Part 5: Mission 5 – Operation Early Bird, November 19th, 2004

Lifeline

Mission 5: Operation Early Bird – November 19th, 2004
EXTRA: Tagging A Yellow


Overview: ISAF moves to further cripple the Aegir Fleet at Comberth by striking an Erusean-controlled petrochemical plant and off-shore oil drilling complex along the east coast of Usea, south of Expo City in an early dawn raid.

As the mission draws to a close, Mobius 1 comes face to face with the dreaded Yellow Squadron and its ace Yellow 13 for the first time. Meanwhile, in San Salvacion, the Storyteller Boy encounters 13’s wingman, Yellow 4.


NOTE: Be sure to also catch Blastinus's ill-adviseded trip into Ace Combat: Advance.



Guest Commentators: I am joined in this video by Lazyfire, who is our second Ace Combat LP commentator hattrick after Jobbo_Fett in the second video.

Lazyfire has recently started work on a LP of Call of Duty: Black Ops III, in addition to wrapping up Call of Duty: World at War recently, meaning that barring Advanced Warfare, he is officially out of Call of Dutys to LP!






AQUILA (YELLOW) SQUADRON
Federal Erusean Air Force, 156th Tactical Fighter Wing, 1st Tactical Fighter Squadron
Members:

• Aquila 13 – Dave “Yellow 13” Jordan
  
• Aquila 4 – Katie “Yellow 4” W[NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 7 – Billy [NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 10 – Pete [NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 1 – Jean-Louis “Yellow 1” Flaubert
  
  Backup Rotation:
  
• Aquila 2 – Reed [NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 3 – Court [NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 5 – Harry [NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 6 – D.B. [NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 8 – Lou R[NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 9 – Randall [NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 11 – Gene [NAME REDACTED]
  
• Aquila 12 – Logan [NAME REDACTED]
  

Squadron Composition: Su-37 Terminator (x5, x8 back up)

Formally known as Aquila Squadron, the 13 plane division code named Yellow Squadron is, by all accounts, the crown jewel and pride of the Federal Erusean Air Force. No single squadron on Usea since the end of the first Continental War of 1998 boasts a more impressive and deadly combat success ratio than Yellow Squadron. Their name sends ripples of fear through ISAF pilots and soldiers, and their appearance on a battlefield is often enough send enemy planes running without a fight.

The squadron was originally founded after the end of the Continental War in memory of the former top ace of the FEAF, Col. Edgar Grint, who had died in combat during the war. The Erusean military government, however, covered up the fact that Grint had defected to the Usean Rebel Forces during the war, instead emphasizing that he died a hero, rather than died fighting for the wrong side.

When Erusea launched its surprise attack on the rest of Usea at the start of the Shattered Skies crisis, Yellow Squadron acted as the tip of the spear for its aerial assault on the ISAF member states. Yellow Squadron alone accounts for almost as many confirmed aerial combat kills as Stonehenge.

Despite having a thirteen plane pool, the principle core of Yellow Squadron is a five-plane formation headed by Yellow 13. The remainer of the squadron operates on detached service elsewhere around Usea conducting missions of lesser import than those that require the attention of the “proper” Yellow Squadron, primarily acting as a morale booster for Erusean troops and pilots on the battlefield more than anything.

In the months since ISAF was driven off the mainland, Yellow Squadron has since been recalled to the Erusean occupied San Salvacion City in western Usea, within close intercept range of Stonehenge in the Delarus desert. There the squadron acts, officially, as the principle guardian and interceptor flight for the Stonehenge Turret Network itself, and as well as a last line of defense for the Erusean homeland itself. A motion re-assign a squadron of newly developed EASA X-02 Wyvern fighters to the Stonehenge guard position in order to free up Yellow Squadron to conduct mobile operations elsewhere on Usea, however, is currently tangled up in the Erusean parliament, which is reluctant to place the fate of a vital weapon such as Stonehenge in the hands of an as yet unproven X-plane super fighter.

As such, Yellow Squadron remains on guard near Stongehenge at all times. However, now that ISAF has begun its counterstrike operations against the Erusean military, Yellow Squadron finds itself deployed on increasingly longer range strike and intercept missions to counter its aerial presence on Usea.


In terms of behind the scenes trivia, Yellow Squadron was at one point going to be called Gold Squadron. The localization staff of the American version of Shattered Skies believed that Yellow was “too weak” of a name for the principle antagonist squadron of the game, but Kazutoki Kono, the game’s art director, and other members of the 04 production staff insisted the name remain Yellow Squadron, which it ultimately did.

Yellow Squadron itself was actually one of the first things created for Shattered Skies, according to the game’s director Sunao Katabuchi. His development of Yellow Squadron inspired the rest of the production team to create Mobius 1 as a character who would be a fitting rival for not just Yellow 13, but the entirety of Yellow Squadron itself.

Katabuchi explained in a Reddit AMA, "...when I came up with the idea with the Yellow Squadron the developers came up with [Mobius] 1. It was a good environment where we were able to [inspire] each other."

Yellow Squadron as a whole, and Yellow 13 in particular, is one of the most iconic and enduring elements of the entire Ace Combat franchise. The Yellow Squadron colours have appeared in nearly every post-04 Ace Combat in the franchise in one form or another, both on enemy Aces and as playable alternate paint schemes or DLC.

And for the record, I try to make use of the Yellow livery as often as I can in multiplayer situations, as glimpsed in the Ace Combat Zero Multiplayer Disaster video and the Good Friday 2016 Extra Life stream of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy with Cirv and ACES, aka “the last thing I did before I went in the hospital and almost died of H1N1.”

And I assure you that if we ever do dip into multiplayer for Ace Combat Infinity and Ace Combat 6, I will be flying Yellow colours there as well.


And one last thing to point on w/r/t Yellow Squadron’s proper name. “Aquila” is Latin for eagle, and Yellow Squadron’s mission patch depicts both an eagle and the constellation Aquila itself. So you can clearly see what Albireo Squadron from Assault Horizon Legacy was trying its damndest to ape in retrospect, huh?





YELLOW 4
Real Name: Katie W[NAME REDACTED]*
Callsign(s): Yellow 4
Age: Mid 20’s
Sex: Female
Nationality: Erusea
Signature Plane: Su-37 Terminator
Voice Actor: None

The precise identity of the pilot known by the TAC name "Yellow 4" remains a mystery due to the Erusean government sealing, and in some cases destroying, the records of many of its top pilots and soldiers out of tactical paranoia. Partially recovered documents released by ISAF Intelligence reveal a portrait of by all outward accounts a model soldier, the envy of any military around the world. Flight Lieutenant Kathrine W[LAST NAME REDACTED] serves as the second-in-command of the vaunted Aqulia Squadron aka Yellow Squadron, the guardians of the Stonehenge superweapon and the crown jewel of the Federal Erusean Air Force.

Unlike her fellow pilots on Yellow Squadron, and just like her commander, Yellow 4 forswore a pilot callsign and instead preferred to be referred to by her TAC number. Along with 13, she was one of the continuous presences on Yellow Squadron's roster. While other pilots would rotate in and out of Aquila, or head up other divisions of the squadron elsewhere on Usea, 4 remained a member of the core five of Aquila.

Yellow 4, beyond that, serves as the eyes in the back of 13's head, protecting him from any and all threats both in the air and on the ground. The two have an inseparable relationship. She has been under 13's tutelage or command for nearly all of her career in the FEAF since graduating the air force academy in Farbanti, and rumor has it within Yellow Squadron and its on-ground flight crew that their relationship extends beyond that of commander-second or mentor-student, possibly into the realm of romance. Though with 4's stern professionalism and 13's aloof geniality, it's hard to tell, really.


* The name "Katie W" comes from the behind the scenes storyboards showing an ad hoc kill count/squadron roster for Yellow Squadron written on the wall of the Sky Kid bar. While in the actual cutscene, many of the names are just scribbles, in the storyboard, multiple names are clearly legible including one that spells out Katie W--the rest of the name is covered over with a piece of paper tacked to the wall. It's the only female name included on the wall, and the Storyteller Boy notes that Yellow 4 is the only female pilot on Yellow Squadron's roster.

Ipso facto...





VIDEO GAME CENSORSHIP

Oh god yes let’s touch this topic with anything but a 30 foot pole.

Anyways, Shattered Skies has the distinction of being one of the few, if not the only game in the Ace Combat franchise that got whacked with the censorship stick. 04 had the unfortunate distinction of coming out hot on the heels of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C., so certain intestinal elements were altered for its North American release which we will cover in a subsequent update.

Beyond that, the frame narrative of 04 was also slightly darker in the Japanese version, which was altered in the North American and European releases to comport to, for lack of a better term, “Western” cultural sensitivities and to prevent the game from getting an M rating from the ESRB or an 18 rating from the PEGI, both of which would have severely limited the game’s mass market appeal.

The scenes in question involve the Storyteller Boy’s various confrontations with Yellow 13 across the game. In the original Japanese version of this mission’s interlude, the Storyteller Boy is described as having pickpocketed both a knife and gun from an Erusean soldier, either of which he intends to kill 13 with when he confronts him.

The vignette in question was edited and the line and frame depicting and describing the acquisition of the gun is removed. A subsequent frame showing the Storyteller Boy hiding the gun under his jacket as he prepares to face 13 is also redrawn to show his hand clearly visible over his coat and no gun in his possession. The remainder of the scene plays out as normal, but with the added tension of Yellow 4 managing to intimidate what she doesn’t even realize is an armed potential threat.

Personally speaking, I think the censored version works a lot better than the original version. While the gun and knife may give the Storyteller Boy a degree of increased agency as a character, as well as show that he’s actually got a level of skill, determination, and perception beyond what you’d normally expect an average 12 year-old boy to possess, it also takes the story in an unneeded direction, in my opinion.

The Storyteller Boy works better as a character driven by impotent and futile rage who learns to put that rage aside as he comes to see both Yellow 13 and Yellow 4 as people and eventually as friends. While the element of the knife and gun adds tension to the situation, it weakens the characterization over all. But that’s just my opinion.

Additional instances of alternations to the game between versions will be highlighted as they appear, but they’re few and far between.

Markos

• Plane: MiG-29A Fulcrum
  
• Mission 5
  
• Spawn conditions: Appears west of the mainland oil refinery.

Tracks featured in Mission 5:

DISC 1

• 12. Lifeline
  
• 13. Aquila

DISC 2

• 23. The Bird Spread Its Wings