[Millie]

ULYSSES 1994XF04 ASTEROID
-The Legacy of the Ulysses-


- Goldberg Crater in the "Whiskey Corridor" on the Usean continent. This fragment was the largest of the Ulysses fragments to impact the planet, leaving a crater 8.4 km wide. The impact was so large that it managed to reach the water table, and a small lake formed near the center. However, it dried up, just like the Israli River flowing to the east and west of the crater. -


Prologue:
Asteroid impacts have always been a part of Earth's history, such as the one 65 million years ago, when an asteroid impacted earth, possibly leading of the extinction of dinosaurs. Smaller impacts are believed to have affected Early Man's development. However, such impacts were unprecedented in modern times, until the Ulysses event. The planet-fall of the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid not only brought about one of the worst tragedies in human history, but also a change for decades to come, including being the direct and indirect catalyst of many wars.


Discovery:
In December of 1994, the International Union of Astronomers (IUA) sighted a large asteroid on a collision course with Earth. The FCU government, located in the middle of the Usean Continent, called for a further study of the incoming asteroid. A special team, consisting of prominent astronomers, astrophysicists, and geologists was formed and placed under the IUA. It was found that the asteroid, officially labelled as "1994XF04 Ulysses" had a diameter of roughly 1.6km and had an extremely high probability of impacting the planet.

In October of 1995, Comona University, assisted by Shellsbridge University's observations, calculated the exact trajectory of the asteroid. At approximately 3:30pm USEA Eastern Standard Time on July 3rd, 1999, the asteroid would be in close proximity with the planet. The two universities calculated that the asteroid would fragment into thousands of pieces that would impact the northern hemisphere with the force of 2,000,000 nuclear bombs. Upon impact of the fragments, the world would be plunged into a nuclear winter.


Global Community Effort:
The FCU’s government decided that it would not be prudent in announcing their findings to the general public immediately. In cooperation with the Aerospace Society, government researchers began to explore possible solutions to the impending disaster that would be created by the Ulysses impacts. They soon realized that a solution was not possible unless they had full cooperation from their allies.

On April 20th, 1996, the president of the FCU addressed all of the ambassadors and leaders of the world's nations. He announced that the 1994XF04 Ulysses would in fact impact the planet. The date of the impact and scope of the damage expected to befall the planet were also announced to the world community. This announcement sent shock waves around the world. During the same conference, the FCU president announced a special project to intercept the asteroid was initiated. This was his appeal to the world for assistance with this special project.:

"The disastrous effects of the asteroid collision will not only affect USEA, but the whole planet. We are now facing almost certain extinction. We must increase the number of underground shelters and strengthen our defenses. We are now considering possible methods of intercepting the asteroid. If the human race is to survive into the next century, we must devise appropriate measures."

In response to the crisis, work on building refugee shelters began almost immediately. By December 1998, the number of nations building Ulysses Fragment Shelters had skyrocketed, and 160 shelter complexes had been or were being built across the world by January 1999.

Wanting to escape the impending planet-fall, many Useans left the continent, and a large-scale migration began across Earth. Many members of the United Nations had come forward and offered to take in any Usean refugees and refugees from any other areas affected by the asteroid. The Republic of Emmeria’s capital city, Gracemeria, took in more than 200,000 refugees, making it the city with the most refugees from Ulysses on the Anean continent. Oured, the capital of the Osean Federation, also took in a massive amount of refugees. Erusea initially offered to take in refugees, but it would later change its stance after the impact.


Ulysses Defense Projects:
Also on April 20th, 1996, along side the FCU president's press conference, the FCU Secretary of State attended an urgent meeting of the Committee of Foreign Affairs at the Headquarters of the USEA Treaty Organization (UTO). He explained a proposal to use the Nuclear Missile Defense (NMD) system on the Usean continent that could be used to destroy the Ulysses asteroid. After explaining how the system could be implemented, he asked for cooperation of all allies. During a press conference, he stated that "It is the FCU's responsibility to construct a missile defense system that will eliminate the threat the asteroid Ulysses poses to the FCU and its allies."

Some allied nations were skeptical of this NMD proposal and its organization. Thoughts of it being used for military purposes did arise; however, all nations eventually expressed their willingness to cooperate, even though the countries involved in the development of the Nuclear Missile Defense system would shoulder a heavy burden. After considering the worst case scenario for the events to take place in 1999, the Secretary of State made suggestions of the final defense plan. "Without the understanding and cooperation of all countries it will not be possible to implement this defense plan." said the Secretary of State, without disclosing further details. These considered plans included attaching a propulsion device to the asteroid and also the firing of multiple interceptor missiles from the NMD System. However, once the Ulysses passed the Roche Limit, there would be no way to deter it. The effectiveness of this NMD Proposal was unclear, but among the many plans at the time, this was thought to be the most plausible.


The Special Project: Stonehenge:
Many nations around the world began to participate in the "special project" that was lead initially by the FCU. With the close of the Belkan War, the Osean Federation and the Union of Yuktobanian Republics was more than willing to help the FCU with its project to destroy the Ulysses, but, with post-war chaos, was unable to do so, due to the fact that they had to rebuild their own countries after the war. However, some Belkan aces and Osean pilots did go to Usea to help in the construction of the Stonehenge Turret Network.


- an overhead view of the Stonehenge Turret Network -

The Stonehenge Turret Network project was put under the utmost secrecy. The project was to construct a weapon capable of engaging the 1994XF04 Ulysses asteroid outside of the Roche Limit in order to deter a direct impact with the planet. Construction went on for many years in (or near) the Sandberry Desert. The project spanned multiple years and incorporated the world's best technologies. The weapon would use an electromagnetic firing system to propel 120cm specialized shells into space at near Mach 23 and be able to fire in a 360 degree radius, with the ability to fire upon different targets independently. This weapon was known officially known as the Stonehenge Turret Network (STN) or "Stonehenge" for short. The Stonehenge Turret Network, when completed consisted of eight cannons placed in a circular formation. This facility was to be protected by the military, and this included an air base near the STN. An air patrol was posted to protect the STN and was led by John Harvard, a pilot with experience during the Usean Rebellion, an attempted coup d’etat on the Usean continent.

As the projected impact date grew closer, the Stonehenge Turret Network was completely operational and prepared to engage the 1994XF04 Ulysses asteroid.


Side Projects:
Although Stonehenge was the most visible asteroid interception system, others were created as well. Due to their secretive nature, details on them were more sketchy then those of the STN project.

In Erusea, though the country was already participating in the project being run by the FCU, a side project was being planned. It was to be constructed near the Twinkle Islands, off the Erusean coast. Though the project was on a smaller scale than the "special project" being pushed by the nations around the world, this Erusean project did see progress. This Erusean project would produce a super-hardened ICBM missile base known as "Megalith". Due to the efforts to complete Stonehenge, it was not completed in time for Ulysses, but work continued on it, in secret, for several years after the initial impact.

Another asteroid interception project was under way, outside of Usea on the Anean continent. This weapon was wholly funded, constructed and operated by one nation, the Federal Republic of Estovakia. This weapon was located in the vicinity of Sonne Island off the northern coast of Estovakia. This weapon, known as "Chandelier", was to use a colossal rail gun system to launch a specialized munitions system, which was quite similar to the MIRV concept in design and separated into multiple cruise missiles which attacked independent targets. The Chandelier was loaded by a conveyor system, located in a trench directly below the Chandelier's rail gun. The munitions which were fired from the Chandelier were held in an underground ammunition store, which was located directly below the Chandelier itself. The Chandelier was also able to fire repeatedly in short amounts of time. Though there is no confirmed date of the beginning of its construction, the project was under way during the same time as the FCU lead multi-national effort to destroy the Ulysses. Although the world knew that Estovakia had started its own interception project, they had no details on the specifics or the scope of the project. "Chandelier" was not completed before the impact, but, like the Megalith, work continued in secret after the war.



World-Wide Migration and Developments:
In July of 1998, exactly one year before the estimated impact, the International Union of Astronomers had submitted a new report to the FCU about the predicted damage patterns for the Ulysses. A probe sent to observe the Ulysses had taken photographs and gravitational measurements to discover that the Ulysses was likely to have a sizable hollow area or gap within it. IUA astrophysicists worked with the Shellbridge University to find how this would affect the Ulysses once it entered the Earth’s gravitational pull. The IUA had concluded that the asteroid would be torn into two large fragments and that wider surfaces of the planet would be impacted by asteroid fragments. The International Union of Astronomers announced this to the world.

The FCU and United Nations had already passed a point of no return with the STN project and were unable to make any large revisions within its design to adjust for this new information. Stonehenge was expected to engage the Ulysses over the center of the Usean continent within a radius of 1200-1500 km, after passing the Roche Limit. This new report now stated that areas enclosed by the meridian lines of 135 degrees east and 30 degrees west would be decimated by Ulysses fragments, as Stonehenge was unable to deal with all fragments in such a wide area. The FCU did not make any modifications to the STN knowing that international conflict would no doubt flare because of the offensive potential the weapon would then maintain. FCU member states had decided that they would focus on rendering the STN more safe and reliable for the defense of their allied nations

Multiple nations promptly stepped forward against this decision and many groups had participated in demonstrations against the FCU. Nations besides the FCU did not have a single weapon that was capable of engaging the Ulysses and defending them from the Ulysses planet-fall. Rather than continued dispute, nations continued to prepare for the July of 1999 and the arrival of the Ulysses asteroid.


July 3rd 1999:
On Saturday, July 3rd, 1999, at exactly 03:30pm USEA eastern standard time, the Ulysses asteroid finally reached Earth's vicinity. Then, it split into more than a thousand pieces as it passed the Roche Limit, as predicted by the IUA. Many of these Ulysses fragments then plummeted to Earth. Stonehenge engaged the larger fragments of the 1994XF04 asteroid and did its best to protect the Usean continent. Still, hundreds of asteroid fragments smashed into the Usean and Anean continents. On the Usean continent alone, over 500,000 people perished within the first two weeks, and damage was estimated to be the equivalent of 18 months of the total GDP for the entire continent. On the Anean continent, Nordennavik and Emmeria came out of it virtually unscathed, while Estovakia took the brunt of the impact, claiming countless lives.


- an asteroid fragment moments before or during its impact in Farbanti -

The world shuddered and trembled after the Ulysses impact. July, 1999, would change the world forever.


- one of the devastated cities in Estovakia caused by the massive impact of Ulysses -


Continental Wars and Aftermath:
Countless others died over the following years due to starvation and disease linked to the devastation caused by Ulysses and the subsequent collapse of order in several nations. Over the next few years, on the Usean continent, the Usean Refugee Dispute eventually led to Erusea conducting hostile actions against the FCU, which included increased military movements, refusal to take in refugees from the Ulysses planet-fall, the mishandling of refugees and eventually, and the occupation of Stonehenge itself. These actions then lead to the formation of the Independent State Allied Forces (ISAF) and the beginning of the Usean Continental War. Erusea would use the Stonehenge's special 'shock wave' shells to gain almost total air dominance during the first part of the war.


- Ryker Crater, off the coast of Farbanti. The municipal area was submerged
almost immediately after the Ulysses fragment impacted -

The Federal Republic of Estovakia's "Chandelier" was never completed in time for the Ulysses planet-fall. Estovakia, its infrastructure decimated due to the damage inflicted by Ulysses, fell into a long lasting civil war which lasted for years. It wasn't until 2013 that the Estovakian military's Generals, lead by Gustav Dvornik, took control within the country and established order. These "Generals" were then followed by their nation's people in hope of the General's abilities to restore their nation. The Generals eventually led Estovakia into total war against the nearby Republic of Emmeria, which had been supporting a rival faction through out the war, which sparked the Anean Continental War.


Space Debris Disposal:
During the years after the Ulysses planet-fall, fragments of the Ulysses continued to fall onto the planet. In mid-2005, Stonehenge was destroyed by the Independent State Allied Forces, depriving the Eruseans of their AA superweapon and serving as a turning point in the entire war.

A second facility created by Erusea, Megalith, which was completed during the Usean Continental War, was also destroyed at the end of the Usean Continental War in September of 2005. Die-hard Erusean officers had plans to use Megalith as a weapon to engage the Independent State Allied Forces (ISAF), but it was destroyed by a lone pilot before they could activate the facility. With that, the only (known) means of defense against Ulysses asteroid fragments was destroyed.

In 2008, the G7 Summit was finally held. The Summit was cancelled before, due to a terrorist attack near its location in the permanently neutral Democratic Federation of Wellow. G7 was later held aboard the Osean Federation's Arkbird in Earth's orbit. One of the many issues brought up by nations at G7 concerned the Ulysses fragments. It was decided that the Arkbird would take up the role which Stonehenge once played. A powerful Yuktobanian anti-space debris high-powered laser unit was installed on the top of the Arkbird, while the Osean Airborne Laser Unit (ABL) on the belly of the craft was uninstalled, in order to reassure nations that the laser could not be used as an offensive weapon. Also, subversive missiles were installed on the top of the Arkbird in order to repel large fragments the Arkbird could not handle. This transformed the Osean SDI's main product, the Arkbird, into a peace maker.


- a picture of national leaders aboard the Arkbird, as it orbits the planet, during the G7 Summit. -

Though it was not a complete solution for the Ulysses fragments, the Arkbird successfully cleared 80% of space around the geosynchronous orbit. Because of its success, nations around the world willingly participated in the beginning of the construction of a permanent international space station, a project which was sponsored by Osea and Yuktobania.

In 2010, the Arkbird was used as a weapon in the Circum-Pacific War by the Osean Federation and later commandeered by Belkan operatives. However, it was eventually destroyed.

The final option for Ulysses fragment defense, the Federal Republic of Estovakia's "Chandelier", was still incomplete, because of the damage the nation suffered from the Ulysses and the ensuing civil war. In 2016, it was activated by the Estovakian military to attack the Emmerian capital city of Gracemeria as part of its scorched-earth policy. Construction was performed on the Chandelier to bring it to operational status, but, it was soon destroyed by the Republic of Emmeria's air forces.

The destruction of the Chandelier marked the last of the asteroid interception systems, but the legacy of Ulysses lives on; in the craters that mar the landscapes, and the people and countries it has affected. The future ramifications of the catastrophe are unknown.



- The Anderson Crater at Newfield Island. When this fragment impacted half of
the city on the island was wiped out in the blast. Construction to restore the lost
portion of the city is underway -


- an unnamed crater in the Amber Ravine region. It was used by Erusean forces
to harvest solar power -


- a large asteroid fragment plummeting into Mount Shenza -


- Krasinsky Crater near Mount Shenza. This fragment managed to open a
steam vent in the mountain range -




SOURCE:
Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies (the game itself)
PROJECT ACES: AC4 SITE
Shattered Skies.net


ACCREDITATION:
Re-written by Ribbon Yellow
Re-written by Buffalosoldier92 (Ribbon-Azure)

[Ribbon-Grey]

This needs editing BADLY. I'll get on it tomorrow.

[Green Giant]

I made some changes, but do to it's length, I suggest that someone review it again.

[Demon Lord Razgriz]

The FCU and United Nations had already passed a point of no return with the STN Project and were unable to make any large revisions within its design to adjust for this new information. Stonehenge was expected to engage the Ulysses over the center of the Usean Continent within a radius of 1200-1500 km, after passing the Roche limit. This new report now stated that areas enclosed by the meridian lines of 135 degrees east and 30 degrees west would be decimated by Ulysses Fragments. Stonehenge was unable to deal with all fragments in such a wide area. The FCU did not make any modifications to the Ulysses knowing that international conflict would no doubt flare because of the offensive potential the weapon would then maintain. FCU member states had decided that they would focus on rendering the STN more safe and reliable for the defense of their allied nations
[/color]

What I put in bold needs to be changed to STN.

[Ribbon-Azure]

Article re-written, facts checked, and grammar corrected. You can thank me later Grey, and, if anything's wrong, just PM me. Oh, and one question: Why are most of these articles written in present-tense?

[Grastens 7]

Grammar and spelling heavily edited.

[Green Giant]

Updated the article format.

Please don't make any changes.

[Apollo]

Two of the sculptures in the Arkbrid pic are the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory. Hmm. . .

[Scherzo]

Here's some interesting facts about Asteroids. 1994XF04 means that it was the 106th asteroid discovered in the first half of December in the year of 1994. X means the first half of december, as there are 24 letters (I and Z are not used) subdividing the year into 24 half-month section. The second letter the indicates what order it was found. The 04 nomenclature is a bit weird because it should be just 4, but I put that up to just subtle difference in strangereal. Omitting I this time, there are 25 letters to indicate the order in which asteroids are discovered. Since the amount of asteroids being discovered quickly went above 25, the number signifies how many times they have cycled through the alphabet, in this case, 4 times. So it is the 106th asteroid discovered in the first half of December 1994.

It also belonged to a group of asteroids called Trojans, which are held in place by Jupiter's Lagrange points. Asteroids around Jupiter's L4 Lagrange point belong to what is known as the Greek camp, and are named after Greek heroes of the Trojan War. This asteroids can be knocked inward or outward of their orbit.

[Tazuren]

Here's some interesting facts about Asteroids. 1994XF04 means that it was the 106th asteroid discovered in the first half of December in the year of 1994. X means the first half of december, as there are 24 letters (I and Z are not used) subdividing the year into 24 half-month section. The second letter the indicates what order it was found. The 04 nomenclature is a bit weird because it should be just 4, but I put that up to just subtle difference in strangereal. Omitting I this time, there are 25 letters to indicate the order in which asteroids are discovered. Since the amount of asteroids being discovered quickly went above 25, the number signifies how many times they have cycled through the alphabet, in this case, 4 times. So it is the 106th asteroid discovered in the first half of December 1994.

It also belonged to a group of asteroids called Trojans, which are held in place by Jupiter's Lagrange points. Asteroids around Jupiter's L4 Lagrange point belong to what is known as the Greek camp, and are named after Greek heroes of the Trojan War. This asteroids can be knocked inward or outward of their orbit.

I think by Z you mean O. I an O are not used in numerous instances due to theri similarity to 1 and 0.

[Scherzo]

No, only I and Z are omitted. The last half of December is Y.

[Tazuren]

No, only I and Z are omitted. The last half of December is Y.

I've never heard of Z being omitted. Only O. I'd like proof of Z being omitted. And PM it to me please.

[Scherzo]

O is used. I is not used and is used. Y is the last half of December; The X in XF04 means the first half of December.

[Merc Cipher]

I enjoyed this reading, thanks for posting it.