Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Combat, nor any ideas or names which have been conceived by Namco.
"In war, men are nothing.
It is the leader who is the head and the heart,
the whole of an army."
-Napoleon Bonaparte
"An Army is a team;
lives, sleeps, eats, fights as a team.
This individual heroic stuff is a lot of crap."
-George S. Patton
In the Mouth of Hell : The Belkan Conflict
A Tale of War, Honor, and Hope
From those who were there
Foreword
The Belkan Conflict, also known as the Circum Pacific War, has always been shrouded in mystery and subject to so much conjecture that it has been extremely difficult to separate fact from legend. This war, which took place only twenty years ago, eventually ended in the era of peace which we enjoy today. However, the first thing that comes to mind when the Belkan Conflict is mentioned is that legendary fighter squadron known as the "Aces of Razgriz". These pilots came, seemingly out of nowhere, to defeat the Belkan aggressors along with their superweapons, and bring about the next great era of prosperity to our world. This squadron, like that war in which they participated, has been bombarded with so many different myths and written about in so many books, fiction and otherwise, that no solid truth remains to explain their identities or their history.
In order to understand and comprehend the Circum Pacific War, and this group of seemingly godlike flyers, we must understand and comprehend the conflict which took place fifteen years previously.
The Principality of Belka had fought several wars of world domination, clashing with the allied powers of Yuktobania and Osea. Thirty-five years ago, with the dream of global dominion still fresh in their minds, and a newfound industrial capacity, Belkan forces poured out of the northern lands to wage one last desperate battle against the world. The allies were pushed to their limits, but Belka could never muster enough manpower, materials or leadership for total victory. The Belkan's supply network was unable to keep up with their forces' rapid advances. Deprived of food and ammunition, the fearsome Belkan divisions were surrounded and destroyed piecemeal.
The allies had quickly advanced to the mountains that served as Belka's southern border. Osean and Yuktobanian leaders had learned from their mistakes. This time around, they would accept nothing less than unconditional surrender and occupation of the country of Belka. The Belkan leadership knew how dire their situation was. The country that they fought so hard to create and strengthen would be literally wiped off the map. As a solution, they decided that only seven cities of that country would be wiped off the map. The seven cities were near a location known as the "Northern Gate". The Gate was a narrow valley which laid between two mountain ranges, and was the only ground route into greater Belka. One morning, when the weather was cloudy, a massive burst of light appeared from the far side of those mountains. It is said that some five thousand people outside of the blast radius lost their sight in that moment, a few even as far away as Oured.
The Belkans had simultaneously detonated seven nuclear warheads onto the same number of their own cities near the Northern Gate. Millions were instantly incinerated, and millions more died of the resultant fallout. The Gate and parts of the surrounding northern area remain radioactive to this day.
Faced with a barrier of radiation which would defeat any advance, the allied forces had to content themselves with entombing the Belkans in their icy graveyard to the far north. Total victory was not won, and although Belka no longer had it's industrial infrastructure or it's powerful military, it remained an independent nation with a stable monarchy.
There were many reasons that Belka was defeated in that final, catastrophic war. One of the chief reasons is that the skies above the advancing allied forces were kept clear due to the efforts of the Osean Air Corps, which was widely known to be the best in the world. One pilot in particular stood out from the rest. He was known only as "The Skymaster" and to some, "The Flying Savior of Osea". By his own wishes, his name and appearance were never released to the public. He knew that he would receive a lot of recognition, something for which he did not care. Today, this man is rarely mentioned anywhere, save history textbooks.
Now, only after knowing that story can you hope to understand the story of the feared "Demons of Razgriz", later know as the praised "Aces of Razgriz".
As you may have gathered, I am that journalist who met those young and humble pilots on that little island twenty years ago. I arrived at Sand Island Air Corps Base in a purely professional light, but as events rapidly unfolded, I knew that I had found the adventure of a lifetime, an adventure that would be spent alongside the greatest people I have ever met.
This is not a narrative in the traditional sense. Every word is taken from the journals, memoirs, and the speech of these legends. Nothing has been edited, censured, or changed in any way. Yes, my own experiences are included in this tale, as well.
I earnestly hope that once you have completed this reading, you will understand the facts behind the rumors, the truth behind the myths, and that you will be able to paint your own picture of that dreadful time when the skies were streaked with the red of blood.
-Albert Genette