Helmet in hand, I speed walk towards the tarmac, skillfully weaving between interns and other workers who are milling about the hallway. Turns out one of the few things that they have changed since my time here is the location of the ladies locker room, causing me to spend a good five minutes trying to find the place and giving me significantly less time to change into my flight suit if I wanted to make the wheels up time that I ordered. Despite my rush, there is one person I have to speak to before we get up in the air.
"Maverick!" I yell across the tarmac, catching him just before he climbs into his jet. He sighs, a defeated look on his face as he starts the climb down the ladder. "How did the talk with Bradley go?"
"About as well as you would've guessed." He grunts, hopping to the ground. "He asked if I was going to wash him out and then asked if he was dismissed."
I don't know what I was expecting. I guess I should count my blessings that Bradley was even remotely civil in the conversation. He's gone on many a rant with me about Maverick and always has a few choice words to describe him. Part of me just hoped that maybe if Pete held out the olive branch, Rooster would consider it, even if just for these few weeks they're forced to be together.
"You want me to try to talk to him about it?" I don't know what I could say, but someone needs to play Switzerland in this conflict.
"If you do that, he'll just think you're siding with me. You still have a good relationship with him and I don't want to jeopardize that." He takes in a breath, looking towards the man in question. "This is something I have to figure out myself."
Soon enough, about ten minutes behind schedule, we're all up in the air. A sense of familiarity washes over me at the sight of the mountain range below. Despite being rather barren, with the only plants to be found consisting of dead shrubs and grass, there is a special type rugged beauty to it that you can only truly appreciate from the sky.
Group one, which Maverick and I choose through the very extensive and intricate process of 'whoever raises their hands first gets to go', consists of Rooster in one plane and Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia with Reuben "Payback" Fitch in the other. While I'll be evaluating the dog fight as a whole, Mav will be the one actually flying against them.
"Good morning aviators, this is your captain speaking," Maverick's voice cracks through the comms. I roll my eyes, yet let out a chuckle at his play on words. "Welcome to basic fighter maneuvers. As briefed, today's exercise is dogfighting. Guns only, no missiles. We do not go below the hard deck of five thousand feet. Working as a team, you need to shoot me down, or else."
"Or else what, sir?" Payback questions.
"Or I shoot back." The cockiness is evident in his voice. He is enjoying this power way too much. I get into position above the two trainee planes and scan the area for Maverick, only to come up empty. Where the hell is he? He took off before me. "If I shoot either one of you down, you both loose."
"What do you say to putting some skin in the game?" Payback suggests. "Whoever gets shot down first has to do two hundred pushups."
"Guys," Rooster warns. Regardless of his feelings towards him, he knows what Maverick is capable of and that there is a very good chance they could loose that bet.
"That's a lot of pushups," Mav jests, egging them on further.
"Well, they don't call it an exercise for nothing, sir," Fanboy replies.
"Alright, you got yourself a deal gentlemen."
"Wait, hold on," I finally speak up, "don't I get a say in this?"
"Do you have any objections?"
Yes, I hate pushups with a passion and don't even want to risk possibly having to do them. Pete knows this. But, I can't exactly say that over the radio. Doing so would only inflate the already large ego of these pilots. Guess I'll just have to make sure I don't loose. "No."
"Perfect. Fights on, let's turn and burn." I expect him to come up behind them, but he's still no where to be found when I glance back.
"Fanboy, you see him?" Rooster asks.
"Nothing on the radar ahead. He must be somewhere behind us."
Suddenly, it dawns on my where he is. It's the only place the out of view from both plane radars and pilot eyesight. I turn my plane to the side, wanting to see the reactions of the duo when they figure it out. This is going to be good. Blasting in between the small gap of the jets, Maverick shoots into the sky. The pilots are noticeably taken off guard as a string of curses leave their mouths.
"Don't actually kill them, Mav," I joke. "I don't need you getting fired on the first day." While he goes after Fanboy and Payback, I notice Rooster pulls off to try to get better positioning against Maverick.
"Tally! Tally! Tally!" Fanboy yells through the radio, "Maverick's coming in! Break left!" I smile at the newfound panic in their voices. They're in for a rude awakening. They've managed to stay out of his gun lock for now, but not much longer at this rate.
"Payback, where's your wingman?" Mav taunts.
I see the man in question making his way to the duo as he tells them to hold on for a few more seconds. From the looks of it, he's going to cut off Maverick by flying between him and Fanboy. I don't exactly know what his plan would be from there though. All that would accomplish is him becoming the new target. Maybe he figures he can hold Mav off longer. Sure enough, that is exactly what happens.
"Rooster just saved your life, but it's gonna cost him."
"Not this time, old man!" I narrow my eyes at his words. The animosity he has towards Pete is expected, but if he's thinking more about showing him up than his flying, it's not going to end well for him. He sends his plane downward, twisting and turning out of the target lock on the way down.
"Payback, Fanboy," I call out to the two, who are taking their sweet time getting back in the fight, "go help your wingman."
"Rooster you're too low!" Payback yells. "Pull up, you're hitting the hard deck!"
Like father's-best-friend like son. He does as he's told, but with him suddenly having to gain altitude again, he leaves himself totally exposed to get shot down. It's a break Maverick gladly takes. "That's a kill."
"Alright, head back to base you three. Hondo will count your push ups." There's a group mumbling of 'yes ma'am', each of them sounding equally shell shocked by what just occurred.
The second group consists of Jake 'Hangman' Seresin in one jet and Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace with her WSO Robert 'Bob' Floyd, who has the best call sign I've ever heard, in the other. This time, I'll be doing the fighting while Maverick observes, something I already know will be incredibly hard for him.
"Alright, you all remember the rules. Hard deck is five thousand feet, no missiles, losers do pushups." Seeing as they were probably all listening to the radio communications during the last round, I skim through the spiel. They start a side conversation while they wait for me to start the fight, oblivious to the fact that I'm flying directly towards them.
"Say Phoenix," Hangman starts, "why don't we tell people 'Bob' stands for something, other than 'Robert' I mean."
"Don't take the bait, Bob. You wanna know why we call him 'Hangman'?"
"Wait, I got it, 'Baby on Board'." He chuckles to himself, probably thinking he just came up with the best joke ever. Oh, I'm getting you for sure.
"Hate to break up the party, but the fight is on." I weave between the two jets, causing Hangman to curse aloud. I smirk at the sound and loop around to get behind them.
"Alright Phoenix let's take this girl out. Break right!" While she does exactly as told to do, her wingman flies straight up, leaving her vulnerable to me.
"That's why we call him 'Hangman'," she groans. "He'll always hang you out to dry."
"Fair warning," I cut in, still right on my opponent's tail, "the tactic of leaving your wingman didn't work out well for the last guy I saw do it."
"It's a bold strategy Cotton, let's see if it pays off for 'em," Maverick adds, making a laugh escape my lips.
"Talk to me, Bob. Where's Lucky?" I'll give Phoenix this much, she's significantly cooler under pressure than Payback and Fanboy were.
"Shit, she's already coming around."
"Get her off me, Hangman!"
On cue, their wingman drops down below me. "For all of those watching at home, this is how you burry a fossil."
Man, this guy is an ass. Alarms start to fill my cockpit, signaling that I'll soon get locked on. "Alright, enough playing around." I manage to get my first victim. "Sorry Phoenix, Bob, you're dead. Feel free to watch Hangman die from the afterlife though." Despite the fact that their group has technically already lost, I'm not about to let their partner off the hook. If anyone needs to be humbled, it's him.
I weave back and forth, expertly staying out of range of my opponent. I'll give him this much, he has great skills. He's able to keep on my tail pretty well, but I still got a few tricks up my sleeve. I quickly pull up, momentarily blinding myself in the hot sun. Thankfully, it also blinds Hangman, allowing me to complete my loop to get behind him while he still believes I'm in front.
"Phoenix, I can't see her, how close am I?" Silence. "Phoenix!"
"I'm dead, dickhead," she replies casually.
"See you in the afterlife, Bagman," Bob finishes.
"You two took the words right out of my mouth." Within a few seconds, I manage to shoot Hangman down.
The rest of the day goes the same way. The next pairing of pilots thinks that they're going to be the one to take us down, only to have either Maverick or me locking onto them within minutes and sending them down to Hondo. Slowly but surely, it starts to get through their heads that we actually know what we're doing.
After testing several pairings, Maverick decides it's a good idea to try putting two solo pilots together. So, after a rather competitive game of rock-paper-scissors, Rooster and Hangman are up in the sky together against Mav while I watch from above. My fellow instructor waits beneath the two, like a shark stocking pray.
"Rooster, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Hangman asks.
"Would it matter if I did?"
"What's the story with you and Maverick." I tense up at his words. It's a volatile situation as is and does not need him stirring the pot. "Seems like he's got you a little rattled."
"It's none of your business," Rooster bites back. "Now where the hell is he?"
"Been here the whole time." Maverick flips himself inverted over Roosters jet, staring directly into his cockpit. "You see me now?" Neither say anything and just stare each other down.
"Maverick," I warn, but he doesn't listen to me.
"Come on. Let's get this over with."
"Fight's on!" Rooster quickly sends his plane spiraling down towards the ground, Pete perfectly mirroring him.
"What is with these two?" Hangman questions, getting a front row seat to the drama. I fly down from my perch and soar next to him. At any moment, I expect one of them to pull off, but they just keep getting closer and closer to the ground.
"Alright," Maverick grunts, fighting the Gs that are working against his body, "you put us here, how are you going to get yourself out?"
Rooster's voice replies equally as strained. "You can bail out any time!"
"Maverick, enough!" I yell at him. "We're done for the day! Head back to base!" Neither one makes a move, staying firmly locked in their ego match and, quite literal, downward spiral.
"How low you wanna go, Rooster?"
"I can go as low as you, sir. And that's saying something."
"Captain Mitchell, pull up now!" My blood is boiling at this point. This stupid grudge between the two of them has officially become more important to them than training for this mission. Neither is in the right, but as the instructor, Maverick should be the one to take the high road. Yet, here he is, sending both of them straight to the hard deck as everyone listens in.
"The past is past, for both of us!"
"You'd like to believe that, wouldn't you."
"Hard deck is five thousand feet, fellas." Even Hangman even seems to be worrying. "You are running out of room."
"Lieutenant Seresin, return to base immediately," I command. "This fight is over." Much to my surprise, he actually does as I ask and allows me to focus in on the two children fighting bellow me. "Lieutenant Bradshaw, Captain Mitchell, pull up now! That is an order!" With ever passing second, they get closer to the mountains. Are they really going to kill themselves over this?
"Your strategy is about to run us into the ground," Maverick says. "What's your move?"
"Pete! Bradley! Stop it!"
At the very last second, they both pull up. Staying well bellow the hard deck, Rooster gets behind Maverick, who seems to all but beg him to take the shot, despite me calling the fight mere seconds ago. "Come on kid, don't think. Just do." He doesn't make the move, however, and Mav decides to end it. "Too late. You had your chance." He smoothly pulls up into a Cobra maneuver, sending the young Bradshaw zooming below him before locking a target onto him. "That's a kill." His voice is hard and it's probably dawning on him what just happened. "Go see Hondo about your pushups."
I clinch my jaw, struggling to hold back the several choice words I would love to throw out at both the men, especially Maverick. He's supposed to be the instructor, the one who keeps his students safe, yet he blatantly followed one of them into a dangerous situation.
He must sense my anger as he flies up beside me. Both of our masks are now off and, while I keep my lips in a thin line, he opens and closes his mouth to try to find the right words. A scoff escapes me. No, he's not going to sweet talk his was out of this one.
"Claddagh—"
"Get back to base, Captain," I interrupt flatly. "I'm sure Cyclone will want to meet with you."