A:N: Not too much to say here, really. Just a bit of a random idea I had. Feel free to leave a review if you want to, but if you don't want to, that's fine too. Oh, and I do not own Ace Combat.

Dreary, that's what the pilot thought about the place as he looked outside at the blinding snowstorm. He could just make out the line of Belkan bombers and escorts, which looked more or less of a ragtag group of planes rather then the proud air force that Belka had been putting out on the front lines. But then again, this is Ustio's last air base, if it falls, the nation is done. He knew this by heart, and was grateful for the opportunity to serve his home country, and to prove himself worthy of being a fighter pilot.

"All call signs, report in," the commander bellowed, sounding rather upset. Cipher couldn't blame him really, given his mission objective and the jets he had to work with.

"Drake 1-4 ready."

"Bear 1-13 ready"

"Mustang 1 & 2 ready"

"Cipher, ready," Cipher retorted, still upset about his lighting fast deployment. He'd just completed training and hadn't yet been assigned a squadron.

"Alright, I know the enemy has hired some mercenaries, so stay alert. They might be worse than dogs, but if they fight well, then your out dispute of their level or lack their of regarding honor." He replied. Cipher glanced around, noticing two enemy jets heading toward them on his radar.

"Cipher, engaging," He announced calmly, and went to meet the enemy head on. As he got closer, he identified one of the jets having a red wing on it. "Huh, I wonder what that is about," He muttered, before dropping below, letting the two planes pass.

"This is Pixy, Engaging enemy. PJ, keep the enemy off me." Cipher frowned, confused. What kind of names are those? He thought, turning a sharp turn to avoid being missile locked by the F-16 the enemy wingman was flying. Keeping his head calm, he noted the F-15 moving in on a bomber. "Oh no you don't," He barked, pulling a extraordinary maneuver which brought him in shooting range. He opened fire, his guns baring on the enemy jet, tearing it to shreds.

"Pixy here, I've been wounded and my plane's messed up, ejecting." For Cipher, he found himself disappointed by the news. Yes, it was his first kill, but he didn't feel comfortable with the fact he'd caused the man pain. Please let him be okay, He thought, pulling his plane up as the F-16 lined up.

"Your gonna pay for shooting my friend down," The enemy pilot screeched, following the F-5. Cipher chuckled nervously, before flipping his plane over and flattening himself out. Waiting until he heard the warning alarm, he ducked down a little, using his air-brake to let the F-16 overshoot. Smiling a bit, he yet again lined up his enemy, this time arming one of his QAAM Missiles. Taking a breath, he fired the missle, keeping the foe well within the target reticle as he waited for the missile to hit.

He shut his eyes as he herd the sound of the missile, wincing a bit. When he dared to open one of his eyes, he say that the enemy had been neutralized. "This is PJ, my plane has been damaged, unable to continue duties." He announced, sounding upset. Cipher followed him a bit, then let off the chase when he was sure the Ustio mercenary was ejecting from the plane. Two kills, not bad for a rookie, He thought as he heard the commanders voice over the radio.

"Good work pilots, mission complete, return to base."

Cipher let out a sigh of relief as he quickly checked his radar and surroundings. Good, the enemy isn't trying any last ditch attacks, and we can head home safely, He realized. Turning his plane toward Belka, we sped toward the designated airbase, located just beyond B7R.

The return flight took about an hour, and he was content to fly quietly back, but his fellow pilots where not. Congratulations and tales of engagements where flying through the radios. Cipher gave out some complements on the job well done, but didn't really want to report the white plane with the red wing. For some reason, he didn't feel like bragging about the pilot he'd shot down.

History wasn't content to let this fact go, however. "By the way Cipher, good job taking down Solo Wing." The constant banter that had been so strong over the radio suddenly stopped. Dead silence followed at this revelation.

"Solo Wing?" Cipher asked, confused. "Wait, do you mean the guy in the white F-15 and red wing?" He added quickly."

"Yeah, he's a legend around the mercenary forces, even survived having his wing shot off." The commander explained, adding, "Guess what they say about us Belkans, is true after all."

Cipher blushed a bit, just now realizing who he'd shot down. "I never realized who I was shooting down, all I knew was that he was going after that bomber and I couldn't let him destroy it." He admitted sheepishly.

"Well, whatever the case, you've made a bit of a name for yourself today. Don't be surprised if the Base commander has something more for you to do." The commander replied. After this, the usual chatter resumed, but with the occasional remark about Solo wing going down to a rookie.

Turns out his words where right. As soon as he landed on the base, the Base commander walked up to him. "What plane you'd like, the F-16, Mirage 2000, or A-10?" The head-shot asked.

"F-16." Cipher replied. The base then commander motioned to an F-16. "She's yours, feel free to customize her paint, too." He stated. "You've got a flight to Sapin in a week, though, so make it quick." He then returned to his headquarters.

Cipher let the hanger guides take over the remaining drive to the hanger and walked up to the F-16. "Well buddy, let's just win this war and make it back in one piece, alright?" He asked, chuckling as he figured the F-16 would have agreed if it had any kind of real intelligent soul in it.