Ekaterina II S

is a large general purpose transforming robot manufactured by Kongou Airlines in Academy City. It is named after Kongou Mitsuko's pet python Ekaterina.
==Principles==
Ekaterina II S - Vehicle Mode.jpg|The Ekaterina in vehicle mode, slamming STUDY's mobile weapon.
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S E24 09m 44s.jpg|The pile bunker being used against STUDY's mobile weapon.
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S E24 15m 52s.jpg|Kongou and Awatsuki marking the machine's underside for their abilities.
Ekaterina II S - Mid-Flight.jpg|The launched machine with its limbs pulled in.
Ekaterina II S - Upper Torso.jpg|The launched machine's upper torso, with its legs jettisoned.
Manufactured by Kongou Airline's second factory in Academy City, the Ekaterina II S can transform between two modes; a vehicle form, looking like a large utility truck and used for transportation, and a humanoid form, that of a large Powered Suit and used for work. Besides the wheels used in its vehicular form, it has wheels upon its 'feet' to roll on a flat surface and has been shown to be very quick while doing so. It is equipped with 'hand'-like clamps on its 'arms' for grabbing things, as well as a pile bunker. Its 'limbs' can be disconnected from the torso.
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S E24 17m 02s.jpg|Mikoto and Kuroko in the cockpit.
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S E24 09m 04s.jpg|Saten and Uiharu in the cockpit.
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S E24 08m 05s.jpg|Yomikawa and Haruue disembarking from the vehicle.
It requires two people to pilot it, and is apparently easy enough for two middle school students, like Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko, to pilot it during combat without experience and only a single night of studying its manual, allowing them to defeat two of STUDY's mobile weapons. The cockpit is located in the central torso, with two seats one behind the other. When in vehicle form, the seats are on the same level as the cockpit's windows, but in humanoid form, the frontal seat slides down one level, with various display screens in front of it. The seats have retractable units on their hand-rests with controls; the frontal seat has a control stick on the right and a lever on the left, while the rear seat has control pads.
The Kongou Airlines logo is painted on the machine's 'legs', along with the serial number .
==Chronology==
===Toaru Kagaku no Railgun===
====Silent Party Arc====
Following Kongou Mitsuko's request to her father, the Ekaterina II S was brought out from Kongou Airlines's facilities in Academy City and deployed against STUDY during the Silent Party. Yomikawa Aiho drove it to the scene of the battle along with Haruue Erii, before handing over control to Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko, who piloted the machine in its humanoid form, having studied its manual the previous night. With the Ekaterina II S, they managed to easily defeat two mobile weapons controlled by members of STUDY.
When STUDY's final weapon was set to be launched from Endymion on their defeat, the Ekaterina II S, with Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko onboard, was launched into space via a combination of Kongou's Aero Hand, with 8092 ejection points placed on the machine before launch, and Awatsuki Maaya's Float Dial, considerably reducing the mech's weight by increasing its buoyancy, with its limbs being jettisoned mid-flight. The mech was subsequently used by Mikoto as ammunition for a Railgun shot against the missile, destroying both.
==Trivia==
*In its humanoid form, the Ekaterina II S bears similarities to Multi Active Rescue's Gigantic Advanced Movement Armor, a large humanoid Powered Suit which also possessed wheels under its 'feet' for mobility and clamps on its 'arms', and could also disconnect its appendages to a degree. Both units appeared in their respective anime season's final episode, in an anime-exclusive arc.
*Besides sharing the name with Kongou Mitsuko's pet python, the unit also shares part of its name with one transliteration of /Ekaterina II (Екатерина II) of Russia, also known as Catherine the Great.
==References==
Category:Terminology
Category:Science
Category:Academy City Technology
Category:Powered Suits
Category:Vehicles and Transportation