Yellow 13

"His heart felt compassion towards the weaker enemies he downed. Some day, if an equal appeared and challenged the limits of his skills in a fight, he would bear no resentment about being shot down."

- Storyteller Boy

Yellow 13 (黄色の13 Kiiro no Yon), or Yellow Thirteen, was an Erusian fighter pilot and leader of the Yellow Squadron. During the Second Usean Continental War, he was the most feared pilot of Erusea's air forces and rivaled only by the ISAF's Mobius 1.

Early life
Yellow 13 is presumed to have been born in Erusea. He joined the Federal Erusea Air Force, through which he met a young Yellow 4, whom he befriended, trained in aerial warfare, and took in as his wingman. Thirteen and Four would later develop a close relationship; Four loyally remained by his side and refused to let any harm befall him, whether in the air or on the ground.

Service with Erusea
After the outbreak of the Second Continental War in 2003, Yellow Squadron executed several offensive operations against the ISAF. During an engagement over the capital of San Salvacion, Thirteen shot down an ISAF aircraft, which crashed into a suburban neighborhood, killing the Storyteller Boy's parents. As the ISAF retreated farther into eastern Usea, Thirteen and his squadmates would participate in various long- and short-range missions, including their successful defense against a surprise ISAF air raid on the Stonehenge Turret Network.

FEAF command relocated the Yellow Squadron pilots to San Salvacion to stand guard over the Stonehenge facility. However, following the ISAF's retreat from the mainland, Thirteen and the rest of Yellow Squadron began experiencing periods of downtime between missions.

One evening in late 2004, Thirteen met the Storyteller Boy while visiting a bar frequented by Erusian troops. As Thirteen played guitar, the young boy began accompanying him on harmonica; the two would eventually become close and frequently played for the bar patrons. Unbeknownst to Thirteen and the other Erusians, however, the barkeep and his daughter were both active members of the San Salvacion resistance.

On November 15 of that year, after weeks of drills and maintenance checks, Yellow Squadron was deployed to intercept ISAF aircraft that had attacked an Erusian oil-drilling and refinery facility. Thirteen and his squadmates bagged several of the fleeing ISAF fighters and returned home unharmed. When the ISAF began scoring major victories in the east, and word of Mobius 1's accomplishments began to spread among the Erusian enlisted men, Thirteen openly praised the enemy ace, whom he regarded as a "worthy opponent".

ISAF counterattack
"Do you hate us that much?"

- Thirteen confronting the Storyteller Boy

By the time ISAF began its campaign to reclaim the Usean mainland, Yellow 13 and 4 were the only pilots to consistently remain with the squadron; other members were regularly rotated out to reinforce other FEAF squadrons.

On April 2, 2005, Yellow Squadron's runway and aircraft were sabotaged by a Resistance bomb, which also caused light injuries. Before ground crews could begin repairing the damage, air raid sirens sounded, announcing ISAF's second raid on Stonehenge. Despite her crippled aircraft, Yellow 4 scrambled with Thirteen and the rest of Yellow Squadron.

The squadron's significantly delayed reaction allowed the ISAF to destroy Stonehenge. Yellow 13 ordered his squadron to engage Mobius 1 and the other ISAF pilots. During the ensuing dogfight, Yellow 4 was shot down by Mobius 1, forcing the Erusian aces into retreat. After returning to base, 13 was found by the Storyteller Boy inside his quarters, silently gazing at 4's token handkerchief. The two later discussed his memories of her at a nearby pond.

Upon reading of Mobius 1's participation in the Stonehenge raid, Yellow 13 posted the headline to the wall of the Sky Kid bar. Despite his defeat and personal loss, Yellow 13 commended Mobius 1's actions, shouting: "Look! Here's something worthy of praise. Even among the enemy there are men like this. Not all of them are despicable bastards who rob our wings through cowardly sabotage."

The barkeep's daughter was chased by occupation soldiers one night when she was discovered planting laser transmitters for triggering explosives. She eventually reached an alley where Thirteen was waiting inside a parked car. Thirteen realized she was responsible for bombing his squadron's runway and, by extension, Yellow 4's death. The two silently stared at each other for a moment before the Storyteller Boy caught up to them, denouncing Yellow 13. Yellow 13 only gave a pained response before releasing the children. The next morning, Thirteen resumed his daily routine, making his usual requests to the squadron's crew chief.

During the ISAF liberation of San Salvacion on July 10, 2005, members of Yellow Squadron scrambled to defend the city airspace, but Yellow 13 was not deployed. Eventually, ISAF forces overtook their defensive positions, and Yellow Squadron—along with the other Erusian forces—retreated from the area.

Death
"Yellow Thirteen's body vanished into the blue skies, never to return to earth."

- Storyteller Boy

On September 19, 2005, the ISAF laid siege to the Erusian capital, Farbanti, in hopes of ending the war. Yellow Squadron scrambled to reclaim air superiority over the capital, but arrived just as the Erusian ground forces surrendered. Ready to make one last stand for Erusea, Thirteen and his wingmen engaged Mobius 1. In the ensuing dogfight, Yellow Squadron was shot down.

Thirteen's body was never recovered, and he is assumed to have been killed in action. However, Yellow 4's handkerchief was found floating down by the Storyteller Boy and the barkeep's daughter, who buried the handkerchief in a shared unmarked "grave" for both Yellow 4 and 13.

Legacy
One week later, a group of young officers in the Erusian military captured and activated Megalith. A squadron of pilots from this rebellious group painted their aircraft in Yellow liveries in honor of Yellow 13 and the rest of his squadron.

During the Battle of Sudentor in December 2010, one of the aircraft that attempted to engage Jack Bartlett within the SOLG tunnel was an Su-37 Terminator in Yellow 13's livery. This pilot's relation to Yellow 13 and the squadron is unknown.

Trivia

 * Yellow 13's name and mannerisms were inspired by, an ace of the German who shot down 158 Allied aircraft over North Africa in the early years of World War II. Marseille, callsign "Yellow 14", was a remorseful man who did not find joy in his kills and went as far as delivering notes concerning downed pilots to enemy airfields. Both men were also musicians, and were not motivated to fight by their countries' causes.
 * Marseille also experienced the loss of a friend, fellow ace Günter Steinhausen, to Canadian pilot in 1942; Edwards had previously damaged Marseille in an encounter three days prior, similar to the air battle over the Comona Islands where the player, as Mobius 1, can damage a Yellow aircraft.
 * Thirteen's record of never having lost a wingman is a reference to another Luftwaffe pilot,, who achieved the highest number of fighter kills in aviation history: 352.
 * Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War features a particular ace named Erich Klinsmann, callsign "Reiher", who can be only engaged in "Mayhem" if the Knight Ace Style is chosen. The lack of details about this pilot, such as his "unavailable information" biography, has led to rumors that Klinsmann was Thirteen's former identity.