Ace Combat: Stricken Soul

Epilogue

Six months after the war had come to a close. Luca finally arrived at the Space Elevator driving his old 1968 Dodge Charger. With the windows down he took in the sounds from the crashing waves from the ocean and the children playing nearby. It warmed his heart to see that after all the chaos...everyone was able to find happiness in the end.

"If only Wit was here to see this..." Luca mumbled to himself as he parked his Charger next to a nearby truck.

Before getting out of the car, Luca took the locket that was hanging from the rearview mirror that his late wife had given him before the war began. To some, what he was about to do wouldn't make sense but to him, it was his way of finally moving forward. Luca opened the trunk of his car and grabbed a small hand shovel and some Carnation seeds. He dug a small hole and buried the locket. He then refilled the whole and sowed the seeds into the soil and watered them.

"Thank you for this new lease on life..."

As Luca was about to get up. He heard a familiar voice call out to him before finally being tackled by a hug. The hug alone was enough to make him start crying.

"Rosa!" Luca said, "I'm so glad you're okay..."

"I'm grateful you're safe too..." Rosa said as she wiped the tears away and kissed him.

"The Space Elevator...all these people. Did you do this?"

"The Refugees built this settlement and I pitched in to help...I'm so glad the Osean government allowed me to form a provisional government to help these people."

"I-I guess all Oseans aren't evil..." Luca said.

"By the way..." Rosa giggled, "There's someone I want you to meet. Luca... this is Avril Mead. She's the one whose voice heard on that broadcast. If it weren't for her and her friends being there for me on Tyler Island... I wouldn't be here."

A brown-skinned woman with short black hair approached the couple and extended her hand for Luca to shake it. Instead, Luca hugged her as tightly as he could.

"W-Well it's nice to meet you too!" Avril said.

"Thank you...thank you for keeping her safe!" Luca replied

"Don't mention it." Avril laughed, "By the way did you really fly with that old geezer?"

"You mean Mihaly? Yeah...I did." He sighed and bowed his head, "Wherever he is...I hope he's at peace."

"He's among the living and cranky as ever." Avril chuckled, "I wonder how you were able to deal with him."

"Eh...he was actually an okay guy. His Granddaughters also kept him in check and when he chewed us out then a whole lotta Advil. Just kidding.." Luca laughed.

While Avril and Luca continued their conversation, Rosa gently tugged on his arm to try and get his attention.

"What is it, Rosa? That's a very un-princess like thing to do ya know?"

"I want to show you something..." Rosa replied, taking his hand.

Rosa walked with Luca into the space elevators support facility where they saw a large painting with several figures of different cultures dancing in harmony with multiple space elevators in the background. Luca's hand began to shake and Rosa embraced him.

"Is this what I think it is?" He asked

"President Harling commissioned this painting..." Rosa said.

"It's beautiful...how could something that's supposed to be evil contain a painting like this? It doesn't look like the Oseans wanted to exploit or harm Erusea...they wanted to help us."

"That was the case all along." Rosa replied, "We were lied to by those who wanted to force us into an endless war. But in the end...we managed to prevent it from continuing. If only I would've realized this sooner...saw that I was being manipulated."

"Rosa...It's not your fault. We all succeeded in ending this pointless war and you...you and that Osean woman helped saved the lives of these refugees. We may have lost something close to us in this horrible conflict but in the end...maybe this is our victory...and now we can finally move forward and start a new chapter in our lives. How about it?"

"I'd love that..." Rosa giggled, "Let's get going."