A/N This is it! The end of AC5 everyone! One down...several more to go...yikes. We'll get there though! With this, we're one step closer to the end! Hope you all enjoyed this part, and stick around after this for the start of the second part with Ace Combat 6 - Angels of Peace! Whoop!
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Chapter 34 - Who I Am

- Anfang, Northeastern Belka -

- September 2nd, 2011 0900 hrs -

"I never would've thought you would be making breakfast, babe."

Elizabeth giggled as she came downstairs from the bedroom to the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen, Cipher audibly laughing from there. She stood in the entryway connecting the living room to the kitchen and dining room, leaning against one wall to watch Cipher flip a pancake in a rather silly way.

"What? Is it wrong that I want to cook breakfast for my wife after she gave birth a couple days ago?" he asked, glancing back at her with a grin.

"Keep this up and you'll get more then hugs and kisses tonight, big guy."

She gave him one of her own grins before putting on her glasses and walking up behind him. Cipher focused on the food before him, consisting of bacon, eggs and pancakes with some freshly squeezed orange juice waiting on the side, while Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him.

"Remind me again how long we've been married…"

"Thirteen years, Liz. We've been married since 1997." replied Cipher with another laugh. "Why do you always ask me?"

"You know the answer to that one, silly. It's so that I will never forget it."

Elizabeth rubbed her cheek against the base of his neck almost like she was a dog or cat affectionately.

"You're a dork, you know."

"But I'm your dork~!"

The couple laughed happily for a moment, enjoying their closeness and the smell of the delicious food. Elizabeth licked her lips and tugged on his shirt a few times, before started to mess around with him by tapping his arms just to have some fun with him before they started laughing again.

"Hey, stop that!"

"Stop what~? I'm not doing anything!"

"That's it!"

Cipher set the pancake spatula down and spun around, grabbing hold of her hands and holding them firmly up while grinning victoriously. Elizabeth pouted at his superior strength and wiggled around a little before finally giggling and leaning back while still in his grasp.

"Oh no, I'm falling…!"

Cipher rolled his eyes and pulled her right back into his arms, wrapping one around her while pressing her body against his so that there was no way she could pull the same stunt again.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Hehe, well…"

Elizabeth put her arms around his neck and hoisted herself up, wrapping her strong legs around his waist so that her face was level with his, a grin matching Cipher's appearing.

"I don't know, Mr. Man...what can you do~?"

"You seriously can't wait?"

"What? I'm happy to have my husband back! And another thing, with you being gone and leaving me alone all big and pregnant, I had to take care of myself, you know? You owe me!"

"Alright, alright, I get it. Let's make this quick, or breakfast could get ruined."

He turned around and rested Elizabeth's ass on the counter top, holding onto her lower back and moving in to kiss her before their doorbell rang loudly. A cry came from upstairs and the mood was instantly ruined, Elizabeth groaning while Cipher could only chuckle at her dismay.

"I'll handle her, you just go get the door, okay?"

"Sure thing. Feel free to bring her down too, okay? And don't worry, we still have tonight." said Cipher as he let her go before walking out of the kitchen and down the hall towards the front door.

He then unlocked the door and opened it to a man with slicked back hair, slightly tanned skin and a rather formal looking get up. To anyone else he looked like a modest business man or maybe just a travelling solicitor, he had that grin that could make anyone think of him as a scammer. But Cipher knew better, he knew exactly who it was in a matter of seconds.

Even when it had been over sixteen years since the last time he had seen the man's face, like an image burned onto paper, he recalled it almost instantly.

"...What are you doing here?"

"Not happy to see me, Cipher?" he asked with a grin. "I'm hurt. Can I come in?"

"Who is it, babe?"

Elizabeth came walking down the stairs with a pink bundle in her arms and she speed when she saw the man in front of Cipher grinning, the posture of her husband less then welcoming. She joined his side and the man's grin was replaced with another expression as he took a step back.

"Ah, I'm so sorry for intruding miss. I thought to come here and talk with your...husband, it would seem, about something important."

"Who are you, anyways?"

"Let's just say I'm a-

"Riedel." Cipher said, his eyes focused on the man's. "She knows everything...so there's no use in beating around the bush."

The man closed his mouth and snickered a little to himself before nodding his head. They eventually allowed him to enter their home and Cipher closed and locked the door behind them, keeping an eye on him at all times as they went to the living room while the smell of food continually drifted in from the kitchen.

Cipher went back into the kitchen, citing the need to finish breakfast before they talked, and so while they waited Elizabeth sat on her couch while the visitor stood next to a cozy fireplace looking around at all the pictures and memorabilia.

"So I'm assuming this is your home? Might I say, it's very comfortable."

"Um, thanks?"

She took her eyes away from him and looked down on a small opening in the pink bundle in her arms, the man looking at her and taking a few steps over in order to peek over the blanket and see what was inside.

"Oh, congratulations, by the way." he said, seeing the tranquil face of the baby inside. "Boy or girl?"

"It's a girl...and thanks."

"Hands off."

Cipher glared at him as he walked back into the living room carrying two plates of bacon, eggs and pancakes, giving one to Elizabeth while he kept his in his lap as he sat down next to her. With their daughter in one arm she used the other to balance the plate in her lap and eat off of it with a smile.

"I won't do anything, I promise." The man raised his hands up as a way to submit to Cipher's authority in the home.

"So are you going to tell me who he is and why're you're acting so hostile?"

"Elizabeth, this is Lorenz Riedel...he was Gault's Number Seven and right hand man to Kupchenko." stated Cipher with a frown. "He's also one of those people I told you about...and the same one who helped me escape."

Elizabeth gasped and covered her mouth, Lorenz chuckling to himself before humbly raising a hand and stating he was only doing the right thing at the right time.

"I can't seem to escape that part of my life, can I?"

"Why are you here?" questioned Cipher. "If you just dropped by for this, then you can-"

"There's a possibility I've found another."

Cipher stopped dead in his tracks and didn't even get to finish his sentence with Lorenz's interruption, but he didn't really care because of what he had said to stop him. He'd found another, the Belkan had said. Anyone else would've been confused, just like Elizabeth was at first, while Cipher's whole attitude changed immediately.

"Another?"

"Yes, another. I'm sure you know what that means, right? I mean...just talking with you right now, I've already determined that your spacial awareness has almost quadrupled since the last time I've seen you in person. You're stronger, I'm assuming, your body can take much more punishment, and then there's the matter of your eyes being those two colors after all. A typical side effect of our…'meddling'."

"Tell me everything you know, now." growled Cipher.

"No deal, only if you come with me."

"Come with you? To where?" asked Elizabeth. "And just what the hell is going on? Is this dealing with-"

"To where? Well, to Estovakia of course."

- Bright Hill, Oured, Southeastern Osea -

- January 1st, 2015 1000 hrs -

Just like it was five years prior on the day of the speech that brought an end to the war between Osea and Yuktobania, Bright Hill was packed full with as many people that it could fit for the speech about to take place there now. While the news broadcasting stations set up their equipment, Harling was standing behind the main stage going over the notes he had written down onto a couple of notecards before Nikanor put a hand on his friend's shoulder and smiled.

"Relax, my friend. I know you will be able to say the right words."

Harling smiled and chuckled, pocketing the notes and saying, "Perhaps you're right. I've done better without them anyways. Shall we?"

"Indeed."

Together they walked out onto the stage to the podium they used to bring an end to the war now called the Circum-Pacific War. Both men smiled for the cameras and waved as well for the public, but also for themselves since they couldn't help but remember the memories they made as friends and allies during that pivotal speech.

The two world leaders then stood shoulder to shoulder in the exact same position they once did, and slowly the crowd cheering for them began to quiet down. Eventually Bright Hill was totally silent, and the news stations began their coverage of the ordeal when Harling cleared his throat to catch their attention.

"Before I begin, allow me to read an excerpt from 'Aces, Demons, and Ghosts: Mysterious Heroes of the Belkan Conflict - OBN Journal, July 2014 Special Issue'." began Harling before turning left and receiving a newspaper from an aide that he set on the podium.

"Speculations abound over the true identity of the 'Ghosts of Razgriz', a small squadron of fighter pilots which played a key role in resolving the Circum-Pacific War, or the Belkan Conflict, and has since disappeared without a trace. Some still firmly believe that this squadron was in fact the Sand Island detachment of the Osean Air Defense Force 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron, better known as the Sand Island Squadron."

Silent whispers and murmurs came from the crowd and from anyone tuning into the broadcast being played across all the TVs who happened to be on the specific channel their respective news stations had the broadcast on.

"Feared among Yuktobanian troops as the 'Demons of Razgriz', the ferocity of this squadron's combat power is said to have weakened the resolve to fight among many in the front lines. To date, very little information has been obtained regarding the Sand Island Squadron itself. The last recorded account is a report dated December 7th, 2010, stating that all planes from the Sand Island Squadron had been shot down over the Ceres Ocean. No records about them have since been found. There are, however, numerous similarities that connect the Sand Island Squadron to the 'Ghosts of Razgriz'. Whatever the truth may be, the memory of this mysterious squadron, had as both aces and demons — and, at one point, as ghosts — still lives among us."

Harling turned over the page, the rippling of the newspaper projecting itself through the microphones set up on and around the podium, and the crowd listened as he licked his lips to wet them again.

"Vincent Harling, 48th President of the Osean Federation, has announced last year at the 2013 Osean Federation Council Meeting that in the year 2015, the government will release to the public all records from ever department pertaining to the Circum-Pacific War. In a speech, following his announcement, President Harling declared the following: 'We must let time shed light on the truth behind this conflict. In the meantime, the world has already begun to head down a new path. And this path shall go on, as long as the blaze of fire that shines through the darkness is not extinguished.'"

Harling then raised his eyes up and closed the newspaper, looking out over the crowd of expecting men and woman who were eager to hear what he and the Yuke prime minister had to tell them.

They knew that the date they chose to hold this announcement was the anniversary of the attack on Oured, and since then the city had made leaps and bounds in its recovery from the crash that destroyed so much property, and extinguished so many innocent lives. Today was a day meant for remembrance and for a moment of silence, and if what Harling just started off with was anything to go by, they knew what was coming next.

"Today is that day, my fellow countrymen. The release of the documents of the Circum-Pacific War shall be released later today, but before then, I am joined by Prime Minister Nikanor of our sister nation of Yuktobania to tell our stories. The truths that we have seen with our own eyes, of the war, and of those who were part of it."

The crowd started to clap loudly, Harling smiling a little as camera flashes consumed him and Nikanor for a moment. After a minute or so Nikanor was the one to raise his hand, and respectfully the crowd quieted down for the foreign leader and allowed him the silence needed to speak.

"First, the roots of such an unjust war. Dating back to 1995, after the end of the Belkan War, there were those in Belka who were angered at their loss against the Allied Forces, particularly, our two countries of Osea and Yuktobania."

"Calling themselves the 'Grey Men', these high ranking government and military officials, as well as business leaders too, worked in conjunction with two aggressor squadrons they inserted into the Osean Air Defense Force and Yuktobanian Air Force, respectfully. These were the 229th Tactical Fighter Squadron 'Grabacr', and the 5th Tactical Fighter Squadron 'Ofnir'. The former also masqueraded as the Osean 8492nd Squadron, to hide their ulterior motives."

Harling and Nikanor went on to fully explain how their respective governments were infiltrated by agents that removed them from power, and how they were locked away and stripped of their most basic human rights. Nikanor was detained within a secluded camp somewhere in the Yuktobanian tundra, and Harling in Stier Castle deep within Belka.

They told the world of the conditions they were forced to live with, until they were both rescued by those who had figured out the deception occurring behind the scenes.

"But that is enough about us. Right now, we'll discuss our own personal matters with those who were the real heroes of this war."

"The Ghosts of Razgriz, the Demons of Razgriz, whatever you would like to call them." said Harling. "To me, however, they were my personal squadron...the Razgriz Air Command Squadron."

A huge hush fell over the crowd now when Harling referred to the almost mythical squadron in such a way. That squadron not only appeared to be a very real squadron, but one personally employed and commanded by the president of Osea himself?

It was astonishing to hear, and they still had more coming.

"For that, however, we shall let others do the talking for us."

Harling then turned his body to the left and one of his aides walked out onto the stage to receive a disc from him, the crowd murmuring as to what the disc contained. The aide walked back off the stage and Nikanor waited silently with Harling as television screens set up on either side of the stage for the viewing pleasure of the audience turned on and showed the symbol of Bright Hill for a brief moment over a black background.

This same image was fed to the news teams there on scene to broadcast over their respective channels as well, so that their audiences around the world weren't in the dark. Another few seconds passed before the screen vanished and turned into an image of what seemed to be the back wall of an unknown hangar, and a simple fold-out chair resting what everyone could assume was the source of the video.

Then before their very eyes, one by one came on the members of the mythical Razgriz squadron, introducing themselves to the world and telling a little bit about themselves. Whether it was where they were born, what school they went too, or just something about themselves that they thought would be worth sharing, they said so. Kei Nagase, Hans Grimm, and Marcus Snow, all three of them spoke.

When they were finished, the camera cut and skipped a few minutes to show that it was edited to make up for the lapse in time. Then came one last person, a man with slightly messy brown hair and a little bit of a beard, as well as a sling holding a busted arm and some healing scratches on his face.

"That thing's on, right?" he asked, nodding when the person replied with a yes.

The man then sat down in the chair and adjusted his busted arm into a more comfortable position before fixing his gaze on the camera, letting the world see his unique different colored eyes.

"Well then...I presume that if you're watching this, then Harling must've kept his promise. I bet you're wondering who I am, right? Well…'who I am'...is that my name's Aleksandar Costner, or Alek for short, and...there's a lot I have to get off of my chest. Firstly...I was born in Dinsmark, capital of Belka, back before everything went to shit. When it did I left and instead of letting the skills I developed while at the Belkan Air Force Academy, I became a mercenary pilot and fought for money. Then came along 1995…"

The crowd were deeply intrigued by this person speaking, since he spoke in a way that was as different and unique as the red and gold eyes he sported. There was something about him that told them all he had seen more then his fair share, and was more mature then even Snow.

"The outbreak of the Belkan War arrived and I was hired by Ustio to compensate for their small force and lack of good pilots. Turns out I got paired with a pretty famous mercenary at the time, a guy named Larry Foulke. They called him 'Solo Wing Pixy' because he was able to return to base even after losing one of his jet's wings on a mission. From that, we were made into the 6th Air Division's 66th Tactical Fighter Squadron...the Galm Team."

With astounding bravery and almost a six sense for the reactions the world made to his international reveal, Cipher laid everything out that he had within himself for the world to hear. How he had been the Demon Lord of the Round Table who fought the Belkans and the AWWNB, which he also stated were the ones who attacked Oured, and how he'd been the leader of the Wardog Squadron all the way up until they faked their deaths and became the Ghosts of Razgriz.

Nothing was left out on the table, and with his final closing remarks he leaned forward and addressed the camera directly with an expression that oozed significance for what he was going to say next.

"Listen, everyone...Nagase, Grimm, Snow and I...please, don't try to find us. We're alive and well, don't worry about that, but we want to be left alone too. We've had our time in the skies, well, perhaps not me, but you get my point. But don't think we won't be waiting and watching for when we're needed again."

Cipher smiled and winked at the camera before giving a salute to the world. "Until that time comes, which I hope doesn't come too soon, everyone. Farewell."

- St. Petersburg Air Base, St. Petersburg, Northeastern Estovakia -

- January 18th, 2015 1357 hrs -

"There he is, that guy again…"

"Who is that guy...one of the mercenaries? I thought they all left after the end of the war two years ago."

St. Petersberg Air Base was one of only a couple of large air bases belonging to the Estovakian nation, since the country was still trying to rebuild itself after the civil war that concluded two years prior. The Eastern Faction were the victors, only because they weren't above hiring foreign mercenaries underhandedly to boost their own forces, and for another very big reason. They were able to get their hands on classified Belkan documents from Project Pendragon, and with a certain individual's oversight, they constructed a powerful aerial fleet of five heavy command cruisers that completely dominated the skies and swiftly won them victories time and time again.

Those very vessels were off the coast doing a training mission out over the Razgriz Straits, leaving its pilots there at the base, and they could not stop talking about the two pilots who had remained there despite being mercenaries.

"You don't know who that guy is…? He's the Demon Lord!" whispered one to his buddy next to him. "Didn't you watch that broadcast?"

"What about the other guy…?"

"That's the Shark, Akula they call him...he was the leader of an elite Yuke squadron during that war a few years ago. His records gotten so good they're comparing him to that other Yuke that finally got caught in Oured…"

"Zubov, right? That's the guy?"

"Yeah, that's his name."

"I heard that they're working with the Strigon Team…"

Their whispers were quieted down when the leader of that very team they were speaking of walked in, his steely eyed gaze going once around the room before he nod his head once.

"Everyone, we will be conducting drills in 0100 hours once again."

There were groans that resonated from some of the Estovakian pilots, but a sharp glance from the older man put them to bed real quick.

"Might I ask why?" questioned the man sitting with the Yuke, his left eye opening to reveal a bright golden iris.

"Preparation for the coming battles ahead. In several months time...we are invading Emmeria."