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Background:
Gründer Industries was a powerful corporation on the Osean continent in the 15 years following the Belkan War. In that time it rose from only a weapons producer to the makers of thousands of different products. On the outside, it appeared to be the success story of war shattered Belka. Internally, however, there was a secret. Gründer was little more than a front for a group that only sought the downfall of those who had disgraced it: The Grey Men.
The Time of War:
1991 - 1995
Originally, Gründer Industries was a privately run manufacturing corporation, one of the biggest in South Belka. It's main plants were in Sudentor and Hoffnung. However, as a result of the fascist revolution of '91, the company's assets were seized by the Belkan government, and transformed it into the South Belkan Munitions Plant, in effect the war productions arm of the Belkan Military. All of the Corporation's resources were placed into war production, in all its forms.
The plant revolutionized the way jet fighters were produced. By eliminating the need for unnecessary parts, the planes were more efficient to build than regularly produced planes, but were equal in performance. This allowed the Belkan Air Force to expand to massive sizes.
Not only did the SBMP produce the bulk of the Belkan military's war machines, but they designed and built several superweapons to be used as weapons of terror for Belka. One such weapon was Excalibur. Erected in 1994, Excalbur was intended to be a shield against ballistic missiles, as well as an exhibition of Belkan power. The XB-0 Hresvelgr was also built in secret, but dues to its high fuel consumption rate, regular service would be impractical, so It was sent to an out of the way facility near Mt. Schirim in North Belka, where it stayed for the majority of the Belkan War.
When the war began in 1995, the South Belkan Munitions Plant was working on two superplane prototypes they thought would would bring victory for Belka: The ADFX-01(02) Morgan and the ADF-01 Falken. However, as the war started to turn against Belka, more practical weapons took priority, and these projects were delayed due to the inadequate Resources that were available.
Then, on June 1st, the Allies bombed Hoffnung, the heart of Belka's war production effort, and the main R&D center for the prototype aircraft. Unfortunately, Allied carpet bombing and an ordered sabotage by the Belkan military destroyed all but one of the ADFX-series prototypes were destroyed, which mysteriously disappeared after the bombing, and only parts of the Morgan and Falken could be found, which were secured by the UAF. However, the plans for the ADF-01 could not be found.
The SBMP remained practically out of commission for the rest of the war. Remnants of the Belkan Army commandeered the remaining facility in Sudentor, using it to fuel the beleaguered defenders of the South Belkan capital. On June 6th, with the dropping of nuclear weapons in the Waldriech mountain range, a cease-fire was declared in Sudentor, then eventually throughout the rest of Belka. All hostilities were ended on the 20th June with the radification of peace accords in Lumen, officially ending all hostilities Belka and it's neighboring countries. But even with these events, Gründer's story was far from finished.
Rebirth:
1995 -2009
At the end of the Belkan war, the spoils were divided up, mainly between the two superpowers of Yuktobania and Osea. Osea managed to get most of Belka's laser technology and research (Some of which may have been on the Falken), and started designing the Arkbird; While Yuktobania got its hands on Belka's burst missile program, (another weapon the munitions plant was working on)which it altered to make their own superweapons. The disagreements between these two nations continued for quite some time, eventually leaving time facility practically bare.
The future looked bleak for Grunder. Its factories either completely destroyed or severely damaged, it appeared Gründer would be absorbed into an Osean corporation. But, astonishingly, the corporation was able to get back on its feet, reformed as Gründer Industries, and by late 1995 the factories had re-opened again.
Of course, Osea went through a long process trying to weed out any Belkan nationalists or fascist party members from the corporation, to ensure there would be no trouble. Although there were accusations that Gründer's chairman and CEO was secretly a high ranking member of the fascist party, he swore complete allegiance to Osea.
From that day forth, Gründer was on the rise. With its factories in full swing, it seemed like things were going smoothly, and they continued to grow, As they put it's secret plan into motion. It had only one goal: revenge.
Heart of Darkness:
1996-2010
Although Gründer presented itself as a mere corporation trying to rebuild itself after the war, the truth was far more sinister. At first it started out merely funding extremist Belkan groups, but soon it would put it's true plan into motion. For indeed, Gründer's CEO was in fact a secret member of the Grey Men, a group of former high ranking fascist party members that was formed after the fall of the Belkan Federation, and had infiltrated the new Belkan government. Gründer's CEO was, in truth, the biggest player.
In the late 90's, Grunder started contacting the Grabacr and Ofnir squadrons, which had infiltrated the air forces of Osea and Yuktobania, respectively, then disappeared from official documents. From then on, Ofnir/Grabacr became Gründer's own ace squadrons.
Gründer began to pay off politicians and put cronies in the Yuktobanian and Osean governments, banging the war drums for stronger military as well as bringing about xenophobia and hatred towards "those dogs across the sea". This was only partly successful, as president Harling, a liberal, was elected in 2004, as well as Prime Minister Nikanor later on. However, both of the governments were caught in Grunder's web, even though they didn't know it. Even Harling's Vice President, Applerouth, was in fact one of Grunder's agents.
Throughout the early 21st century, Gründer pushed the two superpowers ever closer to war. Both nations began to create superweapons in secret, as well as build up troop strength. However, neither side realized the true machinations behind them.
Then, in 2010, things really picked up. Believing their influence was deep enough in Osea and Yuktobania, Ofnir and Grabacr began provoking the war it so sought. Confused, but not about to back down, Yuktobania began to conduct reconnaissance missions over Sand Island and Cape Landers. When the Oseans responded with hostility, however, the Yuktobanians were outraged. Nikanor tried to keep the people calm and rational, but he mysteriously "disappeared" in short order, leaving the nation to the Gründer-backed war mongers to quickly activate military contingences. The Circum-Pacific War had begun.
The Circum Pacific War and the Razgriz:
2010
Gründer's influences on the war were minor at first, mostly limited to supplying both sides with advanced weaponry. After a failed attempt by the Yuktobanians to invade Sand Island, both sides began to believe that the conflict could be defused before it truly ignited (although, with the Scinfaxi destroyed and the Arkbird shown to be a formidable force, the talks seemed to be slanted in Osea's favor). A peace conference was set to take place in North Point, and Harling was set to attend it himself.
The Grey Men could not let this happen, so they 'accidentally' slipped the President's plans to the Yuktobanians, who attacked the Cargo plane the president was flying in. Although they were unable to shoot down the plane, a Yuktobanian spy killed the pilot and mortally wounded the co-pilot before being subdued, forcing the plane to land in Osea. The 8492nd Squadron, a covert Ace Squadron that was supported by the Grey Men and masquarading as an Osean squadron, took over air coverage of the president from Wardog Squadron. This allowing the Grey Men to capture President Harling. With that, the conference was canceled. That, along with the neutralization of the Arkbird, evened the playing field again, which was exactly what the Grey Men wanted.
After the Invasion of Yuktobania, the Grey Men found it necessary to stir up more hatred between the two powers, ordering the 8492nd (AKA Grabacr) to attack a civilian engineering college in Dresdene, Yuktobania. The results were exactly what the Grey Men intended, with the Yuktobanians launching reprisals on Osean civilian targets. Although the terrorists were stopped due to Wardog Squadron and Oured Capital Air Defense, they succeeded in increasing the hatred between Yuktobania and Osea.
Applerouth, who had become the de facto leader of Osea after Harling had been captured, was sent on a tour of inflammatory anti-Yuktobanian rallies, the biggest of which took place in November City. However, that conference served more than creating a further intolerance of Yuktobania (which it actually failed at, as the crowd began to sing an anti-war anthem), it was an attempt to get rid of Osea's new secret weapon, Wardog Squadron, quickly becoming known as the reborn the Demons of Razgriz. Using its political influences, Grunder allowed Yuktobanian Fighters to penetrate deep into Osean airspace, while the 8492nd jammed the airwaves and sent a false message to Osean reinforcements that the attack on November City was just a drill. Although most of Wardog survived, one pilot, Captain Alvin Davenport, was killed.
The Belkans soon decided to take the matter into their own hands. After the remaining Wardog squadron members attacked Cruik Fortress, Grabacr dropped the ruse and attacked them outright over the Vladimir Mountains. Although Wardog was able to break through, the Grey Men were prepared. Major Allen Hamilton, a Grey Man embedded deep within the OADF, convinced the personnel at Sand Island (and later the whole OADF and OMDF) that Wardog Squadron was a group of traitorous Yuktobanian spies. Wardog was able to escape in Osean Special Forces 2nd Lt. Peter "Pops" Beagle's training jets, but were pursued by Grabacr squadron. However, Marcus "Swordsman" Snow, a pilot from the Kestrel, appeared and offered to shoot down Wardog Squadron, which he appeared to do. Officially, Wardog was gone forever. There was nothing left in the Grey Men's way to stop them from achieving total revenge. At least, that is what they thought.
After the "destruction" of Wardog, nothing stood in the Grey Men's path. As the Osean drive reached a stalemate at the gates of Cinigrad, the Grey Men began preparing their vengeance weapon, the SOLG. The Strategic Orbital Linear Gun, or SOLG, was an abandoned Osean Missile station in Earth's orbit. The Grey Men secretly supplied it with parts to re-activate it so it could fire Belka's own weapon, the V2, a replica of the deadly weapon created in the previous war. It also made similar modifications to the Arkbird, so it could carry V1 tactical nukes. Revenge was in their grasp.
Then, in early December, the Osean president was rescued from Stier castle, where the Grey Men had been holding him. Infuriated, the Grey Men began to speed things up, unearthing the nuclear weapons they hid at the end of the war 15 years ago, but were only able to unearth three V1 nukes before mysterious black aircraft sealed the tunnel for good.
Gründer then tried to ship a V1 to Yuktobania, but it was captured by a group of rebels who were aided by the same black aircraft that even Gründer's elite Ofnir Squadron couldn't shoot down. Ofnir was forced to bail out and the bomb was dismantled.
The Grey Men began to get more and more drastic. They ordered the Arkbird to drop a nuke on the heavily populated Yuktobanian city of Okhtabursk, but it was intercepted by 'the Ghosts of Razgriz', as they were now called, and destroyed. A few days later, Prime Minister Nikanor of the Union of Yuktobanian Republics was freed from captivity with the help of the Resistance and the Ghosts of Razgriz, who were able to take out the Grabacr Squadron.
The Grey Men ordered the Yuktobanian and Oseans to attack several new 'traitors', the OFS Kestrel's small support fleet, but several Yuktobanian ships decided to defect. In the end, the Grey Men's forces were destroyed, but they soon after managed to sink the Kestrel.
But the Grey Men's time in power was over. On December 30th, Nikanor and Harling appeared on a worldwide televised event at Blight Hill, where they explained to the world the treachery of the Grey Men and made peace. Except for a few die-hards that refused to stop fighting, the Circum-Pacific war was over.
The Grey men fell back to Sudentor, where they begged the war mongers still in power in Osea and Yuktobania to protect the tunnel entrance in exchange for the last V1. However, Gründer's HQ in Sudentor was neutralized, thanks to the newly formed allied force of Osea and Yuktobanian aircraft and soldiers, and the nerve center of tunnel was destroyed, cutting off contacting to the SOLG from the ground. Presumably, the Grey Men members were captured and arrested, as well as the Osean and Yuktobanian conspirators. Foreseen by Gründer Industries, however, the SOLG was programmed to slam into the Osean capital city of Oured if surface control was ever cut off. However, it was destroyed before the V2 could be activated, by the Razgriz Squadron, who also killed the remnants of Grabacr and Ofnir Squadron. The Belkan Conflict, as it was officially called, had finally been put to rest.
SOURCE:
Ace Combat 05: The Unsung War
Official Ace Combat 05 Website
Namco CH Ace Combat 05 Website
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
Official Ace Combat Zero Website
Namco CH Ace Combat Zero Website
ACCREDITATION:
Props to maverick_ocu for the Grunder Logo.
*Original Article by Ribbon-Yellow*
, ok, is fixed.
