Song- Dreams / The Cranberries
The sunshine poured like honey out onto the horizon, the light purple and red fading into the dimly lit sky above the runway filled to the brim with multi million dollar aircrafts.
I sat quietly in my chair waiting for the rest of us to arrive at the base. My notebook was placed on the table in front of me, along with my metal water bottle, a pack of aspirin and the F-18 NATOPS. A dreadful hangover greeted me this morning, making it increasingly harder to get ready for work.
Around 25 minutes had passed since my arrival, I had somehow managed to get on base almost an hour early. I tapped my pen nervously against the table, watching the birds pass by and the clouds slowly move across the sky as my head throbbed in pain. I reached for the pack of aspirin and water, quickly taking a pill in hopes of soothing my headache.
"Glad I'm not the only early one." A voice called out from the hefty metal door leading to the hangar. I turned around, to see Rooster stood by the door, slowly shutting it behind him so it didn't slam. "Mind if i sit next to you?" He asked, making his way over to me.
"I don't see why not." I smiled, taking my bag off the chair so he could sit down. He walked in between the two rows and took a seat next to me, placing the NATOPS, a notepad and a few pens on the table.
"So, what happened last night?" I chuckled, turning to look at him.
"Well after I sang Great balls of Fire, Hangman plugged the stereo back in and you sat down next to the pool table and talked to Bob, all smiley and giggly. Until, of course Phoenix dragged you home" He smiled, looking down at the table.
"I don't even want to know what I was talking to Bob about." I laughed, rubbing my eyes and looking back at the runway.
"So, How are you?" Rooster cleared his throat as I tilted my head back to look at the ceiling. I could just barely see him from the corner of my eye as he glanced over before quickly diverting his gaze.
"Tired. Dehydrated. Not in the mood to deal with everyones bullshit today." I smiled, looking at him once more.
"I could say the same." He smiled back, a little amusement in his tone.
Silence filled the air as the awkward tension between the two of us grew. As I reached to pick up my water bottle, Rooster's eyes darted to me.
"Hey, Are you okay? You've got something on your neck." He asked, reaching towards the collar of my jacket. The water bottle fell from my hand as it reached for my neck, my palm smacking over the top of my collar. "I'm fine." I spoke, looking at him in the eyes as I pulled my top back up and fixed my collar.
A look of worry shot across his face, "If you say so. But I'm always here for you. Even later on, You know if we make it out of this mission alive maybe we'll all go and have some fun while on leave." He smiled, brushing a hand through his hair.
"We use the future to distract ourselves from the present. Don't lose yourself in that future Bradshaw, Cause it's never certain you'll like it." I gave a slight smile.
"Wise words, very wise." He laughed as the metal door slammed open "Could you open that any louder?" I whined, placing a hand on my head which now was hurting more than before
"You are so welcome." Hangman grinned as he walked towards the seats and slumped down in the chair right at the front. "How long have you guys even been here?" He turned around to look at us, "45 minutes." "Around 20 I think." We both laughed at the look on Hangman's face.
"Christ, I thought being nearly 8 minutes early was good." he scoffed as the door opened once again, pilots coming through along with 2 Generals. "Surprise surprise, Alora made it to base on time." Bob grinned as he took a seat on the left row, Phoenix sitting down next to him. "Wonder how she managed that." Fanboy laughed, sitting next to Payback at the front of the other row.
"Oh hush, Garcia. Someone here has to have a story if you coming to work hungover, I know i'm not the only one. I mean, just look at you guys. " I laughed, flipping him off as Harvard and Yale sat in front of me and Rooster. "Why are there only 3 women on this mission? And who decided to bring me and my sister?" I looked around, Scoffing at the pure audacity of the generals.
"Maybe they're just trying to kill you off." Phoenix laughed, watching as a few more unfamiliar generals lined up at the side of the old wooden lectern. "Yeah you wish" I scoffed.
"Attention on deck!" One of the generals shouted, bringing everyone to a rise. "Good morning." Warlock walked towards the lectern. "Welcome to your special training detachment. Be seated." He leaned against it, scanning his eyes over us.
"Fuck, last time I saw Warlock was when I did my last flyby without permission." I turned to Rooster as we sat down once again.
"Never seen him in my life." Rooster grinned, slumping down in his chair.
"I'm Admiral Bates, NAWDC Commander." He eyed me down as a small smile gradually appeared on his face.
"You're all Top Gun graduates. The best of the best." Hangman turned to my sister, a toothpick twirling in-between his fingers as he smirked.
"Well that was yesterday. Half of you will make the cut, one of you will be named mission leader. The rest will remain in reserve." Nat flipped him off, placing her hand on the side of her face as Warlock continued speaking.
"Success, now more than ever, comes down to the man or woman in the box. Your instructor is a Top Gun graduate with real world experience in every aspect you will be expected to master." The light patter of footsteps beginning to make their way over could be heard over the short pauses Warlock took in between sentences.
"His exploits are legendary and what he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death." Warlock looked onwards, the footsteps growing louder and louder until a figure came into view.
"I give you, Captain Pete Mitchell."
The man walked towards the lectern where Warlock stood,
"Call sign: Maverick."
The second his face came into view, Rooster looked like he had stopped breathing. His face went pale and his eyes glued onto him. It was almost like for a split second he'd seen something he wasn't meant to.
"Good morning." The man I now knew and recognised from the Hard Deck smiled, seeing the haunting look on Hangman and Paybacks faces when they realized that they had been the ones to throw out their mission leader the night before.
"The F-18 NATOPS," he held the large booklet up in his left hand. "It contains everything they want you to know about your aircraft." His smile fell when his eyes landed on Rooster for just a moment; his gaze quickly moving onto someone else.
Rooster looked down at the desk in front of us, "I'm assuming you know this book inside and out." He spoke once again, earning a few replies from everyone.
The book came down with a heavy thud as it dropped into the metal trash can next to him. "So does your enemy." I looked up to find him staring at me. His eyes grew wider as he moved his gave around the room
"But what your enemy doesn't know is your limits. I intend to find them, test them and push them beyond. Show me what you're made of." Maverick stepped away from the Lectern and walked off to the locker rooms where our gear was stored.
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"Hey Rooster! Wait up!" I ran after him, my dark blue helmet clutched in my hand.
"Is everything okay, cause you didn't really look it back there." I walked beside him, as we walked down the length of the runway, trying to find our planes.
"Me and Maverick have a certainly lengthy history, that's all." He pursed his lips while looking at me as I put my helmet onto my head, adjusting my bun in the process.
"Rooster!" Maverick yelled from behind us, I turned to look at him but Rooster just continued walking.
"Bradley!" He shouted again, sighing lightly. "Lieutenant Bradshaw!" He shouted once more, finally getting him to turn around.
"Yes, Sir." He looked down at Maverick through his aviators. "Let's not do it like this okay?" He spoke, looking between the two of us.
"Am I dismissed?" He continued looking down at him. "Come on Bradshaw." I grasped his arm before walking away from him.
"Take care out there alright?" I punched him lightly in the arm as we went our separate ways to our planes.
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"Good morning aviators, This is your captain speaking. Welcome to basic fighter maneuvers." Mavericks' voice came through the small radio that was installed in the common room.
"As briefed, today's exercise is dog fighting. Guns only, No Missiles. Remember, the Hard deck is 5,000 feet. Do not go below it."
"Working as a team, You have to shoot me down. Or else." He laughed,
"Or else what sir?" Payback questioned,
"Or else I shoot back. And if I shoot either one of you, You're both out. So cover your wingman." You could tell Maverick had a cheesy grin on his face by the way he chuckled at the end of that sentence.
"God, who does this guy think he is?" Hangman scoffed, placing his hands on his knees. "You think you could take him, Hangman?" Halo laughed, causing Hangman to smile a little.
"Why don't we put some skin in the game?" Paybacks voice came through once again,
"Well what do you have in mind?"
"First to get shot down has to do 200 pushups." Payback laughed,
"Guys, that's a lot of push ups." Maverick replied.
"They don't call it an exercise for nothing, Sir." Fanboy joined the conversation,
"Then you've got yourselves a deal gentlemen." He laughed once more.
Rooster and Bob groaned at the thought of having to do 200 pushups in the hottest hour of the day, "Too many pushups for you?" Phoenix laughed at Bob who was clearly withering in pain just by thinking about what he would be feeling in his arms the next day.
"Are you kidding? I'd rather die than do 200 pushups!" Bob cried, cradling his head in his hands.
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"So Rooster, mind if I ask you a personal question?" Hangman's voice came in through the radio.
We had all taken many turns flying, the pain in my arms was growing from all the times I'd lost. Bob was laid down on the floor while everyone else either had their own conversations going or they were listening to the ones on the radio.
"Would it matter if I did?" Rooster spoke, catching everyone off guard.
"What's the story with you and Maverick? It seems he's got you rattled." Hangman laughed,
"That's none of your business Bagman. Now where is he?" Rooster scoffed. Everyone in the room exchanged an awkward glance at the conversation the two had, clearly sparking up some interest.
"Yeah guys, does anyone actually know what happened between them?" Coyote whispered as if Bradley was in the room and he didn't want him to hear.
"I don't know but something is definitely off, the tension between them is.. it's quite uncomfortable really.." Phoenix joined, looking out at the sky to where they were out flying.
"What is with these two!?" Hangman's voice came through once again, "Oh shit, what have they done now?" Fanboy and I got up and ran to the window, Rooster and Mavericks planes were quickly spiraling down towards the ground.
"I'm going to kill Bradshaw if he doesn't die now while trying to pull off this stunt."