Handful of Hope is the eighth mission of Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.
Plot
In the aftermath of the failed amphibious assault on Sand Island Air Force Base, the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron is sent on a patrol mission on the coastal Akerson Hill region to prevent infiltration by small-scale enemy units. The team is divided into two units, one formed by Blaze and Edge and the other by Chopper and Archer.
During their mission, Blaze and Nagase encountered Mother Goose One, a C-5 Galaxy transport plane that is secretly transporting Osean President Vincent Harling to the neutral country of North Point. Because it is not transmitting a friendly ID signal, it was hit by a missile fired by the anti-air defense system spanning most of Akerson, destroying its radar system and limits its mobility. Blaze leads the transport plane through the AA system until they reach the north of Akerson, where Chopper and Grimm reunite.
Wardog scrambles to intercept a Yuktobanian Air Force fighter squadron that is attempting to assassinate the President, fighting it off and driving the pilots away. In the middle of the fight, a "spy" among Mother Goose One's crew attacks the pilots, killing the captain and wounds the co-pilot before being subdued. Tommy, the President's secretary, assumes control of the plane and, with the aid of Wardog and his superior, performs an emergency landing successfully.
The Osean Air Force 8492nd Squadron appears soon after to take over the support mission as Wardog leaves the airspace.
Briefing
Orson Perrault : Since we thwarted their invasion, we haven't seen any major offensive operation by the enemy for several weeks. Almost like we're at peace again, eh people? Anyway, let's start the briefing.
Briefing Officer : Yuktobanian combat operations have been dormant since their failed large-scale invasion and the loss of their underwater carrier, Scinfaxi. However, there is still concern over a possible infiltration by small-scale forces from the ground and the air. You will split into flights of two and carry out patrols in the area from Akerson Hill to the northern coastline. The airspace above the grain fields extending around Akerson is covered by our Osean AA system. The system automatically fires missiles at any hostile aircraft it detects. Patrol the northern coastline of Akerson Hill, which is out of our AA system's range.
Debriefing
We've received a sitrep from Central Command. The crew onboard the transport plane you encountered during your patrol has been rescued by the 8492nd Squadron. That is currently all the information we have.
Trivia
Tommy and an injured Harling.
- The events inside Mother Goose One involving the "spy" are never shown in detail. However, a concept illustration posted in the nineteenth developer report in the official Ace Combat 5 website (see right) shows the aftermath of the "spy" incident inside Mother Goose One. The image depicts Harling standing in the pilot cabin next to Tommy (shown as a black male) and the deceased captain, clutching his bleeding right arm.