Falco One

Falco One
Biographical Information
Ranks/Titles	Captain
Other Names and Callsigns	FALCO01 The Southern Cross
Nationality	Aurelian
Relatives	Unnamed son
Affiliations	Aurelian Air Force Falco Squadron
Equipment	XFA-24A Apalis F-22A Raptor Player choice (ACE Xi)
Physical Description
Gender	Male
Appearances
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion

"All Leasath fighters! Leave this one to me!"

― Chimera 1 engaging Falco One

Falco One is an Aurelian Air Force fighter pilot and flight lead of Falco Squadron. He and his squadron saw action in the early and closing days of the Aurelian War. He is the player's character in Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion and previously appeared as a non-playable character in Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception.

A skilled pilot, Falco One accomplished multiple things of note during the early stages of the Aurelian War, including besting the Leasath Air Force's elite Chimera Squadron in a dogfight over Area Z2K and shooting down the Gleipnir's prototype, the Gandr. His actions during the early stages of the war ultimately made Falco One a symbol of a "Resilient Aurelia" and earned him the nickname "The Southern Cross", a title he would later come to share with Gryphus 1.

Biography

Aurelian War

Falco One first deployed during the Aurelian War to defend Phuku Lagolla Air Base from a Leasath bombing run after they overwhelmed Aurelian defenses at the border. Sometime after successfully defending the base, Falco One almost singlehandedly defended Base Sallqa and the Aurelian Army units there from an oncoming attack by the Leasath Ground Forces, who aimed to capture this base in order to weaken the defenses of the Aurelian capital, Griswall.

Following the victory at Base Sallqa, Falco One paticipated in the Battle of Challwa, where he assisted the Aurelian Army in defending the port city of Challwa from the 5th and 7th Amphibious Units of the Leasath Naval Forces. With 60% of Aurelian territory under the control of Leasath, they once again attempted a second takeover of Base Sallqa, which Falco One promptly prevented.

Falco One being pursued by Chimera Squadron

The Leasath military, now aware of Falco One's role in their recent failures to secure air superiority, aimed to draw him out. The Leasath Air Force deployed multiple squadrons alongside its elite Chimera Squadron comprised of Leasath Civil War veterans to Area Z2K in Aurelian airspace, where they shot down numerous Aurelian aircraft. After failing to achieve air superioty, Aurelian command ordered that Falco One be deployed to Z2K to regain control of the airspace. Falco One was deployed with no backup and singehandley shot down numerous Leasath aircraft before engaging and defeating Chimera Squadron as well.

After Falco One's continual victories, the morale of Aurelian soldiers at Base Sallqa was at an all time high, despite Leasath winning the war. Now aware of Falco One's capabilities, Aurelian command deployed him on a difficult infiltration mission to destroy a Leasath supply facility behind enemy lines, a mission which he ultimately accomplished.

Having now become a symbol for a "Resilient Aurelia", Falco One and his squadron was tasked with escorting a large Aurelian Navy fleet while it left Port Patterson. Having detected the Aurelian movements at the port, Leasath deployed a large force to sink the Aurelian fleet. Despite this, Falco One managed to successfully defend the fleet.

The Gandr prior to its engagement with Falco One

While continuing to escort the Aurelian fleet, that was en route to Griswall, the experimental Gandr aerial warship launched an Shock Wave Ballistic Missile that annihilated the fleet. Falco One moved to engage the Gandr, along with the members of Chimera Squadron who were escorting it. After a fierce engagement, Falco One managed to ultimately shoot down the remaining Chimera pilots along with the Gandr.

Despite his continual victories, the loss of the Aurelian naval fleet meant to defend Griswall left the Aurelian capital defenseless after Base Sallqa was mysteriously annihilated. With Griswall now captured by Leasath ten days into the war, Falco One's successes ultimately proved fruitless as he was forced to retreat alongside Aurelian forces.

In late 2020, Falco One returned to the frontlines with his team, where they assisted Gryphus Squadron during an ambush operation at the Danern Straits in Leasath. Now fighting alongside Gryphus 1, both pilots managed to successfully destroyed the large Leastath fleet stationed there, severely weakening the defenses around Archelon Fortress prior to the final battle of the war.

Gallery

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  Falco One's Apalis

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  Falco One's emblem

Trivia

• "Falco" means "Hawk" in Italian.
• Falco One is the only playable character in the Ace Combat series known to have children.
• Falco One is the only playable Ace Combat character to date to be non-playable in his debut appearance.
• He does not speak in Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion, but can be heard speaking in Skies of Deception.
• His nickname, "The Southern Cross", is also shared by Gryphus One.
• In Ace Combat: Joint Assault, Falco Squadron's emblem becomes available after all non-fictional aircraft are unlocked.
• In Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, the "Falco" callsign is unlocked after getting the Ace Striker bonus.
• In Ace Combat Infinity, his personal emblem was available as a reward for the top 5000 players in the "Nemesis is here!" Online Co-Op Missions Ranking Tournament.