Dance with the angels
- "My family's inside joke has become quite the buzzword ... But it feels strange to hear others say it."
- ― Melissa Herman[1]
"Dance with the angels" is an idiom that appears frequently in Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation. During the Emmeria-Estovakia War, Matilda Herman utters the phrase on an Estovakian propaganda radio broadcast before assaulting the Estovakian interviewing her. The phrase subsequently became popular among Emmerians, including members of the Emmerian military.
History
Albert Herman, a pilot, referred to fighter planes as "angels." When he went on missions that kept him away from his home in Gracemeria, his wife, Melissa, would tell him in frustration to "go dance with his angels." Their daughter, Matilda, picked up on the phrase, mistaking it as an innocent goodbye.[2] At some point, Albert painted an angel on the nose of his F/A-18F Super Hornet with the name "Melissa" next to it.[3]
Immediately prior to the invasion of Gracemeria, Matilda told her mother to "dance with an angel" before leaving for her school trip to Gracemeria Castle.[2] While traveling to a refugee camp after escaping Gracemeria, Melissa discovered the wreckage of Matilda's school bus and later the wreckage of Albert's plane, recognizing her name on the latter, believing them both dead. After arriving at the refugee camp, Melissa heard Matilda on a radio broadcast tell an Estovakian to "go dance with the angels, mister," informing her that Matilda was still alive.[3] She left the refugee camp and began traveling back to Gracemeria to find her daughter.[4]
Meanwhile, Emmeria's armed forces were mostly pushed back to Khesed Island.[3][5] After retaking the island in its entirety, Emmeria performed a landing operation to liberate Ortara on the western coast of the mainland. During the operation, Zed Waters repeatedly hijacked Estovakia's propaganda radio to broadcast Emmeria Independence Radio, during which he adopted Matilda's phrase and taunted the Estovakian broadcaster to "come and dance with the angels!" Following the operation's success, Waters referred to the Emmerian Air Force pilots in the landing force as "angels ... flying in from Khesed."[6] Besieged Emmerian Army soldiers in Silvat Town heard the broadcast and, nearly two weeks later, proclaimed "our angels are back!" when the Air Force arrived to free them from the standoff. Multiple Air Force pilots—including Daniel Pollini and Stephen McCarthy—and Army soldiers used variations on the phrase during the battle in Silvat. Justin Suzuki taunted an Estovakian to "dance with the devil" before attacking.[7]
Following the end of the siege in Silvat, "dance with the angels" became commonly used across the country. Captured Emmerian soldiers in Gracemeria began to use the phrase while defying Estovakian attempts at interrogation;[8] Melissa mentally used the phrase while escaping Emmerian partisans;[9] and Estovakian pilot Ilya Pasternak, who regularly listened to Emmeria Independence Radio, even used the phrase himself.[10] An Emmerian pilot chasing down fleeing Estovakian units during the battle of the Moloch Desert called it a "dance with the angels".[11] A child named Radio taunted Victor Voychek to "go dance with the angels" after stealing his briefcase;[12] Radio later shouted "let's dance with the angels!" while playing with a toy airplane, and Voychek felt as if he could "dance the night away with an angel" while singing "A Brand New Day" with Radio, Matilda, and other children underneath Gracemeria Castle.[1] The children had also spread graffiti around the castle reading "Go dance with the angels."[13] Freddie Durand called the furball following the Fort Norton infiltration "an angel's dance."[14] Louis McKnight told Melissa and Ludmila Tolstaya to "have a nice dance with the angels now" before leaving them on the outskirts of Gracemeria, leading Melissa to realize that her family's "inside joke" had become a popular catchphrase.[1] Upon reuniting with her daughter, Melissa proclaimed her "my angel," to which Matilda responded by asking her mother to dance with her.[15]
The phrase continued to be used during the war's end. Zed Waters called the Air Force pilots "my heroes dancing with angels" after they halted Chandelier's cruise missile attack on Gracemeria.[16] Marcus Lampert intended to resign from the Air Force following the deaths of his wife and daughter, but the attack convinced him to stay, asking Talisman, "an angel doesn't turn in his wings until after his last dance, right?"[17] He later proclaimed "it's time for me to dance with the angels" before diving below Chandelier to gather data on its backup cooling unit.[18]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cutscene 14: "A Light in the Dark", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cutscene 01: "Shattered Peace", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cutscene 02: "Realization", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 04: "Bridge of Despair", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Mission 02: "Vitoze Aerial Defense", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Mission 05: "Anea Landing", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Mission 06: "Siege on Silvat", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 08: "Defiance", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 09: "Victims of Circumstance", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 12: "Admiration", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Mission 11: "The Moloch Desert", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 13: "Trapped", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Mission 13: "The Liberation of Gracemeria", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Mission 12: "Weapons of Mass Destruction", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 15: "Reunion", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Cutscene 16: "Resolve", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Mission 14: "Gracemeria Patrol", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Mission 15: "Chandelier", Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.