Ashley Bernitz

Ashley Bernitz was an ace pilot of the Belkan Air Force, and one of the major characters in the plot of Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.

Biography
On May 28th, 1995, during Operation Battle Axe, the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron was sent into battle, in hopes of retaking the Round Table from the allied forces. Upon entering the area, the BAF 13th Night Air Fighter Division/6th TFS Schwaze also entered the fray, chasing a defector by the name of Wolfgang Buchner, known through out the Belkan Air Force as "Huckebein the Raven".

Commander Bernitz then broke away from his squadron's formation and engaged Huckebein for personal reasons. It is later confirmed by Wolfgang Buchner, under the assumed name of Peter Beagle, that they were each in the same squadron before Wolfgang decided to defect from Belka.

As Ashley Bernitz engaged Huckebein, an Osean pilot by the name of Jack Bartlett callsign "Heartbreak One" attempted to shoot down Ashley. Some reports say that Ashley shot down 'Heartbreak One' and Wolfgang during the battle before being shot down by the 6th Air Division/66th AFU Galm.

After the end of the Belkan War, during the reformations that followed, Ashley Bernitz joined the Osean Air Defense Force. As a part of a deal to strengthen bonds between Osean and Belka, a fighter squadron made up of Belkan aces from the Belkan War was formed for the Osean Air Defense Force. Known as the 8492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, their existence was always somewhat veiled in shadow and the 8492nd Squadron became virtually unknown as the years went by. After the events that occurred in 2010, it is evident that the 8492nd Squadron had no official record of OADF squadron status.

In 2010, with the sudden outbreak of the Circum-Pacific War, the 8492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron was suddenly thrown into the chaos of battle. Though officially they fought for Osea, the 8492nd were secretly helping fuel the fire of the war. The pilots of the 8492nd Squadron had all pledged loyalty to Belka years before they joined the Osean Air Defense Force and had worked with the secret Belkan group known as the "Grey Men". Their plan was to maintain a long, grueling war between the Osean Federation and the Union of Yuktobanian Republics as revenge for Belka's defeat in 1995. Working with the Grey Men alongside a similar fighter squadron known as Ofnir, “allied” with the Yuktobanian Air Force, they were successful in forcing each nation into hatred-fueled conflict.

As casualties mounted and began to include civilians, the 8492nd, or rather, the Belkan 229th TFS Grabacr, had managed to kidnap Osean President Harling and sent him to Steir Castle in former Belkan territory. They successfully framed the Osean 108th TFS Wardog, an emerging pillar of the Osean Armed Forces, for attacking a Yuktobanian engineering college. Wardog managed to acquit themselves of the treason charges and returned to combat on the front lines, now in Yuktobania. Ashley Bernitz and the Grabacr Squadron went into action once again. They had appeared near November City after the patriotic fly-over by the Wardog Squadron and during the midst of the sudden Yuktobanian surprise attack, aimed at killing the Osean Vice President. It was Bernitz who told all incoming Osean aircraft that the attack was actually a drill and authorized them to return to base. This resulted in the death of Captain Alvin H. Davenport, number three in the 108th Osean TFS.

The 8492nd then attempted to discreetly dispatch Wardog after their successful operation at Cruik Fortress, over the Vladimir Mountains. While escorting them back to base as the 8492nd, the Grabacr Squadron dropped their cover and fired on Wardog, leaving the battle zone. A squadron of Belkan aircraft accompanied by jammer aircraft attacked the Wardog Squadron. Though they escaped, Wardog was double-crossed by a former member of the Grabacr Squadron, Captain Hamilton; adjutant commanding officer of Sand Island Air Force Base.

The members of Wardog Squadron were marked as spies, and upon returning to Sand Island Air Force Base they were forced to flee shortly after landing in stolen trainer aircraft maintained carefully by 2nd Lieutenant Peter Beagle of the Osean Special Forces, Beagle leading the formation. The 8492nd Osean Tactical Fighter Squadron was dispatched to intercept them.

Bernitz and Beagle (known to Ashley as his nemesis Wolfgang Buchner) soon met again over the Ceres Ocean. Although the 8492nd were hot on pursuit, they lost Wardog over the Solo Islands just 30 miles north of Sand Island, thanks to magnetic interference from an active volcano. Buchner dragged Wardog through a grueling flight fraught with dangerous terrain and tight turns. The 8492nd left the area, but Wardog were shot down and "killed" by a fighter from the OFS Kestrel of the 3rd Osean Fleet.

With the Osean President being held in Steir Castle near the official Belkan border and the Wardog Squadron killed in action, the war seemed as though it would continue to drag on. But, problems began to rise when a single helicopter and four unknown aircraft suddenly appeared over Steir Castle and destroyed defending Belkan Forces, emancipating the Osean President.

The Grabacr Squadron returned to Belka and landed at an airbase at the base of Mt. Schirm in Belka; it was there that they rendezvoused with the Ofnir Squadron; the Yuktobanian branch of Belkan aggressors. Belkan Forces were attempting to unearth nuclear weapons stashed away after the Belkan War officially ended with the signing of the peace treaty at Lumen in 1995. During their operation a jet-black aircraft suddenly revealed itself in the area after sneaking in under limited radar coverage and capturing photos of the facility while the Grabacr and Ofnir Squadrons were grounded. Though fighters from both squadrons were launched, they were unable to shoot down the fighter when support showed up within the area.

Shortly after this, the same black aircraft returned to the combat area and sealed the entrance to the mine containing the nuclear weapons. Unfortunately for these black aircraft, later known as "The Ghosts of the Razgriz", the Grabacr and Ofnir Squadrons had managed to airlift two nuclear weapons from the mine before the attack.

The Razgriz were actually the pilots from the "traitorous" Wardog Squadron, along with a naval aviator from the OFS Kestrel. They had begun operations against the Gray Men and the supporting Belkan Forces, in hopes of stopping the war. Unfortunately for the Grey Men, the Ghosts of Razgriz and various allied groups managed to destroy both nuclear weapons before they were used on their intended targets and began to deal out damage to the Belkan forces.

The Grabacr Squadron encountered the Razgriz yet again, over a Yuktobanian air base at the Podeba Peninsula. The Razgriz had freed Yuktobanian Prime Minister Nikanor and were transporting him back to their base of operations. The Grabacr attempted to stop the Razgriz, but were shot down after a small engagement. All Grabacr pilots had successfully ejected before their planes were destroyed and they temporarily disappeared.

It wasn't until after the large battle in Sudentor, between war mongering officials on both sides and united Yuktobanian and Osean forces that the Razgriz reappeared. After the successful attack on Grunder Industries’ facilities and the destruction of the SOLG control system, the superweapon fell into the atmosphere on a crash course for Oured, Osea. The falling SOLG was going to be intercepted and destroyed quickly by the Razgriz, but Ashley Bernitz was determined to bring Belka’s dream to fruition. The Grabacr Squadron teamed up with their brothers from Ofnir Squadron and acted as a final line of defense for the falling SOLG and attacked the Razgriz without hesitation.

Ashley and the 229th TFS soon knew they were fighting a battle which would ultimately end their lives. They realized that this revenge and pure hate drove them to the brink of destruction, but they fought fiercely as they battled the Razgriz for the last time. As the SOLG entered the atmosphere, they were shot down by Razgriz.

Source
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War