XVX-016 Gundam Aerial

XVX-016 Gundam Aerial is the suit Suletta Mercury brings to the Asticassia School of Technology in Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury (2022, Ad Stella 122). Prospera Mercury developed it from the salvaged XGF-02 Gundam Lfrith, and Suletta keeps it as a personal unit under the Earth House dormitory.

What it does in the story

The Aerial's first sortie comes in Suletta's opening duel with Guel Jeturk, after Miorine Rembran has already hijacked the suit and taken it onto the field; Suletta takes the controls back mid-fight and finishes Guel's Dilanza with the Bit Staves. She beats the AI-controlled Darilbalde in the rematch and flies the Aerial against Elan Ceres and the Gundam Pharact, where a data storm locks up the Pharact's remote weapons. Against Grassley House the suit is shut down by Antidote, pushes its Permet score to six to break the block, and ends the battle badly damaged.

What makes it different

• The eleven Bit Staves are the weapon and the shield at once. The Aerial's Escutcheon is not a solid piece of armour: it is eleven Bit Staves docked around the suit, each able to detach as a beam-cannon turret. Left in place they project the Permet Painted Armor barrier that stops beam fire, and re-docking them across the frame in Bit on Form tops up their power and propellant.
• It is built to run at a Permet score, not just to be piloted. The Shell Units that carry data between pilot and machine light up once the GUND FORMAT reaches a set intensity. The Aerial can push as far as score six, where that glow shifts from red to blue and the suit can override an opponent's remote weapons, which is how it takes the Pharact's GUND-BITs and later the Antidote system out of the fight.
• The beam rifle re-equips itself and extends into a cannon. Stowed on the backpack mount, the rifle detaches and flies into the Aerial's hand on its own thrusters. Linking Bit Staves onto the barrel converts it to a long-barrel beam rifle with more output and tighter accuracy, and it can also project a heavy beam edge for close work.
• Its space flight pack was built by students. The optional Mirasoul Flight Unit started as a defective booster from a third-party maker, reworked by the Earth House students so the Aerial could match the Pharact's mobility in space. It adds rotating thrusters that pop out for three-axis manoeuvring and keeps the pair of beam sabers in retractable mounts under the boosters.

How big is it?

• Head height: 18.0 m
• 1/144: roughly 12.5 cm, covering the High Grade releases
• 1/100: roughly 18 cm, covering the Full Mechanics release

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Frequently asked questions

Background sources: XVX-016 Gundam Aerial — Gundam Wiki · ガンダム・エアリアル（日本語版 Wikipedia）