Technology & Combat Characteristics

Even after the formation of the Earth Sphere Federation (ESF) to unite the world, attacks on the three Orbital Elevators by terrorists and anti-federation organizations still persisted. On the Heaven's Pillar (aka Tenchū), an Orbital Elevator previously controlled by the Human Reform League, there is a variant of the Tieren Ground Type created specifically for defending the structure and it is known as 'Tieren Zhizhu' ('Zhizhu' is Mandarin Chinese for "Spider"). Data from the old space-use mobile armor, MAJ-S08 Xiaoshou, was also utilized in the development of the Tieren Zhizhu.

The Tieren Zhizhu moves along the carbon rails on the surface of the Orbital Elevator, and these rails also supply it with abundant electrical energy. Besides defense, the Tieren Zhizhu is also used for maintenance of the Orbital Elevator. When carrying out maintenance work and moving along the rails, the suit's upper body swivels 90 degree downwards from its position in combat form, becoming perpendicular to the Orbital Elevator.

The Tieren Zhizhu can also operate on the ground when its moving/maintenance form is fitted with four tires. This ground form is mainly for deployment in the city at the base of the Orbital Elevator, and it can move much faster than a normal bipedal mobile suit on well-maintained roads. The city has dedicated power supply plugs for the Tieren Zhizhu, and although this limits the suit's operating areas, usage of the linear cannon is unaffected.

History

Robert Spacey, a young researcher in mobile suit development history, reluctantly accepted the assignment from the Earth Sphere Federation (ESF) to write an article on Amy Zimbalist's mock battle. Amy, an ace pilot of the ESF army, specifically asked for Robert as he liked what the latter had wrote about him in the book on ace pilots. On the other hand, despite his glowing praise for Amy in the book, Robert personally disliked Amy who was always hitting on Deborah Galiena, whom Robert likes.

When Robert learnt that the mock battle pitted Amy's GNX-604T Advanced GN-X against the Tieren Zhizhu, an Orbital Elevator defense mobile suit, he quickly realized that the aim was to showcase that even an ace pilot like Amy cannot penetrate the Orbital Elevator's defense. In other words, Amy was destined to lose and this made Robert much happier. As the battle began, Amy's Advanced GN-X flew towards the Orbital Elevator in a wild, erratic manner like an untamed horse, but befitting his nickname 'Steel Cowboy', Amy had it all under control. On the Orbital Elevator, the Tieren Zhizhu was moving along the carbon rails at a high-speed to keep up with the Advanced GN-X's unpredictable movements. Compared with trying to follow the Advanced GN-X in a flight-type mobile suit, the Tieren Zhizhu's stable movements appear to be a much better match.

Tieren Zhizhu fired beam disruptors from its missile pods at the approaching Advanced GN-X, creating a beam-disrupting curtain in front of the Orbital Elevator. Then, as Robert expected, the Advanced GN-X attempted to overcome the curtain by moving even closer to the Orbital Elevator. The Tieren Zhizu countered by firing its linear cannon repeatedly, thwarting the Advanced GN-X. After several minutes of tensed stalemate, the Advanced GN-X gave up, raising both hands in defeat. However, days later, Amy told Robert in an interview that he would have destroy the Orbital Elevator if he was being serious, and this resulted in Amy being severely reprimanded by his superiors.