Zero
『ＺＥＲＯ』
Technical data
Game	Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
Previous mission	The Valley of Kings
Next mission	The Gauntlet (non-canonical)
Mission type	Air-to-air
Objective	Defeat Larry Foulke and stop the V2 launch.
Historical data
Character	Cipher
Date	December 31, 1995
Location	Avalon Dam, Belkan Federation

Zero (Japanese title: 『ＺＥＲＯ』) is the final mission of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.

PlotEdit

After the player destroyed all of the V2 launch control facilities in the previous mission, the V2 launch was halted. Cipher and PJ went back up in the air on standby while AWACS Eagle Eye confirmed the situation. An unknown suddenly appeared on radar and shot down PJ using a TLS weapon. It was then confirmed that the unknown aircraft was being piloted by Solo Wing Pixy, Cipher's former wingmate.

Eagle Eye ordered Cipher to engage the unknown aircraft while they performed an analysis. Pixy begins to use the TLS against the player. When the player manages to damage the unknown aircraft enough, Eagle Eye confirms that Pixy is controlling the V2 launch, and can override the launch even with the facilities damaged.

Pixy loses the TLS, but then uses his second special weapon: a ballistic missile that detonates from wherever Pixy fires it. It has a blast radius of 2,500 feet and causes severe damage to the player's aircraft. Once the player manages to damage Pixy even more, Pixy launches the V2 missile and tells Cipher how it will help them begin a new slate - "start from 'zero'."

Eagle Eye confirms the aircraft type - ADFX-02 Morgan - and, now that the ballistic missile launch port is too damaged to fire, Pixy has started using an ECM system, and the only weakness is in the front air intake. The player has to fire at Pixy head-on in order to perform any damage on him.

When the player manages to cripple the Morgan, Pixy attempts to crash on the player but misses very narrowly, and crashes into the nearby mountain range. Since the Morgan is no longer giving off a signal to the V2 missile, it explodes harmlessly in the upper atmosphere.

TriviaEdit

• The scene where Pixy and Cipher clash head-on mirrors the medieval sport of jousting, fitting in with the references to King Arthur 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.