Rosa Cossette D'Elise
Your Royal Highness
Princess Rosa Cossette D'Elise, usually referred to as Cossette or Princess Cossette, is a member of the Kingdom of Erusea's royal family. She is the daughter of the man who became King of Erusea for around seven years[2][note 2] prior to the Lighthouse War. She appears as a supporting character in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
Prior to the outbreak of war, the militaristic and radical faction within the Erusean armed forces convinced Cossette and her father that Osea's International Space Elevator was a violation of Erusea's national sovereignty.[6] They further convinced her that Osea sought to rule the Usean continent through the elevator, and that Vincent Harling himself had wanted to destroy the elevator.[7] Her father was killed during an attack on Farbanti, leaving her both orphaned and the last surviving immediate member of the Erusean royal family.
After discovering she was misled, Cossette joined Avril Mead in sabotaging the space elevator and ending the war.[8] Due to being unable to ascend the throne under Erusean laws preventing women from becoming head of state, she instead took up the late Harling's torch on the international stage as a strong advocate for cosmopolitan world peace in the post-war period.[9]
Biography
Early life
Cossette was born into a family of commoners around 2001,[1][note 1] during which time Erusea was officially a federal republic. The Independent State Allied Forces declared victory in the Continental War in 2005, and Erusea's provisional government reinstated the old monarchy three years later to restore national stability.[10] The cousin of Cossette's father suddenly became the King, elevating her and her family to royalty status. Cossette's father tailored suits for both him and his brother for a living; the latter became King after their cousin fell ill and passed away. [2]
The general public looked down upon the royal family for some time since they were formerly mere commoners.[11] The young Cossette's parents continued to send her to primary school under a pseudonym, Rosa Cossette Falcinelli. She made plenty of friends and almost formed a chorus at school to use her singing ability to make harmonies.[2]
Around 2011, the current King and his family were killed in a car accident, and Cossette's father assumed the throne, thereby making her the new Princess. She was temporarily pulled out of school, though she continued to follow her classmates' accomplishments.[2] Rosa returned to school at some point later, where she met and befriended Ionela A. Shilage.[12]
Lighthouse War
- "As some of you might know, the Osean Federation has come from across the sea to our kingdom. Their purpose? To build a gigantic monument they call the 'space elevator' on our soil!"
- ― Cossette on a broadcast to Erusea's citizens at the outbreak of hostilities
Upon the outbreak of the Lighthouse War, Cossette became known for her defense of her country's offensive war, claiming that the International Space Elevator was a violation of Erusea's national sovereignty as well as publicly denouncing Osea's actions during the conflict, claiming that the country attacked indiscriminately and had injured many civilians.[13][14] She frequently gave speeches supporting the war effort, encouraging the radical and conservative elements of Erusea's military to unite against their common enemy in Osea.[15][a]
At some point during the war, Cossette visited an Erusean Air and Space Administration airfield, where Sol Squadron was based. There, she reunited with her old schoolmate Ionela, Ionela's sister Alma, as well the pair's grandfather, Mihaly A. Shilage.[12]
Eventually, with the fall of Farbanti to the Osean forces—during which her father was killed—and the collapse of the Kingdom's government, Cossette was to be spirited away from the Usean continent. However, her transport was shot down during the ensuing Erusean civil war, and she found herself stranded on Tyler Island in the middle of a furious battle between Osean forces and Erusean splinter factions. Three days after an abortive assassination attempt that left her the sole survivor, she was discovered by straggling Osean forces, including Spare Squadron. Avril Mead identified her as the princess, but the Oseans took her in.[15]
During the chaotic Osean rout, the Osean forces took in a group of civilian refugees but found themselves surrounded by radical Erusean forces. At great personal risk, the princess took a flare and marked their positions, allowing planes from the Long Range Strategic Strike Group to destroy the Erusean armor and prevent a massacre.[16] From there, the group traveled to the International Space Elevator via commandeered ships, arriving at the foot of the Space Elevator in the city of Selatapura the next day. [7]
Upon discovering that Erusean radicals had hoped to continue the war using the resources of the Elevator, Cossette joined the Osean/Erusean coalition's efforts to sabotage the space elevator's UCAV factories and shoot down the Arsenal Bird Justice. Despite numerous close calls, she helped sabotage Justice by disabling the elevator's remote power transmission capabilities by destroying location markers at the top of the elevator's windbreak, thereby removing the Arsenal Bird's ability to activate its Active Protection System. This allowed the otherwise-struggling coalition forces to finally shoot Justice down and defeat the Erusean radicals holding the elevator. [8]
Rather than wait for someone to take her back down to the ground, Cossette decided to return to the surface by BASE jumping from a platform near the top of the windbreak. At this exact moment, two unknown aircraft—actually a pair of unmanned ADF-11F Ravens—attacked. A parachuting Cossette was nearly caught in the explosion of an air-to-air missile aimed at one of the Osean fighters, but she miraculously survived despite losing her helmet.[8]
The next day, the surviving members of the coalition forces mounted a desperate operation to shoot down the drones before they could use the space elevator's long-range communications capabilities to transmit their flight data to UAV manufacturing plants across the Usean continent. At the climax of the battle, Cossette caught sight of the last surviving UAV discarding its damaged RAW-F wing unit and relayed her discovery via open radio channels to the coalition pilots. This proved crucial in Trigger and Count's ability to take the UAV down and prevent the upload of the data, ending the war.[17]
Upon the official end of the war, Cossette formed a provisional government based at the elevator to assist Usean refugees displaced by the war. Carrying on Harling's spiritual legacy, the princess put her international space development plan into motion with cooperation from the refugees and survivors from the EASA. However, due to Erusean law prohibiting women from becoming head of state, she was unable to ascend the throne as a queen regnant, and instead opted to become an ambassador for peace in the international community.[9]
Etymology
Rosa Cossette D'Elise's name has strong French influences. In particular, her middle name, "Cossette", is an alternate spelling of "Cosette", best known as the name of the heroine in Les Misérables.
Her pseudonym last name, "Falcinelli", is also an Italian surname. Her real last name, "D'Elise", sounds similar to the fleur-de-lis.
She is the second Erusean character to have a French name after Jean-Louis Flaubert, the leader of the newborn Yellow Squadron.
Gallery
Radio Portrait
Rosa watching herself on TV
Rosa speaking to Dr. Schroeder
Rosa in the announcement trailer
Rosa's helmet in the announcement trailer
Footnotes
- ↑ Rosa's words in this cutscene are mistranslated in the English dub. While the English text refers to her speeches as being about "working together for peace," the Japanese dub and Chinese localization make it clear that her words specifically refer to mutual cooperation between the radical and conservative factions in the war against Osea, rather than peace between Osea and Erusea.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Refugees flock to Space Elevator", WAR IS OVER, GAZE
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Rose". Aces At War: A History 2019, pages 128—133.
- ↑ Brianna Knickerbocker on Twitter. Published January 18, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- ↑ Megumi Han on Twitter. Published September 23, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
- ↑ https://youtu.be/Zc2qUPHAlas
- ↑ Cutscene 14: "The UAV Factory", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cutscene 13: "Harling's mirror", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Mission 19: "Lighthouse", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cutscene 16: "The New System", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ Aces At War: A History 2019, page 76.
- ↑ Aces At War: A History 2019, page 105.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Cutscene 06: "The Rose Emblem", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ https://youtu.be/ReHVAlEU3UQ
- ↑ https://youtu.be/4wFGK7me8uM
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Cutscene 12: "Tyler Island", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ Mission 17: "Homeward", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
- ↑ Mission 20: "Dark Blue", Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.