Ace Combat: Stricken Soul

A Familiar Face

6/30/2019, 09:30 Hours EASA Air Field.

Sol Squadron had arrived at the Erusean Air And Space Administration's airfield nearly a month ago and some of the pilots were even celebrating Erusea's latest winning streak with the sinking of the OFS Kestrel II following the second assault on Farbanti and the first use of the Arsenal Birds that Erusea had captured when they took the Space Elevator. Then to further cripple enemy morale, former President Harling was killed during a daring rescue attempt by the Oseans.

Luca and his fellow pilots didn't celebrate though. Instead, they performed their sorties and returned to base accordingly. With the little downtime, Luca had he chose to spend it sitting outside the hangar with Mihaly.

"Can you believe this?" Mihaly asked, "They say that one day drones will replace the human pilot."

Luca looked at Mihaly, he could sense the disappointment in the man's tone. "It would pain me to see that happen. But these drones are supposedly sharper and more agile than we could ever be. " He replied.

"Hmph...Unlike a human, these drones are incapable of critical thinking. Of rational thought.

Luca nodded, "Hey, Mihaly is it true that we might have a guest coming to the base today?"

"Yes..." He said, "The Princess will be visiting today. Her visit is supposed to boost the morale of the personnel on the base and my eldest Granddaughter Ionela also went to school with her as well. If I recall correctly you met her before haven't you?"

"Yep, shortly after I joined up with you fine people. She was younger though...now I have another question to ask you. Have you heard rumors of an Osean penal unit? If I recall correctly they're called the Spares or something."

Mihaly raised an eyebrow, "What of it?"

"Well, apparently an Osean penal squadron has been carrying out some highly controversial missions. I overheard Seymour and Hermann talking about it. They were performing missions like defense probing and even assassination bombings of Erusian officials in unmarked planes. This could just be some kind of conspiracy propaganda cooked up by some weirdo though." He sighed.

Mihaly placed his hand on Luca's shoulder, "Something else is on your mind isn't it?"

"Yeah...My wife and kid. I know I bring them up a lot but I just love them so much and I'm getting worried. The last time we spoke was a few days after the squadron arrived here. After that, I haven't heard a single word from them...not even a reply from any of the emails I sent out. I hope they evacuated when the Oseans attacked Farbanti the second time...those bastards." He clenched his fists.

Mihaly sighed deeply and looked Luca in the eyes, "Unfortunately this is what war is. If you fail to remain focused out there then you will die." He said bluntly.

"I-I understand, sir." Luca replied.

The next morning Luca was relaxing by the hangar where his Morgan was parked and taking in the fresh air while enjoying some bacon strips he had cooked when a white C-1 with a unique rose emblem touched down onto the runway and taxied into the parking area.

The airstairs lowered and the Princess disembarked with her Golden Retriever, the Dog immediately running off, she tried to call him back but it was no use. Luca simply kneeled down to the dog's level to greet it and let the dog sniff him before petting it which surprised her.

"Hey, puppy!" Luca said while petting the dog, "I think I know what you want!" He chuckled and motioned for the dog to sit. The dog did as commanded and he fed him a piece of bacon, "Good boy for sitting! Now go back to your mama."