Gundam Frame

While not strictly one model of mobile suit, the type of suit called Gundam has nevertheless inspired awe and fear in equal measure since their inception almost a century ago. Their creation were a direct result of the Calamity War and though they were meant to end that terrible conflict, some have argued that their destructive power only escalated it.
Gundam has since the very beginning been shrouded in secrecy and still no one knows how Anaheim Electronics created such powerful and advanced mobile suits. What is known that the MS called Gundam used a experimental control interface in their design, sometimes referred to as Gund format. This format bonded the mobile suit to its pilot and took a huge strain on the pilot, causing physical and psychological trauma with extended use. In exchange the pilot gained unparalleled control over the Gundam and could pilot it more intuitively than any set of manual controls ever would allow.

The five

Only five Gundam are known to have been built during the Calamity War and while the technology to create Gundam has not been lost, their destructive power and the harmful effects they had on their pilots led the Earth-Mars Federation to ban their construction and development after the war. Each Gundam from that apocalyptic war is a legend unto themselves and has its own story to tell, but bellow is a summary of the 5 Gundam from the Calamity war:

Gundam Awlaan

One of the first Gundams to see open combat in the war, and the first to be known among the Martian troops. Piloted by Rira Du the Gundam Awlaan along with Gundam Thania spearheaded the UN counterattack in the middle-east that marked a turning point in the war. Awlaan was the epitome of a Gundam; White and blue, angular armour, a tall, v-shaped crest on its head and armed primarily with beam sword and shield it was a mechanical paladin of the modern world. By all accounts its pilot Rira Du was as much a paragon as her mobile suit. Witnesses describe a woman of implacable honour, bravery and kindness. Gundam Awlaan and its pilot did not survive the war, both being destroyed when attempting to prevent the colony drop on Australia at the end of the war. While they failed to stop the colony from impacting, her actions bought time for parts of the colony to be evacuated before it hit the atmosphere.

Gundam Awlaan, just before its first battles in the Calamity War.

Gundam Thania

The second Gundam to enter the fray on the Earth front, alongside Gundam Awlaan, Thanias pilot Kune Fasi is seen as a loyal companion to Rira Du by historians, although few accounts remain to tell how Kune himself thought about this. Gundam Thania is recorded as having fought diligently, methodically removing threats on the battlefield with little complaint or ego and always prioritising the safety of his teammates over his own. Thania was primarily armed with a long barrelled beam rifle and shared many structural parts with Gundam Awlaan but featured heavier armour and more advanced long-range sensors. Gundam Thania was painted in white and red. Pilot Kune Fasil died shortly after the war from the strain of piloting Gundam, the location of Gundam Thania is classified.

Gundam Thania as it was at the end of the Middle East campaign after an upgrade to its thrusters in preparation for a campaign in the asteroid belts that never came to pass, instead Thania saw action defending Earth from Martian asteroid attacks.

Gundam Pyxis

Renounced for their bravery and sacrifice Gundam Pyxis and it pilot Ko Synapse was at the centre of the Cataclysm of Mariner Valley. Pilot Ko Synapse took initiative and tried to stop his comrade Mendoz Andrei in Gundam Azag when they fell into madness and tried to unleash a weapon of mass destruction on Mars. Ko Synapse and Gundam Pyxis failed and were destroyed either in the duel with Azag or the following cataclysm as the weapon was unleashed. In battle Pyxis and Ko were respected as a mentor and voice of reason. A veteran of many wars and a instructor in the UN Spacey before the war, Ko was selected to the Gundam program to provide wisdom and patience to the otherwise young group of pilots. Gundam Pyxis was built for manoeuvrability and defence, using shields and a mix of weapons to adapt to the enemy. Pyxis was well suited for duels and often took on the most skilled of enemy pilots in one-on-one combat. On more than one occasion Ko Synapse issued challenges to enemy commanders, prompting the enemy force to surrender without bloodshed if he could beat their best pilot.

Gundam Pyxis as deployed to Mars late in the Calamity war.

Gundam Azag

A pilot and MS duo more feared than any other during the Calamity war, Azag and its pilot Medoz Andrei were close combat made manifest. In battle Gundam Azag would close with the enemy as fast as possible to engage them in brutal melee combat. For this Azag was built with elongated limbs and beast-like claws on both hands and feet. Often going into combat with a large ship-breaker mace and little to no ranged weapons, pilot Medoz seemed to relish combat and faced charges on more than one occasion for breaking the rules of engagement. Medoz´s bond with the Gundam and the state of the war saved him from facing punishment for his war crimes. At the end of the Calamity War , while Gundam Azag and Gundam Pyxis along with a majority of UN forces on Mars were conducting an offensive to find and destroy a Martian Republic weapon of mass destruction news arrived of the asteroids and colony dropped on earth. Whilst the majority of UN forces were stunned by these news, pilot Mendoz flew into a mad rage. Finding the Martian weapon he expressed his intention to use it on the population of the Mariner Valley to avenge the attack on Earth. Ko Synapse, pilot of Gundam Pyxis, saw the madness in Medoz and tried to stop him resulting in a duel between the two Gundam. While the battle was fierce, Ko Synapse could not bear kill his comrade, something Mendoz had no qualms about. Gundam Azag would destroy Gundam Pyxis and unleash thermonuclear destruction on the population of the Mariner Valley for 3 hours before finally ending his rampage in a final raging inferno when the weapons reactor overloaded and exploded. Gundam Azag has since the war been seen as the largest warning to the dangers of Gundam technology and was one of the main arguments to the banning of Gundam development.

Gundam Azag in a rare moment of repair. Due to the aggressiveness of pilot Mendoz Gundam Azag spent most of its time in the field where it quickly was covered in battle damage and dust.

Gundam Gjallarhorn

The last Gundam to be taken out of service, Gundam Gjallarhorn and its pilot Za Sonohara fought valiantly during the Calamity war and beyond. Gundam Gjallarhorn´s frame is slender and lightweight, features a large fusion-thruster array for propulsion and is built for speed and long distance flight. It is capable of sustained flight at high velocities even within a planets atmosphere, a rare feat among mobile suits. While flexible in its loadout, Gundam Gjallarhorn is most commonly equipped with a large particle beam rifle. A soft-spoken and reserved individual, Za Sonohara stayed out of the spotlight and seemed to take quiet pride in her work. During the invasion of Mars at the end of the war, Gundam Gjallarhorn was assigned to conduct raids on the Martian moon of Demos whilst Gundam Azag and Gundam Pyxis lead the main force into the Mariner Valley. Seeing the Cataclysm from orbit caused pilot Sonahara to order a ceasefire on her Demos front and the Martian commander did the same. While unconfirmed, it´s believed that this event and her willingness do use diplomacy led to Zo Sonohara becoming deeply involved in the secretive peace talks that followed in the months after the cataclysm on mars. After the war Gundam Gjallarhorn and Zo Sonohara were incorporated into the Earth-Mars Federation armed forces but disappeared without a trace in DC 0004.

Gundam Gjallarhorn, rebuilt after suffering major damage in the early fighting on Earth.

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Controversy

Ever since their introduction during the Calamity War there has been major controversy surrounding the development and use of Gundam. To begin with Anaheim Electronics has never revealed how they made such a huge breakthrough in mobile suit design. Most credit the success to a combination of hard work, genius and being at right place in the right time. Some sceptics believe that Anaheim had outside help, but from where depends on who one asks and varies from the probable to the fantastical. The more rational theories are based on the fact that Anaheim Electronics spent much of the late 21th century purchasing and merging with promising smaller corporation in the technology and medical sector, putting them in the perfect position to lead the development of robot and mobile suit development in the decades leading up to the Calamity war. Other theories are base on the idea that Anaheim Electronics had outside help, either from the UN and it member states or from Martian corporations conducting corporate espionage on Zeonic Heavy Industries , Anaheims arch-rivals at the time. A few, less stable individuals, have proposed the conspiracy that Anaheim developed the Gund-format with the help of extra-terrestrial intelligences (e.g aliens) . These claims have been dismissed by Anaheim, despite their otherwise silent treatment on the origins of Gundam.
While mostly regarded the Gundam-controversy as a resolved issue and it is no longer widely discussed in the late DC 0090´s there are still those who believe Gund-format and Gundam development should be resumed. Anaheim Electronics have rarely taken a stance on the subject, instead favouring whatever opinion the current leadership of the Federation has. There are occasionally rumours that Anaheim is conducting secret research into the Gund-format illegally, but every time investigations have been made Anaheim has come out clean and the charges dropped.

Gund-format Ban

The ban on Gundam research and development after the war was almost unanimous in the newly formed Federation Senate. This is mostly attributed to the testimonies of Za Sonohara and Kune Fasi, the pilots of Gundam Gjallarhorn and Gundam Thania. Their first hand accounts of the horrors of the war and in particular the devastation wrought by Gundam Azag on Mars shocked the Senate. Kune Fasi´s visibly deteriorating health from the strain of using the Gund-format made the senate hearings even more dramatic as the pilot told his tale from a wheelchair, surrounded by medical devices keeping him alive. The war hero and pilot of Gundam Thania would die just days before the senate was to vote on the future of Gund-format and the vote fell heavily in favour of the complete ban on Gund-format technology and Gundam frame mobile suit development. The Federation oversaw the decommissioning of all of Anaheim Electronics remaining Gundam prototypes and the transfer of all technologies and documentation pertaining to the Gund-format in the years following. The remaining Gundam frames, both functional and damaged, were transferred to Federation space forces special command. A few documents mention the pilot of Gundam Gjallarhorn, Za Sonahara, also being transferred to this special command, but little to know records exist on what happened to the last Gundam pilot after that.