The Supersonic Transporter (スーパーソニックトランスポーター?), also known as the SST, is a supersonic personnel and mobile suit transport featured in the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.
Technology & Combat Characteristics[]
A large military transport jet constructed and fielded by OZ that is capable of carrying up to three mobile suits within its fuselage. It is able to fly at supersonic speeds, even when carrying a full load, and operate into the upper stratosphere. It was shown to be capable of take-offs and landings on water. It has two rotating dorsal turrets for defense, the first a smaller 2-barrel laser cannon, and the larger one a 3-barrel beam cannon. It has also been shown to have multiple anti-aircraft machineguns.
History[]
Zechs Merquise was in command of a supersonic transporter on a high elevation patrol on April 7, AC 195 when he intercepted a shuttle craft entering the Earth's atmosphere, which was suspected to be involved with Operation Meteor. When the suspect shuttle alters its course to avoid a civilian shuttle it burns up in the atmosphere, revealing the XXXG-01W Wing Gundam in bird mode, and the supersonic transporter attempts to shoot it down with anti-air machineguns while Zechs sorties in his OZ-06MS Leo with two wingmen in OZ-07AMS Aries. After the Wing Gundam transforms and shoots down the two Aries, Zechs grapples with the Gundam and bails out of his Leo with a parachute as the two mobile suits crash into the sea. The SST rendezvous with the OZ submarine mobile suit carrier Marina, but their attempts to recover the Wing Gundam are stymied by the XXXG-01D Gundam Deathscythe.
Zechs continues to use his SST as his mobile base of operations to monitor the five Gundams, and travels to an OZ factory near Corsica to retrieve the incomplete OZ-00MS Tallgeese to repair so he can combat the Gundams on more even footing. While loading the Tallgeese the Corsica base comes under attack by the XXXG-01H Gundam Heavyarms and later the XXXG-01SR Gundam Sandrock and Maganac Corps, but Zechs chooses to escape on the SST to protect the still-incomplete Tallgeese rather than stay to defend the base. From there the SST travels to OZ's Lake Victoria Base in Africa, which is commanded by Lucrezia Noin, and there the Tallgeese is gradually restored to working order while Zechs travels to Nairobi. Following the Tallgeese's completion, Zechs is assigned to protect an air route during the transport of OZ's new model OZ-12SMS Taurus mobile suits to Siberia, which was a trap designed to lure out the Gundams. Zechs drops from the SST and challenges the Wing Gundam to a duel, but the fight is cut short when Lady Une threatens to destroy the colonies with the space fortress Bulge unless the Gundam pilots surrender, which leads Heero Yuy to self-destruct the Wing Gundam following Doctor J announcing his surrender. The SST returns to Victoria Base carrying the remains of the destroyed Wing Gundam.
While remaining at Victoria Base, Zechs continues to use the SST while testing improvements to the Tallgeese's verniers. When the No. 33 Independent Troops under Lieutenant Alex arrive at the base, seeking experienced soldiers for a mission to attack the Alliance's Mogadishu Fortress, Zechs volunteers himself and takes his SST to attack the base from inland while the other forces attack from the ocean. When Noin later tracks down the location of Gundam pilots Heero Yuy and Trowa Barton in Europe, Zechs sends the SST to Italy to retrieve them and they travel to the Antarctica with the Gundam Heavyarms so that Zechs can finish his duel with Heero. In route to South Pole they are intercepted by four OZ Jet Transport planes carrying Aries; Noin and a wingman sortie in their own Aries to end their pursuit of the SST, but the wingman is shot down and crashes onto the icy continent below. Noin goes to rescue him, but becomes pinned down by even more Aries and Leos and she attempts to surrender to Inspector Acht who orders her killed anyway for betraying the Romefeller Foundation. However, the SST had turned around to rescue Noin, and Acht's remaining forces are destroyed by the plane's cannons and the Gundam Heavyarms, but not before Acht can transmit their location. The SST lands at Barclay Base and offloads the Gundam Heavyarms, which Heero decides to use for the duel the following day instead of the repaired Wing Gundam. However, the duel is once again interrupted, this time by Relena Darlian and a larger OZ force. Zechs tells Noin to escape and protect Releena, and Releena leaves Antarctica with the SST and three Jet Transports as an escort. The SST remains under Noin's command in the Sanc Kingdom, where it is stored in a subterranean hangar with a secret door in the sea cliff's face that opens to the water. Noin would continue to use the SST to travel around Europe on missions to assist allies of the Gundam pilots as they fought against the Romefeller Foundation, rescuing Sally Po, retrieving the Wing Gundam and bringing it to the Cinq Kingdom, and rescuing Heero Yuy who had been fighting against Romefeller in Europe.
Gallery[]
Anime[]
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External links[]