"Two of you will fly, while the rest of you remain on standby."
Hope and the other fighter pilots sit in the hangar, a Captain explaining the parameters of the mission.
It's Hope, Raf, Maya, Jed, Kaleb, and only a few others. That's how they know this mission is risky. Dangerous. Most of the aviators here are supernatural, faster reflexes, more durable.
"Phase one of the mission: low level entry attacking in a two-plane team."
He shows an image on the screen, a map of the route.
"Radar-guided surface-to-air missiles guard the area. They're lethal. But, they're designed to protect the area above surface level, not below. So, you'll fly along this narrow canyon to your target."
And the canyon is narrow. Below the legal fly zone. You'd have to be crazy to take on a mission like this.
"Your altitude will be 100 feet, maximum. If you exceed this altitude, radar will spot you, and you're dead. Your airspeed: 660 knots, minimum. Time to target: two and a half minutes. Fifth generation fighters wait at an enemy airbase nearby. If you take too long, you give these pilots a chance to catch up to you, and a head-to-head with these planes in your F-18s...let's say the odds would not be in your favor. You need to get in, get your target, and get out before these planes even have a chance of catching up to you."
A few of them exchange looks, silently agreeing with each other: this is madness. It's simply not possible.
"Then there's phase two, the most difficult part of the mission. It's a pop-up strike with a deep dive. Two things have to happen for this to be successful. Two F-18s will fly. Teamwork and precise coordination of the aircrafts is essential to the mission's success and your survival. Your target is a weapons plant in an underground bunker. The plant is between two mountains. On final approach, you'll invert your aircraft directly into a steep dive down the mountainside. This will allow you to maintain your low altitude before you evert and form the only possible attack angle. The target is less than four meters wide. The first aircraft will breach the target by dropping a laser-guided bomb on an exposed hatch for the bunker ventilation. This will create the needed opening for the second pilot, who will deliver the kill shot and destroy the target. If either misses, the mission will fail. After deploying your bomb, you will egress. It's a steep, high-G climb out of the valley to avoid hitting the mountain. You'll be pulling at least 9 G's—"
It's an impossible acceleration, "The accepted stress limit for F-18s is 7.5, sir," Maya poses, her tone presenting the statement as more of a question.
"Yes, but to survive this mission, you'll pull beyond that...You'll be pulling so hard, your weight will be close to 2,000 pounds. Your skull will be crushing your spine. Your lungs will feel like there's an elephant sitting on your chest. You'll have to fight with everything in you to stay conscious. If you make it out of the valley without crashing into the mountain, you'll have no choice but to climb above enemy radar. Within seconds, missiles will fire at you. You'll be forced to use your flares to fend them off before you're able to return to base."
Raf voices everyone's concern, "Is this humanly possible, sir?"
"No. That's why you're here." He glances toward Hope.
Her track record is well known to even the highest officials. She has a tendency to approach the most impossible missions, and she completes them and makes it back home safely. They believe if anyone can pull this off, it'll be her.
"Today you'll fly a route in your navigation system that simulates the canyon. The faster you navigate the canyon, the harder it will be to stay below radar. The tighter the turns, the more intensely the force of gravity on your body multiplies, compressing your lungs, forcing the blood from your brain, impairing your judgement and reaction time. For today's practice flights, we'll ease the parameters a bit. Max ceiling, 300 feet. Time to target, 3 minutes..."
Hope's jaw locks as she glances over to meet Raf's incredulous gaze.
Even with the parameters lessened, the mission is still impossible.
"I'll be flying as well, imitating a bandit on course to intercept your mission. Avoid me, the canyon walls, radar, and the mountainside, and you'll be selected to fly the mission. Good luck."
——
Kaleb and Jed are the first team to gear up and make their way to the air in their planes. The rest of the pilots, including Hope, watch their course on the monitors.
"Jed's falling behind—"
"He'll never make it in time..."
Hope hears the other aviators, nearly holding their breath as they watch it all.
Hope grabs a headset, trying to guide the pilots to a success, "Jed, increase your airspeed to 700 knots. You need to make up for lost time."
Maya watches her with a look of something kin to admiration and pride, "You better be on my team."
Hope glances to her, seeing the same look she used to be so accustomed to, before Josie.
She hears Jed in the headset, drawing her attention back to the monitor, "Better. Watch the bandit, five miles out, coming your way at 600 knots."
"Damnit," Kaleb grunts, already stressed out enough.
"Kaleb you'll need to invert and start your decent in 5, 4, 3, 2..."
Kaleb does as Hope said, beginning his decent into the valley and everting so he flies upright again.
"Laser, Kaleb."
A few seconds later, they hear, "Shit! Laser's down. I'm eye-balling it..." He attempts to 'fire' at the target without the laser, immediately pulling up to climb out of the valley, but he misses by 7 meters.
Hope sighs, uttering a soft, "Damnit."
She turns her attention to the werewolf, "Jed, bandit closing in..."
Jed is looking around, but can't see him until he's already 'shot down.'
He groans in frustration, "Fuck."
The next teams go. All either being 'shot down' or late to target.
And the last team to gear up is Hope and Maya.
Hope makes her way out of the hangar, only to be stopped by a Sergeant, who sighs softly, "They have no hope that this mission can be done...So I need you to give them Hope."
Hope furrows her eyebrows, "How do you suggest I do that sir?"
He only smirks, "Do what you do best. Make the impossible possible."
With that the man walks back toward the hangar, leaving Hope to make her way over to her designated F-18.
Hope starts up her plane's engine before looking to her side, seeing Maya doing the same in her own plane.
Maya jokes through her mic, "Just like old times, Mikaelson."
Hope grins, shaking her head, "I'll be your wingman."
Maya sighs softly at the insinuated difference,
wingman, not co-pilot.
She nods a single time, adding more sincerely, "It's always an honor to fly with you, Hope."
"You too, Maya." Hope pulls her shades over her eyes, "Don't mess up."
Maya only shakes her head with a chuckle, holding up a single digit at the Tribrid, "Fuck you."
With that, Maya takes off, flying past the starting mark and starting the mission clock.
Hope chuckles before responding through her headset, "Good luck to you too."
But Hope's aircraft remains on the ground.
She hears a few of the other pilots chime in, asking what's going on.
The sergeant doesn't say a word, watching the monitors with a smirk, knowingly.
Hope hears Maya a few seconds later, "Hope, what the hell are you doing?"
Hope wears her signature smirk, mimicking what the sergeant said, "What I do best," and with that Hope pulls back, and her plane takes off from the ground.
The sergeant starts his stopwatch as Hope crosses the starting mark, timing Hope's flight.
Raf looks at the mission clock, seeing that Hope started a full 60 seconds after Maya, "Son of a bitch..."
She reaches 750 knots, turning back and forth as she navigates the canyon simulation, flying below 100 feet altitude. The pressure from flipping side-to-side and turning sharply is almost unbearable.
"That's impossible," Kaleb shakes his head, jaw gaping.
Raf mumbles, "Be careful, Mikaelson."
He knows Hope better than anyone, and he knows she's more vulnerable than anyone else may be aware of.
Everyone thinks she's invincible, nothing able to harm her.
But he knows otherwise.
If Hope makes a mistake, she could get really hurt.
And at 30 seconds left on the mission clock, Maya sees the green dot blinking on her radar, indicating Hope has caught up with her, just seconds before Maya inverts her aircraft and begins her dive into the simulated valley, everting again, aiming her laser, and pressing the trigger to simulate sending her first bomb before pulling back sharply with a grunt.
"That's a hit."
Maya hears the soldiers congratulating her as Hope inverts her own plane, beginning her dive only seconds later, "Great job Machado. I knew you could do it."
Maya smiles warmly, though she pants as the pressure increases during her climb, "Thanks Mikaelson, but the party's not over yet. You're up."
Jed shakes his head as he watches the monitor, "There's no fucking way..."
Hope jerks the lever of the plane, turning her aircraft upright, aiming her laser and pulling the trigger before immediately pulling back and beginning her climb out of the simulated valley, seeing Maya's plane just ahead of her.
"Another hit! Mission accomplished, now get yourselves out of there!"
The Sergeant stops the stopwatch, "One minute, fifty-two seconds...I'll be damned."
Maya continues her climb out of the simulated valley at 9 G's, her head beginning to pound and her chest growing tighter and tighter. Her vision begins to blur before everything begins to fade to black. Her aircraft continues its climb, but her grip loosens from her levers.
When Maya's aircraft doesn't level out after crossing the surface level, Hope realizes something's wrong, "Maya...Maya, eject!" At first, she thinks it's something with the aircraft, but she realizes quickly that the girl is unconscious, so she hopes that her voice will bring the girl out of her unconsciousness enough to level out.
But she doesn't wake up, and her plane loses its airspeed against the pressure. At 3,000 feet, her aircraft halts its climb, and begins to fall from the sky.
"Shit!"
Hope quickly inverts her aircraft, circling back around and climbing higher at the same time. She reaches 9.4 G's, trying to accelerate enough to get close to the plane.
As Maya's aircraft spins out at 2,000 feet, Hope throws off her headset, no longer even registering everyone talking through it, keeps her plane inverted as she unstraps her chute and ejects herself, diving toward Maya's plane.
She lands on the nose of the aircraft, seeing that Maya is still unconscious.
So, struggling to hold onto the plane with one hand, she brings her other fist up before slamming it down against the dome, cracking the glass, then repeating the action to bust through, reaching for the eject cord on Maya's seat, sending them both out of the plane as Maya's chute deploys. And seconds later, both Maya and Hope's planes crash into the ground, and Hope holds onto Maya, preparing for a rough landing from a low altitude.
Hope makes sure that she hits the ground first, catching Maya, and quickly removing the chute from them and laying the girl on the ground, "Come on Maya, stay with me," She bites into her wrist, bringing it to the girl's lips and cupping her jaw with her free hand as she feels her blood dripping against the girl's mouth, ignoring the pain in her own legs from the landing.
She waits with bated breath. And a few seconds later, the girl lets out a weak cough as her eyes open and her chest begins to heave for breath. She sees Hope hovering over her, relief written across her face, tears in her eyes.
Maya's confused at first, but then it sinks in what happened. She lets her head fall back against the ground as she brings her hand to her temple. And all she manages to get out is, "Fuck."