I arrive at base at 0600 with my bags in hand. I walk into the dorm house that I was assigned and see Phoenix sitting on the couch. "Hey roomie," she says with a bright smile.
"I had a feeling we would be seeing more of each other." I walked down the hallway to the room that Phoenix told me was empty. I start to unpack my stuff since we don't report until later.
After unpacking and catching up with Phoenix. We head out of our air-conditioned dorm to find out who our new instructor is. I was already sweating by the time Phoenix and I walked into an old airplane hangar where our class was taking place. "I'm so not used to this California heat anymore." She laughs, "Yah, well-being up in the Arctic Circle will do that to a person." I shrug my shoulders, "I like it up there. Like the day I flew out, I flew over a pod of orcas." She gives me a look, "But, I do miss the warm sandy beaches," I say truthfully.
We walk over to our seats. I choose to sit behind Phoenix and Bob. I lay my head down on the desk, waiting for this class session to start. I hear the chair next to me being pulled out. I tried to peek under my arm to see who it was, but I could only see their very tan skin. "You tired, Darling?" The voice asks next to my ear. I pick my head up, "Morning to you too, Rooster. Nope, just resting."
Rooster goes to say something, but Admiral Simpson 'Cyclone' and Admiral Bates 'Warlock' walk in. "Attention on Deck!!" We all quickly rise to our feet. "At ease," Cyclone said, resting his hands on the podium. We all sat down. "Welcome to your special education continent. This is Naval Commander Admiral Bates," Cyclone points to the man behind him.
I watch the man as he walks over to the podium. "You're all Top Gun graduates. You are elite pilots. You are the best of the best." A smirk forms on most of the faces in this room. "These are yesterday." I looked over to see Hangman's smile drop. "The enemy's new 5th generation fighter jet has leveled the playing field. Details are few, but now it's a technological advantage, you can rest assured that we don't have it." I lean back in my chair, trying to process everything he's saying. "Success is now more than ever attached to a woman or a man inside a box." Warlock looks around the room at each of us.
I see Hangman stare at Phoenix and I. I raise my middle fingers and place it so casually on my forehead. While keeping my attention on Warlock, he starts talking about the mission again. "Half of you will pass the elimination. One of you will be designated as the mission leader. The remaining half will remain as reinforcements." I smile, the mission leader would look great on my Military record and would make my father proud. But out of the corner of my eye, I see that Hangman's smile is back and greater than ever.
"Your instructor is also a Top Gun graduate. He has real-world experience in every mission you are expected to master. His achievements are legendary. He is widely regarded as one of the best pilots this program has produced." I hear footsteps walking down the aisle. I turn and look, I feel a smile form on my face as he walks by. Nice one, Pops, "What he teaches you can make the difference between life and death. Introducing Captain Pete Mitchell. Callsign, Maverick." He finishes and motions for Maverick to walk up to the podium, who is holding the F-18 guides book in hand.
I look over at Rooster, he looks pissed. If looks could kill, Maverick would be very dead right now. I can practically feel the anger radiating off him. I silently place my hand on his knee and turn back to Maverick. I can feel Rooster staring at me, but I choose to ignore it. And hopefully, he ignored the creeping blush that's making its way onto my face.
Maverick holds up the F-18 guides book, "F-18 guides. It contains everything they want you to know about the program. I assume you know the contents of this book?" he asks. I nod. "That's right," Coyote yells. "Yes, we know," Phoenix says, not as loud. Maverick then drops it in the trash that is next to him. "Your enemy knows too." Phoenix turns and looks at me, I shrug. Looking over to the two Admirals: Cyclone looks pissed, while Warlock looks intrigued. "But what the enemy doesn't know is your limits. I intend to find them. Show me what you can do."
...
Phoenix and I walk out of the locker room onto the airstrip with our matching army green flight suits on and helmets in hand. Sweat is starting to form on my forehead and lower back already.
I walk over to my plane and start the flying check-list. I walk around my plane to make sure everything is in order and ready to fly. I finish at the nose of the plane. I run my hand over Lt. Savannah 'Skylar' Kazansky written in thick black letters. To my left, I hear a man yelling. I stop and look over. I watched as Rooster turned towards Maverick with a deep frown plastered on his face. Maverick starts to talk to Rooster. The conversation doesn't last long, but it looks tense. Rooster turns and quickly walks away and over to his plane. I look at Maverick and find that he is already looking at me. I shake my head before walking over to Rooster.
"Hey," He ignores me and continues to walk around, completing his plane check-list. "Rooster, look at me." I start to raise my voice. He doesn't stop. "Bradley!" I finally yelled. He finally stops and turns to me. "Look, I just wanted to say good luck. And I know you and Maverick have history. And how much you hate him, but don't kill him or yourself up there," I tell him. He sighs and nods. I place my hand on his shoulder and give it a friendly squeeze before walking over to the break room, to wait my turn.
Sitting in the air-conditioned break room. We listen to Maverick explain what today's exercise is over the radio. "Good morning, Aviators. This is your Captain is speaking." I can picture the giant smile that's on his face. "Welcome to basic flight maneuvers. As reported, our exercise today is dogfighting. Guns only. No missiles. We will not go below the 5,000 feet limit. You have to work as a team and shoot me or else..." Payback cuts into Maverick's pause, "Or what, sir?"
"Or I will shoot back. If I shoot one of you, you both lose." Sitting next to me, Hangman rolls his eyes. "This guy needs an ego check,"
"So do you," I hear Phoenix chuckle behind me. "Maverick, how about we put a little skin in the game?" Payback asks.
"What's on your mind?"
"Whoever gets hit first should do 200 push-ups," Payback suggests. "That's a lot of push-ups."
"They don't call it exercise for nothing, sir," Fanboy comments. "Agreed then, gentlemen. Let's turn and burn." "Fanboy, you see him?" Payback asks. "Nothing on radar," Fanboy pauses. "He must be behind us." Suddenly, there is a lot of commotion, and I amuse Maverick came up behind him.
Not much longer after the fight had started, it ended. I look out the window and see them landing. I watch Rooster fall to the ground and start his push-ups. My attention is turned away from him when I hear the break room door open, in walks Payback and Fanboy. Our eyes lock, I smile as they walk over. "No push-ups?" Payback shakes his head, "Not this time." They walk over to the window. "That should be us done there," Fanboy says while watching Rooster. "But it's not, and now you know a little something about Rooster."
"Yeah, what's that?" Payback asks. "He'll do anything for his wingman, even if it gets him killed." I towards the break room door as it opens again. This time, Maverick walks in and yells out the next team; Phoenix and Bob and Hangman. I send a sorry look to Phoenix as she walks out the door, and I make my way over the radio. The sound of their planes take off gets louder as the break room door opens. Rooster walks in, the arms of his flight suit wrap around his waist and sweat drips down his forehead. "Hey! How was your workout?" I ask. I hear him mumble 'shut up' as he grabs water.
"Say, Phoenix, how about we tell everyone that Bob stands for something. Other than Robert," Hangman says.
I roll my eyes. "Uhh.." "Don't listen to him, Bob," I mumble. "Don't take the bait, Bob. Wanna know why we call him Hangman?" Phoenix asks. "Oh wait, I got it baby on board." Hangman's laugh was cut short. I chuckle, knowing it's Maverick. "Greetings Aviators, the fight has begun."
"Alright Phoenix, let's take this guy out."
Rooster walks over to the radio, "Watch your back, Phoenix."
"She'll be fine, Rooster. She's a great pilot."
"It's not Maverick, I'm worried about." He says. We hear Hangman tell Phoenix to break right, and I assume Phoenix does when Bob asks her where he's going. "You're talking about Hangman." Hangman left his wingman.
"That's why we call him Hangman. He'll always hang you out to dry." Phoenix says. "Teach him a lesson, Mav." I mumble under my breath.
...
One deal, eleven kills later, and a whole lot of push-ups. I am the last one to fly in the first session. I look at the crew, they give the signal to go. I give them a quick salute before increasing my speed. Feeling the catapult line snap under the plane. My body is pushed back into the seat as I continue to increase speed. My body moves forward as my wheels leave the runway. I level out my plane at an altitude of 8,000 and bank left.
"The fight has begun," Maverick voice echoes through comms. "Maverick?" "Skylar."
"Don't go easy on me because you're close with my old man."
"Roger that." I start to look around for Maverick. "Where are you, Mav," I mumble to myself. Remembering what Payback has said about Mav hanging out below them, I pull up slightly, so I have room to invert. As I turn over, I see Maverick's plane below me. "Nice move, kid." I pull my brakes and turn back upright. I exit the move at the perfect time and level out behind Maverick. "Going for gun lock." I'm trying to lock on Maverick, but he breaks right before it locks. "Damn it."
I look to the right after not seeing him, I turn to the left. I see his plane coming around to the left side of my plane. I increased my speed to 500 knots. Maverick stays close to my side. He pulls back on his plane and moves behind me. I bank left, brake, and invert over him again. He looks up at me. We move around each other for a while, "What's your next move, kid." I pull away and straighten out. I almost have gun lock when he pulls his brakes and flies over. I then hear the tone. "You're dead, Skylar." "Damnit," I yell. "Nice moves, but see Hondo on the ground for your 200 push-ups." Maverick says as we fly towards the runway. "I'm going to kill Payback." Maverick laughs.
...
My arms are shaking from holding the weight of my body. Little drops of sweat are running down my forehead. "198, 199, 200," Hondo finally stops counting, and my arms feel like they're about to give out. "Head to the break room before your next run, Skylar." I nod, feeling extremely exhausted. He walks away while I slowly try to stand up.
I slowly make my way over to the break room. As I open the door, the cool air conditioning rushes at me, hitting my sweaty face. I sigh in relief. "I would ask how your run went but," Phoenix says. "But, I had to do 200 push-ups." I look at Payback, he sinks further into his chair. "I hate you so much right now," I tell Payback, mumbles a quick sorry. I grab a bottle of water and move a chair right next to the air conditioner.
I sit there for a few minutes before Maverick comes in, "I want 3 single flyers in the air in 5 minutes." Reluctantly, I stand up along with Hangman and Rooster.
Up in the air, we are all flying around looking for Maverick. It quiets before Hangman decides to open his mouth. "Say, Rooster, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"
"Would it matter if I say yes?" Rooster asks annoyed. "What's the story with you and Maverick? He got you a little rattled."
"That's none of your business." I changed the subject to ease the tension, "Where is Maverick?" I ask. "Been here the whole time," Maverick voice breaks through comms. I look over to see Maverick's plane pulling up and over Roosters plane, leaving them canopy to canopy.
"Holy shit," I hear Rooster say. I watch as Maverick flies with ease, even inverted. "Do you see me now?" Maverick sighs, "Let's get this over with." I watch as they enter a spiral, the same move Maverick and I did earlier. They circle around and around each other, towards the ground. Hangman and I stare in disbelief as we watch a pilot and teacher head towards the ground. "What is with these two?" Hangman asks. "You have no idea," I mumble. We watch them speed past the hard deck. "Jesus, they're going to kill themselves." I watch the hard deck decrease, 3000.... 2000.... 1000... It continues until the hard deck reaches 300 feet. "You're running out of room, guys." I say, becoming slightly panicked.
They both pull out of the dive, I release a breath that I was holding. They continue to chase each other through the hilly landscape. Rooster, sitting behind Maverick, "You got this. Take the shot," I hear Hangman encourage Rooster. "Rooster, take the shot."
"It's too low." He argues. "Too late, you had your chance," Maverick tells him.
Maverick's plane pulls a sharp incline, rising above Rooster. Then dropping slightly behind him. I hear the tone of the gun lock. "Damn it," Rooster yells. "Go see Hondo for your push-ups. The rest of you return to base and hit the showers."
I land my plane and complete my after flight check-list. Then I started to make my way to the locker, before I could hit the shower. On my way, I hear Hondo starting to count to 200. Knowing it's Rooster, I slowly begin to walk over.
198...199...200... But he doesn't stop. Hondo sees me walking over and meets me halfway. "Good luck." I mumble a 'thanks' and walk over to Rooster. I stop in front of him, I watch as sweat or maybe even tears fall off his face. "Breaking the hard deck. That's insubordination," I tell him. "Don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about it! Rooster, you nearly ran your plane along with Maverick into the ground!" I yell. Rooster stops doing push ups for a second, "Why does Maverick mean so much to you?" He asked, trying to figure it out. I stay quiet and Rooster restarts his push-ups. Realizing that he won't stop. I kneel beside. "Rooster, stop. You've punished yourself enough." I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him from going down again. "Bradley, look at me." He takes a deep breath before slowly showing me his face. I smile, "Hey." I stand up and reach my hand down for him to grab. "Come on, you need a shower." A breathy laugh comes from Rooster. "Are you saying I stink, Skylar?" I smile, "Welcome back, Rooster."
...
I walked into the locker room to get fresh clothes before heading to the shower, but I made the mistake of sitting down, so I sat there staring at the lockers for about 10 minutes. Eventually, I opened the locker room door and ran into a bare chest. Taking a step back I'm met with Rooster standing with a towel wrapped around his shoulders, gray sweatpants hanging low on his hips, and water dripping down his abs. I heard him laugh, "Like what you see, Skylar?" I roll my eyes, "In your dreams, Pretty Boy," I yell walking towards the showers. "At least you think I'm pretty, Darling," he yells back. I shake my head as I walk into the shower room.
Opening the door, I am met with a very curious looking Phoenix. "What was that?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You and Rooster were totally eye fucking each other in the hallway"
"I... We... Weren't eye fucking each other," I tell her losing all my confidence. I turn around to start my shower. "Mm hmm." She says, throwing her dirty sock at my back. "That's so gross, Phoenix!" I yell and throw it back at her. A laugh leaves my lips when the sock hits her in the face. "You're right, this sticks." Phoenix throws the dirty sock into her bag.
I groan in pain as my tight muscles hit the hot water. It's only been one day and my muscles are already aching. After showering, Phoenix and I walk down the hall to the laundry room, dropping off our flight suits. Then decide to head back to our dorm house.
...
Bit of a longer chapter but oh well 🤷.
Till the next chapter, My Loves!