Ashley Bernitz

ASHLEY BERNITZ
AC5 - Grabacr One

Personal information:
Age: 53 [as of 2010]
Date of Birth: ?
Nationality: Belkan
Blood type: ?
Height: ?
Weight: ?
Eyes: ?
Hair: ?
Rank: ?
Status: Missing In Action

Biography:
Ashley Bernitz, call sign Grabacr, was the Commander of the Belkan 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 6th Air Division. Having taken part in many battles throughout the Belkan War, Bernitz had become an ace of the Belkan Air Force.

On May 28th, 1995, during Operation Battle Axe, the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron was sent into battle, in hopes of retaking the Round Table from the allied forces. Upon entering the area, the 6th TFS “Schwarze” of the Belkan Night Fighter Air Division also entered the fray, chasing a defector by the name of Wolfgang Buchner, known throughout the Belkan Air Force as "Huckebein the Raven".

Commander Bernitz then broke away from his squadron's formation and engaged Huckebein for personal reasons. It was later confirmed that they had both served in the same squadron before Huckebein defected.

As Ashley Bernitz engaged Huckebein, an Osean pilot by the name of Jack Bartlett, call sign "Heartbreak One", attempted to shoot down Ashley. Some reports say that Ashley shot down 'Heartbreak One' and Huckebien during the battle before being shot down by the 66th AFU Galm.

After the end of the Belkan War, during the reformations that followed, Ashley Bernitz joined the Osean Air Defense Force. As a part of a deal to strengthen bonds between Osea and Belka, a fighter squadron made up of Belkan aces from the Belkan War was formed for the Osean Air Defense Force. Known as the 8492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, their existence was always veiled in shadow, and the squadron was forgotten as the years went by. By 2010, the Osean Military had no official records on the squadron.

In 2010, with the sudden outbreak of the Circum-Pacific War, the 8492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron began to fuel the chaos of battle. Though they claimed to be ordinary Osean pilots, the 8492nd was actually helping fuel the fire of the war. The pilots of the 8492nd Squadron had all pledged loyalty to Belka years before they joined the Osean Air Defense Force, and were working for the secret Belkan group known as the "Gray Men". Their plan was to maintain a long, grueling war between the Osean Federation and the Union of Yuktobanian Republics as revenge for Belka's defeat in the Belkan War of 1995. Working with Belkan operatives and corrupted officials inside the Osean Military and Government, alongside another secret Belkan fighter squadron known as Ofnir, pretending to be part of the Yuktobanian Air Force, they were successful in forcing each nation into a hatred-fueled conflict.

As casualties mounted on both sides, military and civilian, the 8492nd covered the kidnapping of Osean President Harling, preventing him to get to the neutral country of North Point to take part in a peace treaty with Yuktobania. They then successfully framed the Osean 108th TFS Wardog, which was becoming the most powerful unit of the Osean Armed Forces, for strafing a Yuktobanian engineering college. Wardog was acquitted of the charges, and returned to combat on the front lines, now in Yuktobania. Ashley Bernitz and the Grabacr Squadron went into action again a few weeks later, appearing near November City after a patriotic fly-over by the Wardog Squadron, during the midst of the sudden Yuktobanian surprise attack aimed at attacking the Stadium and taking out the Wardog Squadron. Bernitz told all incoming Osean Aircraft that the attack was actually a drill and authorized them to return to base. This resulted in the death of Captain Alvin H. Davenport, number three in the 108th Osean TFS.

The 8492nd then attempted to discreetly dispatch the 108th TFS Wardog after their successful operation at Cruik Fortress while they were refueling over the Vladimir Mountains. While pretending to escort them to a refueling tanker, the 8492nd Squadron broke off and attacked the 108th TFS, then left the battle zone. A squadron of Belkan aircraft accompanied by jammer aircraft attacked the Wardog Squadron. Wardog managed to escape, but when they returned to Sand Island, they were ousted by Major Hamilton, who was in actuality a Belkan agent and a former member of the 8492nd, as Yuktobanian spies, and barely escaped arrest.

Hamilton ordered the 8492nd to shoot down Wardog, which had escaped in training jets lead by none other than Wolfgang Buchner, under the pseudonym Peter Beagle. Wolfgang managed to throw off the 8492nd over the Solo isles, due to the tight terrain and magnetic interference that messed up radar tracking, but he and the rest of Wardog were shot down by Captain Snow, the last remaining pilot in the OFS Kestrel's air group. The Squadron was listed as Killed In Action by the Osean military.

With the Osean President being held in Steir Castle near the official Belkan border and the Wardog Squadron presumed destroyed, the war seemed as though it would continue to drag on. But the plan began to go awry when an unknown helicopter and marine squad was able to free the Osean President from Stier castle. A mysterious squadron aided the assault.

The Grabacr Squadron returned to Belka and landed at an airbase near Mt. Schirm in Belka. It was there that they rendezvoused with the Ofnir Squadron; the Yuktobanian branch of Belkan aggressors. Belkan Forces were attempting to unearth nuclear weapons stashed away before the Belkan War officially ended with the signing of the peace treaty at Lumen in 1995. During their operation, a jet-black aircraft suddenly revealed itself in the area after sneaking in under limited radar coverage and capturing photos of the facility while the Grabacr and Ofnir Squadrons were grounded. Though fighters from both squadrons were launched, they were unable to shoot down the fighter, which escaped the air space with three other black aircraft.

Shortly after this, the same black aircraft returned to the combat area and sealed the entrance to the mine containing the nuclear weapons. However, the Belkan transports had managed to airlift three nuclear weapons from the mine before the attack.

The planes were actually flown by the pilots from the supposedly destroyed Wardog Squadron, along with a naval aviator from the OFS Kestrel. Known as the Ghosts of Razgriz, they had begun operations against the Gray Men and the supporting Belkan Forces, in hopes of ending the war. They managed to destroy two of the nuclear weapons, as well as shooting down the Ofnir squadron and the Arkbird.

The Grabacr Squadron encountered the Razgriz yet again, over a Yuktobanian air base at the Podeba Peninsula. The Yuktobanian rebels had freed Yuktobanian Prime Minister Nikanor and were transporting him back to their base of operations, while the Razgriz covered them. The Grabacr attempted to stop the Razgriz, but were shot down after a small engagement. All Grabacr pilots successfully ejected before their planes were destroyed and were able to escape.

It wasn't until after the large battle in Sudentor, between Belkan forces, with the support of corrupt officials on both sides and united Yuktobanian and Osean forces, that the Razgriz reappeared. After the successful attack on Gründer Industries’ facilities and the destruction of the SOLG control system, the super weapon fell into the atmosphere on a crash course for Oured, Osea. The Razgriz went to intercept the SOLG, but Ashley Bernitz was determined to bring Belka’s dream to fruition. The Grabacr Squadron and the Ofnir Squadron acted as a final line of defense for the falling SOLG and attacked the Razgriz without hesitation.

Ashley and the 229th TFS knew they were fighting a battle which would ultimately cost them their lives. They realized that this revenge and pure hate drove them to the brink of destruction, but they fought fiercely as they battled the Razgriz for the last time, but it was not enough, and they suffered massive losses. As the SOLG entered the atmosphere, the remaining members of Grabcr/Ofnir, in a final act of defiance, detonated explosives in their aircraft, killing themselves. Ashley Bernitz died at age 53 on December 31st, 2010.

SOURCE:
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
Official Ace Combat Zero Website
Namco CH Ace Combat Zero Website

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
Official Ace Combat 5 Website
Namco CH Ace Combat 5 Website

*Original Article by Ribbon-Blue*