Everyone, meet the Alicorn, a nuclear submarine that we will get to know very well in the DLC missions of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. We've gotten quite a lot of nuggets of lore in the trailers we've seen thus far, so here's what we know about what we're getting!
Missions[]
First off, the DLC missions themselves. All three missions take place between "Bunker Buster" and "Cape Rainy Assault" in the main campaign. You can access the DLC missions through the new "SP MISSION" section in the menu.
- "Unexpected Visitor"
- Release Date: September 25, 2019
- Operation Date: September 4, 2019
- Location: Artiglio Port
- Objective: Shoot down the Erusean fighters trying to defend the Alicorn. Erusea is supported by ECM aircraft that will block our radar. We will be supported by ESM aircraft that will boost our missile accuracy, especially for multi-lock missiles (4AAM/6AAM/8AAM).
- Other Notes: There are two Osean(?) Su-47 Berkuts, named Rage and Scream, supported by blank targeting boxes like those in Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War. There's also a Rafale M squadron that takes off from the Alicorn itself.
- "Anchorhead Raid"
- Release Date: October 23, 2019
- Operation Date: September 10(?), 2019
- Location: Anchorhead
- Objective: UNKNOWN
- Other Notes: It looks like we're dealing with some kind of burst missile weapon in this mission?
- "Ten Million Relief Plan"
- Release Date: November 27, 2019
- Operation Date: September 14(?), 2019
- Location: UNKNOWN
- Objective: UNKNOWN
- Other Notes: Some kind of bombs dropping from the sky? Some kind of green energy explosion/shield thing?
Characters[]
Now for the new characters we'll be introduced to!
Alicorn Captain Matias Torres
OIA Analyst David North
David North's AI Alex
Lore[]
And finally, some pieces of lore that may or may not be relevant to the missions:
- Torres participated in Operation Rough Seas during Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies as the captain of the Tanager.
- The Alicorn carries nuclear weapons and neutron bombs, the latter fired via railgun. The stakes here are massive, with various screenshots referring to the potential loss of millions of civilians.
- Yuktobania created the Alicorn but apparently didn't use or complete it, so Erusea eventually purchased it as scrap and refurbished it into the world's largest nuclear submarine.
- The Alicorn disappeared at some point in 2016, but resurfaced as part of Erusea's reserve fleet in late 2018. David North was tracking it at that point, all the way through to the DLC missions.
- David North is accompanied by an AI known as "Alex". Its star in the middle is reminiscent of the General Resource Limited logo.
