S01E03 - The Hidden One-Year War: The Illusion That Lingers Over the Orbit
Synopsis
(U.C. 0079.10.24 - 0079.11.10) Upon news of a powerful new Federation mobile suit, Zeon propagandizes the Zudah, a mobile suit claimed to be superior to the Federation prototype. The 603rd is put in charge of testing the prototype with the help of a distinguished Zimmad test pilot Maj. Jean-Luc Duvall. However, the testing soon goes wrong after a fellow test pilot is killed when his Zudah lost control and disintegrated during combat simulation. To add salt to insult, the Jotunheim crew is shock to learn that the Federation already knows the Zudah's shameful background — it is nothing but a repainted version of the failed project that previously lost the bid to Zaku I due to a lethal design flaw. The Zudah is doomed to lose all honor and become a ghost fighter.