ORB-00A Vanguard

"The ORB-01A Vanguard is a mobile suit ahead of its time, for its abilities and power are nothing against any other mobile suit built at the time. With the combination of this mobile suit and the piloting ability of Lord Kira Yamato, its pilot, it became something more than a powerful mobile suit it became a legend..."

- - Major Brian Carter Orb Defense Forces The ORB-00A Vanguard is a mobile suit that has become a legend to many around the Earth Sphere thanks to the actions of its pilots and the power of said mobile suit.

General Overview
The ORB-00A Vanguard is a prototype unit that was built to serve as a defensive unit for Orb’s Space Colony of Heliopolis. It was built on the orders of Lord Haruma Yamato, the Governor of Heliopolis after learning about the Alliance’s G-Weapon Project and the Astray Frame Project that were underway at the Colony’s Morgenroete Facilities. Knowing that if he made anything of it word may very well be leaked to the ZAFT Forces somehow and they would attack the Colony. Therefore Lord Haruma started this project to produce a defensive unit to help protect the colony.

The Vanguard while being a defensive unit is also tests various new other technologies, like the other units involved with the G-Project and Astray Frames. Beside the normal beam weapons and other new technologies only one major new tech is tested on the Vanguard which is the Lightwave Particle Thrusters, based on ZAFT’s Lightwave Pulse Thrusters. This allows the Vanguard to have unheard of maneuverability and speed allowing high-speed attacks yet can dodge any return fire. For this reason the engineers building the machine gives it a majority close-range armament, though it is still able to use various beam rifles if needed.

Even then when it was finished and its testing done, the Vanguard was left alone for Lord Haruma did not to draw any attention onto the unit though told his son Kira about it. It would be months later on the last day of the G-Project and only hours away from the Alliance leaving the Colony when ZAFT attacked. Kira having chased an unknown stranger through the factory district stumbled onto the G-Weapons and found out that the stranger he was with was in fact Princess Cagalli Yula Attha. After managing to get her to a shelter, Kira knowing he needed to protect his people moved to the Vanguard’s Hanger. There he found his father who was getting the machine ready and Kira arrived just in time to see his father heavily injured in a nearby explosion. After telling Kira to protect their people, passes away, enraged Kira takes control of the Vanguard and goes out to battle the ZAFT Forces.

From then on Kira would continue to pilot the Vanguard protecting the new Alliance Battleship Archangel which had several Heliopolis refugees on board.

Fixed Armaments

 * {C}{C}{C}{C}{C}{C} 2 x “Dart” 40mm CIWS Cannons 
 * The Dart CIWS Cannons are based heavily on the Igelstellung CIWS Cannons equipped to the other mobile suits of the G-Project and Astray Project. However unlike the other CIWS, the new Dart is lighter and yet fires a bit faster. It also allows the cannons to carry more ammo due to the size of the round.


 * {C}{C}{C} 2 x “Nodachi” Beam Swords 
 * A pair of beam sabers that are different from ES00 series beam sabers of the Alliance's G-Weapons and Orb's Type 70 series for their Astray Frame Prototypes. For one they are larger and a bit more powerful hence their name of Beam Swords over Beam Saber.

Opitonal Fixed Armaments

 * {C}{C}{C} “Tachi” Long Anti-Mobile Suit Sword 
 * A new anti-mobile suit sword based heavily on the "Schwert Gewehr" anti-ship sword developed by the G-Project for the Sword Strike Module of the Strike G-Weapon, over the older MA series swords developed by ZAFT for their mobile suits.


 * {C}{C}{C} “Tanto” Short Bladed Anti-Mobile Suit Swords 
 * A pair of shorter versions of the "Tachi" Sword and are very similar to the longer sword just shorter and easier to wield.

{C}{C}{C}

Opitonal Hand Weapons

 * Type 71 55mm Beam Rifle
 * The standard beam rifle for the Orb built mobile suits, including the Vanguard. However these weapons are short supply onboard the Archangel and the Vanguard often has to make-do with the slightly larger M700 series beam rifles developed by the Earth Alliance.


 * M701 57mm Beam Rifle
 * The new beam rifle for many of the Alliance G-Weapons and later limited produced mobile suits. Sports an attached grenade launcher which can be loaded with many types of grenades. Slighly heavier then Orb Type 71.


 * Type 70P 35mm Beam Pistols 
 * A pair of specially created beam pistols developed outside of the Orb Astray Project, the Vanguard recieves these later on in the story.


 * Type 71C 45mm Semi-Automatic Beam Carbines
 * A custom beam rifle built by the engineers on board the Archangel and is basically a lighter, and smaller version of the Type 71 beam rifle made out of a defective Type 71 and some parts from a “Ruger” 40mm Semi-Automatic Beam Rifle. Becomes the standard hand weapon for the Vanguard after it is finished.

Variants
The Vanguard is basically a stand-alone weapon like many of the G-Weapons however Morgenroete did managed to produce a few variants of the design including a mass production model.
 * MBF-M00A Vanguard Astray 
 * The mentioned Mass Produced Vanguard based on the Astray frame, and is only really assigned to ace pilots. Also the Vanguard Astray sports a heavier long-range armament and does away with some of the close-range hand weapons of the Vanguard. Morgenroete would produce about twenty of these machines over the course of last months of the war.


 * ORB-00R Vanguard Wing 
 * A variant produced by Morgenroete to test the Raiser attachment for the regular Vanguard.