"Lieutenant Kazansky, are you completely sure you're up for flying?" Cyclone asked me.
It had been 2 days from my fathers funeral. I was in his office, sitting down, requesting to come back to work. Some would call it crazy, but it's just the way I've always been: persistent.
"I'm fine." I said as confidently as I could, because I was tired of doing nothing. Doing nothing have me time to think, and thinking was bad. I didn't want to process the loss of my father, or spend any more tears on it.
I didn't want to be seen as weak.
Hangman had checked up on me a few times, and that I was grateful for. But the pitiful looks I was getting, I couldn't handle. I just wanted to fly again.
"It's okay to take it slow, you shouldn't be throwing yourself back into work." Vice Admiral Simpson tried to assure me. I had never seen him this nice, but I knew he was friends with my father, so it made sense. I also knew that it made him feel like he had some sort of responsibility over me, especially after all that I had gone through.
"I have to. It's the last piece of normalcy I have." I practically begged.
"A top secret mission with somebody trying to kill you?" Cyclone clarified.
My eyes held his cool stare as I asked, "So Admiral Bates filled you in?"
"He did. He also showed me the top possible suspects."
"Then you realize I refuse to live out the rest of my career knowing someone has attempted to kill me twice. This is one of our only chances of catching them." I try to convince him.
Vice Admiral Simpson sighs, "I can't send you to die."
"I won't die. I'm too good of a pilot for that. They've already failed twice."
"Fine. You can start tomorrow morning. But as soon as you feel something is off, you stop. Is that clear, Lieutenant?" Cyclone says, pulling rank.
"Crystal." I say, and I leave his office.
Tomorrow. I could live for tomorrow. Just keep me in my cockpit.
❅
My fellow pilots, most of which were my former classmates, were surprised to see my presence back in the training classroom.
If they really knew me, they really shouldn't be so surprised.
Sue me, I'm a workaholic. But I really just needed a distraction right now, because this is where I felt the most vulnerable.
I sit down next to Hangman, who takes my hand, and gives it a little squeeze before our superiors enter the room.
All the attention that has been directed towards me, suddenly turns towards the front of the room to Admiral Bates.
Odd.
Uncle Maverick isn't here.
Warlock clears his throat, "Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor."
The room breaks into whispers. Why now? Why so close to the mission?
Admiral Bates stared down the room, and we silence ourselves. He continues, "As of today, there are new parameters for your mission." Our admiral informed us, "Time to target is now 4 minutes."
The screen changes the countdown from 2 minutes and 30 seconds, then to 4 minutes.
Yeah, because tor a mission like this, we just needed to be sitting ducks waiting to be shot down.
I hold in my scoff, waiting for them to just tell us when our funerals are. My family's already been to one, it wouldn't hurt that bad if there was another.
Stephanie didn't even talk to be at the funeral, I guess I remind her too much of our father.
"You'll be entering the valley at a reduced speed, you are not allowed to exceed 420 knots." Warlock continues.
"Won't we get shot down?" Hangman voices my thoughts, and the room becomes thick with uneasy tension.
I slowly look back and forth between Hangman and Warlock, as they measure their fragile egos and masculinity.
I look over to Rooster, who's face shows that he shares the same sentiment as Hangman. At least they agree on something now. I know that Bradley and Maverick have reconnected lately, so maybe this is a bit more personal for him.
"Every pilot in this room is thinking it." I say, and all eyes turn to me. I should've kept my mouth shut.
Phoenix saves me by saying, "Admiral Bates, we've been conditioned every day of this detachment that our enemy has the technological advantage. Captain Mitchell and yourself have given clear expectations that their planes are better than ours."
Bob adds to Phoenix, "With the new time line you just gave us, they may have enough time to shoot us down."
Admiral Bates tells us condescendingly, "You have a fighting chance against enemy aircraft, more than the odds of surviving a head on collision with a mountain."
He turns back to the monitor, but I guess Rooster's not finished.
"Do we have a fighting chance with our F-18s against fifth generation fighters?" Rooster asks.
"The next person to speak out against this will be pulled off the detachment. We have orders and you have a job to do." Vice Admiral Simpson says.
Admiral Bates explains the new rules, "You'll be attacking the target from a higher altitude, level with the North Wall."
"Maverick to Range Control, entering point Alpha. Confirm Green Range." The voice echoes across the room, coming from the monitor.
And lo and behold, Maverick's green icon was nearing the starting point of our mission simulation.
"Range control to Maverick. Green Range is confirmed, but I don't see a scheduled event for you, sir."
"Well... I'm going anyway."
A smirk appeared on my face, Uncle Mav was really going to do it, wasn't he?
The Top Gun graduates all watched on the edge of our seats. We didn't know how this would effect our mission, but if Maverick could do it... we could do it.
I mean, that's what we all thought until Maverick told the Rangel Control, "Seeing time to target, 2 minutes and 15 seconds."
I rolled my eyes, Maverick had always been cocky. His ego is constantly writing checks that his body can barely cash. He's been a pilot for 40 years at this point. Maverick's gotta be holding some kinda record. Our target was 2 minutes and 30 seconds, how was he going to pull off 2 minutes and 15 seconds?
Maverick takes a shaky breath, before saying, "Maverick inbound."
Maverick passed the staring checkpoint, and the timer began to count down.
2:14 left
He started heading down the canyon, only gaining more and more speed.
1:36 left
Maverick took every turn and bend with ease, but our class was so tense and quiet, only laying attention to the small icon on the monitor.
Both Admiral Bates and Vice Admiral Simpson looked mad at Maverick's insubordination, but also curious. Standing with their arms crossed, they watched at Maverick beat the odds. So far.
0:47 left
Come on, Maverick.
Maverick started to really punch it now, flying over the first mountain top. Right now, he was going over the mountain inverted, as he had instructed us to do, before flipping back over.
0:29 left
"Bombs away." Maverick said through the radio, as his missile laser finally confirmed its targets.
Moments later, the motion sensors at site confirmed that it was a perfect hit.
Bring it home, Mav!
0:14 left
We hear grunts, as Maverick fights against G-LOC to climb back up the mountain range.
Uncle Mav made it.
I looked to the top for the monitor. The timer had stopped.
0:00:14 left
Straight down to the milliseconds.
I laughed, "Looks like he doesn't need my father to save him anymore." I chuckled, looking at Warlock and Cyclone as I said this.
❅