- "It's like running through a minefield blind."
- —Hans describing how dangerous to fly outside the clouds at the Waiapolo Mountains
Hans "Spider" Weber, callsign Spider. A mercenary from a Belkan PMC called Schwarzwald Defense, a company that claims to offer "Cutting-edge solutions for all your security needs" and presents itself "A leader in the private defense sector, providing high-tech security for the 21st century". Schwarzwald was founded in the early 2000s by veterans of the Belkan war and provides all kinds of services to international clients, from training and consulting services to the armed forces of smaller countries to cybersecurity and providing experienced military personnel for hire. Hans was part of the latter.
As Erusea began to feel the pressure of the Osean attacks, and its drones began losing their edge as Osea adapted its tactics to counter them more effectively, Erusea attempted to find ways of bolstering its forces. One of these ways was hiring mercenaries from all over the world, offering them lucrative contracts as part of the deal. These mercenaries sometimes flew in special squadrons that flew in operations along with regular units, though they were often seen with suspicion and mistrust by regular forces.
According to Erusean pilots that flew with him, Hans was a mostly reserved and quiet pilot, but dependable in the field and skilled in combat. Unlike most mercenaries, he was well-liked by the Erusean pilots. He engaged in quick hit-and-run attacks waiting at high altitude for an ambush before pouncing on the target, delivering a quick blow and extending away to either re-engage or escape, according to the situation. One could think his TAC name was related to his form of hunting, as an arachnid climbing down on its prey to attack in a venomous bite, but the reality was different and considerably more prosaic, as a joke on a mispronunciation of his last name and the word "web" becoming an in-joke among his closest comrades.
His service in Erusea was short-lived. Arriving early in July, he served for less than a month. The 37th Special Squadron was comprised exclusiverly of Belkan mercenaries and stationed north of Los Canas. They, along with the 24th and 33rd Fighter Squadrons, regular Erusean pilots, were tasked with protecting the automated air defense network weak points along the eastern edge of the front. The 37th, however, was involved in operations that were not officially recorded. These operations, along with the country of origin of the mercenaries have led to much speculation on what their pilots could be involved on, with conspiracies including the testing of secret weapons like the Helios missiles of the Arsenal Bird, tests with IFF spoofing technology and the deployment of AI-controlled conventional aircraft, including those slaved to manned fighters as a way of increasing their effectiveness, all of which being technologies used by Erusea later in the war Still, others believe they were merely testing the automated air defenses over the mountains, which used a combination of radar and satellite surveillance to shoot down any intruding plane in the area.
Regardless of the objective, Hans was on the way to the Waiapolo mountains as Osean aircraft began conducting Operation Flush, an operation to destroy a radar of the air defense network. The planes had slipped in utilizing cloud cover, a plan so risky that was considered almost impossible by the Eruseans. Hans knew that going outside of the clouds was suicide, so he attempted to stay above and lure the Osean fighters of Spare Squadron into the air defense web. This tactic failed, however, and Hans was shot down by Spare 15 over the mountains. He ejected and was rescued soon after and he became an F/A-18F pilot for the conservatives when the civil war broke out. After the war, he lived as a normal civilian, having a happy life in Farbanti and he became a mountain climber.