Invasion of Gracemeria

The Invasion of Gracemeria was the first battle of the Anean Continental War. It sparked the war as well as the Estovakian takeover of Anea. This is the first mission in Ace Combat 6 and introduces many characters in the story.

Premise
Related articles: Ulysses; Estovakian Civil War

In July 1999, the world was struck by the planetfall of the Ulysses 1994XF04 Asteroid. Meteors rained in several regions, the Usean Continent arguably being the most affected area. In the northern Anean Continent, the Republic of Emmeria suffered little to no damage from the planetfalls; the neighboring Federal Republic of Estovakia at the south, however, didn't follow the same fate. Hundreds of fragments from Ulysses rained in the country, causing nationwide chaos & destruction. The planetfall of Ulysses dealt a heavy blow to the politics of Estovakia, thus setting tensions alight. It all came to a peak, however, when several factions declared war with each other, thus commencing a period of widespread chaos & hatred in what came to be known as the Estovakian Civil War.

One of the main factio



ns in the conflict was the Eastern Faction, led by Estovakian commander Gustav Dvornik, who restlessly seeked to reunite Estovakia once again. The war raged on for several years, until 2015: thanks to Belkan exile & veteran of the Belkan War Lorenz Riedel, the Eastern Faction managed to develop it's wild card: the P-111X Series, the main model being the P-1112 Aigaion Heavy Command Cruiser.

Thanks to the Aigaion & her fleet, the Eastern Faction managed to quickly subdue all opposition, thus concluding the Estovakian Civil War. From this point onwar, Estovakia was reformed under a military regime, spearheaded by a group of high-ranking military officials (presumably the commanders of each faction of the Civil War), known as "The Generals".

Ever since the planetfall of Ulysses, Emmeria began shipping supplies to the war-struck Estovakia. However, and rather ironically, the supplies were not use to help the ever-worsening Estovakian population, but illegally used by military commanders in the war, including Gustav himself. This caused and uproar in the Estovakian populace, who began to believe that the Civil War was naught but an Emmerian inside job. Hatred for Emmeria began increasing, until the Generals decided that they had to commence a mass retaliation.

Capital Defense
In August 30, 2015, the Estovakian military traveled to the capital of Emmeria, Gracemeria. Two F-4E Phantom IIs flew into the middle of the metropolis and destroyed it's crowning achievement, the King's Bridge; afterwards, it all became a full blown invasion. Caught off guard, the Emmerian Air Force was forced to scramble. Led by Airborne Warning And Control System Ghost Eye, many Emmerian squadrons, amidst which was the 28th Tactical Fighter Squadron Garuda, took off from Gracemeria AFB towards the city. In that moment, it was confirmed that Garuda's flight leader, Talisman, did not have a wingman. Searching amidst the Emmerian fighters, a lone F-16C came from the rear of the Emmerian formation. Callsign Shamrock, the pilot was assigned as Garuda's number 2. From that moment, all aircraft dispersed throughout the Gracemerian airspace.

The then-unidentified Estovakian military was carring out indiscriminate bombing runs across Gracemeria, with assault helicopters engaging the Emmerian ground forces in Gracemeria AFB & the eastern town square and Globemaster transporters dropping off airborne tanks & paratroopers, while being escorted by a massive airborne contingent.

In a matter of minutes, most of the Gracemerian skies had been cleared of hostile aircraft, with only a handful of fighters & transports remaining. The Emmerian forces were ready to expel the remaining hostile contingent out of Emmeria, moment where it all changed.

Through the Heart of a Nation
After the apparent victory of the Emmerian forces, several colossal explosions went off in the skies of Emmeria, annihilating most of the local forces in seconds. Estovakia was hellbent on invading Emmeria, thus they commenced the deployment of Nimbus BVR missiles from the Aigaion Heavy Command Cruiser. Furthermore, the elite 9th Tactical Fighter Squadron Strigon began approaching Gracemeria, assisted by a handful of other aircraft. Outnumbered & weakened, the remaining Emmerian forces were forced to retreat to the west.

Result & Aftermath
Shortly after the battle for Gracemeria, Estovakia had complete hegemony over the Anean Continent, which forced the remaining Emmerian troops to escape to the eastern Khesed Island, kilometers away from the mainland. Furthermore, hundreds of civilians were forced to leave their homes behind & leave the capital, one of which was Melissa Herman, whose daughter was presumed killed during the initial strike.

During the withdrawal from Gracemeria, a pilot, presumably Garuda One, scored an impact on Strigon flight lead Victor Voychek. This engagement was costly for Voychek, for it left him with a crippled right leg, thus forcing him to leave the skies for good & become a ground duty officer.