PMX-001 Palace-Athene – MechaBay | Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

The PMX-001 Palace-Athene was a prototype heavy mobile suit developed by Paptimus Scirocco aboard the transport ship Jupitris during the Gryps Conflict.

The “P” in the model code stood for Paptimus (Scirocco), “M” for mobile suit/mobile armor, and “X” indicated that it was an experimental unit. The “001” denoted it was the second of Scirocco’s handmade mobile weapons, following the PMX-000 Messala.

The Palace-Athene was the second mobile suit built by Paptimus Scirocco aboard the Jupitris during the Gryps War. Scirocco originally intended for the Palace-Athene to operate in a team alongside the PMX-002 Bolinoak-Sammahn and the PMX-003 The-O. As such, each mobile suit was given a designated function, with the Palace-Athene serving as a heavy attack unit with sufficient firepower to sink multiple space warships.

History

The second handmade mobile suit built by Paptimus Scirocco aboard the Jupitris during the Gryps War, the PMX-001 Palace-Athene was purely a heavy mobile suit designed for offense. Designed and built aboard the Jupitris, the PMX-001 Palace-Athene was a one-of-a-kind mobile suit, and the second in a series of mobile suits made by Paptimus Scirocco.

Scirocco piloted the Palace-Athene once when he returned to the Jupitris after the Dogosse Giar had been transferred to Bask Om. Afterwards, the Palace-Athene became the personal mobile suit of former AEUG pilot-turned-Scirocco supporter Reccoa Londe.

Reccoa used the Palace-Athene during the destruction of the Gate of Zedan to free Sarah Zabiarov from the Argama and briefly engaged Kamille Bidan and his MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam in battle. Later, while on a mission to stop Axis, Reccoa led a mobile suit team to attack the Dogosse Giar and destroyed the ship’s bridge with her mobile suit, killing Bask Om.

Reccoa used the Palace-Athene a final time during the Battle of Gryps, where she fought her former friend Emma Sheen and her RX-178 Gundam Mk-II. Reccoa was defeated when Emma stabbed the Gundam Mk-II’s beam saber through the Palace-Athene’s chest, and the suit was completely destroyed by a shot from the back by Yazan Gable and his RX-139 Hambrabi.

Design

Though normally armed with four beam cannons in its torso and claws on its feet, it could also be outfitted with a heavy 2-barrel beam rifle, eight battleship-grade long-range missiles, and a shield mounting several small missile launchers. Although this full equipment loadout gave the Palace-Athene the firepower equivalent of a large mobile armor or battleship, its bulk and size caused it to suffer a lack of good speed and maneuverability.

To carry and operate such a large amount of weaponry, the Palace-Athene’s base frame was enlarged and the mobile suit became comparable in size to Scirocco’s first handmade mobile suit, the PMX-000 Messala. The mobile suit was constructed from Gundarium alloy, providing substantial protection against enemy weapons.

The Palace-Athene had an ultracompact Minovsky fusion reactor generating an output of 1,790 kW. Its propulsion system consisted of one main thruster producing 38,500 kg of thrust and two additional thrusters each producing 29,500 kg, along with fifteen vernier thrusters for attitude control. The mobile suit had a standard cockpit in its torso with a panoramic monitor and linear seat system, with sensors providing a detection range of 10,100 metres.

Armaments

The Palace-Athene’s full loadout consisted of six beam cannons on its shoulders and forearms, a twin beam gun with grenade launcher, a shield fitted with eight missile launchers and two beam sabers, a pair of movable shields, two foot claws and eight large missiles.

Mega beam guns

Two mega beam guns were mounted in the forearms, providing the Palace-Athene with devastating close-to-medium range firepower. These weapons were essential for the mobile suit’s role as a heavy attack unit.

Scattering beam guns

Four scattering beam guns were mounted in the shoulders, adding to the mobile suit’s impressive beam weapon arsenal. These weapons provided wide-area attack capabilities against multiple targets.

2-barrel beam gun

Mounted on the right forearm, the 2-barrel beam gun had a long attack range due to the pair of long barrels. It was also referred to as a “beam rifle” and mounted a grenade launcher. The twin beam gun was powered by rechargeable energy caps.

Grenade launcher

Mounted on the twin beam gun, it fired the same grenades as the PMX-000 Messala. This provided additional explosive firepower for area attacks.

Shield

A customised shield could be mounted on the left forearm. Besides being a defensive armament, it also stored two beam sabers and had eight built-in small missile launchers. The shield provided both defensive capabilities and additional weaponry storage.

Large missiles

Four large missiles could be optionally carried on each of the backpack-mounted movable shield, for a total of eight missiles. These missiles were meant for anti-ship purposes and their destructive power was beyond those of normal missiles. With the large missiles, the Palace-Athene could sink multiple space warships by itself. The tip of each missile had an optical seeker that retained sufficient recognition and tracking ability even when under the influence of Minovsky particles.

Movable shields

Two movable shields were mounted on the backpack, providing additional defensive capabilities and serving as mounting points for the large missiles.

Foot claws

The foot could transform into claws when the heel spurs rotated forward and the toes pivoted down, enabling the Palace-Athene’s legs to be used as large arms. Not only could the foot claws be used in melee combat, they could also be used to grip onto surfaces in low gravity areas such as asteroids.

Known pilots

Behind the scenes

The mechanical design for the Palace-Athene was created by the design team working on Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, with contributions from Mamoru Nagano, Kazumi Fujita, and other staff members.

The “Palace Athene” is named for “Athena” (sometimes known as “Pallas Athena”), the Greek goddess of War. In Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2, it is very powerful against numerous enemies due to its overwhelming firepower. In Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam, the Palace Athene can only sortie with one of its additional weapons. If not given either the missiles or shield, it can use the scattering beam gun as its sub weapon.

Appearances

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

External links

PMX-001 Palace-Athene on MAHQ
PMX-001 Palace Athene on the Gundam Wiki