Model number: GNX-704T/SP
Code name: Ahead SST
Unit type: advanced capability super soldier-use all-environment mobile suit
Manufacturer(s): Human Reform League
Operator(s): Human Reform League, Earth Union
First deployment: February UC 220
Retired: January UC 228 (officially)
Accommodation: pilot only, in panoramic monitor cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 20.8 meters
Armor materials: GN particle-impregnated composite
Powerplant: GN drive, output theoretically unlimited based on remaining
particle supply
Equipment and design features: 8 x GN vernier, 2 mounted on shoulders,
6 mounted in boost binder; brainwave scanning and bit control system; sensors, range unknown
Fixed armaments: 2 x 30mm GN vulcan gun, fire-linked, mounted in head; 2 x GN beam saber, stored in racks in shoulders, hand-carried in use; 2 x GN claw, mounted on tips of fingers
Optional fixed armaments: GN shield with 60mm GN vulcan gun, mounts on either arm
Optional hand armaments: GN beam submachine gun, powered by GN drive, can be modified into GN beam rifle

Technical and Historical Notes

The discovery of the GN drive, thought to be a lost technology from before the Interregnum, completely outed the Human Reform League's development of mobile suits beyond the sturdy but simplistic Tieren series. With an incredibly high energy output compared to the Tieren's onboard nuclear reactor, the
faculty of using the GN drive as a mobile suit's powerplant necessitated a total overhaul of the League's design essentials. The result is the GNX-704T Ahead, so named because it is believed to put the Human Reform League ahead of all the major powers in terms of the capability of its mobile suits.

The GNX-704T/SP Ahead Super Soldier Type, or just SST for short, is (uncannily) intended explicitly for use by the Human Reform League's genetically enhanced super soldiers. Based on the frame and general layout of the Ahead Commander Type, the SST is further modified by the installation of a giant boost binder nearly as tall as the mobile suit itself, with the GN verniers moved to the outer sides of the mobile suit's shoulders. The incredible amount of thrust generated by this arrangement is gauged specifically at the enhanced bodies of the League's super soldiers - an unaugmented pilot would have a great deal of difficulty controlling the SST's maneuvering. The mobile suit is fitted with a brainwave scanning unit as well, enabling the SST's pilot to delegate low-level functions (adjusting sensors, checking particle levels, modifying drive output, etc.) purely by mental action, while improving the mobile suit's response time and synchronization rate for most other tasks, including combat maneuvering. Perhaps the most inventive use, however, is for the super soldiers' unique ability to express thoughts via quantum brainwaves. The SST's pilot is capable of remotely operating the companion GNX-704T/YN Neo Ahead mobile suit via the bit control system - a particularly skilled super soldier with strong brainwave patterns might be able to operate as many as three Neo Aheads at once, while still maintaining full control over their own machine.

In addition to the battery of weapons on the Neo Aheads, the SST is well armed in its own right, maintaining the standard set of GN vulcans, GN beam sabers, and GN claws of the original Ahead. The compact version of the GN beam submachine gun/GN beam rifle first fielded on the Ahead Commander Type is also deployed on the SST, while it is similarly incapable of using the standard Ahead's GN bazooka for much the same reasons. The SST is additionally provided with a special GN shield which includes a mounted large-caliber GN vulcan, providing for a quick deployment of firepower in tight situations.

With the formation of the Earth Union in UC 221, the Earth Sphere Alliance and Human Reform League set about standardizing their mobile suits around the GN-X series of mobile suits. As a result, many Aheads were "demilitarized" and had their GN drives removed for use in the newer mobile suits. In the case of the Super Soldier Type and its Neo Ahead complement, this was seen as a particularly unfortunate case of bad timing, with the rather conservative GN-X replacing what had been an extremely inventive system not seen since before the Interregnum. However, a limited number of Ahead SSTs and Neo Aheads were maintained in active service despite their official retirement in UC 228.

Lineart

Cockpit
GN beam rifle
GN beam submachine gun
GN claw
GN shield
GN verniers
Head
Rear view