Model number: MCF-122 Code name: Emancipator Nickname: Mance Classification: mass production transformable combat frame Manufacturer: Browning Engineering Corporation Operator: United Commonwealth Air Force First deployment: CY 73 Crew: 1 pilot or 1 pilot, 1 navigator/gunner in cockpit in head Height: 19 meters Weight: 98 metric tons Armor type: “1D” carbyne laminar armor Powerplant: cold fusion reactor, max output 2950 KW Propulsion: EM impellers: 5x 16,800 kg, 2x 30,600 kg, 4x 35,200 kg; top speed 3230 kph; maneuvering impellers: 25, 180° turn time 0.79 seconds; legs: top ground speed 195 kph Sensors: gravitic, radar, thermal, optical array; main binocular cameras mounted in head Fixed armaments: x2 plasma cannon, power rated at 1.4 MW, mounted on skirt armor, detach to form plasma carbines, hand-carried or clipped to forearms in use, barrels detach to form plasma swords rated at 0.46 MW, hand-carried in use Special equipment: ion field projector, transformation system
Propulsion: EM impellers: 5x 16,800 kg, 2x 31,600 kg, 4x 35,200 kg, 2x 25,000kg; top speed 4215 kph; maneuvering impellers: 26 Fixed armaments: x2 plasma cannon, power rated at 1.4 MW, mounted under wings
General Notes
The third mass production XSeed to enter service before the Extrasolar Colonization Project ended, the MCF-122 answered UCAF’s need for a combat frame capable of conducting orbit-to-air and orbit-to-surface strikes. Martian God Emperor Theodore Red personally suggested the transformable XCD-102 Emancipator prototype to Browning Corp. The BEC engineers dutifully turned in a design nearly identical to its HALO predecessor. After speedy field tests, UCAF enthusiastically approved the Mance as their standard CF.
Though BEC took advantage of subsequent technological advancements to update their design, the MCF-122 was nearly identical to the XCD-102 in appearance and performance. The mass production type mainly distinguished itself from the prototype by shedding its antiquated chemical rockets for state-of-the-art EM impellers. These electromagnetic drives afforded smoother acceleration and maneuvering at a slightly higher energy cost balanced by a corresponding weight reduction.
With its trademark carbyne-laminar armor outclassed by Ynzu weapons, the Emancipator needed a boost to its defenses. BEC took a cue from the MCF-121 Defender XSeed and gave the Mance an ion field generator capable of repelling a limited number of CF-scale energy attacks. Even this feature didn’t restore the XSeeds’ former invulnerability, but it extended pilot survivability to meet UCAF mission requirements.
The addition of an ion field also required a trade-off. With the unit’s One-Series reactor taxed to its limits, a further reduction in weight and energy consumption was necessary. BEC designers removed the pair of 30mm Vulcans from the unit’s standard loadout, reasoning that weapons intended for use against ground vehicles and infantry were of little avail against Ynzu combat frames.
Removing the Mance’s Vulcans left its pair of variable plasma cannons/carbines/swords as the unit’s only weapons. BEC coaxed additional output from the plasma emitters, but the final Mance design suffered from much the same lack of firepower as the prototype. UCAF pilots compensated by making the most of the unit’s blistering speed–in fighter mode, the highest of any standard XSeed. Mance teams relied on hit-and-run attacks to mitigate the Zues’ defensive and offensive advantages. Most often, MCF-122s were deployed to soften up the enemy with air strikes in advance of UCA or UCMC teams.
Sweet. Looks like a beefy Phoenix Hawk.
Just a little chonkier than the original.