Monarch

We’re going by our TAC names for the duration of this contract. [...] If you break it, it's on your ass. You know how bounty hunters are if they have a name. Dismissed.
This article's name is a callsign, a codename, an occupation, or a nickname. There is no known real name for the subject.

Any changes to the article's title should reflect consensus.

Monarch
Tailcode	SCMC R-317571 PMC-OA
Biographical Information
Other Nick/Names/Aliases/Callsigns	Crown Crowned Mercenary/Pilot Hitman 1 King of Hell
Date/Place of Birth	Unknown
Nationality/ies	Cascadian
Relative(s)	Unknown
Affiliation(s)	Sicario Hitman Team
Equipment	F/D-14 Player's choice
Physical Description
Gender	Masculine
Height	Unknown
Weight	Unknown
Hair Color	Unknown
Eye Color	Unknown
Skin Type	Unknown
Blood Type	Unknown
Actor(s)
Voice	Silent/Unknown
Appearances
Project Wingman

"Look at that lead plane go, what's his TAC name? Monarch?"
"You don’t name yourself after a king without knowing what’s what, either that or he’s full of it."

― CIF pilots on Sicario's top ace

Monarch is the leader of Sicario's Hitman Team. The best pilot of his outfit, 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.

He is the player character and protagonist of Project Wingman.

Biography

"You know, Monarch, I’ve heard a lot about why you three joined...Hitman, that is? ... My question, though, is what are you all looking for after all this time? You’ve made your fortunes and lost them so many times these last few years, so what else is there, huh? Nevermind, it ain’t like you’re gonna tell me tonight."

― Dominic Zaitsev on Hitman's origins and motives

Little is known of Monarch's background, other than shortly after Peter Kennedy and Evelyn London left Cascadia and joined Sicario, he followed them in, and they all became members of Hitman Team. Sicario data circa AC 432 charted the Good Hope Dispute, the Sinking of the City on a Lake, Operation New History, and the Hunt for the Maester on Monarch's mission record. At one point, he agreed to an arrangement that whoever scored the most kills in a battle got to buy dinner for the rest of the squadron.

Monarch assumed command of Hitman after some time impressing leader Arnold Frenken and its downsizing 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. He took them on a raid on the Burlok Privateers HQ at Fort Daggerpoint. During the raid, he was invited by Robin to divert and spend more time on vacation. He was directly tasked by Dominic Zaitsev to destroy the Meilynx's cordium cargo, which resulted in the island's decimation. Peter then offered a half-joke at running a beach bar together with their blood money.

Monarch took part in the Cascadian Conflict, fighting in many important battles. His first come to infamy was during Operation Water Stable, where retreating Federation units spotted his distinctive "crown" emblem and identified him as the one responsible for breaking their siege at the Salvemini Vineyards. 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 during Operation Flash Hazard 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 and Eve were the only ones available for Operation Sea Farer later on, and he became a sort of boogeyman for Federation forces to be on guard against, as Crimson Team constantly warned. He sortied with Peter for Operation Broken Chain, dealing the most damage on the Federation aerial supply train, and was sent alone on a night raid on the Chaohord Defense Region to pave the way for Operation Blackout; his wingmen would be on standby in case he got into trouble. During that time, J. Griffiths confessed that mercenaries like him were superior to regulars and that he handpicked him since he was more capable than almost anyone else. Dominic also asked about Hitman's end goals in their careers, but declined, thinking he would not answer for now. Frenken was impressed at Monarch's success.

Monarch's infamy rose in Operation Guillotine, 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. The following mission, he was the only one to score hits on Klara Rask's SP-34R, and personally shot it down, though in the process, he pulled maneuvers that exhausted his copilot to match the prototype airframe's incredible maneuvers.

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 Prospero's Operation Anticipation, 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 Eve told her they could manage it. 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, where Monarch/Hitman became public targets for the rest of the bounty hunters to claim, Eve briefly addressed Monarch as their boss, thinking the rest of Sicario was vaporized in the new Calamity when Frenken went on radio identifying himself. Back on the ground, Hitman, including Monarch, was given a promise by Griffiths 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 Operation Recall. 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 by Kelleher of Ronin 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 and thunder 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.

Personality, traits, and relationships

"You hear that? The echoes...that’s only one fighter."
"A one-ship attack against an air defense facility? That's suicide!"

― Federation forces receiving firsthand experience of what Monarch can do

Monarch is an incredibly talented fighter pilot who is usually calm and composed in battle, and reminded fellow mercenaries of the Mercenary Cabal's elite Signatures, although some like Master Goose became alienated or jealous and his rebel clients became overdependent on 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, similar to Peter and Eve.

According to Griffiths, his paycheck is five times his annual salary, a testament to his successes. His flying style, at least before/outside of engaging stronger opponents like Federation Peacekeepers, was presumably rather reserved and held back for all the stress it caused his other WSOs.

He never speaks in combat, explained as being consistently "in the zone," which makes him always compliant to radio silence. His TAC name was given for a specific reason according to Frenken, though became the subject of debate/ridicule in rulership terms across both sides.

Etymology

The name "Monarch" has two meanings:

Monarchs refer to people who are a sovereign head of state, including kings, queens, and emperors (which extends to Arnold Frenken, an "emperor"). At certain points during the campaign, several characters (including Crimson 1) would comment of Monarch's TAC name and exploits as that of a "king." This also suits his WSO, Robin Kuo, being a "president," tied to being the representative of a nation or people.

"Monarch" also refers to a species of butterflies found mainly in North and South America. At a glance, Monarch's emblem resembles that of a butterfly, just like Crimson 1's. Fittingly per the butterfly effect, their actions had huge ramifications for the entire world and the causes they served.

Trivia

• Monarch, in some ways, is similar to Cipher, the player character of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War:
  • Both are mercenary pilot protagonists with extreme skill and few words.
  • Both earned nicknames from their enemies and became feared by them after turning the tables in a massive furball.
  • Both managed to survive the ground zero explosion of a WMD.
  • Both confronted and bested their rivals in a final battle where the rivals are flying extremely powerful experimental planes and wielding WMDs.

• Monarch has an avatar featured on the Humble Games store.