Good morning pilots. Today we're going to take you on a quick pre-flight briefing of the first three missions for Namco Bandai's Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception, courtesy of Famitsu. Based on our best understanding of Japanese (and web translations), we present to you this briefing:

With Aurelian forces all but decimated by the surprise attack from Leasath, you must lead Gryphus Squadron on an air strike and intercept an enemy force, in the process disrupting Leasath plans to attack the last surviving military base in the area - your own.

Succeed in this mission, and you will next be deployed to support a commando raid on a Leasath supply depot and replenish some badly-needed supplies. The Famitsu article suggests that the base has an important strategic value. We interpret this to mean strategically-important objectives that will have an impact on later events.

In the third mission, you get to turn the tables on your Leasath aggressors. This time you attack an enemy resupply mission, in a prelude to an operation to capture the important stronghold of Patterson Port. All three missions, if you've noticed, are air-surface missions, requiring you to employ both air combat and ground/sea strike skills.

And beyond this? It's the game's call, thanks to ACX's Strategic AI system! As we've discussed before, your actions in previous missions - like the first three described above - will decide which mission paths and enemies you will face later on.

In the Famitsu preview (as best as we can understand), your next mission could be to help isolated allies, or to face off against the aerial fortress... Wikipedia calls it Glepnir, IGN calls it Grapenill. We call it bad, bad news. Quick, Famitsu, how do we get the help-the-allies mission?

Pre-order: [Ace Combat X]