Series Overview

"Once, there was a war. A conflict triggered by one colony's movement for independence grew into a fullscale war between Earth and the colonies. Eight months into a stalemate in the conflict, the colonies ventured into a high-risk game of diplomacy. They pressed the Earth to surrender, threatening to send colonies crashing into the Earth, an action that would result in great damage to the home planet. Earth was prepared for an all-out war with its mobile suit Gundams, a weapon designed for the final battle that it had developed in secret. However, this resulted in the greatest tragedy in the history of mankind. Driven to win, the colonial forces proceeded with their operation, but the forces of Earth were able to withstand the onslaught. In the quagmire of war, the homeplanet of all of mankind was destroyed. Virtually all of the Earth's ten billion inhabitants were lost. There were no longer any instances of victory or defeat. And 15 years have passed..."

The year is After War 0015. The Earth is finally starting to recover after years of nuclear winter. Socially speaking, the state of the world has returned to prehistoric levels, and its face is potmarked with hundreds of colony craters. Ask most any Earthnoid and they'll tell you that every colony has fallen. And in one small corner of the world, a single mobile suit arrives to attack a village. However, the pilot hasn't counted on the possibility of any effective retaliation. That retaliation comes in the form of Garoad Ran, who first blinds the mobile suit's camera, then opens the cockpit with a gun already aimed at the pilot.

As Garoad finishes securing his new mobile suit, he is approached by a man with a job offer. Later that day, after selling the mobile suit, Garoad and the man discuss the job - to recover a girl named Tifa Adil, the last remaining Newtype, from a group of Vultures (groups of people who literally are "vultures").

Garoad reaches the Vulture ship, Freeden, and begins searching for Tifa. Along the way, he finds a safe, and wanting to give himself a little "reward," he breaks into it. Unfortunately, he finds only a small mobile suit control unit, but he pockets it anyway. Continuing his search, Garoad finally finds his target - Tifa Adil. After quick introductions, they make their escape, and are quickly noticed by the Vultures. Garoad manages to get Tifa to his employer safely, but as soon as they arrive, she becomes frightened. How does Garoad respond? By jumping back into the car and leaving with Tifa.

With mobile suits in pursuit, Garoad and Tifa make their escape. Finally, they're thrown from their car by a close shot, but all is not lost, as they seem to have come across an interesting find - a mobile suit. Not just any mobile suit, though. A Gundam. The GX-9900 Gundam X, a relic from the 7th Space War, to be more precise. Unfortunately, the Gundam won't activate. That is, until Garoad remembers the control unit in his pocket and prays that it works ("If this works, Tifa, I'll believe in God," and after the successful activation, "I believe in God, Tifa!").

A few mobile suits later, the GX meets a new opponent - two other Gundams, the GW-9800 Gundam Airmaster and GT-9600 Gundam Leopard, from the Freeden. Garoad attempts to avoid fighting, and as soon as he realizes that they're trying to take Tifa back alive, he holds her out in front of the Gundam, allowing himself escape. Later, Garoad and Tifa sit around a fire, talking. They're soon interrupted by a whole host of mobile suits, including the Freeden's Gundams. Realizing their situation, Tifa Adil uses her Newtype abilities to contact a microwave system on the moon. Power is beamed to the GX and Garoad fires its immensely powerful Satellite Cannon, wiping out just about all the enemy mobile suits, save for the two Gundams, which were able to dodge the blast in time. The smoke clears and the GX is surrounded by nothing but Earth that has been stained white. Suddenly, Tifa throws her hands to her face and screams before falling unconscious.

The Freeden approaches, and though Garoad attempts to get away, Jamil Neat, the ship's captain, manages to jump onto the GX and open the hatch. He holds a gun to Garoad, and when Garoad reaches for his own, Jamil fires at his hand. Thus, Garoad is captured by the Vultures. Tifa is taken into the care of the ship's doctor, Techs Farzenbarg, and Garoad is thrown into the brig, where he refuses to eat anything. He sneaks out at night to bring flowers to Tifa, then goes back to his cell. When he's finally caught by Jamil, he explains that he won't leave the ship without Tifa, which is why he could escape, but doesn't. Meanwhile, earlier that day, a battle erupts near the Freeden. The Airmaster and the Leopard easily dispose of an enemy Vulture's mobile suit force, and a pilot who was the cause of the battle signs on to help out in the same way as Witts and Roby. However, the same night Garoad is caught picking flowers outside the ship, Olba Frost, the pilot who was in trouble earlier, injects poison into Tifa's arm.

Upon learning of what happened to Tifa, Jamil begins hatching a plan to save her. However, the ship doesn't have the necessary equipment, so they must capture a facility with the sort of capability they need. Everyone wonders why, and Jamil reveals that in the 7th Space War, he was the Newtype pilot of the GX-9900. Most Newtypes were killed during the war, and he was forever scarred by it. He explains that he wants to protect Tifa, as well as any other Newtypes who may exist. Witts and Roby, not satisfied with the reasons Jamil gives for saving Tifa, both leave. Olba, still playing the part of the indebted mobiled suit pilot, offers to help. Garoad, who listened in on the story, gets angry at Witts and Roby, but they beat him up and leave anyway. When Jamil explains the plan to his crew, as well as other Vultures whose help he has enlisted, Olba alerts his brother, who is actually aiding the people that the Freeden is planning to attack. When Olba's brother, Shagia, has all of the information, Olba attacks from inside the ship and escapes in his now-transformed Gundam Ashtaron as Shagia's Gundam Virsago fires a huge blast straight at the Freeden.

The Freeden attempts to dodge the blast, but the main engine is hit. The other Vultures launch their mobile suits, and eventually, the GX joins them, piloted by Garoad Ran. Garoad has a tough time with Shagia Frost, and it only gets worse when Olba joins in after dropping Tifa off at the lab. Finally, Garoad is finished. Olba catches Garoad with his atomic scissors and Shagia charges forward with a beam saber, when suddenly Shagia and Olba are both attacked by the newly arrived Airmaster and Leopard. Meanwhile, the lab has the mobile armor Grandine flown in, and when it's finally ready, it begins firing huge blasts designed to wipe out the Vultures and the Frost brothers. With telepathic help from Tifa and Jamil as the go-between, Garoad manages to aim the Satellite Cannon so precisely as to wipe out the Grandine without hurting Tifa. So he fires, and there it goes. Tifa walks out of the wreckage of the lab and the GX shows up to rescue her.

Later, the Freeden is unloading mobile suits to sell, and Garoad, who is supposed to be towing them, becomes a bit absent-minded. He crashes the mobile suit carrier and sends pieces of the ceiling falling. No one is seriously injured, but Garoad feels terrible nonetheless. To make it up, he goes to an abandoned Federation nuclear power plant to scavenge, but a woman by the name of Enil El, who is interested in his Gundam, gives chase. When the Vultures realize where Garoad has gone, Jamil feels the need to chase after him so as to keep him from hurting himself. Enil El and a few mobile suits attack Garoad, and he manages to take care of everyone but Enil. The reactor explodes as Jamil arrives and he and Garoad run like hell to get away (as Enil had already done minutes earlier, smart girl). Seeing that they're not fast enough, Garoad uses the Satellite Cannon to propel both of them away, but Jamil's suit crashes and the cockpit is damaged. The Freeden's crew is absolutely furious, of course, and everyone now hates Garoad. Jamil undergoes surgery, and though it's successful, he lies in a coma.

Garoad leaves and decides to sell the GX, and Enil El (whom he didn't recognize because she was kind of hidden from view by her giant robot) bids on it and wins. The arrangement is that she will pay for it the following day, so Garoad hides it until then. However, she comes to him in the night and there's a conflict between them. Believing she wants to kill him and steal the Gundam, Garoad holds her at gunpoint. She advances, trying to get close to him, and he fires, narrowly missing. Startled, Enil El vows not to forgive him. So later, to get her revenge, she attacks the Freeden in order to draw Garoad out in the Gundam. Though the Airmaster and Leopard remain to fight off mobile suits, there's little they can do when Enil has the ship surrounded on all sides with a burning forest.

Enil El moves in for the kill, but Garoad shows up at the last minute and rescues the Freeden. As the battle progresses, the ship moves out over a lake, but it's ambushed by a submerged ship that then uses special weapons to set the lake on fire. To make things worse, the Frost brothers show up as well. Jamil regains consciousness and runs outside, signaling to Garoad with a light. Garoad understands the plan and Jamil gives the order to move the Freeden back. He fires a flare into the sky to blow apart some of the smoke, giving the GX a clear line of sight to the moon. The moon lines up with the GX, and then as soon as the microwave is targetted, Garoad runs like hell. The microwave hits the lake instead, instantly evaporating an enormous amount of water. The evaporation throws Enil El's suit back and vanquishes the enemy ship. It also brings rain, which helps to put out the fires. Meanwhile, Tifa Adil has figured out where the ship needs to go next to find a Newtype.

And so it's off to Fort Severn, a town in the north. At Fort Severn, the Newtype, Caris Nautilus, is proclaiming peace and a united world. However, behind the scenes, he's working with an ex-Space Revolutionary Forces soldier who plans to use an enormous mobile armor from the war, called Patouria, to punish humankind. Caris senses the Freeden's approach and goes out with a group of mobile suits to meet them. Most of the mobile suits are destroyed by the Airmaster and Leopard, but Caris' Vertigo makes mincemeat of the GX, completely ruining the Satellite Cannon and nearly killing Garoad before Tifa gives herself up. So Tifa goes to Fort Severn and Garoad is left with minor injuries, severe mental illness, and a ruined Gundam. He recovers and the GX is upgraded by Kid Salsamille to the faster and more maneuverable, but Satellite Cannon-less, GX-9900-DV Gundam X Divider.

In order to "train" Garoad, Jamil drives him out to a frozen lake and throws the GX control unit out onto the ice. He orders Garoad to retrieve it, but Garoad is obviously not the most willing person to run out onto thin ice. The Frost brothers arrive to challenge the Freeden, and Jamil leaves. Garoad cautiously steps out onto the ice and slowly makes his way to the control unit. He finally grabs it and begins hopping up and down happily. Jamil returns and orders Garoad to "just run without thinking." Garoad narrowly escapes the lake and returns to the ship to take out his upgraded Gundam. Though he has a shaky debut, his new power and speed easily outdo the Frost Gundams and they're forced to retreat. When Olba gets angry and comes back, Shagia is injured while protecting him. Garoad almost goes to Fort Severn when the Frosts leave, but realizes he couldn't win if he went. Thus begins a training period.

Eventually, Garoad takes a car to Fort Severn and makes his way into the "main building" (city hall, I guess). He learns all about the plan to use the Patouria to "punish" humankind, as well as that Caris is not a natural Newtype, but was once an ordinary person who now has artificial Newtype abilities. He finally finds Tifa, but with her is Caris, holding a gun to her. After some conversation regarding what Garoad found out and what Caris thinks he knows, Caris is shocked to find that Tifa is a natural Newtype. Just then, Enil El and the mayor of Fort Severn (the ex-Space guy) show up and are prepared to kill Garoad when a battle breaks out near the city between Olba Frost and the Freeden.

In the commotion, Garoad and Tifa escape, and Caris comes after them with the Vertigo. Jamil Neat, piloting the Gundam X Divider, meets Caris and faces him in battle. As Garoad watches, Jamil easily knocks out all the bit weapons that had so easily defeated Garoad. Caris suddenly becomes ill, an effect caused by his being an artificial Newtype, and has to leave. After healing, he returns in the Vertigo to fight Garoad, and Garoad goes out alone to face him one on one. Following up on Jamil's lessons and going with the belief that he must fight Caris to help him, Garoad goes out and manages to knock out each bit weapon. Finally, he takes out Caris himself. Caris, who through his Newtype abilities and what Tifa said had realized the mayor, Nomoa's, true intentions, understands that his losing is what had to happen. He holds up an empty gun and when Garoad opens the cockpit and sees Caris pointing a gun, he instinctively fires, hitting Caris in the chest. Shocked by his own action, Garoad howls Caris' name, and it echoes throughout the snowfield.

To be continued