TAKE MY BREATH AWAY // HANGMAN

9

"can we got some shots over here"

~~~~~

this morning i had a massive hangover, it got better though, but now it's much worse. and it's all because of work

"the uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than we thought. raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in 10 days timed, as a result of that the mission has been moved up one week"

my eyes widen at the admirals comment

"sir no one here has successfully flown a low level course" coyote stated and all of us nodded

"never the less, you've been ordered to move on" the admiral said "captain" then he walked away

mav made his way to the front of the class " we have one week left to focus on phase two, it's the most difficult stage of the mission. it's a pop up strike with a deep dive requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles"

i chewed my gum, nervously as he spoke

"two pairs of f-18s will fly in a weldon wing formation, teamwork and precise coordination is essential to the missions success and your survival" mav continued

an image on the screen popped up of the uranium plant and where it was "as you know the plant rests between mountains, on final approach you'll invert directly into a steep dive. this allows you to mountain the lowest altitude and the only possible attack angle"

maverick zoomed in on the target "your target is an impact point less than three meters wide, the two seat aircraft will hit the target with the lazar bullseye. the first pair will breach the reactor by popping a kazoo guided bomb on an exposed ventilation hatch, this creates and opening for the second pair, this miracle number one, the second team will deliver the kill shot ms destroy the target, that miracle number two. if either team misses the target the mission is a failure"

"you'll more into a steep high g climb to avoid hitting this mountain" mav also explained

"a steel climb at that speed, your pulling at least 8 gs" hangman exclaimed

"9 minimum" mav corrected hangman

"the stress limit of the f-18s airframe is 7.5" rooster spoke

"that's is the accepted limit, to survive this mission you'll pull beyond that. even if it means bending your airframe, you'll be pulling so hard you'll weigh close to 2000 pounds" mav nodded "your skull crushing your spine, your lungs imploding like and elephant sitting in your chest"

"fighting with everything you have to keep from blacking out" he turned away from us, towards the screen "this is where you'll be the most vulnerable"

my eyebrows furred as he continued to speak

"assured you avoid crashing into this mountain, you'll climb strait into enemy's radar while losing your air speed. within seconds you'll be fired upon by enemy sams" he kept talking "you've all faces things like this before, but this is going to take you and your aircraft to your breaking point"

my head snapped to the sound of phoenixs voice "sir, is this even achievable?"

maverick looked at her then to all of us "that answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box"

~~~~~

we were up in the air and phoenix and bob just got hit by maverick who was playing a bandit

"level out scout" was the last the i heard from maverick

my eyes closed, tightly shut. like they were never planning on opening again

i heard a buzz go through out the aircraft

"pull up pull up" the monitor said

i opened my eyes seeing that i was about 200 feet away from almost dying

i yanked the throttle towards me and flew up against the mountain

"you okay scout?" i heard maverick asked

"yeah, i don't know is coyote is awake though" i told him, taking deep breath

"i am now" i heard him breathing heavily too

i flew right behind phoenix and maverick, they were talking but went into panic when there was bird strike"

"left engines out" bob said, i worried and i saw fire

"y'all are on fire guys" i called out, taking breaths hoping they will make it

phoenix was trying to get the plane under control but they ended up having to eject

once i landed the plane , i sprinted on base trying to find maverick to ask about phoenix and bob

of course i wasn't paying any attention because i ran into so dudes chest, we'll not some dude

i looked up at jake and he sighed in relief, he pulled me into a tight hug "you scared the shit out of me" he said
"i'm so glad your okay"

i smiled at him, grabbing his hand and pulled him with me "have you heard about Phoenix and bob?" i asked him

"yeah they just got to the hospital" he told me "you should really go home and get some rest, i can come with"

"um yeah sure" i said with a yawn "i think i need some sleep anyways"