Ace Combat 2 & Assault Horizon Legacy Part #14 - Mission 12 – Operation One Night Stand, July 18th, 1998

Part 14: Mission 12 – Operation One Night Stand, July 18th, 1998

Breaking Into the Enemy Submarine Base

Mission 12: Operation One Night Stand – July 18th, 1998
Mission 13: Operation One Night Stand (Legacy Version)

Overview: One of the two Dragonet-class ballistic missile submarines stolen by the Rebel Forces has been located at the Seal’s Bridge submarine dock facility. Phoenix is sent in to destroy the sub before it can reach the safety of the dock, but must first navigate a treacherous canyon run to avoid detection by the Rebels.

Guest Commentators: Joining me for this update are Jobbo_Fett in the Ace Combat 2 version, and Cooked Auto in the Legacy version.

DRAGONET-CLASS SUBMARINE
I’m hesitant to give this one a “super weapon” entry yet, but seeing as how this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing of the Dragonet-class subs in this game, I’ll do it the next and more plot-relevant time it appears.

Constructed in the late 1980s by the FCU Navy to act as a naval missile launch platform, the twin nuclear submarines Fensalir and Folkvangr were, prior to the outbreak of the continental war, the two most potentially deadly weapons in the FCU Unified Navy’s arsenal. Built to house and launch specially designed Submarine Launch Ballistic Missiles (SLBM), the twin subs were designed to act as a first or second-strike capable platform, one stationed on each coast of Usea, against possible aggression by either the Osean Federation or the Union of Yuktobanian Republics.

However, following the signing of the Treaty of Lumen and the push for global nuclear disarmament in the Assembly of Nations, the Dragonets’ future as a potential nuclear deterrent has been cast into doubt.

The Dragonet submarines also the subject of international controversy, albeit indirectly, in the early 90s. The Union of Yuktobanian Republics was accused of copying the Dragonet design when it revealed its two Scinfaxi-class nuclear submarines, Scinfaxi and Hrimfaxi in 1991. Osea’s Foreign Minister Howard decried the Scinfaxi-class as a counterfeit Dragonet, accusing the UYR of espionage against the FCU, something Yuktobanian Prime Minister Samanov vehemently denied.

FENSALIR
Here we have Ace Combat returning to the realm of Old Norse mythology. This is also one of the many lore additions Assault Horizon Legacy brings in over Ace Combat 2, actually naming the two submarines in the game.

Roughly translated from Old Norse as the “Fen Halls,” the Fensalir is the hall of the goddess Frigg, wife of Odin the All-Father, and for whom Friday (Frigg’s day) is named. It is featured in both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda by the 13th century Norse poet Snorri Sturluson. As the “fen” part of the name suggests, the Fensalir was alleged to have been located in a bog or swamp, though some scholars argue it actually refers to the sea, as Frigg was also considered to be a sun goddess, and the sun appears to descend into the sea when viewed from the coast at sunset. Thus it appears as though Frigg is descended into her Fensalir, her sea hall.

DRAGONET
The name of the class of the submarines in Ace Combat 2 / Assault Horizon Legacy comes from a species of fish found in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific oceans. Their name means “little dragon,” and reflects their oddly lizard-like appearing, and, in some species, their allegedly venomous qualities.

[LEGACY]

Comet

~~Plane~~: CH-47 Chinook
Game: Assault Horizon Legacy
Mission 13
Spawn conditions: Appears behind a bridge halfway down the left (Apache) path through the canyon.