Call Back {Top Gun Maverick - Completed}

25: Carrier

Everyone began looking around. Hangman rose up and broke right, heading back towards the aircraft carrier. He noticed Maverick's front landing gear was missing and Maneater at a lower altitude than the others.

"Maverick is downwind. No front landing gear. No tail hook," Maverick informed the carrier, "Maneater's at low altitude...."

"Might need search and rescue out here for her," Hangman alerted.

《~~○~~》

Hangman landed back on deck. His aircraft was quickly caught by the cable and moved to the side for Vulture and Marilyn's. Warlock and Cyclone ran to a set of binoculars, Cyclone being the one to grab them. Cyclone watched as Maneater and Maverick was in bound.

"Maneater, you go first, it'll be easier to clear your plane than mine," Maverick stated, glancing at his daughter.

She nodded, sweaty and breathing heavy as she ripped her oxygen mask away from her face. It wasn't a good idea, but she didn't care. The runway was clear and ready for her to land. Maneater prepared her landing gear, she could feel blood trickling between her fingertips and at the wrist of her flight suit.

"I'm gonna need so many stitches," She whispered to herself. She hated stitches but Hennessey knew that if it had to be done, then it had to be done.

Maneater landed hard, the cable catching her and causing her to jerk forward harshly. Probably enough to give her whiplash. She grimaced, pulling her hand off the yoke and hugging her side.

"Holy fuck" Hennessey murmured, letting herself slump as her vision faded; she had finally succumbed to her injury. The flight deck crew began trying to pull her jet out of the way, they had to get Maverick too.

"Her canopy isn't releasing," Bambi noted.

"Give her a few minutes, I remember you would wait a little sometimes," Slider tried to reason, watching closely.

"Pull the cable and raise the barricade," Maverick informed over comms.

"Foul deck! Foul deck!" An officer shouted over a phone.

"Raise the barricade! Go!" Hondo ordered.

Fight deck members began pulling the barricade and preparing for Maverick and Rooster's hard landing. Maverick, however, buzzed the tower, his wings tucked back in. He was waiting for the deck to be ready for his landing. Slider and Bambi had stepped out and were waiting on the control tower balcony. Cyclone gave a tight-lipped smile, clearly unpleased with Maverick's actions. Whereas Slider and Bambi chuckled; they had their wingman for another day.

《~~○~~》

Maverick lined up with the aircraft carrier, preparing his remaining landing gear. Everyone on deck watching and waiting. One of his engines suddenly went out, causing the jet to shake slightly.

"Please don't tell me we lost an engine," Rooster begged, shaking his head. He was tired and just wanted to get back on the carrier.

"All right, I won't tell you that," Maverick mumbled in response.

"Okay," Rooster braced himself for impact.

To say that the two men had a rough landing was an understatement. They had been caught by the barricade and dragged almost to the end of the runway. Sparks flew from where the front landing gear should've been. Flight decks with fire extinguishers rushed out to the jet once it stopped moving. They began spraying the liquid nitrogen across the nose of the jet, stopping the sparks from creating anything more.

"You good?" Maverick asked, looking back at Bradley.

"Yeah," Bradley responded, clearly shaken up, "I'm good."