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Chapter fourteen:

    I'm sitting in an air conditioned room with the other pilots waiting for their turn to fly, having been switched with another pilot which means i will fly with Hangman and phoenix and Bob. I sit on a couch, leaning back with my feet on the glass table in front of me, my arms crossed but relaxed as i listen to the comms and the pilots lounging behind me.

"Good morning, aviators. This is your Captain speaking." I hear Mavericks voice say on the radio. His voice has changed since the last time I've heard it on comms. The childish arrogance is gone... or at least most of it. He sounds, almost wiser but with a hint of 'I know I'm better than all of you', okay it's Maverick so maybe more than just a hint. But who can blame him, even i know, though i hate to admit it, that he's far better than any of the pilots here, the only one who can match or beat his skill level is me.

"As briefed, today's exercise is dogfighting. Guns only, no missiles. We do not go below the hard deck of 5,000 feet. Working as a team, you have to shoot me down, or else." Maverick explains to Rooster, Payback and Fanboy.
"Or else what, sir?" Payback asks.
"Or else i shoot back." He answers simply, "if i shoot either one of you down, you both lose."

Back in the break room, a few pilots also sit near the radio while others just lounge. Hangman sits, holding a model airplane.
"This guy needs an ego check." He says.
"We'll see to that." A pilot says behind me as he high-fives his WSO. I lean my head to rest on the back of the couch as i scoff.
"Really, you'll give him an ego check. More like, he'll knock your egos down a few pegs." I tell them. Hangman doesn't take what i said seriously and from the looks of it, neither do the other pilots except for Phoenix and Bob.
"Well, i can't expect a rookie like you to beat him, but for the more experienced pilots like myself-," i cut Hangman off before he can finish.
"Oh please," i say sitting up to rest my forearms on my knees as i lean forward to speak to Hangman, "I've been doing missions long before you graduated." I tell him, careful with what i say knowing a lot of it is classified.
"And as for skills. I'm the only one here who's faced Maverick before. You have no idea what he's capable of. Watch your back." I say with a final warning, knowing well, that Mav is sneaky in the air. I can't tell if he took my warning seriously but if his attitude is anything to go by, he didn't. I lean back and focus on the radio.
"What say we put some skin in the game?" Payback asks Maverick.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Whoever gets shot down first has to do 200 pushups."
"Guy's. that's a lot of pushups." Maverick says. He hides it well but i can tell by his tone that he knows he won't be doing any pushups today.
"They don't call it an exercise for nothing, sir." Fanboy chimes in.
"You got yourself a deal gentlemen. Fight's on. Let's turn and burn." Maverick agrees to the deal.

Y/n sits in her original position with her eyes down and a small, fond smile on her face as flashbacks from her first flight with Mav and Ice enter her mind as she listens to the similar conversation happening in the air now, that happened almost 30 years ago.
The smile grows bigger when she hears Maverick fly up between Payback and Rooster, surprising them as he knocks their jets off balance, just like she did back then. She can just picture the cheeky grin on Maverick's face as the game begins.
Y/n listens to Payback break left and right, trying to avoid Maverick.
"Payback, where's your wingman?" Maverick taunts.
"Rooster, where are you?" He asks his wingman, calling for him to hurry up as he struggles to avoid the Captain.
"I'm coming. Hang in there. Hang in there." Rooster answers as he tries to catch them.

Maverick sits calmly in his jet as he tries to get target lock on Payback. Rooster cuts in, allowing Payback to get away.
"Rooster just saved your lives, fellas. But it's gonna cost him." Mav says, turning his attention to Rooster.
"Not this time old man." Says Rooster as his plane begins to dive down towards the hard deck. Maverick adjusts his jet to a lower level to go after Payback again.
"Rooster, you're too low! Pull up! You're hitting the hard deck!" Payback tells his wingman.
"Oh, shit." Rooster exclaims as the jet's automated voice repeats 'altitude. Altitude.' Until he frantically pulls up so he's going straight up. What he doesn't realize right away is that he passes right in front of Maverick who gets target lock on him right away.
"That's a kill." Maverick informs the losing team.