Transcript:The UAV Factory
This page contains a transcript of "The UAV Factory", the 14th cutscene in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. It immediately plays before starting "Lighthouse" during a campaign run.
Transcript
Avril Mead (narrating): When we got to the mainland, we found the space elevator's support facility. I guess this was the factory where they built the gigantic structure the elevator traveled in. There was this little girl sitting in front of a mural. When the Princess saw her, she shuddered like she'd seen a ghost. The girl had a stuffed animal. This was the day after the shit went down at Tyler Island. [gunshot] She walked right up to the Princess, took her hand and led her into the factory. One thing's for sure... they knew each other. The factory'd been converted to a production line for Erusean drones. It was fully automated and chugging along, making drone, after drone, after drone. [gunshot] Once they got inside, the Princess stopped and just stood there. Another girl was there with a man in a lab coat. He was trying to use his keyboard, but she wouldn't let him. She took a data chip and threw it on the ground. Then... she walked over to us and took the gun from the prison guard's holster. [gunshot] She pulled the trigger... and destroyed the chip. Later, I found out that the girl with the gun and the one with the stuffed animal were sisters. They were also the granddaughters of Mihaly A. Shilage. The legendary pilot. Gramps used to talk about him. He said Mihaly was the top ace from two wars ago. Know any Belkans? Cuz this guy was a Belkan, and they love to stir shit up. Pitting nations against other nations is a particular favorite of theirs. Along with developing hyper-advanced technology.
Schroeder (narrating): That's right. I'm Belkan, born and raised. My country is gone now. Rather than surrender to its enemy, Belka detonated seven nuclear weapons on its own soil. My people scattered around the globe, living in the shadows of other countries. We had a new purpose... to breed wars. The theory was that through war, we could achieve our destiny... and our revenge. I had just finished inputting Mihaly's data, when his granddaughter came in. She destroyed the only copy I had of the information I squeezed out of him. The girl loved Mihaly. No one knew more than her, just how hard I pushed her grandfather for that data. How much I made him sacrifice in the process. I promised his granddaughters that his efforts were not in vain. That it could end this terrible war. But in the end, it only caused more chaos and despair. We were responsible for all this damage... all this tragedy. Now, we were going to pay for it. The Eruseans, once our allies, would see to that. I had lost the drive to continue my work, even before I noticed Mihaly's granddaughters eyeing me with suspicion that one day. I should've stopped then... for all our sakes. [clattering] Mihaly's granddaughter tossed the gun aside. She said if she resorted to killing, she'd just end up like the rest of us. And by "us," she meant everyone. Including the Princess. Like me, the Princess was afraid to look into the girl's eyes. She knew that by encouraging her people, she kept the war going. Mihaly and his granddaughter were victims of it and now... They, too, were paying the price.
Ionela: Is this for Belka? Or for Erusea? My grandfather had only one wish. To continue soaring through the endless skies. That was the only place where he felt alive. But I don't even have a country to call home, let alone the sky. The black forest, the lake... they are no longer mine. Even though those lands were once cherished by my late mother. We have to learn to put that sense of nostalgia behind us and behave like mature adults.
Schroeder (narrating): My homeland... She's right. It feels so far away now. The woman with the rifle approached me. She was focused on more pressing issues.
Avril Mead: I checked the computer. All of the data on the legendary ace had already been installed.
Schroeder: No. I pulled it before it was completed. However, there are two aircraft that are already scheduled to be manufactured based on that data.
Avril Mead: We must destroy the factory.
Schroeder: [inhales] This isn't the only one. There are more facilities just like it. And the two planes containing the data will be manufactured at one of those facilities.
Avril Mead: So this place runs on solar power that the space elevator generates, right? How about the others? We can destroy the space elevator and cut the power to them. First things first, let's take this one out!
Schroeder: [breath] I'll show you which locations to target.
Cossette (narrating): I stood there, thinking about that mural by the factory's entrance. Harling commissioned it to be painted. I realized that in the background, behind the dancing figures, the artist had painted several space elevators. I understand now. The space elevator wasn't designed to exploit Erusea after all...
Avril Mead: Good and afterwards, we'll bring down the space elevator itself. No matter why it was built, right now it's the root of this chaos!
Cossette: I wonder.
Schroeder: Yes?
Cossette: I wonder which path you would choose... when looking at Harling's mirror.