Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Combat or any of it's products, Namco owns everything except my ideas on what to do with its characters.

[POV-Blaze]

While I am a Brigadier General for the Osean Air Defense Force (OADF) now, it wasn't always like this…

I was born in Oured ten years before the war that changed the face of this continent.

My parents… I can barely remember them now, but I do remember a bit of them. My father was a pilot, Patrick James, call sign PJ. At the time my mother was the lead mechanic, a woman in a hangar of men, in Ustio's Valais Air Base. Everyone called her Flare due to her tenacity, stubbornness and red hair. I recall very little about her except one thing, her eyes, the eyes that I inherited from her, the same eyes that when stressed seemed to ignite. They were both from Ustio but I still manage to be born in Ustio while they were in their "honeymoon", even though they never got engaged. For them love was all that mattered.

My childhood was relatively calm, at least, until my tenth birthday. Then the war came and everything fell apart. My parents were still working in Valais Air Base so that's where I was dividing my time between playing with the few friends I had in a nearby school, learning how to treat a fighter with my mom and her crew and some flying afternoons with my dad.

I was in the hangar with the maintenance crew and my mom when the Air Raid alarm sounded.

I won't forget that sound, the sound everyone was expecting to hear since we already knew that Belka was attacking the multiple countries that bordered them. Unfortunately for us we were in that lot…

My father was assigned to Galm team following the events on the 6th of June 1995. He was obviously very proud of that since Galm's flight leader was known as THE Ace of the Belkan war. Even the enemy feared him and after some conflicts in B7R he was nicknamed "Demon Lord" by them.

Although it is commonly known that the war with Belka ended on the 20th of that month, that, never happened. There were still many battles after the Peace Treaty and my dad died in the last of them all. It was in the Avalon Dam offensive, in New Year's Eve, after managing to destroy every single control facility inside the dam he was shot by a laser that came from a prototype plane.

We heard this from his flight lead, Galm 1, call sign Cipher, who also told us his last words, his intention to marry my mom. She was never the same again, like something had broken inside her. A month after this, she fell ill. A week passed and she left me alone in the world.

I was only ten years old but I won't ever forget that month…

I had nowhere to go and I wasn't even from Ustio. Thankfully Cipher, took me in. I learned many of his moves while I flew with him. When I asked him what were Rules Of Engagement (ROE), he answered something like this:
- Pixy once told me this, before we entered the Round Table: The only Rule Of Engagement is … to Survive. So that's the most important rule which doesn't mean that I think you should care only for goals forgetting the means. In the end each fighter pilot and each squadron has its own ROEs.

Only five years had passed since he took me in, but everything was going to change on that beautiful morning…

When I woke up he was staring at the seagulls and his eyes seemed as blue as the sky as if they could merge like he merged with his plane in the air. He heard me coming and started talking:

- I have a very important thing to say to you. I think it's time for us to part ways Mike. You are already fifteen years old and since you told me you would like to follow the footsteps of your father I think you should ingress in the Osean Air Academy. I still know some people that will welcome you in their homes and help you finish your studies in order for you to take the path you want. I will try to visit you sometimes but that won't happen much and you'll have to pull through High school in your own but I know you'll succeed. One thing I promise you, I'll be there in your graduating ceremonies both at high school and Air academy.

After this speech I didn't know what to say. My best friend, my mentor, the only person I had that I could call family was letting me spread my wings. Now, I think I should have said something but that revelation was too much for me to handle at the time. Cipher wasn't a man to lose time and so on the next morning we left to Osea.

Two and a half years after

I had been left in the company of Anthony Palmer, a former Osean pilot, call sign Sorcerer 1. When Cipher met with him for the first time he found very hard to believe that, he was the pilot who had shot him down over B7R. Probably he was expecting some ruthless mercenary, but he was true to his word and gave me a room, free meals, and some advice. He also treated every legal paper which I still missed. That was it, though, he as Cipher, thought that if a person wants something he should work for it.

Since I had studied most of the classes with Cipher I managed to keep up with the rest of my colleagues and still be top in Physics. I wasn't really looking forward to the graduating ceremony because I had very few friends and the only people that I knew that would come to see me there would be Tony and Cipher. At least I would see Cipher again - I thought.

-Michael Foley!

I took a deep breath and entered in the stage. The principal, who was actually a nice guy, gave me the diploma, a pat on the back and proceeded with the ceremony. After searching the crowd I managed to find Cipher and Tony who were still discussing the battle above B7R in which Galm team was critical to the victory of the allied forces.

When they saw me they both said:

- Congratulations! You're one step less to become a pilot!

After this Tony sensed my hesitation and went to talk with a relative who he had seen in order for us to be alone. There was so much I wanted to ask Cipher but the only thing that came was:
- It's good you came, I have to ask you something.

- I said I would come didn't I? You sure you want to talk now? Don't you want to celebrate first? – He asked me.

-No I need to know this now!

-You're the boss! – said him with a smile – so what do you want to know?

-Do you think that I should fly like my father before me?

He looked in my eyes and said:

-That question will have to be answered by yourself not me. You are the one who's going to live that option so think it thoroughly. I tell you one thing though, you won't have problems flying it's in your blood.

After this we continued talking about less important things like what he had been doing and where had he been. It was always a joy to hear his stories, war or peace, he would always have excellent stories.

A week later when Cipher was leaving he gave me a present, a motorbike. It was one of the few things that I took with me when I later applied to the Air Force.

I saw him leave in a flight at Apito International Airport. Following his departure I picked up my bike and went to apply at nearest Air Force recruitment office. After a month of waiting I received a letter with my name printed in it! I had never received a single letter! After reading it twice I had just one thought:
- I made it I finally made it! I'm going to be a pilot!

The first thing I asked when I was assigned to train at Hieierlark Air Force Base was:

"Where in Earth is that?"

After a brief explanation and some map searching I managed to find it in the map.

I thought "I was assigned to a base in the middle of nowhere"

After picking some clothes for the harsh weather and telling Tony where I was headed, I got in my bike and started the trip to the place I would be for the next five years.

A week later I got there but it was still very early for the "nuggets" entry date so I managed to stay there as a mechanic assistant. The base was nearly empty on that time of the year.

One night I was in the mechanics crew room and one of them asked "Where did you learn to treat a plane like that? I think everyone here agrees that you are nearly as good as us!"

"It's kinda awkward because I normally don't talk about this but I am the son of an Ustio pilot and a mechanic. She was the one that taught me in Valais Air Base.

"You're Flare's son?"

"Yeah, how could you know?"

"Well at the time I was working under her in Valais as part of a project between the countries of Osea and Ustio. Never thought I would end up seeing you here. Hell I would never recognise you."

Since that conversation the mechanics were always open to hear me and some even asked me some questions about Flare, The Queen of the Hangar, as she was known.

I had found a safe haven among them and continued helping them throughout the holidays. This wait was only stopped by the arrival of Colonel Boyd, the Head of the Academy and its airbase. Colonel "40 second" Boyd is a major military strategist who had been crucial in the designing of fighters in the Air Force. He was also a man that was nearly hated by the rest of the top brass due to his critics in fighter policy development. While being so looked down upon Boyd was highly respected among his staff in the base and also among the pilots.

When he arrived he greeted every member of the personal that maintained "his" facilities in shape. What I recall from that day is his knowledge of every person's name that worked under him and our conversation.

"Who are you? New mechanic?"

"No, sir! I came here to be a pilot sir! Since I arrived very early and have some knowledge in mechanics I was given the opportunity to work with the rest of the repair crew.

"Have we met before boy?"

"Not that I recall sir."

"I really think that we did but anyway good luck in your studies here."

He went away still talking with the chief mechanic about the repairs and the new "nugget" year they would have.

Note 1: This is my first story. Thanks in advance to those who kindly review this after reading

Note 2: I would like to thank some of the authors on this site that inspired me: Razgriz92; Patriot-112; Nootardby; Robin Starwing; Stonehenge

Note 3: I thought I had thought about this but it seems I forgot to write it, in order for PJ to have a son with the age I mentioned I aged him 7 years. So that he would be 30 when the Belkan war started, being 20 when Blaze was born. Thanks to Razgrizaces for taking this to my attention.

Note 4: The war mentioned is the Belkan War from Ace Combat Zero, and some of the pilots mentioned are also from there such as Anthony Palmer "Sorcerer 1"