Operation Judgment
- "The sword has been pulled from the stone! It was Ustio's flight lead who did it!"
- ― Allied Forces pilot
Operation Judgment was an Allied Forces operation during the Belkan War. Its goal was to counter Operation Brandfleck, a Belkan Army operation to lure Galm Team towards Excalibur to kill its members, by destroying Excalibur itself.
Background
After the liberation of Directus, the Belkan Army began to recognize Galm Team as a major threat to their operations. They devised a plan, dubbed Operation Brandfleck, in which they would use the laser tower Excalibur to both prevent the Allied Forces from penetrating Belkan territory as well as to destroy the Galm Team.[1] Excalibur fired on Allied Forces during both Operation Hell Bound[2] and Operation Dynamo[3], managing to shoot down numerous Allied Forces fighters and transport craft. However, they did not manage to shoot down either Cipher or Larry Foulke.
Following the loss of so many units, the Allied Forces ordered an immediate destruction of the weapon. Since there were fewer pilots left to support Galm Team, they hired Crow Team to assist in the operation. While the Allied Forces prepared for the offensive, the Belkan Army retrieved the Tollwut Hund unit from their position at Futuro Canal and ordered them to man the anti-aircraft artillery around Excalibur.[1]
Summary
Once the pilots had entered the airspace, Excalibur engaged and destroyed the tanker. It continued to fire at the planes as they began their operation. First, they had to destroy the ECM jamming stations protecting Excalibur. AA guns, shoulder-launched SAMs, and one helicopter protected the stations, but the pilots took care of all four facilities rather quickly.
Next was the main facility. Most of the pilots could not enter the facility due to the RTLS railway artillery protecting it. Cipher, however, took out all four RTLS. This opened up the way for the pilots to take out Excalibur's power facilities. As the power facilities were destroyed, Excalibur's laser was becoming more unstable. The personnel were becoming frantic, firing the laser regardless of damage.
After all power facilities were destroyed, Cipher fired at and destroyed the radome of Excalibur, preventing the laser from firing any longer. Cipher then destroyed the main Excalibur tower, causing it to dangerously tilt and then shatter in half.
Results
The operation was a major success. With Excalibur destroyed, the Allied Forces did not have to worry about a laser attack on their forces; they could continue invading Belka again.
The operation also gave Cipher a lot of reputation and respect among both the Allied Forces and the Belkans. Since the Allied Forces already knew and respected Pixy, the Galm Team was now a very famous and popular team for both of its impressive members.
Trivia
- This is the first and only operation during the Belkan War where Allied Forces operate in northern Belka.
- Excalibur is also known among both the Allied Forces and Belka as "the King's Sword" or "Tauberg's sword," while Tauberg is known as the "stone" in which the "sword" is situated. This is a major reference to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
- Excalibur is itself the name of King Arthur's sword. Some believe that Excalibur is the same as the "sword in the stone" that only one could pull out (Belka apparently included), but most versions of the tales consider them to be separate.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Confession of a Soldier, entries 06 and 07.
- ↑ Dialogue at the end of, and debriefing of, Bastion. Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.
- ↑ Mission Update during Merlon. Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.