Zero

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

Zero
Campaign Mission 18 Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
Mission Order
Previous	The Valley of Kings
Mission Details
Focus	Air-to-Air
Objectives	Damage Pixy's aircraft.
Time Limit	10 minutes
Character	Cipher
Focus	Air-to-Air
Objectives	Destroy Pixy's aircraft before the V2 re-enters.
Time Limit	8 minutes (Very Easy/Easy) 6 minutes (Normal/Hard) 4 minutes (Expert/Ace)
Character	Cipher

"This twisted game needs to be reset. We'll start over from "zero" with this V2 and entrust the future to the next generation."

― Larry Foulke

Zero is the final campaign mission of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War. The player must destroy Larry Foulke's ADFX-02 Morgan before he can launch the V2.

Objectives

Initial

The player is immediately thrown into the fray against Pixy's aircraft. Other than being highly maneuverable, it is currently equipped with a Tactical Laser System. The player must dodge both standard missiles and the laser to damage Pixy's plane. At some point, the laser system will be decoupled from the aircraft and destroyed. Pixy's plane will disappear from the HUD for a seconds.

When Pixy's plane is target-able again, he will now use Multi-Purpose Burst Missiles against the player. They can be spotted if Pixy fires a missile without locking onto the player; the player should swerve away from the missile as fast as possible since the burst missile has a large explosion radius. Once again, the player must continue to damage Pixy's plane until it disappears from the HUD.

Mission Update

At this point, Pixy manually launches the V2. The player must destroy Pixy's aircraft before the V2 re-enters the atmosphere. However, Pixy has enabled the ADFX-02's third special weapon, a special ECMP that prevents the player from damaging the aircraft unless they attack it from head-on.

Once the player destroys Pixy's aircraft, the mission ends in success.

Enemy List

The following enemy list is taken from the Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War Perfect Guide Book.

	Unit	Points	Count	Notes
	ADFX-02 "Pixy"	5000	1

S Rank

Earning an S rank on this mission requires completing it in six minutes or less. More powerful aircraft, most popularly the ADF-01 FALKEN with its TLS, can be used to complete this mission in very little time. In the absence of such powerful weaponry, the player should choose aircraft with multi-lock air-to-air missiles to deal as much damage as fast as possible, particularly during the Mission Update.

Trivia

• The Mission Update and the final scene where Pixy and Cipher clash head-on mirrors the medieval sport of jousting, fitting in with the references to Arthurian mythology in the game.
  • In addition, the "jousting scene" is referenced in the Ace Combat: Assault Horizon mission "Home Front", which ends with William Bishop and Andrei Markov clashing head-on in a near identical fashion, narrowly avoiding colliding into each other while flying at a 90° degree angle.
• It snows in this mission, which is ironic because Cipher and Pixy first met on a snowy day, and this mission, being the last time they meet, is set on a snowy day.
  • Pixy alludes to this with his first line: "Here comes the snow..."