User:TheUseanFireBird

Biography (Bret Folen)
Bret Folen a.k.a the Usean Firebird was a famous mercenary pilot from San Salvacion who fought in the Kalugian Conflict from 1985 to the Aurelian/Leasath War in 2020 and the leader of the United Mercenary Forces (UMF), an organization made entirely of mercenaries from around the world dedicated to preventing wars around the world from either starting or spiraling out of control. He resided in the UMF GHQ in northern San Salvacion alongside his wife Athena, son Brad and daughter Kiara. He flew an customized F-14D Super Tomcat whenever he was in combat in honor of his father, who flew and F-14A Tomcat in the San Salvacion Air Force. His ability to seemingly "rise from the ashes" by flying through explosions and his unpredictable skill as a pilot alongside his personal emblem earned him the moniker "The Usean Firebird", which followed him for the rest of his life. While some have compared him to that of a demon, much like his fellow pilots such as Cipher and Blaze, most who knew him compared him to that of a valiant warrior due to his compassion to protect his friends and his will to fight for what he believes in. His motto is "No matter how dark the night is, the courageous light of your heart will bring the dawn."

Early Life
Bret was born on June 4th, 1965 during a time of great tension to an undisclosed Usean pilot and civilian in Old Towne, San Salvacion. Due to the Cold War between The Osean Federation and the Union of Yuktobanian Republics, with Usea caught right in the middle of a potential nuclear crisis, his father was usually put on standby and was on duty almost all the time on the eastern city of St. Ark. As a result, his early childhood was reduced to being closely sheltered by his mother and rare visits from his father. As he grew older, he became more of a shy and nerdy character, with his life mostly revolving around video games and drawing. Eventually when he turned 18, he enrolled into the University of Anchorhead Bay, where he studied to become a video game designer. When he turned 20 however, an incident occured that would thrust him into what would become his career for the rest of his life.

Losing A Family Member/Following in His Footsteps
On his 20th birthday, Bret was working on a school project when a fellow student approached him with a horrified look on his face. When he asked what was the matter, the student turned on the TV to show Bret that an air battle was taking place right above the San Salvacion capitol, with Old Towne was right in the center of it. As Bret watched the live broadcast in horror, he saw an F-14A Tomcat that looked eeriely similar to his father's F-14A being shot down by what looked like a blood red prototype fighter that was leading the attack on San Salvacion City. Although the unknown enemies were driven back by the combined forces of both the San Salvacion Air Force and the Usean Air Force, an unknown fear was still lingering in Bret's mind. Traveling back to Old Towne, Bret's fears were realized when he found his mother crying alone at home. It was definitely his father's plane he saw get shot down by the blood red fighter. After the funeral, Bret became obsessed with thoughts of avenging his father's death and defeating the blood red fighter. Looking through a list of his father's contacts within the military, Bret found a request letter from an individual named PH One, who was an old friend of his father. Traveling to Port Edwards, Bret came face to face with PH One, who in actuality was the leader of the independant mercenary group Scarface Squadron. PH One, or Scarface One, T.A.C name Boss, revealed the origin of the mysterious fighter group that attacked San Salvacion were actually Kalugian Terrorists who snuck into the continent through a traitor in the Usean Air Force. Knowing that the traitor would also be the pilot of the red aircraft who killed his father, Bret asked Phoenix if he could join Scarface to get back at the Kalugian Terrorists and avenge his father's death. Seeing the determined fire in his eyes and words, Boss accepted Bret into Scarface and began training him to be a pilot, a training regiment that lasted for three weeks, forging the greenist of rookies into the finest of pilots. During the course of his training, Boss noted that Bret scores in the simulations were beyond those of the average rookie. In the actual flight tests, Bret pulled maneuvers that pilots in Scarface only saw Boss pull off, while at the same time, pulling maneuvers that no one in the group ever tried before, impressing his fellow squad mates. After clearing the training regiment with impressive results, Boss welcomed him as an official member of Scarface Squadron and gave him an F-14D Super Tomcat as a initiation gift. Bret painted his personal emblem, a phoenix bird, on his new plane's tailfins and adopted the T.A.C name "Phoenix", after the mythical bird that rises from the ashes each time it dies. Three days after he joined Scarface, the Usean Government came to Scarface with dealing with the threat of Kalugian Rebels as their own military was still on high alert regarding the Cold War between Osea and Yuktobania. Boss accepted the job and the Scarface Squadron flew to Kalugia a week later, with Bret among the group of mercenaries trailblazing across the sky.

The Kalugian Conflict
Arriving at Kalugia, Scarface Squadron was met with mix reactions at best as the Kalugians weren't sure how to accept help from a pair of mercenaries despite Scarface's reputation. Bret couldn't care less about that though, cause all that was on his mind was finding and destroying the blood red fighter. After getting settled at the airbase, Scarface was briefed by the Kalugian Supreme Commander on the situation in Kalugia, learning about a recent coup by the same group of terrorists that attacked San Salvacion and how they managed to take over 99% of the country in a short amount of time. On July 20th, 1985, Bret would get his first taste of combat blood when the terrorists attacked the airbase where Scarface was stationed, which was also the last stronghold held by the Kalugian government. During the battle, Bret rushed ahead of the Scarface formation and shot down all the terrorist B-52 bomber squadrons in an act of extreme bravery. Although the battle ended in victory for Scarface and the Kalugian Loyalists, Bret was disappointed that the blood red fighter was nowhere to be seen in that battle.