Technology & Combat Characteristics
The EMS-VSX3 Tortuga is a unique mobile suit created by the Jupiter Empire that was designed to serve as part of the three-machine team Death Gale Team. The purpose of the Death Gale Team was to defeat the Crossbone Gundams via tandem attacks. The Jupiter Empire lacked the technology to construct a single mobile suit that bested the Gundams in all areas of combat, but they could build a mobile suit that surpassed the Gundams in a single area of combat. Thus, they built three machines that specialized in three different areas of combat that would attack a Gundam together, overwhelming their enemy.
The Tortuga serves the role of defense and mid-range fire support. This massive mobile suit features large shell-like armor on its back from which protrudes eight spikes. The primary purpose of these spikes is to serve as the emitters for a high-output beam shield that is capable of blocking attacks from any of the Gundams' weapons. These spikes also double as beam guns, allowing the Tortuga to counterattack with a devastating barrage of ranged beams. In place of standard manipulator hands the Tortuga mounts a pair of hammer hands as its close range weapon.
The Tortuga's greatest weakness is its speed and mobility, which are sacrificed for its defensive and offensive capabilities. Because of this weakness the Tortuga is at a disadvantage when combating high-speed mobile suits. Because of its capabilities and weaknesses the logical method of combating the Tortuga is to use a frontal close range attack. The Tortuga however possesses a clever defense against such attacks. Hidden within its bulky armor are 6 fast-hardening gas emitters that when breached release a gas that quickly hardens into a rubber cement-like substance. The substance then holds the enemy mobile suit in place long enough to be smashed to pieces by the hammer arms.
History
The EMS-VSX3 Tortuga was first deployed in UC 0133, during an operation where the Jupiter Empire intercepted the Mother Vanguard en route to Earth. The Death Gale Team was deployed after Zabine Chareux's attempted coup failed. In its first engagement the Tortuga was used in combination with the other two Death Gale mobile suits to heavily damage the XM-X1 Crossbone Gundam X-1 and destroyed an EMS-06 Batalla on its own. However, despite being partly responsible for the Crossbone Gundam X-1 losing its arms, there is a significant difference between the skills of Barnes Gernsback and Kincade Nau, the latter of whom determined that the Tortuga's weakness is speed and used that to outmaneuver it, piloting the Crossbone Gundam around to the Tortuga's front then smashing into it at full speed. Taken by surprise Barnes was unable to stop his suit from being propelled backwards into the mast of the Mother Vanguard, and used to cut the mast down so that its activated beam navigation system could damage the Death Gale Team's mothership, the Jibia that was using massive claws to crush the Mother Vanguard.
The second time the Tortuga was deployed was shortly after the Crossbone Vanguard's flagship, the Mother Vanguard made it back to the Earth Sphere. After orchestrating an attack on the Earth Federation using the stolen and modified XM-X2 Crossbone Gundam X-2 Kai, a ploy to trick the Earth Federation into believing that it was the Crossbone Vanguard that had attacked them. The Jupiter Empire was then free and clear to assist in the attack against the Crossbone Vanguard. During the battle the Death Gale Team would battle the repaired and upgraded XM-X1 Crossbone Gundam X-1 Kai, this time with more even results.
After the members of the Crossbone Vanguard were scattered on Earth the Death Gale Team was sent to find them. During this time period the Death Gale Team would attack and destroy several Earth Federation military bases on their own. Shortly after they found Tobia Arronax and the XM-X3 Crossbone Gundam X-3. Because the members of the Death Gale Team were not used to fighting on Earth their movements were slower and they were unable to fully compensate for gravity, air resistance, and natural obstacles.
Tobia defeated the Tortuga by hiding the Crossbone Gundam X-3 in a reentry capsule. When the Tortuga attacked, the pilot intent on smashing both, Tobia pierced the walls with the Muramasa Blaster and penetrated the Tortuga's armor. It was not enough to damage the machine but it did release the fast-hardening gas, which hardened and stuck the Tortuga to the reentry capsule. With the Tortuga bound Tobia reappeared and plunged a beam saber into the joint where the left arm connected to the body, a spot where there wasn't a fast-hardening gas emitter. Tobia punched the beam saber all the way through the mobile suit, causing significant damage to it and rendering the mobile suit immobilized, but left the pilot alive and well.
After the Death Gale Team's defeat and subsequent defection to the Crossbone Vanguard, SNRI would rebuild Barnes' Tortuga into the more powerful Bala Tortuga for his use.