Epyon

undefined "I see you've had a taste of the Aries... But can you handle the Epyon?"

- Ta'harok to Viriathus

The Epyon was a unique prototype Gundam that was designed by the Zion Cluster and stolen by Ta'harok.

Description
The Epyon was a prototype Gundam that was designed by the Zion Cluster as a replacement for the Aries-Class Variable Geometry Fighter. It was armed with a whip and a beam saber and was equipped with a warp drive that enabled faster-than-light travel.

History
In 150,081 CMT, the Epyon was stored aboard Kevin McNamara's personal frigate, the Ptolemaios. When Ta'harok noticed Veronica Santangelo locked in combat with the Bebop II at Teikoku-no-Kiroku nearby, he ran into the hangar and emerged piloting the Epyon, which he claimed that he intended to use to save Veronica. The Epyon then rammed the Bebop II with such force that it collided with Teikoku-no-Kiroku, but before Ta'harok could continue his assault, Zev Raregroove teleported into the cockpit of the Epyon and warned him to stand down, stating that the Juraian Royal Family had done nothing to Ta'harok or the Zion Cluster to warrant an attack on Teikoku-no-Kiroku. In response, Ta'harok changed his reason for attacking Teikoku-no-Kiroku, claiming that Zion were forcing him to attack Teikoku-no-Kiroku because they wanted all the data kept aboard it destroyed. When Ta'harok asked what was so important about the information on Teikoku-no-Kiroku, Zev replied that it contained immense reserves of data on the Royal Trees and restated his warning to Ta'harok before teleporting away.

Left with the choice of whether to face the wrath of Zev or the wrath of Zion, Ta'harok chose the latter, using the Epyon to grab the Aries and hurl it towards the Ptolemaios. Although the Aries' autopilot function landed it safely inside the Ptolemaios, McNamara decided to cut his losses and leave, with the Ptolemaios entering warp.

Ta'harok then used the Epyon to fly to Tasabian and dig beneath its sandy surface to access the entrance to the artificial world. Once the entrance had been unearthed, Ta'harok exited the Epyon and continued inside, where he intended to activate the Genesis Project that would recreate thousands of deceased Ta'har in new robotic bodies. When Ta'harok was ambushed by Naju, who used Tasabian's systems to transmit a DAL activation signal across the galaxy instead, Ta'harok escaped to the surface and fled the planet in the Epyon, determined to find a way to stop the DAL uprising. His thoughts were interrupted by John Shepard, who hailed the Epyon to inform Ta'harok that the First Fleet of Sacred Retribution was on the way to Tasabian to destroy its Master DAL Unit. Although the fleet's weaponry reduced the surface of Tasabian to a nuclear wasteland, the thousands of Neo-Ta'har ships below the surface were unharmed, and promptly emerged to exact revenge on Shepard's forces. When Shepard ordered a retreat, the Epyon immediately jumped to warp, becoming one of the few ships to escape the slaughter.

The Epyon exited warp and regrouped with the surviving ships from the FFSR at Regroup Point Theta, where Ta'harok took command of what was left of the fleet by virtue of being the only one among them who had defeated Naju before. Ta'harok then led the ships to Linkit, where he and the other captains abandoned their vehicles in favor of spacesuits equipped with jetpacks and mines that they intended to attach to Naju's fleet.