Ghalil Faisal is a Saudi military commander who fought in the War of 1996.
Biography[]
Background[]
Ghalil Faisal grew up from a poor family. Despite his poor background, he was ambitious and surprisingly charismatic. After enlisting in the Saudi Air Force, Faisal married his first wife Hajami, who came from a rich family. Faisal gained his wife's fortune and sired at least three children. Some members of Saudi society looked down on Faisal as a conniving upstart. However, Faisal managed to maintain his image due to his charismatic personality.
During the Gulf War, Faisal concocted an elaborate story for downing a fleet of Iraqi bombers entering Saudi airspace when in reality it was only a few Iraqi jets. The story was never debunked and Faisal was falsely turned into a hero. Khalid Yamani, a Saudi pilot belonging to the wealthy and influential Yamani family, knew about Faisal's lie and tried to expose it but only to be suppressed by the military and earning Faisal's ire.
War of 1996[]
During the onset of the War of 1996, Faisal stationed his forces at an abandoned oil-drilling station in the Rub' al Khali. The makeshift base was soon joined by a disparate coalition of Middle Easterners, British, and Israelis, which caused a state of contention. However, Faisal provided modest hospitality to his foreign allies.
He later summoned a meeting with the coalition to discuss their next plan of attack against the invaders. When British Captain Reginald Cummins was strongly against any full-on assault on the aliens due to their force-field technology, Faisal conceded with his concerns but pointed out that his government was obligated to defend Mecca at all cost should the aliens move to the Holy City. Faisal encouraged his forces and the coalition to defend Mecca and calling for jihad. However, Faisal was only capitalizing this for his own personal glory.
Faisal participated in the July 4th counteroffensive while defending Mecca from a City Destroyer. During the initial battle, Faisal ordered his forces to engage the City Destroyer minutes before the proposed time for the counteroffensive. Faisal did not join in the engagement, as he planned on sacrificing his pilots for the sake of reaping the glory. He eventually entered the battle once the aliens' shields were disabled and attempted to destroy the City Destroyer's main weapon.
Post-War[]
Following the counterattack, Faisal was invited to the post-battle celebration hosted by King Ibrahim al-Saud in At-Ta'if. During the celebration, Faisal plotted to escape from his previous actions in the battle by accusing one of his surviving pilots, Khalid Yamani, that he ran from battle and disobeyed his order. Faisal's bogus accusation managed to convince King Ibrahim to punish Yamani, who was sentenced to death. Yamani's sister, Fadeela Yamani, sought to prevent her brother's execution by offering herself as Faisal's wife in which he obliged.
Faisal impulsively wanted to arrange the marriage in front of the crashed City Destroyer. However, the marriage was forced to be call off when surviving aliens from the ship emerged and attacked.