactor which gives the Justice far greater energy in comparison to other mobile suits allowing the usage of PS Armor and beam weapons for a longer period of time. Unique to the Justice is also the Fatum-00 unit on its back, this unit when attached to the Justice’s back serves to allow it to fly on Earth or anywhere with an atmosphere and gravity but can also detach from the Justice, serving as either a flying platform for the Justice to stand on or provide a support role with the weapons stored on it by way of an on-board AI program or by remote control. For defense the Justice carries a laminated anti-beam shield into battle which as the name implies is built to block primarily beam weapons as the PS Armor can reliably block out damage from solid based weapons. For combat the Justice carries four head mounted MMI-GAU1 “Saggitus” 20mm CIWS which, much like the CIWS of the Aegis can be used to destroy comparatively lightly armored vehicles and missiles, a MA-M20 “Lupus” Beam Rifle, a pair of shoulder mounted RQM51 "Bassel" Beam Boomerangs and a pair of MA-M01 “Lacerta” Beam Sabers as shown above can be combined into a double edged beam saber. Thanks to the Justice’s nuclear reactor the beam weapons have a superior output to the Aegis’ beam weapons. Along with these weapons, on the Fatum there are four GAU5 "Volucris" Machine Guns and a pair of M9M9 "Cervus" Turret Machine Guns mounted near each of the Fatum’s wings, these machines are primarily used when the Fatum is in a support role and lastly there are two MA-4B "Fortis" Beam Cannon mounted on the front which along with being used in a support role are also used by the Justice when the Fatum unit is attached for more ranged attacks. Also, similar to the Freedom, the Justice has a Multi Lock-On System though this is generally only used near the end of SEED with the METEOR unit [As described later in this post].

ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice Gundam

The plans for the Infinite Justice were originally made by ZAFT’s Integrated Design Bureau and based on improvements of the Justice but these plans were stolen and used to build the Infinite Justice by the faction led by Lacus Clyne. Designed specifically for Athrun the Gundam is powered by a Hyper-Deuterion Engine, using a combination of a nuclear reactor and the Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System, a combination that is supposed to give a mobile suit with this style of engine unlimited self-sustaining power as the systems work together. This allows the Infinite Justice tremendous potential on the battlefield and the ability to utilize a vast arsenal of weapons. Similar to the Justice the Infinite Justice has a Fatum-01 unit normally attached on the back. However thanks to the higher energy output and new movable wings and thrusters the Fatum-01 is more mobile and has far greater speed. To fit Athrun’s preference for close quarters combat the Infinite Justice has a notable increase in close range weapons in addition to ranged. It also has Variable Shift Armor, the latest variation of the PS Armor, able to be programmed to automatically alter the strength and thus by association, the energy consumption the armor has on the suit’s energy, making it the most energy efficient variant of PS Armor by Destiny. For defense the Infinite Justice carries a MX2002 Beam Carry Shield that is capable of projecting an energy shield to increase its defensive abilities, also mounted in this shield are the EEQ8 Grapple Stinger which can immobilize, pull in, or impact a target from a distance and the RQM55 “Shining Edge” Beam Boomerang which can be used as either a ranged boomerang both in space and the atmosphere or be used as a held or shield mounted beam saber. Along with this the Infinite Justice also has the MA-M1911 Beam Rifle, a set of MMI-GAU26 17.5mm Twin CIWS on the head and another set of MMI-M19L 14mm Twin CIWS stationed on the chest. The Infinite Justice’s main weaponry includes two MA-M02G "Super Lacerta" Beam Sabers stationed on the side skirt armor and the rather unique leg mounted MR-Q15A "Griffon" Beam Blades which give a cutting edge to the mobile suit’s kicks. The Fatum-01 also has several weapons including two rapid-fire MA-6J "Hyper Fortis" Beam Cannons, a nose mounted MA-M02G "Super Lacerta" Beam Saber, a pair of MA-M02S "Preface Lacerta" Beam Sabers mounted on the beam cannons and when the cannons are rotated 180 degrees can activate when the Fatum is detached from the Infinite Justice. And lastly the Fatum has a pair of wing mounted MR-Q17X "Griffon 2" Beam Blades making the pack fearsome both in close and long range combat scenarios and much like the preceding Justice the Infinite Justice maintains the Multi Lock-On system.

Additional equipment

METEOR 

The METEOR [Mobile suit Embedded Tactical Enforcer] units are normally docked on the ship the Eternal where they serve as gun batteries. However when the Freedom and Justice along with their successors need extra strength the METEOR units can be launched and dock with the two Gundams. With the METEOR unit the Justice and Infinite Justice gain a powerful mobile weapons platform. Armed with two 120 cm High-energy Beam Cannons on the movable arms, side mounted pair of 93.7 cm High-energy Beam Cannons which are weaker than the 120 cm cannons but have a higher rate of fire, the arms can also form a pair of large MA-X200 Beam Swords capable of easily cutting through battleships and other mobile suits like a hot knife through butter, and lastly stored across the unit are a total of 77 missiles fired from 60 cm "Erinaceus" Anti-Ship Missile Launchers. In the Full Burst Mode the Infinite Justice unleashes every ranged weapon on the METEOR, creating a solid barrage that can reduce fleets and mobile suit forces to scrap. The biggest drawback to the METEOR is that they can make for large targets though damaged segments can be released to leave the rest of the METEOR intact and if needed the mobile suit docked can detach if the unit is too badly damaged to continue functioning.

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