General Notes
After decades of the UCP deploying One-series XSeeds en masse, ISBC realized that final victory over the Ynzu would require more advanced combat frames. The Commission pursued advances in reactor technology to power a planned Two-series XSeed. After producing a successful testbed in CY 95, ISBC tasked legendary test pilot turned CF engineer Viktor von Karsten with refining the proof of concept into a combat-ready prototype.
Von Karsten started by adopting the motto that one must know the enemy to defeat the enemy. Drawing from reverse-engineered Ynzu weapons successfully integrated into other platforms, he enhanced a rather typical XSeed loadout with graviton technology to remove the Zues’ defensive advantage. The standard pair of plasma swords, upgraded with gravitic lensing and output selection, rivaled a Goblin King‘s plasma sword on the highest setting. While the gravity-focused blade could slice through Ynzu fractal diamond armor with ease, a calibration glitch caused the plasma column to distend into an hourglass shape when set to maximum. The resulting efficiency loss led to accelerated power drain, reducing the swords’ operating time at max output. Then again, no test targets outlasted the sword’s graphcap.
Yet the centerpiece of every XSeed’s arsenal was its main ranged armament. Faced with the choice of which One-series ranged weapon platform to build on, Karsten chose them all. The result was a single long gun with three modes of fire. The first was based on the MCF-102 Emancipator‘s humble plasma carbine, but graviton-lensed to eat through Ynzu armor. Taking a cue from the Defender XSeed‘s kinetic rifle, von Karsten added a magnetic accelerator capable of launching grenades containing integrated graviton generators. Similar to miniature ion field projectors, these devices sheathed each grenade in a gravity envelope able to punch through the toughest armor like cardboard. To round out the weapon’s repertoire, von Karsten threw in an enhanced version of the XSeed Marine‘s high-output rifle. Though lacking gravity lensing, this last fire mode’s potent bolts could batter down a target’s ion field in one shot. ISBC marketing material slated to sell the design to the UCP billed the triple weapons platform the Trinary Rifle.
Taking another page from the XSeed Marine, von Karsten equipped his XSeed with four modular hardpoints. Each could mount one of many planned weapon systems, but only one such weapon reached completion in time for field testing. This three-tube torpedo launcher fired larger versions of the Trinary Rifle’s graviton grenades. Boasting greater firepower and longer range than the grenades, the graviton-sheathed torpedoes could destroy a Claviceps with one direct hit. The three parallel rectangular tubes mounted to the XSeed’s back hardpoint by default, enabling them to fire upward and let their internal homing A.I.s intercept the target.
Hung on a frame as durable as an XSeed Marine’s, additional carbyne layers gave the new unit’s armor even greater protective power. An upgraded ion field one-third stronger than a One-series XSeed’s afforded von Karsten’s design superior resilience for a mass-production model. Believing that the best armor is that which need never be used, the engineer included a high-performance propulsion system. At minimal weight, the new model could reach speeds on par with the χMetatron.
These high-powered systems called for an equally potent generator. von Karsten made full use of ISBC’s breakthrough Two-series reactor to feed his voracious new machine. Called “XSeed Arbeit von Karsten” during development, test pilot and Guardian Angels XO Kaiser Eckhart dubbed the Two-series unit the XSeed Angel King.
Based in large part on Kaiser’s thrashing of a Glaucus team and the Trinary Rifle’s key role in shooting down a Controller, the UCP ordered a limited production run of Angel Kings. Von Karsten’s insistence on modularity not only allowed for mission-specific customization but facilitated future upgrades. As a result, the UC Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy all planned to phase out their respective One-series XSeeds in favor of service-tailored Angel Kings.
However, the tides of war would intervene to alter the Angel King’s fate. The Fall of Earth and subsequent scapegoating of the Guardian Angels tainted the AK’s name by association. In the fallout from the disaster, the UCP cancelled all future Angel King orders. The competing MCF-C260 Cyclone would become the UC military’s new front line combat frame, despite strategic analysts’ off-the-record admissions that the new XSeed was the superior platform.
Three of the few Angel Kings deployed with Commonwealth units fell into the fugitive Guardian Angels’ hands. Allying with PAX against the regime that had betrayed them, the GAs would leverage the Two-series XSeeds’ customizability to devastating effect.
