Hardest to Love | Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

𝟎𝟒 - 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

"Attention on deck!" I hear the female Navy Chief call out as I respectfully try to run up behind the class. Everyone sitting down all stand up straight as Cyclone walks up in front behind the podium.

The woman then speaks again. "Vice Admiral Beau 'Cyclone' Simpson." She turns sharply and salutes to him.

He observes over the group who then sits down. His eyes meet mines. My eyes grow a little wide as I jog up to an empty seat behind Natasha. He rests both his hands on opposite sides of the podium as he tilts his head at me. I clear my throat.

"Mitchell, it's nice to see that you've finally made it to this important meeting of ours." The place grows quiet.

I see Jake turn his head around, grinning at me. "Apologies, Sir." I look down and sit.

"All of you were at the top of your Top Gun class. The best of the best." He starts off. "But that was yesterday and the enemy had new fifth generation pilots like you that level our playing field. We only have very few details without the technological advantages we used to have, so we expect a lot from you all."

I start to play with the fabric of my jumpsuit near my thigh as I listen to the older man up on the podium, standing in front of a large American flag. "Half of this group will make the cut while the rest stand aside on the mission, and only one of you will be named mission leader." He looks up from his notes.

I see Jake move his seating position in the corner of my eye as those words come out of Admiral's mouth. I can feel the tension between him and the whole group.

"Your instructor is one the finest pilots this program has ever produced. With his real world experience in all the aspects all of you will be expected to master in your training." I hear footsteps from behind. Everyone, including me, look behind to see who it is. It's my Father.

The Admiral continues on. "His exploits are legendary. What he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death. So I give you Captain Pete Mitchell. Callsign, Maverick."

I look around at everyone's reactions. This wasn't how I expected people to react when they find out about my Father training us. We all look behind us to find my Father walking up slowly to the front of the class. He's carrying a large stapled up packet with him.

As he arrives at the front of the class, Beau steps aside to let my Father talk. He places the book on top the podium and looks over at his new recruits. My Father's eyes meet mines, giving an honest smile. I give him one back before he starts speaking.

"Good morning." He starts off. "It's an honor to be here in your company and to help guide you all in this important mission."

I rest my chin on my hand as I listen to him speak. "You see this book? I know you all know it by heart, it contains every single thing you need to know about your aircraft." He picks it up and shows it to everyone, pausing to look at everyone. "Well our enemy knows this book as good as us." He throws the book into the trash can next to him.

I hear a quiet gasp in the back. I didn't expect my Father to do that. Everyone around me doesn't look as pleased to know that Pete Mitchell, well known as Maverick, will be training them for this mission.

"But what they don't know that we all do is your limits." He takes his hand out and points at all of us.

"I want to find those limits of yours, test and push them. But for today, let's start with what you all know." He narrows his eyes, looking at each and every one of us in the eye. "Dismissed, good luck on the first team to successfully show me what they're made of."

—

I walk over to Natasha and Robert as we get dismissed to prepare ourselves for our first the flight of the day. "This was not how I imagined it to be." I sigh.