Gleipnir

" Look! It's the Gleipnir!"

-Aurelian soldiers in Santa Elva finds the Gleipnir uncloaked, also in The Midnight Sun, fleets also say that.

The Gleipnir is an airborne fortress manufactured by the Democratic Republic of Leasath. It's development of the Gleipnir was shrouded in secrecy and the source of money for its completion was also closely guarded for some time. The Gleipnir had dealt devastating damage to Aurelian forces after appearing on the battlefield prompting the AAF to strike back with their remaining forces and launch an investigation into where the money for this horrifying super-weapon came from, as well as where their air money had gone to. The Gleipnir was en route to ensure the destruction of the Aurelian Air Force (AAF) at Aubrey AFB after a wave of Leasath bombers had attacked Cape Aubrey. The Bombers and escorts were shot down by Gryphus Squadron before they could attack the base although the town suffered greatly. The Gleipnir, over the Puna Plains, launched a Shock Wave Ballistic Missile (SWBM) at the cape resulting in the loss of nearly all Aurelian fighters in the area. This would have been the total defeat of the AAF.

The Gleipnir returned to its hangar on Terminus Island to refuel and rearm, this gave the Aurelian Navy a chance to catch in on the ground and Gryphus Squadron was dispatched to aid the fleets in an all-out attack. The Gleipnir took off before the attack could get underway and the 2nd Fleet was destroyed by the shock cannon.

Gryphus One engaged the Gleipnir on sight and was able to disable the Digital-Optical Stealth system (DOS) before it could disappear. (or had to either wait for it to uncloak or try to attack it by using the small "ripples" in the air to spot it depending on player action). The Gleipnir then used its SWBMs to attack Aurelian aircraft but under determined attack from Gryphus One, all eight SWBM launchers were destroyed. The Gleipnir's Captain increased engine output to maximum and climbed to escape the area despite the immense damage.

The Gleipnir then landed in Santa Elva where Leasath forces began to commence repairs. Gryphus Squadron was directed to the city when its position was confirmed. The Leasath Base Command demanded the Gleipnir be launched upon the arrival of Aurelian Forces, despite repairs being incomplete. With its DOS offline and the SWBM still inoperable, it engaged the Aurelian Fighters with conventional weaponry.

Gryphus One stripped it of its defenses and began to attack its weak points. The captain of the Gleipnir urged the crew to use the Shock Cannon against the fighters, though it was intended for ground-attack. Due to battle damage and the repairs not being finished, the crew decided that using the cannon would only damage Gleipnir even more. The captain disregarded their concerns and advice and took the control of the Gleipnir. What happened next displayed the captain's insanity and desperation to stay alive; to the shock of all forces, he rolled the Gleipnir upside-down. As the Gleipnir flew in that position, the captain had the Shock Cannon fired multiple times in a desperate attempt to destroy the AAF. At the same time, another wave of Leasath ground forces arrived to attack Gryphus One whenever he dived below the Gleipnir. Gryphus One easily evaded these attacks destroying the shock cannon and damaging the Gleipnir beyond repair. Unable to control the leviathan any more, it crashed into the river, careeened into the shoreline, and exploded, taking the captain with it.

In an alternate scenario, depending on which path the player chose, the Gleipnir left Terminus Island and went to Santa Elva, undamaged, where Aurelian ground forces attempted to destroy it. The Southern Cross was called in to help, seeing as the Gleipnir's heavy armour, DOS, and Shock Cannon made it a threat far too great for the ground forces to handle alone. As the Gleipnir attacks the ground forces, Gryphus One damages the Gleipnir to the point where it can no longer cloak, and destroys the SWBM as the Gleipnir attempts to use it on the AAF. In an act of desperation, the captain of the Gleipnir tries to use the Shock Cannon to destroy Santa Elva, calling it his "last blow to the enemy." Gryphus One, however, destroys the Shock Cannon. The resulting explosion further damages the Gleipnir to the point where it can no longer maintain altitude. The captain once more tried to harm the civilians by trying to crash the Gleipnir into part of the city. However, because the controls were so badly damaged, the Gleipnir missed and crashed into the river, where it exploded.

The defeat of the Gleipnir was not a complete loss, however. Long before its destruction, battle data was gathered from the Gleipnir and used in the development of a secret Leasath super-fighter: Fenrir. It is believed that this was the whole reason the war started - the heavy use of resources to build the Gleipnir and later Fenrir had plunged Leasath into an economical crisis, leaving it an impoverished nation. The invasion of Aurelia, caused by Diego Gaspar Navarro's misleading propaganda, was believed to be the solution for this.

Information
The Gleipnir is the first aircraft of its size and of any aircraft period, to use extremely advanced technology, decades before its time in 2020. It was initially created on-surface and launched from Terminus Island. The engineers, seeing the obvious problem of its size and fuel, thought ahead and designed the Gleipnir to land in the nearby oceans or any other large body of water, where its refueling bases were.

The Gleipnir incorporates a new type of stealth system, deployed for the first time in combat. Known as Digital Optical Stealth (DOS), this is supposed to allow concealment of the entire aircraft to the naked eye, however those who pay careful attention and have good eyes are able to see the outline of this massive aircraft as a shimmer in the sky.

The SWBM and Shock Cannon are the main weapons of the Gleipnir. The SWBM is used against air targets and the Shock Cannon is used for ground forces. Both weapons are known to do massive damage to air and ground forces. The Gleipnir also has a number of AA guns and SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile) launchers.

In the iPhone edition of ACX, Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion, the Gleipnir has a sister ship, the Gandr, which the player (Falco 1) destroys. The Gandr was used as the prototype for the Gleipnir.

The Shock Cannon, however, possessed one major drawback : if the Gleipnir's DOS system was active, it could not fire before the DOS would be brought offline.

Trivia
The Gleipnir bears an extremely similar shape with the Belkan built XB-0 Hresvelgr. However, no direct relation seems to exist between the two aircrafts. The Gleipnir's most notable physical feature distinguishing it from the XB-0 is the curved, charcoal-black hull required for its camouflage capabilities..