25 NOV., 2005 Near a disputed border

"Oh, him? Yeah, I know him. It's going to take awhile … it happened years ago."

Gunfire can be heard in the background as the screen fades in to show a soldier in ragged leather sitting and cradling an AK. The man's face is cut off by the widescreen lens.

"Did you know … that there are three kinds of aces? Those who seek strength. Those who live for pride. And those who can read the tide of battle. Those are the three. ... And him? ... He was a true ace."

He was a fighter pilot they called 'Solo Wing Pixy.' He was a colleague of the man I seek.

Screen changes to black.

10 years ago, there was a war that engulfed the world. On one side of the Pacific, the Union of Yuktobanian Socialist Republics was fighting to complete its own revolution alongside like minded groups and the Osean Federation. The Yukes consider this part of the conflict to be the resolution of their original 'Glorious Revolution.'

A panning shot of photographs on an aged table. One image is of a group of Yuke soldiers saluting the Yuktobanian flag as it's raised above a damaged palace. Another is of a group of officers talking with each other. One is a Yuktobanian, one Osean, and another Verusan.

On the other side was another that flared up just as the first was winding down. We call this one, 'The Belkan War.' And in that war was a pilot who trailed across the sky and disappeared from history

Another panning shot but this time of a thick book. Beneath it and popping out from the top, a magazine with a horseman statue can be seen. The cover of the book is a photo shot towards the sky between two rows of buildings. Two B2 bombers can be seen clearly as they fly away at a low altitude. You see only half of the title but you can guess the rest from the spine. '1995, Front Line: A Record of the Belkan War'.

He was a lone mercenary who inspired both fear and admiration.

Cut to a black and white photograph taken inside of the cockpit of a fighter jet. Looking to the forward right, it captures two F-15's as they peel off fully loaded. The lead Eagle has darkened wingtips while the left trailing one has its right one darkened.

He is the man I seek.

The camera zooms in on the lead plane.

And so…

Cut back to Pixy.

… with the words of "Solo Wing," the curtain rises.

"It was a cold and snowy day. We had been scrambled to deal with an incoming flight of bombers. By this time, our division had been whittled down to two understrength flights and a full one. There was just Crow, Trident, and me, Galm."

A slideshow of photos flash by of a snowy mountainscape with the last of them including shots of an airfield contained within a flat valley.

Pixy, along with the other remaining squadrons, were stationed at Valais Air Base on the eastern mountains of Ustio.

A small flash animation of a map of Ustio is flooded with red from the north. The only untouched parts are a sliver of the southern bulge and the east on the border with Ratio.

Their numbers had been decimated by the relentless and effective Belkan Air Force. The professional wing of the Ustio Air Force was lost in the very beginning. By the 2nd of April, the only pilots left in Ustio's ranks were the mercenaries of the 6th air division.

Cut back to Pixy.

"It all started on that snowy day. He was merged in with me and made flight lead right before contact."

Pixy is seen laughing.

"It was probably because I had pissed off the base commander the day before."

Pixy shakes his head and sighs.

"We were all stressed. As rushed as we all were, I allowed it and followed his lead. I wasn't expecting much. Our only orders were to eliminate the flight. It was a short battle and a free-for-all. In the end he bagged more than I thought he would. My first impression was … he had potential."

A cut to a pan down of a government document. From the Osean Ministry of Defense, it is labeled top secret with the title, 'Details regarding Offensive Campaign No. 4101'.

The Belkan War is shrouded in mystery. But now, a decade after the peace accords, a portion of the records was finally released. I quickly got a hold of it. Wanting more details, I acquired information from unknown sources.

Another shot fades in as a blood drop falls. 'Producer: An Asylum inmate.' A horizontal pan of sepia-toned stacks of books and papers fades in from the right.

There was a reason for my obsession.

'Director: A hackjob of a far better work.'

The credits fade away and are replaced by a map. A title bar dissolves in from the bottom left.

The roots of the war lie in the Belkan Federal law review that took place in 1988.

The map shows a topographical view of the central part of the Osean continent. Belka as it was before 1988 fades in, colored yellow. The title bar states, '1987 | The Osean Continent'.

The map fades to a white outline version and zooms in on Belka with the eastern province borders shown. The title changes: '17th Dec., 1987 | The amendment of federal Belkan law.'

Belka, suffering from economic strife, permitted its eastern territory to secede.

The northeast province fades to wide. The title changes: '8th Feb., 1988 | The northeast declares their independence and establishes Mons as the new capital.'

It zooms in even further with the focus on the southeastern province. '12 May, 1988 | The southeast declares their independence and establishes Directus as the new capital.'

And the Republic of Ustio was born.

'Written by: A bunch of monkeys and a typewriter.'

But Belka's economic troubles did not subside.

The map and title is shown again. '29 Aug., 1991 | The northern territories are sold off to independent and FATO states.' Parts of Belka's eastern border are faded out.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the situation, the world Superpower Osea continued to flourish. Even embroiled in the Yuktobanian Resolution, it was able to take the Great Lakes region, giving a meager amount of help in return.

The map zooms slightly out and Osea turns blue. The blue advance continues further into western Belkan land just past the Great Lakes. '29 Aug., 1991 | The northern islands and the five great lakes are ceded to Osea.'

The map changes to consolidate the new border. Eastern Belka has split into the two states of Gebet and Recta. Ustio has its eastern portion sheared off by Ratio. '16th Dec., 1991 | Territory reformations are made.'

'Extras provided by: the lowest bidder.'

Amidst the economic panic, an extreme right-wing party took power within Belka, aiming to restore strength and stability to the nation.

Cut to a picture of the Belkan flag waving in the wind.

In a few years, they seemingly succeeded.

The map reappears. Gebet is colored yellow. '20 Oct.,1993 | Gebet surrenders its independence to Belka.'

The newly formed countries of Gebet and Recta, which had fallen into turmoil, were brought back into the fold.

Recta is merged into Belkan yellow. '4 Apr., 1994 | Recta is reannexed.'

But Belka wasn't whole yet.

Cut to - 'Special Thanks: The Ace Combat development team.'

And, on March 25th, 1995, with the discovery of natural resources in Ustio, Belka began to invade its neighbors.

The map returns. Belkan yellow starts to surge out with red arrows across Ustio, Osea, and Sapin. '25th Mar., 1995 | The Belkan Invasion of neighboring countries begins.'

After a moment, cut to black.

It was the beginning of the Belkan War.

The Belkan War: A Demon's Tale

Author's Notes (11/1/2017):

Roll credits! *Ding*

This was what I meant by "documentary" style chapter. If you have visual imagination, great! If not, then sorry. Tomorrow's/Next chapter will be simple narrative again. The next three chapters deal with Operation Crossbow, otherwise known as the first mission of Ace Combat Zero.

I'm assuming you've played the game and so you noticed that the mention of Yuktobania a few other things were added. There's no such reference to "Trident" or "Crow" after all. This is meant to just fill out the war more and provide more background. This is why I'm not considering official background information from official websites or the wiki. The history which the Aces Team made for their world might be decent, but I want to make it better. And to do so I must be allowed to ignore certain things which in my opinion introduce inconsistency or clash with my understanding of a realistic and working modern setting.

If you have suggestions or opinions on this, then let me know.