Faust

This article is about the character. For the in-game mission, see Faust (mission).

Faust
Biographical Information
Rank(s)/Title(s)/Occupation(s)	General Black Eagle Division/Cascadian White Fleet commander
Other Nick/Names/Aliases/Callsigns	Black Eagle Actual
Date/Place of Birth	Unknown
Date/Place of Death	June 2, AC 432 Mission Telmort-00-Exil (Arctic Circle, Magadan)
Nationality/ies	Cascadian
Relative(s)	Unnamed children
Affiliation(s)	Cascadia Cascadian National Guard Cascadian Marine Guard Black Eagle Division † Cascadian White Fleet † Cascadian Independence Force Independence Force HQ
Equipment	CDV Roosevelt †
Physical Description
Gender	Feminine
Height	Unknown
Weight	Unknown
Hair Color	Unknown
Eye Color	Unknown
Skin Type	Unknown
Blood Type	Unknown
Actor(s)
Voice	Kira Buckland
Appearances
Project Wingman: Frontline-59

"I don't know if the Federation is willing to insult me enough by constantly sending you reservists after me, but I suppose that's what the Federation does: Make people into who they need them to be. For you four, it's being a pain in my ass."

― Faust taunting Division K-9 for their persistent meddlement

General Faust was a Cascadian Independence Force (senior Independence Force HQ leader) and Marine Guard Black Eagle Division/White Fleet commander. A win-at-all-costs leader, she was infamous for her brutal victories against mercenary forces and unleashing a famine on Oceania, both during the Oceanian War.

Faust went down in history a second time during the Cascadian Conflict 15 years later as the first to invade the Pacific Federation in their entire century of existence, persuading the IF into authorizing an entire invading army into the Federation Core States territory of Magadan. Secretly intent on burning down the Federation to both avert potential future trouble to Cascadia and her children and usher a "final era" - on her terms, be it the extinction of her nation or the Federation, salvation for humanity through a new peaceful world - she mostly accomplished her goal before her invasion was driven back by the full might of Federation Military Forces and their bothersome Air Reserve Division K-9.

Feeling the Deal that her fellow HQ staff were making was hardly sufficient, the General, in a last-ditch attempt to finish her personal mission, took a significant chunk of her invasion force's remnants to northern Magadan against orders; they were grouped with the Cascadian White Fleet, a once-peaceful vertical flotilla turned her personal armed navy. Over Base Station Zero, her final target, she engaged K-9 in an intense air battle while charismatically rallying her forces about their cause's righteousness, only to be defeated for the final time, unable to completely wipe the station from existence. Although dying, she revealed to K-9 how their Federation's war was only perpetuating conditions enabling the mercenary utilization of a terrible (and Deal-related) secret she and her fellow officers found in the last war, leading to global chaos, and remained strident in why she did what she did; the last the reservists heard from her was ominous laughter.

The fact that Faust's attack alone forced Base Station Zero to dump so many neutralizers into the Ring of Fire and spiked geothermal pressure elsewhere to avoid catastrophic runaway reactions in case she succeeded arguably makes her complicit with the Federation in triggering the Cascadian Calamity Event, which by immense irony got her what she wanted in two ways, but also expedited the very bargain she sounded loathing on.

She is the main antagonist of Project Wingman: Frontline-59.

Biography

Oceanian War

"Do we trust this General anyway? She used to gut mercs like us in the last war."
"[laughs] Don't worry, she hates Feds more."

― Mercenary pilots on Faust's precedence

Faust, along with other National Guard elements, was involved in the Oceanian War with her entire Marine division and Federation Peacekeepers including the Cascadian Crimson Team. During the conflict, she ruthlessly struck down mercenary forces and instituted a famine to weaken Oceanian morale and turn the war's tide, also discovering an unknown object in Oceania considered hallowed to all mercenaries. For unknown reasons, she did not take part in the final battles, which led to the remaining continental mercenary forces being spared.

Between AC 417 and 432, Faust felt guilt for her extreme actions - her sins - against Oceania and poured it entirely on the Federation. Possibly in the wars' interim or during the Cascadian Conflict, she procured government property - the White Fleet - to militarize it, perhaps longing for a chance to fulfill (as she felt) the Dust Mother's divine command to utterly destroy the Federation as penance for Oceania's suffering.

The General also mothered an unspecified number of children pre-war.

Cascadian Conflict

"Burn down the Federation, this is your Dust Mother's prayer! Burn down the Federation, this is the cry of the Cascadian Earth! Let all burn!"

― Faust's genocidal enunciation

Faust sided with the CIF when fighting broke out, taking part in HQ command.

Desire for full measures

"[sighs] I-"
"Do not concern yourself with this, Captain Woodward, head back to Cascadia and report back to General Headquarters...the Eminent Domain has done enough."
"I lost good sailors today, General, I hope you know what you're doing in Magadan."

― Woodward, pained over his losses before Faust shuts him down

On April 17, Operation Guillotine occurred, which not only resulted in the decimation of Federation airpower across Northern Cascadia, but led to mercenaries taking the dare of pursuing Federation survivors across the international dateline to Magadan. Around this time, General Faust saw a golden window when J. Griffiths, a junior HQ officer, called off the mercenaries from widening the frontlines. The General argued with their major victory today and the numerous troops loyal to her, they could strike straight at the Federation, a feat never even attempted in its whole history; the mainland liberation could be supported as the Federation would be fighting a two-front war. Griffiths concluded HQ would consider her proposal.

Faust's invasion was eventually agreed upon, but with a deadline for withdrawal as the rebellion could only sustain so many fronts. One month after the furball, the first rebel forces landed on Point Refuge in eastern Magadan; unfortunately for them, severe losses on the spearhead were inflicted by the Federation's rather steadfast reservist resistance, miniscule as it was. Captain Woodward of the CIFS Eminent Domain was snapped out by Faust, who coldly reminded him he had fulfilled HQ's favor of supporting her invasion before ordering him back to the mainland. The Captain's parting words were a hope she wouldn't lose sight of her directive, and Faust's first actions involved fortifying their new beachhead.

Fire and dust trailing

"You had one directive: If you could not push up, you had to at least hold...I am trying to secure Cascadia's future!"

― Faust's reaction to her first major defeat

Mere days after D-day, Faust began committing to her goal of causing as much death and destruction in the country as possible through countervalue sabotage of its energy grid, concentrated across the coast, her true agenda being to secure the future of Cascadia through such atrocities. Consequently, this led to heating-up geothermal signatures, and the Federation from Asia toured to Magadan to push the invasion back, starting with flattening a rebel FOB in Tseliadan. Her explicit orders were to hold position with the many defenses and CAP they had in case they could not push further inland, and she was angered when that fell apart and the same Federation reservist squadron (K-9) from before made sure of it.

As the invasion continued and Faust went past the deadline, she intensified anti-air defenses across the rebel frontline and relocated her command staff behind it. This combined with the mainland battles turning in the rebels' favor influenced her Marines into believing they could have a legitimate foothold in the Federation; their high-demand mercenaries could be redeployed to support once their side of the fighting ended.

Their optimism was undone when the Federation sent K-9 leader Driver, a standout pilot of theirs thought to be the Peacekeepers' peer, through Highway 1, rendering moot the AA defenses as he wiped out the new command post, cooperating with Federation Special Forces. Knowing her luck was running out as the Federation Military amassed in-country, she suspended her industrial sabotage. The Federation learned of Faust's real objectives via op docs acquired from the command post; the implications for Magadan were grim in terms of living through the winter, and it was only through K-9 it got by.

Against a distant Deal

"I need volunteers, I don't care if you're mercenaries or my fellow countrymen, in order to secure the future, we are going to go on a mission."

― Faust going her own way

Three days later, Point Refuge, the rebels' initial invasion point, was the only piece of Federation soil they had left, and the Federation itself unleashed its full fury against it, K-9 included. The General was dissatisfied that they fell short of Base Station Zero, Magadan's one remaining and largest facility, and to maintain her cover ordered embarkment of as many forces as they could while biding time to announce her need for volunteers to unofficially continue the incursion. She held off her strongest card - the White Fleet - for the time being, only few being privy to it, and busied herself with bombardment orders and bluster astir.

The mercenaries, however, once indifferent to their superior, were torn between being bogged down and wanting out of the invasion, even at one point insulting Faust. Complicating matters was her Marines and support fire being chipped by the piece from Federation air support, especially the reservists. To circumvent this, she gave contradictory orders either to stay in the AO or rendezvous with her. It was halfway through the quagmire that Woodward and IF HQ (Griffiths) verbally chewed her off for being late retreating. She fired back that the war wasn't merely for independence anymore and that neither winning the mainland conflict alone nor his Deal were what they needed, and then openly announced her volunteers requirement.

Numerous mercenaries and Marines elected to settle it with the Federation and kick the bucket on their terms despite Griffiths' mulish warnings, and left the remaining Marines and mercenaries to their fate. Faust deserted her command post and boarded the White Fleet flagship CDV Roosevelt, forcing Woodward - now back to offshore - to carry the retreat torch. The Eminent Domain Captain, later on had on his heels by Peacekeepers ravishing his boat, cursed Faust in a fit of rage for getting so many of their own killed for her own gain. The invasion by then had ended; however, due to Faust being on the loose and the Federation redeploying the regulars to Cascadia, K-9 remained on tap as Federation intelligence pursued traces of the General's location.

A wayward eagle's end

"You Cascadians are out of your goddamned mind...what started this anyway? Taxes? Social welfare programs? You people's obsession with being special?! You can't have your cake and eat it too, I'm gonna kill all of you and then never think of you again!"
"For years, the Federation has claimed that they are the inheritors of the earth after the Calamity, taking the world over slowly, but here, we declare only Cascadia has that right! I saw what you started in Oceania, we all did, what we deliver to you today does not even begin to scratch the surface of what you made us do. When the false prophets came for the Middle Kingdom of Vietnam, who did the Federation call on to save them? When Sumeria flooded over, do you remember who sent their engineers to rebuild the literal birthplace of all mankind?! 15 years ago when the Mercenary Lords themselves tried to rewrite this world from their Round Table in Oceania, do you know what country Crimson 1 came from?! Every time this world cries out for help, it is not the Federation that has saved them, but Cascadia! I'm gonna make you all die cold and alone!"

― War of words between two mothers

Over the following two days, Faust went offshore at northern Magadan and steered the White Fleet to the Arctic Circle, planning to reduce Base Station Zero to rubble; the air raids in the past 20 days failed to neutralize it, and she was now employing full measures to ensure the whole country - and by extent the Federation - would be energy-starved to death, a repeat of Oceania. She sent mercenary pilots to strike the station or at least its defenses, only for all of them to be downed by K-9. Furthermore, in response to Faust's incursion, the Base Station Zero engineers dumped neutralizer agents in the heaps to the Ring of Fire.

Faust then threw her fleet into the fray, derisively commenting on K-9's repeated victories against her and how the Federation does things before engaging in a fight to the death. Throughout it, she apocalyptically orated, at one point in Cascadian, about the holiness of her vision and how Cascadia would have the Federation's head on a platter. When the Roosevelt began taking damage and received new believers, she revised fleet formation and continued her last stand, reaching and bombarding Base Station Zero's main control centers when K-9 and the Federation Ground Forces inflicted more damage.

The reservists savagely deconstructed Faust's chauvinistic philosophy; Eye-Tee pointed out her constant defeats and mocked their (and her) children would live under Federation rule, Cobb and Bookie tore into her faction's motives for starting the war in the first place, including exceptionalism, and how insane they were. Clapping back, Faust made a screed about Cascadia's deeds and contributions to the world, even to the Federation, and claimed the Federation and Oceania made the rebels do what they were doing. Even AWACS Vita, the reservists' commander and an Oceanian himself, was offended at the General shifting the blame and declared "you [Cascadians] belong to the dogs," followed by Brick's fulmination about how her campaign left in destitution Cascadians in his employ.

The White Fleet was finally shot down, and the cordium reactor of the Roosevelt reached critical instability. The dying General warned K-9 of her peers' discovery in Oceania and its ability to start a global war, and how she was justified in trying to annihilate the Federation at any cost if it meant the human race's survival by way of preventing the war's escalation into mercenaries using that discovery. She began laughing madly as the Last Forefather-named vessel that once flew for peace exploded, returning her and everyone aboard to the Dust.

Spooked by the corpses picked up by the ground forces, however, Vita announced SOF would scavenge through them and confirm her death. In addition, K-9 became thrown for a loop and disregarded Faust's words, solely focusing on heading home. The Federation forces on-location then experienced the Cascadian Calamity Event, started by their leaders (another Cascadian included)' own hand and with Faust's inadvertent help; the earlier-dropped neutralizers were relased and took effect at the same time the cruise missiles launched at Prospero during its liberation struck.

Legacy

The establishment of the Deal mere hours after the new Calamity provided a massive source of tragic irony for Faust; months after, mercenaries - one of the type of people she loathed - would flock to and support Cascadian independence, become the tip of the spear, and watch as the country was set on fire again by Crimson 1, yet another Cascadian. PMC Sicario Commander Arnold Frenken notably echoed her desire to "burn down the Federation" as revenge for what they seemingly did again.

Cascadia itself became a haven for freelancers and mercenaries, going to the point of introducing the Cascadian Foreign Legions branch, and began reconstruction efforts in the short postwar while the Federation's seams started collapsing from internal and external factors, like the Periphery invading the Federation with the backing of the country set aflame by two. This perhaps may all be the fulfillment of Faust's fears and threats on her last day alive.

Personality and traits

"If you are not presently embarking, you are to go on the frontline and fight! Return the Federation to the Dust...make them die for what they stand for!"

― One example of Faust's drive and bellowing

Few are the scruples a fanatic can have, women like Faust included; despite dispensing no mercy on mercenaries in the last war and facing neutered rancor to open fear and disrespect from their kind under her, she held more contempt for the Federation to the point of openly declaring her directive of setting Magadan aflame, asserting it was for Cascadia's good and future, though discreet enough to keep from openly speaking her entire mind. She also called out the Federation's perceived micromanaged dictation of people through Division K-9; as setback after setback occurred, the "Federation dogs" were noticed more by the increasingly frustrated Faust and her Marines.

Faust had heavy influence in CIF HQ, having enough charisma to have them prepare at her beck and call, and saw her landing on Federation territory as a feat. Still, animosity existed between her and the rest of HQ - especially the junior Griffiths - on how they should conduct the Cascadian Conflict; she believed they weren't doing enough just seeking independence, possibly afraid it would be taken away from them as long as the Federation existed, and felt the Deal's implications weren't thought through by Griffiths. She also acknowledged the dominance of aerial warfare as an eventuality and had enough pull to equip political capital for battle.

As a General, she was emotionally detached from casualties and bearing a crass attitude to others who suffered losses, and her voice carried steel to any underlings who failed her or are on the brink of death. She also cared little about danger close mission casualties while even mercenaries exercised some caution. In the face of this, loyalty followed her from so many Marines; in particular, she acknowledged the Base Station Zero attack as a suicide mission and forbade distress calls: "We give ourselves to the earth today!", she swore, yet her men carried on and bathed in her ardor, including dropping casualties off-ship, engaging aircraft by using sidearms and ramming their own airships, and grenade suicide attacks. One can see this contagious behavior as a split mirror of Driver.

Faust was also a devout nationalist in religious and political thought, knowing some of the Cascadian language and believing hers was the only nation with the right to shepherd the world, not the Federation, and that they were to blame for the atrocity her country carried out in Oceania. Regardless, she still held Federation-loyal countrymen like Crimson 1 in regard to achievement for stopping the Mercenary Cabal. Her plot in Magadan, she viewed it as ordained by the Mother of Dust Herself; commination for past sins. To her, it was "a battle for Heaven and the Earth."

Etymology

"Faust" comes from Middle High German "fūst," meaning "fist," historically a nickname for one who is strong/has a malformed hand. As well, it is found in France and Ashkenazic Jews and is a personal name from the Latin "Faustus," meaning "fortunate/lucky."

Faust led a Marine division called the Black Eagles. Tangentially, the German national animal, the "Bundesadler (Federal Eagle)," resembles a black eagle.

More symbolically, there exists a literary allusion to the myth/tragedy Faust beyond the final mission bearing the name; just as the titular protagonist was tempted to make a deal with Mephistopheles the Devil through dissatisfaction, the rebel General was seduced into not only invading the Federation, but committing wicked acts to its people and defying her high command's will for her own, all because she believed she had her goddess' interests at heart by going beyond seeking independence and leaving the Federation be.

In the end, through death and action, she and her followers wrought hellfire upon themselves and the world (like the literary Faust in some versions), and in a twist of irony culminated in the Deal - which can be construed as having tainted Cascadia's soul by making it a land inhabited by mercenaries - being struck. Of note are the final words Woodward uttered in the campaign:

I hope Faust got what she wanted! Damn her, damn them all!

Both Fausts were also dogged by character(s) with a dog motif (Division K-9/the Devil) and wanted to exert power through godly legitimacy. Ironically, the literary Faust was a doctor and scholar who only in the climax of Faust, Part II wished to secure a deal for a better future for his subjects, while this Faust was a soldier who destroyed many lives through deprivation of sustenance in a war against people who kill for money.

Faust, like Gretchen, had to confront the weight of her crimes. Unlike any character from the plays/works, this Faust coped by holding another higher power responsible for her actions and wanted to see through both that her nation was independent and free of danger and the Federation be punished by fire - a warped version of the literary Faust's belated desire.

Behind the scenes

"Is it lost on me that 2B is saying Crimson-tier dialog no it rocks"

― Matthew Nguyen

General Faust is an intentional homage to Captain Matias Torres, the main antagonist of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown's DLC SP Missions campaign, albeit with more story and leadership influence.

• Both star in DLC-only campaigns and have speaking roles across every mission.
• Both are veterans of major preceding wars and high-profile military officers who seize control of powerful warships (Alicorn/CDV Roosevelt) and break away from their main forces to fulfill their own madman plans and are themselves considered deranged, constantly delivering rants and speeches in their battles.
• Both were hunted for days by their opponent faction, a federation (Osea/Pacific), and eliminated by the protagonist squadron (K-9/Strider; primary aircraft are F-15s/analogs) with information-based involvement from the federation's intelligence bureau (OIA/FIIA); they perish laughing as their ships explode.

Key differences exist, however:

• Torres is part of the enemy side of Ace Combat 7's base campaign, while Faust is one of CIF HQ's staff officers, Sicario's client's supreme command.
• Torres' pilots are the only ones sharing in his madness, and even then, only a few are willing to give their lives; the crew and a lot of other pilots try to survive their pursuers. Faust, as Nguyen mentioned, had indoctrinated her entire crew for a venture of certain death, therefore making them a singular death cult.
• Torres received house arrest and reservist reassignment for his earlier, more innocent behavior of "disseminating dangerous ideas," and took two years of being stranded in the Alicorn to truly lose his mind, only using religious diction as flair for his villainy; his speeches were stochastic rambles and he took glee in his actions. Faust on the other hand apparently received no consequences for causing a continental famine and was from the start an actual nationalist zealot who also believed herself a divine instrument of her faith's goddess; otherwise, she kept her broken mentality concentrated and her prose coherent.
• Apart from the crew differences above, Torres was merely another senior officer (a ship captain) if a decorated and in/famous one who officially disavowed himself from Erusea and its direction and was entirely reliant on his own resources; Erusea sent his partial ship blueprints to support Osea in stopping him. Faust was a significant general officer who simply extended her cause's goals, and the CIF took no action against its rogue leader; rather, she received main force support through air units such as Orion Squadron.
• Torres concealed behind noble if extreme ideals of ending the Lighthouse War through terroristic violence a want to reassert himself a naval marksman, a petty desire he ultimately failed to fulfill; this outcome effectively made him another footnote while Strider Squadron, his vanquishers, became the pillar of victory in the war. Faust throughout her campaign sincerely intended the complete destruction of both Magadan and the Federation to assure a free and safe Cascadia, and partly accomplished her goal by provoking Base Station Zero's neutralizer dump, which helped begin the new Calamity and set fire to both her and her enemy's homelands, not to mention result in the very Deal she opposed; K-9 by their words are "little people" in comparison.
• Torres and Faust's ships are meant for opposite physical battlespaces. When they were destroyed, Torres merely had a short muse about his supposed ideal while Faust had a drawn-out speech defending her actions and providing warnings.

By presumed incidence, there exists more meta-references centered around Faust:

• Peacekeeper Squadron PK Tanager was first introduced in the DLC along with Faust, remarkably the only PK unit aside from Crimson or PK Steel with significant action. Battleship Tanager was Torres' last command before the Alicorn; this defeat marked his first step into mental collapse. In a somewhat mirror, the Peacekeepers dealt heavy damage to the flagship battleship Eminent Domain in their first appearance, but only forced it into retreat, the ship being sunk at the end of the campaign.
• Base Station Zero, when abbreviated, reads BSZ, which in leet reads similarly to "2B" (a Nier: Automata main protagonist, also voiced by Kira Buckland) from a certain perspective. Automata notably inspired Project Wingman's soundtrack; both soundtracks have indecipherable languages. Both games are post-apocalyptic and feature antagonistic leaders on the nominal resistance faction, as well as Buckland's characters drawn into destroying something for a higher order.
• Faust's name, when paired with Torres' Alicorn, is a reference to Lauren Faust, the creator of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Interestingly in the related fanimation PONY.MOV, Buckland had the main role of Twilight Sparkle, who in the main series would become an alicorn (term for "winged unicorn" in part popularized by the series).

Matthew Nguyen commented he had pleasure working with Buckland on her playing against type, jumping from stoic personalities like 2B to insane characters.

The use of male pronouns for Faust, both in cut dialogue (whose page had been modified to fit her gender) and the briefing of her eponymous mission, suggests Faust was originally intended to be male.