New Desides – MechaBay | Gundam Sentinel

The New Desides was a dissident military faction formed by Earth Federation Forces and Titans officers who rebelled against the Federation leadership in UC 0088. The group was committed to upholding the ideology of Earthnoid supremacy following the defeat of the Titans during the Gryps Conflict.

History

Formation and uprising

The New Desides emerged from the ranks of the Titans Mobile Suit Instructor Corps stationed at the Pezun asteroid base near Side 2. Following the Gryps Conflict and the dissolution of the Titans organisation, many officers remained committed to the Titans’ principles of Earthnoid supremacy and opposition to spacenoid independence movements.

On 29 January UC 0088, during the final weeks of the struggle between the AEUG and the Titans, a group of junior officers led by Brave Cod staged a rebellion against the AEUG-allied command at Pezun. The rebels successfully overthrew the Federation leadership at the asteroid and declared themselves the New Desides—a portmanteau of “decision” and “dissident” that reflected their rebellious nature.

The uprising began when the officers used their positions within the Instructor Corps to seize control of Pezun’s facilities and mobile suit production lines. They quickly eliminated resistance from loyal Federation forces and secured the asteroid’s nuclear self-destruct system as a defensive measure.

The Pezun campaign

In response to the rebellion, the Earth Federation government formed Task Force Alpha, a small but well-equipped force comprising EFSF, AEUG, and Karaba veterans. The Federation assigned the experimental MSA-0011 S Gundam to the task force to suppress the rebellion before it could spread to other installations.

On 15 February UC 0088, the Federation deployed the 127th Combat Unit from Side 2 to gather intelligence on the situation at Pezun. The New Desides forces, equipped with RMS-141 Xeku Eins mobile suits, decimated the entire unit in less than five minutes, demonstrating their combat capabilities and advanced equipment.

Task Force Alpha launched from the Baikonur base on 25 February UC 0088 and engaged the New Desides forces in a series of skirmishes around Pezun. Despite fierce resistance, the Federation forces gradually gained the upper hand. Recognising their position was untenable, the New Desides evacuated most of their personnel to Ayers City on the Moon whilst leaving a small contingent to detonate Pezun’s nuclear self-destruct system on 12 March UC 0088.

The lunar campaign

Ayers City, located on the far side of the Moon, served as the last bastion for Titans remnants and supporters of Earthnoid supremacy. The New Desides established their new headquarters there and attempted to rally other lunar cities to their cause. However, their efforts to gain broader support largely failed, with most lunar settlements remaining neutral or hostile to their ideology.

The New Desides received a significant boost when Admiral Brian Aeno defected from the Earth Federation with the Tenth Divisional Fleet on 28 March UC 0088. Aeno, who had been sent to reinforce Task Force Alpha, instead joined the rebels and brought with him the prototype ORX-013 Gundam Mk-V, which he presented to Brave Cod as a demonstration of loyalty.

Task Forces Alpha and Beta launched Operation Eagle Falls, an all-out assault on Ayers City, beginning on 24 March UC 0088. The battle raged for eleven days, during which Brave Cod demonstrated exceptional skill piloting the Gundam Mk-V, destroying the three-member FA-010A FAZZ squad single-handedly. However, he was ultimately killed in combat by Ryou Roots piloting the MSA-0011[Ext] Ex-S Gundam.

Final operations and destruction

Following Brave Cod’s death and the fall of Ayers City, Tosh Cray assumed command of the remaining New Desides forces—only 28 survivors. Neo Zeon forces arrived to extract the remnants, honouring their previous alliance with the Titans. Cray formally disbanded the New Desides over disagreements about whether to align with Neo Zeon.

Instead of joining Neo Zeon, Cray devised a desperate final operation to hijack the Penta orbital relay station and use it as a staging area for a direct attack on the Federation Senate at Dakar. Neo Zeon supplied the survivors with the massive AMA-100 Z’od-iacok mobile armour, capable of atmospheric re-entry.

The final confrontation occurred on 4 April UC 0088 during the New Desides’ descent towards Earth. The Pegasus III and its mobile suits intercepted them, leading to a running battle in the upper atmosphere. The Z’od-iacok separated into two Zoan units during the engagement. Ultimately, the artificial intelligence ALICE aboard the S Gundam sacrificed itself to pursue and destroy the last New Desides survivors during their atmospheric entry, completely annihilating the faction.

Organisation

Command structure

The New Desides maintained a military hierarchy based on their origins within the Titans Mobile Suit Instructor Corps. Brave Cod served as the supreme commander and primary strategist, with Tosh Cray acting as his second-in-command and tactical advisor. The organisation was structured around mobile suit squadrons, with experienced pilots leading smaller units of Instructor Corps veterans.

Key leadership positions included:

Supreme Commander: Brave Cod
Second-in-Command: Tosh Cray
Squadron Leaders: Josh Offshore, Fast Side, Drake Pashuray
Fleet Commander: Brian Aeno (following his defection)

Military divisions

The New Desides organised their forces into several specialised units:

Mobile Suit Forces: The core of New Desides military power, primarily equipped with RMS-141 Xeku Eins units in various configurations. Elite pilots operated more advanced units including the RMS-142 Xeku Zwei and the commander’s ORX-013 Gundam Mk-V.

Naval Forces: Initially limited to vessels captured during the Pezun uprising, the New Desides significantly expanded their fleet capabilities when Admiral Aeno defected with most of the Tenth Divisional Fleet.

Technical Corps: Responsible for maintaining mobile suits and developing new weapons systems, including the logic bomb used against Task Force Alpha’s mobile suits.

Military

Mobile suits

The New Desides’ primary mobile suits were variants of the RMS-141 Xeku Eins, a general-purpose mass production unit developed from Zeon’s experimental “X Series” discovered at Pezun. The Xeku Eins featured three main configurations:

Type 1: Basic configuration with beam rifle and grenade launcher
Type 2: Long-range assault variant with beam smart gun and disc radome
Type 3: Heavy assault configuration with 120 mm machine gun

The faction also fielded the more advanced RMS-142 Xeku Zwei, a prototype attack unit with enhanced weapons capacity and four sub-arms for improved versatility. Only three prototype units were completed before Pezun’s destruction.

Brave Cod piloted the ORX-013 Gundam Mk-V, a prototype general-purpose mobile suit originally developed by the Augusta Newtype Research Institute. The unit featured a revolutionary Quasi-psycommu system and INCOM (Inertia-Controlled Projectile) weapons that could be operated by non-Newtype pilots.

Naval assets

Following Admiral Aeno’s defection, the New Desides gained control of a substantial fleet including:

Multiple Salamis Kai-class cruisers
Magellan-class battleships
Support vessels and transport ships
The flagship Kilimanjaro, an Irish-class battleship

The fleet provided the New Desides with significant firepower and mobility, enabling their evacuation from Pezun and subsequent operations around the Moon.

Defensive capabilities

The New Desides employed several innovative defensive measures:

Nuclear deterrent: The faction wired Pezun with nuclear warheads as a defensive measure and ultimate denial weapon, successfully destroying the asteroid during their retreat.

Electronic warfare: New Desides technical specialists developed a “logic bomb”—a sophisticated software weapon that temporarily paralysed Task Force Alpha’s mobile suits by infiltrating their operating systems.

Cyber operations: The faction maintained intelligence assets within the Federation, enabling them to monitor enemy movements and conduct sabotage operations.

Ideology

Earthnoid supremacy

The New Desides was fundamentally committed to the ideology of Earthnoid supremacy inherited from the Titans. They believed that Earth-born humans possessed inherent superiority over spacenoids and that the Earth Federation should maintain strict control over space colonies to prevent independence movements.

This ideology manifested in their opposition to the AEUG’s spacenoid rights advocacy and their determination to prevent what they saw as the Federation’s capitulation to colonial demands. The New Desides viewed the Titans’ defeat as a temporary setback rather than a fundamental rejection of their principles.

Military elitism

As former members of the Instructor Corps, the New Desides maintained a strong belief in military professionalism and elite status. They viewed themselves as the true inheritors of Federation military tradition and considered the post-Gryps Conflict leadership to be compromised by political considerations.

Independence aspirations

Despite their Federation origins, the New Desides ultimately sought to establish an independent nation based on their ideological principles. Their plan to use the Moon as a base for a new nation reflected their belief that the existing Federation had been corrupted beyond redemption.

Legacy

The New Desides represented the final organised resistance of Titans ideology within the Earth Federation Forces. Their rebellion highlighted the deep divisions within the Federation military following the Gryps Conflict and demonstrated the persistence of Earthnoid supremacist sentiment amongst certain officer corps.

The faction’s advanced mobile suit technology, particularly the Xeku series, influenced subsequent Federation mobile suit development. The combat data gathered during the Pezun Rebellion provided valuable insights for improving anti-insurgency tactics and mobile suit capabilities.

The complete destruction of the New Desides marked the end of organised Titans remnant activity within the Earth Sphere, though individual former members would later join various other factions including Neo Zeon and Mars Zeon.

Behind the scenes

The New Desides faction was created for the photonovel Gundam Sentinel, written by Masaya Takahashi and serialised in Model Graphix magazine from September 1987 to August 1988. The faction’s name and character names drew inspiration from the Shinsengumi, the special police force of late Edo period Japan.

The character names were carefully crafted as homages to historical Shinsengumi officers:

Brave Cod referenced Kondō Isami, with “Isami” meaning “brave”
Tosh Cray referenced Hijikata Toshizō, with “Cray” relating to “earth” (土)
Josh Offshore referenced Okita Sōji, with phonetic adaptation
Fast Side referenced Saitō Hajime, with “First” meaning “beginning”

The mobile suit designs by Katoki Hajime emphasised realistic military aesthetics over traditional Gundam heroic designs, reflecting Gundam Sentinel’s focus on portraying mobile suits as military equipment rather than super robots.

Appearances

Gundam Sentinel photonovel

External links

New Desides on the Gundam Wiki