Axis – MechaBay | Mobile Suit Gundam

Axis, sometimes spelled Axcis, was an asteroid base built by the Principality of Zeon in UC 0072. After the One Year War, it became a haven for Zeon refugees, later serving as the headquarters for Axis Zeon under Haman Karn and eventually Neo Zeon under Char Aznable. It was ultimately destroyed in UC 0093 during the Second Neo Zeon War in an event known as the Axis Shock.

Overview

The massive asteroid was vaguely star-shaped in appearance. Its main body consisted of a wide, flat plane that was roughly circular when viewed from above. Three triangular “mountains” or “spires” jutted from this plane—two from the bottom and one from the top. The rearmost end was deliberately flattened to accommodate four enormous thermonuclear pulse thrusters, installed somewhat unevenly with the rightmost thruster positioned lower than the others. This area was surrounded by a large metal mesh framework made of struts and beams.

Originally established as a mining base and waystation for vessels travelling between the asteroid belt, Axis later journeyed towards Earth and became pivotal in the turbulent events of the late Universal Century, playing a central role in the climaxes of the Neo Zeon wars.

History

Construction

The Principality of Zeon built the Axis base in UC 0072 as a resource mining facility. Given its position in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, it also served as a stopover point for the Jupiter Energy Fleet during its journeys between Earth and Jupiter.

One Year War

Due to its remote location, Axis played little part in the One Year War. However, its significance grew afterwards as a refuge for Zeon loyalists. Following the Battle of A Baoa Qu, when the Principality officially surrendered to the Earth Federation, many Zeon soldiers refused to accept defeat. While some, like the Delaz Fleet, remained hidden in the Earth Sphere, most fled to Axis, often accompanied by their families.

The population of Axis swelled to approximately 30,000 people, including many Zeon engineers who continued developing new mobile weapons and space vessels. Initially, living conditions were extremely poor, with overcrowding causing severe problems such as shortages and disease. This situation improved when the asteroid Moussa was attached to Axis, providing additional living space, manufacturing facilities, and even a one-kilometre diameter gravity block.

Gryps Conflict

At some point, Axis was fitted with large thermonuclear pulse thrusters for propulsion. On 6 February UC 0086, these thrusters were activated, and Axis began its long journey toward the Earth Sphere. The trip took nearly two years, with Axis arriving in the midst of the Gryps Conflict in late 0087.

Haman Karn used Axis as a mobile base and headquarters for her forces in the battle against both the AEUG and the Titans. In a remarkable tactical move, Axis itself was used as a weapon, ramming the Titans’ base Gate of Zedan and destroying it, while Axis suffered only minor damage.

First Neo Zeon War

When Haman Karn declared herself the leader of Neo Zeon in UC 0088, she continued to use Axis as a mobile headquarters. The asteroid was infiltrated several times by the AEUG, particularly by Judau Ashta, but remained operational throughout the conflict.

Towards the end of the civil war between Haman and Glemy Toto’s forces, Glemy seized control of Axis and used the asteroid and its satellite, Moussa, to crash into and destroy Haman’s colony, Core 3. After Neo Zeon’s defeat, the base was abandoned for some time.

Second Neo Zeon War

During Char Aznable’s Neo Zeon movement in UC 0093, the Earth Federation sold Axis to Char as part of a peace offering. However, this was merely a ploy in Char’s grand plan—he intended to drop Axis onto Hong Kong on Earth, causing a nuclear winter that would force humanity to migrate to space.

During this attempt, the Earth Federation Space Force taskforce Londo Bell tried to destroy Axis with nuclear weapons. The missiles were intercepted by Neo Zeon forces before they could damage the asteroid. Eventually, Londo Bell succeeded in planting a large amount of conventional nuclear explosives inside Axis using small mobile suits. The detonation split the asteroid in half, but the explosion’s force caused one half to continue on its trajectory toward Earth.

Mobile suits from both sides attempted to push the fragment away from Earth without success. It was then that Char’s long-time rival, Amuro Ray, stopped the asteroid piece from hitting Earth through the mysterious Psycho-Field phenomenon, an event that came to be known as the “Axis Shock”.

UC 0096

Months after the revelations of Laplace’s Box, the Earth Federation Forces, considering the existence of the “psycho-frame” a potential threat, dispatched the Mastema special forces team to investigate part of the shattered asteroid Axis, the remains of which were drifting throughout the Earth Sphere.

Behind the scenes

The asteroid was likely named after the Axis powers of World War II, furthering the Nazi Germany analogies present in the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

Though no official measurement was ever provided for the asteroid, Axis was comparable in size to A Baoa Qu prior to Axis splitting the latter in half during the Gryps Conflict.

The term “Axis Shock” was first introduced in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. Prior official media did not have a specific name for the psycho-frame resonance that pushed Axis away, though the Super Robot Wars Alpha series called it the “Light of Human Heart” (人の心の光), after a quote by Amuro.

Appearances

Anime

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ

Movie

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack

OVA

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory

Manga

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

External links

Axis on the Gundam Wiki