User:TheUseanFireBird

Biography (Ethan Folen)
Ethan Folen a.k.a The Usean Thunderbird was a Usean mercenary pilot who fought alongside many notable pilots and figures during the wars from 1985 to 2020. He was well known for flying his personal customized F/A-22 Raptor engraved with his personal insignia of a thunderbird on the tail fins and his aggressive flying style which is said to be "unpredictable and lethal". He was the leader of the mercenary organization known as the UMF (United Mercenary Forces), which was responsible for preventing and stopping many wars throughout the globe since it's debut in 2011 until his presumed death before 2040, where he was succeeded by his son, Brendan Folen.

Early Life
Ethan Folen was born on June 4th, 1965 in Anchorhead, Usea during a time when a major Cold War was going on between the two superpowers of "Earth", Osea and Yuktobania to an unknown Usean Air Force pilot and a unknown Usean RIO. With both his parents on alert 24/7 with Usea caught in the middle of the Osea/Yuke Cold War that could go hot any chance it got, Ethan usually spent most of his infant years around the airbase where his parents operated. As a teenager, Ethan became interested in being a pilot, having grown up around jets. Upon entering the Anchorhead Military Academy, he worked hard to advance through the ranks of the Cadets in the academy, becoming one of the top graduate students in 1983.

A year before he was scheduled to enter the same squadron as his parents, a tragic event occurred that would take his life in a new direction.

Loss of Parents/Devotion to Revenge
On December 23rd, 1984, Ethan was returning from the military academy when the airbase where his parents were stationed was attacked by an unknown squadron of fighters. As he ran to the base to try and help where he could, he sortied in a spare F-15C Eagle to aid the defense forces. During the battle, Ethan saw his parent's F-15MTD being shot down by prototype YF-22 Rapier with a blood red paint scheme, both of them being KIA in the battle. Although the battle ended with a victory for the Usean Air Force, it was bittersweet for Ethan. Consumed with visions of the unknown blood red fighter, Ethan vowed to track down the pilot of the fighter and defeat him, no matter what got in his way.

Being judged unfit for service due to his excessive research of the intel of the blood red Rapier, Ethan was honorably discharged by the Usean Air Force. After attending the funerals of his parents, he recieved a mysterious letter from someone known as "The Flock Leader".

Joining Scarface Squadron
Following the clues left behind by the mysterious "Flock Leader" in the letter, Ethan was lead to the eastern city of Saint Ark. There, he encountered "Flock Leader", who in fact was Scarface One, callsign Phoenix. Phoenix was an old friend of his parents, and he was aware of the situation that occurred in Anchorhead. From a distance during the fight at high altitude, Phoenix noticed Ethan's impressive flying skills against the unknown fighters, and although he didn't get any kills, he was able to stay alive until the end. Phoenix then offered Ethan the opportunity to join Scarface Squadron, as they were hired by the Usean Government following the attack on Anchorhead to pursue the unknown fighters, which were identified as rogue Kalugan terrorists.

After giving it some thought, Ethan accepted Phoenix's offer and became a part of Scarface Squadron. As an initiation gift, Phoenix gave Ethan his own F/A-22 Raptor, the production version of the YF-22 Rapier. Upon having his new fighter doned with the flame scheme of the Scarface Squadron at the time, along with a personal thunderbird insignia engraved on the tail fins, Ethan adopted the callsign "Thundrix", based on both his love for the mythical thunderbird and his fierce rage against the Kalugan Terrorists. A week after joining Scarface, the mercenary squadron deployed to the last friendly airbase in Kaluga to begin the counterattack on the terrorists.

Origin of the Thunderbird: The Kalugan Conflict
On January 3rd, 1985, Scarface Squadron arrived at the last airbase held by the Kalugan officials on an island south of the mainland of Kaluga. After settling in, Ethan and the rest of Scarface Squadron were debriefed on the full situation going on in Kaluga. During the last months of the year prior, a terrorist organization began slowly taking over the country, with the offical government unable to fully respond due to a war with Yuktobania in the earlier 1980s, the official military was quickly overwhelmed and was forced to withdraw from the mainland. The terrorists, becoming over glorified with pride in their recent victory, attacked Anchorhead out of impulse due to the lack of recent combat with the Kalugan officials. Ethan then learned that their leader, Allen Makovich, was the pilot behind the blood red Rapier that killed his parents.

Now knowing who his enemy was, Ethan made it his personal mission to shoot down Makovich no matter what. Ethan's first combat mission took place on January 6th, 1985, when Scarface and a small Kalugan fighter squadron attacked a terrorist supply convoy comprised mainly of C-5A Galaxy transport planes. During the fight, Ethan shot down half of the terrorist escort fighter squadrons and half of the C-5A Galaxies in two minutes, using tactics that witnesses described as "like a bird diving towards it's prey" and "like a daredevil flying through explosions". Although the mission was a success, Makovich did not show up in the battle. Despite being disappointed, Ethan realized that he would get his chance soon enough. A day later on January 7th, Ethan was deployed along with Phoenix to defend the island from an approaching terrorist bomber force, as the rest of Scarface and what was left of the Kalugan Air Force were still refueling on the ground.

The terrorist forces were quickly driven back by the combined skill of Thundrix and Phoenix, resulting in all of the B-52 bombers being shot down and only one terrorist F-16 barely escaping the battle. On January 10th, Ethan accompanied Phoenix, along with his two wingmen Slash and Flash on a mission to Anaconda Fields when a Loyalist Kalugan AWACS detected a formation of terrorist fighters over the region. It turns out the unknown formation was a squadron of bombers armed with nuclear weapons heading for an unknown destination. The four engaged the formation immediately upon discovering they had nukes equipped, and prevented them from reaching their target. Ten days later, Ethan deployed with Scarface Squadron to Donet City for a night operation to aid rebel forces that were resisting the terrorists.

During the operation, Ethan saw Allen Makovich's Rapier among the terrorist reinforcements deployed to stop the rebels. Breaking off from the squadron against Phoenix's orders, Ethan went one on one with Allen over the city as the battle was taking place. Although the duel ended in a draw due to the terrorist forces being forced to retreat from the damage they took, Ethan was able to damage the left stablizer of Allen's Rapier before the duel was interuppted. Despite his brash behavior, Ethan was commended for his skills in holding off the terrorist ace during the fight, thus he was excused for disobeying orders. It was around this time that Ethan was assigned his own team within Scarface Squadron, with three handpicked pilots put under his direct command.

The first pilot was a young woman a year Ethan's junior named Hilda Evensal, an Osean mercenary who flew a custom F-35C Lighting II. Hilda was noted as being quiet and gentle, yet very lethal when it came to combat situations, protecting her allies from the slightest sign of danger. Ethan particularly found her personality very attractive, and the two would develop a very intimate relationship later on in life. The second was a young man two years Ethan's senior named Lucas Kentsen, an Emmerian mercenary who flew a custom EF-2000 Typhoon. Lucas had a personality that some claimed to be "biker-like" in nature. He and Ethan would but heads a few times early on, yet they would eventually develop a good friendship with one another. The third was another young woman one year Ethan's senior named May Thomson, an Aurelian mercenary who flew a custom Rafale M.

May was noted by other members of Scarface as being sassy, yet serious when it came what she was fighting for. She would develop a very intimate relationship with Lucas's later on in life. Their team was doned "Mythic Team" due to the fact that they all had personal insignias of different incarnations of mythical birds of legend on their tailfins, Ethan's a Thunderbird, Hilda's a Turul, Lucas's a Habrok, and May's a Jayatu. Their first mission together took place on Feburary 3rd in Cobra Desert, during an attack on a terrorist refinery facility. Mythic Team, along with the rest of Scarface, succeeded in destroying the refinery facility despite unexpected heavy resistance from the terrorists.

On Feburary 9th, Mythic Team was deployed alone to stop the terrorist forces from removing any more resources from their mining base in the Antonio Plains. During the battle, Ethan encountered Allen Malcovitch once more, with their battle once more ending in a draw. The mission was successful, and the mining base was annihilated with barely any terrorist forces surviving the onslaught. Later on Feburary 15th, Ethan was deployed to the area known as Hornet Canyon alone to suppress a Terrorist radar base. Previous attempts to bomb the base by the loyal Kalugan forces were thwarted by the radar net and air defense grid, so the only way to stop the terrorist group was to cut through the canyon and destroy the base solo.

In an amazing act of skill and bravery, Ethan cut through the canyon and destroyed the radar base, catching the terrorists completely off guard in the process. This would be a mission that would be noted and repeated many times throughout Ethan's career. On Feburary 28th, the terrorists forces launched an attack on Donet City in an attempt to retake control of it from Scarface and the loyalist Kalugans. Mythic Team and Scarface Squadron was deployed to intercept the terrorist squadrons over the city, while the loyalists provided ground support. Once more, Ethan encountered Allen's F-15S during the battle.

However, Phoenix told Thundrix to place top priority on stopping the terrorists, so Ethan had to keep his engagements with Allen to a minimum. That was easier said than done, as Allen began relentlessly pursuing Ethan throughout the battle, causing a close-range chase through out the buildings. Fortunately, Phoenix managed to get Allen off of Ethan's six, launching a missile from his Su-35A Super Flanker towards a building and causing an explosion that caused debris to catch Allen off guard. Using a cobra maneuver, Ethan got behind Allen and blasted his right wing off with a focused barrage of cannon fire. The terrorists were then forced to retreat upon losing almost all of their forces.

On March 6th, Mythic Team, along with Phoenix, Slash and Flash, were deployed to Nouikotte Bay to intercept a terrorist fleet that consisted mainly of landing ships containing troops, along with destroying any terrorist forces that were stationed in the bay. In the battle that followed, Ethan and Hilda used diving tactics to destroy most of the fleet while Lucas and May held off the defense fighters with Phoenix, Slash and Flash attacking the port facilities. The mission succeeded with the destruction of all terrorist ships and the port was taken by the loyal Kalugan forces. Later on March 19th, Mythic Team was deployed alone to Bezornwasp Mountain to aid in a VIP recovery operation. Escorting a loyal Kalugan C-5A Galaxy carrying a government officer, Mythic Team fended off wave after wave of terrorist fighter squadrons until Allen Macovitch appeared and challenged Ethan again.

Holding Allen off, Ethan was successful in distracting the blood red ace long enough for the C-5A and his wingmen to escape, with him bugging out as soon as they made it to the safe zone. The next day on March 20th, the terrorist forces launched an assault on Nouikotte Bay, hell bent on recapturing the fort. While Phoenix and the main Scarface Force held off the main terrorist forces, Mythic Team was deployed to launch a counterattack on the enemy bomber formations. This was one of the more notable missions when Ethan, Hilda, Lucas and May's skills were noted, especially their skills when they work together as a team when they took down and entire formation of B-2 Spirit bombers at high altitude while maintaining their diamond formation. The terrorist forces were completely devestated by Scarface.

Thanks to Scarface's endavors, the terrorist forces were beginning to lose all of their frontlines due to a dramatic increase in loyal Kalugan morale. During this time, Scarface took a temporary break for some R&R. It was around this time that Ethan and Hilda entered a relationship with each other, as a result of them realizing that they had a lot more in common than they previously thought. Lucas and May also entered a relationship during that time, and it wasn't long before everyone in Scarface including Phoenix took notice of it. However, Scarface was soon called back into action to assist the loyal Kalugan Navy in pursuing the terrorist navy forces in the Tadpole Sea on April 8th. Along with Phoenix, Slash and Flash, Mythic Team led the charge on the terrorist navy forces, eventually overwhelming the enemy forces and sinking the last carrier the terrorists had, completely knocking the terrorist navy division out of the war.

Although it was a great victory for Scarface, somehow the terrorists were able to keep fighting back. Theorizing that they had somehow managed to get an alternate fuel source after the loss of the Corba Desert Refinery, Mythic Team was sent out on a recon mission to Anaconda Desert on May 3rd in order to find out if they had anything hidden, as the terrorists loved to use deserts to hide their refineries. What they found was another oil refinery, bigger than the one in Cobra Desert. Despite the nature of their mission, Mythic Team was forced to fight off incoming terrorist squadrons that were patrolling the area. Upon returning to base, Phoenix immediately put a plan into motion to destroy the Anaconda facility.

Two days later on May 5th, Scarface was accompanied by the Loyal Kalugan ground forces in order to destroy the Anaconda Facility. Striking each of the power sources to the facility, Ethan, Hilda, Lucas and May struck the facility from four different directions, eventually merging above the main facility and destroying it with a maneuver that Ethan calls "The Hawk Dive". The operation succeeded, and the terrorist forces were forced to their knees as a result. A month later, Loyal Kalugan recon forces have located the Terrorist GHQ, located on Scorpion Island. On June 7th, two days after Ethan's birthday, Scarface Squadron was deployed along with the near entierty of the Kalugan Forces in order to end the war for good.

While Scarface Squadron took care of bridge that extended Scorpion Island to mainland Kaluga, Mythic Team attacked the airfield before rendezvousing with the rest of Scarface to assault the fortress itself. In an amazing act of bravery, Ethan flew directly into the fortress with his F/A-22 and destroyed the power generator before managing to escape via an open air shaft that was barely big enough for his Berkut to fit through. However, the battle wasn't over, as Allen Macovitch appeared on the scene and challenged Ethan to a final duel. Although Ethan noted that Allen's YF-22 and his F/A-22 were almost equal to each other, Ethan managed to keep up with Allen's experience with skill and bravery, eventually gaining the upper hand against the Blood Ace. In a head on charge during the duels final moments, Ethan severely damaged Allen's Rapier, knocking out his air intakes and shattering his canopy.

Barely avoiding a head on collision with Allen, Ethan watched as the blood red plane plunged into the ocean and exploded, though Allen would live to fight him again. Finally, Ethan had his revenge, or so he thought. Although the terrorist forces have been defeated, their leaders had escaped Scorpion Island a few hours before Scarface and the Loyal Kalugan forces arrived. On June 10th, the Loyal Kalugan forces tracked down the terrorists in an airborne fortress over the Pacific Ocean. Not wanting to wait to see what their plan was, Ethan, Hilda, Lucas and May were granted permission by Phoenix to pursue the Airborne Fortress.

Mythic Team eventually intercepted the Airborne Fortress around noon, and a final battle ensued over the ocean. Despite the intervention of Terrorist Aircraft that were launched from the fortress during the battle, Mythic Team managed to destroy the Airborne Fortress's engines. Ethan then charged head on at the Airborne Fortress, destroying it's bridge by firing all of his weapons. Breaking away as the Airborne Fortress plunged into the ocean, the resulting explosion in the water was a clear sign that the war was truly over. Upon returning to base, Mythic Team was praised by the Kalugan Government as heroes for their efforts in helping them get their country back, along with Scarface.

Although he enjoyed the praise, Ethan felt that the media attention of a "hero" like him was a little too much to handle. After staying in Kaluga for five more days in order to hang out with Hilda, Lucas and May, Ethan returned home to Anchorhead on June 15th, his mind set on being a mercenary pilot, as he realized being a pilot for a certian country was too "restricting" in his opinion.

Rise of the Thunderbird: The Insurgent Incident of Verusea
Five years after the Kalugan Terrorist Crisis, Ethan recieved a call from Phoenix while on a training exercise with some Usean Air Force trainees. Phoenix told him that Scarface recieved another request for help, this time from the Verusean government, who was under seige from insurgents of unknown origin. On May 30th, 1990, Ethan arrived at the last Verusean friendly bases in Corvadie Island on Verusea's southern coast, where he reunited with Hilda, Lucas and May, along with the rest of Scarface Squadron. A day later on May 31st, the Insurgents launched an attack on Corvadie Island. Immediately deploying to counterattack, Ethan and Hilda went head on for the bomber squadrons approaching the island while Lucas and May held off the escort fighters.

In record time, Mythic Team destroyed all of the Insurgent forces and successfully defended Corvadie Island. On June 5th, Mythic team was deployed on a recon mission over the Hawkeye Mountains deep in Insurgent-held Verusean territory in order to figure out a good counterattack strategy against the Insurgents. Above the mountains at nightfall, Ethan and his team carefully reconned the mountain range looking for any Insurgent held facilities while eliminating any enemy patrol squads they came across. Although there were a few close calls, they successfully completed the mission. Three days later, Scarface Squadron was deployed along with the Verusean forces to aid in the recapturing of the largest naval air base in the country, Nidiva Naval Air Base.

While the bulk of the Verusean forces focused on the ground assault, Scarface was charged with providing air support during the battle. During the battle, Mythic Team attacked the docked ships that were still in the ports, rendering most of the insurgents reinforcements out of action. Thanks to Ethan, Hilda, Lucas and May, the Verusean forces were successful in recapturing the port. On June 12th, Thundrix and Turlira deployed together to attack an insurgent base located in the Robin Plains while Havok and Jaylu deployed simoultaneiously to the Pelican Gulf to attack an insurgent oil refinery. Both operations ended in success, crippling the insurgent forces. On June 15th, Ethan was deployed into Raven Ravine to attack an insurgent base that was being built in response to the loss of the Nidiva Naval Air Base.

Due to the immensive anti-air defense systems built throughout the ravine, the only option was to send a lone fighter into the ravine and finish the base before it could be completed. Despite a few close calls with the ravine walls, Ethan was able to navigate through the ravine and destroy the still under construction base with a single bomb from his Raptor. On June 20th, Mythic Team and Scarface Squadron was deployed to intercept a retreating enemy jamming unit over Sandgrouse Pleatu. This was the first time that Ethan, Hilda, Lucas and May encountered Jammer type aircraft, and they struggled to make sense of the jamming at first. Thanks to Phoenix, who told them to rely on their eyes rather than their radar, they were able to see through the enemy jamming and shoot down all the insurgent E-767s and EA-6B Prowlers.

On June 25th, Mythic Team was requested to escort a squadron of Verusean Bombers in attacking one of the largest airbases held by the insurgents, Stork Air Field. During the engagement, Ethan, Hilda, Lucas and May encountered a strange orange F-14D Super Tomcat that had the letters Z.O.E on it's tailfins. What was even stranger is that as Lucas flew by the fighter during the following duel, he noticed that there was no pilot nor rio in the cockpit. Despite the strange conditions, Ethan, Hilda, Lucas and May were able to beat orange Super Tomcat and successfully continue to escort the bomber squadron, resulting in the completion of the mission and the recapturing of Stork Air Field by the Verusean Forces. Ethan would later on learn that the aircraft he and his team shot down was a prototype unmaned fighter, with a computer system that was design to "learn" from previous engagements, though neither the Veruseans nor Scarface were able to determine it's exact origin.

On June 30th, Mythic Team was deployed to intercept an insurgent supply squadron that was flying at low altitude at Hoatzin Plains to avoid detection, their presence only discovered by a stroke of luck when one of the transports flew too high for a split second. Avoiding head on collisions with the ground, Ethan, Hilda, Lucas and May had their share of close calls with each transport they shot down, Ethan's most notable close call is when he nearly collided with the ground while diving at a transport head on. Thanks to his Raptor's thrust vectoring engines however, he was able to avoid a crash by using the thrust from his engines to propel himself back into the air by using the ground as a catapult of sorts. Despite the close calls, Ethan, Hilda, Lucas and May successfully took down the transport squadron, impeding the Insurgents even further.

Trivia
Ethan Folen Paint Schemes

1. Scarface Flame Scheme (1980)

2. Scarface Slash Scheme (1985)

3. Scarface Special Unit Scheme (1990)

4. Tree-Tone Cameo (1995)