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nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





This is the fifth 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.

As we close in on the second anniversary of this LP project, we are reaching the beginning of the end. Ace Combat 6 is our third-, or depending on your view of Ace Combat X’s canonicity, second-to-last Strangereal game before Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. We’re getting ready to close out an era, but we’ve got a ways to go yet.

But before we move on, I have one last tribute to pay to my predecessor(s)—well, barring that one dude who LP’d Ace Combat Zero before me and then got banned for being a creepo, but anyway! The last time anyone on the forums attempted an LP of Ace Combat 6 was TyrantSabre’s completed LP from 2010. While the thread is still up if you have Archives access, sadly the videos have all been eaten by the collapse of both Blip and Viddler, and all the image content has been lost to Waffleimages going under as well.

So that means unless Tyrant one day preforms an act of Internet necromancy and recovers the LP from the digital abyss, you’re stuck with my run through the game, whether you like it or not…


Games covered thus far:
  • Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
  • Ace Combat 2 / Assault Horizon Legacy (w/ Trizophenie)
  • Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies
  • Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
  • Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere [NTSC-J] (by Lunethex)
  • Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere [PAL] (by frozentreasure)

  • Ace Combat Advance (by Blastinus)





    Heralded as the “Next Generation of Aces,” Ace Combat 6 was the first game in the franchise on the seventh generation platforms, and pointedly the first console Ace Combat to debut on a non-Sony system, appearing exclusively on the Microsoft Xbox 360. Ace Combat 6 is very emblematic of that early 00s industry-wide initial stumbling period as game developers made the transition into the HD era and kind of clipped the hurdle as they jumped.

    Project ACES was in an uncomfortable position heading into 6 of trying to make a game that would surpass the now-gold standard of Ace Combat 5, while also making the first game for not just a brand new generation of hardware, but for a completely alien console and company than they were used to developing games for. Thus we receive Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, a game that is in equal measure boundingly ambitious, and coweringly timid.

    If The Unsung War was the summer blockbuster movie, Fires of Liberation is the direct-to-DVD sequel with none of the original cast returning, but a respectable special effects budget. It looks fantastic, it plays great, the physics are phenomenal, a few missions in its campaign are some of the best Ace Combat has ever done period… and yet it’s got a crushed roster of planes compared to 5 and Zero, only 15 missions—making it the shortest modern Ace Combat in the franchise—is overloaded with paid DLC (that doesn’t even exist anymore, unless you're willing to brave the high seas :yarr:), and the story and writing, hooo boy. Where do we start?

    Well, we’ll get into that as we go through the game. But the brief summary things is thus: Ace Combat 6 sees us return on the Anean continent just north of Yuktobania after a one-mission stopover in its frozen north in Ace Combat 5. Between Zero and now, PA decided Anea was basically what happened if you slammed Canada and the Balkan states beside one another. Our story proper concerns the outbreak of a war between the first world utopia of Emmeria, and the failed state of Estovakia.

    Compared to 5’s story of political intrigue, tone-deaf peacenik-ing, Tom Clancy conspiracy and #BelkaDidIt, or even 04’s tightly focused pathos-heavy atypical family drama, 6’s story is a decidedly more straightforward affair disguised as being a sprawling war narrative. The story sections of Fires of Liberation are shared between multiple narrators separated by vast distances and levels of insight on events. It is seen through the perspectives of five distinct POV characters; Emmerian housewife Melissa Herman, disgraced Estovakian Air Force colonel Victor Voychek, Emmerian tank commander Louis McKnight, Strigon Team rookie Toscha Mijsik, and game protagonist Garuda 1, aka Talisman (with Garuda 2, Shamrock, arguably being the sixth POV at times).

    The fragmented storytelling was often criticized either for its general disconnection to the gameplay storyline (seen in Melissa and Victor’s segments), or the brevity with which certain characters are focused on (McKnight and Tocha) leading to lots of “why should I care?” moments in the game where Things happen, and they kind of fall flat due to insufficient setup. The actual script leaves much to be desired as well, suffering from both a poor translation and lackluster writing. It’s not bad, it’s just loaded with a bunch of things that do not readily endear it to players like the infamous “go dance with the angels” meme, or Shamrock’s childish stupidity, or other small things that I’m sure you will be able to identify on your own as not sitting right with you.

    Basically, after the conclusion of the Golden Trilogy (04/5/Zero), Ace Combat 6 is the start of the decline era for the franchise. Not a bad Ace Combat in and of itself, but a very divisive one and the one that gets blamed for figuratively leaving the gate open too long leading to the franchise wandering out into the woods and getting lost in the wilderness with Assault Horizon and Infinity before Kono and co. reigned it back in with Ace Combat 7.

    We’ll see how things play out as the LP develops though.





    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:



    [list]
  • 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 Talisman hates Shamrock just as much as I do, or that Iyla Pasternak REALLY wants to be Yellow 13.

Because that poo poo just sucks.





This LP has one further rule to it, both to ensure that you’ve actually read the OP up to this point and are abiding by the No Spoilers rule—and to just make things a little more interesting this time around.

I have a standing agreement with both Fedule, Mega64 Blind Sally, and :devil:MYSELF:devil: in order to tamp down on the natural meme bullshit this game is liable to spawn that anyone who uses the phrase “go dance with the angels” (ironically or straight-faced) in this thread in a non-LP update post will receive a complimentary 6 hour probation from our wonderful subforum moderation team.

This includes me.

So if I use it out in the wild outside of this OP or any post that doesn’t have a video attached to it, just report it with the reason: Angel Tax, and the mods will do the rest.

Any attempt to circumvent the Angel Tax will result in a probation as well, so don’t try to get clever.

Don’t believe me? Just try it.

Go dance with the admins.


Seriously, it’s just a 6 hour probation, just eat it move on. Your Rap Sheet needs more colour anyway. And who knows, maybe once this is all over there might be a little reward to whoever pays the highest “tribute” to the Golden King.





(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Dec 12, 2022

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nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013

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
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.


2011
  • At an airshow in November City, the Osean Air Defense Force publicly debuts its next generation of super-fighter, the ADF-01 FALKEN, alongside the SBMF ADFX-01 Morgan and the EASA X-02 Wyvern. While the public is wowed by the FALKEN’s capabilities, the event stirs controversy as many are outraged by the OADF celebrating hardware manufactured by Gründer Industries so hot on the heels of Gründer aiding an attempt to overthrow the governments of Osea and Yuktobania and plunge the world into war.
  • After lengthy debate, harsh economic sanctions on the Principality of Belka for its role in instigating and manipulating the Circum-Pacific War pass the Assembly of Nations’ General Assembly.

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.
  • According to the 2013 Emmerian census, the nation’s population passes 110 million people.
  • 15-22 January – The Estovakian Civil War goes hot once more. The Lyes United Front launches a massive air and sea assault on the Eastern Faction. While the LUF initially overwhelms the EF forces, the deployment of Strigon and Vampire teams and the P-1112 Aigaion and her support fleet for the first time turn the tide in the Eastern Faction’s favor.
  • 22 January – After a week of fighting, close to 80% of the LUF forces are wiped out by the Eastern Faction.
  • 1 February – The LUF is pushed back to the Emmerian-Estovakian border. When Emmeria refuses to allow any LUF forces across the border, a final battle occurs. Lt. General Lyes is captured and executed following the LUF’s surrender. Easter Faction leader General Gustav Dvornik proclaims to the world that the Estovakian Civil War is over.
  • 8 February – Dvornik returns to Pythiopolis in force and announces the formation of his military government, The Generals, pulled from his top Eastern Faction commanders. Estovakia falls under military rule.
  • 24 November – Estovakian Foreign Minister and Air Marshal Isaac Arensky’s motorcade is attacked on its way to a diplomatic summit in Emmeria. Arensky survives the attack but is left in a coma in critical condition.
  • 27 November – Estovakian Prime Minister Jacob Šuker and other former EF members speculated to be behind the attack, however the Estovakian government names suspects connected to the Lyes United Front as Arensky’s attackers.
  • 2 December – Arensky is taken off life support and dies in a hospital in Pythiopolis. Lt. Gen. Antonina Koznick assumes command of the Estovakian Air Force in his stead.


2014
  • 4 February – LUF resistance fighters attack a humanitarian storage facility in Vistoc in western Estovakia. Eight Emmerian peacekeeping soldiers and 27 Estovakian civilians die in the attack and relief supplies intended for 50,000 people are lost.
  • 19 July – The OBN Journal publishes a special edition entitled Aces, Demons, and Ghosts: Mysterious Heroes of the Belkan Conflict, examining the role of Belka and the legendary “Ghosts of Razgriz” in the final days of the Circum-Pacific War.


2015
  • 10 April – A Yuktobanian spy satellite detects the P-1112 Aigaion Heavy Command Cruiser in Estovakian territory and tracks it back to its base in north eastern Estovakia. When Prime Minister Nikanor confronts General Dvornik over the cruiser’s existence, Estovakia temporarily suspends diplomatic relations with its otherwise long-time ally across the sea.
  • 30 August – The Invasion of Gracemeria: The Estovakian military launches a surprise attack on the Republic of Emmeria and its capital city of Gracemeria.
  • 30 August (cont.) – The Emmerian military is devastated by a surprise attack from the P-1112 Aigaion and her Nimbus burst missiles. A general evacuation order is declared. All forces are ordered to retreat to Khesed Island to regroup and prepare for a counterattack. Later that day, the Emmerian Prime Minister and surviving members of parliament enact a formal declaration of war against the Federal Republic of Estovakia from a secure location outside of Gracemeria.
  • Mid-September – Operation Towards Revival: Garuda 1 conducts a series of combat readiness drills over Khesed to prepare for the upcoming counterstrike operations against Estovakia.
  • 24 November – Operation On the Brink: Garuda Team is scrambled to protect Campanga International Airport in Vitoze from an incoming Estovakian bombing run. They are joined in the skies by Windhover and Avalanche Teams to run down the EAF bombers.
  • 27 November – Operation Fortunes of War: The Emmerian Army pushes the Estovakian forces out of southern Khesed, pushing across Sipli Field and liberating the industrial city of Misko.
  • 27 December – Operation Echoes of Battle: Garuda, Windhover, and Avalanche Teams provide close air support for several Emmerian Army battalions and the REAF AWACS Snake Pit as they storm the mountaintop fortress of Bartolomeo to force the Estovakians off of Khesed for good.

2016
  • 27 January – Operation Music of the Tides: Led by the battlecruiser Marigold the Emmerian Army and Navy conducts a landing operation off the coast of Ortara, beginning the Anean liberation campaign. Garuda Team provides top cover for the ground forces as they come ashore and aids Yellow Jacket Team in capturing Ortara Air Force Base.
  • 4 February – Operation Angels Above: The Emmerian ground forces push eastward from the coast towards Gracemeria and engage in a massive battle with Estovakian forces near the logging town of Silvat. Garuda Team is joined by Stingray and Sky Kid Teams as the Khesed landing forces merge with the units left behind on the mainland during the evacuation. Irena Dvornik, daughter of Estovakian Supreme Commander Gustav Dvornik, is killed during the battle by Garuda 1.
  • 12 February – Operation Shimmering Death: Garuda Team and their allied squadrons provide cover for the Emmerian ground forces as they traverse the Selumna mountains, but their progress is barred by a surprise bombardment of Nimbus missiles from the Aigaion.
  • 15 February – Operation Under A Sky of Fire: Emmerian forces press into San Loma, liberating the city from Estovakian occupation and reclaiming Cavalia Air Force Base. From Cavalia, they prepare to hunt down and destroy the Estovakian super weapon Aigaion.
  • 20 February – Operation Dead Sea: Garuda, Windhover, Avalance, and Sky Kid Teams ambush and destory the P-1112 Aigaion heavy command cruiser, her Kottos and Gyges support ships, and several members of the dreaded Strigon Squadron. Also killed in the attack is Lorenz Riedel, a Belkan ex-pat and former member of the South Belka Munitions Factory's XB-0 Hresvelgr design team.
  • 21 February – In response to the destruction of the Aigaion and the death of Irena Dvornik, Lt. Col. Ilya Pasternak is dispatched to the occupied Gracemera Air Force Base to take direct command of Strigon Squadron with orders to kill Garuda 1.
  • 6 March – Operation Into The Pass: The Emmerian forces drive the Estovakians out of Ragno Fortress, one of the last remaining strongholds between their current position and Gracemeria.
  • 25 March – Operation Hollow Victory: While mopping up the Estovakian remnants in the Moloch Desert outside of Gracemeria, AWACS Ghost Eye intercepts priority intel suggesting the Estovakians have implemented a scorched earth protocol for Gracemeria and will level the city if the Emmerian forces cross the desert. Despite being ordered to withdraw from the combat zone immediately, Garuda Team continues their engagement with Stragon Team.
  • 25 March (cont.) – Shamrock and Talisman are reprimanded for insubordination and stripped of their flight clearance.
  • 26 March – Operation Boiling Point: Despite their suspension, Talisman and Shamrock are called upon to penetrate a highly fortified section of enemy-held air space near Ft. Norton in order to destroy the catalyst for the Estovakian scorched earth WMD threatening Gracemeria.
  • 31 March – Operation Wings Triumphant: The entirety of the Emmerian military launches a massive assault on the Estovakian forces occupying Gracemeria. After a pitched battle, the capital is liberated and the war between the Anean nations is declared over. However, before anyone can celebrate, Ilya Pasternak attacks Garuda Team in an advanced CFA-44 Nosferatu super fighter. After a tense battle, he is shot down and killed by Garuda 1, Talisman.
  • 31 March (cont.) – As loved ones are reunited across Gracemeria for the first time in months, Shamrock discovers that his wife and daughter were killed in the initial wave of the invasion. He announces his intention to resign from the Emmerian Air Force following the signing of the peace treaty with Estovakia in the coming days.
  • 31 March (cont.) – Operation City Lights: While the citizens of Gracemeria celebrate their freedom, Garuda and their allied squadrons conduct a combat air patrol over the city. However, they are ambushed by a surprise attack on the city from Estovakian aircraft and high speed cruise missiles fired from an unknown location in the Razgriz Straights.
  • 31 March (cont.) – Estovakian Air Force Colonel Victor Voychek, formerly of Strigon Squadron, is convinced by Melissa and Matilda Herman and Ludmilla Tolstaya to turn over information on the Chandelier railgun facility—the source of the night's cruise missile attack on Gracemeria—to the REAF.
  • 1 April – Operation To All Things: Using Voychek's data, the entire Emmerian Air Forces launches an attack on the Chandelier near Sonne Island. The cannon is destroyed by Garuda 1, ending the Estovakian threat once and for all. Garuda 2 Shamrock is strafed by AA fire during the mission and forced to bail out into the icy waters of the Razgriz. He is recovered alive by an SAR team, but is paralyzed from the ditch.
  • 1 April (cont.) – Estovakian Supreme Commander Gustav Dvornik dies attempting to escape the Chandelier complex. When new of his death reaches Pythiopolis, the last shred of support for the Generals collapses, and a revolution returns democratic rule to Estovakia.
  • Early May – Peace talks between Emmeria and the interim Estovakian government secure the release and exchange of all POWs captured by either side, including Strigon Team survivors Victor Voychek and Toscha Mijsak. With a formal peace treaty between the nations due to be signed in the coming weeks, Shamrock visits the mother and daughter who provided the air force with the vital intel that saved Gracemeria and ended the war.



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 09:08 on Mar 17, 2018

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013
Invasion of Gracemeria

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation Attract Movie
Mission 1: The Invasion of Gracemeria – August 30th, 2015

Ace Combat 6 moves us ahead five more years from the end of the Circum-Pacific War to the late summer of 2015. It’s been 16 years since the planetfall of Ulysses 1994XF04. Thanks to the Stonehenge Turret Network on Usea, and other “spaceguard” facilities, the world escaped certain doom at the asteroid’s hands, and has managed to rebuild itself in the decade and a half since. One of the great success stories of the Ulysses Crisis is the Republic of Emmeria on the northern continent of Anea. While Ulysses destroyed much of the nation’s transport and utility infrastructure, it took in a massive influx of refugees fleeing the disaster both before and after the impact. With their help, the nation bounced back even stronger, and now exists as a shining beacon to the world and the global standard bearer for peaceful international co-operation, now more than ever since the war five years ago tarnished the reputations of both Osea and Yuktobania in the eyes of the international community.

However, to the east of Emmeria across the mountains, one of the greatest tragedies of Ulysses also unfolded. The Federal Republic of Estovakia was ravaged by the asteroid as it fractured in Earth’s atmosphere and rained down upon the planet. Many of its major metropolises were pulverized, including its capital city of Pythiopolis. With its economy in ruins, and its government weakened politically, a civil war broke out and tore the nation apart. It ended with the strongest military force, the Eastern Faction, establishing dominion over the nation, and its leadership, known as “The Generals” assuming command.

The Generals, led by Gustav Dvornik, have vowed revenge against the world for failing to protect Estovakia from Ulysses and then standing idly by as the fires of war consumed it. However, Estovakia has been quiet for years now, an as another school year begins in Gracemeria, it seems their bombastic threats really are just nothing but hot air…


Overview: A massive force of air and ground units of unknown origin has suddenly besieged the Emmerian capital city of Gracemeria. As the Emmerian military scrambles to defend the city, a lone pilot takes to the skies amid the swarm of allied planes: Garuda 1, aka Talisman.



Guest Commentator: We’re breaking with tradition just to fit everyone in this LP, so my eternal LP life partner CJacobs is joining me for this opening mission. Since watching Chopper die horribly last time around, he has since started up LPs of both the original Silent Hill and Bloodborne.





GARUDA SQUADRON
Royal Emmerian Air Force, 8th Air Division, 28th Fighter Squadron
Members:
  • Garuda 1 – [REDACTED] “Talisman” [REDACTED]
  • Garuda 2 – Marcus “Shamrock” Lampert
  • Garuda 3 – [KILLED IN ACTION]
AWACS Operator: “Ghost Eye”
Squadron Composition: Player Determined (F-15E Strike Eagle (x2) in all canonical materials)

An Emmerian Air Force squadron based out of Gracemeria AFB.

Formed in 2013 as a part of the Eastern Air Defense Division, the squadron was tasked with defending Gracemeria. Under the command of Captain [NAME REDACTED], the squadron saw generally little action prior to the 2015 sneak attack on the capital by the Estovakian military.

As part of the emergency reformation order issued by the Emmerian Joint Chiefs of Staff during the attack, Garuda’s roster was reorganized. Several members of the squadron were unable to lift off from Gracemeria AFB before the Estovakians destroyed the runway or were shot down en route to the rendezvous point over Gracemeria Bay, so in-field command aboard AWACS Ghost Eye was forced to cobble together an ad hoc flight team from other pilots who made it into the air without their wingmates either.

Marcus “Shamrock” Lampert was chosen to fill the vacant slot on Garuda Team and serve as its number 2 plane under the command of Captain [REDACTED] “Talisman” [REDACTED].

As Garuda is functionally a “new” they lack the history of other storied squadrons either in the Emmerian Air Force or other militaries around the world, but that’s sure to change in short order…



I put a little nod to it there in the squadron bullet info, but at one point in the game’s development you were apparently supposed to have a second wingman on your team. That was ultimately cropped down to just Shamrock, either for technical reasons, changes to the game’s story, or to bring the game more in line stylistically with Ace Combat Zero, which directly preceded it. Several early promo shots prominently feature three planes flying in the player squadron formation, and the emblem of Garuda Team pointedly features three stars on it, similar to how Galm Team’s emblem features two stars for Cipher and Pixy in Zero.

Fan speculation suggests that Melissa Herman’s ill-fated husband, the very man who coined the cursed meme “go dance with the angels,” may in fact be the missing Garuda 3, and well, that’s good enough for me.

And yes, for the record, both members of Garuda Squadron’s call signs are based on lucky charms, or items perceived to be lucky; a talisman and a shamrock.



STRIGON SQUADRON
Estovakian Central Forces Precinct 370th Aviation Regiment, 9th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Members:
  • Strigon 1 – Victor Voychek
  • Strigon 2 – Ilya Pasternak
  • Strigon 3 – Karlo Bagdanovic
  • Strigon 4 – Darijo Kovac
  • Strigon 5 – Cvitko Dudic
  • Strigon 6 – Federiko Jarni
  • Strigon 7 – Franz Leko
  • Strigon 8 – Nino Ljubek
  • Strigon 9 – Aleksei Cheshenko
  • Strigon 10 – Yaroslav Deryagin
  • Strigon 11 – Stepan Feigin
  • Strigon 12 – Toscha Mijasik
Squadron Composition: Su-33 Flanker-D (x12)

A 12-plane formation actually comprised of two separate flight teams flying under the same banner: Strigon Team under Lt. Col. Voychek, and Vampire Team under Maj. Pasternak.

The squadron fought for the Eastern Faction during the Estovakian Civil War and were rewarded for their heroism and exemplary skill in combat by Supreme Commander Dvornik by being named the centerpiece of the Estovakian Air Force, the tip of the spear for their impending surprise attack on Emmeria.

During the Civil War, both halves of Strigon dealt devastating damage against the Eastern Faction’s enemies, and were key to the eventual route of the Lyes United Front, but it was Pasternak’s Vampire Team that proved the more deadly of the pair. Vampire Team began to overshadow the original Strigon Team, and while there was no animosity between Pasternak and Voychek, the lower ranks of the squadron began to bicker and butt heads as their egos got the better of them.

By the summer of 2015, Voychek was already debating retiring and turning over Strigon to Pasternak’s command officially. However, when Dvornik outlined his plans for the invasion of Emmeria, he personally asked Voychek to lead the second wave of the assault with support from the Aigaion and her Nimbus missiles. Voychek agreed, but it was a decision that ultimately proved costly. During the REAF evacuation from Gracemeria, Voychek was injured by Garuda 1 aka Talisman when the two crossed paths over Gracemeria. Voychek was able to pilot his crippled plane to safety at the newly captured Gracemeria AFB, where he was treated by Estovakian field medics.

With Voychek wounded and unable to fly for the foreseeable future, command of Strigon Team has been passed to Darijo Kovac until Ilya Pasternak returns from assignment in the Eastern Bloc of Estovakia with the rest of Vampire Team.


Much like Yellow Squadron in Ace Combat 04, Strigon Team is going to be our chief rival team, appearing repeatedly throughout the game mixed in with the regular enemies you encounter, either as optional targets, minibosses, or actual boss Aces at times. So the game wastes no time in introducing them to you and setting them up a Heavy threat.

…Unfortunately, unlike Yellow Squadron, Strigon Team is often left without the various stat hacks the Yellows get early in Shattered Skies to make them invincible. So while the game siccs 8 of the 12 of them on you here in Mission 1, they can actually all be shot down if you’re good enough or taking a higher end plane into the opening mission. I managed to down four of them with the default F-16C in this run with some combination of Allied Support and my own skills. Canonically, the only Strigon who goes down over Gracemeria is Voychek and if you hang around the battlefield long enough you’ll see it’s actually a scripted event that occurs even if you don’t shoot him down yourself.

The "Strigon" name is derived from the strigoi, undead vampiric beings from Romanian mythology, which is reflected in their choice of colors. The hooded figure in their emblem led them to gain a reputation as "Reapers". They also continue Ace Combat Zero and Ace Combat 04’s trend of associating enemy squadrons with birds. “Strigoi” itself is derived from “Strix,” both a genus of owl and a mythical creature from Roman and Greek legend capable of shapeshifting between human and avian form, not unlike how certain tales of Vampires describe them transforming into bats.

Much like Yellow and Grabacr Squadrons, the Strigon Team’s colours appear in other Ace Combat games as unlockables for the Su-33 and its variants. The black and red of Strigon show up in Ace Combats Joint Assault, Assault Horizon Legacy, Infinity, and 7.





TALISMAN
Real Name: Unknown
Callsign(s): Talisman, Garuda 1
Age: Early 30’s
Sex: Male*
Nationality: Emmeria
Signature Plane: Player choice (F-16C Fighting Falcon or F-15E Strike Eagle in all canon material)
Voice Actor: None

Captain, commander, and flight lead of the Garuda Team.

Like generally every Strangereal Ace Combat protagonist before him, virtually nothing is known about Talisman, save his callsign and what meager information his Assault Record (unlocked only with great effort on the player’s part) reveals that isn’t just a recap of what happened in-game.

The only confirmed details about him are that he is an Emmerian citizen, a captain in the Emmerian Air Force, and he has been with the REAF since at least 2013. His name, age, and even gender are all listed in the Assault Record as “--”. So if you want you can even say that Talisman’s a woman because 6 does not canonically attach a gender to them unlike Cipher, Blaze, Phoenix, Trigger, and Mobius 1, who are all at least nominally male.



SHAMROCK
Real Name: Marcus Lampert
Callsign(s): Shamrock, Garuda 2
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Nationality: Emmeria
Signature Plane: Player choice (F-16C Fighting Falcon or F-15E Strike Eagle in all canon material)
Voice Actor: Sam Riegel

And Kazutoki Kono looked up from his desk, took a long stiff drink from his #1 BOSS mug, and said: “Make the wingman PJ again! But shittier.”

Assigned to Garuda Team by Ghost Eye as part of the REAF’s emergency reformation order, Lieutenant Marcus Lampert aka “Shamrock” flies the number two position on Garuda and serves as the wingman of Talisman.

Lampert has served in the REAF for several years, reaching the rank of First Lieutenant some time ago. He is an Emmerian citizen and resident of Gracemeria along with his wife Monica and daughter Jessica.

Beyond that, there is very little to say about Shamrock’s backstory. What we will actually be concerning ourselves with is his conduct during the course of Ace Combat 6. In discussions with CJacobs after recording this opening update of the game, I obliquely referred to Shamrock as “Ace Combat 6’s Carver” after Dead Space 3 deuteragonist and co-op partner John Carver. So if you’re familiar with the role Carver plays in Dead Space 3, or have at least watched CJacob’s LP of the game, you should have an inkling of what we’re in store for with regard to Lt. Marcus Lampert.

I happily consider Shamrock to be the Worst Ace Combat wingman in the entire series, surpassing even PJ in terms of just how terrible he is, but sadly we’re not gonna see why until well into the game, so strap in folks.



GHOST EYE
Real Name: Unknown
Callsign(s): Ghost Eye
Age: Early 40s
Sex: Male
Nationality: Emmeria
Signature Plane: E-767
Voice Actor: D.C. Douglas

The AWACS operator of the Royal Emmerian Air Force’s 8th Air Division based out of Gracemeria AFB. After a brief aberration in our AWACS characters with Thunderhead, Ghost Eye returns to the standard norm of our AWACS operators being calm and supportive characters with a touch of good humour for added effect.

That said, Ghost Eye does have a limit to his patience, so let’s hope we don’t run afoul of him any time soon or we could be in a world of trouble.



INTEL
Real Name: Unknown
Callsign(s): None
Age: Mid 40s
Sex: Male
Nationality: Emmeria
Signature Plane: None
Voice Actor: Michael Gough

AKA “The Briefing Guy”. Again, after four and a half games you should be perfectly familiar with Intel’s role in Fires of Liberation. He will be issuing or pre-mission briefings and post-mission debriefs, letting us know what to expect before heading out on the battlefield, and what results all our indiscriminate bombing of everything in sight accomplished.

Now more than ever, paying attention to Intel’s briefings is key to your success in Ace Combat 6. In addition to giving you the general overview of what a mission will entail, Intel also now gives a brief summary of what to expect in each sub-mission once the game rolls out its Objective mechanic. Listening to Intel can help you chose the right plane and weaponry to complete each specific Objective, and help you decide what Objectives you want to focus on, and which ones to avoid given your loadout.



MELISSA
Real Name: Melissa Herman
Callsign(s): None
Age: 32
Sex: Female
Nationality: Emmeria
Signature Plane: None
Voice Actor: Cindy Robinson

A housewife from Gracemeria and the wife and an Emmerian Air Force fighter pilot. She and her husband have one child, a 9-year old daughter named Matilda. When she was 16, she and her boyfriend, later her husband, witnessed the planetfall of Ulysses 1994XF04 over Gracemeria Bay. After her husband joined the REAF, Melissa pursued a career in the private sector.

Melissa Herman is for all intents and purposes the narrator of Ace Combat 6’s storyline, or rather it’s side story. Much like the Storyteller Boy from Ace Combat 04, Melissa finds herself separated from the main gameplay storyline by a vast distance, but unlike that game’s narrator, her story remains largely disconnected from the main narrative playing out in the gameplay, while only occasionally intersecting with the main storyline in largely oblique ways.

Melissa’s story is the story of a war refugee, again not unlike the Storyteller Boy in 04’s was. It’s meant to show how the war affects the innocent non-combatant civilians and her journey back and forth across the Emmerian countryside out of Gracemeria and then back again. It’s also the section of the game that tends to get the most heat from fans for one reason or another, but that’ll be a topic of discussion for a later time.


MATILDA
Real Name: Matilda Herman
Callsign(s): None
Age: 9
Sex: Female
Nationality: Emmeria
Signature Plane: None
Voice Actor: Erin Fitzgerald

The only child of Melissa Herman and her unnamed husband. She is also the first perpetrator of the phrase “Go dance with the angels” and thus the initial target of our ire. But really, can we honestly hate a small child for absently saying a stupid phrase she heard one day and then repeated without context incessantly? If the Internet has taught me anything… yes, and I weep for mankind and wish for its swift destruction because of it.

Her dumb memery aside, Matilda is more an object in Ace Combat 6’s storyline than a real character; the objective of Melissa’s epic quest to reunite with. As such her appearances in the story are going to be sparing at best. Because, who really wants to follow a 9 year-old girl around the narrative when there are far more interesting characters like… Depressed Mom… Depressed Military Man… Tank Man… Hans Grimm (PJ Remix)… And Kevin Bacon.



MR. HERMAN
Real Name: [UNKNOWN] Herman
Callsign(s): [UNKNOWN] (Possibly Garuda 3 :iiam:)
Age: Early 30s
Sex: Male
Nationality: Emmeria
Signature Plane: F-16C Fighting Falcon
Voice Actor: None

The husband of Melissa and father of Matilda. His first name is not revealed in-game, but he served as a fighter pilot for the Emmerian Air Force stationed out of Gracemeria AFB and was a compatriot of Talisman, Shamrock, and their fellow pilots. Though his long deployments would trouble his wife Melissa, the money he earned as an air force pilot allowed his family to live a comfortable life in one of Gracemeria’s more upscale neighborhoods overlooking Gracemeria Bay.

Melissa may have been the actual progenitor of the “go dance with the angels” line, but her husband was the most likely vector through which it entered common parlance among the Emmerian Air Force, most likely as a “hey guys, guess what dumb thing my wife said to me, can you believe this poo poo?” thing that turned out to have INCREDIBLE staying power…

In a way, Captain Herman became the first victim of the Angel Tax, being shot down by the Estovakian Air Force outside of Gracemeria during the REAF’s retreat to Keshed Island, no doubt as penance for his blatant memery. While his exact fate is left ambiguous, his absence over the course of the game strongly implies he is in fact dead.



I have no real proof of this, but given my general familiarity with these kinds of misdirecting story tropes, it’s quite possible that at one point in the 6’s development, either Talisman or Shamrock was meant to be revealed to be Melissa’s husband, but the story was rewritten to remove the connection in order to keep Talisman a non-entity with no real connections to the story world, like generally all the other Ace Combat protagonists before and after him. It would explain why the side story narrative focuses disproportionately on Melissa apropos of seemingly no relevant connection to the gameplay storyline.

But again, that’s just me bullshitting here. Don’t take it as gospel. If you’re familiar with my White Knight Chronicles LP, I have a tendency to try and obsessively patch the holes in stories that I find wonting.





GRACEMERIA

The capital of the Republic of Emmeria.

Located on the southern coast of Anea in the middle of the continent, the city has become one of the world’s largest metropolises thanks to an influx of refugees fleeing the damage of Ulysses 1994XF04 and later immigrants to Emmeria who came to the nation seeking stability and the promise of prosperity in the peaceful nation. The Union of Yuktobanian Republics lies due south a short trip across the narrow Fuscum Sea, and the most commonly flown routes out of Gracemeria International Airport are between Gracemeria and the northern Yuktobanian cities of Darine and Okchabursk, and a capital-to-capital route to Cinigrad International Airport.

The downtown core of the city, Novusmeria, is built on a long peninsula jutting out into the Fucsum Sea formed by two river mouths, one of which empties into Gracemeria Bay. The bay itself is spanned by the mighty King’s Bridge, one of the largest suspension bridges in the modern world. In the western quadrant of the city lies Chester City and the Gracemeria Castle, the palace built by King Aurelius II atop the highest hill overlooking the bay. Beyond that is Gracemeria Air Force Base, the headquarters of the Royal Emmerian Air Force.

North of the downtown core in Novusmeria lies the Emmerian Parliament Buildings, the capitol of the Republic of Emmeria and seat of power for the Prime Minister and their government. Further north lies the residential district, the sprawling suburbs where the majority of the city’s population resides. Due east across the river from Novusmeria is New Gracemeria, the city’s industrial district and the central broadcast tower, home of both the NEWS 24 television and EBC Radio One radio stations.


As you can see in my brief guided tour of the city in the video, Gracemeria is an amalgam of several major real world cities, primarily New York, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco and Ottawa, featuring geography and architecture cropped from all of them, notably a modified version of the Canadian Parliament buildings from Ottawa and the Golden Gate bridge from San Francisco, while the main peninsula that downtown Gracemeria was built upon resembles Manhattan geographically.



THE GOLDEN KING

The statue known as the Golden King is one of the symbols of the Emmerian cultural and national identity, similar to how the Statue of Liberty is often seen as an analog for America.

The King was created in the 15th century by the young Anean monarch Aurelius II. A slight man of average stature, Aurelius was by no means a skilled fighter, but he commanded the loyalty of his troops and subjects through his tactical genius and ingenuity. A peacemaker at heart, Aurelius preferred to end potential battles before they began. He had his smiths construct a towering hollow suit of golden armor, which he would parade mounted on horseback to the head of his army to intimidate his foes into surrendering, lest they face the “golden giant” in combat. He would then win the allegiance of his surrendered foes with his genial demeanor and sharp mind, and the legend of the “Golden King” quickly spread across Anea as the nascent Kingdom of Emmeria began to form under Aurelius’s reign.

Centuries after his death and the democratic reformation of Emmeria, the statue Aurelius commissioned sits enshrined on the ancient throne in Gracemeria Castle high atop Chester Hill, smiling warmly upon all who come to visit it and pay tribute. Among the various historical artifacts displayed at the castle (an ANESCO World Heritage Site) the Golden King is by far the most valuable and significant.


To paraphrase a couple of comments from the Acepedia article on Aurelius II, “who knew all you needed to win a war was a golden statue and a good smile?”



THE ESTOVAKIAN CIVIL WAR

In 2007, the Republic of Estovakia became embroiled in a bloody and costly civil war after its government collapsed earlier that year due to a military coup following years of strife after the impact of the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid in 1999. The war began when Lt. General Lyes formed the Lyes United Front paramilitary force out of the factions of the Estovakian military loyal to him and stormed the capital of Pythiopolis in April of 2007.

Lyes and his army arrested the democratically elected government of Estovakia and declared himself “President General” Lyes, announcing to the world media that he intended to reform Estovakia into a Christian Orthodox state. In response, several civilian, military, and militia resistance factions sprung up to oppose Lyes and his forces and the Estovakian Civil War began in earnest.

The country was further torn apart as a group of eastern military and civilian leaders rallied around General Gustav Dvornik and the newly-formed Eastern Faction, who vowed to throw down Lyes’s coup and establish full military rule over Estovakia. Other factions included the Independent Tariff Faction of western Estovakia, which sought to secede from the nation and form its own independent state on the border of Emmeria. However, the Lyes United Front eventually crushed the ITF militarily and absorbed their territory, securing control over half of Estovakia. The Islands Coalition fought for the interests of the Norte Islands archipelago off the east coast of Estovakia, and eventually joined the Eastern Faction after General Dvornik and his staff were able to placate their economic and territorial concerns. The Northern Highlands Faction, controlled by Air Marshal Isaac Arensky, eventually folded into the Eastern Faction, facilitated by the close friendship between Arensky and Dvornik. Arensky became a part of Dvornik’s military cabinet and Dvornik gained control over the lion’s share of the Estovakian Air Force under Arensky’s command.

Following the end of the Circum-Pacific War in December 2010, the Estovakian Civil War once again became the primary issue of global concern in international politics. In 2012, the war heated up once again after a lull period of several years. The combined blows of Emmeria cutting off its relief aid to the LUF and the completion and deployment of the Eastern Faction’s “Aerial Fleet” saw the Lyes United Front routed and expelled from Pythiopolis, and the Eastern Faction claiming victory in the war.

The Supreme Commander of the Eastern Faction, General Gustav Dvornik, proclaimed himself the new ruler of the Federal Republic of Estovakia and announced his military cabinate, “The Generals” would assume the duty of governing the country from the deposed legislative bodies of the country. The Estovakian public welcomed the semblance of stability after nearly a decade of endless war, poverty, and ruin, even though their liberties became increasingly curtailed under Dvornik’s rule.

While certain members of the LUF were pardoned and integrated into the new national Estovakian military, Lyes himself was captured and summarily executed as an enemy of the state at the final battle between the factions along the Emmerian border in 2013. Certain pockets of resistance claiming to be associated with the Lyes United Front have continued to fight against the government of Estovakia in Lyes’s names, conducting numerous raids and terrorist strikes against former EF leaders.

In November of 2013, Air Marshal Isaac Arensky, now a member of Dvornik’s Generals was attacked as his motorcade rode to Zaurek International Airport to attend a diplomatic conference in Emmeria. Arensky was knocked unconscious when an RPG fired by an LUF partisan struck his armored limousine as he attempted to escape the disabled vehicle. He was rescued by his guards and MEDIVAC’d to hospital in Pythiopolis where he remained in a coma until his death on December 2nd, 2013. Lt. Gen. Antonina Koznick, formerly of the Eastern Faction, inherited his position as Air Marshal and his post in Dvornik’s cabinet. She has remained head of the Estovakian Air Force since that time.



THE GENERALS

A military junta currently in complete control over the Federal Republic of Estovakia and serving as its de facto government.

The Generals, as they are known publically, are a collective of the six highest ranking military commanders of the former Eastern Faction, the victors of the 2007-2013 Estovakian Civil War. The head of the Generals is Field Marshal Gustav Dvornik, the Supreme Commander of the Estovakian military and head of the nation’s military government.

The Generals maintain control over Estovakia through relentless propaganda and brutal oppression of the populace, commanding the absolute loyalty of their people by force and deception. They have rallied the Estovakian people to war by convincing the populace that the Emmerians are in fact to blame for all the strife to have befallen Estovakia since the Ulysses planetfall, portraying the Emmerians as uncaring elites living in luxury while Estovakia burned.

The Estovakian military’s plan to invade Emmeria and plunder its resources to rebuild their nation with has been met with broad approval by the Estovakian public, or so Dvornik’s propaganda stream would seem to imply…



ULYSSES 1994XF04

It’s fallen out of prominence to the story since Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies, but it’s about to come roaring back with a vengeance at the catalyst for Ace Combat 6’s plot, so for those of you who might have lapsed: a refresher.

The 1.6 kilometer wide asteroid later catalogued Ulysses 1994XF04 was discovered in late 1994 by astronomers at an Usean university’s astronomy lab. Based on a cursory analysis of its orbit around the sun, it was discovered that the asteroid was on a collision course with the Earth, and was predicted to impact the planet on July 3rd, 1999 just after 3:30 PM UET, striking eastern Usea with a force equivalent to two million V1 nuclear warheads.

The impact event and the nuclear winter created by its ejecta would kill billions and lead to an extinction event on a scale equivalent to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If Ulysses impacted the planet intact, humanity was doomed.

The governments of the world quickly devised a countermeasure to try and protect the planet from Ulysses; a railgun network codenamed “Stonehenge” after the ancient druidic astronomical site. Stonehenge would be able to destroy the majority of the asteroid fragments in the projected impact zone before they struck the planet, reducing the predicted danger from the asteroid exponentially.

However, in June of 1998, a space probe flyby of the Asteroid led to updated calculations on its course and speed and its potential range of impact. The revised figures placed the northern continent of Anea within its impact zone as well, particularly the nations of Emmeria and Estovakia. By that point in its construction, no further modifications to the Stonehenge Turret Network were possible to extend its range to cover Anea. The Estovakians scrambled to construct their own proprietary cannon facility… but they were simply too late.

As predicted, Ulysses 1994XF04 crossed Earth’s Roche Limit on July 3rd, 1999, fracturing into the thousands of smaller meteorites. The vast majority of them harmlessly burnt up upon entering the atmosphere. More still were successfully intercepted by Stonehenge, but the turret network was unable to destroy all the major fragments. By the time the sun rose on July 4th, 1999, the Usean continent was riddled with impact craters from North Point, all the way to Farbanti, Erusea, now partially flooded beyond all hope of recovery by a glancing asteroid blow.

On unprotected Anea, the damage was even worse. While Emmeria’s populated areas survived unscathed, its transport and economic infrastructures were pulverized by asteroid strikes. In Estovakia, the damage was even worse; major cities, like its capital of Pythiopolis, suffered direct hits from the asteroid fragments. Hundreds of thousands of Estovakians died and their once-proud country was reduced to rubble through no fault of their own.

At the outset of Ace Combat 6 it has now been 16 years since Ulysses Day, and 9 years since the last war the asteroid precipitated: the Erusea-FCU “Shattered Skies” War. In those 16 years, Emmeria has rebuilt itself and flourished, while Estovakia has consumed itself whole, and what has emerged from the ruins is virtually unrecognizable compared to what it was before the stars fell from the sky.



GARUDA

A humanoid bird-like or large bird creature from both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Garuda is the mount of Lord Vishnu, the preserver, and the sworn enemy of the Naga, the humanoid serpent race. The brahminy kite is claimed to be a modern representation of the Garuda, while in Indonesia and Thailand, their national symbols depict the Garuda as an eagle or hawk, rather than a kite. The constellation Aquila (seen on the emblem of Yellow Squadron in Ace Combat 04) is known as Garuda in India.

Garuda is perhaps one of the most important symbols in South East Asia, so important that I really can’t go in depth on it because it would probably take up the rest of this update. If you’re interested, I would recommend reading the Wikipedia article I’ve linked for more information.





AIGAION

Prior to the general evacuation order and burst missile strike on the capital, civilian and military radar facilities around Gracemeria detected a massive object approaching the city at cruising altitude from the Fuscum Sea. Analysis of the Estovakian radio chatter indicates the vessel is a heavy command cruiser platform codenamed Aigaion, and was the source of the Nimbus cruise missile attack on Gracemeria.

Emmerian military intelligence is currently analyzing all available combat data and satellite imagery of the Aigaion to determine its origin and any potential weaknesses in order to defend against further cruise missile attacks and for a potential counter-strike operation against it in the future.

Additional details forthcoming.



NIMBUS

The latest advent of the South Belka Munitions Factory’s Multi-Purpose Burst Missile weapon. Codenamed “Nimbus” by the Estovakian Air Force, the warhead functions on a similar principle to the MPBM utilized by the Belkan ADFX-01 and 02 Morgan super fighter and the Yuktobanian super submarines Scinfaxi and Hrimfaxi.

The cruise missiles are guided to a target area by unmanned marker drones and detonate with a catastrophic force. The warhead itself is fueled by a highly volatile nitrogen polymer accelerant creating a massive air burst and fireball capable of incinerating targets within a 2500 foot blast radius. A tungsten shrapnel coating around the warhead is also expelled outwards by the blast, heated to molten temperatures by the fireball to further damage or destroys any target lucky enough to survive the initial blast.

While not yet confirmed officially, it appears that the Aigaion heavy command cruiser is the only platform capable of launching Nimbus missiles at this time.

The Emmerian Central Intelligence Service believes that the Estovakians obtained the materials needed to develop the Nimbus from Yuktobanian agents of the Gray Men terrorist conspiracy. The Belkans most likely proliferated the blueprints to the Eastern Faction shortly after the sinking of the Scinfaxi and Hrimfaxi super submarines in order to continue to sew international chaos.





EMMERIA
Full Name: The Republic of Emmeria
Capital: Gracemeria
Continent: Anea
Head of State: Prime Minister (conjecture)
Government: Federal parliamentary representative democracy
Real World Analog: Canada, Great Britain, France, Italy

The global peace maker.

There’s an old saying in geopolitics, “the Republic of Emmeria actually is what the Osean Federation says it is.” Often the butt of jokes for its cultural politeness, its unassuming progressivism, its long history of non-military peacekeeping and its universal healthcare system, Emmeria is, regardless, held up as an example of what a good “world leader” state should be, often in contrast to the more cowboy-ish Osean Federation, now more than ever.

Founded in the 15th century by King Aurelius II, Emmeria has quietly prospered for centuries, later enacting a set of constitutional reforms that transferred official power away from the monarchy and toward a democratically elected parliament. Today, the Emmerian monarchy holds a ceremonial position in its society, though members of the royal family have been known to act as formal advisors to the Prime Minister’s cabinet on key issues.

In the early 2000s, the Emmerian capital of Gracemeria saw a massive influx of refugees and immigrants from elsewhere across the planet fleeing the destruction wrought by Ulysses 1994XF04. While Emmeria itself was badly affected by Ulysses, with several of its ports and land transport routes ravaged by the impact event and its economy in shambles, it nonetheless took in as many refugees as it could with open arms. Now that the country has rebuilt following Ulysses Day, it has emerged as one of the stronger nations on Earth economically and culturally thanks in large part to the help of its newest citizens.

While the majority of the population of Emmeria lives within a 500km corridor of Anea’s southern coast, the Republic of Emmeria features a wide variety of landscapes and climates ranging from rolling fields, to snow-covered mountains, to dense rain forests, even an arid desert stretch near the coast.

The island of Keshed off the south west coast of Emmeria is home to a population of several hundred thousand citizens, and is famous the world over for its wines and vineyards. Following the general evacuation order, the REAF has retreated to Keshed, well outside of the Estovakian engagement zone to regroup and prepare a counter-strike on the mainland from Vitoze AFB.

In Ace Combat 5, one of the few major cities listed on the map of Anea was the city of Mante. The updated map of Anea seen in Ace Combat 6 places Mante within Emmeria’s borders, yet the city does not appear anywhere on the map in 6. The Aces At War 2019 lore book published alongside Ace Combat 7 features a further updated map that shows both Gracemeria AND Mante as Emmeria's capital. Not helpful guys...

Many of the names of places in Emmeria are derived from Italian words and names. The name of Emmeria itself is derived from the northern Italian province of Emilia.



ESTOVAKIA
Full Name: The Federal Republic of Estovakia
Capital: Pythiopolis
Continent: Anea
Head of State: General Gustav Dvornik
Government: Military dictatorship
Real World Analog: Yugoslavia, Romania, Croatia, various Eastern Bloc countries

If Emmeria was the great rebuilding success story to emerge from the Ulysses 1994XF04 disaster, then its eastern neighbor Estovakia is the opposite side of that coin.

Utterly pulverized by the asteroid impacts, Estovakia fell victim to a rapid cultural and economic collapse. While the world rushed to aid its citizens, the damage was simply too great to truly save the country, and their meager efforts to help the Estovakians rebuild fostered a great resentment in the hearts and minds of the Estovakian public, especially when seeing how other nations escaped Ulysses Day with only minor or even no damage at all.

For a time in the early 2000s, there was even talk of a national referendum to formally join the Union of Yuktobanian Republics directly south on Verusa across the Fuscum Sea. The notion was roundly rejected by both the Estovakian and Yuktobanian governments, however. Prime Minister Nikanor was quoted bluntly at the time as saying though Yuktobania and Estovakia were old allies and shared both a long history and common culture, it was in no one’s best interest for the UYR to adopt a failed state into its power bloc.

Matters continued to spiral out of control until early 2007 when the rightfully elected Estovakian government, already weakened to the point of electoral collapse, was overthrown by Lt. General Lyes and his Lyes United Front military faction, sparking off the Estovakian Civil War.

The war continued until 2013, when the Eastern Faction led by General Gustav Dvornik and his military cabinet, known as “The Generals” defeated the LUF and established the “Federal Republic of Estovakia,” a military state in the model of the old Federal Republic of Erusea.

Since the end of the Civil War, Estovakia has been busy consolidating the old factions of the civil war into a single military force and brining the nation and its territories to heel under the new regime. Tensions between Emmeria and Estovakia have begun to rise since the end of the war thanks to propaganda from The Generals rallying the public against an external enemy in order to mitigate the nation’s internal strife. Prior to the assault on Gracemeria, many believed the Estovakian military too weak to actually make good on any of their threats against Emmeria and other international rivals. Others still believe Estovakia has already lost the war with its opening strike on Emmeria, having overtaxed itself with a single climactic strike and will be unable to hold the country against internal resistance or a counter offensive by the Emmerian military as their occupation continues.

Following the attack on Gracemeria, the Assembly of Nations Security Council (of which Emmeria is a permanent member) voted unanimously to enact sanctions on Estovakia in order to cripple its economic support for its military. All diplomatic overtures between Yuktobanian Prime Minister Nikanor and General Dvornik have been rejected since the invasion began, with the Generals going so far as to eject the Yuke Ambassador from Pythiopolis. Dvornik has also publically announced that any international peacekeeping troops deployed to Emmeria or Estovakia by Osea, the FCU or the IUNPKF will be fired upon by Estovakian soldiers, followed by direct reprisal against Oured and Expo City by the Aigaion and her Nimbus burst missiles.



NORDENNAVIC
Full Name: The Kingdom of Nordennavic
Capital: Canerd
Continent: Anea
Head of State: Prime Minister (conjecture)
Government: Constitutional parliamentary monarchy
Real World Analog: United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Finland

Located on the north western peninsula of Anea and spread out across a large archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, the Kingdom of Nordennavic is one of the world’s few remaining constitutional monarchies.

The kingdom maintains a strident policy of neutrality in international affairs. Instead, the nation has been a power player in realm of economics and technology. One of its largest corporations, the MacMillan Heavy Industries defense contractor, outfits several major international militaries with information technology, to the point where North Osea Gründer Industries considers MacMillan to be its chief corporate rival.

While Nordennavic maintains only a token military force for self-defense purposes, rumors abound that the Royal Nordennavic Air Force maintains a top secret covert operations squadron specifically to act in protection of its international interests without publicly compromising its reputation as a natural faction in geopolitics. Evidence of the actual existence of this so-called “Grendel Squadron” is circumstantial at best.



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

With its crimes and conspiracies exposed to the world at the end of the Circum-Pacific War, Belka now stands as an even greater international outcast than it did before. While Osea and Yuktobania attempt to reconcile with the Belkan people to ensure another Gray Men conspiracy doesn’t emerge from the lingering bitterness in Nord Belka, the international community has learned a harsh lesson: keep one eye on Belka at all times.

One would hope though that with their scheme to plunge the world into war unraveled, the Belkans would be finished playing warmonger for good.

One would hope…




Finally, the Assault Records return as actual Assault Records. Following immediately in Zero’s footsteps, Ace Combat 6 expands greatly on the old Named Aces feature of each game dating back to Ace Combat 2. Shooting down Named Aces in 6 will unlock these cool little data sheets on each pilot under the game’s Gallery section alongside your Medals and Operation Medals. Achievements for the game are handled via the Xbox 360/Xbox Live dashboard.

The Assault Records in 6 go a step further and also introduced Allied Assault Records to the mix as well. Completing all sub-mission Objectives associated with a particular allied unit across the game will unlock that unit’s Assault Record and a page of info about its commanding officer. This goes all the way up the line to a pair of Assault Records specifically for Shamrock, and then the holy grail of Assault Records: Talisman’s.

Shooting down 10 of the 15 non-storyline Named Aces will unlock the Achievement 10 Named Aircraft. Filling in both pages of the Assault Records will unlock the Achievements Enemy Assault Record and Allied Assault Record, respectively.

As usual, non-story Named Aces will only spawn in a New SP Game or in Free Mission mode on Hard difficulty or higher.



    #13
    Pegas
    Lucijan Markovic
    32, Male, Estovakia
  • Plane: F-22A Raptor
  • Mission 1
  • Spawn conditions: Shoot down all target B-52s and UH-9s within 2 minutes. Four F/A-18Fs will appear in front of you. Destroying them will spawn four Rafale Ms. Once they are destroyed too, Pegas will spawn in front of you at 40,000 feet.

quote:

Estovakian Central Forces Precinct Air Force
120th Aviatian Regiment, 1st Tactical Fighter Squadron Leader

A graduate of the renowned Northern Pegasus training academy, Lucijan Markovic’s actions at the beginning of the Estovakian Civil War outshined those of even Strigon and Vampire teams. During the war, however, his former renown was overshadowed by those of Victor Voychek and Ilya Pasternak. Almost as if he was recklessly seeking to regain his former glory, he successfully pressed the assault on Gracemeria, but was shot down soon thereafter.





Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation Original Soundtrack
Composers: Tetsukazu Nakanishi , Keiki Kobayashi, Ryuichi Takeda, Junichi Nakatsuru, Hiroshi Okubo, The Trinity Boys Choir
Release: 2007
Discs: 3
Tracks: 22, 24, 16

Tracks featured in Mission 1 & Intro:

DISC 1

nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Mar 24, 2023

HerpicleOmnicron5
May 31, 2013

How did this smug dummkopf ever make general?


At least "The warmth of the Golden King's smile" is a safe line and probably even more cringeworthy.

Dreamsicle
Oct 16, 2013

This was actually my first Ace Combat game because I didn't have a PS2 when they were first released. I don't know how I should feel about that. I did play and beat them eventually though.

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

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




Ah yes, the game that kickstarted my "illustrious" LP co-commentator career. :cheeky:

Fun thing to note it's probably one of the first AC games that has the ending theme in the beginning of the game.

Cooked Auto fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Aug 21, 2017

Airspace
Nov 5, 2010
:bisonyes:

I am so excited for this game.

Airspace posted:

Plus the true best protagonist has yet to appear.

We've arrived, and we have found the best Ace Combat protagonist.

Dreamsicle posted:

This was actually my first Ace Combat game because I didn't have a PS2 when they were first released. I don't know how I should feel about that. I did play and beat them eventually though.

Same here, this was the first one I ever played, and it eventually got me to get the others. Ironically now it's the only one I can play, lacking a PS2 or a backwards-compatable PS3, and my PSP is now dead so I can't play the PSP one.

...I guess I can go back to Infinity, but they killed the campaign right when it was getting good.

Dr. Snark
Oct 15, 2012

I'M SORRY, OK!? I admit I've made some mistakes, and Jones has clearly paid for them.
...
But ma'am! Jones' only crime was looking at the wrong files!
...
I beg of you, don't ship away Jones, he has a wife and kids!

-United Nations Intelligence Service

I appreciate the bluntness of both the thread title and tag.

Anyway, I am sooooo looking forward to this. For better or for worse, this was also my first Ace Combat, so I'm excited to see everyone else's reactions to this wild ride of bad memes, disjointed storytelling, and legitimately good gameplay.

HerpicleOmnicron5
May 31, 2013

How did this smug dummkopf ever make general?


It's probably the best first Ace Combat. Not the best in any field except maybe graphically, so every other Ace Combat has something to contribute other than memes, this one has its meme game on point.

Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!
i want this lp to go dance with the angels.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry
Dancing in a great thread

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

Ghosts n Gopniks
Nov 2, 2004

Imagine how much more sad and lonely we would be if not for the hard work of lowtax. Here's $12.95 to his aid.
God it's so pretty. Gonna make the wait for a certain early 2018 title easier, thanks Crow.

Atomikus
Jun 4, 2010

Muncie? Muncie! MUNCIE!
gently caress it, I can't believe no one's done this yet: Time to Dash with the Rendars.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

Son Ryo
Jun 13, 2007
Excuse me, do you know where Saiyans hang out?
Dang, I liked both Shamrock and Carver. I should probably go dance with the angels for having questionable taste.

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Dr. Snark
Oct 15, 2012

I'M SORRY, OK!? I admit I've made some mistakes, and Jones has clearly paid for them.
...
But ma'am! Jones' only crime was looking at the wrong files!
...
I beg of you, don't ship away Jones, he has a wife and kids!

-United Nations Intelligence Service

Atomikus posted:

gently caress it, I can't believe no one's done this yet: Time to Dash with the Rendars.

Dammit that's actually pretty good.

Condoleezza Nice!
Jan 4, 2010

Lite som Robin Hood
fast inte
Hell yeah, my favourite Ace Combat, if only because of the scale. (Infinity doesn't count, and there was never another Ace Combat after this other than Infinity)

Kibayasu
Mar 28, 2010

So I'm not about to go say that Nagase in 5, or the voice overs in AC Zero, or even the grown-up kid in 4 are great narrators reading some excellent writing but that is some peak mid-2000's JRPG-attract-sequence bad narration and writing.

DoubleNegative
Jan 27, 2010

The most virtuous child in the entire world.
Every time I've tried to play this, I only get a handful of missions in before I go "Nope, I'm out. I'm done." So I'm curious just where this rocket sled goes.

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


Glad to see you're finally taking on AC6. Also, like 4 of your archive links for the previous LPs are broken.

Shinjobi
Jul 10, 2008


Gravy Boat 2k
I too shall commit ritual suicide in honor of this LP taking flight. Heh.

Go dance with the angels.

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nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013
I'll also post a supplemental little snippet video later on of the results screen of another run of the fist mission where I splashed Strigon Team completely. Sadly, I didn't get the actual dunking on video. I wasn't even gunning for all of them, just trying to S-Rank the mission to unlock a medal, and it was only after I realized I got them that I was able to get my capture card running to at least capture the results.

Unfortunately, the game either despawns Voychek after a set time or doesn't count him being shot down so you can only actually get credit for 7 downed Strigons instead of 8, but still.

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.

Never actually played his game, as I don't have an Xbox 360, and none of the people I knew that had one were interested in this game, save my cousin who got bored with it because he was more used to more straight flight simulators rather than the arcade-y style of Ace Combat.

So the only way I experienced it was via LPs, starting with Cooked Auto's which was one of the first I posted in water joining. I remember a straight meme fest, but with some great graphics though the missions were super long as well.

Oh well, time to get our dancing shoes on, the angels aren't gonna go dance with themselves.

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GhostStalker fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Aug 22, 2017

oscarthewilde
May 16, 2012


I would often go there
To the tiny church there
In at the dance floor!

goatface
Dec 5, 2007

I had a video of that when I was about 6.

I remember it being shit.


Grimey Drawer
That woman at the start is obviously shouting at the child, but the v/o lady is just quietly talking. I get that she's doing the "internal voiceover speaking outside of the active scene she's also in", but it just looks weird.

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013
I can't believe the whole thread got probated.

Kibayasu
Mar 28, 2010

nine-gear crow posted:

I can't believe the whole thread got probated.

They were no angels.

Zomborgon
Feb 19, 2014

I don't even want to see what happens if you gain CHIM outside of a pre-coded system.

goatface posted:

That woman at the start is obviously shouting at the child, but the v/o lady is just quietly talking. I get that she's doing the "internal voiceover speaking outside of the active scene she's also in", but it just looks weird.

The horribly stilted jaw movements don't help at all, either.

Much worse cutscenes than the entire Golden Trilogy- The power of HD!

Dr. Snark
Oct 15, 2012

I'M SORRY, OK!? I admit I've made some mistakes, and Jones has clearly paid for them.
...
But ma'am! Jones' only crime was looking at the wrong files!
...
I beg of you, don't ship away Jones, he has a wife and kids!

-United Nations Intelligence Service

nine-gear crow posted:

I can't believe the whole thread got probated.

What were you expecting? This thread's been hyped since Zero FFS, of course everyone will begin spouting bad memes the second they get the chance. Not me though; I'm above that mainly because I've played through this game enough to suffer through it myself :suicide:

Thefluffy
Sep 7, 2014
I am of sadness as I cannot find my AC6 disc, why the shitass isn't namco putting all the non poo poo ace combats on steam?! :byodood:

also I am never sure if this was ever posted but here is a fan-made map of all of strangereal making assumptions as to what regions of the planet are still a mystery to us http://imgur.com/HSMTLBO

Thefluffy fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Aug 21, 2017

Quicksilver6
Mar 21, 2008



If you skip all the cutscenes and change the voices to another language to avoid dying of second hand shame, this game's kind of fun! I mean, as an inferior prequel to Tom Clancy's HAWX.

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
Look at all those gorgeous contrails. :swoon:

Bloody Pom
Jun 5, 2011



Thefluffy posted:

I am of sadness as I cannot find my AC6 disc, why the shitass isn't namco putting all the non poo poo ace combats on steam?! :byodood:

also I am never sure if this was ever posted but here is a fan-made map of all of strangereal making assumptions as to what regions of the planet are still a mystery to us http://imgur.com/HSMTLBO

All the good Ace Combats ported to PC through Steam... except 6, which is only available on the Win10 Store :unsmigghh:

Rorahusky
Nov 12, 2012

Transform and waaauuuugh out!
gently caress the angels. Let's go dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.

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NobleSixFour
Jul 12, 2016
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but AC6 isn't BC on the XBone, you have to have a 360.

And for more bad news, I did get my PC back from the menders about ten days ago, but today the hard drive seems to have failed. I'm hoping Dell just didn't fully seat the connectors (which is well within the realm of possibility, because their quality of workmanship is just so consistently abysmal), but if it is actually a bad drive then I have no idea what the next step is. Someday things will stop breaking. I promise. ...I hope.

AirborneNinja
Jul 27, 2009

I played the poo poo out of this game. Aside from the side story stuff I have a few other issues with it mechanically but we aren't there yet.

Acebuckeye13
Nov 2, 2010


If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling
1-800-GAMBLER


Ultra Carp
AC6 was the first Ace Combat game I ever owned, and to date is the only Strangereal AC I ever played to completion. Having recently replayed it, I'm definitely looking forward to your writeups, Crow, to see all the little background details I missed.

Thefluffy
Sep 7, 2014
will crow be going for the achievements like complete whole game using only fighter, multirole, or attacker?

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nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013

Thefluffy posted:

will crow be going for the achievements like complete whole game using only fighter, multirole, or attacker?

No. I might do it "off camera", but I'm gonna try to show off as much of the roster as possible over the course of the LP, especially because getting those three medals requires going through the game at least three times and with no cheats available to speed matters up.

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