Noel Silva

""Captain Noel Silva. 13th Mercenary Squadron. It's been a long night""

- Shortly after the first battle of Ansan

Captain Noel Aguila Silva is a former Sapinese Air Force pilot and Peacekeeper turned Mercenary who flew with the notorious 'Morena' squadron during the Seianese - Beiarusian war.

Early Life
Silva was born at 11 minutes to midnight on the 6th of December 1965 during the annual festivities that surrounded the Sapinish Constitution day to his mother Maria Silva and father Marcelo Silva, he was the youngest of a trio of siblings with his two elder brothers, Antonio and David being 5 and 7 respectively. Growing up in one of the poorer barrios in the capital of Gran Rudigo, Noel didn't have a lot of the luxuries many children of his age had, his family owned little and what they did earn had to go towards keeping a roof over their head and food on the table, most of the money coming in was earned by his father who worked as an electrician for a phone company, his mother worked various cleaning jobs for the larger bank firms inside the city, most of the time Noel and his siblings were left in the care of his grandmother Isabella.

Childhood Troubles
Life living on the poor side of town was no easy feat, organised and petty crime was rampant in most of the districts where young children were tempted into gang rings for a chance of acceptance and a meager earning performing drug deals and the occasional robbery and car theft. Noel was no exception and was constantly pressured into joining a street gang that was based in his neighborhood, during his walk to and back from the local school he had to be escorted by his elder brothers, and was terrified to go out alone for the fear of being preyed upon, they couldn't be there all the time however and Noel got caught in various fights.

Noel was a bright student despite his surroundings, he found favor with many of the teachers which was another catalyst for the kids who picked and preyed upon him, it never swayed or deterred him from focusing on his education. An incident on his 15th birthday however would shake his morale and being to his very core, in a gang hit gone horribly wrong, Noel was to bear witness to his two elder brothers being shot dead in cold blood on their own front doorstep, the only reason he survived was due to Antonio blocking the round with his own body, as they lay dying in a pool of blood, Noel was committed not to revenge, but to escape.

Education and Recruitment
Silva attended the Gran Rudigo National University and at first sought to study economics and trade law, wanting to follow in Antonio's footsteps, feeling guilty for both his brothers deaths, however he soon found that it wasn't really for him and was offered instead to enroll in Meteorology and Theoretical Physics, both of which he felt more at home with. As he studied he worked as a clerk in a doctors surgery where he met Valetta Calista, a romantic love interest occurred between the two rather quickly.

Nearing the end of his studies, local Sapinese Armed Forces recruiters conducted a seminar at the university, at first Noel wasn't at all interested, not seeing himself as the 'military type' but was dragged along by friends to attend and as a mere notion of interest, filled out an application form. It was only two weeks later that he was enrolled in the recruitment programme, after finishing up his Degree in Theoretical Physics and Meteorology, he was quickly inducted into a commissioning course at the Sapinese Royal Military Academy based in Cillas, an army town not far from the Captial, there he was trained as a Military Officer and passed the course with a Degree in Intelligence, here he served the Air Force for several years, though he never flew in a plane until his next position, a Meteorlogist and served aboard a Boeing E-3 Sentry for a period.

Still wanting to further his career prospects, he pushed for a pilots application and passed both the physical and mental criteria and trained with the C-101 Aviojet for a time, before being put in the seat of a real combat aircraft, a Dassualt Mirage 2000 and was assigned to part of the 151st Fighter Squadron based in Allecanto Air Base on the southern border of Sapin

Cayenne Conflict
After escalating tensions in the Aurelian sea between Aurelia and Cayenne, the focal point being several island chains that both claimed as part of their sovereign territory, a small Task Force consisting of a coalition of nations such as Sapin, Osea and Emmeria deployed to the area to oversee the conflict to ensure international law was upheld. The force, commissioned Task Force Bravo quickly saw a more permanent posting over the islands as the conflict had risen to flashpoint and it was critical that the war did not overspill. Silva was part of the 14th Fighter Squadron of Task Force Bravo, more specifically Escudo Flight.

They were posted in San Martin, and their Squadron was tasked to oversee the western section of the disputed area which only consisted of a handful of small islands with a combined area of a few hundred kilometers. On the 15th of July, 1986, Escudo and Silva were on a regular routine patrol and were passing over the Vesper Atoll when their flight was engaged by an unknown force of MiG-25 Foxbats which were later revealed to be a rouge element of the Aurelian 43rd Interceptor Squadron, his entire flight save for Silva were shot down into the sea and Noel would have seen the same fate if it were not for Rapier Flight belonging to the Cayannese 53rd Aeriel Superiority Squadron, led by one Major Leroy Charles.

San Martin Maritime Operations
After the attack on his flight, Silva quickly requested a transfer and instead was sent as an envoy and liaison with the San Martinese Air Force to train their pilots for Anti-Ship tactics, but soon found himself directly participating on Combat Air Patrols, tracking down pirate vessels which had plagued the region for a decade, there was little noteworthy combat but his squadron was forced to destroy the San Martinese Naval Vessel, S.M.S Tridente after it was seized by rebel pirates during a training operation.

The Levant Insurgency
After leave and returning to active service, Silva was assigned to another multinational coalition that was targeting radical Islamic insurgency in the Levant. Assigned to the 18th Strike Squadron he would be the commander of Avispa Squadron which supported the Levantese Army in several battles across the country, his mission was mainly performing Close Air Support on night incursions but several times had to perform low level bombing of hostile structures, particularly in the Battle for Inzab Fortress.

Becoming a Mercenary
Whilst in the Levant, Silva met Sven, a Nordden arms dealer who was selling weapons and procuring equipment for the Levantese (and their enemy), it took a considerable amount of persuasion to convince Silva that being a mercenary was the correct job for him, the main point being the amount of money one could make. Sven fronted Silva 5 million to purchase a Mirage V which was his own personal craft and with some Dorusian contacts, sent Silva eastward towards the country of Siean, which was the assembly point for the newly formed 13th Mercenary Air Squadron.

The Seian Conflict
Upon being cleared for combat and the arrival of his Mirage V, Noel made his way to Seian aboard normal commercial flights and was then flown by military air convoy to Koga Air Base, the meeting point for the men and women who would eventually make up Morena Squadron.

Operation: Hard Look
Noel was present during the operation conducted at Tokage River and witnessed the beginning of the Seianese-Beiarusian War firsthand. During the fight he destroyed several light personnel carriers and their troop compliment, and also shot down an SU-9 'Fishpot' in the closing moments of the battle. During a follow up attack on Koga Airbase, Noel was lightly injured when a weapons trolley detonated in a nearby hangar.

Personality and Traits
Silva ticks all the boxes when it comes to the traditional Sapinese hospitality and amiable attitude, most of the time you can catch him in a good mood and in social situations he is a radiant source of upbeat humor and trademark sarcasm, probably equally as much in the workplace. Not one to let the worst of a bad situation get the better of him, he deals with the negative and dark thoughts in a collected manner, but most men have their limit, because Noel has seen tragedy more than most.

Professionally, Noel is a flexible and dedicated individual with a passionate attitude towards his work and a friendly warmth to his workmates and comrades, always one to go out of his way to lend a helping hand, making sure everybody under his command or alongside him are well done by and looked after whilst asking for little in return.

Trivia

 * Noel's likeness and mannerisms are based off that of Mexican actor, Diego Luna's, who stared in films such as Elysium, Star Wars: Rouge One and portrayed cartel boss Miguel Felix Gallardo in Netflix's Narcos: Mexico.