G Force

Trails

Rooster, eventually, asks me to leave him alone, saying he needs some time to 'talk to his dad. I haven't been able to figure out if this is code for praying or if he really does just talk to the universe as if he is talking to his father, but I haven't even stuck around to listen in. I don't see him for the rest of the night, but I hear him when he comes in. The next morning I head into the rec room to grab a water before our class for the morning starts. When I get into the rec room I hear Hangman, "yo, Coyote." Coyote walks over to Hangman, the two looking at something on the wall, "take a look at this."

"The man, the legend. There he is."

"No, no, no. Next to him. He look familiar to you?"

"What have we here?"

"Bradshaw. As I live and breathe. Hey, Bambi."

Hangman calls out to me and I sigh before looking over to him, "what?"

"Did you know about this?"

"Know about what?" Hangman gestures for me to come over, I roll my eyes as I do, looking at the photo that he and Coyote had been looking at. In it I see Ice Man, Maverick and standing behind Maverick is someone who looks a lot like Rooster. I chuckle a little bit and shake my head, Rooster had never shown me any photos of his father, but genetics don't lie, "well, I'll be damned."

"Seems your boy toy has an in with the Capitan."

I chuckle and turn to Hangman, "no, he doesn't. Trust me."

"Did you know that Maverick flew with his dad?"

"No, I didn't," I shake my head and turn back to the photo, "sure does explain a hell of a lot though."

When we get to the class room area there is a large screen set up and -03.00.00 on the screen, with 'Time to Target' above it. Soon Maverick starts his lesson, "time is your greatest enemy. Phase one of the mission will be a low-level ingress attacking in two-plane teams." Maverick turns to the screen that changes corresponding with the information he is giving us. Showing us the terrain we will be flying, "you'll fly along this narrow canyon to your target. Rader-guided surface-to-air missiles defend the area. These SAMs, they're lethal. But they were designed to protect the skies above, not the canyon below."

"Because no one is insane enough to fly that low."

Maverick then turns to us, looking at me since I'm the one who commented, "that's exactly what I'm gonna train you to do. On the day, your altitude will be 100 feet maximum. You exceed this altitude...  Radar will spot you and you're dead. Your airspeed will be 660 knots. Minimum." Rooster and I look at each other, slightly worried. "Time to target: two and a half minutes. That's because fifth-generation fighters wait at an air base nearby. In a head-to-head with these planes in your F-18s, you're dead. That's why you need to get in, hit your target, and be gone, before these planes even have a chance of catching you. This makes time your greatest adversary. You'll fly a route in your nav system that simulates the canyon. The faster you navigate this canyon, the harder it'll be to stay under the radar of these enemy SAMs. The tighter the turns, the more intensely the force of gravity on your body multiplies... Compressing your lungs... Forcing the blood form your brain.... Impairing your judgment and reaction time. So for today's lesson, we're gonna take it easy on you. Max ceiling: 300 feet. Time to target: Three minutes. Good luck."

Phoenix, Bob and Coyote are the first to go. As we listen I hear Bob, "Time to target is one minute 30. We are two seconds behind. Increase to 480 knots."

Then Phoenix comes over, "we gotta move, Coyote."

Coyote increases his speed, but it is short lived, as he almost runs into a hill side, causing him to slow down and Phoenix breaks the minimum to avoid hitting him. 

The next up is Payback, Fanboy and Hangman. Hangman leaving his wingman in the dust, Payback begging Hangman to slow down, "Hangman, ease up. The canyon's getting tighter."

But he refuses, "negative, Payback. Increase your speed."

"You're going too fast, man."

"No harm in being ahead of schedule."

"Damn it, slow down! I can't stay on the course."

Fanboy then starts to frantically warn Payback, "you're gonna hit the wall!"

"I can't say on the course!"

"You're gonna hit the wall! Watch out! Watch out!"

Next is Rooster, Harvard and Yale. Yale finding issue with the speed that Rooster is going, "Rooster, we're 20 seconds behind and dropping."

"We're fine," Rooster reassures him, "speed is good."

"Increase to 500 knots."

"Negative, Yale. Hold your speed."

"Rooster, we're late."

"We're alive. We'll make up time in the straightaway."

"We are not gonna make it."

"Just trust me. Maintain your speed. We can make it," but that doesn't make it to the target in time.