[X-49]

CIPHER
AC0 - Galm One




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


Biography:
In the opening days of the Belkan War, the Republic of Ustio hired several mercenaries, including Cipher and Larry Foulke, aka "Solo Wing Pixy". These two mercenaries were assigned to the Ustio 6th Air Divison, 66th Air Force Unit, aka the Galm Team.

During Operation Crossbow, Cipher and his wing man Pixy attacked and destroyed several bombers bound for Valais Air Base, the last Ustio Air Force base not controlled by Belka. Pixy began calling him "Buddy", a nickname which would have great meaning in the days that would follow.

The Galm team proceeded to destroy the Belkan Army on the highway in the Arlon area during Operation: Roselein on the 15th of April. Cipher and his comrade returned to Valais AFB without any major damage. Five days later, Galm Team was ordered out to Belkan Priority One Strategic Airspace B7R, aka "The Round Table", the cause of the war. Cipher engaged the enemy and penetrated B7R airspace, destroying the enemy reinforcements that arrived.

During Offensive Campaign No. 4101, Cipher's presence in the Futuro Canal was felt by all, both his enemies and his allies. April turned into May, and the 66th Air Force Unit supported allied paratroops that attacked the Belkan ground forces at the town of Solis Ortus, near Directus, the capital city of Ustio. The next day, Cipher and Pixy supported the liberation Directus, ending the battle with the defeat of Gelb Team's two Su-37 fighters.

At Mt. Ivrea, Cipher and Pixy attacked and destroyed Glatisant Fortress during Operation: Hell Bound and returned, showing they were either very lucky, or very good. In Operation: Dynamo they confirmed this fact when they snuffed out Belkan forces stationed in the Shayne Plains, and then avoided Belkan laser weaponry fired from Tauberg. The Excalibur cannon- the source of the massacre on the Shayne Plains -was destroyed on May 23rd, 1995, when Cipher, Pixy and other members of the Ustio Air Force attacked.

Cipher earned his nickname, the "Demon of the Round Table", during Operation Battle-Axe when he practically won the battle singlehandedly, and then shot down all reinforcement aircraft that appeared. Cipher supported bombing operations on the city of Hoffnung. It was during this action that his wing man Pixy's attitude toward the war took an obvious turn.

Five days later, during Operation Ravage, Cipher was ordered to attack some of the last Belkan forces still operating. Cipher, Pixy, and Crow Team were then redirected to attack Belkan bombers armed with nuclear weapons heading for Ustio, Pixy took a trailing position during this engagement. Cipher shot down all of the bombers, then the world changed forever. Belka's leaders had detonated seven nuclear bombs on their own ground, near Cipher's position. As his instruments went haywire because of the EMP, Pixy attacked him and then deserted his CO. Cipher, however, survived and returned to base alone.

Cipher's new wing man - the young, energetic Patrick James Beckett, or PJ - then joined the Galm team. They attacked Mt. Schrim's facilities, including an enormous hangar, and destroyed everything they found. During Operation: Broom, Cipher and PJ defeated Belkan remnant forces, seemingly the last holdouts for defeat, as a treaty was signed in Lumen. A Coup De'tat then occurred, the new forces calling themselves "A World With No Boundaries". The Coup forces bombed the city of Lumen with a huge gunship, the XB-0 Hrelsvelgr.
Without warning, the Hrelsvelgr attacked Valais Air Base, where PJ and Cipher were currently waiting to go on sortie.

The attack was ultimately unsuccessful, and Cipher with PJ beside him took off and destroyed the Hrelsvelgr, shooting down a squadron of skilled Sapin fighters, the Espada team. The Allied Forces then began assaulting Avalon Dam, where "A World With No Boundaries" had their base, and worryingly, a weapon of mass destruction - V2.

Cipher and PJ began to head for Avalon, and were forced to pass through the Round Table. Upon entry, they were confronted by former Osean pilots turned Coup De'tat soldiers. Cipher shot them down, and with PJ arrived at Avalon Dam and destroyed the V2 control systems based there.

They seemed victorious, but PJ was shot down by Cipher's former wing man - Larry Foulke. Cipher engaged him, and shot him down in an epic battle. He triumphantly returned to Valais Air Base, and disappeared several months later.



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

ACCREDITATION:

*Original Article by Ayre (Ribbon-Grey)*

This post has been edited by Ribbon-Crimson: 02 October 2008 - 11:19 AM

[Ribbon-Grey]

Added another source - THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR.

[Green Giant]

How can Cipher be a captain when he's a Mercenary? Or is it just a temporary rank while he serves for the UAF?

[Ribbon-Grey]

I think it's just a temporary rank, 'cause Solo Wing's UAF service record puts him at 1st Lieutenant.

[Grastens 7]

So, if I understand you post correctly, Cipher was a skilled ace before he was hired as a mercenary. That makes sense. Blaze and Mobius were indeed nuggets at the start of their respective games.

[El Tweako]

unlike the melodramatic ACS.

For some reason...I thought you said that...

[Grastens 7]

You know, I always got the feeling that Galm 1 was (will be) Mobius 1 in the stories. It is odd, but whenever I replay AC0 and then AC04, I get the same feeling, and Galm 1 did disappear several months later after returning to base. Maybe it is the "silent protangonist" that they both give us. The planes that both Galm and Mobius fly seem similar, the F-15C for example. But also the F-4, F-15S/MTD, etc... but this can all be a coincidence as Namco-Bandai simply put them in for obvious purposes.

What are your takes?

This was the same theory spawned for Reiher in ACZ as Yellow 13 in AC04, mainly due to similar aircraft and paint schemes. Had this been the case, the rivalry would have been more intense, though still that is difficult to narrate considering Galm's nature of a, 'silent protagonist.' Other than that, the concept of a completely anonymous main character is well-used.

The Gauntlet mission in ACZ must not be considered.

[Heinkel]

You confront Cipher and Mobius separately in an AC6 AoA mission, so that is out of the question.

[Demon Lord Razgriz]

I don't think the AoA missions are canon.

[Heinkel]

They aren't but they at least prove that all the aces are separate guys. Thanks god, because those theories about all of them being a single one are magnificently retarded,

[Ribbon-Grey]

If they aren't canon, then you can't exactly prove they are all separate guys, can you?

[Heinkel]

They aren't canon, but they are 'what if...?' scenarios.

[Tazuren]

Can anyone else see the pic? I can't.

[Grastens 7]

You would think that if that was the case, taking down Reiher would be more of a deal...

I cannot see the picture from here either. No wonder; it's from a source affiliated with Wikipedia.

[Traben]

Assuming that they are one and the same wouldn't make sense. Cipher was not going to switch from Ustio all the way over to ISAF and start out as a nugget. It's not like he was trying to hide something like Pops. There would be no logical evidence to support that claim.

[Grastens 7]

Agreed, but it is interesting that Mobius found success right out of the box. Indeed, ACZ presents Cipher as a mysterious figure, but nobody really questions Mobius on his past either.

Having done his bit in the Belkan War, he would have to be a fully-fledged mercenary to get back into the skies for ISAF, and I would be skeptical that he would have had that much nerve.