Free Falling

Chapter 14: Fighting for Home

"I didn't use any of my ammo on the other plane. Get Rooster home. I got this." 

"Like hell Annie. We're not leaving you." Annabelle heard Rooster's words, but as she and Maverick looked at one another through their respective canopies, the two of them knew that the opposite would be the case. Maverick had no ammo. He'd be zero help in a dogfight right now, and that wasn't worth risking Rooster. With a short, encouraging nod, Maverick flew on in the opposite direction headed for the carrier. 

"Mav, what are you doing? Maverick, turn around! Turn around now!" Annabelle turned off the comms receiver in her helmet, silencing Rooster's voice from her aircraft. The enemy pilot was closing in. Annabelle took a deep breath as she analyzed her options. 

"Talk to me, dad. What's the move?" In that moment, Annabelle's life seemed to flash before her eyes. She remembered her time at the naval academy, learning basic flight patterns, dogfighting, jet aerobatics. She remembered all the Facetime's with her dad, him giving her extra advice and tutoring her for exams and flight simulations. She remembered her time at Top Gun, the first time she let her plane fall from the sky, the feeling of complete freedom and like she had finally come into her own. She remembered the training for this detachment, becoming a team with people she either barely knew or barely liked just two and a half weeks earlier. She thought of Bob and the day she almost lost him from the bird strike. She thought of the dogfight round they had done together, in which Maverick came at them headfirst, just like this plane was doing now. And that's when it hit her. If this worked, she'd ask for forgiveness later. But right now, she just needed to survive. So, she was going to do it the best way she knew how.   

Annabelle broke right hard, just as the enemy fighter released a missile, sending it straight ahead into nothing. As the fifth gen plane sped right past her, Annabelle turned and accelerated, putting herself in the advantage spot. She released a missile of her own, but as expected, the enemy pilot dodged it with ease as he turned to face Annabelle's position behind him. Annabelle knew she probably should have been fearing for her life right now, but she instead found herself feeling more exhilarated by the challenge presented before her. This felt almost like any other training scenario, only this time, with actual stakes. And she had no intention of losing. 

"That's right asshole. I've got big guns too." Sure that the enemy pilot's pride was getting the best of him, he did exactly as Annabelle anticipated, accelerating forward and heading straight for Annabelle's nose once again. He fired off another missile, but Annabelle knew it would never reach her. At the very last minute, Annabelle pulled up into the sky, planning to go as high as she could possibly manage, assuming her attacker would be following behind soon enough. The sound and image of bullets flying past her canopy told FreeFall that he had, just as she'd planned. She climbed higher and higher into the sky, wanting to ensure she left herself plenty of room to eject if necessary. 

Not wanting to risk it any longer, Annabelle flipped the switch and put her hands up by her head, then let herself fall. This move could have easily gone the wrong way, but as Annabelle fell, she realized that she had full confidence in her abilities as a pilot. She wasn't scared. She wasn't questioning whether or not she made the right decision. As she fell past the fifth generation plane and jumped to switch her engines and controls back on, she knew that her move, the freefall, had just saved her life. The opposing pilot still made no move to attack as Annabelle locked targets on him with ease and fired her last missile straight into the body of the jet. 

"Beat me to it again, FreeFall." At the sound of Hangman's voice coming over her radio, Annabelle turned to search for his whereabouts, finding him pulling up to her left in the open sky. 

"Here I was coming to save you, and instead you make me look bad." Annabelle laughed at the fake hurt lacing Hangman's voice, but she was comforted to know that she wasn't being left alone up in the air; that Admiral Simpson had approved air support.