"Time, is your greatest enemy." Maverick said, causing all of the chatter in the ready room to stop. "Phase one of the mission will be a low level ingress attacking in two plane teams. You'll fly along this narrow canyon to your target. Radar guided surface-to-air missiles defend the area. These SAMS are lethal. But they were designed to protect the skies above, not the canyon below."
"That's because the enemy knows no one is insane enough to try and fly below them." Bradley spoke, challenging Maverick.
Maverick turned around, smiling. "That's exactly what I'm going to train you to do. On the day, your altitude will be 100 feet, maximum." Every glanced around at each other. "You exceed this altitude, radar will spot you and you're dead."
Up on the screen it showed a hologram of what would happen.
"Your air speed will be 660 knots, minimum. Time to target, two and a half minutes." Maverick pointed at the screen, "That's because 5th generation fighter jets wait at an air base nearby and in a head to head with these planes it your F-18's, you're dead."
The mood in the room had shifted completely. Maverick turned to face them. "That's why you need to get in, hit your target, and be gone before these planes even have a chance catching you. This makes time your greatest adversary."
"You'll fly a route in your nav system that simulates the canyon. The faster you natigate this canyon, the hard it will be to say 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 from you brain, impairing your judgement and reaction time."
Lilah leaned forward and cleared her throat. Everyone turned to look at her as she spoke, "So pretty much you're telling us that to get to our target, you're going to almost have to knock ourselves out and ruin our jets all in one go?"
Maverick didn't respond, just gave her a wicked smile. "For today's lesson, we're going to take it easy on you. Max ceiling, 300 feet, time to target three minutes. Good luck."
★★★
Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote when first.
Their mission was a fail, Coyote slammed on the brakes and Phoenix had to pull up to avoid from hitting him, causing her to go above the SAMS and therefore her plane was hit.
"Why are they dead?"
Phoenix glanced up at him, stunned. "We broke the 300 foot ceiling and the SAM took us out."
"No." Maverick moved his eyes to Coyote. "Why are they dead?"
"I slowed down and didn't give a warning. It's my fault."
"Is there a reason you didn't communicate with your team?" Maverick asked, his tone sharp.
"I was focusing-" Coyote started but Maverick cut him off.
"Is that what their family will except at the funeral?"
Lilah closed her eyes, sucking in a breath as she realized the point that Maverick was making by putting their mistakes on display.
"No sir." Coyote slunk deep into his chair.
Mav turned back to Phoenix. She was ready for him this time, sitting up higher in her seat. Lilah could tell that in the time talking to Coyote, she'd gone back over every detail of what had happened.
"Why didn't you anticipate the turn? You were briefed on the terrain." He didn't wait for her response. "Don't tell me, tell his family."
Next up was Hangman, Payback and Fanboy.
Also another fail.
"Why happened?"
"I flew as fast as I could, kinda like my ass depended on it." Hangman told him.
"And you put your team in danger, leaving your wingman dead." Bradley objected.
Hangman shurgged. "They couldn't keep up."
Lilah was the next flier, alone, since Maverick claimed that since she'd flown a mission just like this about three weeks prior that she didn't need anyone to practice with her.
She got through the course with two seconds to spare.
She winked at Maverick when she collapsed back into her chair, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"What would you tell her family?" he asked aloud, specifically looking at Bradley. Lilah's heart clenched. "What would you tell them if she hadn't finished that course?"
No one spoke for a few seconds.
Bradley was the one to break the silence.
"That she was an exceptional pilot that was taken too soon."
It was a jab at Maverick, Lilah could see it in his eyes. He didn't mean it, he just wanted to wound the pilot standing in front of them.
Phoenix glanced up. "Anyone would've been honored to fly with her and cruel things happen to good people."
Omaha, Fritz, and Halo were next up at the course.
Maverick grilled them, but their mistake had been simple, they weren't flying fast enough. The bandit's had gotten to them first and it'd been a dog fight that they'd lost.
Last up was Rooster, Yale, and Harvard.
"Rooster, man, we need to move faster!" Yale yelled, communicating the information from Harvard. "We're 15 seconds behind."
"We'll make up time in the straight away," Bradley argued back, "Being late is better than being dead."
"Why are they dead?" Maverick asked.
"He was the only group to make it to the target location." Lilah countered. "12 seconds late, but he still made it."
She heard a loud sigh. Hangman.
"You're not flying fast enough." Hangman said, each word coming out of his mouth in a bored tone. "You don't have a second to waste."
"We made it to the target." Bradley responded.
Maverick took a step closer, angry. "And superior enemy aircraft intercepted you on your way out."
"Then it's a dog fight."
"Against 5th gen fighters?"
"Yeah, we still have a chance."
Lilah put her head to the ground, shaking it.
"In a F-18?"
"It's not the plane, sir, it's the pilot!" Bradley said back, his voicing raising.
"Exactly."
Lilah's head snapped up.
"What the fuck?" the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Bradley and Maverick were both breathing hard. Lilah wished she could've reached back and clasped her own hand around Bradley's shaking one. Maverick's face fell, as if realizing what what just happened; what he'd just said.
"There's more than one way to fly this mission," Bradley's voice shook at little as he spoke, not from sadness though, from anger.
"You really don't get it." Hangman broke into the conversation.
"Lieutenant Seresin."
Lilah was not asking politely warning him to stop speaking, she was ordering him to stop.
He ignored her, continuing on, "On this mission, man flying like Maverick here or that man does not come back." Hangman glanced at her and Phoenix, who was sitting in front of Lilah, "No offense intended, ladies."
"Yet somehow you always manage." Bob pointed out, coming to the pilot's defenses.
Hangman wasn't done, he turned back to Rooster and finished with, "Look, I don't mean to criticize, you're conservative, that's all."
"Lieutenant." Lilah repeated. "That is an order, not a suggestion, and I'm warning you that if you don't stop, there will be consequence's. Don't forget, you've already hit me in that bar."
"We're going into combat, son, on a level that only one pilot has ever seen, and the way she flies she'll be dead by 35." Hangman said, sending a malicious smile at Lilah. "Not even our own teacher has ever been on a mission like this. There's no time to be thinking about the past."
Lilah gasped aloud and Phoenix's head snapped around to face Hangman.
"I will have you kicked off of this mission if you say one more word." Lilah spoke, the fire in her eyes almost scaring Hangman.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Bradley," came out of Lilah's mouth at the same time Maverick said, "Rooster."
"I can't be the only one that knows Maverick used to fly with his old man." Hangman said, now speaking to the whole class. "And he was flying with him when -"
Bradley was out of his chair and reaching for Hangman before Lilah could even blink. Chairs were strapping the ground as everyone hustled to their feet to break up the two. Hangman stood up, ready to fight. Lilah pushed through the crowd of pilot's that had formed around two to keep them apart. Payback and Coyote had Hangman by his shoulder's while Omaha and Bob were holding onto Bradley's arms, the whole thing that kept him from beating the shit out of Hangman. Lilah placed her hand gently on his arm, but he shook her off.
"Everyone's dismissed!" Maverick yelled, silencing everyone. "I don't care where you go, just get the hell out!"
Hangman removed himself from the two pilot's grips, leaving first. Lilah caught him but his arm as he was passing her. She yanked a little harder than needed.
"You ever do anything like that again," she threatened, so low she doubted anyone else could hear. "And there will be more than just a dishonorable discharge."
Hangman smirked at her, a move that irked her. "I'd like to see you try, sweetheart."
"Captain," she reminded him as he left. "It's Captain to you."
Other followed, until it was only her, Maverick, and Bradley still in the room. Phoenix had given her a signal to text her later as she left, following Bob out.
"Bradley -" Lilah tried to start.
"Don't you ever do that shit again." Bradley fumed, pacing. "I don't need a fucking guard dog, Lilah, and even if I didn't, it sure as hell wouldn't be you that I chose."
Lilah cleared her throat, the words stunning her. "Because I'm a girl?" When Bradley looked at her confused she repeated, "You don't need me to defend you because I'm a girl, right? That and it makes you feel inferior."
"What, no." Bradley told her, trying to cover up his tracks. "That's crazy."
"Admit it!" Lilah snapped. "It's always bugged you that I'm everything you ever wanted to be! Ever since that moment in the garden the first time we met!"
"God, you're fucking insane Lilah! Get over yourself!" Bradley screamed at her.
Lilah felt her throat get tight. "It's why you left me two years ago alone in bed, right? It's why, when I graduated Top Gun in the first place spot and with two more confirmed air kills, you felt that need to tell everyone about the situation with my mother! You had no right, but you were jealous and looking for something you make yourself feel better!"
Bradley was quiet for a long time as Lilah sobbed silently. Eventually, she found a seat and collapsed into it. At some point, Maverick had evacuated the room, them now being the only two still inside. She let down her hair out of the tight bun, the action relieving half of her headache. The gelled locks barely touched her shoulder.
"Did you tell Hangman about my dad?"
Lilah looked up at him, her green eyes wide and puffy. He wasn't serious, was he? She almost passed off his question as a trick of her exhausted brain, but the expression on his face was not one that she could've made up.
"Don't do this." Lilah begged, running her hands down her face. "Don't let this put us back right where we started, hating each other, not speaking. I can't do it."
"Did. You. Tell. Him." Bradley repeated, never breaking eye contact.
"No," Lilah gritted out, her face now flushed from anger. "I don't bring up people's daddy issues to make myself feel better!"
That really mad him mad. It brought Lilah a bit of pleasure, knowing she'd it the nail right on the head. He was up out of his seat before she could blink. She hadn't even realized that he'd sat down in the row across from her.
"Stay to fuck away from me, and stay the fuck out of my life." he growled, the words echoing in the empty room.
"With pleasure." she spit out.
As she watched him storm out of the room, flipping her off as he went, she'd never felt so relieved, yet so heartbroken at the same time. The two years of hoping and praying that he would coming running back to her with an apology were over. Now, well, now she could focus on how the hell she was going to make it back from this mission.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
THE CHAPTER OF HEARTBREAK IS FINALLY OVER! HOPE Y'ALL ENJOYED!
ALSO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET OUT. I'VE BEEN SICK!