"The Sword of Kisaragi," the Geenechive-class Heavy Space Cruiser

Following the Musai and Salamis, I'm uploading the Geenechive-class battleship again to enrich the warship library for Gundam enthusiasts. This model is a miniature, retaining some details, suitable as a scene background.

The Geenechive-class high-speed heavy cruiser was a vessel developed by Zeon for fleet protection and various missions, often serving as a flagship. It typically boasted two triple-barrel beam cannon turrets, 18 dual-barrel anti-aircraft guns, and 12 missile launchers, but was not designed to carry MS. Nonetheless, its cargo bays could be easily converted to MS hangars if needed.

The Geenechive-class heavy cruiser was introduced by the Principality of Zeon in the same year the Earth Federation implemented its "Military Build-up Plan" (UC 0070), even before the Principality began producing mobile suits. It was initially designed as a battleship. However, three months after its introduction, the Earth Federation forces rolled out the Magellan-class and the new Salamis-class, both equipped with Mega Particle cannons as their main armament. This placed the Geenechive-class in a difficult position; despite being designed as a main battleship, it lacked the firepower of beam weaponry at the time.

Later, due to the Space Assault Army needing vessels with sufficient firepower to match and surpass Earth Federation ships, it was retrofitted with Mega Particle cannons, as its robust armor was still highly suitable for combat. Furthermore, due to the costly Gwakin-class, Zeon lacked the resources and funds to develop a new battleship. The Geenechive-class was a highly mobile vessel, and as a flagship, it possessed sufficient firepower and armor, thus being reclassified as a high-speed heavy cruiser. When Zeon finally introduced mobile suits into its fighting forces, the priority was shifting the military-industrial complex’s focus to battleships capable of carrying and supplying mobile suits. Therefore, Zeon proceeded to produce the Musai-class light cruiser, the Gwakin-class battleship, and finally the Zanzibar-class cruiser, while the remaining Geenechive-class cruisers had their cargo bays redesigned as mobile suit hangars. Several Geenechive-class vessels were even modified for use by Zeon's space commanders, some even mounting a third triple-barrel Mega Particle cannon turret on the bottom to augment its firepower and cover its lower area.

Following the One Year War, the revived Republic of Zeon was permitted to maintain independence and a defense force, provided they agreed to abide by certain Federation-mandated guidelines, including spot-checks. In light of this, the Republic of Zeon chose to redesign the Geenechive-class from the ground up, eventually producing the Geenechive Kai-class.

In UC 0097, a heavily modified Geenechive-class known as the Golden Mane served as the mother ship for a group of Republic of Zeon soldiers under the leadership of Zoltan Akkanen, posing as Sleeves remnants. It housed several mobile suits, including Zoltan's MSN-06S-2 Sinanju Stein (Unit 2), and carried the NZ-999 II Neo Zeon on its underside. In the final battle at the Helium-3 storage facility, the Golden Mane used the Helium-3 tanks as cover, while Admiral Rebille's ship accidentally fired on the tanks, resulting in an explosion that engulfed and destroyed the vessel.

I hope you enjoy it, and delve into Gundam's history and equipment with me.