Fanfic / Three Strikes

Three Strikes is a Fan Fiction novelization of the game Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown by bluebellwren and follows Naomi “Trigger” Foulke through the Lighthouse War. The story delves into deeper elements such as espionage and dark family secrets, developing and expanding the characters on both sides of the war as the story expands beyond the game's missions.

As the story progress Naomi progresses from a rookie fighter pilot to a beacon of hope for her allies and a sign of fear for the enemy. This ends up putting a target on her back for those intent on seeing her as many want to see her fall or killed - even those seemingly on her side.

Now has a Prequel story called The Demon's Song which follows Kathryn during Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.

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This fanfiction contains examples of:

• Accidental Murder:
  • After reviewing her case it was determined that Naomi’s shooting down Harling was an accident. However, some of the brass still suspect she did it on purpose, General Perrault in particular.
  • Full Band’s death is more of an accident on Bandog’s part then Count’s. Bandog did purposely mark him as an enemy for Count but the plan was for Full Band to bail out with evidence against McKinsey. However, something went wrong, and he couldn’t eject. It is later revealed that McKinsey sabotaged his ejection seat.
• Ace Pilot: As the story progresses, just like in the game itself, Naomi becomes a better pilot with each mission and a better leader with the LRSSG.
• Actually Pretty Funny: During the operation to take Farbanti Naomi asks how long it will be until Cyclops squadron returns from their refueling and resupply. Soon after Skald asks if it's Cyclops she is waiting for or a certain someone, and everyone laughs. She is a bit taken aback by the tease but laughs if off and calls them assholes.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • Characters known only by their TAC names or callsigns in-game (Knocker, Tabloid, Long Caster) are given names (Turner, Peter Hartmann, Graham Lawson).
  • Chapters devoted to missions are interspersed among chapters depicting events in between those missions, such as the time in between Operations Full House and Siren's Song.
  • Multiple viewpoints are used, expanding on those characters' thoughts and emotions and thus providing a larger picture of the events of the Lighthouse War.
  • The Dalsen twins' roles are expanded from what little screentime they had in the game, showing how they got roped into a conspiracy to kill Trigger by some corrupt Osean officers, as well as giving more insight into their personalities and the bond they have with each other.
• Adaptational Deviation:
  • Mage and Golem Squadrons, both of whom inexplicably disappeared in the game after Trigger's Frame-Up, were given more prominent roles in the story in which they actually participated in LRSSG missions starting from Operation Fisherman. It's eventually culminated in their absorption into LRSSG proper after Wiseman's death and Naomi's promotion
  • In addition, Bandog has taken more active role as well in which he accompanies Avril in Tyler Island in place of Tabloid who remains with Trigger and the rest of LRSSG.
• Adaptational Heroism: Bandog. While the game implies he marked Full Band to be shot down and killed, in 'Three Strikes' Full Band's death was the result of a plan to 'fake' the death of Spare 6 going awry. Throughout the story he is a constant help to the squadron.
• Adaptational Villainy: McKinsey is being paid by Erusea to sell out Osea, and it's when Bandog and Full Band attempt to get evidence of his treachery out, the latter is killed by accident. Matthews, the commander of the IUN-PKF base on Fort Grays Island, is also an Erusean spy who deliberately made Naomi point man in Operation Lighthouse Keeper with the intention of having her take the fall for Harling's death.
• Affectionate Nickname: Count starts to call Naomi "Trig" instead of "Trigger." She notices it, but he tells her not to think about it too much.
• Airstrike Impossible: During Operation Siren's Song, Naomi decides to one-up her own tunnel run back in Operation One Pair by flying through the marine platform and using her pulse lasers to tear the whole thing down in one go.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Schroeder gets into a discussion about this with Simon after the drones escorting them go autonomous and start to fire on Strider Squadron. Surprisingly it is Schroeder that brings up the problems of the drones going to do their own thing regardless of orders.
• Almost Kiss: Count comes close to kissing Naomi while on board the Anderson. She stops him sighting that people only do this when they think they are not coming back so he has to survive the next battle if he really wants to kiss her.
• Always Someone Better: Kathryn, AKA Blaze, one of the heroes of the Circum-Pacific War, and the top ace of those heroes, gets shot down by Mihaly, which later gets shot down and crippled by Naomi, AKA Trigger.
• Amoral Attorney: Kyle Willison, the prosecuting attorney against Naomi, makes it clear that he wants the death penalty for shooting down Harling’s plane and claims that the former president would have supported such a decision. His opening arguments try to paint her CO’s as incompetent and trying to cover it up in their reports and therefore should be considered as accessories to murder. Kathryn even says he is someone who plays dirty to get the job done. When Kathryn pokes holes in his arguments and present a better option for Naomi the Judge sides with her and Willison is lived by it.
• An Arm and a Leg: Chopper is revealed to have survived his crash back in the Circum-Pacific War but lost his leg.
• Anger Born of Worry:
  • Count gets a little miffed when Naomi continues to try to take Mimic Squadron on her own and refuses to leave her, which ends up helping her get a shot in on Scream.
  • Ionela starts to get frustrated with her grandfather’s lack of concern for his health and his obsession with Three Strikes. Pointing out that either one can be the death of him.
• Anxiety Dreams: The past few days before Operation Domino, Naomi has been having dreams of the Alicorn, where she is either stuck at the bottom of the ocean, playing on her worst fear, or being shot down by it.
• Anywhere but Their Lips: After Count has talked Naomi down from her rather heated argument with Rosa, he gives her a kiss on the forehead. That and the conversation beforehand helps her cool off and think a little more clearly.
• Assassination Attempt: The Mimic have been paid by Clemens and McKinsey to kill Naomi during Operation Sighthound, that attempt fails. Then McKinsey goes behind Clemens back and tells the twins to try and kill her during Operation Domino, not only does that fail but both of them are shot down..
• The Atoner: Pixy and Georg discuss what drives them now is to make up for their past wrongs for a better future for their family and everyone else.
• Babies Ever After: Not only did Chopper survive his crash but he has gotten married to Samantha, Naomi’s sister, and has had two kids with her.
• Berserk Button:
  • Having lost so many friends and comrade in arms in previous battles, harming friends or family members is a pretty big one for Naomi, as Clemens learned the hard way. She's even willing to give up her career and risk court martial if it means she can get back at the ones who threaten someone close to her.
  "If you ever tried to harm Count, my family, or any of my wingmen ever again - if anybody tries it - then I'll show you a 'villain'. I don't care who you are or what rank you've got or what happens to me. You hurt them, you answer to me. They're more important to me than my career will ever be."
  • Naomi is getting sick of people using her Belkan heritage as a reason not to trust her. She is a born and raised Osean. When she hears that the Eruseans on Tyler Island have been killing civilians for their Belkan descent she, as well as her father and likely Tabloid, is furious.
• Big Brother Instinct: The second it's even suggested that Torres could find out that Naomi is related to him, Roland (that is, Mobius 1,) has an Oh, Crap! look and immediately tells his father that can’t happen, or Torres might just put everything he has in to killing his little sister out of revenge.
  • He is rather pissed when he heard of the order to kill or imprison his sister from the top brass.
• Big Brother Mentor: It seems Roland played as much a part in inspiring Naomi as their father did. He was the one she first confided in that she wanted to join the air force.
• Big Damn Kiss:
  • While working on the planes before the final battle Tabloid and Avril conversation starts about Avril needing to take care of herself more to getting Tabloid to promise not to do anything stupid and come back alive to them kissing one another.
  • Once the war is over and Count returns to the carrier, Naomi meets him half way across the deck and embraces him that quickly becomes a kiss.
• Big Damn Reunion:
  • Subverted. Pixy is excited to see his daughter again, but the reunion between them isn’t the happy one that Pixy had hoped for. Instead, she is very angry with him (and the rest of her family) for keeping their history a secret from her. She goes on a rant on him before eventually walking off. Things get better soon after.
  • Naomi reunites with Mage and Golem squadrons during Operation Fisherman and is quite thrilled to be working with her old friends again.

• Break the Cutie:
  • Naomi goes through a Despair Event Horizon after Mother Goose One is shot down - she’s been grounded, is possibly facing life in prison or even the death penalty and believes at the very least that her career in the military is over.
  • Rosa's break is shown in more detail here than in the game. From finding out her father has been killed. Vague memories of her plane crash. Being rescued by Conservative Erusean soldiers only to find out that they are killing civilians. Her mother being killed in a Radical Erusean drone strike on said Conservative Eruseans. Having her loyal bodyguard, Henri, almost dying to protect her. Picking up a gun and shooting General Parrish. And finally seeing the conditions that the refugees are going through. All of it making her feel terrible the part she played in it.
• Brutal Honesty: After the mission to defend Stonehenge, Wiseman lays down the hammer on Naomi for both recklessly swooping in on Cyclops' targets when her squadron hadn't finished with their own targets and trying to pull rank on Count. He tells her she needs to start playing ball and stop being so mistrusting of everyone but the former Spares, and that she doesn’t, she could be shipped back to Oured to face another court martial. This gets Naomi to sober up quickly.
• Buzzing The Tower: While missing a wing, Naomi makes it back to the 444th base she decides if she is going to crash, she might as well go out in style, so she buzzes the tower. She is able to land and gets an earful from the control tower. McKinsey just adds this as another reason to throw her into solitary confinement with the others despite having followed orders to the letter in the last mission.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Ionela, a teenager, who has just had it with everyone over the drones and war, starts calling out everyone. How the scientists never cared about her grandfather and what he wanted. How the drones are bringing nothing but chaos instead of peace and that Parrish has no intention of sharing that technology with the world. Finally, how the whole war is just stupid.
• The Cameo:
  • During a call with his wife Pixy can hear Cipher in the background.
  • Sky Eye makes an appearance during the meeting with the IUN and Conservative Eruseans and follows Roland outside to talk to him about his decision on the meeting.
• Canon Immigrant: Characters from the other games make appearances, many of them reoccurring, in this story. Notable examples being Blaze, Hans Grimm, Pixy and Mobius 1.
• The Captain: Once she is assigned to the LRSSG, not only does Naomi’s rank get reinstated but she gets a promotion to captain and is given command of Strider Squadron. Then later after Wiseman has been shot down and killed, she is promoted to major and given command of the entire both LRSSG which now includes Mage & Golem squadrons.
• Cathartic Crying: After having to retreat from the Lighthouse when the Ravens arrived, Naomi is beyond frustrated. The war was so close to being over, her father could be dead, Count almost dying, the others fighting the Ravens and stress from over the months has caught up to her and she is struggle to keep it all in. Count is able to get her to let her emotions out and she starts to cry and gets a hug from him.
• Childhood Friends: Kathryn and Grimm were friends before they joined the OADF, supporting each other in everything they did. In fact, it was Grimm joining the OADF that made Kathryn follow him “like an idiot,” which led to...
• Childhood Friend Romance: At some point during their service Kathryn and Grimm fell in love and married.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: McKinsey is a triple agent providing Osean intel to Erusea. He didn't hesitate to imply that Matthews was a traitor in his call with Pixy. After he escapes from his MP escort, he goes to an Erusean base comprised of defected Oseans and gives Mimic Squadron all the information he has on the former Spares. He betrays Clemens by telling Mimic to go after Strider during their next operation despite Clemens’s orders not to, hoping that Clemens will be caught red-handed and forced on the run. He even goes as far as to sabotage one of the Mimic twins' ejection seats.
• Clear Their Name: The efforts of Pixy, Clown, Genette, and the Razgriz are able to out several traitors and use the information they gathered to get the brass to pardon Naomi.
• Combat Pragmatist: When they arrive at Lighthouse, the Ravens quickly deem Naomi as the greatest threat and try to take her out. Only Count’s interference keeps that from happening.
• Common Tongue: There is a language called common language, that most people can speak. However, many nations still have their own languages. Osea is the only one stated to speak the common language as its official language
• Conscience Makes You Go Back: During her first encounter with Mr. X an already angry Naomi gets even more pissed when the other Spares, except Tabloid, run off but she in particular calls Count a coward. It isn’t clear if it was the insult or perhaps the fact that Naomi had taken a missile for him in the last mission that convinces him to come back and help.
• Contrived Coincidence:
  • While Naomi’s sister Samantha is a medic assigned to the 'Kestrel II', she is on maternity leave at the start of the war and so is spared from possibly sharing its fate in the aftermath of Operation Dual Wielder.
  • Somehow, Naomi has never seen the documentary that was made from Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War which has her own father in it. It’s a very popular film for people who want to join or are part of an air force. Maybe her family made sure she never saw it if they could help it, so she never found out their Dark Secret but to miss it by mere minutes as it played in the base’s mess hall is something else.
• Dark Secret: Naomi was completely unaware of her family’s secret past until Full Band’s snooping revealed it to her, particularly that her father is the infamous 'Solo Wing Pixy.'
• Day in the Limelight: The story provides multiple viewpoints in addition to Trigger's including the antagonists, particularly Mihaly, Schroeder, and Rosa.
• Declaration of Protection:
  • Count tells Mimic Squadron that they have to go through him if they want to get to Naomi. He tells her the same thing when she begs him to leave the area after he has been hit.
  • Naomi makes one as well for Count, her family and her wingmen to Clemens after Mimic Squadron's second attempt to kill her and Count outs him as a traitor, that anyone that threatens them will face her wrath.
  • Rosa, after seeing all of the death and destruction and feeling partly responsible for it, swears to herself that she won't let any more harm come to the refugees around her.
• Defector from Decadence: Some of the Erusean soldiers defect to join Avril’s group of refugees because their fellow countrymen are trying to kill said refugees or have connections to the refugees and therefore also targets for execution themselves.
• Defrosting Ice Queen:
  • Count doesn’t really get along with Naomi when she first arrives, and their relationship keeps going up and down during their time with the Spares. It's only once they join the LRSSG do they begin warming to each other.
  • To a degree. At the start Avril is adamant that she won’t be making friendships during her stay with the 444th and makes sure that Naomi knows that when they end up sharing cells. However, over time she starts to get closer to the squadron, starting with Tabloid, and the LRSSG after that. Enough so that she considers them her friends. She is still a hard ass at times but only because she cares.
• Dehumanization: The conservative officer tries to justify to Rosa killing the civilians of Belkan descent by calling them animals.
• Despair Event Horizon: Naomi comes close to falling apart after the battle at Farbanti, where Wiseman was lost, but does her best to keep herself together for the rest of the squadron.
• Despair Speech: When Naomi is told that all the evidence points to her intentionally shooting down Harling, she laments that she is just being used as a scapegoat for the failure of Operation Lighthouse Keeper and that her life is now effectively over.
• Dirty Coward:
  • Naomi calls Count a coward when he turns tail and runs with the other Spares when Mr. X arrives, which may have spurred him to return and help Tabloid deal with Mihaly’s wingmen. He grows out of it later, and by the time they joined LRSSG, Count is actively assisting Naomi in battles.
  • Brigadier General Clemens is also one, which is used to the advantage by the LRSSG when they threatened that he would be sent into a penal unit to be punished for his crimes. Clemens immediately breaks and sells out his co-conspirators in the plot against Naomi without hesitation.
• Dislikes the New Guy: Naomi starts at the bottom of the ladder when she arrives at the 444, with Spare Squadron not being impressed by her at all, Count in particular. They quickly warm up to her as she proves her worth, beginning with High Roller, though it takes Count longer than the others.
• Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: Osea is having trouble with a number of theses in their ranks, with standout examples being McKinsey and Matthews, the Fort Grays Island Air Base commander. Thanks to the Spares, Pixy, Knocker and Clown many of these spies are found out and captured, though McKinsey escapes custody.
• The Dreaded:
  • Much like in canon, Naomi AKA Three Strikes slowly but surely gaining this status among the Erusean troops, with them even saying that a plane with three strikes is a sign of bad omen.
  • Even years after the Continental War, Roland, that is Mobius 1 aka the Grimm Reaper still intimidates the Eruseans even though the Conservatives are looking to form a coalition with him at the head.
• Driven to Suicide: It is implied that Bandog’s life got very shitty once he was assigned to Zapland and he thought of committing suicide but becoming Sarge’s handler gave him the will to keep going. Having someone to care for makes you care for yourself in his words.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • Avril had been so concerned that Tabloid was angry with her due to the way her comment about Belkans and conspiracies came out that she set herself to work for a few days to avoid him but it turned out that he was over it after about an hour or two.
  • When Georg confesses that he was the one to program the drones to fake Osean IFF and kill Harling to blame an it on Osean pilot, Naomi says it’s okay as she is largely over the incident by that point.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Rosa is rather adamant that they help the Oseans deal with Torres rather than risk Osea thinking Erusea supports Torres’s "plan to save ten million lives." General Parrish, however, brushes her off and insisting they use the crisis as a distraction to create an opening. Thankfully, the radical general then gets overruled by Rosa's father who for once was actually on her side.
  • Roland is approached by Conservatives Eruseans to lead a coalition of Osean and Erusean forces against the Radical Eruseans. They point out that the drones are a problem for everyone. They point out that with him and Three Strikes at the lead they would be unstoppable. Roland agrees on the condition that he doesn’t fly. That gets a lot of protest, but everyone has to settle with that.
• Evil-Detecting Dog:
  • For a guard dog, Sarge is very friendly with the prisoners, even happily running up to them. The exception to that is McKinsey.
  • Leo really doesn’t like Parrish, likely sensing how unease he makes Rosa.
• Exact Words: Parrish promises to let Georg and his family go if he gives the General what he wants. When Georg does Parrish keeps his word and lets them go, into a warzone.
• Extreme Mêlée Revenge: Naomi and Huxian give Clemens a well-deserved one after they returned from the Anchorhead Raid in retaliation for Clemens setting Strider Squadron up to be killed by the Dalsen twins. Moreso in Naomi's case. who beats him to a pulp in revenge for putting her wingmen's lives at risk, even with the entire LRSSG and David, her father, and Vice Chairman Edwards himself watching.
• False Reassurance: When Knocker protest sending Naomi solo to clear out the air defense of the Space Elevator Colonel Mathews tells him that Trigger is quite capable of conducting the mission. In truth he is a double agent and already knows that the mission is doomed to fail, and Naomi is being sent for a Frame-Up by his superiors to get her out of the way of the war.
• Fangirl: Naomi goes full on when Wiseman takes an interest in Spare Squadron, up to and including jumping up and down while holding on to and shaking Count. Count however, shoots her down with his belief Wiseman doesn’t really care about them.
• Fear Is the Appropriate Response: When Rosa says she is afraid to go into battle, Naomi tells her that she to is afraid and so is everyone on the base but they a fighting to protect those who they care about and that is what matters.
• Fire-Forged Friends:
  • Naomi becomes these, first with Spare Squadron with all the shit they have to put up with, and with the LRSSG, as she leads them to victory after victory.
  • By the end of the war Naomi and the Rosa have gone through much to rally a fractured people that they have now become friends.
• Foil: Rosa and Naomi were set up as this. Both are charismatic young women who were seen as beacon of hope for their respective factions. However, while Naomi is an active duty pilot who leads her wingmen in the frontlines and generally let her actions to do the talking, Rosa is a royalty far removed from the frontlines who were deliberately set up a mere mouthpiece figure to invigorate the Erusean morale.
• Foreshadowing: In this novelization in the chapter Long Day, after the mission is complete one of the retreating drones breaks off and goes after the withdrawing Count, Tabloid and Naomi. This is the first sign in this story of the drones acting out on their own.
• Frame-Up: In canon, Trigger appears to be a case of ‘wrong place wrong time’ who got pinned with the blame for Harling’s death. Naomi, on the other hand, was deliberately set up to take the fall. The base commander of Fort Grays Island Air Base was a triple agent for Erusea instructed to send her as the point man of the operation, so she'd be marked as responsible for Harling's death. It appears it was orchestrated by Belkans to either make sure she was out of the way and didn’t get as skilled as the rest of her family or if it was just to get back at Pixy. Either way, she was as much of a target as Harling was.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: After learning about the Dalsen twins' particularly tragic past that showed that they aren't so different from her, Naomi has a little bit of sympathy for them. Huxian and Count, however, still firmly believed that they got what they deserved, and that bad circumstances shouldn't be an excuse for them not trying to make the best of what they got (like the former 444th members did) and gave in to the pressure and become villains.
• Gameplay and Story Integration:
  • When Naomi buzzes the 444th Air Base control tower, they tell her off with the same lines used in the game for an improper landing in Mission 05.
  "Go back to flight school already. The aircraft seriously can't handle your shit."
  • Similarly, a couple of the things that Naomi does are taken from the game. Specifically, flying through the marine platform while firing pulse lasers to destroy the supports is a popular tactic players use for that mission, and using the aircraft's gun to shoot at silos in Operation Magic Spear is a valid way to see if they are real or fake.
• Gender Flip: Trigger is female in this story, as marked in its summary. The same goes for Kathryn Hamilton, or rather, Blaze.
• General Ripper: Parrish was already bad enough but when everything goes to hell, he has completely lost it and is dead set on getting more drones to attack Osea.
• Glad He's On Our Side: During Operation Daredevil, many of friendly Erusean troops expresses this sentiment after seeing Naomi is now fighting on their side.
• Government Conspiracy: Within the Osean military there are those who want to see Naomi dead, particularly Lieutenant General Shepard and Brigadier General Clemens, going as far as to hire Mimic Squadron to assassinate her under the belief the Osean Defense Forces are becoming too reliant on her abilities. Clemens eventually reveals that her Belkan descent, along with the identity of her family, led the conspirators to believe that she was a risk factor; that she had intentionally killed Harling, and she may join a group to restore Belka to its former glory. Even when communications are going down the conspirators sent out orders that she is a traitor and must be killed. Some Osean forces attempt to follow those orders while others don’t, seeing how stupid those orders are.

• Greater-Scope Villain: The final chapter reveals that there is some kind of secret organization. What their goals are and what they role they have been playing is unknown. It’s implied that its Gründer Industries or that the company is part of this organization.
• Grilling the Newbie: When Naomi goes to eat on her first day at the 444th, the Spares invite her to eat with them. They start to ask her a lot of questions ranging from where she got her TAC name to her experience. Then they get to the topic of Harling, and she gets really uncomfortable, snapping at them before leaving when they keep pressing her.
• Happily Married: Kathryn and Grimm are clearly in love and they worry for one another over the course of the story more so when Kathryn is shot down and has to bail behind enemy lines and Hans has no idea if she is still alive or not. When he hears her voice over the radio during the mission to take Tyler Island he is very relieved.
• Heel Realization: Mihaly comes to the realization that the sky doesn’t belong to him but to every worthy pilot and he will be damned if he allows the machines he helped create take that away from them.
• Heroic Lineage:
  • Pixy is Naomi's father, her older brother Roland is the famed Mobius 1, her sister Samantha served aboard the OFS 'Kestrel' and her brother-in-law is Chopper. To top it off, Pixy mentions in Chapter 22 that his great-great-great-grandfather was among the best Belkan aces in the Osean War, meaning Naomi's descended from one of the first ace pilots in Strangereal.
  • Kathryn Hamilton aka Blaze is the daughter of the Belkan War hero Cipher.
  • Colonel Beckett, PJ, Cipher’s second wingman, is the father of Tailor and Hans Grimm's uncle.
• Hidden Depths: When Full Band says he as seen some emails that McKinsey has in Belkan and Erusean while snooping around, Count reveals that he knows how to speak and understand Erusean.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The enemy had hoped to get Naomi out of the way by framing her for Harling’s death. Instead, thanks to friends and family, she gets sent to the 444th where she not only becomes a better and more recognized pilot who wreaks havoc on the Eruseans, but gains the titular Three Strikes striking fear in her enemies and hope in her allies.
• Hope Bringer: After the loss of satellite communications and the war turns into a bloody civil war between the radical and conservative forces, and them against Osea, many people are looking for someone to bring an end to the fighting. Naomi’s friends start to see her as the one who can do that.
• Hope Spot: There is hope for Rosa, her mother and Henri when they are found by conservative soldiers after their plane crash, but this soon washes away when she finds out that they are targeting civilians. Then the radicals attack.
• I Owe You My Life: Georg declares that he and his family are indebted to Naomi and her father for saving their lives as he confessed to be the culprit behind Harling's murder and Naomi's frame-up.
• Implied Death Threat: General Parrish drops his Affably Evil act immediately once he realizes Princess Rosa won't follow his ideal of using the drones to continue to wage war with Osea, sneering at her that she's nothing more than a pretty face to win over the hearts of the people and that he could find someone else to assume the throne. And since she backed General Labarthe, whom Parrish discovered to be The Mole for Osea, she's now a threat, and all threats 'have to be eliminated' for the good of the kingdom.
• Inappropriately Close Comrades:
  • Naomi and Count continue to get closer and closer as the story goes on, which is definitely against regs considering she is his superior officer. After the war they are allowed to get away with it as long as they are not getting touchy while in uniform. Being war heroes has its perks.
  • Bandog and Húxiān have to keep their relationship a secret due to one being enilisted and the other being an officer. Although they seem to find it funny.
• Insane Admiral: Captain Matias Torres is also present in this fic and is every bit as batshit insane as in the canon storyline.
• Insistent Terminology: Count is quick to tell Karl that Naomi is not a captain anymore but a major.
• Insult of Endearment: Even after warming up Naomi, Avril still calls her "Dumbass" from time to time. However, it's clear that there's no longer resentment on her Avril's part and the nickname meant as reminder to Naomi to not do anything too stupid.
• Interclass Friendship: Rosa, a princess, and Tailor, an airman, are able to form a friendship over spending some time together. For Rosa it gives her comfort that she was able to make a friend through a normal conversation.
• Irrational Hatred:
  • When Naomi’s heritage (her Belkan decent and that her father is Solo Wing Pixy) comes to light many at the 444 start to hate her. Count in particular, although it seems he is just looking for a reason to distances himself from everyone. After Operation Three of a Kind everyone but Count is back on her side. It just takes longer for him to reconnect with her.
  • The conservative Eruseans start to kill the civilians of Belkan descent, believing that they were the ones who got their country into the war.
  • Even after everything Naomi has done, Lieutenant General Shepherd still hates her and thinks she will become a terrorist just because of her father and has a bit of hate for her brother as well.
    • It seems that Shepherd has some sort of vendetta against war heroes and mavericks in general, believing them all to be narcissist or would be narcissist loose cannon who are liable to turn on their own country after the war ended to satisfy their own ego, much like what Captain Torres did.
• Irony It was Mobius 1, or rather, Roland, Naomi's older brother, who destroyed seven of the Stonehenge guns when they were used in the last war by Erusea, while Trigger defends the 8th gun against the Eruseans.
• It Can Think: Hugin and Munin seem to be even smarter in this story then in canon. Due in part their connection to Z.O.E. Schroeder even states that they can follow or disobey orders as they please. He even wonders what they are thinking as they are watch him and those around the hanger.
• It's All About Me: McKinsey really is full of himself. On top of him always taking the credit for Spare Squadron's accomplishments like in the game, when he is outed as a traitor, he puts all the blame on Spare and forwards some of the payment for Mimic to begin hunting Naomi.
• It's Not You, It's My Enemies: The reason that Naomi’s family didn’t tell her about their dark past, particularly Pixy's time in A World With No Boundaries, was so she wouldn’t have to live constantly looking over her shoulder for people that would want revenge on them.
• Jerkass While there are still the ones from canon, namely McKinsey and Bandog, 'Three Strikes' introduces the leader of the radical faction in Erusea, General Parrish, who rails on anyone that doesn’t agree with him, including Princess Rosa. Perrault is also around, now a general, and seemingly still just as much of an ass as he was in the Circum-Pacific War.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Bandog may still be a jerk at times, but he is more on the side of the Spares then McKinsey, even helping them when they suspect that the commander is double dealing under the table.
• Just Following Orders:
  • The airman following Parrish orders to escort Georg and his family off base into a warzone clearly doesn’t like it, but she does it anyways.
  • The conservative soldiers that found Rosa reveal that they have been ordered to target civilians of Belkan descent and are all too willing to follow those orders
• Kangaroo Court: Naomi is pretty much convinced that this is what her trial is going to be, believing the brass will refuse to own up to the disastrous results of Operation Lighthouse Keeper and instead use her as a scapegoat. Luckily, her friends and family are able to mitigate the damage and postpone any actual judgement until a better trial can take place and instead get her assigned to the 444th in the meantime.
• Karma Houdini: Lieutenant General Shepard doesn’t get any reprisal over his desire to kill Naomi.
• Kick the Dog: Rosa takes a lot of verbal beatings from Parrish when she stops being an Unwitting Pawn. Her father doesn’t really help in the matter, continuing to side with Parrish.
  • She gets even further verbal beatings in in chapter No Royal Road from Parrish and her father.
• The Kingslayer: Eruseans of the radical faction executed their own king to keep the war going.
• Knight Templar: Parrish really has it out for Osea, believing they have to be taught a lesson for sticking their nose into everything.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: When Roland refuses to fly for the coalition he gets a lot of protest but he makes it firm that he will lead but flying is out of the question. Truth is he is tired of fighting and like Mihaly his body is suffering from past battle. Unlike Mihaly he knows it is time for him to stop and just let others take up the mantle.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • Naomi notes that Champ’s MiG-29 shouldn’t be able to do a Pugachev's Cobra.
  • She also expresses confusion when Long Caster mentioned "Italian bistro" during Operation Siren's Song, in which the Big Eater AWACS told her that it's a small country in Anean continent where all good pizza came from.
• Late to the Punchline: When Naomi doesn’t get what’s so funny with the banter between Captain Airey and Long Caster, she asks the others, which prompts everyone to laugh at her. It takes her a moment to realize that Airey was flirting with Long Caster.
• Legacy Character: Having lost her wing when she took a missile for Count, Naomi later adds her own, faded, single red wing when she is assigned to the LRSSG in addition to the canon transformation of Trigger's sin lines into claw marks, taking her father’s moniker of 'Solo-Wing' as one of her many names.
• Loophole Abuse: Not being officially military, Kathryn and Grimm are able to share a room at Fort Grays.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: Full Band’s death was done on McKinsey's orders after the latter found out about his snooping. Bandog tried to plan out with Full Band to bail out when Count shot him down, but something went wrong, and Full Band was killed anyways.
• Mama Bear: Emma, Naomi's mother, is a bit of one. When the war broke out Naomi missed several calls from her due to being too busy, and Emma ends up spending a number of hours talking to her when she gets the chance. However, she also has the mindset of a Sink or Swim Mentor. See below.
• Manipulative Bastard: Parrish is able to terrify Rosa into believing she is not being a loyal Erusean. In order to be so she must support the use of drones and see the Oseans as the bad guys. Albeit, on the latter, in any war, one side will always see the other as the bad guys.
• Meaningful Echo: Namoi is greatly angered when she hears that Eruseans soldiers are killing civilians of Belkan descent and says, "Damn them all...", the same thing her father had said back during the Belkan War when Allied forces indiscriminately bombed the Belkan city Hoffnung while at the same time Belkan forces stated a scorched earth and were destroying the city as well. When his daughter starts to rant on how the Eruseans should rot in hell he is quick to get her head back into the mission, possibly remembering how the destruction of Hoffnung pushed him to join A World With No Boundaries.
• Must Have Caffeine: Because she has been having trouble sleeping the past few days before Operation Domino, Naomi has had to drink coffee to stay awake.
  • Before Operation Werewolf everyone has to get up early and is struggling to stay awake, so everyone is drinking some strong coffee.
• Nerves of Steel: The aggressive Parrish is constantly push and prodding Schroeder but the scientist does not give him any reaction.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: After Huxian punches out Clemens when his treachery is revealed, Naomi follows up by beating the crap out of him in front of everyone. Including the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. That’s the third highest ranking military official after the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President. She gets away with it with no more than a warning to not make it a habit.
• Not So Above It All: During Operation Sighthound Naomi suggests Strider Squadron count kills, as they had in Spare. Count and Tabloid take her on but Húxiān doesn’t say anything, leading Naomi to believe she doesn’t approve. However, later when they start comparing scores Húxiān voices hers - six. She also trash-talks Drake Squadron when they say how cool they are as a reason for enjoying Enchanter Squadron's support, shooting back that Strider doesn’t need Enchanter because they can get their kills themselves.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Naomi isn't too happy when Torres tries to pull this speech on her and the others.
  • Upon finding out that Three Strikes is just a young woman like herself, Rosa begins to see that they are no different. Both being symbols of hope for their countries while symbols of death for the other.
  • When Naomi thinks that Rosa is trying to make herself look better than her because of all the soldiers that she has killed, Naomi is quick to point out that the blood of civilians targeted by Erusean soldiers is on the princess’s hands, so that make them no different.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: In addition to Captain Torres from canon storyline, General Parrish always finds a reason to convince the King of Erusea to justify a prolonged war with Osea by claiming that it's for the good of Erusea, but in reality, he just personally hated Osea and wanted to see them suffer, as well as finding an excuse to unleash his drone army in combat. He also won't hesitate to threaten Rosa, a member of the Royal Erusean Family, once he realizes that she won't support him in his crusade against Osea.
• Oh, Crap!: Pixy has one of these when he realizes that his daughter’s existence may now be known to people who want revenge on him. His son Mobius 1 has a similar moment over the thought of Torres finding out that Naomi is his sister.
• Once More, with Clarity: The start of the chapter Lessoned Learned is the same as the latter end of the pervious chapter, where the first fight between Naomi and Mihaly takes place, but from Mihaly’s point of view instead of Naomi’s.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When she meets Rosa, Naomi loses her shit. When Rosa pleads for her help to end the war, Naomi thinks it just some political move to save her own ass and doesn’t want herself or her friends to become pawns for someone to save-face. When Rosa acknowledges that she was the face of her country's war effort, she points out that Naomi’s identity revolves around all the soldiers she has killed. Naomi just snaps further, and she points out to the princess that all the civilians that have been getting killed by Erusean soldiers and that their blood is on Rosa’s hands. Everyone in the hallway that had been watching the argument are in shock over how Naomi just completely exploded.
• Orwellian Retcon: Earlier chapters have been revised with minor additions as well as some changes to fit with later chapters.
• Papa Wolf: Pixy can be quite protective of his daughter, something McKinsey finds out the hard way.
• Passing the Torch: Before his final fight against Naomi, Mihaly talks to Wit about what the latter fights for. Wit shows determination to fight for the independence of his home land for his family and himself. Mihaly tells Wit if he is taken out that Wit should lead the next generation and to move on without him.
• Pet the Dog: In the later stages of the Alicorn Arc, Rosa’s father comes to her for advice after numerous times of rebuking her. He wants her take on if they should give the Oseans details of the sub. The king tells her that he’ll may very well go with her decision to give them the plans even if the majority of his military advisers are against it. He'll even go as far as to not telling them it is her suggestion due to how Parrish has been with her
• Punishment Box: McKinsey's infamous threat of solitary is explained as confinement in a small metal shack in the beating hot sun.
• The Purge: Conservative Eruseans start to kill the researchers and their families on Tyler Island for working on the drone project and being of Belkan descent.
• Prison Rape: Averted. With the exception of someone wolf-whistling upon her arrival and a comment from McKinsey, Naomi, as well as Avril, don’t get harassed by the male prisoners and guards. Naomi earning their respect after proving her skills in flight and Avril being the only one who can fix their planes probably has something to do with it.
• Properly Paranoid: The Foulkes were right to be afraid that there would be people coming after them out of revenge for what Pixy did, both as a pilot for Ustio and for A World With No Boundaries. Now their youngest daughter, who they kept in the dark, is facing the consequences of her father's actions.
• Rank Up:
  • Perrault is now a general for outing the Wardog traitors. Only time will tell if he can continue to flaunt his rank when it is revealed in the following year that they weren’t traitors.
  • Upon joining the LRSSG Naomi is promoted to captain.
  • After the battle at Farbanti and the death of Wiseman, Naomi is promoted to major and given command of the entire LRSSG which now includes Mage and Golem, while Fencer is promoted to captain and given lead of Cyclops. And with their promotions they get F-22 Raptors to use for themselves.
  • By stories end, months after the war, she up for another promotion to Lieutenant Coronel
• Rebellious Princess: With some influence from Labarthe, Rosa stops being an Unwitting Pawn for the radicals and stops preaching distaste for Osea. She subsequently wants to find ways to make peace with Osea, which puts her into conflict with Parrish who feels that the Oseans have to be taught a lesson.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • We get to see more of this from Wiseman while on the ground, knowing when to keep the kid gloves on - welcoming the former Spares into the LRSSG and when to remove them - when reprimanding Naomi for her poor behavior in Operation Dragon Breath.
  • Labarthe is far more reasonable than Parrish, trying to make form a peace deal with the Oseans but Parrish’s thirst for Osean blood keeps derailing his efforts. Tellingly, when Parrish rants about the Oseans having no right to use Stonehenge, Labarthe responds that Osea had every right to make a tactical move like that and exploit Erusean carelessness.
  • Vice Chairman Edwards of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is this in the Anchorhead Raid debriefing just like in the game. He didn't really mind Naomi and Huxian giving Clemens a beating after the latter's been outed as a traitor - considering that Naomi and her friends almost got killed because of his actions, but he also gives them a fair warning that, traitor or not, Clemens is still a military officer and that they had just assaulted their superior, so they shouldn't make this a common occurrence.
  • Colonel Beckett doesn’t punish Naomi or Long Caster after they were forced to fire on other Osean fighters when said fighters were trying to kill Naomi and then the others of Strider Squadron.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Bandog was assigned to the 444th for decking his commanding officer, who is implied to have been Clemens.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Pixy gives one to McKinsey after his treachery comes to light. Stating that he may have been on the wrong side of a war at least Pixy chose a side while McKinsey goes where the money comes from.
• Remember the New Guy?: Clown was Blaze's WSO during her time with Wardog/Razgriz Squadron, meaning he's got contacts with some powerful people.
• Retcon: Possibly. Earlier in the story it is clear that Naomi was aware of her father's past but part way through it's changed or elaborated to be more of a vague awareness he was a mercenary pilot in the Belkan War.
• Revenge by Proxy: What Pixy fears will happen to his daughter. Naomi’s brother begins to fear the same over the thought that Torres will find out Three Strikes is the sister of the pilot who destroyed the Aegir Fleet.
• Rousing Speech: When the ground forces with the LRSSG need volunteers to go on the mission to control facilities of the Space Elevator they ask Rosa to call on the refugees. She starts to give a speech to tell the situation but is quickly met with resistance. They say how they’ve gone through enough and this is a war she started but Georg quickly quiets them down. The princess continues by telling them she herself has already volunteered and pulls in Naomi to show how she fights even though her own people hold her Belkan heritage against her and Rosa wants to support her even if it is on the ground in the battlefield. Georg is the first to volunteer and soon followed by many more. Unlike her pervious speeches that were scripted for her, here she does it all on the fly.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: When the LRSSG has to consider taking volunteers from the refugees to take part in the mission to the Space Elevator, Rosa volunteers to go much to the protest of her bodyguard. She then leads by example to get other refugees to volunteer to join her.
• Samaritan Syndrome: Naomi feels guilt over the deaths of Brownie and Wiseman because she wasn’t able to save them.
• Sanity Has Advantages: Mihaly dismisses his granddaughter's concern for his own well-being after Trigger killed Torres by citing that the captain of Alicorn was a raving madman who prone to making fatal mistakes. As such Trigger was practically has the Alicorn handed to her by silver platter by account of the rogue captain's insanity.
• Say My Name: During, Operation Domino, Naomi screams ‘Count’ after he gets hit, similar to what Scream does shortly after when her brother is killed.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Like the Osean forces at Archorhead the ones on Tyler Island have orders that Naomi is a traitor and must be killed but they refuse to follow those orders after she has just saved them as no traitor would do that.
• Secret Legacy: Naomi wasn’t aware that her father was the infamous Solo Wing Pixy. Her brother also never told her that he was Mobius 1, although Pixy thinks she may have figured that last one out on her own. After the war her family lets her in on all their secrets. She playfully gives Roland a hard time about it but gives Samantha and Chopper a pass due information on Razgriz being top secret.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Roland never told his younger sister that he was Mobius 1. However, their father suspects that Namoi knows but hasn’t said anything about it. It’s elaborated more on later that she has her suspicions on how her brother knows so much about things surrounding Mobius 1. She fully finds out by the end of the story.
• Secret Test of Character: High Roller pulls one on Naomi by letting her catch him cheating, calling him out on it and being able to prove it. She passes, gaining his respect, although needless to say, nobody trusts him to deal ever again.
• The Scapegoat: Naomi sees herself as this for Osea and the IUN-PKF so they don't have to admit they mishandled Operation Lighthouse Keeper.
• Shame If Something Happened: Parrish leaves this threat hanging over Schroeder if he and his team don’t get their work completed by the next morning.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Adverted when Rage calls Naomi, Count’s girlfriend, albeit in jest. Neither of the pair say anything about it. Being in the middle of a dogfight they got more pressing matters then starting an argument over something silly.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: When Rosa tries to do a dry run on using a pistol she starts to think back to when she shot Parrish and begins to back out. However, Naomi gently guides her to continue by telling her she is fighting to protect her people and to keep those people in mind and nothing else. It works and the princess is able to go on with her training.
• Shipper on Deck: Nobody misses the chance to tease Tailor over his remarks that he's been listening to Princess Rosa’s speeches and that she’s quite inspiring.
• Ship Tease: Plenty of this between Naomi and Count. This gets amped up after their second run in with the Mimic Squadron. They prefer each other's company on the ground and don't like being apart.
  • Avril and Tabloid also get some moments.
• Shout-Out: Tom Clancy, Marvel, Top Gun, Stealth and The Hunt for Red October get some fair share of shout outs. All of which are apparently existed within Strangereal universe as Osean pieces of entertainment.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: As mentioned above, Emma has a bit of this going, telling her husband if their daughter has to crash and burn, figuratively speaking, to learn, then he should let her do so, in Chapter 23.
• Sins of Our Fathers:
  • Naomi gets hit with this hard - not only does just about everyone on the 444th turns on her when Full Band reveals she's the daughter of the pilot who tried to launch V2, she also has a target on her back for those who resent Pixy's choice to take up arms against Belka. Some of the top brass used this as a reason to try and kill her, seeing her as a risk factor.
  • Averted in the case of Cipher. After Pixy’s betrayal during the Belkan War he made sure that his former wingman’s family remained safe from any retaliation from others in Valais Air Base.
• Sleep Cute: Before the briefing for the raid on Shilage, Naomi sees Kathryn using Hans’s shoulder as a pillow and him using her head as one.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Everywhere, especially Naomi and Count really laying it into each other.
• So Proud of You:
  • When Wit asks Mihaly if they are ready to face Three Strikes, Mihaly says that they are and is proud to call the Sol Squadron his students.
  • Roland declares when his sister ends the war he will be prouder then anyone.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Both Chopper and PJ are still alive. So far, PJ has had a scene as the new commander of Fort Grays Island Air Base, while Chopper has been repeatedly mentioned as married to Naomi’s sister.
  • Rosa’s dog, Leo, is still alive by the time Bandog and Avril find them.
  • By being in the air instead of the ground, Tabloid managed to survive the battle to take the space elevator.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: A literal example in that Genette is stuck on Earth while Nagase is out in space.
• Suppressed Rage: Naomi has been keeping most her angered bottled up throughout the story because she is the flight lead of Strider and later the entire LRSSG but when she gets to Tyler Island and hears of the civilians being killed by Erusean soldiers and then Rosa herself asking for her help, thinking its just a political move, lets it all out at the princess.
• Take Care of the Kids: Mihaly asks Wit to look after his granddaughters if anything happens to him before his final battle with Naomi
• Taking the Bullet: At the end of Operation One Pair while Naomi, Tabloid and Count are returning to base a drone breaks off from the others to come after them firing a missile at Count. Naomi turns her plane into it and losses a wing doing so.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • Naomi can’t help but notice how disorganized Spare Squadron is on her first time up with them in Operation High Card, with everyone seemingly out for themselves. As time goes on, they become a better team, culminating in a rush of pride from Naomi as they form up behind her in Operation Flush.
  • The Dalsen twins, McKinsey and Clemens really don’t like each other but they can and will work together to kill Naomi.
• Throwing Down the Gauntlet: After the battle of Farbanti Mihaly issues a challenge to Naomi for the next time they meet.
• Unwitting Pawn: Rosa comes to the realization that this is what she is sooner then she does in canon, and begins pushing back against the radicals in Erusea, much to her father's frustration.
• Villain Has a Point: When Naomi finally meets Mihaly face to face she calls him out for shooting down Brownie when her aircraft was damaged and retreating. Mihaly points out that she turned to engage him so he fought back.
• Wardens Are Evil: McKinsey is even a bigger asshole then he is in canon. He is a turncoat as well and is funding some of the money to Mimic Squadron to kill Naomi.
• We ARE Struggling Together: During the escort mission for Labarthe some Oseans begin to chase after and fire at Trigger saying that their last orders before communication went down were that she is a traitor and must be taken out at all costs. Naturally the rest of Strider and Long Caster protest this and try to convince them that she is no traitor, but this just leads the former friendlies to turn on them as well.
• What Have I Done: Naomi falls into a state of shock after Harling’s plane is shot down.
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Naomi chews out Rosa, shocking everyone, and walks off, Count runs after her. It takes him several moments to get Naomi to stop walking away from so he can question just what the hell came over her to snap like that.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Naomi has a fear of drowning while being trapped. Any mission over water is bound to get her anxious.
• World's Best Warrior: By all accounts, with every battle she has won and every opponent she has beaten, Naomi is the ace of aces.
• Worthy Opponent: Much like in canon, Mihaly clearly sees Three Strikes as this. Although his view gets diminished a bit when he finds out her true identity, he still holds the young Osean pilot in high regard and even admonishing one of his wingmen for disrespecting her. Naomi, on the other hand, hates Mr. X for the way he killed her friend, Brownie, declaring him her enemy after their duel in Operation Two Pairs.
• Would Hurt a Child:
  • Parrish has no issue with throwing a Georg’s children into a warzone and he actively tries to kill Rosa.
  • The conservative Eruseans are fully willing to kill children that are of Belkan descent.
• You Are in Command Now: After Wiseman was killed by Mr. X during the Battle of Farbanti, his position as LRSSG field commander was assumed by Naomi after the other two candidates, Count and Fencer vouched for her. In turn, Fencer was also handed the command of Cyclops Squadron.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Discussed between Schroeder and Parrish. Schroeder asks if that is Parrish’s attention for him if he finishes his work, having been delaying for some time. The General assures him that isn’t the case as long as the scientist stays out of his way once Schroeder’s work is done. However, given that Parrish is highly unstable at this point it is hard to tell if he is being honest.
• You Remind Me of X: Mihaly is able to make connections between Three Strikes with Solo Wing Pixy (her father) and Mobius 1 (her brother) based off similarities in their flying styles.