Technology & Combat Characteristics
A high-performance mobile suit produced by the Zeonic Company, the MS-14A Gelgoog is the result of Zeon's attempt to field a mass-production unit that can rival the performance of Earth Federation's RX-78-2 Gundam. It was equipped with a full-sized shield, a twin beam sword (also referred to as a "beam naginata") and a beam rifle, a first for a Zeon mobile suit. The Gelgoog has superior specifications in every aspect to the MS-06F Zaku II and even the MS-09R Rick Dom.
History
By the middle of the One Year War, the Principality of Zeon was well aware that the Earth Federation Forces was researching and developing mobile suits to counter the Zeon's army of mobile suits. Despite Zeon's advanced mobile suit technology, the appearance of the RX-78-2 Gundam with its beam rifle technology followed by the mass production RGM-79 GMs equipped with the beam spray gun quickly negated Zeon's advantage.
The Zeonic company decided that it needed to incorporate the vastly superior beam weapons into its mobile suit designs. So, when the plans for the new mobile suit (MS-11 Gelgoog) showed up, they redesigned the plans to be able to use beam weapons. The project utilized development data from the MS-06R-2 Zaku II High Mobility Type, which lost to Zimmad's MS-09R Rick Dom as Zeon's mainstay space combat MS. The plans for the original "MS-11 Gelgoog" only allowed it to use ballistic weapons like the machine gun, and its power output was unable to handle beam weapon. This problem was solved after some redesigning. Removing the designation "MS-11" and shifting it to the Pezun Project's MS-11 Action Zaku, they redesignated the new mobile suit "MS-14", but retained the name. The initial production Gelgoog is known as the YMS-14 Gelgoog. The United Maintenance Plan was implemented during production of the Gelgoog. The Gelgoog was mainly produced at Granada and A Baoa Qu, with some documents describing the overall number of units being 738.
While the Gelgoog was the most powerful production-type MS of the One Year War by a considerable margin, matching or slightly exceeding the Earth Federation's RX-78-2 Gundam unit, it was never produced in the numbers required to counter the sheer numbers of RGM-79 GMs that walked off the production lines before the end of the war. Full deployment of the Gelgoog was delayed due to full-scale production of the new beam rifle, resulting in only 67 machines participating in the decisive Battle of A Baoa Qu.
The last major problem with the Gelgoog was that it had mainly rookie pilots inside the cockpits, as most of Zeon's more experienced pilots had been killed in earlier battles. These novice pilots had seen little or no combat before the Battle of A Baoa Qu, and weren’t able to use their Gelgoogs effectively enough to counter the Federation's less powerful GM models, piloted by skilled veterans of the Battle of Solomon. One customized unit was operated by Erik Blanke, who encountered the RX-78-2 Gundam during the battle. His Gelgoog was damaged, but before he could be killed, the enemy pilot disengaged the battle with him to pursue the MSN-02 Zeong.
After the war, some units were taken by the Federation to serve as high-performance aggressor trainer units, while others escaped into deep space with various Zeon remnants. A number of Gelgoogs were also put on display in museums.
In U.C. 0087, an abandoned Gelgoog was discovered aboard a derelict Gwazine by the crew of the Argama during a battle with Titans pilot Yazan Gable and his ORX-005 Gaplant. The Gelgoog was boarded by Katz Kobayashi, who quickly hotwired the controls, and fired off a single shot from its Giant Bazooka, managing to destroy the Gaplant's right arm before the mobile suit ran out of power. The Gelgoog's beam naginata was then taken by Yazan to fight the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam, but proved inferior to the latter's beam saber. The Gelgoog was eventually salvaged and refurbished using internal parts from an MSA-003 Nemo, but its appearance remained unchanged. Although unfit for battle, the Gelgoog was used by AUEG pilot Reccoa Londe as a reconnaissance unit, and to power the Mega Bazooka Launcher.
In U.C. 0088, while travelling across Africa, the Argama crew encountered a red Gelgoog piloted by Masai N'gava. This Gelgoog originally belonged to Teku, Masai's deceased lover, and in honor of his memory, Masai desperately tried to defeat the Argama's Gundam Team. However, the outdated mobile suit was no match for the Gundam Team and was destroyed, but Masai survived the battle. Another refurbished unit was used by Dido Kaltoha, a member of the Blue Corps from the African Independence Front rebel group, and painted in the team's distinctive blue colors. Dido's Gelgoog fought the Gundam Team twice and was destroyed in the second battle.
In U.C. 0096, a number of Gelgoogs were used by Neo Zeon remnants, "Sleeves", and they were repainted in a new color scheme and featured the group's distinctive markings.