- "I walk on. I'm unable to think. All I can do is follow the others."
- ― Melissa escaping Gracemeria
Melissa Herman (メリッサハーマン Merissa Hāman) was one of the many refugees during the Emmeria-Estovakia War. She was separated from her daughter Matilda, but they reunited and, with the help of Lieutenant Colonel Victor Voychek, assisted the Republic of Emmeria Air Force in destroying the Chandelier.
Biography[]
Melissa Herman was born in 1983. She was raised in a wealthy family, presumably in the Republic of Emmeria.[1]
Sometime before 2000, she met and married her husband, a pilot of the Republic of Emmeria Air Force. In the year 1999, they both witnessed the fall of the Ulysses 1994XF04 Asteroid and made countless wishes to the shooting stars.[2] In 2006, they gave birth to their only child, Matilda. Melissa was slightly bothered by the lack of time her husband had for her, but she led a peaceful and happy life with her daughter in a rich neighborhood in Gracemeria.[1]
It became an inside joke within the family that Melissa's husband would refer to fighter planes as "angels," and when he'd go off on a long-distance mission she'd tell him in frustration to "go dance with his angels." Matilda grew up hearing this and started to use it as a goodbye.[3]
On August 30, 2015, after her daughter left for a field trip in the morning, Melissa was struck by the sounds and sights of a missile strike on the King's Bridge. She witnessed at least the beginning stages of the Invasion of Gracemeria, but was eventually forced to leave the city along with many other refugees.[3][2]
Melissa falls to her knees at the sight of her husband's aircraft
On October 28, 2015, while leaving the city, she found her husband's aircraft, destroyed on the ground next to a smaller bridge, and presumed he died in battle.[2]
Later on, while listening to an Estovakian radio broadcast out of Gracemeria, she heard Matilda's voice on the radio, telling the broadcaster to "dance with an angel," confirming for Melissa that her daughter was still alive.[2] She decided to walk her way back towards the city when she encountered Ludmila Tolstaya, who was traveling by car to Gracemeria in search of her boyfriend, Toscha Mijasik. Ludmila turned out to be a valuable ally; with her Estovakian passport, they manage to make it through the checkpoints on the way.[4][5]
At some point, Melissa and Ludmila encountered an Emmerian partisan group. Melissa attempted to explain that Ludmila was a student from the Kingdom of Nordennavic, but the Emmerians upon hearing Ludmila's thick Estovakian accent prepared to execute her when they were attacked by Estovakian A-10A Thunderbolt IIs. Melissa and Ludmila fled the scene Emmerian partisans were strafed and killed.[6]
Later on, their car was destroyed in San Loma during an aerial battle. They encountered a pilot of the Estovakian Air Force and manage to revive him. He told them that the pilot who shot him down was "Garuda". Through saving this man's life, her friendship with Ludmila strengthened.[7]
Melissa and Ludmila with Serval
A short distance out of the city, the pair ran into Sergeant Louis McKnight, whom Melissa had seen while escaping out of Gracemeria. He and the other two Sergeants operating their lone tank allowed Melissa and Ludmila to hitch a ride until just outside the city outskirts, where they parted ways as McKnight and the others went to pull off their bank heist. As it turned out, however, McKnight's crew blasted into where a group of children were hiding with Lieutenant Colonel Victor Voychek and the statue of the Golden King; after Gracemeria was liberated around that time, they drove in the street with the statue and the children sitting on the tank. Melissa encountered the tank again and reunited with Matilda, one of the children there.[8]
The group of them, along with the rest of the children and Voychek, were forced to hide underneath an immobile train within Gracemeria during the air raids later that night. After they had ceased, Voychek confirmed the death of Melissa's husband, and told them of an Estovakian plan to be carried out to destroy the city. He refused to tell them anything further, but Ludmila convinced him to protect these civilians by telling them what he knew. Together, they all managed to use Emmerian Independence Radio to transmit the data of the Chandelier's vulnerabilities to the Emmerian pilots, which led to its destruction.[9][10]
After the war, Melissa invited Marcus Lampert, one of the Emmerian pilots that destroyed the Chandelier and heard her voice over the radio, over at her house to meet her. Nothing more is known about her or her family after the war's end.[11]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Pilots of Ace Combat 6 - Xbox
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cutscene 02: "Realization", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cutscene 01: "Shattered Peace", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 04: "Bridge of Despair", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 07: "Unspoken Bonds", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 09: "Victims of Circumstance", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 10: "A Common Burden", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 15: "Reunion", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 16: "Resolve", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Mission 15: "Chandelier", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 17: "A Brand New Day", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.