Blaze

BLAZE
AC5 - Wardog/Razgriz One

Personal Information:
Age: ?
Date of Birth: ?
Nationality: Osean
Blood Type: ?
Height: ?
Weight: ?
Eyes: ?
Hair: Black
Rank: Captain
Status: Alive

Biography:
In 2010, a young Osean Air Defense Force pilot, call sign "Blaze", was assigned to Wardog squadron under the command of Captain Jack Bartlett, call sign "Heartbreak One".

Blaze first official mission with Wardog was Operation Lagoon on September 24, 2010. An unmarked SR-71 spy plane had been spotted near Cape Landers damaged by coastal AA weaponry, and Wardog was sent to investigate. Wardog attempted to contact the unmarked plane unsuccessfully. Shortly afterward, four aircraft, flying in at vector 280, came to the Blackbird's aid. The aircraft were confirmed hostile after firing at Wardog Squadron, but the AWACS, call sign Thunderhead, ordered them to hold their fire. Captain Bartlett, however, refused to hold back and ordered his squadron to open fire on the hostile aircraft. The four hostiles were downed relatively quickly, but reinforcements arrived within moments, forcing the Wardog squadron to continue the fight. Bartlett was reprimanded for ignoring orders, but Blaze and his squad mates were cleared of all charges.

Four days later during Operation Gyre, Wardog was sent out to destroy enemy UAVs launched from an unknown reconnaissance ship, which they were ordered not to destroy. Once the drones were very quickly destroyed by Wardog, more hostile aircraft flew in from vector 280, the exact same vector as four days before. Wardog 2, call sign Edge, was caught off guard following the skirmish, and was targeted by a ship-launched anti-air missile. Bartlett intervened and took the hit himself, forcing him to eject into the ocean. Unfortunately, rescue choppers were unable to be deployed to find the missing captain - Yuktobania, Osea's neighbor across the ocean, had declared war, launching a surprise attack on an important Osean naval port.

Wardog 2, Kei Nagase, was put in command of Wardog for the defense of Port St. Hewlett, but she relinquished command to Blaze. After a long and costly battle, some of the naval fleet escaped to open water, with the crucial OFS carrier Kestrel at its head. The makeshift fleet encountered a Yuktobanian blockade, and broke through it with the aid of Wardog Squadron. The next attack took place over Sand Island, home base of the Wardog Squadron. Blaze retained command of Wardog, defending the island against a large formation of B-1B bombers and other aircraft, incorporating Airman First Class Hans "Archer" Grimm into the squadron. During the battle, the commander of Wardog Squadron was killed, leaving Blaze as the squadron's unquestioned leader.

Soon after, Wardog was called to the Eaglin Straits to escort two aircraft carriers, Buzzard and Vulture, to rendezvous with the Kestrel. Yuktobania launched a surprise aerial attack on the carriers, thwarted by Wardog with aid from the Naval Air Force. The threat was reported eliminated, but Yuktobania gained the upper hand when it deployed two long-range burst missiles, annihilating the Buzzard and the Vulture. Wardog was forced to land at Heierlark AFB to refuel, where their reputation preceded them as eager trainees were the first to hear the feats of the new heroes of the Circum-Pacific War.

Blaze and his squadron were then tasked with defending Basset Space Center as it attempted to launch a laser cannon to attach to the Arkbird, Osea's greatest technological achievement and most important tactical advantage. Wardog successfully protected the SSTO from sustaining critical damage from airborne tanks and cruise missiles. Given no time to rest, Wardog was immediately recalled to Sand Island to defend it against a massive naval assault, spearheaded by the massive Yuktobanian underwater attack carrier Scinfaxi. Wardog successfully eliminated the entire fleet and, with the help of the Arkbird's new laser, destroyed the Scinfaxi.

After the destruction of Scinfaxi, the attacks stopped coming and Osea began drawing up plans to invade Yuktobania. Blaze assisted in the landing of Osean forces on Yuktobanian soil, and news of their single handed destruction of the Scinfaxi had turned them into legends among fellow air and ground forces. Yuktobania staged a massive retreat from the Bastok Peninsula, masking several important transport planes with jamming devices. Wardog uncovered the jammers and destroyed the retreating forces. However, during this operation, Osean aircraft in the area supposedly attacked a civilian engineering college and killed several civilians. Wardog was implicated for the war crime and was called back to Oured to be interrogated.

Blaze proved his innocence when Wardog was given the task of defending Oured from a retaliatory Yuktobanian attack. Wardog succeeded in preventing any civilian casualties during these terror-motivated attacks, and was reportedly cleared of all charges. Unfortunately, Wardog was forced back over to Yuktobania almost immediately after completing their mission over Oured, where they pushed further into enemy territory. Upon return, they were sent to the notorious Razgriz Straits to destroy Scinfaxi's sister submarine, Hrimfaxi. The destruction of the Hrimfaxi gave birth to the legend of the demon pilots of Osea, striking fear in the hearts of enemies and allies alike. The Demons of Razgriz were a force to be reckoned with, and took on a whole new status as the morale behind advancing Osean forces.

Wardog, spearheading the Osean advance, took out ground and air forces at a POW camp in Glubina during a bad storm, aided by the Marine unit Sea Goblin. During the operation, Nagase was hit by a SAM, but she ejected safely without any injury. As the Sea Goblin gunship they had been escorting went down to rescue her, it crashed as well due to poor weather conditions and visibility. Blaze was forced to return to base without his wing man. They returned to Glubina once the weather cleared and rescued Nagase. Four once again, Wardog led an assault in the Jilachi Desert to destroy major enemy positions. The legend of the "Demons of Razgriz" had reached the Yukes in the area, terrifying their defense forces. This mission marked the first time Osea would recognize the Wardog Squadron by that name, which stuck in the coming months of the war.

During a ceremonial flight over November City's stadium performed by the now-famous Wardog Squadron, Yuktobanian fighters were deployed to attack the stadium during a peace rally. Reinforcements were called, but the leader of the 8492nd Squadron initiated an ECM device and convinced the incoming reinforcements that the whole emergency was just a drill. Despite the valiant efforts of Blaze and his wing men, Captain Alvin "Chopper" Davenport was killed in action after keeping a critically damaged plane in the air in order to prevent civilian casualties, finally crashing into the center of the empty November City Stadium. The remaining Wardog Squadron members then captured the "impregnable" Cruik fortress, but as they returned home, they found themselves surrounded by dozens of hostile fighters, jammers, and the mysterious 8492nd Squadron, aiming to eliminate Osea's greatest advantage to prolong the total war between Osea and Yuktobania.

They returned home, and discovered that their allies no longer trusted them - the adjutant base commander, Major Hamilton, had been manipulating Sand Island's personnel into believing that Wardog had been spying for Yuktobania all along. Peter N. Beagle, known to most as "Pops," became their only remaining ally, providing training jets with which they escaped Sand Island, and disappeared with the help of Marcus Snow and the OFS Kestrel's Captain Andersen. Snow joined the unit as they liberated President Harling from his prison in Belka's Stier Castle, where the 8492nd, now known to be the Belkan Grabacr aggressor squadron, had been holding him. They discovered Belka's plan to deplete Osea and Yuktobania of resources by pitting them in a long and very costly war, all out of revenge for their defeat and plunder 15 years before. Following this mission, President Harling renamed Blaze's squadron the "Ghosts of Razgriz," the name by which they would be remembered forever.

Blaze then flew alone on a reconnaissance mission near Belka's Mount Schirm, taking photographs of the Grabacr Squadron and their Yuktobania-based counterpart, the Ofnir Squadron. Flying unarmed, he was forced to retreat when Ofnir launched fighters to take Blaze out, rescued by his wing men after a short pursuit. They returned the next day and sealed in what they believed were nuclear armaments in Mt. Schirm's mines.

They were directed to a canyon in Yuktobania where a resistance movement, under direction from a mysterious friend of the Ghosts of Razgriz, were dismantling a nuclear weapon. Blaze prevented enemy helicopters and landing forces from finding and stopping the resistance from dismantling the bomb, then downing the Belkan Ofnir Squadron, all the while kept under the canyon rim by a missile defense system. It was then revealed to Blaze the mysterious friend who had gathered these allies from Yuktobania was none other than Captain Bartlett. The Razgriz then were forced to shoot down the Arkbird, which had been captured by Belkan operatives. They made contact with Heartbreak One once again to aid in rescuing Yuktobanian prime minister, Seryozha Nikanor, who, just like Harling, had been a prisoner of the Belkans. The Razgriz were then confronted by the Grabacr themselves, who bailed from their planes when they realized they were beaten.

When they returned to the Kestrel, they found themselves in the midst of a massive battle between peace-seeking forces from both sides and angered war-mongers both in the air and on the sea. Just prior to the battle, it was revealed that Belka had loaded the V2, a weapon of mass destruction from the days of the Belkan War, had been loaded onto the SOLG, a massive attack satellite controlled from an underground facility. The SOLG was under the control of Belka's former weapons giant, Grunder Industries, posing as the South Belka Munitions Factory, subsidized by Osea. The Razgriz were about to launch when Kestrel was hit by a torpedo. Despite the inevitability of Kestrel's demise, the Ghosts of Razgriz launched one last time from the carrier for their final showdown.

President Harling and Prime Minister Nikanor fueled the growing anti-war sentiment by making a public peace agreement, ordering both armies to end the destruction brought by the war. Units near the area overheard the speech, and flanked Blaze as they raced to disable the SOLG from underground. A massive battle broke out between joint Osean and Yuktobanian forces and Grunder defenses, ultimately culminating in the destruction of the SOLG control system after navigating a narrow tunnel system while being pursued by Major Hamilton, an ace pilot and Belkan operative within the OADF. It was then revealed the SOLG had been programmed to crash into Oured if control from the surface was cut off. Alone, the Ghosts of Razgriz chased down the SOLG and destroyed the Ofnir and Grabacr Squadrons once and for all, ending the Circum-Pacific War.

All information on Blaze and the Belkan Conflict was classified for 15 years. No information exists on Blaze's whereabouts following the destruction of the SOLG, but he forever has a place in history as a Demon of Razgriz.

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

ACCREDITATION:

*Original Article by Ayre (Ribbon-Grey)*

This post has been edited by Shin Kazama: 05 August 2009 - 12:21 AM