Zero

by Major Mike Powell III

"So...have you found a reason to fight yet? Buddy?" The final battle between the Demon Lord and his former wingman, his buddy, and his enemy.

1810 hrs - 31 December – 1995

Avalon Dam

"Now the war is finally over!" Galm Team's nº2, Patrick "PJ" James cheered through the radio. He made a –rather fancy- sideway loop above Galm Team's nº1 "Cipher"'s X-02 Wyvern, falling back into formation with "The Demon Lord".

Galm-1 sighed and leaned back into his seat, unplugging his oxygen mask. He smiled a bit.

"Yeah…we did it, PJ. Let's go back home, now" he said. Cipher to his side and saw PJ in the cockpit of his F-16C Fighting Falcon. The young pilot flashed him a grin and a thumbs-up.

"I got a girlfriend back at the base. I'm gonna propose to her when I get back! I even bought flowers!" Cipher chuckled at his enthusiasm. Not that he had any less reason to be glad himself.

"Well, let's hope she says-"he was cut-off when his HUD flashed an Active Warning signal. The "Demon Lord" checked his radar and saw a red mark heading their way.

"Warning! Unknown target approaching at high speed! Break, break!" AWACS "Eagle Eye" reported. Galm-1's eyes narrowed and he put his oxygen mask back on. Now what?

He barely had time to move the command stick when a flash of intense red came and a crimson beam headed his way.

"AH! DANG IT!" PJ shouted in alarm and manoeuvred his F-16C feet away in front of Cipher's X-02, effectively intercepting the beam, which struck the mid-section of his plane, blasting him away; his only engine ablaze.

"PJ!" Cipher yelled over the radio, helplessly watching the young pilot's Fighting Falcon disappear from his line of sight. He turned back to where the attack came from. 'A laser?! What the Hell…?!' he thought quickly. His wingman wasn't responding his calls...

'Damn it!' "The Demon Lord" closed his fist and punched the side of his canopy in frustration. He shut his eyes tightly.

And as the snow began to fall…

"So…" his eyes shot wide open. He knew that voice. And he wasn't too happy to ear it now. "Have YOU found a reason to fight yet?"

"Buddy?"

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Without beginning or end, the ring stretches into the Infinite

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Zero

By Major Mike Powell III

"Confirm reactivation of nuclear silo. Galm-1, continue your mission. Engage" AWACS "EagleEye" issued his instructions. Cipher nodded grimly. He checked his HUD. 'Unknown-Pixy' it read. 30 miles dead ahead and approaching.

"Stand by. We are analyzing the situation" AWACS reported. Suddenly, a different voice came through the radio.

"Here comes the snow…" 'SoloWing Pixy' said softly. Cipher closed his eyes for a moment.

"Shoot down the enemy! I'll run a plane analysis and fill you in ASAP!" AWACS ordered.

"Roger that. Galm-1, engaging" Cipher responded coldly. He applied full thrust to his X-02's dual engines and went straight forward, planning to take his former wingman head-on. He armed his AIM-9M "Sidewinder" missiles and waited for the HUD to acquire a lock.

"You know? Those who survive a long time in a battlefield often start to think they're invincible…" Pixy commented almost casually.

"Locked on!" AWACS informed, just like always. Cipher was about to press the firing button…

And his eyes suddenly widened. He hit the brakes and did a sharp 150º turn to the right just as a blazing red beam almost scratched his left forward-sweep wing.

'Damn it…he has more than one shot…' Cipher thought. The 'Unknown-Pixy' flew by his former flight lead at incredible speed. Cipher straightened his plane in a heartbeat and he made a quick loop to try and get on the enemy's tail.

"I guess you do too, buddy" his former wingman finished where he left off. "The Demon Lord" tightened his grip on the flying stick. Suddenly, the enemy craft ignited its afterburners and sped forward, before tipping it's nose up and flying into a mid-S.

Cipher barely had time to brake before another laser shot went his way. He made a lightning-fast downside sweep right as the crimson beam went by, right where his Wyvern was.

'Damn! What kind of plane is that?' he thought quickly. He then saw SoloWing's make a full turn and fly by about 10 miles away from Cipher, in the opposite direction. Galm-1's eyes narrowed and he followed his former wingman's trail.

This movement turned into a pattern, where both planes were flying in a continuous 10-miles-ring in the air. Cipher decided to speak his mind.

"No, Pixy. I DON'T think I'm invincible. You should know better!" he said, earning a chuckle from his former wingman.

"Yeah, I know. Don't you remember, buddy¿ I told you that pride of yours WOULD get you killed" he reminded Cipher. "The Demon Lord" shook his head, exasperated.

"Pixy, what happened to you? WHY are you doing this? I thought you had honour, just like me!" he demanded. SoloWing chuckled again.

"Look down, buddy. Can't you see the borders from here? What has borders given us?" he said and sighed sadly. Galm-1 closed his eyes for a moment. He made up his mind.

"You killed PJ, SoloWing. He was just a kid…and you killed him. Awhile back you said that bloodshed couldn't be stopped by shedding more blood. Was his blood necessary to 'erase' these borders, huh?" he asked coldly. He didn't let Pixy reply.

"A World With No Boundaries is no more! The war is over!" Cipher broke the circle by applying full thrust right in the middle of the pattern. This meant SoloWing would come right into his sights. He charged at his former wingman, who was in a 90º angle.

"Bandit in gun range!" AWACS reported like many times before.

Without hesitation, "The Demon Lord" pressed his gloved finger tightly onto the trigger to his Wyvern's 30mm Vulcan canon. The long burst hit the Tactical Laser System mounted on the back of the fighter's fuselage. Cipher also got a good eyeful of the plane.

'Forward-sweep wing…dual, separated engines…' he registered.

The barrage effectively took out the laser weapon, as it the device burst into flames on the back of Pixy's plane. As it sped away, the –now useless- TLS was detached.

That fighter had a disturbing resemblance with Cipher's X-02…

"Looks like you still have the touch…" Pixy commented. "You've gotten stronger…you sure that you're flying by pride? Honour? Are you sure you're not just seeking strength only, huh?" he kept taunting his former flight lead. His radio chimed when he was about to reply.

"Phase 1 analysis complete" AWACS began. "Transmission from enemy craft detected. He's controlling the V-2 launch!" it reported. Galm-1's eyes shot wide open in shock. This was a dangerous distraction.

WARNING. MISSILE ALERT

He checked his radar and saw a single red dot heading his way. Pixy's signal was right behind it. He made an upside turn and flew in a fully vertical position. He looked around his cockpit and what he saw shocked him: about 20 or so feet behind him was now a huge, fiery cloud. He straightened his plane and made a couple of turns to watch the effect of that cloud.

'A ballistic burst missile?!' he could clearly see a rain of molten steel fall down to the earth below. He looked at his radar again. Pixy was making turns down below, beckoning him.

"Why run, buddy? Surprised?" he laughed shortly. "We're gonna start over from scratch. That's what V-2 is for. The world will change…"

"The Demon Lord" checked his radar again. He estimated Pixy's position down below and tipped the nose of his X-02 down. He then ignited his afterburners. He didn't know how many burst missiles Pixy had…

He checked his own weapons; 4 Sidewinders and 0 QAAM's. (Quick-Maneuvering Air-to-Air Missiles) Those could come in handy about now, but Cipher used them all up in the dog-fight with WIZARD Squadron, back at B7R a.k.a The Round Table.

Another radar check; Pixy was now less than 20 miles below him…a blinding blast right up front forced Cipher to cover his eyes and pull the flying stick down. His X-02 pulled up quickly.

"This isn't over, buddy! This is where it all starts. You know what I'm talkin' about, right?" Pixy asked. Cipher blinked away the blinding effect. His eyes narrowed and searched for SoloWing's plane again.

10 miles to the east! He turned his plane in said direction and he saw the outline of Pixy's plane up in the horizon.

"Yeah, I do. And this should've been over a long time ago!" Galm-1 shouted and pushed forward in full thrust, ready to take Pixy head-on.

"There's no mercy in war. People live and people die. That's all there is to it…" he whispered. Cipher heard it quite clear, however and replied.

"I can't believe you're saying that, SoloWing…this isn't you I'm fighting" he said grimly. Meanwhile, his HUD almost had a lock…

"Locked on!" AWACS reported. Without hesitation, Cipher pressed the firing button.

A single AIM-9M "Sidewinder" popped out from the Wyvern's stealth-type chamber in the plane's underbelly and whizzed towards its target…

And Cipher couldn't tell if the missile hit, as a single ballistic burst missile flew past him, scratching his left wing, and then blasted in full power about 10 feet behind "The Demon Lord". The explosion didn't hit him, but the shockwave did.

His Wyvern shook hard, with a very dizzying effect. However, Cipher recovered quickly and made a 90º turn to the left, guiding himself by Pixy's blip in his radar.

Did he hit him…?

"It's time" SoloWing said with finality. Cipher frowned in confusion…Seconds later, his radio chimed.

"Damn it! Confirmed launch of V-2!" EagleEye reported and Cipher almost lost all hope. He then saw it: SoloWing was heading straight towards him at normal speed, with the huge and fearsome V-2 rocked blasting up into the sky several miles behind him.

"Too bad, buddy…" he began. "This twisted game needs to be reset. We'll start over from 'zero' with this V-2, and entrust the future to the next generation…" he said with a sigh. Cipher shut his eyes tightly closed and shook his head.

"This is AWACS! Listen up, Galm-1! We've completed analysis of the enemy craft. Codename: Morgan. This plane is protected by an advanced ECM defence system. Its ONLY weak point is in its front air intake. You'll have to attack it head-on. Go. Take down Morgan. You're the ONLY one who can stop him" Cipher nodded grimly and he saw Pixy's new signal on his HUD: ADFX-01 'Pixy'.

"Demon Lord of the Round Table, I pray for your success" AWACS finished and Cipher ignited his afterburners again.

"You and I are like opposite sides of a same coin…" Locking on…

"There may be a resemblance, but we never face the same direction" Almost, almost…

"Locked on!" AWACS informed. Cipher fired a pair of "Sidewinders" as well as Pixy…no. Morgan, did the same.

Both pilots made a 360 turn and avoided the missiles, flying by each other in upside-down positions.

Galm-1 looked down while Morgan looked up. They were both wearing their visor, but it didn't matter. They saw each other's eyes.

This lasted for only 1 second, as each plane kept going.

"V-2 re-entry in 4 minutes" AWACS reported. SoloWing kept talking.

"Now we see who is nº1!" he said in a near-excited tone. Both pilots did a half-circle turn and went in for another round.

"V-2 re-entry in 3 minutes!" AWACS reported. Cipher nodded as Morgan approached. Neither pilot had a good angle of attack.

So each one made an exact and coordinated 360º flip. Pixy actually laughed.

"Looks like we still got what it takes!" he commented. Cipher closed his eyes for a moment.

"Just like before, right?" he whispered. Pixy just gave a positive sound as both planes put enough distance between each other before doing another half-circle.

"V-2 re-entry in 2 minutes!" AWACS now sounded panicked. Cipher closed his eyes for a second and right as he opened them…

"Locked on!"

"Fire away, coward!"

He pressed the trigger and the final 2 AIM-9M whizzed out their chambers.

"Galm-1, Fox-2!"

"COME ON…"

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"I'm sorry things went this way…buddy"

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Cipher took off his oxygen mask and he looked behind him at the short burst of explosions coming from Morgan's falling body.

His eyes then focused on the immense explosion of the V-2 rocket, which exploded in mid-air miles up in the sky. The light eventually and slowly faded.

Cipher slowed down a bit, to let the adrenaline come down. He spotted AWACS "EagleEye" some miles away from his current position.

"Mission accomplished, Cipher!" he congratulated him. "Come on, let's go back home. Wouldn't want to leave anyone waiting for you"

"Galm-1, roger that…" he said in a tired voice.

With the war now finally over, "The Demon Lord of the Round Table" made his way back home…

To wait 'til the fires of war reached the skies again…

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A/N: Heads up, people! Officer on deck!

This is Major Mike Powell III, reporting for duty with his first-ever "Ace Combat" fic. Now, this idea had been drivin' me nuts for over a week by now and just wouldn't leave me alone.

Here's the result.

Now, you can clearly see this one-shot is based on Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War for PS2. I also have Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War and I have yet to get myself a copy of Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies. I've beaten AC0 3 times now in all Ace Styles.

And in case you didn't notice, Cipher belongs to the Knight Ace Style. It's by FAR the EASIEST Style to master. XD

And well, I had "The Demon Lord" speak…for once. XD Honestly! The game would be so much cool if we HEARD Cipher say somethin'…oh, and as for the plane I had Cipher pilot here…well, the X-02 Wyvern looked like a good as well as worthy opponent of the ADFX-01 Morgan. I've used that plane, man. And it kicks-ass! Hoo-rrah!

Anyway! You know the drill, people! Read'n Review! That's an order!

'Til next time.

Semper-Fi! Carry on!