Ace Combat: Chronicles of a Demon

Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ace Combat. Ace Combat is owned by Bandai Namco. Everything else is owned by their rightful owners

AN:Hello again. I'm AurelianAce, and this is a fanfic about what could have happened if Brett Thompson(in the off case you're wondering, he's the reporter that interviews the Ace Combat Zero aces) had met Cipher. This fic is going to have three different endings, each one focused on each of the three different Ace styles. I know I promised I would write my fics' sequels this summer, and believe me, I'll do my best to keep my promise, but I'm currently trying to come up with good ideas for both of them. Also, in case you're wondering why Reaper was piloting a Rafale M instead of their "trademark" F-22A, it's because it's a bit tiring to "raptorify" all characters. I mean, seriously, only a few main characters of the Ace Combat franchise have not piloted the F-22A, canonically at least. Without further delay, let the fic begin...

Directus, Ustio, July 15th 2008, 12:50 Hours; Weather: Cloudy

Brett Thompson, an Osean journalist, reporter and documentarian, was waiting patiently, drinking a beer in an Ustian bar called "The Freedom Flag". Months earlier, he had received an email from a person claiming to know the identity of the Belkan War ace known as "The Demon Lord". The email also stated that Thompson would have to be in that specific bar on July 15th at 12:55 PM, where said person would meet him.

Despite being early, Thompson was getting impatient. He was a bit afraid that this person might be just fooling him, or something worse.

At the exact hour the email had specified, a blue crossover parked near the bar, and a strongly-built man with black unruly hair and light blue eyes, apparently either in his late 30s or early 40s came out of it. The man entered the bar and headed for Thompson, with a warm smile across his face.

-"Brett Thompson, I guess."-said the man, in a warm South Belkan accent.

-"Yeah, that's me."-replied Thompson.-"Who are you?"

-"My name's Erich Hildebrand, former pilot of the Ustian Air Force."-said the man, as he shook Thompson's hand gently, but firmly.-"I sent you an email on March, stating that I knew the identity of the Demon Lord."

-"Yeah, I read it."-said Thompson, still wary of the stranger.-"I hope this is not a mere ruse."

-"Don't worry, Mr Thompson."-said Hildebrand.-"I wouldn't bother to prank the author of the documentary "Warriors and the Belkan War"."

-"Oh, you watched it?"-asked Thompson.-"Well, if you want to have an interview, it's a bit too late."

-"It's not an interview what I want, but since you went out of your way to find out as much info about the Demon Lord as you could, I'd like you to offer my point of view."-said Hildebrand.-"But let's talk about it in a more private place. I've never been too much of a fan of crowds."

Thompson followed Hildebrand to his car. After fifteen minutes of driving, in which they left Directus, they arrived to a white cottage with a small lagoon behind it.

-"Welcome to my home, Mr Thompson."-said Hildebrand, as they got out of the car.-"Make yourself comfortable while I make something to eat."

Thompson sat down in a couch in the main room, while Hildebrand headed for the kitchen. He was lost in thoughts when he noticed a bunch of photographies on a shelf. A couple of them showed an F-15C with a light grey body and blue trims on its wings and stabilizers. In one of them it was accompanied by another F-15C, this one having an entire white body except for a bloody red right wing, and in the other one, the second Eagle was replaced by an F-16C with the standard paintjob. The next one captivated his attention outright.

The photo showed the nose of a J35J Draken with a two-tone brown and grey camouflage pattern, with a couple of pilots in front of the aircraft's nose. Thompson recognized one of the pilots instantly. It was Larry Foulke, the pilot who was the Demon Lord's wingman and later enemy. But it was the other pilot who caught his attention. He was a black haired pilot, likely in his mid 20s, who was smiling cheerfully to the camera.

-"This can't be! This has to be a coincidence."-Thompson mused in disbelief, as he stared at the photo.-"But if it isn't, this means this guy is..."

Thompson's train of thoughts was halted when he felt a hand drop over his shoulder. Thompson gasped and dropped the photo. Before it hit the floor, however, Hildebrand caught it.

-"Judging by your face, you must have a lot of questions regarding this picture."-he said, smiling.-"But before that, let's eat. There's a circle in Hell reserved for those who don't get a good meal. You never know which is gonna be your last."

Thompson followed Hildebrand to the kitchen, where a delicious-looking steak rested on a dish on the opposite side of where Hildebrand was sitting.

-"Help yourself, Mr Thompson."-said Hildebrand.

Thompson sat down and ate his meal, taking glances at Hildebrand, wondering whether his suspicions about this man were true. Hildebrand, meanwhile, ate a piece of grilled salmon, either not noticing Thompson's glances or outright ignoring them.

After eating, Hildebrand filled two cups with fine Leasathian wine and, after offering one to Thompson, they headed for the main room and took their respective seats.

-"OK, first off, Mr Thompson, I need you to promise me one thing."-said Hildebrand, suddenly serious.

-"Go ahead, Mr Hildebrand."-said Thompson.-"And call me Brett, if you don't mind."

-"In that case, for the sake of politeness, call me Erich, Brett."-replied Hildebrand.-"The promise I need you to keep is that every word about the Demon Lord said here today does not come out of this house. So please, no cameras, no audio recorders, no notes taken, nothing."

-"OK, Erich. It not like it would matter now."-said Thompson.

-"As far as your documentary goes, it doesn't. But I guess you know that, if everyone knew what I'm going to tell you, they'd be knocking on my door for all the wrong reasons."-said Hildebrand.-"And I don't really like being in the spotlight, let alone for a bunch of vultures."

-"I guess you're right."-said Thompson.-"So, judging by your photos, and what you just told me, it's not like you just know the Demon Lord, right?"

Hildebrand chuckled.

-"You could make your living as a detective, Brett."-he said.-"Yes; back then, I was known by many names, but I guess the one that made it to the books was the Demon Lord."

-"So, you're the Demon Lord!?"-asked Thompson.-"I mean, the real one?"

-"Well, officially, I was known as Galm 1, or Cipher."-answered Hildebrand.-"So, where do we start?"

-"How about we start from the beginning, Erich?"-asked Thompson.

-"I guess we'll have to start from the very beginning to better understand the full ordeal. I was born in a small town west of Sudentor, on June 6th, 1970. I grew up seeing Belka dwindle both economically and politically, until it fell under control of the so-called Liberal Democratic Party in 1991, which was nothing but a cover for the Rald Party."-replied Hildebrand, bitterly.-"Things were already bad enough without a fascist party controlling Belka, and I knew things would only get worse from there, so shortly after that, I left Belka and headed for Ustio, to try and make a living as a mercenary pilot. However, things would turn out to be very different."

-"How much?"-asked Thompson.

-"Well, I guess that it was a matter of time before Belka stepped in and claimed back "what it was theirs", something I should have seen coming."-said Hildebrand.

Prologue of Chronicles of a Demon. You might be wondering why it ends so abruptly, but thing is, I want to make three different endings for each ace style, so the next chapters will be the three different endings, and thus I will upload the three of them once I finish them. Regarding my other fics, I'm trying to choose which aircraft to feature in either fic, but the list of Joint Assault's sequel, whose name I won't reveal until I publish it, is even longer than its predecessor, and it will feature different weaponry and more characters. Good luck and take care. See you next time