"Comanche, dagger one. Standby for check in... picture clean. Recommend dagger continue."
"Copy. Daggers descending below radar."
As all of the pilots flew down to match the ceiling height in preparation for the canyon, Annabelle glanced out her windows to catch a glimpse of the ocean below. Mist from the water grazed over Annabelle's windows, making her feel both at peace with her proximity to her favorite body of water, but also terrified at the thought that they'd be this close to the ground once over land as well. Annabelle hadn't noticed she blocked out the conversation over comms in which Maverick had ordered the missiles released to destroy the enemy runway. It meant they were close to entering the canyon.
"Daggers, assume attack formation." Annabelle fell into line at the back of the pack, her eyes trained on Phoenix and Bob's plane as they lined up just behind Maverick. As the first team going over the ridge at the end of this, they would be the first ones targeted by the SAM units. Annabelle knew they'd all have to keep up if she was to help them out in time and be of any actual use.
"Two minutes and thirty seconds in three, two, one. Mark."
"Two mark."
"Three mark."
"Four mark."
"Five mark."
The initial flight through the canyon was running smoothly thus far. Fanboy called out the SAM units as they passed by, keeping everyone aware of the risks should anything start to go south.
"We got two minutes to target."
"Copy. We are a few seconds behind, Rooster. We got to move." Annabelle tried to keep her nerves at bay. She needed Rooster to keep up if they were going to make it to the target in time. She'd really be no use if they were intercepted before even making it out of the target valley.
"Dagger, comanche. We are picking up two bandits. Single group, two contacts." Shit. Where were those damn missiles on the runway? They needed their distraction.
"Comanche, what's their heading?"
"Bullseye 090, 50, tacked south."
"They're headed away from us. They don't know we're here." Annabelle allowed herself to breathe slightly at the remark. It still wasn't ideal. With at least two bandits in the air, maybe more running patrols elsewhere, once the missiles struck the runway, the bandits would move to intercept at the target. There was no escaping it now. There would definitely be a big dogfight at the end of the line.
"The second those tomahawks hit the air base, those bandits are going to move to defend the target. We have to get their before they do. Increase speed."
"We got you, Mav. Don't wait for me." Annabelle watched as Maverick, Phoenix and Bob pulled ahead, disappearing around the canyon corner. Annabelle hadn't been able to increase her speed yet which means Rooster hadn't either. Switching off her main comms, Annabelle switched into dagger two's system only.
"Rooster? Talk to me. What's going on? Rooster?" The continued silence on the other end of the line should've concerned Annie, but she knew it more than likely meant that he was having an internal struggle about his own abilities on this mission. Switching back over to main comms, Annabelle heard as impact on the runway was confirmed.
"They know we're coming now. Bandits are switching course to defend the target. Rooster, where are you?"
"Come on, Rooster. Bandits inbound. We got to make up time now. Let's turn and burn." Up ahead, Rooster still made no move to increase his speed.
"Guys, we're really falling behind! We've really got to move! If we don't increase our speed right now, those bandits are going to be waiting for us when we reach the target." The panic in Fanboy's voice only increased Annabelle's own anxiety. She knew Rooster could do this. He just needed to know for himself. Then, Annabelle heard the faintest voice come over her headset.
"Talk to me dad." Hearing those words caused a breath to hitch in Annabelle's throat. She had heard Rooster say those words to himself his entire career when he doubted himself or was in a tight spot. But now, Annabelle thought about her own father, and remembered some of his last words to her.
'I'll always be right in that plane with you.'
The words brought her more comfort than even she could comprehend, and so she knew that in this moment, Rooster's words would do the same for him. And just as she predicted, Rooster suddenly sped forward, nearly leaving Payback, Fanboy, and herself in the dust.
"Jesus, Rooster, not that fast!" Annabelle laughed at Fanboy's reaction, thrilled by the burst of confidence that had come over her best friend.
"You good, FreeFall?"
"Never better, Roost. Let's get her done."
"Thirty seconds to target. Bob, check your laser."
"Air to ground check complete. Laser code verified, 1688. Laser is a go."
"Popping in three, two, one." Annabelle found herself holding her breath yet again, this time in nervous anticipation for miracle number one.
"Get me eyes on that target, Bob!"
"Standby, Mav." Come on, Bobby, you've got this.
"Standby... I've got it! Captured. Target acquired!"
"Bombs away." Annabelle couldn't focus on anything except the burning silence between all the planes. If even the slightest error had occurred, then the mission would already be a failure. But Bob's voice finally came over the line, excitement in every word.
"We've got impact! Direct hit! Direct hit!" A sigh of relief left Annie's lips, but they weren't out of the woods yet. They had just reached the mountain, popping up and over into the target valley.
"Dagger two, status."
"Almost there, Mav. Almost there. Fanboy where's my laser?"
"Rooster, there's something wrong with this laser. Shit! Deadeye, deadeye!"
"Come on guys, we're running out of time. Get it online."
"I'm trying!" Silent in her own aircraft, Annabelle did what she does best. She analyzed the situation and played it out with every possible outcome in her mind before coming to a conclusion.
"Rooster, decelerate. Payback, accelerate and pop up over Rooster and out of the valley. I got this." Annabelle made quick work of getting her laser online and worked to get the proper aim in order to lock on the target.
"FreeFall, I got this!"
"There's no time! Payback, pull up!" Ahead of her, Payback started the climb out of the valley while Rooster had held back, just barely ahead of FreeFall.
"Now or never, FreeFall!"
"Got it! Target's locked."
"Bombs away. Bombs away." As Rooster and Annabelle pulled up into the high g-climb out, they could hear chaos starting from above, all the while still waiting to see if they'd successfully completed their portion of the mission.
"Radar warning. Smoke in the air! Phoenix, break right."
"Emergency jettison. Dagger three defending." Too focused on not blacking out or running into the side of the mountain, Annabelle had nearly forgotten about the target, which suddenly burst into a bloom of smoke from down below.
"Bullseye! Rooster, we did it!"
"Focus up, FreeFall. We're coming over the top!" Oh shit.
"Smoke in the air! Smoke in the air! Break right, FreeFall!"
"Breaking right!" The moments that followed were the most nerve wracking of Annabelle's life. The comms were jammed with the overlap of the team's voices as everyone called out directions and warnings to one another, all while trying to gain some distance to break free from the SAM unit's range. She heard the panic in Bob's voice that came naturally as he made calls for Natasha, she heard Maverick giving direction as far in advance as possible to help all the dagger teams in the air, she heard Fanboy calling smoke in the air each time a new SAM locked onto one of their aircraft. But one voice in particular suddenly stuck out the most.
"Dagger two defending... shit! I'm out of flares!"
"Evade, Rooster. I'm on my way."
"I can't shake them FreeFall. Get here, get here!"
"I'm almost there, just hold on! Don't you dare get shot down on me, Bradshaw!" Breaking through Rooster's path from just behind, Annabelle deployed her own countermeasures in his stead, allowing Rooster to pull ahead out of SAM range. They thought they were all in the clear, until Maverick's voice rang out from somewhere behind them.
"FreeFall! I've got one on me. I'm out!"
"Coming Mav, hang on!" Pulling in directly behind Maverick's aircraft, Annabelle shifted the missile's lock onto her own. But when she went to release her flares, nothing happened. Her systems lit up all around her, signaling a malfunction in her weapons systems.
"Full speed ahead, Mav! Get everyone out of here."
"What? FreeFall--" Before Maverick could get another word out, Annabelle had already begun climbing into the sky, the missile trailing after her.
"Maverick? Maverick, talk to us. What's happening? Where's FreeFall?" Maverick couldn't find the words as he watched Annie climb higher and higher into the sky before watching her engines suddenly stall out as she fell back towards the ground. Just as the plane turned right side up, Annabelle ejected, flying into the sky as the missile made impact with her plane.
"Dagger five is hit! FreeFall is hit!"
"Belle! Belle! We have to turn around. Phoenix, turn the damn plane around!"
"Negative. Dagger three, proceed to rendezvous."
"Maverick, you saw her parachute! She's going to be out there all alone. We can't just leave her!"
"No one said she'd be alone. I told you to return to the rendezvous." And before anyone had time to process it, Maverick suddenly shot up into the sky, his own parachute activating as he purposely ejected from his plane and watched as it crashed to the ground below.
-----
Annabelle woke to the feeling of being violently shaken against the freezing cold snow. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the sun reflecting off of the snow, she was able to make out Maverick's blurry figure, along with... Rooster?! Annabelle shot up from the ground as Maverick and Rooster tried to calm her, thinking that she thought they were the enemy. But this was not quite the case. Instead of potentially running out of fear, she stormed right up to Rooster and slapped him across the face.
"What the hell, Annie?!"
"What the hell are you doing down here?! You were home free; you should be on the carrier with everyone else right now!"
"I wasn't going to leave you, Annie!"
"I saved your life! It's called making a sacrifice! It means nothing if you end up down here with me."
"We promised we would get each other home!" Not expecting that kind of reasoning, Annabelle fell silent, panting heavily now as her breath fought to catch up with her. "We were all in this together. We said we'd get one another home. I couldn't just leave you." Annabelle contemplated Rooster's words and realized he was right. She had just sacrificed herself for him, but had the roles been reversed, she knew she would have gone back for him in a heartbeat as well.
"Did everyone else make it back? Phoenix? Bob?"
"They should all be on the carrier, they proceeded ahead when I had ejected." Annabelle nodded at Maverick's words, finding some small comfort in knowing that at least Bob was okay, maybe not mentally or emotionally right now, but physically at the very least.
"So what's the plan? I didn't really think past falling out of the sky."
"Yeah, me either." Both Rooster and Annabelle looked to Maverick, hoping that he might have been a little smarter than the two of them.
"I have an idea. But you're not going to like it."
-----
Maverick had been right. Annabelle did not like his idea. Somehow, the trio had found their way to the enemy's airbase, now in complete ruin thanks to their earlier airstrike. Maverick was looking frantically through his binoculars, Annabelle and Rooster unclear as to what he might be looking for.
"See anything interesting?"
"Just our way out of here." Maverick handed the binoculars to Rooster who after only a few seconds seemed to drop them in disbelief, handing them over to Annie while his eyes never left Maverick's face. When Annabelle looked through the binoculars where Maverick had previously been looking, she too found herself looking to Maverick in astonishment.
"Please tell me you're joking?"
"Do you think you can fly one?"
"What?"
"Your dad used to take you up in his old F-14 all the time. You practically grew up in one. Can you fly it?" Annabelle had started to shake her head in response to Maverick's question, but paused before she could do so clearly. No, she'd never flown an F-14, and no she didn't fully understand the technology, or lack thereof, very well. But suddenly, as if all on their own, her father's words came to her once more.
'I'll always be right in that plane with you.' Maverick was right. She'd grown up flying in that plane. And she knew her dad would be right there to help walk her through it.
"Yes. I can fly it."
"Good. Rooster, you'll fly with me. Let's move." Before either one of them had another chance to protest, Maverick had already started running towards the destroyed tarmac towards the hangars holding the F-14s. With a quick glance to one another, Rooster and FreeFall ran to catch up with him. Luckily, with the entire airbase in disarray, it was easy to blend in with the various other pilots and engineers running around to put out fires or get planes in the air somehow. When Mav moved to head to one hangar, FreeFall went towards the other, only to be stopped by Rooster grabbing hold of her bicep in concern.
"You sure you can fly that thing all by yourself? I can't risk losing you twice in one day." Gripping Rooster's hand previously on her arm, Annabelle gave him a reassuring smile.
"I'm sure. And I won't be by myself in there. We never are, are we?" Understanding her meaning, Rooster gave a quick nod of his head then ran to help Maverick prep their plane for takeoff.
As Annabelle climbed into the plane after pulling all necessary pins and panels off her aircraft, she became less sure about her ability to fly the plane after all. While she remembered what the inside of an F-14 looked like, it was an entirely different thing to be sitting in one and seeing everything right before her eyes.
"Alright FreeFall. It's either remember how to fly this rust-bucket or get caught by the enemy. Dealer's choice." As Annabelle flicked a couple of switches that all happened to be the correct ones, Annabelle's memories of her dad starting up his old F-14 became clearer in her mind. Before she knew it, she was closing the lid on her aircraft, becoming consumed by the small space that now encircled her. As she did, she saw Maverick pulling out onto the tarmac. He paused in front of her hangar, asking for a thumbs up or down for reference. Annabelle gave a thumbs up in response, telling Mav she was good to go, but before they moved forward, Maverick gave another signal, tapping his helmet and giving a thumbs down.
"Oh shit." It hadn't even occurred to Annabelle that they would have no comms connection between their two aircraft. Not unless Rooster could figure out how to get a radio signal going. They'd be flying in the air with no way of communicating with one another. This was fine in theory, assuming they didn't run into any bandits on the way back to the carrier, but if they did? They'd essentially have to read one another's minds to fight their way through without killing each other in the process. All issues they'd simply have to deal with if it came to it. Annabelle gave a quick nod, showing Maverick she understood what this meant, and Maverick continued forward on the tarmac as Annabelle followed out of her hangar from behind.
Their drive on the runway was short considering it was blown to bits the rest of the way ahead of them. Annabelle had never been more glad to have Maverick on the ground with her. Following his lead, she could do. Had she been here alone? She'd have no idea how to get off this airbase. But when Annabelle looked on as the wings on Maverick's plane started to spread out, she started to regret her earlier thought process. No way in hell was he about to treat this tiny strip of asphalt as an actual runway.
"Now I get why dad always called you crazy, Mav." Having no other choice but to follow Maverick's lead, Annabelle did the same, pulling the wings out from their restricted position in the plane's body. Then before she had any more time to think, Maverick accelerated forward, and she followed directly behind. The F-14 was slow to lift off the ground, but once it did, Annabelle started to feel more at peace. In the air, it didn't fly all that different from an F-18.
Back on the carrier, Bob and Phoenix had yet to exit their plane, hoping for any possible chance to get back in the air and go after their best friends. They sat in silence, neither having said a word since Maverick went back for Annie, but instead listened intently for any possible change in status over the radio.
"Sir, we're receiving a signal from Rooster's esat. But there seems to be a malfunction."
"Have you lost him?"
"No sir. He's supersonic."
"He's airborne. In what?"
"Sir. Overwatch reports an F-14 tomcat is airborne and on course for our position."
"It can't be. It can't be!"
"Maverick."
From their plane, Phoenix seemed to let out a sigh of relief knowing that two of the three were safe. Bob only seemed to tense more though.
"Hey. They wouldn't be coming back without her. I'm sure she's fine."
"What if she's not? What if they didn't find anyone to bring back? What if she's gone, Nat?" The look on Bob's face as she turned around at his shaky words caused Natasha's heart to clench in her chest. He looked like a terrified child, his eyes watering with unshed tears and his chin quivering as he held himself back from breaking completely.
"Bob, you can't think like that."
"But what if she is? I've spent my whole life alone, always being underestimated, never being noticed. But Belle noticed me, she saw me, and she showed me this whole new way of life in which I wouldn't have to be alone. I can't go back to the way my life was before her. I can't move forward in life without her. I don't want to, Nat."
"I know. I'm just saying, we shouldn't assume the worst just yet. This is Annabelle we're talking about. She deserves we give her the benefit of the doubt. Besides, she'd never leave you behind. I'm sure even if she's not with Mav and Rooster, she's still alive, and fighting like hell to get home to you. Just like she promised." Bob did his best to believe Natasha's words, but he knew he wouldn't be satisfied until Belle was back on this carrier and in his arms. Then, as if knowing his thoughts, Annabelle gave him a miracle from afar.
"Sir. Overwatch has spotted a second F-14 headed for our position. They seem to be falling in behind Maverick."
"Could be an enemy pilot."
"Maverick is making no move to evade. Overwatch reports they're flying in tandem."
From the sky miles away, Annabelle pulled up next to Maverick's plane, where Rooster had signaled to her regarding her esat. Immediately, she switched her tracking beacon on, feeling sudden relief that those back on the carrier would at least know they weren't dead.
"FreeFall's esat has just come online. It's coming from the other plane, sir." Finally, Bob could release a small bit of the tension consuming him, but it didn't last for long.
"Over watch reports two bandits approaching the F-14s. Both fifth generation fighters." And just like that, the odds were once again entirely against them.