Mihaly A. Shilage

"There are pilots like you in every generation. And I felled every last one of them."

- Mihaly

Mihaly Dumitru Margareta Corneliu Leopold Blanca Karol Aeon Ignatius Raphael Maria Niketas A. Shilage is an ace pilot flying for the Erusean Air and Space Administration. He took part in various conflicts and shot down countless skilled pilots.

He has two granddaughters who accompany him: Ionela and Alma.

History
Mihaly was once in the line of succession for the Grand Duchy of Shilage. However, the country underwent a revolution and Mihaly's family was removed from power. A close friend turned on him and nearly killed him during this conflict.

The revolution, however, was essentially doomed by coming to pass during Erusea's age of expansion. Not long after the revolutionaries came to power, Shilage was annexed by the regional power. Mihaly and his family were allowed to maintain their titles and some influence by the Erusea government. Despite having largely retained his status (which presumably exempts him from military service), Mihaly allowed himself to be conscripted like common Erusean citizens. He was accepted into the Erusean Air Force by order of the Erusean king, ultimately proving the merits of this decision by distinguishing himself as a pilot. Even after the fall of the monarchy and the formation of a republic, he continued to serve the new regime until 1991 after which he was relegated to test piloting.

His work as a test pilot contributed greatly to the Erusean military build up in the 2010s, which saw the kingdom's air force substantially augmented with unmanned combat aerial vehicles, by providing technical and behavioral templates for the UCAVs' artificial intelligence. After the initial Erusean success during the Lighthouse War and the subsequent Osean-led IUN counteroffensive in 2019, under the guise of generating improved data for UCAV development, he returned to active combat duty. His skills, experience, and modified plane made him a terror among the IUN forces, who dubbed him "Mister X".

Mihaly and the Sol Squadron engaged Spare Squadron in Yinshi Valley. Mihaly engaged and took down Champ. Mihaly then lured Trigger away from his squadron where the two pilots engaged in a lengthy low-altitude dogfight through the mountain valleys. Trigger eventually landed few difficult hits on Mihaly's plane. His plane sustains major damage, forcing him and his squadron to retreat.

At the battle for Farbanti, Mihaly and Sol Squadron engaged with Strider Squadron. During the battle., he successfully shot down Wiseman in a dogfight. However, he was tagged again by Trigger and his plane sustained severe damage once more. Before he could be shot down, the A-SAT strike caused confusion among the IUN and Erusean forces, allowing him to escape.

During the battle at Shilage castle, as Sol Squadron pilots are shot down, Mihaly entered the battle with a mounted experimental railgun and engaged Trigger in a dogfight for the third time. A lengthy battle ensures; in the end Trigger finally shot down Mihaly. Before his plane explodes, Mihaly pleads to Trigger that he shut down Erusean's drone production.

Mihaly survived being shot down and was somehow rescued soon after. The strain and stress from continuous aerial combat crippled his body to the point of preventing him from flying again. Mihaly was forced to retire from active duty to spend the rest of his life at his home.

Etymology
is the form of Michael. The form of Michael—Mihael—was previously used for one of the rookies in the Megalith defense squadron.

Shilage is an alternate spelling of, a Hungarian surname.