Disclaimer: I don't own Ace Combat. So don't shoot me down or sue me, ok.

Lieutenant Kaiya Vaisala: The general's daughter.

Lieutenant Kaiya Vaisala's flying career almost never happened. Coming from an old established military, the Vaisala's had traditionally joined the 501st infantry regiment. When Kaiya decided to join the air force, her father, General Hugo Vaisala, attempted to stop her application from being accepted. Fortunately for Kaiya, the fierce rivalry between the army and the air force was to work in her favour and she was accepted.

During her basic training, she was involved in several disciplinary incidents relating to her families army background and it was only because of her exceptional skills in the air, that she was not given a dishonourable discharge. This was to be a considerable problem throughout her military career. As a result of her infractions, she was posted to an isolated squadron of F-5 Tiger II's.

When the war began, Kaiya's squadron was posted to the frontlines as a close air support squadron. Over Stonehenge, she was to encounter fellow future ace, Lieutenant Raymond Marcos, who at the time was a member of the Red Baron squadron. They were to later form a firm friendship. It is widely attributed to this friendship that she was transferred to a Mig 29 squadron.

Shortly after joining this squadron, she obtained her first kill, an ISAF Su 37 Terminator. Her squadron was on combat air patrol, when they spotted a flight of ISAF Su-37's below them. From this position, they were able to perform a classic bounce manoeuvre.

After ISAF retreated to North Point, Kaiya's score began to rise. Unlike many Erusian aces of the time, Kaiya was to earn the title ace, not during the good times of the opening stages of the conflict, but instead, at the beginning of the harder times for the Erusian air force. She was to obtain a further six kills intercepting ISAF attacks over captured territory, before being transferred to a squadron of F/A 18 Hornets over difficulties with her commanding officer.

In the F/A 18 Hornet, she found a plane that she truly loved to fly. While she had enjoyed flying the Mig 29 Fulcrum, it's lack of decent BVR weaponry was a constant source of annoyance for her and she had place several requests for the Erusian air force to actually complete upgrading their fighters to the M standard. The F/A 18 Hornet suffered from no such flaw. In this fighter she was to obtain a further three victories as she performed rhubarb sorties over North Point.

On the 31/11/2004, Vaisala's squadron was deployed over Comona Island Rocket Base, along with over fifteen other squadrons in what was to be the single largest aerial engagement of the war. She was able to add another two victories to her kill record before Mobius One engaged her. At the time, she was involved in a dogfight with another ISAF pilot, a Neil Redman, flying a Mirage 2000, when Mobius One flew overhead and was able to perform a classic bounce. She was able to eject from her fighter and was rescued by an ISAF search and rescue team.

On her way to a POW camp, Vaisala was able to escape from her captors and was able to stay on the run for three days, before being recaptured. This was to be the first of several escape attempts, culminating in her successful escape on the 18/3/2005, when she was able to steal a SR-71 Blackbird and was able to reach friendly territory. Overnight she became a celebrity, as the first Erusian POW to escape North Point. Her superiors decided to use her as a propaganda symbol and she was forbidden from any more aerial conflict. At the end of the war, she met Mobius One and they became friends. In late 2007, she suffered an unexpected stroke and died, still the only POW to ever escape North Point.

Her friends describe her as an intelligent and temperamental young woman, with red hair and red eyes.

AN: I was struggling with writers block when I started this chapter. The 501st title comes from Star Wars. Please read and review.