Solitaire

This article is about an in-game mission. For the in-universe event, see Operation Silver Eye.

Solitaire
21 Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
Mission Order
Previous	Ancient Walls
Next	Closure
Mission Details
Focus	Reconnaissance
Objectives	Obtain photographs of the Belkan mining facility.
Character	Blaze

"Blaze, how you feelin'? Solo flights can be real lonely... but that's what flying is all about, really."

― Wolfgang Buchner

Solitaire is the 21st mission of Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.

Plot

After the successful operation conducted by the Razgriz Air Command Squadron to rescue Osean president Vincent Harling, the 3rd Naval Fleet's intelligence vessel OFS Andromeda began monitoring radio transmissions from the Yuktobanian Army. One particular message that was intercepted contained a seemingly random string of numbers, which were revealed to be geographical coordinates leading to a location in North Belka, Mt. Schirm.

Early during the following day (December 11th), the Razgriz launched on a reconnaissance mission at a Belkan controlled complex in the area. The Belkans had deployed an early warning radar network across the mining facility's entire immediate area, thus forcing a single pilot to fly in to avoid enemy detection. Thanks to the circumstances, said pilot's aircraft was to be completely stripped of weapons and equipped with recon equipment.

Minutes before 08:00 hours, Razgriz leader Blaze entered Mt. Schirm's airspace from the west. After a short mission briefing by Wolfgang Buchner from the OFS Kestrel's Command and Information Center (CIC), the pilot ingresses into the mining area, following a route through a branch of the Edelstein River while avoiding the enemy's early warning radar network. Eventually, he arrives to the target area, a Belkan War-era airfield occupied by Gray Men, which are conducting mining operations in a nearby mountain, and begins to conduct recon tasks on the area, successfully obtaining snapshots of the mine's entrance and the Belkans' C-5B Galaxy transport planes, as well as the Grabacr Squadron's fighters stationed on the runway. However, he is detected by Belkan forces, and the Grabacr Squadron is dispatched to shoot him down.

After obtaining a successful image of the Grabacr's emblems, Blaze flees westbound from the pursuing Belkan aggressors. Eventually, the rest of the Razgriz Squadron members arrives to the combat zone, and the aggressors are forced to flee. The team later returns to the Third Naval Fleet's air base at Kirwin Island, allowing them to investigate the photographs obtained in the operation.

Trivia

• The mission's title "Solitaire", is a possible reference, since Solitaire is a popular card game. The fact that this mission is the 21st in the game is also a possible reference to another popular card game, Blackjack, in which the sole objective is to perfectly reach the number 21.