Gundam GQuuuuuuX Ep. 2: The White Gundam

In UC 0079, the space colony cluster known as the Principality of Zeon is at war with the Earth Federation. In space, a Zaku mobile suit team led by Char Aznable approaches the space colony under construction at Side 7. After entering the colony, Char orders Slender to stay behind while he and Denim proceed into the colony’s habited zone. Denim scans the area with binoculars and spots the military block. He doesn’t see any traffic and Char concludes that the civilians must’ve been evacuated because the ship they’re pursuing is docked here. He concludes that this must be the location of the Federation Forces’ Operation V. Char wants to destroy all the mobile suit parts at the military facility before they’re loaded onto the enemy ship, but Denim reminds him that this is a recon mission. Char comments that he’s not one to let a chance for glory escape. On the Zeon battleship Falmer, Dren asks for an update on the status of repairs to Gene’s Zaku. A soldier asks why Char personally led the mission and Dren explains that he said it was intuition. Char and Denim open fire and destroy pieces of Guntanks and Guncannons. Denim spots another mobile suit nearby but Char stops him from opening fire on it. He dismounts from his custom Zaku and runs over to the Gundam, which is fully operational and unattended. Char gets into the cockpit as Denim comes under fire from a missile truck. A Guncannon emerges from the military facility and fires its beam cannons at Denim, grazing his Zaku. Char orders Denim to fall back as he gets the Gundam to stand up. Char fires vulcan guns at the Guncannon, and on the ground engineer Tem Ray wonders who’s in the cockpit. The vulcan guns run out of ammo and Char scans for other weapons he can use that won’t destroy the colony. He draws a beam saber and stabs the Guncannon through the cockpit after dodging a beam cannon attack. Char orders Denim to contact the ship and have them secure the docking bay so they can also capture the enemy ship. Char enters the docking bay and stabs the bridge of the Pegasus, killing Capt. Paolo Cassius and the bridge crew. With the bridge destroyed, the Zeon use the sub-bridge to pilot the Pegasus out of the dock and connect it to a towing cable from the Falmer. As the Gundam is resupplied, Dren reports to Char that they’ve picked up an incoming Salamis cruiser and mobile suits. Now carrying a beam rifle and shield, Char launches from the White Base and spots the 01 Gundam and a captured Zaku. The Gundam’s beam rifle destroys the Zaku in one shot, and Char is surprised that it has the same power as a battleship cannon. The 01 Gundam fires several hyper bazooka rounds at Char. He realizes that several are heading for the Pegasus and shoots them all down. He then turns his attention back to the 01 Gundam, which tosses its hyper bazooka at him. The 01 Gundam then charges in and rams Char, but he kicks it and attacks with his beam saber. He then pulls out his second beam saber to slice into the 01 Gundam and destroy it. Char thinks that the Gundam could impact Zeon’s mobile suit strategy.

Later, Char travels to the space fortress Solomon in a tugboat piloted by Mallygan, who informs him that Zeonic will stop developing new mobile suits and instead focus on reverse engineering and mass producing the Gundam. Char recalls that Vice Adm. Dozle Zabi was against his proposal, and Mallygan explains that Kycilia Zabi convinced him. Char asks why Mallygan, a Kycilia subordinate, would be doing him a favor, and he further asks if they want him to babysit Garma Zabi, who left the military. Mallygan answers that they want Char to command the Pegasus, which has been repaired, repainted green and renamed Sodon. Char is to travel to Granada since they expect Solomon to become a target. Mallygan shows Char the repainted Red Gundam and comments that he has the strength to end the war quickly. Char thinks that’s giving him too much credit, but Mallygan answers that he might be a special person. At Granada, Dr. Flanagan shows Char a report about his potential for Newtype abilities. Char asks why Flanagan is showing him this, and he answers that if there is a reformation of humanity, he wants to see it. Char asks if there are any other Newtypes and he’s later introduced to Challia Bull, recently returned from a mission with the Jupiter Fleet. Char asks Challia if he’s been briefed on the war situation, and Challia answers that he heard about Dozle dying in combat five days ago when Solomon fell. Despite Gihren Zabi’s assurances otherwise, Challia is convinced that it’s only a matter of time before the decisive battle is fought in the Zeon homeland. Char agrees with that frank assessment but thinks there’s still a way for Zeon to win. Challia asks if that’s Gihren’s plan to mass produce heavy mobile armors or the rumored Solar Ray. Char answers that the Red Gundam is being equipped with an Alpha Psycommu and will carry unmanned “bit” attack drones that were originally meant for a mobile armor. Challia comments that he only has good intuition and doesn’t know if he can help Char. Later, the two drink wine and Char asks if it was Gihren who assigned Challia to him, and he answers yes. Char comments that Challia can team up with him so he won’t have to be caught between Kycilia and Gihren. Char deploys in the Red Gundam to attack the EFF fleet docked at Solomon, now renamed Confeito. Char is able to destroy multiple enemy ships, which impresses Kycilia. She thinks Psycommu technology could be their trump card, but Gihren is an obstacle. A fleet let by M’Quve is dispatched to capture the EFF’s Luna II asteroid, but at the same time the EFF moves to drop Confeito on Granada. With Zeon forces occupied by the Luna II operation, Char’s Sodon fleet is tasked with dealing with Confeito. However, the Red Gundam’s Alpha Psycommu system goes out of control during the operation, causing an incident later known as the Zeknova. The One Year War ends in victory for the Zeon as the EFF falls back. Five years later, Challia boards the Sodon once again and travels toward Side 6 in search of Char.