Skies of Deception (mission)

This article is about an in-game mission. For the in-universe event, see Battle of Aubrey Air Base.

Skies of Deception
Cape Aubrey after being bombed
Campaign Mission 01 Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception
Mission Order
Next	Out of the Fire
Mission Details
Focus	Air-to-Air
Objectives	Shoot down all bombers.
Time Limit	10 minutes
Character	Gryphus One

Skies of Deception is the first campaign mission of Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception. The player must shoot down a squadron of bombers that are attacking Aubrey Air Base.

Briefing

Eugene Solano: Um... OK, let's begin the briefing. Operator Eugene Solano. I'll be keeping you up to date. We've got news that an invading Leasath squadron has just taken off from the Puna Plains en route for an attack on our position, Aubrey Base. From their perspective, this attack is the final nail in our collective coffin. After all, this is the only base that hasn't fallen under their control. I guess we can consider ourselves lucky. It looks like the enemy has gotten a little overconfident and sent only a small attack force. Gryphus Squadron, prepare for launch immediately. Fly around the mountains and avoid enemy radar. Oh, I forgot. The enemy squadron consists of mainly bombers supported by several fighters. Please protect this base and destroy the enemy bombers. If everything goes well, we should be able to get the upper hand on the enemy in this area. All right, please prepare for launch. Let's pay back the Leasath forces with at least one defeat. One final thing. During combat my code name will be CRUX. I will keep you up to date on the battle situation, so please pay attention to your radio.

Objectives

In the vein of Sitting Duck from Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies, this is a simple interception mission without much difficulty. The player will spawn behind two B-52s with a pair of F-1 escorts. The fighters will pose very little threat if the player leaves them alone. The bombers are marked as TGTs and must be shot down.

After the player shoots down the first two bombers, another group of two bombers, marked as TGTs, and two F-1 escorts will spawn. After shooting down these bombers, the same group will spawn again, but with F-5E escorts instead. After shooting down the next two bombers, the same group will spawn one more time, and after shooting down these last two bombers, the mission will be completed.

Enemy Lists

The following enemy lists have been verified with the Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception - The Complete Guide.

Standard Units

	Unit	Points	Count	Notes
	B-52	320	2
	B-52	320	2
	B-52	320	2
	B-52	320	2
	F-1	260	2
	F-1	260	2
	F-5E	240	2
	F-5E	240	2

Special Units

Main article: Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception/Aces

	Unit	Points	Minimum Difficulty	Notes
	F-4E "MANTA"	560	Normal

S Rank

In order to achieve an S rank on this mission, the player must earn 4,500 points. If the player does not shoot down MANTA, they must shoot down all escort fighters in addition to the bombers in order to achieve the point requirement.

Debriefing

Eugene Solano: The mission was... was a success. The destruction of the enemy bombers will keep an enemy invasion of Aubrey Base at bay. However, we also suffered serious losses. This...there's no way anyone could ever call this mission a success. ...I'm sorry. I couldn't do anything to save them. So that's the super weapon Leasath used to take over all of Aurelia in only ten days. Who could have imagined they possessed such destructive power...

Enemy units marked as TGT usually must be destroyed to advance the mission. The TGT text is always in red, except if the player changes this in Ace Combat 7.