The Good Ending

Chapter 12. Phase Two

"Way ahead of you." ~ P.M.M

"Good morning." Admiral Bates was standing at the front of the classroom. "The uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than expected." The room had become tense as they listened to the Admirals words.

"Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days' time." Warlock continued. "As a result, your mission has been moved up one week in order to avoid contaminating the target valley with radiation." Fear overcame every singe one of the Top Gun graduates faces, even Hangman.

"Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course." Coyote piped up, trying to reason with Warlock. "Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on." All of the aviators hung their heads in defeat, knowing there was a high chance they might not make it.

"Captain, Admiral." Bates called towards the two men who were standing off to the side. Maverick and Goose walked up to the front, trying to mask their own nervousness. "We have one week left to focus on phase two." Maverick spoke as he paced the front of the room.

"It's the most difficult stage of the mission." Goose chimed in, placing a hand on his friends shoulder to get him to stop moving around. The Captain nodded as he stood next to his friend with his hands behind his back.

"It's a pop-up strike with a steep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles." Maverick held up two fingers, emphasizing the importance on the number of miracles required for this mission to be a success.

"Two pairs of F-18s will fly in a welded wing formation." Goose began explaining how the second part of the mission was going to run. "Teamwork. Precise coordination of these aircraft is essential to both the mission's success and your survival."

"As you know, the plant rests between two mountains." Maverick stepped out of the way of the screen that showed a simulation of how the pop-up strike would work. "On final approach, you'll invert directly into a steep dive."

"This allows you to maintain the lowest possible altitude and the only possible attack angle." Goose explained Mavericks choices more so to their superiors than to the students. It was always like that when the two of them taught together. Maverick would make the plan and Goose would explain why his plan works.

"Your target is an impact point less than three meters wide." Maverick began going into further detail of the plan. "The two-seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bull's-eye." The Captain added before finishing his explanation with, "The first pair will breach the reactor by dropping a laser-guided bomb on an exposed ventilation hatch."

Now it was Goose's turn to explain why Maverick made the plan the way he did. "This will create an opening for the second pair."

"That's miracle number one." Maverick chimed in, holding up a single finger for emphasis. "I think they got it, Mav." Goose patted his pilot on the back before he mumbled an apology and let Goose continue.

"The second team will deliver the kill shot and destroy the target." Goose looked over at his friend who was shifting his weight back and forth on his toes. The two made eye contact and Goose just gave him an approving nod to which the Captain got excited about.

"That's miracle number two." Maverick held up two fingers with a stupid grin on his face, excited that he got to finish this little bit he unintentionally started. He attempted to lighten up the room a bit before Goose delivered the news that would bring the intensity back up.

"If either team misses the target... the mission is a failure." Goose did everything in his power to avoid his son's gaze, knowing he had a worried expression on his face.