... I just wish the person who came up with the bright idea of those damned flying and escort sections at the end would just have... not. Just not.
I take it you mean Ascension? You can easily mod Ascension with options like carrying the Moac over from Exodus, being able to parachute and being able to exit once landing the VTOL. Believe it not even without the MOAC there is enough firepower to get you through on foot too. The only other thing you might want to do is place an aircraft of some sort near the beach to fly back with but I think you can actually trigger the level end just by swimming to the trigger point for it.
I really got into modding that map more so than any other but finally stopped my project because I can never get the dang AI I place to work like I script them to. I did have a lot of fun with the hover craft I placed and the swath I cleared to drive it on though, as well as opening up and finishing the two tunnels in the map.
I also added a Gauss tank at the very back of the convoy that could be driven all the way to a warehouse I placed at the beach refinery. There was a Hunter I put in just before the warehouse too and if you timed it right you could drive the hovercraft up onto the land and right under the him before parking it in the warehouse.
I think they totally wasted a good map by making Ascension a quick fly through. I don't mind the flying and got pretty good at it but there's so much to explore on foot it should at least be an option. I was surprised to find that half of the convoy is actually alive too, not dead. There are other guys near the refinery too that are alive.