Ace Combat Zero - Birth of a Legend

**Status** | Complete

Ace Combat Zero - Birth of a Legend is the third story in DemonLordGalm's Ace Combat series, having a word count of 73,585, and was published September 30th, 2014

## Summary

The story, immediately taking place after the end of the Anean Continental War, is told partly as a tale to Cipher's son, Jasper, telling him of his time as a mercenary pilot first starting out that was immediately thrust right into the middle of one of the most infamous wars ever, the Belkan War. He is partnered with his famous mercenary wingman Larry "Solo Wing Pixy" Foulke, the two forming the 66th Tactical Air Force Squadron "Galm" of the Ustian 6th Air Division. They immediately forge a deep, inseparable bond and fight side by side to end the war and liberate the Republic of Ustio, the country they're fighting for. Tensions begin to arise however when the Allied Forces continue to push into Belka, not even thinking about stopping soon, causing Larry to begin to hate the war and resent both sides for it and seek a new way to end the war while Cipher continued to fight to try and put a stop to it before it gets any worse.

## Characters

* **Aleksandar Costner** "callsign "Cipher" is the teller of the story to his son and also the main character of his retelling of his experience in the Belkan War. At the time he was only 19 and had not yet experienced the true horrors of war. He had an unnatural amount of skill however and coupled with Larry they were able to take down various Belkan Air Force Ace squadrons across multiple engagements during the war. His true prowess however became evident in the Belkan Priority One Strategic Airspace B7R, a.k.a "The Round Table", where aces of various countries cross paths to do battle with no rules or ranks to restrict them, earning a infamous reputation and the nickname "Demon Lord of the Round Table".
* **Larry Foulke** "callsign Pixy" is the wingman and best friend of Cipher, the two forming the 66th Tactical Fighter Squadron "Galm". The two hold deep respect for one another and would never leave eachother's side, their friendship spawning from their deep love of flying and peace. However he begins to go tired of the war and its seemingly unending conflict, he seeks out an alternative method to end the war, unbeknownst to Cipher.
* **James Braxton** "callsign Eagle Eye" is the AWACS for the Galm Team throughout the duration of the Belkan War.
* **Patrick James "PJ" Beckett** "callsign Crow 3" is the youngest member of the Osean mercenary squadron "Crow", fighting alongside the Galm Team on multiple occasions after they first worked together to take down the Belkan Chemical Laser Tower known as Excalibur.
* **Elizabeth Rechsteiner** is a recent graduate from Dinsmark University. She happened to stumble upon Cipher at the Avalon Dam when he went their for reasons unknown to her and decided to make herself known, the two quickly becoming accustomed to one another's company. This quickly turned into a crush, and eventually after the official end of the Belkan war the two married which ended up in the changing of her last name to Costner.
* **Jasper Costner** is the son of Elizabeth and Alek, having been born a year before the beginning of the Circum-Pacific War. Idolizes his father and wishes to grow up to become an even better pilot then him. He also loves listening to his stories and has heard of his accomplishments in the Usea Continental War and the Circum-Pacific War.