Jindai High

ARX-7 Arbalest

The prototype Arm Slave piloted by Sousuke under the auspices of Mithril. It is loaded with a Black Technology-based Lambda Driver, and judging from its external design is probably the successor to the M9 Gernsback. The Arbalest was created by the same person that designed the M9, Bunny Morauta, who was a Whispered engineer with Mithril. The potential power that this Arm Slave has contained within its armored shell is simply unfathomable. Since the Arbalest was first piloted by Sousuke in Sunan (Khanka in the anime), it refuses to recognize anyone other than Sagara as its pilot. Its Lambda Driver is a unique system only available to Mithril the ARX-7. The AI system controls its operation, but refuses to divulge details regarding the module. During operation of the unit, radiator fins deploy from the back and shoulder of the ARX-7 to disperse heat. The operational time of the ARX-7 is 50 hours shorter than a typical M9, reducing its capabilities in an autonomous situation. A distinctive feature of the Arbalest is that its face resembles that of a ninja carrying a rolled-up scroll in its mouth.

Command of the Arbalest was made a personal responsibility of Sousuke by Tessa Testarossa following the Tokyo Big Site incident. The Arbalest faced the Codarl “Venom” Arm Slave several times, each time defeating the hostile unit. This includes a mission in Afghanistan (Helmajistan in the anime), and one conflict in the Pacific Ocean aboard the TDD-1 Tuatha De Danaan.

Sergeant Sagara’s failure to operate the Lambda Driver at the mission on Berildaobu Island brought out his frustrations with the Arbalest: the vague nature of the Lambda Driver, and its unreliable operation as a prototype system conflicted strongly with the Sergeant’s training and expectations of weapon systems.

During the events of TSR, he continued to harbor his grudge against the Arbalest, its AI, and Lambda Driver. He was only able to use it fully when Kaname came to Hong Kong and helped him to channel his focus on the device, defeating a platoon of Amalgam’s Codarl Arm Slaves.

In the novels A Dancing Very Merry Christmas and Continuing on My Own, Sousuke seems to have developed a good relationship with the Arbalest’s AI, who rescued him more than a few times. However, the Arbalest, as of Continuing on My Own has been destroyed by Leonard Testarossa at the helm of his Fourth Generation AS, the Belial. The Arbalest’s Lambda Driver core and AL (callsign of Arbalest’s AI) are then taken away by Wraith, a Mithril agent, to Anchorage, Alaska. They are then given to Gavin Hunter, one of Mithril’s surviving Intelligence Officers, in order to complete the construction of the ARX-8 Laevatein.—wikipedia, ADV

BONUS: Classified Mithril Intelligence Data Sheet