Ace Witches: Zero

by a ship nerd

In 1995, there was a war that engulfed the world. It was known as the Belkan War. In a parallel universe, on an alternate world known as Strangereal where the Neuroi never return after the second Neuroi war ends. All that's left for the humans and witches of the world to go to war with is themselves. Rising to the top, inspiring both fear and admiration, was a lone mercenary witch.

Disclaimer. I do not own Strike Witches, Project Aces, or any entry in the Ace Combat series. This is merely being created to spread the word on an awesome game series that is really hoped for with Ace Combat 7 just on the horizon. Based on Ace Combat Zero.

Zero

Prologue

The Belkan war is shrouded in mystery. But now, a decade after the peace accords, a portion of the records was finally released.

I quickly got a hold of it.

Wanting more details, I began acquiring information from unknown sources. There was a reason for my obsession. The roots of the war lie on the Belkan Federal law review in 1988 on the Osean Continent.

The Principality of Belka, suffering from economic strife, permitted its eastern territory to succeed. And from it, the Republic of Ustio was born. Belka's economic troubles however, did not subside.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the situation, the world's super power Osea continued to flourish. Buying off territories to add to its own, namely the Great Lakes region and the islands to the north of Belka.

Amidst the economic panic, an extreme right wing party took power within Belka. Its aim: to restore strength and stability to the nation. And on March 25, 1995, with the discovery of natural resources in Ustio, Belka began to invade its neighbors.

It was the beginning of the Belkan war.

Unprepared, the surrounding nations of Ustio and Osea began to fall quickly to the might of the legendary Belkan air force, spearheaded by dozens of Ace Witch squadrends. Consisting of well over a hundred witches, they lead the charge against the nations that were ill-equipped for anti-witch countermeasures.

In just a few days, they occupied all the territories in Ustio except for the mountain range. In response, the occupied Ustio government military placed all their hope in a joint operation with Osea, and whatever mercenary witches they could get their hands on.

This of course, can be found in any history book. But while reviewing the records, I began to notice a strange similarity in what I had gathered. There were several accounts of a mercenary witch, all followed by the code phrase, "Demon Lord."

Most of the information was incomplete, but still; I was intrigued. I decided to pursue the history of the Belkan war through this mercenary witch. I was certain I would find something there. Would it be the hidden truth behind the war? Or just another battlefield legend?

I was never able to meet the witch myself. Accualy, to many it's questionable if she ever really did exist. But thanks to some old friends in the military, I was able to track down several individuals who knew her.

Most of the individuals were witches themselves.

November 22, 2005: Near a disputed border.

"Her? Oh yeah, I know her. It's going to take a while. ...it happened years ago..."

Hanna Marseille. An Ustio mercenary witch that had earned the nickname 'Solo Striker' for managing to fly home with most of her right Striker blown off during a training exercise. She was a colleague of the witch I seak.

"Did you know, that after the second Neuroi war, nations took the components of fallen Neuroi and developed intricate technology with it? You know how if you cut off part of the wing of a Neuroi it just grows back so long as it has active particles? Well, after realizing that ordinary humans can't do any real damage to the Neuroi, the developed countries of the world used the Neuroi tec to create a way to re-arm the missiles a modern day striker carries automatically without having to land.

"A striker that used to be able to hold 4 standard sidewinders could now carry over 10 times that amount. It made our job as both witches and mercenaries a lot easier. Way back when, getting 5 kills might have been quite a challenge, nowadays though you'd have to be bad at your job to not get that on your first or second sortie. In air combat, 5 kills technically qualifies you as an ace. But, it was near impossible to find a front line witch that wasn't an ace. Her though? She was a true ace."

10 years ago, there was a war that engulfed the world. The Belkan War. In that war was a witch that trailed across the sky, and disappeared from history. She was a lone mercenary who inspires both fear and admiration. She is the witch I seak.

And so, with the words of "Solo Striker", the curtain rises.

"It was a cold and snowy day..."