There was a famous ACG meme: "It's the original! We're saved!"
In the meme, early-era powerhouse allies would appear in series like Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and Ultraman, and the modern protagonists would express their gratitude. But when it came to Gundam-related works, modern units that saw an original-generation machine enter the field would immediately curse, "What the hell is this antique supposed to do here?"
It was certainly meant as a joke, but it also reflected the brutality of the arms race.
An antique was an antique. Unless some outside force had caused technological progress to break off, and assuming there was no obvious gap between the pilots, each new generation of weaponry was stronger than the last.
In the current world, the Zaku II piloted by Char had long since been swept into the dustbin of history in terms of performance. Aside from its slightly higher initial HP due to being a unit derived from the Beyond the World system, it was an old relic that even terrorists could not be bothered to use, something one could practically only see in a military museum.
Yet, thanks to the astonishing piloting skill of Commander-in-Chief Char's projection, that antique machine had still successfully bloomed with the dazzling brilliance of the Red Comet on the battlefield, giving every young pilot present a proper lesson.
And that had been in solo combat without any outside support. If Char had had a support warship by his side, the situation might have turned out very differently.
Pilots in the SD Gundam system could not use Mental Commands. Instead, they could use skills.
Taking Char as an example, the skills he possessed—"Movement UP" and "Evasion Rate 100%"—roughly corresponded to the Mental Commands "Accel" and "Flash." The former temporarily increased a unit's movement range, while the