Authors Notes: Well, this is my first ever post on , so I hope it's alright. I am still working on this, so it's still on its way. Yes it is based off of AC3, not many other people wanted to do that. Since there really isn't much to say... I will just let you go ahead and read. I will try and get chap 4 up ASAP (that is if you all really like this).

I am a huge fan of Ace Combat, so this was a logical first choice. If there are any problems, feel free to scrutinize me as much as you need. Enjoy...again.

Part I: The Opener

Chapter One: Growing Pains

With the flick of a switch, the console turned on. The young man huddled near the dim screen and waited for the Data-Swallow OS to boot and connected to the electrosphere, which is simply a large section of cyberspace that functions as an internet. He quickly opened his Peek-a-Boom, a program that searches the electrosphere for absolutely anything using keywords, especially vocabulary, and started studying for the final written exam, which he presumed he needed to retake because of how badly he felt he had done. However, before he could even search for the first term, a call came over the Inter-Satellite-Network (In-Sa-Net) telephone service, a video mail and videophone service that had been provided since 2032 through the Data-Swallow OS, on his terminal.

"Hey Bob, you there?" The caller was none other than his lead instructor, Francis McKinley, a veteran pilot and a good friend of the students due to his friendly demeanor.

"Yes Sir!" responded Bob in a proper military response.

"At ease Bob, it's a phone call! Anyway, the results are in and you received a perfect score on the written portion."

Bob was silent. Although he was quite smart, he had almost no faith in his own work. This perfect score meant that Bob no longer needed to take the test and could finally go flying to prove himself in his final dogfight against the instructors.

"Well, if you're just gonna sit there and stare at the screen, I guess I will log off...see ya in the skies Lankau!" and just like that the screen went black

After sorting through his mail, Bob stumbled upon a notice for the class

physical and mental exams that were the other prerequisite for the last test. Bob had completely forgotten up them until now. He sprang out of his chair hoping it wasn't too late and began running down to the Infirmary. In his rush out the door, he tripped over his forgotten footwear and slammed into the wall outside his room. Luckily, no one was around to see his awkward display of acrobatic prowess. After recovering from the fall, he returned to put on his deadly shoes and make his way down for his physical. When he arrived at the infirmary, Bob was informed that someone else was already in the physical testing area and he was to take the mental exam first.

"Welcome Bob, I think it would be easiest if I just asked you some simple questions, because there really isn't anything wrong with you." said the base's psychologist and psychiatrist.

"Okay" was the only word that Bob could muster out. He never really cared for these exams as he knew himself pretty well. Bob was a well mannered and quiet

man with little to brag about. Although he was shy, his classmates considered him a good friend to them. Even those who only knew him from afar had a positive opinion of him. His mental capability had helped him through his school days and also made him recognized by Neucom for their "Opto-Neural-Synapse-Interface" (ONSI) program. He declined because ONSI required a dangerous surgery and Bob wanted no part of it. He was later informed that they soon found a replacement.

"Well, you passed yet again. You check out and are free to go. Just sit in the waiting room and we will call you in when the doctor is ready."

He sat on a rather comfy chair in the so-called waiting room, which was just the lounge room across the hall. It was about the time that he got adjusted to the seat, when the doctor was ready for Bob's physical exam. As he stood, Bob began to get nervous, but all of a sudden he focused on something else and his nerves were of secondary importance. He stopped for a moment and gazed. It was not whether he would pass or fail that made him act like this, or even how well he would do in the sky...but who left the office as he entered. In the short seconds she passed him, Bob thought he must be dreaming. She was simply astonishing. Bob thought to himself: Such beauty can't truly exist; maybe I should visit my optometrist. By the time he had finished thinking she might not be real, she was gone. He was stuck daydreaming…that is, until a certain wall interrupted it.

"Are you sure you passed the mental exam, Bob?" said Doctor Pershing, still rather puzzled at the dazed actions of the young trainee walking into the office wall.

"Uh, yeah, I did...never mind, it's nothing. I'm just daydreaming is all." Bob sounded out of it, as if he had just woke up.

"Well, do you feel fit for this exam, young man?" asked Pershing.

"Yeah, I feel better now."

Doctor Pershing began the exam. When it concluded, Bob was cleared and in perfect health...bar the small bruise in the center of his forehead. Bob returned to his room to consider what he had seen before his exam. He was tired and fell asleep, sleeping deeper than he had ever had before. The reason was not entirely connected to the girl he saw, but the fact that his annoying roommate had dropped out three weeks ago. The instructors never changed the room arrangement to compensate and he had it all to himself.

Though he had to wait a week for the final dogfight with the instructors, that time flew by. As Bob looked at the clock, which read 0600, he whispered to himself Today is the day, I can't wait to get up there! Bob normally woke up an hour later, so by the time got to the hangars, the only ones there were the fighters, the flight engineers and Francis.

"Well, good morning pilot. Why are you up so early!?" asked McKinley from across the massive hangar. There was no man better under pressure than Francis. His calm and lax attitude had kept his students (or as they are called in the flying world: Nuggets) sane and in order during their training many a time.

After hearing the humorous question Bob responded with: "Because I love walking around this base aimlessly until the biggest event in my life, Sir!" The two conversed for hours and, unknown to them, the remainder of the Nuggets had marched in and stood in formation.

"Hey, Nuggets! Why are you so uptight? At ease and stand easy!" Francis was still in his humorous phase and had forgotten the discipline hounding that he intended to give them.

The young pilots spread out and talked amongst themselves. One of them was curious about why Bob was talking to Francis like they were friends and equal in rank.

"That's simple son, it's because it was too damn early for all that subordination crap!" It seemed Francis was in a great mood this morning. "Alright! Nuggets, its time to mount up...but first, we need to form squadrons. Let's see...form them yourself and I'll see if they are fair."

The Nuggets all grabbed each other like kids on Halloween fighting for

chocolate. In under a minute, the teams were formed. Bob was alone.

"Alright, it seems that somehow we have awkward numbers again. Okay, Bob you will need to be paired with someone...hmmm" said Francis.

Bob was puzzled. He started thinking that he would be paired with an instructor, or be joined to make a 5-ship formation. But, to his surprise, Francis' eyes darted to a seemingly unattended section of the hangar.

"Bob, let's pair you up with her" came Francis' voice. Immediately, Bob's eyes shifted to right behind him where he saw none other that beautiful woman he had seen in the medical office. "You will be a squadron of two, but I know you will overcome!"

The girl, who had seemingly materialized out of thin air, was now the center of attention and had the eyes of every one of the all-male (bar her) class. But instead of turning red and hiding her head, she wore a sweet smile on her angelic face.

"I guess that means we are squad mates, m-ma'am." Bob sounded just as

awkward as he felt. Not only had he never seen a girl this beautiful, but now he had to work with her as well.

"Alright Nuggets! To your planes! The first team up will be you guys, John!"

Francis had entered his serious phase, while Bob uttered a sigh of relief that he didn't have to go first. Hours passed, and one by one the squadrons were evaluated. The point was not to win per-se, but to listen and obey orders and execute a mission properly. Winning was a secondary objective, as Nuggets were not expected to beat a highly trained instructor. Finally the call came in, and the two partners were to take to the skies immediately. Francis had asked the instructors to remain in the air with less fuel and virtual missiles in order to make it a fairer, as the young pilots were at half strength. In reality, this "limitation" really wasn't that much of a mediator.

Before making it into his plane, Bob turned towards the mysterious girl and said "You know, I never really had much success in these things! I love flying, but it doesn't always turn out the way I planned."

In almost a whisper, her soft, sweet voice filled Bob's eardrums like warm water in a shower.

"Me neither; maybe we will do better together."

Then the two took to the skies in some basic EF-2000E's, the most simple of the Special Action Response force, or SARF, had to offer. Bob went through his normal procedures, open the hatch, laid down in the cockpit, connected to the Connection for Flight Interface (COFFIN) system, and waited for orders. He read the screen for his mission data, as he had no formal briefing on the mission. Each mission was different for the teams.

His screen read:

Initiating Connection For Flight Interface...User Identified: Bob Lankau... Mission details are as follows: Take off and head to rally point at angles 10 bearing 229 from airport tower, await go-order from instructors.

"Seems easy enough" said Bob, his adrenaline taking over. "Hey, you ready ma'am?"

"Yes, I am...let's go." responded the unknown girl.

Both 2000E's taxied and took off. The two craft immediately turned to heading 229 and began their climb. After about two minutes, they were ready to battle and the order came in. It was not a complex mission like some of the other pilots had. Instead, it had one simple word: Survive.

"Survive! What the hell does that mean?" screamed Bob. Sadly, his microphone was off and he ended up rambling to himself until the training AWACS interrupted with "Engage!"

Then, from the clouds came the instructors. The instructors were armed with better MiG-33 Fulcrum SS fighters, and they were masters of them. The two young Nuggets broke formation and tried to split the enemy ranks up the middle. This worked all too well, as now both of the pilots had two MiG's on their tails. Soon, the girl was gone, lost in the clouds somewhere and Bob was alone. He did everything he could, pulling every maneuver in the book, but those MiG's just wouldn't give up. The lead MiG almost had a lock on Bob when chatter came through what he thought was the radio.

Wait three then break right hard. He did just that and lo-and-behold, the two MiG's lost the lock and overshot Bob. Though slower, the EF-2000E was slightly better at turning and could take a beating to boot. Bob would use this to his advantage and quickly turn the tide of battle, listening to all the "radio calls" that came through. After ten minutes of fighting, Bob had splashed one of the MiG's and damaged the other; and his wingman did quite well also, splashing both of the MiG's that were pursuing her with a lucky gun spray. The last MiG signaled bingo fuel and all of the planes turned to home.

"That was an amazing flight you two!" said McKinley, who wasn't fazed at all by the long day in the air. "You both have great talent; good job!"

"Well, it was thanks to your support after all. If you hadn't told me what to do, I would never have won!" replied Bob, who was still thinking that Francis had helped.

"I never said a word to you, boy! I was that MiG you almost shot down. I think the medical term for your condition is instinct! If it sounded like me...that is all just coincidence and/or you're in love with the sound of my voice! Hahahaha!"

"Very funny, Sir... maybe I was just going through an aces high...except I am not an ace!"

Then, all the attention was again shifted towards the girl. She had just left her plane and was walking up to Bob and McKinley, sensing they were having one of their unique conversations, when Francis asked her: "How do you think you did?"

"I did alright. I was really lucky but it was fun none the less!" responded the enthusiastic young pilot. Bob couldn't tell who was more ecstatic: the psycho instructor, or the mysterious girl who was trained by him.

"Well, that's all for today! See you lads at graduation tomorrow! OOPS...well the cats out of the bag, you two passed today!" Francis departed with those words, leaving the Nuggets to celebrate amongst themselves. Both of them were very happy to have passed; it was definitely a high point in Bob's life.

"By the way, you know my name already, I hope... but I never learned yours."

It was the adrenaline talking. Normally Bob would have turned tail and rand at even the thought of a social confrontation with a girl that beautiful. She replied in that same, calm voice she had before the dogfight.

"My name...it's Isis. I am from Erusea, so this is like my backyard. I know you are Bob, but where are you from?" asked the girl, wearing a smile that lit up the hangar better than the sun ever could.

"Well, my last name is Lankau, that is because my family is of Belkan decent, but I was born in Osea, November City to be exact."

After exchanging their greetings, they parted ways and returned to their respective dorms. The next day…normally a day that made a pilot into a nervous wreck in hopes that they would graduate...was already a dream come true for Bob. Since he and Isis had already learned that they graduated, there was no cause for concern. The ceremony went as planned, with a 100% passing rate for the first time in 10 years.

"I will now assign you to your primary posts. This will become your home base and maybe even your true home. Please come up and take your sheets." Francis had now finished his little pep-talk and stepped to the right of the podium to hand out the assignments. Some were surprised by their postings and others not so much.

"Hmm, North Point...wow, that's awesome."

Bob was extremely excited about his posting. North Point was a region in went Usea that was part in the mainland and part on a large island that was at one point part of the ISAF (Independent State Allied Forces), and home to the legendary ace pilot Mobius 1. Although not much was known about this pilot, his legend lived on through stories and articles.

"That's a relief; I thought I was going to be posted at Megafloat or something like that. Hey, Francis may have even recommended Geofront just as a cruel joke."

As he looked around he heard a faint Sure Would from the distant McKinley, who was eavesdropping the whole time. With a chuckle, Bob turned to Isis and asked: "What about you?"

"North Point, same as you." replied Isis.

Bob noticed the look on her face. It was not the look of excitement or resentment, but rather a look of relief. Bob had no idea why this was, but he was pleased they would serve together.

The day concluded after a long period of festivities, and the next day was seen from the air, as they were transferred to North Point. What better way than in the luxurious R-505U civilian airliner built by Neucom. The UPEO's EF-2000E "Typhoons" were built by a UPEO internal engineering company and were too minor to be a rival to Neucom, or Neucom's competition...General Resource LTD, a just as powerful corporation with just as much influence as Neucom. The difference in quality was definitely apparent after flying in the Typhoon for so long. When they arrived, Bob and Isis received their new aircraft, and boy were these planes magnificent. The two were gifted with the new and state-of-the-art SU-37 Super Flankers built by the same company as the EF-2000E Typhoon and the MiG-33 Fulcrum SS.

"Wow, now THAT is a plane!" said Isis, who was surprisingly enthusiastic.

"Yup, just like Yellow 13's, only better." Bob responded with a similar enthusiasm. He was also looking around for someone to greet them, and his prayer was answered minutes later when the base commander, William Thomas, arrived to escort the two pilots to their barracks.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is William Thomas. Nice to meet you. I am in command of this base. Because you are new here, you may have questions, so just ask if you need anything" explained the base commander. Contrary to most stereotypes like the "Perrault" stereotype, which was a commander with no care for his subordinates and takes his anger out on them as much as possible, base commander Thomas was a nice man with a calm and friendly demeanor, although Bob thought that this could change in a heartbeat.

"Nice to see you too, sir! My name is Bob Lankau"

"And my name is Isis."

"Just Isis, what about your last...eh, never mind maybe I shouldn't ask." William responded to the greetings like he had done many times before. By then, they had reached the barrack they were assigned to. It had the number 118 on it, which symbolized the location of the hangar of Mobius 1 and the 118th Tactical Fighter Wing "Mobius". Bob and Isis were proud to sleep here of all places. As the day faded into night, the two went to bed. It was their turn to enter the ring; and with the way things were going, Hell could spill over any day.

Now that they had left their pilot school and entered the real world, truth began staring them in the face and all the world's problems became theirs. As pilots for the United Peace Enforcement Organization or UPEO, they were in charge of keeping the corporcratic entities of Neucom and General Recourse Limited under control. Within UPEO was the Special Armed Reaction Force or SARF. The SARF and UPEO represented the Neo-United Nations, although nations no longer existed because government had become obsolete. All that was left were two massive monopolistic corporations. As of late, these two corporations were at each other's throats; and SARF has been on high alert ever since.