A/N: Ace Combat belongs to Namco/Bandai and Project ACES.
Prologue
Every decisions have it's own consequences ~ unknown
Military Maximum Security Prison (MMSP) "Pre Mortem", Central U.S.E.A
21/11/2064, 0956hrs (Local Time)
MMSP, a prison known for it's top security and dangerous inmates. The baddest of the bad were locked up in this place for their entire lifetime. Getting access to this place requires overly long paper works and tight examinations, only a few people were allowed to face the inmates and today, a reporter is about to meet the most notorious inmate of them all.
Reporter and field journalist Wendy Wallbright walks along with his cameraman and two cell guards, her assignment is to interview a man known as Jonathan von Richthofen. According to some history books she read, Richthofen is a former ace of the Luftwaffe and leader of the infamous Jagdeschwader 291 or more commonly known as Adler Squadron. He was locked up after committing an act of treason against the Joint Allied Forces (JAF) and side himself with Ouroboros, the multinational terrorist organization.
The group finally arrived at the cell Richthofen was held, the guards unlock the keys that holds the metal door so the reporter can come inside the cell. Once it's open, she walked inside the cell and once she's inside the guards quickly lock the door again, an automatic tranquilizer gun beeps as it tracks any movements inside the cell.
"Remember miss Wallbright, you only have 30 minutes." The guard reminded,
Wendy rest her eyes on the inmate whose sitting on his bed, she moved closer to the man known as Richthofen. At first, he didn't notice the two's presence but Wendy gave a loud cough, finally getting his attention. Reluctantly, Wendy tries to greet the old man in front of her,
"Um..Hello, Mr. Richthofen."
Richthofen raised an eyebrow,
"I didn't expect to have any visitors today." He spoke with a thick Deutschlandean accent. "Please miss—"
"Wallbright if you please." Wendy cuts him,
"Right, Miss Wallbright." He chuckled for the unexpected rhyme he just spoke before standing up and hands a chair for his visitor. "Please, have a seat."
Wendy sat down, taking a notepad and a pen as the old man sat back to his bed. Without any further delay, Wendy took out a note containing a series of Questions for him,
"Allright Mr. Richthofen, I'm from the Daily Times and I'm here to find out your involvement on the early stages of the Drakonian war."
Hearing this Richthofen frowned, Wendy noticed this reaction and decides to go easy for the old man.
"It's okay Mr. Richthofen, if you don't want to tell it to me, it will be just fine."
"No Miss Wallbright, I actually wanted to tell somebody my version of that war."
Wendy knew she just hit a goldmine.
"Then please sir." She spoke slowly. "Tell me everything."
"Allright then. Everything you know Miss Wallbright," Wendy immediately took her pen and holds her notepad, ready to write some important points. "Everything you've read in the history books are nothing but lies."
"What do you mean by that Mr. Richthofen?" she cuts in. "Are you saying there's some kind of conspiracy going on for 33 years? Did the government lied to us after all this time?"
"In a sense, yes." Richthofen shrugged. "Do you know the old saying History was written by the victors?"
Wendy shook her head,
"Well let me explain it to you." He paused for a moment before continuing. "History is written by those who survived it. They bask in glory, knowing that their tale made it through the trials of time. But sometimes, they only know half the truth of the war itself, incorrect statements and false accusations were used to fill in the blanks they can't fill on their own."
Richthofen sighed as he turns to the small window near his bed, the morning sun shine through it as he continued,
( watch?v=-dIBsgy0Y6Y)
"In short, history was written by liars. Those who knew the truth were gone, eaten by time." Richthofen lowered his head as memories of battles in the past came flooding his brain. "Including myself."
Wendy stopped writing notes and glanced at the old man in front of her, she felt pity for him after hearing that last statement.
"Nobody will never hear the tales from those who lost in the war." He continued. "Their tales fell on deaf ears because the public will never listen to the losers, they always prefer the winners."
"Well I'm here to hear your tale Mr. Richthofen." Wendy smiled at the old man. "I promise that I will write every single detail you spoke."
Richthofen was silent, he stood up and gazed at his cell's small window. He saw a flock of birds flying by. He sighed, remembering his glory days as the pride of his fatherland. Richthofen loved flying more than anything else, the sky always greeted him in open arms every time he took off from the runway, but now, he's just a broken bird, locked in chains on the ground. He turned his attention back at the reporter and sat back down.
"Allright, the truth about the war was…."
Wendy began to write every single word Richthofen spoke. She realized that Richthofen's words wasn't aimed directly at her, he's keeping his memories inside those words. Wendy continued to write those words while circling some important facts about the war.
33 Years ago the cold war draws to it's end,
The Union became increasingly unstable due to it's funds being used to develop nuclear weapons,
We all thought that the Union will slowly crumble by their own hands,
But we are wrong.
Long live Ouroboros…
Kogti Air Force Base, Airspace K067 (Talon's Tip), Southern Drakonia
25/12/2064, 0340hrs (Local Time)
Kogti Air Base, one of the few base which dedicated for protecting the holy motherland of Drakonia in the north. Since the beginning of the war Kogti have served it's purpose and dedication well to the country it was built on. Many things happened here during the 32 year span of the war and one of the most noticeable and infamous moment is happening now.
Along the dark corridors of the base, a dark and tall figure walks through the dimly lit corridor. The figure is a well-built man with dark grey hair, a shaven jaw line and some shading below his eyes. He had six red stripes, three each on either side on his neck which resembles a shark's gills. He wears a dark grey jumpsuit and the flight gear and on his right hand he's holding a small briefcase containing all his daily things and needs.
The man was unmoved, he's been planning this act ever since he realized he's no longer worthy serving the holy motherland he's born on. He walks into the end of the corridor and opens the door which leads to the hangars. The bright moonlight shines his grey hair as he walked to the farthest hangar on the base.
Once he entered the hangar, he found a mechanic working on a grey colored Sukhoi Su-35S/BM "Flanker-E" as the JAF countries would call it. The Sukhoi Su-35S/BM is another modernization of the original Su-35 and Su-35S, it's avionics have been tuned up and it's fuselage was given a smaller radar-cross section to boost up the plane's stealth. The Su-35S/BM also don several upgraded avionics from the unproduced Su-37 'Terminator', Su-47/S-32 'Berkut' and even the PAK-FA.
The fighter's overall color is a dark gray shading with a lighter shade of gray on the bottom, the number 06 carved just below the cockpit and bottom tailfin additionally a Drakonian air force insignia on it's tail and wingtips, but the most striking and noticeable feature of the plane is a large shark mouth painted on its nose.
"Is the fighter ready?" the pilot asks the mechanic in his native language.
"Ready as it will ever be captain." The mechanic assured. "Major Maresyev has already left with the third plane, I think it's best if you leave immediately."
"Da." The pilot nodded. "I just hope he don't get shot down first."
He climbed on the fighter as the mechanic opens the hangar doors. With one last salute to the mechanic, He leads his fighter down to the runway before taking off into the night sky. The mechanic watches on from the ground as he muttered.
"Good luck."
With that both the mechanic and the pilot disappeared into the darkness of the night, never to be seen again.
Somewhere in Ajagaran territory
25/12/2064, 1940hrs (Local Time)
Night falls and the cold air breezes through a small building on a small airfield. On the airfield's apron, five F-15SE Silent Eagles parked neatly next to each other. All of them were painted blood-red with a darker shade on the wingtips and the rudder tips.
Inside the building were nine men discussing something among themselves. They're all wearing the same light grey jumpsuits with an eagle insignia on their shoulders. They continued to chat in their respective language until another man enters the room, the man is in his mid thirties, sporting a jet black hair and a shaven jaw line. He wears the same jumpsuit as the other men but his rank shows that he's a high-ranking Major.
The other men went silent immediately as the man sat down at the end of the table, his dark blue eyes scanned everybody in the room, piercing every soul who dared stared him back. After a while he began to speak.
"What's the status on them?" he said with a very thick Deutschland accent.
"Everything's going good sir." A young man replied not before saluting to his superior.
The major raised his eyebrow before speaking again,
"Explain."
"The Ajagarans have already began their move but the Animans are still neutral on the situation….. But the Judaean line is slowly stabilizing." He lowered his tone during that last part. "Should we handle them first?"
"No." the man replied sternly. "I'm sure he can handle it on his own."
20 minutes passed by like the blowing wind for the major, but apparently this doesn't apply to his wingmen. Before long, a member stood up and whined.
"He's late sir! I knew we can't trust him!"
The Major just stared at him with his ice-cold gaze, this was enough to made him stop and sat back down, trembling with fear.
"Forgive me sir." He trembled in fear. "I…I…didn't mean to…"
Before the member can finish his sentence, the major shot him in the chest, killing him. All eyes fell to the fallen pilot as he sat back down, putting his custom-made Glock away.
"I won't tolerate such behavior in my squad." He remarked coldly. "Do you all understand?"
"Yes sir." The other members said in unison. Soon the roaring sound of jet engines thunders down the airfield's runway. The major smirked and stood up before walking calmly to the exit. The other members walked behind him in unison.
Once they're outside, they're greeted by 3 more planes taxiing to the parking spot right next to the red F-15SEs. The 3 planes are F-22A Raptors, the canceled model of the newer F-22M Raptor. The pilots climbed out from their cockpits and walked towards the major and his men. Two of the pilots saluted the major while the other one just stood in silence.
The major smiled as he approached the pilot and greeted him.
"Good to see you."
One month later….
Pearl Islands, Southwestern Atlantic region, Atlantic Ocean
17/01/2065, 1040hrs (Local Time)
( watch?v=lbapsli9er8)
"Anax 1 to all units. We're approaching the target area."
Pearl islands, the once former oasis for naval ships who wanted to cross the wide Atlantic sea now just a barren wasteland trying to recover from the nuclear attack it took 33 years ago. The place itself have been cleaned from any radioactive substances but the remains of the harbor were never cleaned.
In short, this place is a perfect place to hide something.
"Anax 2 roger that."
"3 copies."
"Sweepers acknowledged."
Now the wave of the war is going to strike these islands again. New Intel suggests that the Drakonians had developed a new weapon and the container ship carrying it was suspected to have refueled in these island chains. The Animan Apache squadron "Anax" in addition of the Ajagaran Black Hawk squadron "Sweeper" was tasked to deal with this threat. Their mission is simple, find the container ship and find the weapon so it can be brought back and analyzed by Mobian Corp.
"Lancers center call sign Knight to helicopters. Intel has confirmed the ship's location further north of the island. They've also detected some Drakonian forces on the ground, be careful out there."
"Roger that Knight, we'll keep an eye out for it.." Anax 2 replied the commanding operator.
"Even if those yanks try to shoot us, we'll take their heads off, this is our turf." Anax 1 added. "Let's crush those Draks."
"Yeah. Gunners, you ready?" Sweeper 1's pilot asked the two hawk-gunners sitting in the back.
"Ready as I ever be cap." The gunner on the right stated.
"Same with me." The gunner on the left added.
With that the helicopter squadron advances to their target area. Old buildings were seen in the horizon. Those buildings are what's left of the once great JAF harbor before a nuke wipe it out from the map. The team made it to the ruins, looking out for any Drakonian presence in the area.
"This place brings me back." Sweeper 2's pilot sighed.
"To what?" another pilot snapped. " You're not even born yet when Tres Funera happened!"
There's a moment of silence before Sweeper 2 responds grimly:
"My father died here."
Before the other pilot can reply, an RPG whizzed pass the Black Hawks, enough to make them scatter from their formation.
"RPG!" exclaimed Sweeper 3 as he released two flares to confuse the missile. "Gunners let's rock and roll!"
"You got it!"
There are a few Drakonian soldiers on the ground, one of them holding an RPG launcher. Sweeper 3's right hawk gunner aimed his minigun at the soldiers before opening fire at them. Bullets whizzed passed the soldiers like the wind, one soldier got hit square in the face, he soon drop dead along with his comrades. The RPG launcher launches another missile at the Black Hawk, failing to see the gunners minigun is able to intercept the missile in mid-air The RPG launcher was quickly dealt with a few short burst from the gunners.
"Hostiles silenced cap." The gunner stated.
"Good work, moving on." Sweeper 3 replied, advancing with the other helicopters.
The group arrived at the ruins, every pilot scans the ground aswell in the air for any enemy presence in the area. Among the sounds of the helicopters' spinning blades the sounds of gunfire was heard from the ground. The Drakonians came out from their hiding to shoot down these annoying flies out of the sky.
"Welcoming party boys." Anax 1 exclaimed as his Apache positioned itself for an attack. "Sweepers give those yanks hell."
"Roger that cap." Sweeper 1 replied. "Gunners, take 'em out."
The gunners aimed their miniguns at the soldiers standing below the ground or above in the rooftops, each weave of gunfire sends the soldiers to their knees as their bodies being turned into swiss cheese. An RPG launcher launches a missile at Sweeper 4 but the gunners easily take out the missile with their miniguns, however this launch was merely a distraction for another RPG being launched from behind. The missile hit the tail rotor, leaving the Black Hawk to spiral down into the ground.
"This is Sweeper 4 we're hit and going down!" the pilot exclaims between the chopper's warning sounds. The crews braced for impact as the wounded helicopter crashed shortly afterwards.
"Sweeper lead to Knight be advised, Sweeper 4 is down." Sweeper 1 stated to base command.
"Knight acknowledges Sweeper, A rescue party is on their way. Continue to engage the hostiles." Knight responded.
"Sweeper." Sweeper 1 replied before he re-positions the Black Hawk for another assault.
More Drakonian soldiers arrived and this time they brought mobile Anti-Air Guns to shoot down the allied helicopters.
"They've got AA guns." Sweeper 2 said. "Anax flight please neutralize those guns for us."
"Anax copies." Came the reply. The Apache fires rocket pods at the mobile AA gun, disintegrating the vehicle along with those onboard. More vehicles showed up but Anax team handled them with ease, leaving Sweeper team to deal with the soldiers. After a while the area is marked clear of any enemy resistance.
"Area neutralized. Moving on to the next one." Anax 1 announced.
The team advanced to the next area, which is the harbour's former bunkers and barracks. By now the enemy has come out from their hiding and preparing for the choppers to arrive, several RPG launchers launches their load at the Black Hawk formation and the AA gunners fires at the Apaches.
"Whoa." Anax 2 whistled as his Apache dodge the incoming gunfire. "That's some shit they've got down there."
"Quit talking and start firing." Anax 1 barked firmly, shooting an AA truck with the Apache's 30mm chain gun. The truck's engine caught fire and it's crews abandoned it and for a good reason. Several seconds later the truck exploded, blowing some soldiers away.
Another RPG was launched at the Apaches but they took action by releasing some flares and retaliated by firing their rocket pods at the launcher. The soldier carrying the RPG released his weapon and start running but the weapon got to him first, incinerating him. After the Apaches taken care of the AA trucks, the Black Hawks moved in to finish off the remaining soldiers.
"Gunners flame 'em!" Sweeper 3 exclaims through the hum of the miniguns' fire.
Soon the rest of the enemy soldiers were wiped clean by the helicopters and the team moves on to a different area, more precisely a large crater. The crater itself have been filled with seawater and the corals and reefs are slowly colonizing the harbor's ruins which sank to the bottom of the ocean. The area is slowly rehabilitating itself after the nuclear waste had been cleaned. Each pilots and the crew on-board had different thoughts when they see the crater but there's one thing they had in mind.
The team passed the crater and heads to the place where the container ship. Though they passed several buildings which is the harbor's former main command building and the old airstrip. When the team arrived near the airstrip, something on the right catches Anax 2's attention. He turned his attention to the thing and saw one Mi-24 "Hind" heading towards him.
"Woah shit!" Anax 2 barked as he and his co-pilot maneuvered the Apache out from the Hind's path. The battle between the two helicopters was inevitable.
"Cap, I've got a Hind here." Anax 2 spoke, trying to keep his cool. "Mind helping out?"
"Roger 2. I'm sending Sweeper 2 to help you." Anax 1 replied. "I'm gonna take out those other Hinds on the ground."
With that Sweeper 2 arrived just in time to help out Anax 2 while Anax 1 and the others head over to the hangars where the other Hinds are waiting to take off. Once they got closer, they saw three Hinds ready for take off and two Yak-141 "Freestyles" starting up.
"Damn, they've got Freestyles too?" Sweeper 3 spoke in disbelief.
"It'll be hell for us if those things took off." his co-pilot pointed out.
"Damn right." Anax 1 replied. "Sweepers. Give those Freestyles hell."
"Got it chief." Sweeper 1 replied, positioning his Black Hawk so the gunner can get a clear shot. The soldiers on the ground opened fire in a desperate attempt to protect their planes but they're wiped out by Sweeper 3's gunners.
Meanwhile, Anax 2 and Sweeper 2 still got their hands full on the Hind. They devised a plan to shoot the Hind quickly so they can help out the others. Anax 2 baits the Hind into chasing him while Sweeper 2 and the gunners waited for the precise moment. The three helicopters danced around with Sweeper 2's gunners waiting for a clear shot at the Hind's cockpit, when they had the chance the gunners unleashed all they've got on the Hind. The Hind's pilots were killed instantly when the bullets penetrated their glass cockpit and soon enough the Hind started spiraling down and crashed at the airstrip.
"Hind down." Sweeper 2 announced. "Good work gunners, Anax."
"Welcome Sweep." Both Anax 2 and the gunner complied. "Now let's get back to the action."
The two helicopters flies back, just in time when the others had finished wiping out the soldiers and their vehicles. One Freestyle tried to take off but Anax 1 and 2 destroyed it in time. Soon enough the team finished clearing the airstrip and heads over to the last known position of the container ship. Once they arrived, the container ship "Northern Demon" had already sailed to the open ocean, Anax 1 contacted Knight for further details.
"Anax to Knight. We have the Northern Demon in sight."
"Good work." Knight complimented. "You're cleared to neutralize the ship and secure it's cargo."
"Roger that Knight. Anax out." Anax 1 ended the transmission before switching to his team's frequency. "Alright, you're all cleared to engage the ship."
"Copy that chief." Sweeper 1 replied.
As if on cue, the Drakonian soldiers on the ship opened fire at the team. One RPG was launched and nearly hit Anax 2. Anax 1 retaliated by firing the Apache's 30mm cannon at the soldier carrying the RPG and Sweeper 1's left gunner wipes out the soldiers on the deck. More soldiers came pouring out from the bridge but Sweeper 2's right gunner intercept them in time, on the deck several Drakonian soldiers dropped dead from the minigun's fire but two soldiers manages to escape and hide inside one of the crates.
"Damn!" the soldier cursed in his native language. "Our mission have failed. What shall we do now!?"
But his comrade was silent and calm, as if this unexpected attack doesn't change anything. He turned to his comrade and smirked.
"Then we shall give those proud vermins a taste of our new weapon." He activated his communicator and spoke. "Do it."
Back in the air, the team is just finishing wrapping up the remaining soldiers.
"That's the last of 'em." Sweeper 1 spoke. "Okay let's prepare a drop for our troo—"
But before he could finished his sentence, a strange and ominous buzzing sound was heard on everyone's radio frequency. Before they can find where the sound is coming from, all the helicopter's systems, computers and main engine stopped working.
"What the HELL!?" Sweeper 1 exclaimed as the Black Hawk starts descending to the sea. "Everyone! Brace for impact! We're going down!"
"WE"RE ALL GOING DOWN!" another pilot screamed in disbelief.
"NO!"
All hell breaks loose as the Black Hawks and the Apaches ditched into the sea. Then there's nothing but the sounds of the container ship's engine and the sea breeze. The surviving Drakonian soldiers come out from their hiding and saw what's left of the allied helicopters. One of them smirked, imitating the allied forces' salute and spoke in an accented English:
"Good night allied vermins."
A/N: The story takes place in an alternate universe.