AGX-04 Gerbera-Tetra – MechaBay | Mobile Suit Gundam 0083

The AGX-04 Gerbera-Tetra was a prototype general purpose assault mobile suit developed by Anaheim Electronics for Zeon remnants during Operation Stardust.

The “AGX” designation indicated that it was developed by Anaheim Electronics with Zeon-derived technology, while the “04” represented the fourth unit in the development sequence. The “Gerbera” portion of the name referred to a genus of sunflower, named after German botanist Traugott Gerber, whilst “Tetra” was the ancient Greek word for the number “four”.

History

As part of its military reconstruction following the One Year War, the Earth Federation Forces began its Gundam Development Project in collaboration with Anaheim Electronics. The intended fourth unit in this GP series was the RX-78GP04G Gundam “Gerbera”. Its design sought to replicate the high-speed mobile suit assault tactic successfully established by the Principality of Zeon late in the war, as exemplified by the MS-18E Kämpfer.

However, the role of the “Gerbera” was found to have many overlapping elements with its brother unit, the RX-78GP01 Gundam “Zephyranthes” which was upgrade-able for space combat. As a result, the development was cancelled, and Anaheim Electronics was left with a half-completed “Gerbera”.

The division within Anaheim Electronics that produced the “Gerbera” was created from the Zeonic, which still had strong loyalty to Zeon, and was approached by the Delaz Fleet. The division then revised the design of the “Gerbera” to hide its origin, and produced the AGX-04 Gerbera-Tetra. The rollout version retained the Gundam-style faceplate and binocular eyes, but these were replaced with a standard Zeon monoeye once the suit was handed over to Cima.

In U.C. 0083, when the Delaz Fleet launched Operation Stardust, Anaheim Electronics offered support for Delaz. Vice-President O’Sullivan gave the completed Gerbera-Tetra to Lieutenant Colonel Cima Garahau as a political gesture.

In the last stages of Operation Stardust, Cima used the Gerbera-Tetra in a last-ditch fight for her own survival when she defected from the Delaz Fleet. The mobile suit was ultimately destroyed during the final battle.

Design

The Gerbera-Tetra was designed to be one of the fastest and most manoeuvrable mobile suits of its time. It featured a simple but effective armament configuration and was built using lightweight titanium ceramic composite armour.

The mobile suit featured an ultracompact Minovsky fusion reactor with an output of 1,710 kW. Its thrust configuration included two main thrusters producing 56,000 kg each, a central thruster with 50,000 kg output, and four smaller thrusters generating 13,500 kg each, for a total thrust output of 216,000 kg.

The Gerbera-Tetra achieved an impressive 180-degree turn time of 0.9 seconds, making it exceptionally agile in combat. This manoeuvrability was further enhanced when equipped with the optional sturm booster system.

Armaments

The Gerbera-Tetra’s standard weapons were four 110 mm machine cannons for ranged combat and two beam sabers for melee engagement.

Machine cannons

The Gerbera-Tetra was equipped with four 110 mm machine cannons, two mounted on each forearm, with the magazines attached to the elbows. They were much stronger than the 60 mm vulcan guns mounted in the head of Gundam and GM-type mobile suits, and combined with their excellent rate of fire, they were extremely effective in mid-close range mobile suit combat.

Beam sabers

The Gerbera-Tetra carried two beam sabers stored in the armour attached to the top of its thighs. The beam saber was a small device held in the mobile suit’s hands when deployed and was powered by a rechargeable energy capacitor. It emitted high-energy Minovsky particles to form a blade-shaped I-field, and then filled this I-field shell with superheated Minovsky particle plasma to produce an effective cutting blade.

The beam sabers could also be configured as a beam javelin, with the saber hilt extending into a long pole and three beam prongs emitted at its tip.

Beam machine gun

The Gerbera-Tetra’s primary weapon was a prototype beam machine gun that continuously fired pulse shaped beams and excelled in sweeping fire and assault use, causing widespread destruction by multiple shots. As the technology for intermittently firing mega particles was under development, a cooling jacket and a coolant tank was connected to the barrel and the lower part of the barrel respectively. A forced cooling nozzle was also located at the back of the generator section, in the gun’s stock.

Optional equipment

The mobile suit could mount a shield for defence, using the same shield as the MS-14Fs Gelgoog Marine Commander Type. It could also be equipped with a sturm booster, which was a combination of propellant tank and vernier thrusters. The sturm booster allowed the Gerbera-Tetra to reach the front line quickly without using any of the mobile suit’s own propellant, and could be purged once the mobile suit reached its destination.

The sturm booster could be equipped with two additional propellant tanks to increase the flight range. Despite increasing the overall mass, the sturm booster dramatically increased the suit’s speed and flight range, making the Gerbera-Tetra one of the fastest mobile suits of its era.

Known pilots

Cima Garahau

Variants

AGX-04A1 Gerbera-Tetra Kai

An enhanced variation of the Gerbera-Tetra, the Gerbera-Tetra Kai was designed with the concept of turning the optional sturm booster into fixed equipment, greatly improving its thrust and mobility. Its main weapon, the beam machine gun, was also enhanced. The Gerbera-Tetra Kai was apparently an enhancement plan intended to be piloted by Cima Garahau after her betrayal of the Delaz Fleet. As the original Gerbera-Tetra was destroyed at the end of Operation Stardust, the Gerbera-Tetra Kai never came into existence.

Behind the scenes

The AGX-04 Gerbera-Tetra was designed by Mika Akitaka for the OVA Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. The name “Gerbera” refers to a genus of sunflower, whilst “Tetra” is the ancient Greek word for the number “four”.

There were rumours that the Gerbera-Tetra design came from the same Zeon engineers that worked on the MS-18E Kämpfer, which would explain its focus on high-speed assault tactics.

Appearances

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 Rebellion
Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space

External links

AGX-04 Gerbera-Tetra on the Gundam Wiki
AGX-04 Gerbera-Tetra on MAHQ