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Monarch | |
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"The Crown"
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Male |
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Active |
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Married |
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Robin Kuo |
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"Monarch" is the callsign of a mysterious mercenary pilot hailing from Cascadia in the Cal'opui Universe belonging to the Sicario Mercenary Corps' Hitman Team fighter squadron, acting as its leader. Very little is known about him, but his skills are unparalleled, and his ventures are legendary. The best pilot of his outfit and arguably his entire universe, he established his legend as the "King of Hell" and the "Crowned Mercenary" during the Cascadian Conflict, playing a vital role in many major operations and bringing down the Pacific Federation's dominion in world affairs along with his archrival, Crimson 1, even dethroning the latter as the top ace of the world.
Multiversally, he is well known as "Mobius One's runner-up," and became the seventeenth pilot to receive the coveted Ace of Aces award within the Alliance of Nations. He is married to Robin Kuo, better known by her callsign, "Prez," who acts as his weapons specialist officer.
Biography[]
Pre-Cascadian Conflict[]
Very little is known about Monarch's background, aside from the fact that he was born in Cascadia, let alone how he ended up joining the Sicario Mercenary Corps, but after several successful and infamous contracts, Monarch was placed as leader of the small Hitman Team, one of Sicario's mainline fighter squadrons.
Monarch assumed command of Hitman after some time impressing Sicario's leader and its downsizing from a five-plane to a three-plane flight, and was assigned Robin Kuo as his de facto WSO, ultimately found to be the only one able to stand up to his flying, if barely. After an incursion with a stolen Cordium cargo ship where Monarch and Hitman fought on behalf of the Pacific Federation, Hitman entered a contract with United Cascadia to fight in the Cascadian Conflict.
Cascadian Conflict[]
Monarch took part in the Cascadian Conflict, fighting in many important battles. He came to infamy during many early battles in the war when Federation forces identified him as the pilot responsible for their defeat. He was used to represent all of the mercenaries that the Cascadian Independence Force hired. Monarch attracted enough attention over the following weeks that regular civilian workers took warnings of his presence by his emblem and the Peacekeeper Crimson Team was immediately summoned from another battle solely for him.
As soon as Crimson arrived, Monarch and his allies made a run for it to the north to evacuate the airspace, as the Peacekeepers' aircraft and skill were above Monarch's pedigree at the time. Crimson 1, unable to pursue him any further due to being low on fuel and ammo, vowed to take him out properly next time.
Crimson arrived at the airspace, forcing the other aircraft to retreat. Monarch, however, decided to stand and fight the Federation aces, severely damaging one member and forcing them to retreat. Both ally and enemy were surprised at his feat, with Crimson 1 brushing it off as luck and the other Hitmen surprised at Monarch's maneuvers. He himself was ordered to retreat while he still could.
Monarch became a sort of boogeyman for Federation forces to be on guard against, as Crimson Team constantly warned. Monarch's infamy rose in a colossal aerial battle during the midpoint of the war, where he racked up a "ridiculous" kill count and even shot down over half of Crimson Team. During that time, friendly pilots went over his TAC name's meaning, and Federation pilots tried their best to focus on and shoot him down, only to be all felled. Crimson 1, during their rematch, personally chased down Monarch, and even called him out for "getting in the way of world peace." Following the furball's end, Sicario expressed awe at and even joked about getting a record agency to count all of his kills, and Griffiths personally thanked him for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
By the time the CIF offensive campaign was in full swing, Monarch was made the sole reason Federation units hastily retreated and left without full capacity, but simultaneously, the rebels had by then put all their trust in the mercenary ace, especially Morgan Elizabeth. The following week during the retaking of the Cascadian city Prospero, some Federation pilots went as far to attempt ramming Monarch, but the "Crowned Mercenary" prevailed as usual.
However, when a swarm of cordium-tipped cruise missiles began bombarding the city, Robin tried to get Monarch to leave immediately, feeling it was futile, but Monarch remained, trying to down as many cruise missiles as possible. Ultimately, the effort to save the trade city was a failure, leading to the Cascadian Calamity Event. Hitman and their AWACS decided to make a break for it back to base, only to be caught up in yet another battle involving some mercenaries who'd become green-eyed at Monarch's fame and turned traitor.
Following the dogfight, Monarch and Hitman's identities became public targets for the rest of the bounty hunters to claim. Back on the ground, Hitman, including Monarch, was given a promise by Cascadian representatives involving giving them sanctuary within the country as part of a deal made discreetly between them and their contractors. Robin later questioned Monarch over whether they made the right decision on striking the Deal, since even for their kind, it was "too powerful," though assured she remained with him.
Monarch and his wingmen encountered Crimson Team for the final time in a battle to retake Prospero's ruins. During the fight, Crimson 1 gave an ardent monologue to them over his righteousness and his vow to kill them once and for all or at least take everything from them, and Robin complained she was being pushed to her limit in the intense fight due to the maneuvers performed there. Three weeks later during the war's finale, Monarch was addressed as the "King of Hell" and was notably the sole unit who waded through Crimson 1's rampage later on unscathed, witnessing him nuking Presidia.
The two top aces dueled to the death for one last time over the burning capital, Crimson 1 delivering a heated rant at the Crowned Pilot mocking his losses and name, blaming him for everything that led to this point, questioning and assuming his feelings and goals, and goading him to kill him then and there. Regardless, Monarch dealt repeated hits at Crimson 1's PW-Mk.I, suffered through losing his HUD, and finally put down the rogue Peacekeeper. Before being vaporized in a massive blast, Crimson 1 cryptically told him to remember him "when the storm came for him."
Monarch, along with the rest of Hitman Team, remained at large post-war, with Cascadian citizens being issued a search warrant on them to report their findings to MPs, possibly to supplement their military again given its decimation by the war's end.
Cordium Resource War[]
Ace in the Alliance[]
Personality and traits[]
The iconic emblem of Monarch, painted on the side of his plane.
Monarch is mute, at least during combat, a factor attributed to being "in the zone" in battle by Robin Kuo. He is incredibly talented and usually calm and composed in battle, reminding many of other aces across the multiverse while also sparking jealousy in numerous rivals, and many of his allies are overconfident in his abilities. his combat acumen was once estimated to be a full combat flight.
Having never let down Sicario throughout his service, he generally has a tight relationship with his sole WSO, Robin, who he would eventually marry. His TAC name was given for a specific reason, though became the subject of debate/ridicule in rulership terms across both allies and opponents.
Monarch agreed to an arrangement that whoever scored the most kills in a battle got to buy dinner for the rest of the squadron. This agreement persisted with other pilots in the Alliance Joint Military.
His flying style, despite deadly effectiveness, was considered rather reserved and held back for all the stress it caused his other WSOs. In an all-out battle, such as his fours and final confrontation with Crimson 1, Monarch's extreme flight maneuvers, while leaving him unphased, caused Robin Kuo to pass out from G-sickness.
Relationships[]
Friends[]
- Robin Kuo (spouse)
Rivals[]
- Crimson 1 (deceased)
Equipment and skills[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Several common jokes were made by both sides about Monarch, such as the joke that Monarch "had no blood in his body," which allowed him to make intensive combat maneuvers and sudden turns. Other jokes say Monarch enjoys wine, and that getting him a good glass of Cascadian wine will finally make him speak.