Christina has gone through relationship after relationship. Her most recent one ended just as bad as the others. Luckily, she was leaving to join the Navy. Ready to put all of it behind her.
Years later, she's the best of the best. They call her 'A...
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"You want me to what?" I was just trying to eat dinner and have the leftover Chinese from a few nights ago. Then dad shows up and I expect some pep talk about the mission. But he tells me that he was dropped from being our instructor. He then drops a bomb on me. He wants me to fly against orders and prove that the mission can be flown successfully. There are two main reasons why it is literally insane. The first one, It's career suicide. If I go against orders, take out my jet without a scheduled event and try to prove my commanders wrong by pulling a crazy stunt, it could be the end of my piloting career. The second reason, is that there is a high chance I will not even make it. And in two minutes and 15 seconds! There's no way in hell. "How about, fuck no?" I say. "Chris." He tries to calm me down a little. "Dad." I reply. "Do I need to lay out the reasons why this plan is godawful?" "I know, but you are the teams best bet. Now that I'm not there, Cyclone is giving you guys 4 minutes to complete it. At a reduced speed of under 420 knots." My eyebrows raise. "That's a suicide mission..." I mumbled. "Exactly." He stands upright and steps closer to me. "Which is why you need to show them you can do it in time." My head drops. "I can't..." "Yes you can!" My head looked back up at him. "No I can't! None of us have been able to dad." I take a breath, calming myself a little. "If I don't do it right, I could be kicked from the mission and possibly dishonorably discharged! I won't-... I won't do it. Not when I've spent my whole life trying to live up to your and papa's legacy. You know what that's like. But I have had to deal with it three times as worse! With you, Ice and Charlie! I have just started to be known as Athena. Not Maverick's daughter. Not admiral Kazansky's daughter. Just Athena. Just me." "But that is exactly why you can do this!" He walked briskly to me from where he was leaning against my counter. "You are the three of your parents combined. You have Charlie's brain, Ice's flying skills and my recklessness. You have everything it takes to be a good pilot." I hold back from welling up. "And if I can't?" "You can." He paused. "Don't think of this as a test of you and your skills Chris. This is a way to show your team that this mission is possible." I don't answer him. While he has a point, I can't help but be torn in half. I want to listen to orders and do it the right way. But on the other hand, if we try this mission with a four minute time and slower speed, none of us are going to come back. And I will not make my parents bury their child. My face became hard and determined. "If I get kicked out of the navy, I will never speak to you again." He smiled a little and nodded. "Understandable." He puts his hands on my shoulders. "I know you can do this. And when you do, they won't have any choice but to make you team leader." He pulls me into a tight hugs. I hope I can prove him right.
My phone vibrates next to me on the bench in the locker room. My flight suit is on up to my waist. I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear as I pick up my phone. It's Rooster.
Where are you??
Training was starting and they were all meeting up in the briefing room. To get their new grounds of the mission. I ignore the text and just put my phone in my locker. Leaving it. Mav stayed home, knowing he wouldn't have a reason to be here. He's waiting for a call from me. Either saying I'm off the team or I made it. Let's hope it's the ladder. I stand, slipping on the rest of my flight suit and I held my helmet in my hands. "Gods give me strength." I mumbled. Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. With a close of my locker, I turn and leave. The thing about going rouge is that I'm doing everything myself. Not even Texas knows about this. In fact, he's in the briefing right now. All I have to do is look confident and this should be easy to get away with. I prep and climb into a one seater. My heart beating out of my chest and my stomach twisting. The engines start up, I turn down the runway and starting for takeoff. I'm lifted in the air and I fly to the starting point of the training area. I am going to get skinned alive for this shit. "Athena to Range Control. Entering Point Alpha." I say, getting closer to the area. "Confirm green range." "Athena, Range control. Uh...green range is confirmed. I don't see an event scheduled for you ma'am." A male voice replies. "Well, I'm going anyway." I reply. "Setting time to target, two minutes, 15 seconds." I clip my mask to my helmet. "Final attack point. Athena inbound." After another deep breath, I rotate the jet. Keeping my breathing as steady as possible. I pass the attack point and the time starts. It's now or never. Gods, I hope I can do this. I do each turn and twist as instructed. Passing through the simulation of the valley. It's hard on my lungs but I focus on the jet and my controls rather than that. I just keep my breathing constant. Huffing and puffing but surviving. I tried not to focus on the clock. If I can't see my time, it helps me not overthink everything because the clock is counting down. I'm not as stressed as I would be if I would see my time. I also keep the speed up. Not slowing down at all. Knowing that not a second should go to waist. The fact I'm so laser focused, no one is in my ear, no one is behind me, and no one is slowing me down is helping more than I thought it would. As much as I love Texas and the rest of this team, it's nice being able to focus in complete silence for once. I get to the flat, dry dessert and level out. Preparing for the incline to come. "Popping in three," I count myself down. "Two, one." I pull back and rotate at the top. These motions I know, the hard part is the missiles. Even if I make the time, speed and go through the motions, if I don't hit the target, what is this all for? I use the screen to aim at the white box target that is now in sight. My finger rotates the black button to my left. I fire when the mark lined up. "Bombs away." Both hands pull back on the lever and I bank upward. Out of the incline. I'm reaching at least 9.5 G by now, and climbing. It's getting harder and harder to concentrate with the literal pressure but I aim and fire again. The edge of my vision is getting dark. Like someone's out a vignette filter on my eyes. I can't even tell if I hit the target. I've hit 10 G and I manage to pull myself back into full consciousness. I level out the jet and practically rip off the mask. Taking deep breaths. It's not so much getting air into my lungs as it is claustrophobia. And the heat.
