Combat Frame Data: CCF-021

Her people’s oppression at the SOC’s hands during the HALO Conflict of CY 40 convinced Neue Deutschland Empress Lenora von Bodensee to lead Wehrbund Bavaria from the front as a symbol of hope. She piloted a succession of combat frames, none of which offered the protection and potential to inspire befitting their royal pilot.

Late in the war, HALO CF mechanic Faust Hayden took it upon himself to design a custom combat frame for Lenora’s personal use. As a sign of endearment, he incorporated the best ideas from famous past CF designs, focusing on machines with connections to Neue Deutschland. He designated the finished product the CCF-021 in keeping with the old Seed Corp numbering system. The Empress declared herself well pleased and named her custom CF Crescentia.

Faust set out to build a combat frame capable of keeping up with the more advanced designs which appeared near the end of the HALO Conflict while complementing Lenora’s fighting style. In a turn quite unlike his rough image, Faust gave the CCF-021 a decidedly feminine appearance.

This elegant exterior belied the truly dangerous war machine concealed beneath. Crescentia bristled with a deadly arsenal rivaling Faust’s own XCD-103 Eisenpferd. Lenora’s CF even boasted multiple grenade launchers hidden in articulated panels in its skirt. This nod to Eisenpferd’s dizzying array of missile launchers earned Crescentia the nickname Eiserne Jungfrau.

Though he originally planned the CCF-021 as an XSeed, Faust ran out of time and materials to equip Crescentia with full 1D carbyne laminar armor. He did install a cluster of fine carbyne filaments atop the unit’s head which served as antennas for sensors, comms, and electronic warfare. The “carbyne ponytail” could also function as a prehensile whip in battle. Faust further outfitted Crescentia’s shield with five rose-shaped magnetic anchors tethered to carbyne cables inspired by the XSeed Xanthippe’s infamous weapon.

For all its considerable ranged attack power, the CCF-021 was built to excel at close combat. Its primary hand weapon was a variable plasma weapon capable of transforming much like the XCD-102 Emancipator’s plasma swords. Crescentia’s blade could be wielded as a high-energy dirk for piercing enemy cockpits or a lower-powered but longer rapier for precision work and defense. Taking another cue from Eisenpferd, Faust installed a graphene capacitor in the weapon’s pommel. Fed by the CCF-021’s generator, the graphcap could be set to overload and thrown as a grenade in a last-ditch, highly destructive attack.

To supplement its plasma weapon, Crescentia came equipped with a pair of carbyne-steel alloy blades mounted on its shins and the bridge of each foot. These weapons hearkened back to the YCF-00 Combat Frame Type 0 and could similarly receive extra kick from booster rockets on the CCF-021’s calves.

Crescentia relied on its extraordinary speed and agility for offense and defense alike. Its light weight and powerful thrusters allowed it to flit and twirl about the battlefield like a dancer–albeit without music and choreography and with multiple casualties. A laser-resistant coating also borrowed from the Type 0 rounded out the CCF-021’s already impressive defenses.

Lenora expressed her deep and genuine gratitude to Faust for gifting her a custom combat frame of her own. She did see fit to add a final touch: having her personal CF painted with Bavaria’s coat of arms. That final detail made Crescentia an ideal rallying point for her people.