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nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013


AKA: Donald Trump’s America Simulator 2017 – Let’s Play Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War




Kazutoki Kono’s Wild Ride continues.

This is the fourth entry in our larger look at the Ace Combat series’ Strangereal-based games. Much like the previous LPs I helped create with my partner in LP Crime Blind Sally, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, and Killzone/Killzone: Liberation/Killzone 2/Killzone 3, this LP will also be an in-depth look at the fictional history, politics, setting, and characters of Ace Combat’s Strangereal shared universe as told over the course of multiple games and done in in-universe chronological order.

Just as before, I would also like to pay tribute to my predecessors in the realm of “LPing Ace Combat 5”: AC LP thread regular and lovable forums gadfly bunnyofdoom attempted to LP it back in 2010 before it was eaten by Viddler. And The Hater (previously PauseAction) attempted to LP it back in 2008 before that LP was eaten by both Viddler and GameVee.


Games covered thus far:





Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War is the summer blockbuster movie of Ace Combats. To date, no other Ace Combat has been as flat out large and over the top as The Unsung War in terms of story, scope, presentation and mission size except for Ace Combat 7. It is the tentpole game of the “Golden Trilogy;” every other Ace Combat game is measured against Ace Combat 5 and generally all come up wonting in most fans’ eyes. “Yeah, but it’s not as good as Ace Combat 5 was” is the most damning barb anyone can throw at any given Ace Combat game from Shattered Skies on down.

While I enjoy 5 immensely, and I don’t begrudge it its place on most people’s pedestals, I am not one of those people who says that it’s where the franchise is at its categorically best because each Ace Combat game does different things well, as we’ve seen several times over now. So let’s reserve our “Crow vs. Popular Opinion” ammunition for when we really need it and I tell you all my Real Thoughts on Ace Combat 6 come summer.




Like Ace Combat 04, Ace Combat 5 was also released in the PAL territories under a different subtitle: Ace Combat: Squadron Leader. It also featured a different plane on its cover in certain regions, the first and only time an Ace Combat game has done this. The North American, Japanese, Australian, and UK version featured the F-14 Super Tomcat. The French version features the Rafale, and the Spanish version features the EF-2000 Typhoon Eurofighter.

As for what exactly The Unsung War is, it is the proper debut of the Strangereal setting in its 100% completed form. 5 took all the waffling retcons of the games that preceded it and made a bold and blatant statement on them that yes, this was in fact a completely different, strange but real world apart from our own that the franchise was set in. It also introduced us to several of what would become the series’ mainstays like the America analog of the Osean Federation and the ever-present thorn in Strangereal’s side, the Principality of Belka, among other things.

Ace Combat 5 picks up 5 years after where Ace Combat 04 left off in the late summer of 2010. The action begins on a small and seemingly unimportant naval air station out in the Pacific Ocean far removed from the contemporary society and geopolitics of the massive Osean Federation, easing us into this new Strangereal we find ourselves in by starting small and slowly opening up to a larger perspective as the game goes on.

Much like the majority of other Ace Combats, The Unsung War also has a frame narrative told by an outside narrator, in this instance freelance photojournalist Albert Genette. However, what sets 5 apart from its siblings is that its frame narrative is also its main narrative. Other narrators in the franchise tend to be separated from the gameplay narrative by either time or distance; Ace Combat 5 places Genette shotgun to the main action, making The Unsung War effectively one seamless story as opposed to several that need stitching together.




Now, I am not going to lie, I expected to be LPing this game in a much different political climate when I first outlined this project. Thought it is surprisingly more politically relevant today than it probably would have been had a certain election gone in the direction everyone had just assumed it was going to. And it’s not like I can sidestep politics anyway seeing as how Ace Combat 5 itself was a political statement in its original time anyway.

Ace Combat 5 is, no bones about it, an anti-war game. A hilariously inapt and ham-handed anti-war game, but one none the less. It was written in response to the 2003 Iraq War, a war initiated by politicians under false pretenses purely for the sake of re-litigating old international and personal grudges which the entire world is still dealing with the repercussions of nigh on 15 years later, and in response to the George W. Bush Era of geopolitics in general. So without spoiling anything too deeply for AC5, basically mid-00s era politics ahoy! It also definitely prefigured the Obama Era in many prescient ways with its hammer-fisted peacenik messaging. ...But then again, Barry also droned more people to death than any other modern President, so make of that what you will too.

Basically, what I am saying is that while I will try to keep this LP as apolitical as I can, there will be moments where, for the sake of analysis, I will have to stray into political discussion because the game itself is dragging me into it. Now, I still, despite the bevy of evidence against it, have a shred of faith in human decency and that no one is going to set this thread on fire with abhorrent political statements. I will say straight up though THIS IS NOT D&D, TAKE YOUR POLITRASH ARGUMENTS THERE AND DON’T poo poo UP MY LP WITH THEM. If I feel anything has crossed the line I will start reporting people to the mods for complimentary cooldown probations, and if you turn this thread into a loving dumpster fire, I will lock it for up to three weeks and just go play Final Fantasy XV or something depending on how exasperated I get.




Project Aces' Ace Combat franchise is a sprawling mass of games spread out over many different consoles and handheld platforms with several wholly unrelated continuities depending on which sub-set of games you want to look at. The games most people are familiar with and have played, however, are the ones we will be covering over the course of this Mega LP: the ones set in Strangereal.

These of course are Air Combat, Ace Combat 2 / Assault Horizon Legacy, Ace Combat 3, Ace Combat 04, Ace Combat 5, Ace Combat Zero, Ace Combat 6, Ace Combat X, Ace Combat Xi, and the recently announced Ace Combat 7.

That said, I will not be covering the following games:



  • Air Combat – The very first AC game is a sparse arcade-y game with zero real connection to the Strangereal games. It was later retconned into Strangereal with the mightiest of :shrug:s
  • Air Combat 22 – A literal arcade game.
  • Ace Combat: Joint Assault – A PSP game set on real world Earth, not a part of the Strangereal series.
  • Ace Combat Advanced – A GBA game also not set in Strangereal.
  • Ace Combat: Infinity – A freemium PS3 game built on Assault Horizon’s engine that takes missions from Strangereal and sets them on our Earth.
  • Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Trigger Finger – iPhone multiplayer game designed to hock Assault Horizon. Pass.
  • Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion – It’s literally Ace Combat X told from the perspective of the game’s B-Team. It’s also not available on the App Store any more, nor was it available in Canada when it was anyway.




Now, the uninitiated among you might be asking yourself “What the gently caress is a Shakespeare Strangereal?” And to that I say “welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Ace Combat!”

The majority of the Ace Combat games are set in a shared universe setting that has been dubbed by fans as the “Strangereal” world. The name originated from a trailer for Ace Combat 04 which contained the phrase “A strange, real world.” Fans compacted the phrase into the portmanteau of “Strangereal” to describe the setting of the game. As you can see by the two world maps (the left one is “canon”, the right one is fan-interpolated conjecture), the world of the Ace Combat series shares a number of similarities to our own while also being radically different. Namco itself would come to adopt the term Strangereal to describe the setting in more recent Ace Combat games such as Ace Combat: Infinity. It has also been implied that the Ridge Racer series also takes place in Strangereal, as background worldbuilding elements and settings from the Ace Combat games appear various Ridge Racer games, particularly the character of Reiko Nagase, who is implied to be a relative of several other Nagases who appear throughout the Ace Combat franchise.

Project Aces also previewed a trio of concept games at the dawn of the PlayStation3-era that used the Strangereal setting as well. They were, in no particular order, Brave Arms, a Metal Gear Solid 4/Bionic Commando third-person action/espionage game set in the Kingdom of Sapin; Second Season 01, a first-person cop drama game which appeared to be set in Oured, Osea; and Chain Lim!t, an Alpha Protocol-style action spy game with multiple user-determined solutions to action problems. All three games were either cancelled shortly after their announcement or were just internal proof-of-concepts that somehow were teased to the public as actual games before being pulled. Either way, they remain just another aspect of the enduring enigma that is Strangereal.

The Strangereal world is a massive, intriguing, and reactive place that gets developed a little more with each Ace Combat game set in it and elements of this setting speak to each other across multiple games. We’re going to be looking at this setting from a near-pedantically scholarly viewpoint, so I hope you all have your over-analysis caps on like I do!

Because this is a thinking man’s LP, not one of those “Shoot Visari in the face—RICO NO!!!” LPs. (Actually it is one of those LPs, don’t tell anyone though!)

For the purpose of this LP series, we will be following the games in (mostly) in-universe chronological order from 1995 to 2020. The order we will be going in will be Zero > 2 > 04 > 5 > 6 > X > 7. X ultimately comes after 7 in the timeline, but 7 makes for a better finale, but if you’re that desperate for rigid continuity, then just read/watch it after 7, if you’re so inclined.

For more information about the Ace Combat franchise, please consult Acepedia, the Ace Combat Wiki. (Note: there’s a lot of bullshit conjecture stuff on the AC Wiki, so read at your own risk. Also, lots of unmarked spoilers for the whole franchise.)



I’d prefer you didn’t post spoilers, if you are one of those people who do know what happens in this and subsequent games. So try to avoid letting huge things that could ruin the game for people who are experiencing it fresh slip out like how Blaze is actually Wes Scantlin trapped inside Ace Combat 5 itself, or that Captain Hamilton voted for Donald Trump.

Because that poo poo just sucks.


nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Feb 7, 2022

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nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013


Presenting the “Great Up-Till-Now Ace Combat In-Universe Timeline”. As we go through the games and possibly threads, this timeline will fill in with bullet points on events in the Strangereal world as new updates are posted.

1900s - 1910s
  • The First Osean War between Belka and Osea erupts. The conflict rages for five years between 1905 and 1910.
  • The war marks the first time aircraft are used in combat roles during a conflict. The Belkan Air Force leads Belka to victory over the Oseans with their superior planes.


1940s
  • The Second Osean War erupts between Belka and Osea following decades of tension between the two nations. Belka annexes a large portion of North Osea south of the Waldreich mountains.


1950s
  • The Cold War between Osea and Yuktobania begins following the end of the Second Osean War.

1970s
  • The Belkan military invades and annexes the nation of Recta.
  • Belka begins selling munitions to the Union of Yuktobanian Republics on Verusa and the Federal Republic of Erusea on Usea.

1986
  • The Tyumen Dispute between the Union of Yuktobanian Republics and its neighboring Republic of Kaluga erupts. During the climactic Battle of Zhytomyr, the Yuktobanian Air Force crushed the Kalugan military, though at the cost of numerous lives.

1987
  • The Blood War between the Union of Yuktobanian Republics and the Republic of Romny is fought. Yuktobania claims victory after the Romnian Air Force collapses.
  • 17 December, 1987 – The Belkan Federal Law Review.

1988
  • 8 February, 1988 – Belka permits its eastern territories to secede amidst economic strife. The newly established state of Gebet declares its capital at Mons.
  • 12 May, 1988 – The Republic of Ustio announces its independence from Belka. Directus declared new Ustian capital.

1989
  • 18 December, 1989 – Project Pendragon initiated. Belka begins construction of a chemical laser weapon installation codenamed Excalibur in the mountain town of Tauberg to act as a missile defense system.

1990
  • May, 1990 – Construction of Excalibur briefly halted after a violent riot by conservationists at the Tauberg construction site.


1991
  • 29 August, 1991 – Northern Belkan territories sold off to the independent and FATO states. Northern islands and Five Great Lakes regions are ceded to the Osean Federation.
  • 2 September, 1991 – Yuktobania announces the development of 2 Scinfaxi-class nuclear submarines.
  • 16 December, 1991 – Territorial reformations are made. Boundaries of Ustio, Belka, Ratio, Recta, Gebet, Osea, and the FATO states are finalized.

1992
  • November, 1992 – Economic woes in Belka continue. Far-right Fatherland and Workers Party wins majority in Belkan National Assembly, pledges to restore strength and stability to Belka.

1993
  • 3 August, 1993 – Construction completed on Excalibur installation.

1994
  • 14 July, 1994 – Excalibur chemical laser deemed fully operational by the Belkan government after successful test fire.
  • December, 1994 – The International Astronomers Union announces the discovery of the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid.

1995
  • 25 March, 1995 – Belka launches an invasion of Ustio, Sapin, and Osean held territories following the announcement of the discovery of natural resources in Ustio.
  • 30 March, 1995 – The Republic of Ustio falls to Belkan forces. Valais Air Base in the Tyrann Mountains is Ustio’s last remaining military facility.
  • 1 April, 1995 – Osea and Allied Forces counterstrike action begins.
  • 2 April, 1995 – Operation Crossbow: Ustio’s Galm squadron repulses a flight of Belkan B-52s and escort fighters sent to destroy Valais AFB.
  • 15 April, 1995 – Operation Roselein: Galm squadron conducts a bombing raid along Route 171 in Arlon, Sapin to secure a supply line for the Allied Forces.
  • 20 April, 1995 – Operation Choker One: The Allied Forces begin their counter-attack on Belka. Galm Team is dispatched to Belkan Priority One Airspace B7R (Codename: The Roundtable) and is confronted by Belka's Indigo, Grun, and Rot fighter squadrons.
  • 24 April, 1995 – Operations Gelnikos, Round Hammer, and Costner: The Galm Team secures the shipping lane of Futuro Canal on the Sapin/Osea border, crippling Belka's ground and naval forces, and escorting the Osean flagship OFS Kestrel safely through the canal.
  • 12 May, 1995 – Operation Varsity: As the Allied Forces press closer to the Ustian capital of Directus, Galm Team provides top cover for an Osean paratrooper insertion into the occupied mountain town of Solis Ortus.
  • 13 May, 1995 – Operation Constantine: The Ustian capital of Directus is liberated by the Allied Forces. Galm Team provides air support for the advancing army and downs Belka's rapid response fighter squadron, Gelb Team.
  • 17 May, 1995 – Operation Hell Bound: Using Ustio as a springboard, the Allied Forces press into Belkan territory for the first time since the war's outbreak. The Galm Team is tasked with crippling the Belkan mountain fortress of Glatistant, the centerpiece of Belka's legendary Hydrian Line.
  • 19 May, 1995 – Operation Dynamo: The Allied Forces attack Belka's airbase, ground defenses, and air squadrons on Schayne Planes. Alpha Team focuses on the ground defense installation. Beta Team cripples Schayne AFB. And Theta Team mops up the base's fighter contingent.
  • 19 May 1995 (cont.) – Belka launches a surprise counterattack on the Allies during Operation Dynamo with their experimental chemical laser installation Excalibur.
  • 23 May, 1995 – Operation Judgement: The combined force of Galm Team and Crow Team is dispatched to Tauberg, Belka to destroy the Excalibur laser weapon.
  • 28 May 1995 – Osea announces the abrogation of its international non-aggression treaty with the Assembly of Nations.
  • 28 May 1995 (cont.) – Operation Battle-Axe: The Allied Forces launch a massive assault on the B7R airspace in Southern Belka, intent on crippling Belka's local air superiority once and for all. Galm Team and Crow Team are thrust into the center of this battle and encounter Belka's Schwarze, Schnee, and Silber Squadrons in the war zone.
  • 28 May 1995 (cont.) – Wolfgang "Huckebein" Buchner attempts to defect from Belka to Osea and is pursued by Schwarze Squadron into the B7R Round Table. He is shot down in the chaos of the battle and officially listed as "missing, presumed deceased."
  • 1 June 1995 – Operation Cannibal: Galm and Crow Teams are dispatched to provide top cover for an Osean bombing run on the city of Hoffnung, Belka. While the mission is intended to cripple Belka's war production facilities, the Allied bomber crews begin to take matters a little too far...
  • 6 June, 1995 – Operation Ravage: Galm and Crow Teams are sent across the Waldreich Mountains to rendezvous with an Osean strike team bound for the South Belka Munitions Factory in Sudentor. The operation is aborted after the Belkans detonate seven V1 nuclear warheads on their own soil in a last ditch effort to keep the Allied Forces from invading Dinsmark. In the chaos following the nuclear strike, Galm Two, Larry "Solo Wing Pixy" Foulke, turns against his wingmate Cipher and deserts the Ustian Air Force, fleeing the battlefield to parts unknown.
  • 13 June, 1995 – Operation Stone Age: The newly restructured Galm Team of Cipher and PJ are sent to investigate reports of a Belkan remnant contingent at the Yering Mine complex at Mt. Schrim and eliminate any hostile forces they encounter there.
  • 20 June, 1995 – The Belkan War comes to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Lumen at an official capitulation ceremony in Lumen, Osea (formerly Belka). Ratified by representatives from Osea, Belka, Ustio, Sapin, and Yuktobania, the treaty calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities between Belka and the Allied Forces, as well as the disarmament of the Belkan military, and the relinquishment of South Belka to the ownership of the Osean Federation.
  • 20 June, 1995 (cont.) – Operation Broom: As the capitulation ceremony gets underway in Lumen, the Allied Forces launch one final covert assault upon a Belkan contingent hiding in the coastal town of Anfang, Belka, who refuse to abide by the cease fire order. Galm Team is dispatched on a three pronged operation: Mars Strike Team attacks the Belkan remnant's naval and land forces occupying the town, Mercury Strike Team bombs the makeshift runway in the highway tunnel just outside of town, and Jupiter Strike Team mops up the remnant Belkan Air Force unit stationed with the contingent, including the squadron's E-767 AWACS unit.

  • Early October, 1995 – The Sapin Air Force's Espada squadron goes AWOL from their airbase and disappears into Belkan territory. Similar incidents involving other fighter squadrons from Osea, Ustio, and Yuktobania are also reported around this time.
  • Late October, 1995 – Researchers from the Usean Universities of Shellsbridge and Comona determine the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid, discovered the year prior, is indeed on a collision course with the Earth. It will pass Earth's Roche Limit and impact the planet on July 3rd, 1999.
  • Early December, 1995 – The Federation of Central Usea (FCU) convenes a continental congress of the nations of Usea to discuss the Ulysses threat. After much debate, the nations of Usea agree to begin construction of a railgun network in a politically neutral nation in order to attempt to shoot down oncoming asteroid fragments. The central Usean nation of Delarus is chosen as the home of the turret network codenamed "Stonehenge". Development of Stonehenge and the existence of Ulysses is classified as top secret for the foreseeable future in order to prevent a global panic.
  • 25 December, 1995 – Operation Valkyire: Several high ranking members of the Belkan military stage a coup and reveal they have seized control over a large amount of former South Belka Munitions Factory and Project Pendragon assets. Under the command of former Project Pendragon chief engineer Dr. Anton Kupchenko, the organization calls itself "A World With No Boundaries", and lunches a surprise attack on the city of Lumen, Osea, with a massive gunship codenamed XB-0 Hresvelgr. After the XB-0 attacks Valais Air Base, Cipher and PJ are recalled to active duty to hunt down and destroy AWWNB's "Talon of Ruin". However, before they can strike, they are intercepted by the Espada Squadron, defectors from the Sapin Air Force.
  • 31 December, 1995 – Operation Thunderbolt: The Allied Forces launch a final strike on A World With No Boundaries' HQ at Avalon Dam to prevent the launch of their V2 WMD. Cipher and PJ are dispatched towards Avalon through the B7R Round Table, where they encounter interceptor squadrons lead by members of AWWNB's core leadership.
  • 31 Decemeber, 1995 (cont.) – Operation Point Blank: Cipher and PJ reach the Avalon Dam and disable the V2 launch control modules. As they celebrate their victory, they are intercepted Larry "Pixy" Foulke, piloting an advanced fighter craft known as the ADFX-02 Morgan. After killing PJ with the Morgan's on-board tactical laser pod, Foulke reactivates and launches the V2 MIRV. He is then shot down after a grueling final battle with Cipher and the V2 scuttles itself in mid-flight when the control transmission from the Morgan is terminated.

1996
  • Early January, 1996 – Cipher resigns from the Ustio Air Force's Mercenary Division and leaves the country. All records of his involvement in the Belkan War are sealed by the Ustian and Osean governments due to the politically sensitive nature of his role in the post-armistice conflict against A World With No Boundaries. He is never seen again.
  • 21 April, 1996 – FCU President Robert Sinclair announces the existence and potential impact event of the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid to the world, as well as the FCU's response plan: the Stonehenge Turret Network, currently under construction in the desert of Delarus.
  • Mid Spring, 1996 – The last remnants of the deposed wartime Belkan government are dismantled as the Rald Party is forcibly disbanded.
  • Mid Spring, 1996, cont. – Tensions between the FCU and the Federal Republic of Erusea begin to rise. The FCU orders the withdrawal of all Allied Forces from the Republic of Amber and the Independent State of Ugellas on the Erusean border in an attempt to diffuse the situation.
  • Mid Summer, 1996 – Terrorist forces seize control over the Skully Islands off the coast of Usea. They are defeated by the Scarface Squadron of the Federation of Central Usea's mercenary division. Nobody cared.
  • Early Fall, 1996 – Following their thaw in relations with their cooperation during the Belkan War, Osea and Yuktobania sign a historic peace treaty, formally ending the Cold War and laying the foundation for a trans-Pacific trading and military partnership. Included in the treaty is a sweeping nuclear disarmament agreement between both superpowers.
  • Early Fall, 1996, cont. – The surviving members of the former OADF Wizard Squadron attempt to assassinate the President of Osea in response to the signing of the Yuktobania Peace Treaty, leading to an armed standoff with Osean Special Forces. Joshua Bristow, the squadron's former leader and co-founder of the A World With No Boundaries terrorist organization is not among their numbers at the time.

1998
  • January to March, 1998 – Tensions between the nations of the Usean continent begin to rise in response to newly forged alliance between the superpowers Osea and Yuktobania. One side favours the Usean nations joining together to form a military and political bloc against their international rivals, the other favours initiating a peaceful alliance with, possibly even assimilation into the Osean Federation.
  • Mid March, 1998 – While an FCU envoy is overseas in Osea to sign an Usea-Osea peace treaty, extremist military leaders from the northern and western Usean nations launch a coup d'etat against their governments and occupy territory across all of Usea with martial force.
  • 20 March, 1998 – Operation Gambit: The FCU Allied Forces Air Division recalls the pilot known by the callsign "Phoenix" to active duty as part of its counterstrike operations agains the Usean Rebel forces. As head of the reinstated Scarfrace Squadron, Phoenix is dispatched to intercept and shoot down a flight of Rebel bombers before they can destroy Twinkle Islands Air Force Base and Naval Station.
  • 31 March, 1998 – Operation Easy Money: Phoenix shoots down a Rebel reconnaissance and transport flight over the Lambert Mountains and encounters the Lancer Squadron, one of the Rebel's most elite fighter units.
  • 5 April, 1998 – Operation City on Fire: FCU Allied Forces retake the city of Anchorhead, Erusea and cripple the Rebel Forces' western naval power base.
  • 14 April 1998 – Operation Tin Castle: Scarface Squadron conducts an early-morning assault on a URF frontline base codenamed "The Keep" in the Amber foothills just outside of San Salvacion.
  • 14 April 1998 (cont.) – Operation Opera House: Later that afternoon, Scarface Squadron disables the Rebel-held offshore oil drilling and refinery complex Opera House in Gunter Sound off the south coast of Delarus.
  • 29 April, 1998 – Operation Greased Lightning: Scarface Squadron destroys an under-construction Rebel airfield hidden in the Meriton Highlands in Delarus.
  • 29 April, 1998 (cont.) – Operation Hunting Season: Later that day, Scarface Squadron launches an assault against the bulk of the URF's eastern air force and comes face to face with Belkan War veteran Sergei Brynner and his Beast Squadron.
  • 10 May, 1998 – Operation Midnight Assassin: Scarface Squadron is dispatched on an early morning mission to intercept and destroy a URF electronic warfare flight and encounters a mysterious red fighter.
  • 10 May, 1998 (cont.) – Operation Bear Tracks: Later that day, Scarface Squadron bombs a mining complex in Hatties Ravine, Delarus, to cripple the URF's flow of raw materials to their war production facilities.
  • 22 May, 1998 – Operation Sledgehammer: Scarface Squadron provides escort for an Allied bombing run on the URF-occupied shipyard facilities in Axel Bay City and encounters another Z.O.E. fighter amid the Rebel forces.
  • 22 May, 1998 (cont.) – Operation Acid Rain: Later that day, Scarface is scrambled across the bay to Anchorhead City in Erusea to repulse a URF retaliatory on the city in response to its liberation late last month.
  • 22 May, 1998 (cont.) – Operation Rising High: Phoenix is dispatched to run down a flight of URF high-altitude bombers and reconnaissance aircraft retreating from Allied territory over the Amber Mountains.
  • 1 June, 1998 – Operation Cuckoo's Nest: Phoenix cuts off an airdrop of ammunition and chemical weaponry to a URF guerrilla detachment operating out of the Chopinburg forest in south central Usea.
  • 22 June, 1998 – Operation Swordsmith: Phoenix helps the Allied Forces retake a rebel-held weapons manufacturing facility on the Scofield Plains by destroying the facility's anti-air defenses and guard squadron.
  • 22 June, 1998 (cont.) – Operation Groupies: Later that evening, Scarface Squadron is dispatched to Mt. Lambert, Erusea, to escort a recently rescued FCU government VIP back to Allied territory aboard the evac transport Dryman.
  • 1 July, 1998 – Operation Toy Box: Scarface Squadron tracks down and destroys a prototype bomber stolen by the Rebel Forces and hidden at Riass Space Center in the Comona Islands.
  • 7 July, 1998 – Operation Seagull: After locating the remainder of the URF's detached naval power, the former Allied Navy's Second Fleet, Scarface Squadron is dispatched to sink it and its flagship, the carrier Arquette. However, the Rebel navy's top ace squadron and another mysterious red fighter move to intercept them.
  • 18 July, 1998 – Operation One Night Stand: Phoenix infiltrates a URF controlled submarine silo deep inside the Seal's Bridge ravine to destroy one of the Rebels' two Dragonet-class ballistic missile submarines, the Fensalir.
  • 21 July, 1998 – Operation Power Play: Scarface Squadron destroys the URF fortifications erected around the Waiapolo Lake hydro-electric dam facility in northern Usea.
  • 3 August, 1998 – Operation El Dorado: Operation Alphaville commences as Scarface Squadron neutralizes a URF ballistic missile launch facility in the desert outside of Faith Park by destroying the launch silos' exhaust ports.
  • 4 August, 1998 – Operation Dark Star: Operation Belissima commences as Scarface Squadron intercepts and downs a URF arms transport over Hatties Ravine bound for Saint Ark.
  • 13 August 1998 – Operation Dead End: Phoenix conducts a hit-and-fade mission on a URF airfield and radar installation in White Valley using the valley's terrain to mask his approach to the base.
  • 16 August, 1998 – Operation St. Elmo's Fire: Scarface Squadron provides top cover for the FCU Navy's 4th Fleet and the carrier White Valley at it breaks through the URF naval blockade at Payton Channel en route to Saint Ark.
  • 18 August, 1998 Operation Calvary: Scarface Squadron is scrambled to the Sandbury Desert to provide cover for an Allied search and rescue operation to recover the crew of a crashed Allied E-767 surveillance plane which landed in hostile territory.
  • 18 August, 1998 (cont.) – Operation Electric Dreams: Phoenix destroys a URF controlled particle accelerator facility codenamed Pancake in the Altoora Desert in northern Usea.
  • 20 August, 1998 – Operation Visiting Hours: Phoenix is tasked with disabling the core generator of the URF's Turntable geothermal plant in the Rocky Islands in order to render the Rebel capital of Saint Ark virtually defenseless.
  • 20 August, 1998 (cont.) – Operation Juggernaut: Following the 4th Fleet's path up the eastern coast, Phoenix is sent on raid against the last remnant of the URF's eastern fleet off of Fort Grays Island to destroy it before it can intercept the 4th Fleet, or retreat back to Saint Ark.
  • 23 August, 1998 – Operation Sentinel: Operation Alphaville concludes. Scarface Squadron knocks out the Rebel early warning radar network along the Petrol Coast, leaving the way clear for the final assault on Saint Ark.
  • 31 August, 1998 – Operation Final Countdown: Operation Belissima concludes. Scarface Squadron is dispatched to Snider's Top to finish off the remainder of the Rebel naval power on the continent and encounters the Rebels' last remaining ace squadron.
  • 1 September, 1998 – Operation Jewel Box: The Allied Forces cripple the remaining Rebel air power by destroying the URF's makeshift airstrips along the highways of Port Edwards in preparation for their final assault on the Rebel captial of Saint Ark.
  • 7 September, 1998 – Operation Kingpin: The Rebel capital of Saint Ark is liberated by the Allied Forces. The URF GHQ is destroyed by Scarface Squadron during the battle, and most of the Rebel commanders are rounded up and arrested by Allied military police. A Zone of Endless AI-powered fighter encountered during the battle was also shot down and destroyed.
  • 7 September, 1998 (cont.) – Operation Last Resort: Later that evening, Phoenix is scrambled to intercept and destroy the Dragonet-class submarine Folkvangr, which has surfaced off the coast of Saint Ark intent on destroying the city in a retaliatory strike now that the Rebel forces have lost control of it.
  • 18 September, 1998 – Operation Fighter's Honor: The remaining commanders of the Rebel forces flee to the old Fortress Intolerance complex in North Point. Their plan to launch an ICBM at the Union of Yuktobanian Republics to draw them into a war with Usea is averted by Phoenix and Scarface Squadron. An experimental fighter, the ADF-01 FALKEN, piloted by the artificial intelligence combat unit Zone of Endless (ZOE) also appears to stop Scarface from preventing the launch, but is also shotdown.
  • 18 September, 1998 (cont.) – With the fall of Fortress Intolerance, the last of the Usean Rebel Forces' leaders are taken into custody and the Usean Continental War officially comes to a close as the Allied Forces claim victory.
  • Late September, 1998 – Construction of the Stonehenge Turret Network completed in Delarus. Operational trials are hastily scheduled in preparation for Ulysses planetfall.

1999
  • 3 July, 1999 – Ulysses Day. Asteroid Ulysses 1994XF04 passes Earth’s Roche Limit, fracturing into uncountable meteorite fragments which impact the planet causing severe—yet survivable—damage to the global infrastructure. Catastrophic damage is prevented by Stonehenge and other spaceguard installations around the planet, but the world is left irrevocably changed afterward.
  • 3 September, 1999 – The Nordennavic Royal Air Force establishes the Grendel Covert Operations Squadron to protect its international interst following the Ulysses 1994XF04 impact.

2000
  • Throughout 2000 – The Erusian Refugee Crisis unfolds. Millions of refugees displaced by the Ulysses planetfall the year prior are taken in by the nations of Usea, but the Erusian government suspends immigration and seals its borders after taking in only a fraction of those it promised to, citing economic hardship at home. Hundreds of thousands of people are forced into refugee camps on the Erusian border and left in squalid conditions and no legal recourse, earning Erusea the ire of the global community and harsh economic sanctions from Osea and other Assembly of Nations member states.
  • 3 August, 2000 – The Federal Erusian Air Force attempts to shoot down a transport helicopter carrying the General Assembly Commissioner of the AN on his way to inspect the Ulysses refugee camps on the Erusian Border. The NRAF Grendel Squadron, acting as a part of the ISAF Air Force, interveins and saves the helicopter.
  • 3 August, 2000 (cont.) – Later that evening, the FEAF attempts to shoot down a flight of NRAF transport planes extracting refugees from Erusea to Nordennavic to try and cover up their government's human rights abuses along the border. Grendel Squadron intercepts the attackers and escorts the transports safely to Nordennavic.

2003
  • 22 August, 2003 – Erusea seizes control of the shuttered Stonehenge Turret Network facility from the FCU. The Erusian Parliament passes legislation “legalizing” the invasion and occupation of Delarus as a means of controlling Stonehenge.
  • 23 August, 2003 – The Usean Treaty Organization (UTO) publically repeals all funding and support from Erusea on the demand that the Erusians relinquish control of Stonehenge back to the FCU. Erusea is given a deadline of September 14th, 2003 to comply.
  • 14 September, 2003 – FCU President Robert Sinclair prepares to mobilize the newly-formed Independent States Allied Forces (ISAF) against Erusea to retake Stonehenge by force after the Erusians flout the UTO’s peaceful surrender deadline.
  • 15 September, 2003 – Stonehenge is reactivated by the Erusians and begins shelling ISAF facilities across Usea. The Second Continental War, also known as the “Shattered Skies Crisis” beings.
  • 20 September, 2003 – ISAF GHQ in Los Canas is destroyed by fire from Stonehenge. ISAF command announces a general retreat order for all ISAF personnel and equipment to the east coast of Usea and to North Point, well outside of Stonehenge’s operational radius.
  • 21 September, 2003 – Erusea begins military invasion and occupation of the remainder of Usea, beginning with its neighboring nation of San Salvacion.

2004
  • Throughout 2004 – ISAF suffers heavy military losses to Erusea and Stonehenge as Usea falls almost entirely under Erusian occupation, eventually being driven off the mainland entirely. ISAF GHQ is temporarily relocated to North Point City, on North Point.
  • 19 September, 2004 – Operation Umbrella: Erusea moves to crush ISAF completely and claim total dominance over Usea by bombing ISAF GHQ on North Point. A last-ditch effort to defend North Point is mounted by the ISAF Naval Air Force south of Newfield Island. ISAF pilot Mobius 1 is deployed from the carrier Fort Grace to intercept the Erusian bomber flight before it reaches North Point.
  • 5 October, 2004 – Operation Harvest: Mobius 1 and other ISAF fighters are dispatched to destroy an Erusian bomber flight stationed at the former ISAF Rigley Air Force Base. Yellow 13 and his Aquila Squadron arrive in San Salvacion City.
  • 10 October 2004 – Operation White Out: Mobius 1 destroyed an Erusian-held radar facility atop Mt. Shezna, allowing ISAF's remaing ground forces in Saint Ark to evacuate off the mainland to North Point. Plans for an invasion to retake Southern Usea are in the works.
  • 2 November, 2004 – Governor Vincent Harling wins the 2004 Osean Presidential Election in an electoral landslide on a strident anti-war platform, becoming the 48th President of the Osean Federation. President-Elect Harling and his running mate Vice President-Elect Applerouth are due to be sworn in on January 18th, 2005.
  • 7 November 2004 – Operation Hunting Hawk: Erusea sends its "invincible" Aegir Fleet to Comberth in preparation for a naval invasion of North Point. Mobius 1 shoots down a flight of FEAF supply transport planes and E-767 jammer escorts bound for Comberth Harbor in order to delay the Aegir Fleet's eventual deployment.
  • 19 November, 2004 – Operation Early Bird: Mobius 1 conducts a pre-dawn raid on an Erusian-held pretrochemical complex in order to delay the Aegir Fleet's deployment by cutting off its oil and gasoline supply. While the mission is successful, multiple ISAF planes are lost when Erusea's Yellow Squadron arrives on the battlefield.
  • 23 November, 2004 – Operation Rough Seas: ISAF conducts a massive airstrike against the Erusian Aegir Fleet at Comberth Harbour. Mobius 1 alone sinks the majority of the Erusian naval force scoring a major victory for the ISAF and opening a vital corridor for retaking the mainland.
  • 16 December, 2004 – Operation Blackout: Mobius 1 leads an early evening airstrike on an Erusian-controlled solar power plant at Mackenzie Crater in Faith Park to disrupt the Erusian military's power supply lines. While the mission is successful, however, the ISAF strike team is forced to flee the combat zone when the Erusians begin shelling the area with fire from Stonehenge. In San Salvacion, the Storyteller Boy discovers the existence of a local Resistance cell acting against the Erusian military.
  • 31 December, 2004 – Operation Countdown: A massive aerial battle between ISAF and the Erusian Air Force breaks out over Riass Space Center in the Comona Islands as ISAF attempts to launch a recon satellite into orbit on New Year's Eve. During the battle, Mobius 1 and Yellow 13 cross paths once more.

2005
  • 1 January, 2005 – Yellow 13 reviews the enemy pilot intel from the previous day's mission with Yellow 4, taking note of a standout pilot among the ISAF ranks: Mobius 1.
  • 18 January, 2005 – Vincent Harling sworn in as the 48th President of the Osean Federation in Oured, Osea. Harling vows to remain neutral in the face of the Erusea-FCU conflict raging on Usea, promising to spend his electoral mandate focusing on domestic policy matters and improving Osea's tarnished diplomatic relations with its allies rather than foreign military involvements.
  • 24 January, 2005 – Operation Bunker Shot: ISAF commences an invasion operation to retake the Usean mainland, making landfall on Crowne, Halle, and Cranada beaches on the Seal's Bridge peninsula just outside of Stonehenge's firing radius. Mobius 1 is deployed to provide top cover over the landing site and ensure the invasion effort is successful.
  • 28 February, 2005 – Operation Woodpecker: ISAF forces retake control over Istas Fortress south of Los Canas, effectively collapsing the Erusian "Tango Line". Erusian forces begin withdrawing westward for the first time, deeper into Stonehenge's firing umbrella.
  • 14 March, 2005 – Operation Noah's Ark: Two Air Ixiom 767s take off from Farbanti International Airport smuggling the chief engineers and scientists responsible for Stonehenge's development and operation, as well as their families, out of Erusian territory. Mobius 1 is dispatched to rendezvous with the airliners over Chopinburg and defend them against an Erusian interceptor flight and escort them back to ISAF territory.
  • 2 April, 2005 – The San Salvacion Resistance blows up highway used by Yellow Squadron as a makeshift runway. Yellow 4 is injured by shrapnel, and her Su-37 is badly damaged and unable to be repaired in time.
  • 2 April, 2005, cont. – Operation Stone Crusher: ISAF launches a massive air strike on the Stonehenge Turret Network. Mobius 1 single-handedly destroys the entire STN complex. Yellow Squadron arrives shortly thereafter, but is too late to defend the facility. Yellow 4 is shot down and killed by Mobius 1 in the subsequent skirmish over the STN wreckage.
  • 7 May, 2005 – Operation Blindman's Bluff: Mobius 1 escorts an ISAF U-2 Dragonlady spyplane carrying intel on the new Erusian superweapon Megalith back to GHQ in Los Canas by destroying an Erusian laid aerial minefield of airship noise jammers.
  • 18 June, 2005 – Operation Aurora: Mobius 1 is dispatched to intercept a salvo of cruise missiles inbound to ISAF troop positions over the Ice Creek glacier, including a Belkan-made MPBM.
  • 9 July, 2005 – Yellow 13 discovers the identity of the perpetrator of the runway bombing that led to Yellow 4's death and is confronted by the Storyteller Boy.
  • 10 July, 2005 – Operation Firefly: ISAF launches a massive assault to retake the city of San Salvacion from Erusian occupation. With the city liberated, ISAF now has a direct corridor to advance into the Erusian homeland.
  • 11 July, 2005 – As San Salvacion celebrates its liberation, the Storyteller Boy falls in with a group of retreating Erusian soldiers to follow Yellow 13 westward toward Farbanti.
  • 15 August, 2005 – Operation Sandstorm: ISAF crushes the last organized line of Erusian resistance at Old Anchor Point City in the Whiskey Corridor. As the ISAF Navy moves in to secure Anchorhead City in Southern Erusea, the main force presses onward from Whiskey to the Erusian capital of Farbanti.
  • 7 September, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Erich "Phonix" Hillenberand (Schnee 1) for Warriors and the Belkan War at Jackson Hill International Airport in Jackson Hill, Osea.
  • 13 September, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Rainer "Cormorant" Altman (Gelb 2) for Warriors and the Belkan War at his home in Directus, Ustio.
  • 19 September, 2005 – Operation Autumn Thunder: ISAF invades the Erusian capital city of Farbanti by land, sea, and air in a massive battle to end the Shattered Skies War. Yellow Squadron is defeated above Farbanti and Yellow 13 is killed by Mobius 1. The surviving Erusian command officers capitulate to the ISAF ceasefire treaty. Erusea officially surrenders.
  • 22 September, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Dominic "Vulture" Zubov (Schwarze 1) for Warriors and the Belkan War in an abandoned apartment complex in Oured, Osea.
  • 24 September, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Dietrich "Boss" Kellerman (Silber 1) for Warriors and the Belkan War at his dairy farm in Birneheim, Belka.
  • 26 September, 2005 – Operation Judgement Day: A group of young Erusian officers who fled from Farbanti before the Erusian surrender bring the Megalith ballistic missile launch facility back online and threaten the rest of Usea with a campaign of missile attacks. The newly restructured Mobius Squadron, led by Mobius 1, is dispatched to destroy Megalith and end the Erusian threat over Usea once and for all.
  • 10 October, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Dimitri "Blue Heron" Heinreich (Indigo 1) for Warriors and the Belkan War at his family estate in Lichtenburg, Belka.
  • 12 Octorber, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Dr. Detlef "Red Swallow" Fleisher (Rot 1) for Warriors and the Belkan War at his office at the University of Dinsmark.
  • 15 October, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Berhanrd "Night Owl" Schmidt (Grun 1) for Warriors and the Belkan War at Pop's Diner in Sudentor, Belka.
  • 20 October, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Marcela "Macarena" Vasquez (Espada 2) for Warriors and the Belkan War at a bar in Gran Rugido, Sapin.
  • 25 October, 2005 – Unable to track him down for an interview on account of his alleged death, OBC's Brett Thompson visits the grave site of Dr. Anton Kupchenko (Gault 1) at Holtz Public Cemetary in Dinsmark, Belka.
  • 31 October, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Anthony "Bedivere" Palmer (Sorcerer 1) for Warriors and the Belkan War at his office in Oured, Osea, on Halloween.
  • 11 November, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Joshua "Lucan" Bristow (Wizard 1) for Warriors and the Belkan War in his cell at Land Ford Federal Prison in Osea.
  • 25 November, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson interviews Larry "Solo Wing Pixy" Foulke (Galm 2) for the documentary Warriors and the Belkan War on the border of Delarus on Usea.
  • 30 November, 2005 – OBC's Brett Thompson charters a helicopter flyover of the now-defunct and flooded Avalon Dam facility. While exploring the shoreline of the Mund River, he comes across a makeshift grave site constructed out of F-16C wreckage, and a bouquet of flowers recently planted there in honour of the late Patrick James "PJ" Beckett. This is the closest Thompson ever came to encountering Cipher, missing him by mere days, possibly even hours.

2006
  • 23 March, 2006 – Brett Thompson's documentary special on Cipher and the Belkan War, Warriors and the Belkan War, airs on Osea's OBC broadcast network.
  • 10 June, 2006 – The news magazine COLOR OF THE WORLD publishes a retrospective on the Second Usean Continental War. The article features stories on the failed first attempt by ISAF to destroy Stonehenge, the ISAF New Year's Eve satillite launch from the Comona Islands, a look back at Ulysses 1994XF04, and photos and dispatches from war corrispondant Jim Lisle, who reported on the war from inside Erusian-occupied San Salvacion.
  • 20 September, 2006 – Operation Katina: An Erusian resistance front calling itself "Free Erusea" launches a campaign of terror against ISAF and the FCU across Usea. ISAF dispatches Mobius 1 to spearhead the effort to disarm and destroy Free Erusea.
  • 24 September, 2006 – Operation Katina (cont.): Mobius 1 destroys Free Erusea's HQ in White Valley Bay. A flight of stolen automated Erusian X-02 Wyvern super fighters are engaged over White Valley and also destroyed by Mobius 1. ISAF proclaims victory over Free Erusea.

nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 00:21 on May 20, 2017

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013


Continuing.


2007
  • 3 April, 2007 – Pythiopolis, Estovakia is seized by the Lyes United Front (LUF), under the command of General Lyes. Lyes announces he plans to reform Estovakia into an orthodox state. The Estovakian Civil War begins.
  • May 2007 –The Republic of Emmeria announces it will resume its foreign aid program to its asteroid-ravaged neighbor Estovakia. It becomes clear very quickly, however, that the LUF is using the Emmerian money and supply donations to suppress its enemies.
  • June, 2007 – The Estovakian Civil War escalates. The Eastern Faction led by General Gustav Dvornik emerges as the strongest of the five factions vying for control over Estovakia. Vampire and Strigon Squadrons are created as part of the Eastern Faction’s air force contingent.
  • August 2007 – The G7 Summit, originally to be held in international waters off the coast of the Democratic Federation of Wellow, is cancelled after an anti-globalist terrorist attack shuts down the harbor in Faxa Bay.
  • 20 September, 2007 – The news magazine FRONT LINE publishes a retrospective on the Second Usean Continental War focusing on the ISAF and Erusian air forces. ISAF's Mobius Squadron and Erusea's Aquila (Yellow) Squadron and their flight leads headline the article.


2008
  • February 2008 –The LUF defeats the Independent Tariff Foundation faction, gaining control of half of Estovakia’s current territory.
  • July 2008 – The Island Coalition and the Northern Highlands Faction join the Eastern Faction to counter the Lyes United Front. The Estovakian Civil War escalates under the two remaining factions.
  • 21 August, 2008 – The 2008 G7 Summit is held aboard the recently unveiled Osean spaceplane Arkbird. The leaders of Osea, Yuktobania, the Federation of Central Usea, Erusea, Emmeria, Verusa and Nordlands take in the trade summit in zero gravity.
  • 21 August, 2008 (cont) – President Harling of Osea and Prime Minister Nikanor of Yuktobania discuss the possibility of a Second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START2).
  • October, 2008 – The Eastern Faction takes control over an abandoned oil refinery complex on the east coast of Estovakia, beginning construction of a large hanger facility reminiscent of the SBMF’s XB-0 Hresvelgr hanger at Mt. Schrim.
  • Late October, 2008 – Emmerian Security Intelligence Service spy photographs show Belkan expat and former SBMF/Project Pendragon engineer Lorenz Riedel arriving at the repurposed EF oil refinery complex.
  • 4 November, 2008 – Vincent Harling re-elected to a second term as Osean President with over 48.5 votes and a landslide lead in the Electoral College.


2010
  • April, 2010 – After sustained public outcry, the Emmerian government terminates its Estovakian aid program. The Estovakian Civil War now enters a lull period. The Lyes United Front condemned the discontinuation of aide, claiming the Emmerian government had abandoned the people of Estovakia. The Estern Faction, now with the apparent upper hand in the conflict, vowed eventual reprisal against Emmeria for prolonging the Civil War with its aide of the LUF.
  • July, 2010 – Yuktobanian Prime Minister Nikanor’s last confirmed public appearance in Cinigrad.
  • Late August, 2010 – The Union of Yuktobanian Republics begins an unprompted campaign of saber rattling against the Osean Federation. While the Osean military quietly shifts to a higher state of readiness for war, a cover up campaign is enacted to hide the potential threat from the general public, lest panic erupt.
  • Late August, 2010 (cont.) – Freelance photojournalist Albert Genette arrives at Sand Island Naval Air Station off the west coast of Osea to film a documentary about the base’s Wardog training squadron.
  • Early September, 2010 – Yuktobania recalls its Osean ambassador and all high level diplomatic corps members. Osea retaliates in kind, recalling its ambassador to Oured.
  • 23 September, 2010 – An OADF training flight led by Captain Jack Bartlett and two other instructors is ambushed over Sand Island Naval Air Station by unidentified fighters approaching from a vector across the Pacific Ocean. Only Bartlett, Albert Genette, and one flight cadet (2nd Lt. Kei Nagase) survive the attack.
  • 24 September, 2010 – Operation Lagoon: Wardog Squadron is dispatched to Cape Landers to intercept an unidentified SR-71 Blackbird spyplane caught probing the Osean coastal defense zone and force it to land for interrogation. They are attacked by another unidentified aggressor flight, once more seemingly hailing from Yuktobanian airspace.
  • 27 September, 2010 – Operation Gyre: Wardog Squadron is dispatched to intercept a flight of UAV reconnaissance drones launched from an unidentified spy ship off the coast of Sand Island. Captain Jack Bartlett is shot down by enemy interceptors and ditches in the water.
  • 27 September, 2010 (cont.) – The Union of Yuktobanian Republics formally declares war on the Osean Federation.
  • 27 September, 2010 (cont.) – Emergency Sortie: Wardog Squadron is scrambled to Port St. Hewlett to cover the escape of the aircraft carrier O.F.S. Kestrel and its support fleet as the Yuktobanian Air Force bombs the harbor and the Yuktobanian Navy erects a naval blockade around St. Hewlett. A search and rescue flight fails to recover Captain Bartlett and he is listed as "missing, presumed deceased".
  • 27 September, 2010 (cont.) – Emergency Sortie: Later that night, the Yuktobanian Air Force attacks Sand Island AFB. Wardog Squadron is scrambled shorthanded to defend the base. Hans Grimm joins the battle using Bartlett's reserve plane and inducted into Wardog Squadron pro-formally. Lt. Colonel Ford, the OADF's intended replacement commander for Cpt. Barlett is shot down en route to Sand Island and killed.
  • 28 September, 2010 – Sand Island returns to a sense of normalcy after the first day of open war with Yuktobania. Blaze is formally promoted and assigned as the squadron leader of Wardog Squadron. Kei Nagase, Alvin Davenport, and Hans Grimm are formally assigned as Wardogs 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
  • 30 September, 2010 – Operation Whalebird: Wardog Squadron is dispatched to the Eaglin Straits to cover the Osean 3rd Fleet's rendezvous en route to the inland Benning Sea. After a failed attempt to sink the fleet is made by the Yuktobanian Air Force, the Osean carriers O.F.S. Buzzard and O.F.S. Vulture are sunk by a burst missile attack from the Yuktobanian submarine Scinfaxi. O.F.S. Kestrel survives the attack.
  • 30 September, 2010 (cont.) – Low on fuel, Wardog Squadron is rerouted to Heierlark AFB in North Osea. Upon landing, they are greeted by the base's flight program trainees, who share Albert Genette's article, "The Four Wings of Sand Island" with them in the base commons.
  • 1 October, 2010 – Wardog Squadron escorts the Heierlark nuggets back to Sand Island AFB.
  • 3 October, 2010 – Operation Silver Bridge: The Osean Air and Space Administration, in conjunction with the Osean military, conducts an SSTO launch to equip the Arkbird spaceplane with a next generation laser pod to counter the Scinfaxi's burst missiles. Wardog Squadron provides cover for the launch and successfully fends off a Yuktobanian air raid on the space center.
  • 4 October, 2010 – Operation Vanguard: The Yuktobanian Navy launches a surprise landing operation against Sand Island Naval Air Station. Wardog Squadron is dispatched to defend the island along with every available nugget pilot. The Scinfaxi is located and destroyed by the Arkbird's A-SAT laser weapon, but every rookie pilot from Hiererlark AFB is killed in the engagement by burst missile fire.
  • 5 - 21 October, 2010 – After the sinking of the Scinfaxi, the Yuktobanian military withdraws from Osean territory. No major combat operations occur during this time, however the Yuktobanian government issues no official surrender or cease fire orders. Osea remains in a state of combat readiness.
  • 22 October, 2010 – Combat Air Patrol: Wardog Squadron is dispatched to the Akerson Hill AA defense zone to patrol the area for possible Yuktobanian air incursions. During their mission, they encounter an OADF C-5 Galaxy with no IFF transponder flying under the falsified callsign "Mother Goose One." The transport's captain requests Wardog escort the plane through the AA network to safety as they are on a top secret diplomatic mission to North Point. It is suspected that President Harling of Osea is aboard the transport.
  • 22 October, 2010 (cont.) – President Harling is rescued from the transport crash site by the Osean 8492nd Special Operations Squadron.
  • 25 October, 2010 – The Arkbird A-SAT laser system is disabled by apparent Yuktobanian sabotage efforts. With their lone technological advantage erased, Osea enters a stalemate with Yuktobania.
  • 26 October, 2010 – The Osean Federation announces plans an all-out ground invasion of the Union of Yuktobanian Republics in retaliation for its attack on Osean territories and military assets. Commanded by General Howell, the primary objective of the invasion is to press into the Yuktobanian capital of Cinigrad, remove Prime Minister Nikanor's government from power, and force the Yuktobanians to capitulate to a surrender treaty.
  • 1 November, 2010 – Operation Footprint: The invasion of Yuktobania commences. Wardog Squadron is deployed to Volna Beach on the southern coast of the Bastok Peninsula to assist the Osean Army's ground forces during the landing operation.
  • 2 November, 2010 – Operation Hammerblow: Wardog Squadron is dispatched to intercept and shoot down a massive Yuktobanian transport convoy conducting an airlift retreate of Yuke army forces from the Bastok Peninsula.
  • 2 November, 2010 (cont.) – During Operation Hammerblow, a Yuktobanian civilian engineering college campus is bombed by unknown forces identified over the radio as the Osean 8492nd Special Operation Squadron. As the OADF denies all knowledge of or responsibility for the airstrike, the Yuktobanian government and state media decry the attack as an act of terrorism and vow reprisal.
  • 4 November, 2010 – The members of Wardog Squadron are recalled to Oured, Osea, to face a military inquest into the Dresdene bombing. While all four pilots maintain they did not attack the college, the prosecuting JAG refutes their claims of involvement by the 8492nd squadron, denying its very existence.
  • 4 November, 2010 (cont.) – Operation Emerald: Apito International Airport is attacked by the Yuktobanian Army and Air Force. Short on manpower and planes, Capital Region Air Defense Command is forced to dispatch Wardog Squadron to defend the airport and turn back the Yuke assault before civilian casualties are incurred.
    OR
  • 4 November, 2010 (cont.) – Operation Wisdom: Bana City, a college town south of Oured, comes under a large-scale nerve gas attack by Yuktobanian Special Forces. Wardog Squadron is deployed using specialized planes carrying neutralizing agent canisters to help local authorities disperse the gas before further civilian casualties are incurred.
  • 7 November, 2010 – Operation Snake Pit: Wardog Squadron returns to probationary active duty and is dispatched to destroy a massive Yuktobanian ammo dump in the Duga rainforest south of the Jilachi Desert.
    OR
  • 7 November, 2010 – Operation Fork Dance: Wardog Squadron returns to probationary active duty and is dispatched to penetrate a sophisticated radar network and destroy a massive Yuktobanian munitions factory in Sonza badlands east of the Jilachi Desert.
  • 14 November, 2010 – Operation Long Harpoon: Wardog Squadron is dispatched to the icy waters of the Razgriz Straits north of Anea to sink the Scinfaxi-class super submarine Hrimfaxi before it can launch an SLBM attack on the Osean Army forces pressing inland through Yuktobania towards Curik Fortress.
  • 15 November, 2010 – At the party celebrating the sinking of the Hrimfaxi at Sand Island AFB, Albert Genette interviews Pops about his own time in the air force as a fighter pilot and his history with Captain Bartlett.
  • 17 November, 2010 – Operation Backhaul: Wardog Squadron is deployed to provide top cover for an OMDF SEAL team operation to liberate a Yuktobanian POW camp. Although the mission is successful, Wardog 2, Kei Nagase, is shot down by a Yuke SAM. She is able to bail out, but the poor weather and nighttime conditions prevent the SAR team from reaching her.
  • 18 November, 2010 – Operation Stray Sheep: Wardog Squadron and Sea Goblin team return to Glubina the following morning to conduct an SAR operation for Captain Nagase, who is on the run from a Yuktobanian army patrol tracking her locating through the mountains.
  • 25 November, 2010 – Operation Desert Arrow: Wardog Squadron is dispatched to provide air support for a massive ground assault against Yuktobanian forces in the eastern Jilachi Desert. They are called upon to escort an OADF bomber flight en route to a YAF air base in the desert, and to cover an Osean Army tank battalion as it storms a Yuke Army field HQ.
    OR
  • 25 November, 2010 – Operation Desert Blitz: Wardog Squadron is dispatched to provide air support for a massive ground assault against Yuktobanian forces in the western Jilachi Desert. They are called upon to escort a pair of Osean Army tank battalions as they storms a YAF airfield and a riverside oil refinery.
  • 25 November, 2010 (cont.) – Following the conclusion of Operations Desert Arrow and Desert Blitz, the Osean military formally announces it has seized control over roughly half of all territory formerly belonging to the Union of Yuktobanian Republics. Osean forces now prepare to launch their final assault on Curik Fortress before pressing on to Cinigrad.
  • 29 November, 2010 – Operation Supercircus: Wardog Squadron is deployed to November City to conduct a ceremonial flyover and combat air patrol over November International Stadium as Vice President Applerouth holds a rally to address the current state of the war with Yuktobania. The speech is interrupted by Yuktobanian Air Force planes which attempt to attack the stadium. A request for reinforcements from McNeely AFB is intercepted and cancelled by someone claiming to represent the 8492nd Spec Ops Squadron.
  • 29 November, 2010 (cont.) – Wardog 3, Alvin H. Davenport, is struck by a missile during the engagement over November. Unable to eject or safely land, Davenport intentionally crashes his crippled plane into the evacuated stadium to minimize potential civilian casualties. He dies on impact.
  • 6 December, 2010 – Operation Doodlebug: Wardog Squadron deploys shorthanded to provide air cover for an Osean army tank division as it storms and captures Cruik Fortress, Yuktobania's last line of defense before its capital, Cinigrad.
  • 6 December, 2010 (cont.) – The Ambush At Vladimir: Blaze, Edge, and Archer are ambushed by the 8492nd Spec-Ops Squadron over the Vladimir Mountains. The 8492 pilots are revealed to be Belkan agents operating as part of a vast conspiracy to prolong the war between Osea and Yuktobania in order to destroy both nations in revenge for their crushing Belka 15 years ago during the Belkan War. The trio escapes the ambush unscathed and races home to tell the world what they've discovered.
  • 7 December, 2010 – Upon returning to Sand Island, Wardog discovers that Captain Hamilton, now Major Hamilton, was a former 8492 member himself and also a part of the conspiracy. Hamilton convinces Col. Perrault that Blaze, Edge and Archer are spies trained by Bartlett and Pops, as is Albert Genette. Perrault orders their arrest and places Sand Island on lockdown until they are apprehended.
  • 7 December, 2010 (cont.) – Pops leads Wardog and Genette to a hangar housing the base's unarmed trainer Hawk jets. Dodging small arms fire on the runway, the group escapes Sand Island, however, Hamilton quickly orders any available OADF planes in the area to intercept and shoot down the "traitor" Wardog Squadron.
  • 7 December, 2010 (cont.) – Escape From Sand Island: Pops navigates the Wardog fugitives through the Solo Islands to evade pursuit from Ashley Bernitz and the 8492nd Squadron. During the escape, he reveals he is in fact Col. Wolfgang Buchner aka Huckebein the Raven, a former Belkan Air Force ace who defected to Osea at the end of the Belkan War with Jack Bartlett's help.
  • 7 December, 2010 (cont.) – After eluding Bernitz and the 8492nd, Wardog is intercepted by Marcus "Swordsman" Snow from the O.F.S. Kestrel's naval air wing. Snow communicates to Wardog via signal light that he can be trusted. Blaze, Pops, Edge, Archer and Genette (with Kirk the dog in tow) eject from their planes, which Snow shoots down to fake their deaths. After the OADF withdraws from the area, the group is rescued from the ocean by Sea Goblin team and taken to the Kestrel to meet Captain Andersen.
  • 9 December, 2010 – Operation Keynote: Wardog Squadron is dispatched to Stier Castle in the Waldreich mountains to provide air support for Sea Goblin team as they rescue President Harling from the Belkans. Captain Snow joins the team full time in the Number 3 slot left vacant by the late Col. Davenport.
  • 9 December, 2010 (cont.) – After being checked out the Kestrel's CMO, President Harling is welcomed aboard the carrier and takes provisional command of the Osean resistance as Commander-in-Chief alongside Pops and Captain Andersen.
  • 10 December, 2010 – Wardog Squadron is officially disbanded and reformed into Razgriz Squadron at the command of President Harling. Blaze, Edge, Swordsman, and Archer will now operate covertly as his personal special operations squadron until the Belkan coup is thwarted and the war ended.
  • 10 December, 2010 (cont.) – The Andromeda intercepts a coded transmission consisting of a string of numbers: longitude and latitude coordinates, a date and time, and the vote totals won by President Harling in the 2004 and 2008 Osean presidential elections, suggesting the message was intended specifically for the newly-rescued Harling. The coordinates point to the Yering Mine complex at Mt. Schrim inside Belka.
  • 10 December, 2010 (cont.) – Operation Silver Eye: Blaze is dispatched to investigate the Yering facility on a reconnaissance flight. While there, he discovers the Belkans are recovering a cache of old V1 nuclear bombs sealed inside the mountain at the end of the Belkan War. He also discovers proof of the Gray Men conspiracy: Osean and Yuktobanian conspirator fighters parked on the tarmac together at Yering.
  • 12 December, 2010 – Operation Deepsix: Razgriz Squadron is dispatched to Yering one last time to seal the remaining Belkan nukes beneath Mt. Schrim by bombing the rock face above the mine entrance and causing a cave in.
  • 16 December, 2010 – Operation Riverbed: The Andromeda intercepts another string of numbers, this time detailing a location inside Yuktobania and a radio frequency. When Razgriz Squadron reaches Pavavlenie Ravine, they are contacted by a representitive of the Yuktobanian resistance movement who informs them that the resistance has captured one of the Belkan nukes smuggled out of Mt. Schrim by Ofnir Squadron. Razgriz engages the Yuke special forces in the area to buy time for the resistance to disarm the warhead.
  • 16 December, 2010 (cont.) – Ofnir Squadron, a fighter group allied with the Gray Men conspiracy, arrives at Pavavlenie Ravine and engages Razgriz Squadron. They are shot down over the ravine and the resistance fighters evacuate the area with the disarmed bomb in a commandeered Yuke Navy U-Boat.
  • 19 December, 2010 – Operation Game Bird: The Belkans attempt to use the Arkbird to conduct a nuclear strike on the city of Okchabursk in Yuktobania. Razgriz Squadron intercepts and shoots down the space plane over the Ceres Ocean with help from Osean astronaut John Harvard (once Slash of the Scarface Special Tactical Fighter Squadron), who sabotages the Arkbird's controls and sends it into an uncontrolled dive before escaping in a re-entry capsule.
  • 21 December, 2010 – President Harling departs the Kestrel with Sea Goblin team, returning to Oured to retake the capital and control of the Osean government from Vice President Applerouth by force.
  • 23 December, 2010 – Operation Crossroad: The Osean resistance finally makes direct contact with Captain Jack Bartlett. Bartlett informs the Kestrel crew that he and Yuktobanian Army Intelligence Major Nastatsya Obertas have rescued Prime Minister Nikanor from a Gray Men-controlled prison camp and are attempting to escort him to safety. Razgriz Squadron is desployed to the Pobeda Peninsula to protect the rescue convoy as it makes its way to an airfield to commandeer an aircraft.
  • 23 December, 2010 (cont.) – As Bartlett prepares for take off, Razgriz Squadron is intercepted by the Belkan Grabacr Squadron, led by Ashley Bernitz. Razgriz engages the Belkan aggressor force, shooting all four planes down while Bartlett and Obertas escape the airspace with the Prime Minister. All four Grabacrs bail out unharmed, vowing revenge against the Ghosts of Razgriz.
  • 23 December, 2010 (cont.) – Aboard the Kestrel, Prime Minister Nikanor is welcomed aboard by Captain Andersen. Maj. Obertas hands over stolen classified intelligence on the Gray Men's plans, including information on the previously abandoned Strategic Orbital Linear Gun or SOLG.
  • 29 December, 2010 – Operation Glory Horn: The Kestrel's fleet is intercepted in open waters by a Yuktobanian armada. Prime Minister Nikanor orders the ships to stand down and join the Kestrel against the Belkan conspirators. While the majority of the fleet refuses to follow the order, four destroyers, the Pitomnik, Chuda, Gumrak, and Dub, abandon the Yuke fleet and side with the Kestrel, though the Pitomnik is sunk before it can cross to the Prime Minister's side. Razgriz Squadron is scrambled to protect the new allied fleet from the advancing hostile Yuke ships and a hostile Osean carrier group that arrives to intercept the Kestrel as well.
  • 29 December, 2010 (cont.) – At Captain Andersen's urging, Prime Minister Nikanor departs for Oured to appear at a joint press conference with President Harling to publicly announce to the world that the war between Osea and Yuktobania is over. He is accompanied by Captain Bartlett and Major Obertas.
  • 30 December, 2010 – The Kestrel is ambushed by a cruise missile strike from a Gray Men-allied Yuktobanian submarine. The ship is critically damaged and sinks within minutes of the attack, but not before safely launching all four members of Razgriz Squadron on their final sortie.
  • 30 December, 2010 (cont.) – Later that evening, President Harling and Prime Minister Nikanor conduct a joint press conference to call for peace between Osea and Yuktobania, and for both nations to unite against the Belkan conspirators, who now threaten both nations with the newly reactivated SOLG and V2 nuclear MIRV device.
  • 30 December, 2010 (cont.) – The Battle of Sudentor: Backed by elements from both the Osean and Yuktobanian militaries, including the YAF AWACS Oka Nieba, Razgriz Squadron conducts an assault on the SOLG control facility located beneath Gründer Industries's headquarters in Sudentor, North Osea on the Belkan border. They are pursued through the access tunnel by a deranged Major Hamilton while Captain Bartlett flies in from the Belkan side to destroy the the secondary control unit. Both units are successfully destroyed, and Hamilton is killed in a collision with a plane chasing Bartlett.
  • 31 December, 2010 – Operation Arcadia: With control from Sudentor cut off, the SOLG begins a controlled descent towards downtown Oured, the Osean capital city. Razgriz Squadron is deployed on one final sortie to intercept and destroy the SOLG before it crashes and kills millions. They are intercepted en route to the descent point by Ashley Bernitz and both Grabacr and Ofnir Squadrons. The Belkan aggressors are shot down and killed over Oured Bay, and the SOLG is destroyed by Razgriz.
  • 31 December, 2010 (cont.) – The Circum-Pacific War officially ends on the morning of New Year's Eve.


2013
  • President Harling announces the scheduled release of all sealed files pertaining to the Razgriz and their involvement in the Circum-Pacific War for a date in the year 2020.


2020s
  • Twenty years after the Shattered Skies War ends, the Storyteller Boy, now a grown man, reflects on his experiences during the war with Yellow 13 and Yellow 4 and writes a series of letters to Mobius 1 telling their side of the story to him.
  • Ten years after the end of the Circum-Pacific War, the Osean government releases all previously sealed files on the war and the mysterious Razgriz Squadron to the public as per President Harling's final executive order.



2030 - 2040

nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 10:36 on Jul 30, 2017

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013


By NobleSixFour!


Just remember, folks, you all did this to yourselves.






Assault Horizon was released on October 11, 2011, for PS3 and Xbox 360, to decidedly lukewarm reviews from Ace Combat fans and those new to the franchise alike. It's the second game in the Ace Combat franchise to be featured on Earth (Joint Assault came first, in 2010) and the 14th game in the franchise overall. It's also the first game in the series to be released for Windows, although the port wasn't even announced until the day after the first major patch for console (November 27, 2012) and released on January 24, 2013.


As you'll see in the video, there are a number of stark gameplay differences between Assault Horizon and the Strangereal ACs.
-First and foremost, we have Dogfight Mode (DFM, or Close Range Assault as it's sometimes called). Essentially, this boils down to getting behind an enemy air unit (roughly between his 5 and 7 o'clock) and pressing both rudder buttons simultaneously, at which point your plane is slaved to the one in front and the camera zooms in so you can kill him more effectively. As I mention in the video, there is a class of enemies (TGT_LEAD) which you pretty much have to kill this way, which is often used to show off setpieces or mini-cinematics. An unfortunate consequence of DFM is that missile performance outside of it has been greatly reduced, so for a sure kill you pretty much have to use it. (There's a ground targets equivalent, which comes up in later missions.)
-Relevant to the end of the last point, you may have noticed that there were no ground targets at all in the Miami mission. That's because there's an incredibly strict segregation of aircraft type vs target type in this game: Fighter aircraft get no antiground ordnance and can't go into airstrike mode, and attacker aircraft (including the F-2!) get no anti-air ordnance and can't initiate DFM or counter.
-Goddamn QTEs. Making them even worse is that only just over a tenth of them actually result in a mission fail; the other 90 percent only result in the camera slewing over to whatever it was going to have you look at anyway. Personally I find this even more forced and annoying than the "Press LT/RT to crawl" at the end of MW2/3, and that's saying something.

/
At this point, we haven't really seen much of either, but there will be more to put here in future entries.




nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 07:25 on Jun 7, 2017

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013
Shorebirds

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War Attract Movie
Mission 1: Operation Lagoon – September 24th, 2010

Ace Combat 5 moves us ahead five years from the end of the Shattered Skies War to the early fall of 2010. It’s been 15 years since the end of the Belkan War. As conflict raged on Usea, and Ulysses 1994XF04 ravaged Anea, the Osean Federation has enjoyed a decade and a half of relative peace, prosperity, and partnership with its new ally the Union of Yuktobanian Republics across the Pacific Ocean.

Sand Island Naval Air Station sits on a tiny speck of land in the middle of the Pacific, the last vestige of Osean territory west of the continental mainland. While this remote island base may seem to be the farthest extreme of the known world to many who call it home, it stands as Osea’s first line of defense and early warning bulwark against possible aggression from Verusa or Anea. But with the Cold War over, and 15 years of peace between the global superpowers, a new non-aggressive government enshrined in Erusea, and the Estovakian Civil War entering a lull, it seems as though Sand Island may have outlived its usefulness to the world.

Albert Genette, a young freelance reporter working for the Osean Broadcasting Company, has come to Sand Island to work on a documentary about the pilot training program run by the firebrand captain of the base’s fighter squadron, Jack Bartlett, and on the rookie pilots under his charge. However, things begin to go amiss for all involved one day as unidentified planes firing live ammunition invade the OADF training area attempting to shoot Bartlett’s squadron out of the skies.

Genette may not realize it yet, but he has just stumbled into the story of the century. If he survives to tell it, anyway…


Overview: An unidentified SR-71 spyplane was caught over Osean airspace just outside of Cape Landers. Osean SAM artillery damaged the spyplane in its escape and it is now attempting to ditch in the waters off Cape Landers. The OADF believes the plane is connected to the unidentified squadron that attacked the training flight over Sand Island the day before.

Wardog Squadron is dispatched to intercept the SR-71 before it reaches the water and force it to land at a nearby airstrip so its pilot can be interrogated.





WARDOG SQUADRON
Osean Air Defense Force 5th Fighter Wing, 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Members:
  • Wardog 1 – Jack “Heartbreak One” Bartlett
  • Wardog 2 – Kei “Edge” Nagase
  • Wardog 3 – Alvin H. “Chopper” Davenport
  • Wardog 4 – [REDACTED] “Blaze” [REDACTED]
AWACS Operator: [REDACTED] “Thunderhead” [REDACTED]
Squadron Composition: F-4E Phantom II (x1), F-5 Tiger II (x3)

The training and naval air defense flight of Sand Island Naval Air Station. Wardog Squadron is Sand Island’s principle fighter wing and is currently under the command of Captain Jack Bartlett. With the relaxed era of global peace ushered in by the Osea-Yuktobania peace accords, Wardog Squadron, like Sand Island itself, has fallen from prominence as a part of the Osean military’s operational hierarchy.

The squadron’s “glory days” are long behind it, and as much as it exists as a training farm to turn nuggets into real pilots, it also exists as a purgatorial dungeon to hold Captain Bartlett in—for the rest of his military career, if need be.

The surprise attack by the unidentified enemy squadron has left Wardog’s total numbers depleted and left 2nd Lieutenant Kei Nagase, herself barely out of flight school, as the squadron’s ranking member after Bartlett. 2nd Lieutenants Alvin H. Davenport and [NAME REDACTED] have been called up from the provisional rotation to serve as the squadron’s Number 3 and 4 planes, respectively.





BLAZE
Real Name: Unknown
Callsign(s): Blaze, Kid, Wardog 4
Age: Early 20’s
Sex: Male
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: Player choice (F-14A Tomcat in all promotional material)
Voice Actor: None

As far as low men on totem poles go, you can’t get much lower in any Ace Combat game than where Blaze is right now. You can already sort of picture the kind of arc we’re going to have as a player character already, seeing as how we’re starting out a game that’s subtitled Squadron Leader in certain territories… not in command of our squadron.

Yes, this is the first time an Ace Combat game does this to you, placing you in any position other than at the head of your protagonist squadron at the outset, something that will crop up again in Ace Combat 7. In addition, before William Bishop in Assault Horizon, and Phoenix in Assault Horizon Legacy’s remake of AC2, Blaze was the only Ace Combat pilot protagonist to physically appear in a particular game’s story segments. We never see his face or hear him speak, and he’s only actually physically there in one shot of a cutscene (he appears in a photograph earlier in that same cutscene), but none the less for an Ace Combat game, this was groundbreaking stuff.

The person in the picture above isn’t actually Blaze, canonically anyway. It’s just the way that things line up in the opening cutscene that make a strong case that that might actually be Blaze, given how he’s sitting right next to and yukking it up with Chopper, whom it’s established early on that he’s something of a piss-take friend with. The same character model is also spotted later in the game standing next to Grimm in a crowd scene in a location no one else from Sand Island but Wardog Squadron visits, further cementing the theory. Really though, anyone in the briefing room in that opening cutscene could be Blaze, so at least PA gives you a diverse set of (all male) options that you can envision as being your player avatar.

However, Blaze isn’t the real focus of our attention here. Unlike Cipher, Phoenix, Nemo, and Mobius 1, Ace Combat 5 isn’t really about Blaze, it’s actually all about…



EDGE
Real Name: Kei Nagase
Callsign(s): Edge, Wardog 2
Age: 23
Sex: Female
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: Player choice (F-14A Tomcat in all promotional material)
Voice Actor: Karen Strassman

The Ace Combat franchise’s poster girl returns again, and let’s get one thing out of the way right up front: this is NOT the same Kei Nagase from Ace Combat 2/Assault Horizon Legacy or Ace Combat 04. Canonically speaking, this Nagase is AC2’s Nagase’s cousin.

Nagase is Ace Combat 5’s true protagonist in terms of story arc and screen time. She is the character which the game’s narrative turns around. Blaze is merely our Access Character.

Inspired to join the Osean Air Defense Force by hearing stories of the accomplishments of her older cousin on Usea during both the Continental War of 1998 and then as a civilian pilot in the Shattered Skies War of 2004, Kei Nagase was practically born to be a fighter pilot. After completing her basic flight school at Heierlark AFB in North Osea, Nagase and her fellow graduates, including the likes of Alvin Davenport, Hans Grimm, and [NAME REDACTED] were reassigned to the Sand Island Naval Air Station in the Pacific Ocean to finish their flight training program under the care of Captain Jack Bartlett before being reassigned to other OADF air bases around the planet.

Though she possesses a sharp mind and decisive will (she quickly earned the callsign she requested for herself—Edge—a homage to her cousin’s old TAC name—with her quick and unequivocal orders in battle), Nagase also has a surprisingly gentle soul and is actually a bit of a peacenik at heart. She is an avid reader of old poetry and mythology books, such as the old Belkan fairy tale A Blue Dove For The Princess, to the point where most of her bunkmates joke that old book is her ONLY possession.

She was also a strong supporter of President Harling’s through high school and college, having cast her first vote ever in a political election for his re-election in 2008.

Her commanding officers, namely Bartlett, however, believe she may have a bit of a martyr complex, as she has a troubling tendency to throw herself into situations where the odds don’t favor her survival for the sake of protecting others with nothing more than the foolhardy belief that she will somehow come out unscathed. This resolve will surely be tested in the near future.



CHOPPER
Real Name: Alvin H. Davenport
Callsign(s): Chopper, Wardog 3
Age: 29
Sex: Male
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: Player choice (F-14A Tomcat in all promotional material)
Voice Actor: Eddie Frierson

One of the in-training pilots stationed at Sand Island currently under Captain Bartlett’s care. Davenport is the “class clown” of Wardog’s reserve roster. His flippant mouth and undisciplined attitude have earned him many reprimands from both the Wardog squadron adjunct, Captain Hamilton, and the base commander of Sand Island, Colonel Perrault, not to mention his TAC name: Chopper. One justified criticism about Davenport is that 9 times out of 10 he just doesn’t know when to shut up.

That said, his ever-running mouth aside, Davenport seems possessed of the same righteous and honorable streak that Nagase does when situations permit. It too has caused certain amounts of trouble for him, and will not doubt continue to cause problems as sometimes doing the “right” thing doesn’t equal doing to “smart” thing, and he’s more liable to do the former than the latter, drat the consequences.

Beyond that, Davenport is an avid lover of music, having brought and extensive collection with him from Heierlark in formats ranging from MP3s to hard vinyls. A preferred trolling habit of his is to blast songs of particularly sketchy musical quality over his stereo system very loudly during his free hours before lights out. There’s a running betting pool among the Sand Island air staff on when exactly Davenport’s music stash will “go missing” mysteriously.

Despite his abrasive personality, Davenport actually has a gift for making peculiar friends. In addition to being good natured rivals with Blaze, Davenport has also found a kinship with Wardog’s crew chief, Peter N. Beagle aka “Pops” and his dog Kirk, and has recently fallen into the company of freelance photojournalist Albert Genette.



HEARTBREAK ONE
Real Name: Jonathan “Jack” Bartlett
Callsign(s): Heartbreak One, Kid, Wardog 1
Age: 42
Sex: Male
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: F-4G Phantom II Wild Weasel
Voice Actor: Steve Blum

An aging relic of the Belkan War. Jack Bartlett’s distrust of his commanding officers and outspoken nature has seen his once-promising career railroaded into the dead end posting as a flight instructor at Sand Island AFB. Bartlett saw heavy action during the Belkan War as part of the OADF’s contingent in the Allied Forces. He flew in the famous Operation Battle Axe which secured the B7R Roundtable from the Belkan Air Force and placed him in the skies alongside the likes of Cipher and Pixy of Ustio’s famous Galm Squadron, the OADF turncoats and AWWNB members of Wizard and Sorcerer Squadrons, and the legendary Belkan ace known as Huckebein the Raven, among others.

Oh and PJ might have been there. I don’t really give a poo poo.

Bartlett now resides as head of Sand Island’s Wardog trainer squadron, a fierce firebrand loyal to his students in the vein of the old instructor aces of yore like Dietrich Kellerman or Edgar Grint. Though his combative and surly nature have put him at odds with generally everyone else on Sand Island from Col. Perrault all the way on down to some of his trainee pilots like Alvin Davenport.

Generally the only person on Sand Island whom Bartlett appears to get along with is Peter Beagle, aka Pops, Wardog’s crew chief. However, he is opening up slightly to Albert Genette, the freelance photojournalist working for OBC currently stationed at Sand Island, even going so far as to invite Genette to take the co-pilot’s seat of his Phantom on certain training missions to get b-roll footage for his documentary on Bartlett and his pilots.

In his younger days during the Belkan War, his flight lead referred to him by the moniker “Kid” as a means of hazing him. Shortly before Operation Battle Axe, however, he changed his TAC name to “Heartbreak One” after he broke up with his battlefield romance Maj. Nastasya Obertas of the Yuktobanian Army Intelligence Division when she was recalled to Cinigrad. After the war, Bartlett was interrogated on the nature of his involvement with Obertas and whether or not he revealed classified intelligence to her intentionally or accidentally during the duration of their relationship.

It is speculated that he may still be in contact with Obertas in one form or another.



POPS
Real Name: Peter N. Beagle
Callsign(s): None
Age: 56
Sex: Male
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: C-1 Trader
Voice Actor: Bob Papenbrook

A member of the Osean Air Defense Force’s 703rd Maintenance Company and crew chief for Sand Island AFB’s Wardog Squadron.

Known for his genial and paternal nature, Beagle earned the nickname “Pops” early on and it stuck with him throughout his career in the OADF. Though always ready with a sprinkling of helpful advice, he otherwise keeps his head down and focuses on his work, remaining largely a background fixture of Sand Island’s personnel.

Though he has repeatedly declined to appear on camera in any capacity, he has made fast friends with Albert Genette during the reporter’s time on Sand Island, and is also a longtime friend of Captain Bartlett’s, going all the way back to their time together during the Belkan War 15 years ago.

Beagle is also the owner of Kirk, the black Labrador hound and mascot of Wardog Squadron, though the dog seems to have found a new part-time owner in Alvin Davenport as of late.

Pops was named after the fantasy author Peter S. Beagle, whose works include The Last Unicorn (both the book and the movie) among MANY others. Pops was also among the last major voice roles done by actor Bob Papenbrook before his death in 2006.



THUNDERHEAD
Real Name: Unknown
Callsign(s): Thunderhead
Age: Late 40s
Sex: Male
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: E-767
Voice Actor: Kirk Thornton

A stern, by the book, some would say “uptight” AWACS operator in the Osean Air Defense Force serving as Wardog Squadron’s AWAC for their time at Sand Island.

Thunderhead, is, no bones about it, an rear end in a top hat. Eagle Eye may have been a calm professional trying to maintain his head while the world went to poo poo around him, and Keynote may have been a gruff but ultimately fatherly figure, and SkyEye was an occasionally dopey but through-and-through soldier, Thunderhead is… none of these things.

Easily flustered, quick to anger, and acting more as an extension of the OADF command brass than a medium between them and the pilots under his charge, don’t be surprised if we end up fighting with Thunderhead almost as often as we do the enemy over the course of this game. Thunderhead, generally, has no business being behind the console of an AWACS, almost as little as Crux does in Ace Combat X, though Thunderhead doesn’t have the excuse of being a rookie like Crux does.

So yeah, we’re going to have an… interesting time dealing with Thunderhead as the game goes on, to say the least.



INTEL
Real Name: Unknown
Callsign(s): None
Age: Mid 40s
Sex: Male
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: None
Voice Actor: Jamieson Price

While Perrault (and others) may give us brief intros to our missions, Intel will, unfailingly be the man who actually briefs us on what to expect each time. Just like in every other game so far, Intel is a background functionary character who’s more a gameplay mechanic than actual presence in game.

Though as the story progresses you probably will be asking yourself at times “just how the hell is this guy following us around, anyway?”



PERRAULT
Real Name: Orson Perrault
Callsign(s): Island King
Age: 48
Sex: Male
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: None
Voice Actor: Peter Lurie

The so-called “Emperor of Sand Island.” Colonel Orson Perrault is the commander of Sand Island Naval Air Station, and for all intents and purposes is our boss.

He generally limits his involvement to being a righteous rear end at the start of each mission briefing, but he’ll slowly become more involved in the story as things progress. Perrault is largely a gruff grump lacking in the kernel of warmth that made Ulrich Olsen a good commanding officer. He is thoroughly unimpressed with the poo poo of literally everyone under his command on Sand Island and has zero time for any of their bullshit, and will quite often express it vocally simply because he outranks everyone else here and has the free reign to say it.

He’s basically who Chopper will be in a few more years and after a few more souring experiences.

Beyond that though, he actually likes his posting on Sand Island, being the general misanthrope that he is. Its position far away from general Osean civilization (and the Osean military flag staff) and on a tropical paradise is utterly perfect for an entitled poo poo who hates interacting with a social circle larger than ten people. Unfortunately, this means that if poo poo ever goes down between Osea and Yuktobania (or Estovakia or Emmeria, for that matter), then Perrault gets left holding the biggest, wettest bag of dog poo poo in history, being the commander of literally the first line of defense for the Osean Federation.

Again though, it’s not that Perrault is incompetent, he’s just a loving rear end in a top hat. Luckily though, he delegates the majority of the work that involves interacting with other people to his adjunct, the much more personable Captain Hamilton.



HAMILTON
Real Name: Allen C. Hamilton
Callsign(s): None
Age: 28
Sex: Male
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: None
Voice Actor: Crispin Freeman

The vice commander of Sand Island Naval Air Station and Wardog Squadron’s adjunct. Hamilton is the primary channel between Bartlett and Wardog to the upper brass of the Osean military.

Though often constrained by the demands of his job, he has taken a shine to Albert Genette both as a reporter and as a friend, and has worked to get him special clearances and access that a freelance journalist in his position ordinarily wouldn’t ever receive.

As a soldier, Hamilton rose through the ranks with nearly unparalleled speed. It's suspected by many of his compatriots that he had people in high places pulling strings for him, such as his uncle, a high-ranking officer in the Osean Army... among others. Beyond that however, Hamilton has shown himself repeatedly to be a model soldier and patriot, the envy of any armed force on the planet.



THE NARRATOR
Real Name: Albert Genette
Callsign(s): None
Age: 32
Sex: Male
Nationality: Osea
Signature Plane: None
Voice Actor: Mathew Mercer

A freelance photojournalist working for the Osean Broadcasting Corporation and a colleague of Brett Thompson’s. He came to Sand Island AFB originally to work on a documentary on Captain Bartlett and his Wardog Squadron.

Mild-mannered an non-confrontational by nature, Genette quickly blended into the background at Sand Island without obstructing its daily operations. However, his good nature and quiet determination have lead many of his documentary subjects to open up to him and even befriend him like Jack Bartlett himself, Kei Nagase, Alvin Davenport, and Allen Hamilton. Even those who’ve asked to remain off camera such as Peter Beagle or [NAME REDACTED] have shared off the record stories with him and appreciate his nature as an attentive listener.





SAND ISLAND

Functionally speaking: our home.

Constructed on a dormant volcanic atoll in the Ceres Ocean off the west coast of Osea, Sand Island Naval Air Station is the farthest western air base considered to be a part of “mainland” Osean territory. The OADF and OMDF maintain other bases and ports in other nations farther out around the globe beyond Sand Island, however.

The island is due west of Cape Landers, where most of the civilian families of Sand Island personnel are housed, near the Osean Coastal Defense Force’s own airbase. Built in the 1950s as part of Osea’s Cold War expansion, Sand Island was intended to be an early warning lookout post for any sign of aggression by the Union of Yuktobanian Republics across the Pacific Ocean, and a staging ground for any possible counterstrike operations against the Yuktobanian mainland if need be.

In addition to its airstrip, the jetty at Sand Island provides safe harbor for up to five naval ships at a time, with docks large enough for three destroyers, and two frigates or submarines, plus space for additional unmoored vessels to drop anchor behind its breakwater.

As the Cold War between Osea and Yuktobania waned, however, Sand Island saw its troop and material deployment numbers decline, slashed to near skeleton crew levels following the Osea-Yuktobania Peace Treaty in 1996 and the various cooperative treaties signed by the two superpowers throughout the rest of the 90s and early 00s.

Today, Sand Island serves a technical, if not functional purpose in the Osean Air and Maritime Defense Forces. The enduing embodiment of the phrase “trust, but verify,” and an uneasy, yet often ignored reminder that, yes, the unthinkable, unfortunately, does not equal the impossible. At least not yet anyway.


From a design perspective, Sand Island shares a name, design and function with the USAF Midway Naval Air Facility. An airbase in the middle of the Pacific roughly equidistant between North America and Asia.



CAPE LANDERS

A coastal town on the southern shore of Osea’s western peninsula. Barring Sand Island AFB, Cape Landers is the westernmost city in the Osean Federation and home to both an Osean Costal Defense Force air and naval station and an automated aerial defense battery array protecting Osean airspace against any unauthorized intruder.

Protected from the ocean by a lagoon, the OCDF base at Cape Landers is able to cover the majority of the southern coast of the peninsula out to November City. The northern coast, meanwhile, is protected by both the OCDF and the Osean Marine Defense Force based out of Port St. Hewlett.

Cape Landers is also the home to the majority of the civilian housing for the families of the soldiers stationed at Sand Island off the coast. Beyond that, the otherwise sleepy seaside hamlet is relatively unremarkable as far as Osean cities go.



ADEZ

The franchise has, up this point, been rather sparing in its use of inside baseball military jargon, acronyms and initialisms, so it’s strange that this one is dropped so casually in the briefing, but it helps sell that Ace Combat 5 is centered around an actual military a little better, to say the least.

As far as I can tell, ADEZ is not an actual military acronym, though it is a modification of one. Any time “EZ” appears in military jargon it’s usually shorthand for “engagement zone.” So as far I can infer, ADEZ is short for either “aerial defense engagement zone,” or “automated defense engagement zone.”

In short; Osea’s land-based automated surface-to-air batteries.



GIGANTOR

The Named Ace of this mission, the first one of Ace Comat 5 is named for Gigantor, the 1963 adaptation of the manga Tetsujin 28-go. Set in the far-flung future year 2000, the anime centered around the adventures of a gigantic robot, the titular Gigantor, and 12 year old Jimmy Sparks, who controls the robot with a remote control. The anime and manga were trend-setting for the so-called "Kid With The Remote Control" genre of anime series and stories, where a child character is paired with a force of awesome destruction but has some measure of control or bond with that force via a plot device of some sort.





OSEA
Full Name: The Osean Federation
Capital: Oured
Continent: North Osea
Head of State: President Vincent Harling
Government: Federal presidential constitutional republic
Real World Analog: United States of America

The Osean Federation is the world’s single largest military, political, and cultural superpower, rivaled only by the Union of Yuktobanian Republics and the Federation of Central Usea in terms of global power. Since the days of the Cold War, Osea has been considered to be the “leader of the free world,” and a shining beacon of democracy, liberty, progress, and peace in a world often gripped by conflict. The world looks to Osea as its pillar of stability.

Yet Osea, as we’ve seen so far, has a troubling history of being as much of a destabilizing force as it has been a pillar of stability. Though most of the world views it as the hero of the Belkan War and the savior of the Belkan sub-continent, there are just as many who will never forget Osea’s diplomatic blunder in setting off the Usean Continental War 12 years ago, and its refusal to aid the Independent States Allied Forces in repelling the Erusean occupation of Usea in 2005. It just shows that Osea is not a perfect nation; no country is, however, it is continually striving to improve.

This national appeal to better angles is exemplified in its current president, Vincent Harling, a strident anti-war crusader and a diplomat’s diplomat. Elected in 2004 on a platform of unprecedented peaceful co-operation with its national neighbors and allies, Harling was seen as a sharp repudiation of the old Cold Warrior politicians who gleefully drove the Federation into the Belkan War and then tried to stage a bloodless coup in the FCU for access to Usea’s natural resources.

And by and large, Harling’s approach appears to be working. Relations with the FCU and North Point have been repaired under his administration, even the new post-war Erusean government appears to be willing to cooperate with Osea for the first time in literally decades, and the Federation’s alliance with the Union of Yuktobanian Republics across the Pacific Ocean has never been stronger.



YUKTOBANIA
Full Name: The Union of Yuktobanian Republics (Союз Юктобанийских Республикand | Soyuz Yuktobaniyskikh Respublik)
Capital: Cinigrad
Continent: Verusa
Head of State: Prime Minister Seryozha Nikanor
Government: Federal Republic
Real World Analog: Russia, USSR

A union of formerly communist, now tepidly federal capitalist states on the continent of Verusa and the second largest military super power on the planet, rivaled only by Osea and the FCU. Over the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Yuktobania expanded rapidly from its original home territory centered around its capital of Cinigrad into a powerhouse empire that spanned nearly 3/4s of Verusa as neighboring states joined its international military pact: The Union of Yukotbanian Republics.

Following the Osea-Belka war of the 1940s, Yuktobania began to build up its military and nuclear arsenal to an unprecedented degree, believing (rightly) that the Oseans were doing the same, thus kicking off the Cold War and an age of global tensions and suspicions between the two nations that would last for nearly 50 years, until the advent of the Belkan War, however.

Yuktobania and Osea found themselves in a “strange bedfellows” situation during the Belkan War when Yuktobania joined the Osean-led Allied Forces in a supporting role to help push the Belkans back within their own territory and disarm their war machine for good. Yuktobania saw Belka’s loose nuclear arsenal and Belkan Chancellor Waldmarr Rald’s unhinged dictatorship as a threat to the entire planet and apprehensively joined the effort to quell said thread on the order of then-Premiere Samanov.

The military co-operation between the two nations ultimately fostered political and cultural co-operation as well, and in 1996 Yuktobania signed a bilateral peace treaty with the Osean Federation in Cinigrad which officially ended the Cold War. Following the abrogation of hostilities between the two nations, Yuktobania experienced a period of cultural reformation and opening up to the rest of the world. The once-secretive and paranoid communist bloc lifted its iron curtain and allowed western companies and cultural influences from Osea and Usea into its borders. It even, to the shock of the international community, held its first free and open democratic election with Seryozha Viktrovich Nikanor a former intelligence agent from the Yuktobanian Federal Security Bureau being elected on a populist platform of peaceful outreach to the world the Yukes had once bitterly shunned.

Since that time, Nikanor has worked with his Osean counterparts, including President Harling, to strengthen the relationship between their two nations and build a bridge of peace across the Pacific. This has included signing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (StART), a follow up to the nuclear arms reduction clause outlined in the original Treaty of Lumen, and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) forbidding the development of new nuclear weapons technology. Yuktobania also lead the way in the development of the International Space Station, a collaborative peaceful space exploration project after years of developing its own proprietary space laboratories and (alleged) space-based weapons platforms. And with the destruction of both the Stonehenge and Megalith spaceguard platforms in Usea, Yuktobania has also emerged as a frontrunner in keeping the planet safe from the lingering threat of the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid, whose fragments still litter the upper atmosphere in Earth orbit and pose continual jeopardy to both satellites in orbit and targets on the ground should their orbits decay and they fall to Earth.

But while everything may be going swimmingly on the surface of Yuktobania, Osean Central Intelligence has become concerned in recent months over the stability of Nikanor’s government on a parliamentary level. The Yuktobanian Assembly is still packed with old hardline Cold Warrior types, many of whom wielded considerable power in the old bloc and have found themselves out of place in the new era of global peace. A further troubling matter has been the Assembly’s continual refusal to allow Nikanor to dismantle the Yukes’ conventional military forces, such as its still-massive army and air force or its two Scinfaxi-class ballistic missile super submarines.

Osean military central command has quietly asked its flag officer-level command staff to shift up their combat readiness status on reports that Prime Minister Nikanor has not been seen in public since July, at the latest. As the Osean diplomatic corps works to confirm the situation in Cinigrad, it is feared in the halls of power in Oured that Nikanor has possibly been disappeared by those old grey men lingering in his government (like many an old communist-era premiere before him were), or worse yet, that he has finally been swayed to their line of thinking and is planning to abandon his long-held belief in peace and co-operation in favor of something awful.

Only time will tell.



BELKA
Full Name: The Principality of Belka
Capital: Dinsmark
Continent: North Osea
Head of State: Prime Minister (conjecture)
Government: Federal Republic
Real World Analog: Germany

The broken shell of “Nord Belka” remains walled off from the rest of the world behind a scar of seven irradiated nuclear blast craters, the so-called “Seven Pillars” or the “Northern Gate” of Belka, as it has been for the last 15 years since the tragic end of the Belkan War.

While Belka’s senseless self-destruction remains an open wound on the planet, one that no one is liable to forget, at least in this lifetime, the world has functionally moved on without Belka. Its legendary air force is gone. Its once-famous aces and generals now teach history classes or shovel cow poo poo in farm fields, or scurry from haven to haven under assumed names dodging war crimes charges. Its massive political reach that once gripped half a continent has shriveled to the size of a pea. And the rich history of Belkan art and literature has been blown away to the dust of history, now overshadowed by a thermonuclear taboo.

Belka’s attempt to reassert itself as a power player in global politics ironically ended with it being erased from the global community. Its true legacy now lies in the things that others have stolen from it and appropriated for themselves—picked clean off its corpse, more like. The innovations of Project Pendragon, the Excalibur Tactical Laser System, the Multi-Purpose Burst Missile, the XB-0 Hraesvelgr, the ADFX-01/02 Morgan and its successor the ADF-01 FALKEN, the V2 nuclear MIRV, the Stonehenge Turret Network, the alleged Estovakian airborne aircraft carrier platform currently under development. All these and more are the real remnants of Belka, as the South Belka Munitions Factory bled its entire design catalog onto the black market before it died. All of them making life more difficult for someone somewhere else in the world far away from the “Holy Land of Belka”.

Yet none of this changes the obvious fact of history: Belka is dead, and it’s never coming back…



SAPIN
Full Name: The Kingdom of Sapin
Capital: Gran Rugido
Continent: North Osea
Head of State: Prime Minister (conjecture) / King or Queen
Government: Constitutional Parliamentary Monarchy
Real World Analog: Spain, England

The largest surviving constitutional monarchy on the planet. Until the early 1900s, the Sapish Empire held territories and colonies all across the globe as holdovers from the Age of Exploration and Colonization, the largest of them being the Dominion of San Salvacion (later the Republic of San Salvacion) on Usea. However, with the dawning of the Industrial Revolution, the parliament in Gran Rugido reluctantly permitted its various territories to attain their independence, forming instead a ceremonial Sapish Commonwealth, as the cost of maintaining an empire in the modern era had grown prohibitively high.

Sapin withdrew from prominence in global affairs becoming a sort of “quiet kingdom,” deferring to the flourishing Osean Federation of the course of the 20th century as the de facto world leader, and strengthening its ties with Oured, becoming Osea’s closest international ally. As the Belkans pushed into Sapish territory in March of 1995 at the outset of the Belkan War, Osea sprang into action to defend its top ally, becoming the leader of the Allied Forces’ counterstrike operation against the Belkans.

Since the end of the Belkan War, Sapin has returned to its role as the quiet kingdom and good neighbor to Osea across Oured Bay. Though in recent years it has been developing a reputation as a leader in bleeding edge cybernetics and bionics research. Osean Central Intelligence believes that one or more Sapish defense contractor is currently at work developing a compact bionic exoskeletal battle suit for use in urban combat.

However, the project is still at least 15 years away from even a prototype-level of completion.



USTIO
Full Name: The Republic of Ustio
Capital: Directus
Continent: North Osea
Head of State: Prime Minister (Conjecture)
Government: Democratic Republic
Real World Analog: Switzerland, France, Spain

As the unwitting catalyst of the Belkan War, the Republic of Ustio earned itself an indelible spot in the history books through no fault of its own. When Belka invaded Ustio in March of 1995, using it as a springboard to launch into Sapin and then into Osea to reclaim its seceded territories, Ustio became the eye of a swirling storm of chaos that would eventually end in Belka’s complete self-destruction with the Seven Pillars nuclear strike, followed by the near nuclear holocaust attempted by the Belkan resistance-cum-terrorist force A World With No Boundaries.

Ustio’s understated role in the Belkan War was highlighted recently on the 10th anniversary of the Belkan War’s outbreak by the OBC documentarian Brett Thompson with his special Warriors and the Belkan War, which explored the war through the exploits of an Ustian mercenary known only as Cipher, and those who encountered him on both sides of the conflict.


We’re not actually going to be seeing Ustio itself in any real way over the course of Ace Combat 5 other than a brief cameo on the map in the opening cutscene (where the game mistranslates the name of its capital as “Dilectus”—later corrected to “Directus” in Ace Combat Zero). Basically, at this point in the franchise, Ustio was just a big blank blotch on the map like the rest of the Belkan sub-continent was before Zero came along and filled it in with its prequel story by making it the “witness to history” or sorts as Osea stepped in and slapped Belka into the Stone Age with its big giant military dick.



AND THE REST
Full Names: The Republics of Gebet, Recta, Ratio, Wielvakia, Nordlands, and the FATO States
Capitals: Mons, Cor, Centrum, Unknown, Unknown, and Brunies (respectively)
Continent: North Osea
Head of State: Various
Government: Various
Real World Analog: :shrug:

Yep. The rest of the Belkan sub-continent is still there. And, no, I don’t have anything new to say about any part of it, though who knows, maybe Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown with change that.

We’ll see.





Just like in 04, the “Assault Records” heading remains an artifact title, but we’re officially now just one game away from it returning to its proper status in Ace Combat 6. Unlike how they’ve been in the games that have preceded them, however, Named Aces in Ace Combat 5 will not be showing up in every mission. Yes, in The Unsung War Named Aces only show up in only half of the game’s 32 missions. Yet, we'll also be seeing some de facto Named Aces here and there that aren't a part of the official roster, as far as the game is concerned.

While Ace Combat 04's slate of Named Aces were all named after astronomers, famous and obscure alike, the Aces that appear in The Unsung War are mostly named after or references to various genre, grindhouse, and shlock movies much like how Ace Combat 2's Named Aces were.



    Gigantor
  • Plane: BAE Hawk T1
  • Mission 1
  • Spawn conditions: Appears above the third wave of enemies if the first two are defeated exclusively by the player.





Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War Original Soundtrack
Composers & Artists: Keiki Kobayashi, Hiroshi Okubo, Junichi Nakatsuru, Tetsukazu Nakanishi, Elizabeth Ladizinsky, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Stephanie Cooke, Puddle of Mudd
Release: 2004
Discs: 4
Tracks: 22, 20, 15, 35

Tracks featured in Mission 1 & Intro:

DISC 1

DISC 2

DISC 4




To start off, we have a large selection of wallpapers from the Ace Combat 5 website for you to browse as well:

First up, some headshots of our three principle characters, Bartlett, Nagase, and Chopper:



Bartlett, Nagase, and their planes:



Computer interfaces, including the North Osea GründerIndustries OS splash screen:



Miscellaneous Osean iconography, including the Project ACES logo, which made its debut in this game:



Historical and political maps of Strangereal (note how it’s not “up to date” compared to the one in the OP, as both Usea and Anea are currently blank):



And lastly, Genett’s makeshift workstation (including an article from the Newfield Island Review on Mobius 1’s saving New Field Island City and Allenfort AFB from the Eruseans):

nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Oct 14, 2021

radintorov
Feb 18, 2011
Oh man, I have been waiting for this thread for a long while. :D

As for the ham-fisted anti-war message, it shows at the very start with both the intro video where a whole squadron of recruits has died because of faulty informations and in Thunderhead insistance to not retaliate against hostile invaders: the level of incompetence shown by Osea is pretty egregious and we've barely started.
That said I do like Thunderhead since he does get better over time.

Inglonias
Mar 7, 2013

I WILL PUT THIS FLAG ON FREAKING EVERYTHING BECAUSE IT IS SYMBOLIC AS HELL SOMEHOW

Hell yes on this entire game. Hell yes. Have fun, Crow!

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
I can't decide between this, 0, and 6 as my favorite. 5 wins in length and story (as hammy as it is), 0 wins in music and style (AIR JOUSTING), and 6 wins in graphics and scale.

Shinjobi
Jul 10, 2008


Gravy Boat 2k
5 is a solid starter entry to the series, imo. I personally enjoy 0 and 4 more, but 5 doesn't really have any major flaws to speak of.



Fuckin' nuggets.

HR12345
Nov 19, 2012
Okay, that LP title made me laugh.

HereticMIND
Nov 4, 2012

Yes! My childhood returns! Man oh man thank you Ninegearcrow you glorious man!

Also, AC5 Nagase is bae. Anyone who disagrees with me is silly and should feel dumb, because you are silly. :colbert:

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
The other thing that's great about 5 and should have been kept afterwards is having three wingmates instead of just one. Lets the game have a lot more dialog and character.

Deep Dish Fuckfest
Sep 6, 2006

Advanced
Computer Touching


Toilet Rascal
loving hell, it's been so long since I've played this I could have sword that Thunderhead was named Thunderbird.

Also, Belka status: did nothing wrong.

Psycho Landlord
Oct 10, 2012

What are you gonna do, dance with me?

I've been looking forward to 6 the most because of how insane it is, but 5 is a close second, and although my personal favorite will always be Zero I'll never argue that 5 isn't the pinnacle of the series.

Have fun, Crow.

VKing
Apr 22, 2008
Yessss!
This is gonna be awesome! :toot:

KnoxZone
Jan 27, 2007

If I die before I Wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
4 was the first Ace Combat that I played to completion, but 5 was the first one that I owned put the most hours into, so 5 definitely sits as my favorite in the series. Glad we have finally gotten here.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

We're eventually going to have to punch Thunderhead in the face for being too much of an rear end in a top hat, aren't we?

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013
Also you may have noticed something new for this LP: because Ace Combat 5 is such a story-heavy game I'm also uploading No Commentary versions of each mission so you can actually hear what's going on without me or any of my co-commentators blabbing over developments.

Kibayasu
Mar 28, 2010

Oh hey, a different thread. Guess I should have clicked on the link in the previous one instead of just going straight to Youtube :v:

It really is great just how different AC5 is and, as you noted, how the game lets you know that right at the start if you're paying a bit of attention. The overall formula is still the same of course but already we've got a cast of characters with hints at more personality than the rest of the series, predecessors and successors (though I haven't played 6 since that remains an Xbox game). I'd even say 5 manages to get the player attached to locations and things within the game itself like no other game in the series. Can't wait to see it all over again.

Phy
Jun 27, 2008



Fun Shoe
Maybe this'll finally get me to finish my re-playthrough!

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry
More air shenanigans, more A-10 barrel rolls!

AfroSquirrel
Sep 3, 2011

Looking forward to this! Seconding Edge as bae, she actually saved me in one mission on Ace where I didn't ration my ammo properly. "SBD Launched." never sounded more beautiful.

Also, I lost track of the old thread so sorry if I'm repeating a question, but is AC7 a candidate for this LP series too (when it comes out)?

McTimmy
Feb 29, 2008
I died a minute into the first mission flying into my wingmates.

They killed me more times than enemies did.

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!




Ah yes, the first Ace Combat game I had the pleasure to play and finish via a friend's borrowed PS2.
Also the game has some of the best music tracks in the franchise.

Gamerofthegame
Oct 28, 2010

Could at least flip one or two, maybe.
Episode contained no taking it away, false advertising. . .

Weissritter
Jun 14, 2012

Favorite game of the series, and as always looking forward to seeing your write-ups.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

Gamerofthegame posted:

Episode contained no taking it away, false advertising. . .
With how broken ContentID is, putting in Blurry would probably have gotten Crow's channel fragged to hell and back.

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

So does Nagase refer to herself as a 'badass mother' at any point? This is important.

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013

AradoBalanga posted:

With how broken ContentID is, putting in Blurry would probably have gotten Crow's channel fragged to hell and back.

Surprisingly, nothing I've done has gotten me an actual outright copyright strike yet, though I did receive a stern warning letter from YouTube tonight about posting spam material for trying to post a link to LP.zone in the comments of one of my own videos, so :shrug:

LEGO Genetics
Oct 8, 2013

She growls as she storms the stadium
A villain mean and rough
And the cops all shake and quiver and quake
as she stabs them with her cuffs
So Matt Mercer voiced Gene?

Is he contractually obligated to appear in every voiced video game ever made? Because it feels like it sometimes.

Looking forward to the bantz.

ModeWondershot
Dec 30, 2014

Portu-geezer
This was also my very first Ace Combat and absolutely the reason I got into the rest of the series, due to both great storytelling and fun gameplay. I will say that Zero improved on it from a gameplay perspective, but several of the stranger or more complex missions here are absolutely worth seeing.

Also, Thunderhead is the best AWACS, largely because he is so argumentative and gives the squadron poo poo. That he actually has more banter with the party than any other AWACS in the series as a result makes him worth remembering.

Just a note, check the cast writeup for an instance of Crispy's character misspelled as "Hammilton."

Have fun with the game!

GhostStalker
Mar 26, 2010

Guys, find a woman who looks at you the way GhostStalker looks at every bald, obese, single 58 year old accountant from Tulsa who managed to win $4,000 by not wagering on a Final Jeopardy triple stumper.

Ah, Ace Combat 5, my introduction to the series. Was terrible the first couple times I played it in college because I had no idea what I was doing, but got a lot better once I tried my hand at it again.

Recently popped it back into the tray of my PS2 for reasons, and sat there listening to the attract mode trailer for half an hour while nostalgia overtook me before getting into some of my favorite missions. Looking forward to following this closely.

Akujiki
Nov 25, 2013


One of the oddest things in the localization was changing Blaze's nickname from "Booby" to "Kid". Was the idea of teenage giggles that horrible?

Kadorhal
Jun 3, 2013

Look, just sign the stupid petition. I've got stuff to do.
Great to see this is happening, finally. I don't have much to say about the aces or anything this time around, but with just how many planes there are in this game (I think 53 are flyable) I'm going to finally be able to start posting from my Databases™ again! I know, you've all been missing those.

...of course, I've got nothing yet, we already saw everything that's popped up today.


One thing I remember hearing about not too long ago, though, is that this was the game where the devs started adding little easter eggs to a lot of levels to encourage exploration in Free Flight mode. We've got something like that right here in the first mission, in fact! Directly ahead from where you start out, head along the coast past a set of buildings, and you'll find Namco's 50th Anniversary logo hidden in the fields.

Kal-L
Jan 18, 2005

Heh... Spider-man... Web searches... That's funny. I should've trademarked that one. Could've made a mint.
Kept us waiting, huh? :colbert:

This one was the Ace Combat where I faced head on the wonderfulness of Strangereal. I had already played 2 and 3, and then found out the game had gone to 5, so I decided to go into this one straight on.

All I'll say it's that it's one of my favorite games, and made it my favorite "Planes go pew pew!" franchise. :allears:

Also, Crow, would you say that our Real world has gotten quite Strange? :v:

Edit: I also got spoilt with all the variety of speaking characters in this game, compared to Zero and others.

Kal-L fucked around with this message at 07:08 on Feb 26, 2017

VKing
Apr 22, 2008
Oh, by the way: There was a 16:9 option somewhere in that options maze, wasn't there?

Does it not work right or just letterbox the footage or something?

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013

VKing posted:

Oh, by the way: There was a 16:9 option somewhere in that options maze, wasn't there?

Does it not work right or just letterbox the footage or something?

Yeah, the game is native 4:3, stretching it to 16:9 fucks everything up and makes it look awful and crushed/stretched. 04 and Zero had the same option and the same problem. It looks fine...ish on a TV screen, but when it comes to footage capture, that's a whole other beast.

Ratoslov
Feb 15, 2012

Now prepare yourselves! You're the guests of honor at the Greatest Kung Fu Cannibal BBQ Ever!

This looks fascinating, and I'll come back and watch it once I finish watching the entire rest of the LP series. :wave:

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

LEGO Genetics posted:

So Matt Mercer voiced Gene?

Is he contractually obligated to appear in every voiced video game ever made? Because it feels like it sometimes.

Looking forward to the bantz.

He does a great impression of Troy Baker, who is also in every game ever, so it could just be that you're blending them both together. I know I do at times.

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Thefluffy
Sep 7, 2014
is there a reason the video is only 480p?

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