North Point
North Point,[a] erroneously Noth Point in Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies briefing maps, is a military island nation—and the name of its capital city—located off the northeastern coast of the Usean continent, due east of Saint Ark. It served as the location of the Independent State Allied Forces' second general headquarters following its evacuation of the mainland during the Continental War. Color of the World is based in North Point.
History
Pre-1997
North Point is known to have supported a well-regarded military force.[2] At one point, North Point considered the Union of Yuktobanian Republics across the ocean to its east as its greatest hypothetical threat.[note 1] The country built the Fortress Intolerance missile launch facility with enough range to reach Yuktobania. By the 1990s, no longer perceiving Yuktobania as a threat, North Point scheduled the decommissioning and dismantlement of Fortress Intolerance.[2]
In November 1995, a car-sized asteroid fell to Earth east of North Point. The resulting fireball from the meteor was visible from the country's eastern coast.[3]
When news of the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid's approach was made public in 1996, the nations of Usea set to work devising various ways of defending themselves. The Federation of Central Usea's support of a National Missile Defense (NMD) system[3] compelled North Point to postpone the decommissioning of Fortress Intolerance until after the predicted planetfall in 1999.[2]
Usean coup and Ulysses planetfall (1997–1999)
North Point was one of many nations to fall under the control of rebel forces during the continent-wide coup in 1997–1998. A little more than a week after the lost of their first HQ in Saint Ark, the rebels retreated to Fortress Intolerance and commandeered the facility.[4] The rebels then attempted to launch an ICBM at Yuktobania in order to start an international war and slip away in the ensuing chaos.[2] The Allied Forces responded by dispatching Scarface Squadron, which destroyed the facility and prevented the launch, putting an end to the coup.[2][4]
When the Ulysses asteroid made planetfall on July 3, 1999, North Point was well outside Stonehenge's effective range. The closest known Ulysses impact to North Point is on nearby Newfield Island.[5]
Continental War (2003–2005)
Following Erusea's invasion of San Salvacion and Stonehenge in August 2003, North Point joined other Usean nations in forming the Independent State Allied Forces (ISAF).[5]
At the Continental War's onset, the Erusean offensive—bolstered by the use of Stonehenge as an anti-aircraft weapon—forced the ISAF to abandon its general headquarters at Los Canas and other strategic positions throughout the mainland. ISAF withdrew from the mainland and regrouped at a new GHQ in North Point.[5] The transfer of its GHQ to North Point is regarded as the ISAF's largest and most strategic move of the war up until that point,[6] including a large withdrawal of their ground forces through Saint Ark.[7]
Once reestablished at North Point, the ISAF began to regroup its troops, set up defenses around the island nation, and perform long-range strikes to guard against Erusean attempts to destroy their GHQ.[5][6][8][9][10] From mid-2004 to early 2005, ISAF command in North Point coordinated several strategic missions in preparation for a counteroffensive.[11][12] Upon retaking control of Los Canas, the ISAF opted to only set up a field HQ in the city while the GHQ remained at North Point.[13]
Post-war
In 2010, during the Circum-Pacific War, secret peace talks were scheduled between Osean President Vincent Harling and Yuktobanian Prime Minister Seryozha Viktrovich Nikanor in North Point. The nation's neutrality in the war and its remote location made it an ideal site to host the peace negotiations.[14] The peace talks never took place; Harling and Nikanor were kidnapped by Belkan agents and military warmongers, respectively, before they could leave their countries.[15][16]
North Point remained mostly neutral during the Lighthouse War. Several Osean command personnel, including 444th Air Base commander Colonel D. McKinsey, were temporarily stationed at a base in North Point.[17] In January 2020, a month after the war's official end, Osea and Erusea signed a mutual nonaggression pact in North Point, further reducing hostilities between the two countries.[18][19]
Gallery
North Point as it appears in Ace Combat 2
One of North Point's islands in Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere
North Point's countryside as it appears in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy
Footnotes
References
- ↑ Hasegawa 1/72 "Su-33 Flanker D ACE COMBAT Yellow 13" (plastic model) description.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Mission 23: "Fighter's Honor", Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Usea Today: Asteroid on Collision Course With Earth!
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mission 30: "Fighter's Honor", Ace Combat 2.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Mission 01: "Sitting Duck", Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mission 06: "Invincible Fleet", Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ Mission 03: "The Northern Eye", Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ Mission 02: "Imminent Threat", Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ Mission 04: "Blockade", Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ Mission 05: "Lifeline", Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ Mission 07: "Deep Strike", Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ Mission 08: "Shattered Skies", Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ Mission 10: "Tango Line", Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.
- ↑ Mission 08: "Handful of Hope", Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.
- ↑ Scene 21: "Ancient Walls #2", Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.
- ↑ Scene 23: "Heartbreak One #2", Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.
- ↑ Mission 10: "Transfer Orders", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ WAR IS OVER
- ↑ Aces At War: A History 2019, page 126.