Honor
John helped me open a bottle of champagne, which we sprayed all over the boys gathered around us. People laughed and clapped as everyone was soaked. I handed John glasses and we handed them out to everyone. My father appeared beside me the same time John placed a glass of champagne in my hand. He immediately took it and replaced it with the tall ice water he'd been bringing me.
"Thank you," I mouthed silently, turning back to the boys and their dramatics.
There were a bunch of congratulations and multiple photo opportunities with everyone. Wolfman and Sundown were trying to get second, third, fourth, and fifth alternates out of a tipsy Jester.
Ice appeared beside me, wrapping his arm around my waist, glancing at my water. "How are you feeling?"
"Good," I nodded and smiled. "Twelve weeks, first trimester."
"Yeah, only another twenty-eight to go." He rolled his eyes.
A laugh escaped my lips. "I explicitly remember you being overly excited about this. You're telling me now that you're not?"
"Of course, I am," He kissed my temple. "And I'm glad we're past twelve weeks, that means the pregnancy is safer right?"
I nodded. "It doesn't mean we're one hundred per cent, a lot can go wrong but it is a good sign."
He grinned, dipping his head low to press a few quick kisses to my lips before we returned to the partying boys around us. The crowd began to part, the boys nodded and shaking the pilot's hand as he made his way towards us. Maverick appeared in front of me, shaking John's hand and offering me his but I brought him into a hug. "I'm glad you're here, Maverick."
He squeezed my waist gently. "Glad to be here, thought I might have missed it. Congratulations, by the way." Pete grinned as we pulled apart.
"Thank you."
"Gentlemen!" My father shouted above the celebrating party, silencing them instantly. "And lady. I hate to break up the party before it's really begun but some of you have to depart immediately. We have a crisis situation."
The crowd went even more silent, Jester stepping forward with a handful of memos in hand. "Lieutenant Commander Metcalf," He called in his deep voice and I stepped forward taking the note. "You've been assigned squadron leader, you will be leading the mission aboard the USS Enterprise. Iceman, Slider, Boardman and Maverick will be going with you."
"Yes, sir," All of us answered.
"Maverick," Mike spoke up. "You'll get your RIO when you get to the ship. If not, give me a call, I'll fly with you."
"Sir," Mav nodded in gratitude.
My father then looked at me. "Stay safe, Honor."
"Yes, sir," I grinned and began walked around the pool. "Iceman! Slider! Eagle-Eye! Maverick! With me, let's go."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The small group of us who'd come from California were on board and suited up within twenty-four hours. The Enterprise had been out in the Indian Ocean and had taken us most of the night to get to. The first thing I had done when I'd landed, was not head to bunks and sleep but meet the rest of my flight crew, pilots, RIOs and the crew on deck who were awake.
"Lady and Gentlemen, this is bulls-eye," I sat in the front row, Eagle beside me as Stinger, the Commander Air Group of the Enterprise, debriefed us. "The communication ship SS Layton has become disabled and has wandered into foreign territory. A rescue operation is to begin within the hour. Your mission is to give air support to that rescue. There are MiGs in the area and tensions are high. If you witness a hostile act, you will return fire. Those MiGs carry the Exocet anti-ship missile. They can fire that missile from a hundred miles away. This is the real thing, this is what you've been trained for. The mission will be lead by your squadron leader, Lieutenant Commander Metcalf, callsign Starlight."
He gestured to me and I stood. "Thank you, sir. Ice."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"You and I will be sector two. Maverick."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"You will back us up with Merlin on Ready Five. The rest of you were assigned last night when I came round to speak to you all. Let's get on it. Rise!"
The room sprung into action, pilots heading to lockers to get changed into their suits. We marched out onto the tarmac, the crew already having the planes checked and warmed, working at the stabilising equipment. Ice stepped in line with me, barely containing his voice to a whisper. "Are you sure about Maverick?"
"Ice," I levelled him with a serious look. "Don't be unprofessional. Follow my orders or I'll ground you."
"Yes, ma'am," He nodded but pressed his lips together in a thin line, still not agreeing with my decision.
"Alright, let's get up in the air."
At the base, the runway had been on an airfield but as naval aviators, we had always trained to be able to take off on the limited space of an aircraft carrier. Deck crew members would attack catapults that would help launch the plane forward to help you take off within the 300-foot distance. That same distance had been set in the twelve weeks we'd been on land so we were prepared and confident to be able to fly off this ship.
"Starlight, ready for take-off," I relayed into the radio, securing my oxygen mask. The take-off on ships was a lot faster than on a runway.
A crewman on deck waved to me, gesturing up the runway and I gave him a thumbs-up, signalling I was ready. My body flung backwards as the plane launched itself and I opened up the take-off jets, then forwards as the wheels left the deck of the ship. Ice took off right after me, the two of us swooping round to the right and heading off towards the Layton. Mav would be back up, to wait on deck until I called for him.
"Alright, let's go boys."
"You've got a pair of bogies, twelve o'clock, fifteen miles." The radar officer on the ship spoke through the radio.
"090 radar contact fifteen miles. They're doing 500 knots." Slider reported, he and Ice were on my left wing.
"Dead ahead, fifteen miles, airspeed 600 knots." John radioed.
"We're a little too close together, let's take a wider split." Ice and I swung out gently, widening our attack approach. "They're at 15 000 feet now, dead ahead, ten miles."
"Airspeed is still increasing," Slider commented. "800 knots. Dead ahead now, eight miles. Starlight, do you see them?"
"Negative, no visual contact. Ice, take the lead, let's identify them."
"Bogies drifting to the left," John spoke.
"Let's bring it to the right, get a better angle on them." Ice instructed and together we turned.
"Whoa!" Slider yelled. "Starlight, we got a problem here, four aircraft, not one pair, two. I repeat, four bogies."
The alarms inside my plane started blaring and John spun around to look out at our tail. "Wrong! That's five!"
"Ice, I'm splitting," I swung the plane left as I spoke, the bogey following me, right on top of us.
"Five?!" The Enterprise asked.
"Maverick, get your butt off that deck and come cover our asses!"
"Affirmative, Maverick is ready for launch."
"He's got a radar lock-on us!" John yelled over the rapid beeping of our screens.
"Get out of there Starlight, goddamnit!"
"Break left!"
I turned the plane so sharply both John and I screamed at the g-force, but the missile missed us, flying out into open air. "Maverick is airborne." Pete's voice played in my ear.
"Starlight, what's your position?"
"090 at one hundred and eighty miles," I quickly relayed, swooping and ducking, trying to get away from this bogey.
"Three MiGs, dead ahead, coming down the left side." Ice reported. "I'm going after them, turning around to the left."
"Starlight, how are you going?" Maverick asked.
"We've got a bogey on our tail. Repeat, he is still there, this guy is not giving up. Break right!"
We groaned again as I brought the plane around, the MiG had switched to guns and I continued bearing to the right. "Alright, I've had enough of this. I'm bringing the bogey back around to Maverick."
"We got four on our tail!" Ice reported. "That makes six of them!"
"They're in guns range!" Slider came through my ear. "He's firing! Break right!"
"Mustang, we are totally defensive. Launch the alert fighters! Repeat launch the alert fighters!"
"Maverick is supersonic, I'll be there in thirty seconds, Starlight."
"I'm engaged with five!" Ice yelled. "Repeat, five. I'm in deep shit!"
"Hurry up and get this thing off me, we need to help Ice!"
"Maverick is behind the MiG." John reported
"Alright, Star, bring him back around to the left," Pete instructed. "Bulls-eye."
There was a loud bang behind us and I continued turning the plane, at a much lesser speed and wider angle, seeing the MiG falling from the sky, lit up in flames.
"Alright, let's go!"
"One MiG, twelve o'clock high! One MiG, twelve o'clock high!" Slider's frantic voice came through.
"Maverick and Starlight coming in hot."
The air was a mess. Ice was death spiralling through the air, trying desperately to get the five planes all swooping and swirling behind him off his back. "Maverick, go high, I'll go low."
"Ice, I got your MiG dead ahead," Mav reported, up higher behind Ice, while I chased a swooping MiG. "I got tone! I got tone! Firing!"
A loud boom was the only confirmation he'd hit the MiG. I continued swerving with this MiG, missile lock beeping as it locked onto the plane in front. "Firing!"
"Whoo!" John cheered as it went down and I swerved right, out of the way.
"Two MiGs, dead ahead. Closing at eight hundred miles an hour," Merlin, the RIO Mav had been given reported.
"I see them, I see them. I'm gonna take them down the left side."
"Ice, I'm coming in," I spoke, angling the plane so I slipped in behind the MiG on his tail.
"He's firing! Break left!"
Ice swerved and I did too, waiting for the MiG to come around. "Ice continue left. Firing!" The missile hit the MiG and he went down, our two planes safely flying through the carnage. "Two MiGs dead ahead."
"I got them, Star. One MiG passing between us."
"One MiG on your left! On your left! He's gonna fire!" John shouted.
Ice and I split as the MiG fired, the missile going between us. The alarms on the plane started beeping again as a MiG locked onto us. Swerving away from Ice, I swung the plane around trying to get the lock off us and shake the MiG.
"Maverick, check the guys to the north!"
"Banking left. Banking left. There he is! Alright, Ice get him!"
Ice flew into the space behind the MiG, Maverick slotting in as his wingman. "Maverick!" Merlin yelled. "We got a MiG coming around on our tail! We got to get out of here!"
"I can't leave Ice."
"Maverick, give me thirty seconds and I'll be there."
"Star, that MiG is still back there. He's firing! He's firing!"
"Alright, going vertical!" I tilted the plane up, pushing the engines to max speed to get us up and out of the way before I looped back over to the right and spiralled down, turning to the left and catching up with the boys.
"He overshot! He overshot!" John cheered.
Our plane came in behind the MiG on Maverick's tail. Maverick spiralled trying to lose the MiG but this pilot was good sticking to his tail but not enough fire. It was too risky for me to fire because I might hit Maverick. "Ice, watch out! There's a MiG on your right! He's firing!"
"I'm hit! I'm hit in the right engine! I'm shutting it down."
"Maverick, go wide left then swing around to the right, I'm going to have a go at this MiG."
As Mav made an arching left and back to the right. "Firing."
The missile hit its mark and the plane exploded. "Yes, Starlight!"
"Ice, you got a bogey behind you."
"Maverick, get in there and get that bogey off Ice's tail, you're all clear, I've got your back."
"I'm maneuvering for a shot."
"Stay with him, Mav! Stay with him! Take the shot, nail him!"
"Ice, on the count of three, break hard right. Three... two..." Mav swooped the plane around. "One. Break right!"
Boom! The plane went up in flames. "Whoo! Yeah!"
"Maverick," I radioed. "You and I only have one missile left each."
"Starlight, watch out!" Slider called. "You got a MiG on your tail!"
My plane started beeping again and I began swerving. "He's right between our tails. He's firing!"
I began spinning the plane without warning John there was no time. The bullets went passed but there were no hits. "You haven't lost him! He's still with us."
"Starlight, goddamnit, get out of there!" Ice yelled.
"Okay, boys, let's do this," I said calmly. "You wanna see some good flying?"
"Oh no."
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