ZMGF-X42SN New Destiny Gundam

Model number: ZGMF-X42SN
Code name: New Destiny Gundam
Unit type: prototype assault mobile suit
Manufacturer: ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty)
Operator: ZAFT
First deployment: C.E. 76
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: overall height 19.15 meters
Weight: max gross weight 79.44 metric tons
Armor materials: unknown
Powerplant: ultracompact hyper deuterion nuclear reactor, power output rating unknown
Propulsion: "Voiture Lumiere" propulsion system, can create wings of light
Equipment and design features:sensors, range unknown; Mirage Colloid system; Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor; Neutron Jammer Canceler
Fixed armaments:2 x MMI-GAU26 17.5mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head; 2 x MX3351 "Solidus Fulgor" beam shield generator, mounted on forearms; 2 x RQM70F "Flash-Edge 3" beam boomerang, mounted on shoulders, hand-carried in use; MMI-814 "Arondight II" anti-ship sword, stored in right hip, hand-carried in use; M3000GX high-energy long-range beam cannon; stored in left hip, hand-carried in use; 2 x MMI-X340 "Palma Fiocina" beam cannon, mounted on palms; 10 x MMI-X430 Beam Fingers, mounted in fingers
Optional hand armaments: MA-BAR84/S high-energy beam rifle, power rating unknown

After the defeat of Shinn Asuka and Gilbert Durandal at the hands of the Clyne faction, the original ZGMF-X42S was heavily damaged, and in need of serious repair. The machine was brought back to the Archangel in order to extract the pilot, and make repairs as needed. While Shinn Asuka was saved the machine was damaged far beyond the Archangel's ability to repair it and was thus considered to be scrap metal. When the ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam's remains were brought back to Armory One and the machine was transferred, unknowingly, to the Durandal Loyalist faction of ZAFT's military composed mostly of former FAITH members the Destiny Gundam was repaired secretly at an underground Hangar in Armory One. The Machine was in poor condition and was missing several of it's original armaments but teams of Engineers worked around the clock to restore and improve the original Destiny Gundam. Using data from the original blueprints the Destiny's weapons were upgraded to match the firepower of the Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice and new weapons were added tailored to the original pilot, Shinn Asuka's, close combat fighting style.

To maximize the unit's agility, the Arondight Anti-Ship Sword, and the High Energy Beam Canon were both moved to the units hips, which forced the designers to relocate the hip mounted vernier/Mirage Colloid spreaders to the rear skirt armor. This had a negative impact on the units ability to produce after imagines so venting systems were added all over the unit to make up for this uneven dispersion rate. The new changes not only restored the Destiny's ability to produce after images but allowed for the traditional original purpose of the Mirage Colloid's ability to be utilized allowing the Destiny Gundam to cloak itself for extended periods of time. The relocation of the original verniers also proved a windfall to the team as they helped to increase the machines overall speed. Other changes included small beam emitters in the unit's fingertips which the design team engineered initially to work in conjunction with the Palma Fiocina to help shred a mobile suit's head or cockpit, but realized quickly the emitters themselves worked well as a surprise melee attack all their own and didn't require as much power output as the upgraded Palma Fiocina.

Upon completion of the Destiny Gundam's rebuild the design team christened the machine the ZGMF-X42SN New Destiny Gundam. The name was chosen as a symbol of hope to bring an end to the constant stagnation of ZAFT's technological progress, as well as the philosophy of total pacifism, that they believed the Clyne faction was preaching. During a routine training mission outside of Armory One, Instructor and former pilot of the Destiny Gundam, Shinn Asuka went missing after his mobile suit malfunctioned. The official report of the incident went down as a malfunction in the suits cooling system which lead to the unit overheating resulting in an explosion that killed Commander Asuka. In Truth Shinn had been persuaded to join the Durandal Faction after a terrorist attack by the reformed Blue Cosmos caused the death of his fiancee Lunamaria Hawke. Shinn would be given the New Destiny Gundam, and would use it throughout the remainder of the conflict as his personal mobile suit repainted in a black on grey color scheme.