<strike>I've researched them and even flown with them like you asked, and I've gotten the files on them that you wanted.
First off, Mirage Squadron. Captain Ayumu Ishida started this group two years ago. I have no idea how they got the Dons' favor so fast. They've been seen at every base we have, and they appear to be using the destroyer Phantasm as a mobile base and light carrier. They utilize an unusual amount of Lane Hacker technology, Captain Ishida especially.
On a related note, how did they get approval for the Phantasm? It appears to be a heavily remodelled RM-1, upgraded to RM-2 specifications along with a greatly expanded ship hangar and repair bay... almost a flying base. Either it's an experimental Navy prototype, or... no, there's no way they could've modified it on their own. They have to have some support somewhere.
Officially, they're a light skirmish unit with an emphasis on hit-and-run assaults. Unofficially, they do... other things. I'll just say it - they're assassins for hire. Any Maltese citizen with a legitimate grievance can go to them for a permanent resolution, though it's mostly the Dons that hire them. We don't have any records of them killing other Outcasts or our allies, but... we don't technically have records of even some of their known kills. I am not certain how this has happened, but it worries me.
They are also alarmingly well-equipped for a unit that isn't supported by the Maltese Navy. They are known to posess at least five tanks and an unknown number of armored cars, have access to a surprising number of CTE-series ships in addition to their Scimitars and Switchblades, and have an armory that rivals the second fleet's boarding teams. We can only trace the origins of the arms and armors - stolen Corsair and Samura rifles, Zoner photon pistols, and Liberty Navy arms and armor apparently bought from the Junkers are some examples.
The files you requested are below. I have included my own notes on the individual pilots from my time with them. There are a few other Mirage pilots, but these are the major ones.
Name: Ayumu Ishida Callsigns: Mirage 1, Tsukumogami Age: 25 Birthplace: Planet New Tokyo, New Tokyo Ships: Modified Series CX "Scimitar", 13GS-1 Gunship Apparition Comments: Ayumu's a very skilled individual. On top of being a capable salvager and hacker, he's an expert marksman with a pistol and passable knife fighter. His somewhat androgynous voice lends itself very well to disguise in voice-only communications, as well. Unfortunately, this array of skills belongs to one of the most volatile pilots we've seen. One of our earliest reports involving Ayumu was killing a barkeep over a minor dispute, and it is not the only such occurrance. I am still not certain how he has been promoted so consistently.
Ayumu's Scimitar is a special model originally built by the Lane Hackers. It was built prior to the deployment of their new Falchion model, and reportedly contains very similar technology to what they used in the new fighter. Ayumu is very protective of his fighter, however, so I did not get a chance to examine it in greater detail.
Something I feel I should mention... Ayumu is a poisoner. He once told me that he always carries at least one vial of some deadly substance with him, and if he has a specific target in mind he can be very creative with his use of it. He once put rings of a sickly green substance around the food on a Corsair's plate. The Corsair cautiously ate around the rings, which was actually relatively easy, only to find that they were a little-known Kusari condiment. In his nervous state, he drank down the entire glass of imported wine, which he noticed had a slight nutty flavor just before he died. A powdered peanut was put into the glass; the Corsair was deathly allergic to them.
Name: Santiago Mirez Callsigns: Mirage 4, Ignis Fatuus Age: 22 Note: The records show 22, however, his exact age isn't known. Birthplace: Ruiz Base, Omicron Beta Ships: Series Z "Sabre" Comments: Santiago, in stark contrast to Ayumu, is a very easy-going person, frequently cracking jokes in the middle of a mission. Despite this, he's one of the finest snipers I've ever had the opportunity to work with. He's also a trained martial artist, though I don't recognize the style - I think it might be one from Kusari, Ayumu uses a similar one.
Of all Mirage pilots, Santiago is the only one I would willingly fly with.
Name: Tiana Santini Callsigns: Mirage 5, Fata Morgana Age: 23 Birthplace: Planet Malta, Omicron Alpha Ships: Modified Series QX "Switchblade" Comments: Sir, I am a veteran of numerous battles, with the Corsairs, the Colonials, Kusari, the Liberty Navy, and you know I do not use these words lightly:
This woman terrifies me.
The younger daughter of Don Emilio Santini, Tiana is sadistic, cruel, and hateful... and the gods have mercy on you if you hurt her sister. I have seen things from Tiana that will haunt me for the rest of my life - she has skinned men alive, beaten people with their own severed limbs, and I'm not going to go into her love of the picana.
Name: Mia Santini Callsigns: Mirage 6, Magician Age: 25 Birthplace: Planet Malta, Omicron Alpha Ships: Series ZX "Falcata", CTE-19000 "Roc" Comments: Don Santini's older daughter, though she doesn't look or act the part. Mia's hobbies include detonating mines, throwing grenades, and blowing up the occasional capital ship, and she is prone to fits of hysterical giggling when she sees a sufficiently large explosion. Yet despite this childishness, she has a brilliant mind when she sits down to think about something. She simply doesn't like sitting and thinking, she'd rather blow things up.
A nice woman, just not someone I'd trust to cover me in a fight.
It should be noted that Mia is only technically a member of Mirage Squadron, as she rarely flies with the rest of the group, at Ayumu's insistence. However, she is the best bomber support they have, so when such is needed, she helps them out.
I hope this is sufficient. If you require more first-hand experience... please send someone else. I do not expect these nightmares to go away, my sleep will be troubled for the rest of my life. I may lose my mind if I have to endure more.
Here is an update to the previous file. It is properly formatted for addition to the database.
I am in the process of researching the backgrounds of Mirage pilots. This is proving very difficult, however, and it may take some time. I do have information on their two capital ships, however.
2nd Special Operations Squadron "Mirage"
101st Maltese Navy Fighter Wing
Praemonitus Praemunitus - Forewarned is Forearmed
[color=#33CCFF]History
Quote:Mirage Squadron was organized by Ayumu Ishida as a private troubleshooting squad in 813 AS, just three days after the disappearance of Alex Ibanez, and for about four months continued making a name for itself with the termination of high-profile enemies of the Outcasts. The squadron was absorbed into the Maltese Navy in early 814, with Ishida quickly advancing to Commander rank.
Despite orders to the contrary, Mirage is believed to have been behind the continued assassination of freelancers and mercenaries who had previously hindered Outcast allies, as well as the unexplained deaths of renegade Outcasts. Eventually, Mirage was deemed too dangerous to keep in core Maltese space. However, lacking the evidence necessary to disband the unit, high command was quick to oblige when Ishida requested command of the little-used Cape Wrath Base.
Ishida's time at Cape Wrath was relatively uneventful, but their actions against Liberty and in support of the Hellfire Legion helped restore trust in the squadron. With Colonial activity surging and minor rebellions that needed to be put down, Mirage was recalled to Malta.
Operations Mirage has three primary objectives currently:
Electronic support and light combat support in defense of Malta.
Termination of targets of opportunity in Sigma space.
Intelligence operations against enemies of Malta.
They also make periodic excursions into Liberty in support of the Lane Hackers and Liberty Rogues.
Diplomatic Arrangements Mirage has a few unique arrangements that differ from the Maltese Navy. Due to Ayumu Ishida's strong Lane Hacker ties, and Mirage Squadron's past cooperation with the Hellfire Legion, the group makes use of a small amount of Lane Hacker technology and maintains closer ties to the Hellfire Legion.
Equipment Exact quantities of ships are unknown. Eagles and Sabres are both far more limited than other ships, however.
Fighters
Series CX "Scimitar"
Series CLH "Shamshir"
At least one is maintained as Ayumu Ishida's personal fighter. An older Lane Hacker model developed prior to the Falchion, the Shamshir sacrifices missile guidance systems for enhanced scanning and jamming capabilities. Ishida has been attempting to get Shamshirs produced in Maltese shipyards, to no great success. Further, the Lane Hackers and Hellfire Legion show no interest in producing the model, preferring the more reliable and versatile Falchion and Scimitar over the highly-specialized Shamshir.
On a technical level, this recent Shamshir's performance appears quite similar to a standard Scimitar, save for its aforementioned missile omission. It is difficult to judge its exact performance, as we have no standard Shamshirs to test with our own pilots, and Ishida refuses to allow anyone else access to his.
Series QX "Switchblade"
CTE-4000 "Griffin"
MDF-4190 "Tsukumogami" Prototype
Ayumu's on-going experiments in AI programming have resulted in a limited number of refitted Griffins dubbed "Tsukumogami". Current Tsukumogami models suffer from reduced armor compared to standard Griffin models due to overheating concerns, and their combat logic routines are still flawed. They are capable of long-distance operations, however, and also contain a remote override that allows them to be controlled from the carrier Phantasm.
BYC "Marauder"
DXM-31H "Crow"
CTE-HF "Kingfisher"
CTE-3000 "Falcon"
CLI-11000 "Arrow"
CTE-6000 "Eagle"
Series Z "Sabre"
Freighters
Series YX "Dromedary"
"Anki"-class Civilian Freighter
X11 Deep Space/Atmospheric Shuttlecraft
X11s in use by the 313th appear to be refitted ships previously used by Emilio Santini.
Bombers
Note: Very few of these appear to be in service, usually used in the "reclaimation" of Outcast capital ships.
Series ZX "Falcata"
CTE-19000 "Roc"
Capital Ships
13GS-1 Gunship MNS Apparition
Built by the Lane Hackers for Ishida while the Tridente was still in development, the Apparition has valuable scanner and electronic warfare systems installed that have rendered it far more useful to Mirage than the Tridente model.
RM-1X Light Carrier MNS Phantasm
A heavily modified RM-1, the Phantasm has an expanded fighter bay and powerful jamming and anti-jamming devices aboard. Although it maintains a longer operational range than a standard RM-1, it has considerably less firepower than an RM-2 and avoids battle whenever possible.
I've finally updated some of the files. Any omitted information should be assumed to be unchanged.
Name: Ayumu Ishida Military Rank: Captain Mirage Rank: Captain Callsigns: Ikiryo Ships: Modified Series CLH "Shamshir", 13GS-1 MNS Apparition, MDF-4190 "Tsukumogami" Prototype Background and Notes: Born on Planet New Tokyo to two smugglers, one lifelong, the other ex-police, Ayumu's family moved to Freeport 6 while he was a young child. He remained very reclusive before he came here; the reason for his sudden departure is, as yet, unknown. Much about his past is unknown, but as he originally came to Malta in his early 20s, there likely wasn't much of interest to us; I believe his secrecy stems from paranoia more than the existence of something to hide.
Name: Tiana Santini Military Rank: None Mirage Rank: Special Operative - Command authority equal to Captain Ishida Callsigns: Morgana Ships: Modified Series QX "Switchblade", 13GS-1 MNS Apparition Background and Notes: The younger daughter of Emilio Santini, Tiana's early life was focused heavily on education. She is well-versed in literature, ancient history, Latin, and anatomy; the latter of which she gets considerable use out of now. Far from sheltered and frail, however, she also enrolled in military combat training as soon as she was legally able, and she had a natural talent for knife combat; though usually used as a last resort by our soldiers, she uses knives as her primary weapon.
She has always had a somewhat sadistic streak, but strangely it is only toward other humans; she has never tortured any pets or other small animals, and in fact has taken care of a few of the Santini pets in the past.
Name: Mia Santini Military Rank: None Mirage Rank: Special Operative - she has no command authority, but the only people she reliably listens to are Ishida and Tiana Santini. Sometimes other pilots can convince her to go along with their plan, but she will not go against the orders of those two. Callsigns: Magician. Ships: CTE-19000 Roc, Evo-1B Charon Background and Notes: The older daughter of Emilio Santini, Mia was a tomboyish girl, preferring sports over more traditional activities, and she quickly grew to love flying and practice duels. She doesn't like hurting anyone, but usually the euphoria after a large explosion overwhelms any feelings of guilt about injuring or killing the other pilot; it's possible that she doesn't even realize she's hurt many of them. It's also possible that she's simply hiding that, or intentionally ignoring it; she has proven to be one of the smartest Mirage pilots, as evidenced by her joke callsigns and her brilliant insights into tactical situations. She just seems more interested in having fun than in proving her intelligence.
It's truly a shame she's as destructive as she is; her hobbies include setting off explosives in safe areas, blowing up cargo pods for Supernova target practice, and the "Laser Fireworks Show" - attaching a small explosive to a projectile, having it catapulted into the air, and shooting it with her rifle.