Disclaimer: If I owned Ace Combat, there would be an Ace Combat 7 out now. There isn't. Need I say any more?
Lieutenant Paul Collier: Penal battalion hero.
Paul Collier's military career began on the 19/6/2004, when he was conscripted into the Ricah air force for his compulsory, two-year national service. Because he held a pilot's license, he was assigned to a fighter squadron with only brief flight training.
When the Stonehenge conflict began, his squadron was flying Mig 21 Fishbeds. Despite the Ricah governments determination to avoid being drawn into the conflict, the Erusian forces crossed the Ricah border, Paul's squadron was deployed by his squadron commander, a Captain Pan Barring, against the advancing Erusian forces and was able to delay the Erusian's long enough for the Ricah government to declare war and organise their defences.
It was during this action that Paul was to obtain his first aerial victory. As he was attacking an Erusian convoy, he spotted an Mi-24 Hind A flying nearby. With his pass finished, he pulled his aircraft up and emptied the last of his cannon fire into the helicopter.
In the days that followed, he was to down a further two helicopters, one Mi-8 Hip and one AH-64 Apache.
Despite the fact that the actions of Paul's squadron saved the Ricah government from complete annihilation, the Ricah government refused to acknowledge that it had been in error to ignore the conflict and instead accused the squadron of forcing Ricah into the conflict. After a show trial, the squadron became a penal squadron and re-equipped with Mig-17 Fresco's.
Penal squadrons were given the worst operational equipment and assigned to the most dangerous operations. In theory, a pilot could earn a pardon if he survived a three month tour of operations on a penal squadron, but the commissars who were attached to the squadrons could (and frequently did) extend punishment tours for any offence. These offences included political disloyalty (This might include any grumbling that the pilots might do.), cowardice (again, an often ambiguous charge.) and absence of patriotism (This one was so open to interpretation, that it could be whatever the commissar chose it to be.).
Over the following month, the Ricah forces were forced to fall back in the face of the superior Erusian forces. Lieutenant Paul Collier's squadron experienced the hardest fighting, suffering approximately 85% casualties per mission. During this time period, he was to down one Mig 23 Flogger and one Tu-95 Bear.
Often faced with superior enemy aircraft, Paul and another pilot, Lieutenant Yuri Gardini decided to develop a series of tactics for dealing with their opponents. The notes for dealing with a Yellow squadron aircraft were simple. 'Run and pray!'
This comment was to cause another three months to be added to their punishment tour for 'absence of patriotism'. Still, the new tactics started to pay off during the ISAF retreat to North Point and the squadron's casualty rate dropped. Between this time and the time the ISAF retreated to North Point, he was to down an Su-22 Fitter and an F-5E Tiger II.
Once the ISAF forces reassembled on North Point, Paul's squadron was assigned to provide aerial defence to North Point. In this task, he was to down eight Tu-95 Bears and obtain two joint kills on Mig 21 Fishbeds. (This would not have been possible without the tactics developed by Paul and Yuri, but despite being recognised by several ISAF member states and by other penal squadrons, the Ricah government refused to acknowledge their achievements.)
On the 19/11/2004, his squadron was to fly their last mission with their Mig-17's against the Comberth oil refinery. He was to down a Ka-32 Helix which had been pressed into service by the Erusian's.
On the 21/11/2004 the squadron was re-equipped with Mig 21 Fishbeds. Because the Ricah government did not trust penal squadrons to not defect, the squadron remain on aerial defence duties. It wasn't until the 31/11/2004 that the squadron was to see action once more, this time defending the Comona Island Rocket Base.
Flying against superior Erusian fighters he was unable to obtain any further kills. As he evaded a missile from an Erusian Mig-29 Fulcrum, he flew into the sights of Yellow 4, who fired her cannon and downed his aircraft. Although he sucessfully ejected, he was never found and was declared missing, presumed dead.
It wasn't until the Ricah civil war in 2006 that he was seen again, flying Mig 29 Fulcrums for the military coup forces. Although accurate combat records are almost impossible to obtain from this time period, his enemies referred to him as Demon. This gives about as close an approximation to his skills and reputation during the civil war.
After the successful victory of the coup forces on 21/8/2008, he was offered the position of head of the air force, however he declined this position and disappeared. Rumours as to what happened to him continue to circulate to this day. There are several claims in recent years that he has been spotted in Estovakia, flying both for and against the faction known as 'The Generals'. None of these claims have been verified though and his fate remains a mystery.
Lieutenant Paul Collier is described as having short brown hair and red eyes, with a dour-looking face. His personality is described as both light-hearted and easy going, with a cynical sense of humour.
AN: After reading a story about a Soviet penal squadron, I couldn't resist using the idea. It did occur to me that not all the ISAF countries were necessarily democratic countries and I based the Ricah government off of the USSR. And the reason that you don't encounter ISAF Mig-17's is that they're always attacking the other target. (The real reason that you don't see them is that they're not there, but for the purposes of the plot, they're attacking the other target.)
