Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

"It was a cold and snowy day...."

- Larry Foulke

Plot Summary
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (Simply Ace Combat: The Belkan War in Europe) is a retelling of the events of a war which happened earlier in the Ace Combat time line; the story recounts the actions of a legendary mercenary ace, "Cipher", and his effect on both the outcome of the war and the opposing aces he defeated in combat. The narrator begins by telling us that, in 1995, Belka invaded its neighbors and started a war which engulfed the world.

After years of internal political unrest, which started around 1988 with the Belkan federal law review, Belka allowed its eastern territories to secede. This however, did not remedy the vast economic crisis that had befallen the country. Osea, seeing a chance to make profit, assisted the eastern provinces in declaring independence and setting up Osean-friendly governments; one of which was the Ustio Republic. An extreme right-wing political group finally comes to power on the 12th of December 1991. Shortly thereafter, vast natural resources were discovered in the B7R region, and Belka invaded outwards on the 25th of March, 1995 recapturing lost territories in a blitzkrieg. These actions prompted both Osea and Yuktobania to combine forces and launch a counter-offensive against Belka.

At this time, the story of Cipher and Pixy begins.

Their early involvement in the war centers around repelling the Belkan forces out of Ustio. Relatively early on, they succeed in securing a direct route to the Ustian capitol of Directus, and, on the 13th of May, 1995, the capital is liberated from Belkan control.

The two pilots are immediately deployed into Belkan territory where they begin offensive operations against the military infrastructure within Belka. The anti-ballistic-missile shield, Excalibur, is destroyed on the 23rd of May, 1995 after a failed operation that alerted the Allied forces to the Excalibur's existence. Cipher and Pixy are involved in numerous sorties including an offensive bombing campaign against the city of Hoffnung on the 1st of June, 1995 where it is revealed that the Belkans are executing a scorched earth policy to keep their technology out of the invading armies' hands. This is a foreshadowing of things to come.

A pivotal moment occurs in the story on the 6th of June, 1995 during a mission to intercept bombers suspected of carrying nuclear weapons. Amidst the fighting, a large flash is witnessed and communication is greatly diminished. This is the date and time that Belka detonated seven nuclear weapons on its own soil to halt the advance of Allied troops. CROW 1 and 2 disappear sometime during the chaos. At this point, Pixy leaves the formation and flies outside of the mission boundaries. It becomes unclear exactly what has happened to Pixy.

Following this turn of events, "PJ" is assigned to the squadron and becomes Cipher's wingman. Their missions take them deeper into Belkan territory. On the very day when a peace agreement is being signed by Belka and the Allied forces (20th of June, 1995), they are involved in a covert operation to eliminate Belkan military holdouts refusing to "accept the Belkan government's official capitulation". Encountering very heavy resistance during this mission, PJ comments that there are too many enemies to merely be remnant forces.

It is only in the next mission, on the 25th of December, 1995, that the intentions of the terrorist organization, A World With No Boundaries, become clear. In this mission, ace pilots from Sapin, an Allied country, are found defending the Hresvelgr aircraft indicating that dissatisfied pilots from all areas of the conflict have banded together to fight the current world powers and remove the notion of "borders".

The final sortie has Cipher and PJ heading out to stop the launch of several ICBMs containing nuclear warheads. On the way to the site, they encounter aces from Osea now turned to members of the "A World With No Boundaries" organization. After defeating these pilots in the B7R "Round Table" region, Cipher and PJ arrive at the Avalon Dam in northern Belka. After destroying the V-2 launch facility, PJ's radio chatter is interrupted when Cipher's former wingman, Pixy, appears in the ADFX-02 aircraft as the organization's ace pilot and shoots PJ down. In order to stop a final V2, Cipher duels Pixy one-on-one, and finally defeats him.

The story ends with a final series of interviews the last of which is Pixy himself, fighting on a disputed border in present-day. He has reevaluated his perspective on why people fight for national identities and borders and has only one thing to say to his former wingman:

"Yo, buddy. Still alive? And thanks, friend. See you again..."

Flyable Aircraft

 * F-5E Tiger II - Fighter (QAAM, UGB, NPB)
 * J35J Draken - Fighter (SAAM, UGB, RCL)
 * F-1 - Attacker (RCL, UGB, LASM)
 * MiG-21bis Fishbed - Fighter (RCL, UGB, QAAM)
 * F-4E Phantom II - Fighter (SAAM, UGBL, NPB)
 * MiG-29A Fulcrum - Fighter (SAAM, RCL, XAGM)
 * F-20A Tigershark - Fighter (SAAM, GPB, XAGM)
 * F-16C Fighting Falcon - Fighter (XMAA, LAGM, UGBL)
 * F/A-18C Hornet - Multirole (LASM, SAAM, SOD)
 * A-10A Thunderbolt II - Attacker (XAGM, FAEB, RCL)
 * MiG-31 Foxhound - Fighter (XLAA, QAAM, UGBL)
 * Mirage 2000D - Attacker (UGB, GPB, XAGM)
 * EA-6B Prowler - Jammer (ECMP, LAGM, QAAM)
 * Su-27 Flanker - Fighter (XMAA, UGBL, SFFS)
 * F-15C Eagle - Fighter (XMAA, UGBL, QAAM)
 * X-29A - Fighter (QAAM, FAEB, LAGM)
 * F-14D Super Tomcat - Figher (XLAA, GPB, NPB)
 * Gripen C - Multirole (RCL, XLAA, SOD)
 * F-16XL - Attacker (XAGM, SAAM, BDSP)
 * Tornado GR.4 - Attacker (BDSP, ECMP, LASM)
 * F-2A - Attacker (LASM, XMAA, SFFS)
 * F-15E Strike Eagle - Attacker (SFFS, SAAM, GPB)
 * F-117A Nighthawk - Attacker (GPB, LAGM, QAAM)
 * F-35C - Multirole (LASM, SOD, QAAM)
 * EA-18G - Jammer (ECMP, XMAA, LAGM)
 * Rafale M - Multirole (LASM, XMAA, SOD)
 * Typhoon - Fighter (XLAA, SOD, SFFS)
 * Su-32 Strike Flanker - Attacker (XAGM, LAGM, XMAA)
 * YF-23A Black Widow II - Fighter (QAAM, NPB, BDSP)
 * F-15S/MTD - Fighter (FAEB, XLAA, SOD)
 * Su-47 Berkut - Fighter (SAAM, SFFS, BDSP)
 * Su-37 Terminator - Fighter (XLAA, FAEB, NPB)
 * F/A-22A Raptor - Fighter (XMAA, GPB, SOD)
 * X-02 Wyvern - Multirole (XLAA, QAAM, XAGM)
 * ADFX-01 Morgan - Fighter (TLS, MPBM, ECMP)
 * ADF-01 Falken - Fighter (TLS, XLAA, FAEB)

Other Aircraft

 * ADFX-02 Morgan
 * AH-64 Apache
 * AV-8B Harrier II
 * B-2A Spirit
 * B-52H Stratofortress
 * C-17A Globemaster III
 * C-130 Hercules
 * CH-47 Chinook
 * E-767
 * KC-10A Extender
 * XB-0 Hresvelgr
 * XB-70 Valkyrie

Squadrons
MERCENARY: Rot - Typhoon (4) Schwarze - MiG-31 Foxhound (8) Sorcerer - F-15S/MTD (8)

SOLDIER: Grun - F/A-18C Hornet (4) Schnee - F-14D Super Tomcat (4) EA-6B Prowler (1) Gault - Su-47 Berkut (8)

KNIGHT: Indigo - Gripen C (4) Silber - F-4E Phantom II (1) F-16C Fighting Falcon (4) Wizard - F-16XL (4) YF-23A Black Widow II (4)

OTHER: Gelb - Su-37 Terminator (2) Espada - J35J Draken (1) Rafale M (1)

The Three Ace System
You actions dictate who you are now. Moral and ethic decisions and also dialogue will come into play as you eventually turn into one of the Three Ace kinds:

-Mercenary Ace: An Ace that lives for battle, money and glory. If you focus on going after targets and the money, chances are you will be rated as this.

-Soldier Ace: An Ace that lives for his fellow soldiers, and his country. If you focus on the mission and basically not(minus friendlies that is )blowing stuff up left and right, you will be rated this.

-Knight Ace: An Ace that lives for pride, and honor. If you help out your allies and wingmen often and don't blast crippled planes out of the sky, you are truly honorable and rated as this.

Assault Record
There are 150 Aces total, and each one you shoot has a distinct name, plane, record and history. You can use a viewer to see your victories.

Special Weapons
That's right! They're back! You can now choose from three different 'Special Weapons' for each plane.

Two-Player Multiplayer
Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies' Multiplayer mode is BACK! So far there have been seven confirmed levels, four which are well known places (Mt. Schezna, the city from 'Reprisal', the ravine from 'Ghost of Razgriz' and a Multiplayer map from AC04). Everything from the old multiplayer is back, including the 'competition' and 'dogfight' levels.

Wingman Control System
The Wingman Control from AC5 is back, however this time you can assign your wingmen to attack either ground-based targets, air-based targets and both aside from the usual ATTACK, DISPERSE, COVER and SPECIAL orders.

In order to develop a working strategy with the Player, the Wingman AI was strengthened in AC:0. Because of this, the player and Wingman are more closely tied together and faith is put in each other.

Return-Line/Long Missions
The famed Return Line from Ace Combat 04 is back also! You can now return to base during certain missions and rearm/refuel (and re-'heal' on Easy) or change special weapons then go back to the mission! This also indicates that although there are only 18 missions, they will be longer than AC5's and more like AC04's.

Take-off 'Events'
Remember that scene from 'First Flight' where WARDOG squadron scrambles to take off during the middle of a furball/bombing run? You could see what was going on in the sky and on the ground as you were shot at, bombed and a plane's carcass lands next to you. Well, there is a new one and there might even be more! Here are a couple of screens.

Widescreen resolutions
Now, if you've HD or got a widescreen you can use ACZ to match the resolution and have better widescreen quality! Swell!

Unlockable Planes
There are two unlockable planes from AC04 and AC5! The save data must be in your Memory Card for them to be released.

Boresight System
Now you can target completely manually (read: with a thumbstick) with the new Boresight System! This way you don't have to cycle through endless bogeys and ground targets to get to that one target you want!

New Control Schemes
You can now choose between three different control schemes based off of Zero, or AC5 ('ACE5 A' and 'ACE5 B')!

Retrospective Interview System
The story of Cipher is told through interviews an Osean journalist is having with Cipher's wingmen and former enemies ten years after the Belkan War. Your actions and Ace Ranking will have an effect on the interviews and how much information (and what kind) is released. The game's cutscenes and EVERY SINGLE LEVEL varies depending on your Ace Ranking!

Emotional Feedback System
Every action you do has consequences, wether they are good or bad. All enemies react differently to you depending on your Ace Ranking, dialogue and actions. Remember how at the end of AC04 the Erusians were scared of 'The Blue Ribbon' and how in AC5 the Yukes/Belkans/Oseans were scared of 'The Razgriz'? Well, you can be either feared (Soldier), revered (Knight) or viewed with disdain (Mercenary).

Excalibur
Main Article: Excalibur

Construction of BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) began in 1981 in the country of Belka. It was constucted with the Chemical Laser Weapon "Excalibur" as it's center-point. Against Hostile Enemy Forces other then ICBMs, the Hilly Topography spread around the mainland prevents easy enemy invasions or possible attacks on the Excalibur itself. The Theoretical Range Limit is 545.5 Miles when unsupported by reflective Mirror Satellites or Aircraft, which can extend it's range to around the globe with pin-point accuracy. This allows Belka to "Control the World With A Single Hand" and becomes a point of nationalistic pride. The main tower is defended by several smaller laser stations on rails.

Hresvelgr
Main Article: XB-0 Hresvelgr

A classified 503 meter long heavy AWACS plane produced by the South Belkan Munitions Factory. This plane only passed the first test and currently not entering production or combat use at this moment. The original plan called for an airborne carrier that is used for long range strike operations and can also be used as a AWACS aircraft. Also, depending on the situation, this plane can also be used as a heavy transport or a heavy bomber. However, it is expensive to use in combat. 6 engines producing thrust to up to 1350.2kN powers this giant.

Trivia
Solo-Wing Pixy lost his right wing in an operation, but managed to recover the plane and fly back to base with one wing. Ever since, he's painted the right wing of his F-15C bright red to commemorate the event.

Cipher's tail number is 032.

The Galm flight is the 'Wild (or Demon) Dog' flight.

90% of Ustio's Air Force is out of comission or destroyed.

Ustio seems to be loosely based on Switzerland, Belka on Germany, Osea on the United States and Sapin on Spain.

Solo-Wing Pixiy only uses the F-15C.

The Origin of Cypher's F-15 paint scheme, is from AC4. The ISAF paint scheme in the F-15C is exactly the same as Cypher's, except that Namco removed the nose stripe in ACZ.

There is a possibility of rivalry between the Round Table squadrons (to be verified):

-Grun 1 is called owl because he sees like an owl -Rot 1 is apparently the best Belkan ace -The Sparrow is apparently used for Belkan propaganda

June 6, 1995 a Belkan bomber formation begins to fly over Belka and embark on a suicide mission. Several fighters were scrambled but failed to react in time. I'm guessing the rogue Belkans were killed but succeeded in dropping their deadly payload. Unfortunately, the rogue pilots were never identified.

Cipher's nickname late in the game is "The Demon Lord" or "The Demon of the Round Table". This is fitting as he is in the 6th Air Division 66th Air Force Unit. 666 is the Devil's Number. Furthermore, Cipher's name could be taken from the homonym of Lucifer.

Galm is a variation or translation error of the word Garm. Garm is a demon dog who guards Hel. There is a demon dog on the Galm emblem. This further emphasizes the connection between demons and Cipher.

Both Palmer and Bristow have nicknames after Knights of the Round Table: Sir Bedivere and Sir Lucan, respectively. These are the two knights who carried Arthur to the lake so he could be transported to Avalon, apparently to sleep until he was needed to rule Britain again.