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GNMS-003/J+B Advanced Gundam Unit 3 "Arche Drei"
Model number: GNMS-003/J+B
The history of the GNMS series of mobile suits is convoluted and twisted, not to mention practically colored with blood of murdered unfortunates who were involved with it. Development of the GNMS began before the rise of the Guild when the Earth Sphere Alliance successfully stole a GN drive from the Human Reform League after a long series of espionage plots across Eastern Europe and Asia. Months of reverse-engineering and a crash course in mobile suit development ended up producing semi-serviceable mobile weapons, but the program came to an abrupt end when the development facility outside Reno, Nevada was destroyed by League counterintelligence agents. With advancements in mobile doll technology, there was no further interest in duplicating the League's GN drives among the Alliance higher-ups, and the expediency of the Guild conflict resulted in the widespread release of GN technology as a precursor to the foundation of the Earth Union. However, the GNMS series would be ressurected in a highly unlikely fashion. After incomplete plans were rediscovered by the Union's Main Intelligence Directorate, a small number of GNMS-type mobile suits were secretly built under MID supervision for use in high-intensity covert operations where maximum firepower was necessary but for political or strategic reasons standard Union GN-X-type mobile suits could not be used. The Gundam-like appearance of the GNMS was to be used to particular effect, given the connotations of Gundam-style mobile suits with the Guild and other organizations. Further, the GNMS series was equipped with a novel self-starter apparatus on their GN drives, allowing the mobile suits to be shut down and/or powered on in the field, a feature highly conducive to asymetrical warfare and lacking on standard GN-Xs and their derived variants. All GNMS-series mobile suits share a common frame, cockpit, and numerous other systems, differing primarily in weapon systems and specialized equipment for different mission parameters. Nominally, only three GNMS-type mobile suits were ever designed, but a Unit 4 was secretly developed at a later point. Partially incorporating technology recovered from Guild mobile suits, Unit 4 was constructed entirely under the auspices of the Directorate for use by important field officers needing a mobile suit with an extremely high level of performance. Built off of a stretched and elongated GNMS frame, as well as incorporating no less than three GN drives - two additional units are installed in the mobile suit's legs - Unit 4 was several times more costly than any of the original GNMS-type mobile suits and a mechanical nightmare to service. However, in the hands of a capable pilot, the "wild horse" of a mobile suit could outpace virtually anything else in the Earth Union's arsenal. With the ouster of the Directorate's "renegade element" in the summer of UC 241, its operational freedom was drastically curtailed, and among other sanctions was specifically barred from maintaining any black operations forces involving mobile suits. The handful of surviving GNMS-type mobile suits, including an incomplete Unit 4, were confiscated by the Union's Baikonur Mobile Suit Studies and Design Group where further examination of the hitherto-unknown units could take place. Part of this deconstruction work involved the capabilities of the Gundam Unit 3's GN stealth field. As a proof-of-concept demonstrator, the incomplete Unit 4's frame was mated with a pair of massively upgraded stealth field emitters, along with a few other modifications; the demonstrator was assigned the unimaginative name "Advanced Gundam Unit 3". After tests were concluded, the unique mobile suit was offered to the (now disbanded) 431st Counterinsurgency Battalion's Thomas Veidt, whose stock Gundam Unit 3 provided the Baikonur staff with live combat data to assist with the testing process. While still not an offensive powerhouse, the Advanced Unit 3 - referred to by Veidt as "Arche Drei", a portmanteau of the original Guild callsign and the German spelling of three - features massively improved combat endurance and mobility compared to the original Unit 3. The handheld GN beam sabers and forearm-mounted GN beam gun have been discarded in favor of a modified GN stiletto weapon. Originally deployed with the Commando GN-X, the GN-stiletto features a solid-state GN blade made primarily from condenser material, giving it superior cutting power. The blade is bisected by a variable beam rifle/beam saber for ranged battle or to increase its reach in hand-to-hand combat. A large GN vulcan, borrowed from the standard GN-X, can be attached to the mobile suit's other arm to improve short-range firepower. For longer distance engagements, the vulcan can be replaced with a potent long beam rifle, giving the Arche Drei a measure of sniping capability. Two GN fang containers, replicas of the Unit 4's original equipment, are installed on the mobile suit's hips, giving it access to up to ten GN fangs. As with that unit, the fangs can be used as funnel-like remote beam guns or to make piercing melee attacks via an integrated beam spike. The Arche Drei's greatly oversized stealth field emitters can be replaced with GN missile containers for sustained battle environments; the stealth field itself, however, is unquestionably "Arche Drei"'s most potent weapon. Compared to its predecessors, the enormously more powerful stealth field emitters are capable of releasing enough charged GN particles to render virtually all sensors, wireless communication, and even beam weapons inoperable over a significant area. As a further trump card, the Advanced Unit 3's weapons have their particle output synchronized to that of the stealth field's, which permits their use even within the stealth field's active area of effect. While limited to combat purely at visual range, this can be a powerful force multiplier for the "Arche Drei"'s pilot. The stealth field does not discriminate between friendly and enemy units, however, and the precise particle synchronization can only be carried out by the drives that are powering the stealth field emitters themselves, meaning allied units will be equally hampered while under its effects. This notable drawback was sufficient for the Studies and Design Group to deem the entire system as without merit for general use, though its applications to a more unorthodox unit such as the 1st Special Tactical Attack, Reconaissance and Surveillance (STARS) Composite Task Force are much more promising.
Backpack Cockpit detail Cockpit pod Cockpit hatch Escape fighter GN fang GN fang container GN long beam rifle GN missile container GN shield GN stealth field emitters GN stiletto Hand detail Head detail Large GN vulcan |
