Crimson 1

Crimson 1 was the leader of Federation Peacekeeper Squadron Crimson during the Cascadian Conflict and the archnemesis of Sicario top ace Monarch. He was reputed as the top ace of the world and a poster boy of the Federation Air Force.[3]

He led his squadron in various battles in the civil war, being humiliated at almost every turn with the Crowned mercenary by losing his wingmen. After losing all of them, he sought revenge by destroying Presidia and shooting down all of Monarch's allies[4] to draw him into a duel, but was killed. His actions, as he admitted, were putting vengeance above his own Federation and, along with Monarch's, were its undoing.[5]

He is the main antagonist of Project Wingman.

Cascadian Conflict First encounter with Monarch "Crimson Squadron is on station. AWACS, is this them, the mercenaries?" "Affirmative, drive these mercenaries out of the airspace, Crimson 1." "Roger, tally ho, let’s chase these dogs off." ― Crimson 1 arriving at Apodock[4] After returning from out of country in the early days of the Cascadian Conflict,[9] Crimson Team was redirected to curb an incursion by Cascadian Independence Force-aligned mercenaries and pilots as they attacked a cordium refinery in the Yellowstone Exclusion Zone. They were short on fuel and ammo due to another deployment, and despite their best efforts, Crimson was unable to reach the refinery in time to defend it, and instead pursued the fleeing mercenaries as they tried to leave the airspace, sparingly targeting them due to their scarce energy and maintaining momentum.[4]Crimson 1 was forced to call off the pursuit after seeing one of his wingmen taking heavy damage from Sicario's Hitman Team leader Monarch, who somehow outmaneuvered their superior aircraft. Crimson 1, on the way back, brushed off his future archnemesis as having "got lucky." Descent into obsession "If I had killed you over Yellowstone, this war would be over by now. It was a mistake, I intend to correct that. You know, they used to call me obsessed. Now, they call me their solution." ― Crimson 1 to Monarch[3] Following the Apodock encounter, Crimson 1 busied himself warning his allies of the mercenary threat, especially Hitman Team and Monarch. One of them included the Federation Intercept Specialists, two of which engaged Hitman over the Briggs Range and found out for themselves.[10] He also had Regional HQ send bulletins about them.[11]

Crimson Team was next deployed to a large air battle over the Bering Strait as the Federation's last hope in winning the engagement. During this battle, Crimson 1 ordered all planes to focus on the mercenaries and once again engaged Monarch, the same mercenary who stared him down and survived. After a long battle, Crimson Team suffered s

Following the engagement, Crimson 1 fell deeper and deeper into his obsession with Monarch, furious that a mercenary could best him, and was subsequently noted by others for it, though they would also accept him as the solution for their mercenary problem.[3] To fulfill his objective, Icarus Armories finished the Project Wingman program, flew its end result to the mainland,[13] and transmitted necessary combat data from Klara Rask's data pod, which absorbed records of her fight with Hitman Team.[14]

Crimson Team helped push rebel forces off Magadan during their ill-fated invasion's retreat, routing their invasion fleet after their leader overruled Captain Flowers solely by authority.[15] They were busy covering Federation retreats as they started losing the war when the Prospero Disaster and the Cascadian Calamity Event occurred.[16]

When Hitman Team attempted to move troops through the area near Prospero, Crimson intercepted them yet again. Blaming them and the CIF for driving his superiors into setting his own country ablaze, Crimson 1 ordered his wingmen to "avenge [Cascadia]." During the furball, he went on a rant proclaiming his righteousness over the mercenaries, and promised to take everything away from them in time, even declaring the world will "prove them wrong" on them being "sheepdogs who herd the sheep to slaughter." Peter Kennedy, one of Monarch's wingmen, verbally fought back, telling him to shut his mouth and fight.

Eventually, he was the last one to go down with his entire squadron, and he was the only survivor. The loss of his entire squadron, coupled with the imminent defeat of the Federation, took a huge toll on Crimson 1's sanity; relatedly, J. Griffiths lamented Crimson 1 being "a waste of a pilot."[3] The disgraced top ace proceeded to form an association with other supposed Federation actors, securing the now-complete PW-Mk.I and a number of cordium warheads.[17]

Retribution and demise "Monarch, when you hear the thunder...when the storm...comes for you...remember me." ― Crimson 1's la