Final Option

"Arrest them on sight. Shoot 'em if you have to!"

- Orson Perrault

Final Option is the 19th mission of Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.

Plot
In December 6 2010, the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron was led by the 8492nd Squadron into an ambush by forces of the Principality of Belka in the Vladimir Mountains region of Yuktobania, from which they narrowly escaped with their lives. In doing so, they discovered Belka's responsibility of the events of the Circum-Pacific War, and the 8492nd's status as infiltrators.

After returning to Sand Island in the morning of the following day, the team decides to speak with Base Commander Orson Perrault and Adjuntant Allen Hamilton about the situation. However, Hamilton, himself a Belkan agent misleads Orson into believing that the Wardog pilots are Yuktobanian spies. When Pops and Albert Genette enter the Commander's office, he holds them at gunpoint, believing them to be enemy agents. In a moment of distraction, Pops disables the room's lights, prompting him to flee with Albert while narrowly evading Perrault's gunshots.

Branded as traitors, the members of Wardog and their mascot Kirk hide from the base's soldiers in the hangar area, where they begin discussing about an escape plan. Pops explains how Hangar C, used to store trainer jets, is lightly defended, prompting them to sneak their way inside. They steal four Hawk trainer aircraft from the hangar, and escape from Sand Island under a hail of gunfire.

With nowhere to go, Pops and the Wardog members flee towards the Solo Islands range in western Osea, with the 8492nd Squadron closely following. Upon approaching the islands, both parties' radar are affected by its magnetic field, forcing the "traitors" to stick closely to each other. The team flies through the fields of the Solo Islands, weaving through the area's many cliffs and even clearing a small cave on the way. Eventually, the team reaches a long series of interconnected caves housing construction equipment, which they successfully fly through.

After leaving the cave, they arrive at the northern tip of Solo, having successfully lost the Grabacr aircraft in the process. However, they are soon intercepted by Marcus Snow of the Osean 3rd Fleet, who is ordered by Hamilton himself to shoot them down. However, Swordsman uses his F-14A's signal lamp to transmit a message to Wardog, which is translated by Grimm as "TRUST ME, BAIL OUT", a plan to which Pops agrees. Starting with him and Genette, the team's members eject as their Hawks are destroyed by Snow, ending with Blaze who ejects last, an action which leads Hamilton, AWACS Thunderhead and the 8492nd to believe that the entire squadron has been killed. Some time after the incident, the group is rescued by the Sea Golbin helicopter unit, and are relocated to the OFS Kestrel, the flagiship of the 3rd Fleet.