SIENNA'S POV
I looked out on the ocean, feeling the wind in my hair. I was taking it all in. In 24 hours I would be up in the air, flying a mission, that no living pilot has ever done before. It was that complex. And I was expected to lead it.... to success. Talk about pressure. So I was standing here, on the carrier, with the wind in my hair, just taking it all in before I was risking my life. I sighed loudly and placed my forehead on the railing.
"You are as good as it gets." I heard Admiral Bares say and I looked up and behind me to see him standing just a few feet away from me.
"I knew you would be on this mission, one way or the other." He said and walked up next to me.
"It was always meant for you to be team leader." He said.
"But you gave it to my dad?" I said.
"Yes, knowing that he would give it to you." He said.
"Your dad is a pain in everyone's asses, but, he is darn good pilot." He said and I chuckled.
"And I've seen you grow up. I've also seen him trying with everything he got to be a dad to you. He has messed up, a lot of times but in the end he always comes back. Lieutenant, your dad declined being the team leader, he declined it from the very first day." He said and I furrowed my brows.
"What?" I asked.
"He told me when he was called in that he knew someone who was better for the job, someone we didn't invite." He said.
"You." He said.
"He told me you needed some time but that you would be up in the air before we knew it." He said.
"I hate it when he's right but this time, I'm relieved. No one in the team was a good fit for team leader." He said.
"It was meant to be you." He said.
"I'm very honoured sir." I said.
"No, we are honoured." He said and I smiled softly.
"You've had your bumps on the road, but being an aviator, that is something you've always been and will always be." He said and patted my shoulder before leaving. I looked back out at the ocean and took a deep breath.
"Let's go, lieutenant! Time to pick out your team!" He said loudly and I closed my eyes for a second before I walked back in. I hated to do this.
____________________________
"Your target is a clear and present threat: a secret uranium enrichment site under rogue state control." Admiral Bates said as we were all having our last brief before the mission.
"It's an underground bunker tucked between these two mountains." He said as it was shown on the screen.
"Your route of ingress is heavily defended by surface to air missiles, backed up by fifth generation fighters. Once your F18 strike team crosses the border, Tomahawk missiles from the USS Leyte Gulf will be launched in a synchronised strike on the enemy's airfield.... here." He said and pointed on the map on the screen.
"The moment those Tomahawks hit, the enemy will know you're coming. Your time to target will be, two minutes and thirty seconds. Any longer than that and you will be exposed to any aircraft the Tomahawks may have missed." He said. Fuck me. He then looked over at me. Fuck me even harder. This is insane.
"Lieutenant Mitchell, select your two Foxtrots." He said and I sighed as I looked out on everyone.
"Payback and Fanboy." I said and they did a quiet fist bump. I looked over at the empty seat where Phoenix would've been.
"Sir, may I select someone who isn't usually on a Foxtrot team but had been before and are extremely qualified?" I asked and he sighed.
"Who, Lieutenant?" He asked.
"Bob and Maverick." I said and looked over at my dad who looked extremely shocked. I looked over at Admiral Bates who nodded as an acceptance of my suggestion.
"Thank you, sir." I said and looked back over at my dad who smiled softly. I then looked over at Bob who looked like he was about to shit himself.
"And your wingman?" He asked and I looked over at Hangman who stood there straight with a smug smile. I looked over at Bradley who looked away.
"Rooster." I said and he looked up at me with a surprised look.
"The rest of you will stand by on the carrier in reserve." Admiral Bates said.
"You are all dismissed." He then said and everyone left.
"Hangman." I said and he turned around.
"You don't need to explain, I understand. He puts the team first, I didn't demonstrate that. He's your guy, I'll stand by and come to your rescue when you fuck up." He said and I chuckled.
"Sounds good." I said and he smiled softly.
"Why did you choose me?" I heard dad ask and I turned around.
"Does it matter?" I asked and he chuckled.
"I was just curious. I thought you hated my guts." He said.
"I'm coming around." I said and he smiled as I walked away. I walked out of the classroom. As I closed the door behind me I sighed loudly.
"You." I heard Bradley say and I looked up to see him smiling widely.
"You really surprise me, Sienna Mitchell." He said and walked up to me and picked me up and spun me around.
"I didn't want to pick you." I said and he put me down.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I didn't want to pick you, I had to." I said and his smile faded away.
"Do you think I want you up there? Knowing how dangerous it is! I didn't want to pick you, but I couldn't have Hangman flying up there knowing he wouldn't put the team first." I said firmly.
"You didn't want to pick me." He said and I shook my head.
"No." I said and crossed my arms.
"Because now I don't know that I will have you, to come home to." I said and looked down at the floor.
"Both of us will come home." He said.
"It just would've been easier to know that you were safe here." I said and he placed his finger underneath my chin and gently pulled it up so I was looking at him again.
"Nothing about the Navy or Top Gun is safe, we all know that. But we can do this, I know we can. And we will come home." He said.
"And we will buy a house." He said and I smiled softly.
"And get a dog." He added and I chuckled softly.
"We will come home." He said and pressed his lips softly on mine.
"Ever had sex on a carrier?" He bluntly asked and I laughed.
"Fuck off." I said and he laughed and dove into my neck with kisses making me laugh even more. He took my hand, twirled me around before we walked hands intertwined back to the sleeping corners. He closed the door behind me and hugged me from behind as he kissed my neck softly.
"Fanboy and Payback are in the room next to us." I said with a smile.
"So?" He asked, kept kissing me softly on my neck.
"So, they will hear us." I said.
"Don't be so loud then." He whispered and I blushed. Cheeky mothafucker. I turned around and our lips met and moved in a heated sync. He gently moved me backwards and I laid down on the bed and he crawled on top of me. He smirked as he placed his lips on mine and his hands traveled underneath my shirt.
"Not now! You horny sons of bitches!" Fanboy shouted and banged the wall making us laugh. Bradley laid down next to me and looked over at me.
"Told you." I said and he chuckled.
______________________________
I looked myself in the mirror, made sure my low bun was tight enough. I zipped up and buttoned my flight suit. Showtime.
I walked out on the carrier with my helmet under my arm to the rumble of engines.
"Sienna!" I heard dad say and I turned around.
"Good luck out there, be safe." He said and I nodded.
"You too, pops. Please come home." I said and he smiled softly and without thinking twice he brought me in for a tight hug and I hugged him back just as tightly. We pulled away and he smiled softly.
"Okay, let's do this." He said and I nodded with a small smile. I walked over to my aircraft.
"Sienna." I heard Bradley say and I looked over and he walked up to me.
"No foolishness now, we do what we need to do and then we go home. Okay?" He asked as he placed his hand on my jaw.
"No foolishness, got it." I said and he smiled softly.
"And there's one more thing." He said and I could see that he got a little nervous. He looked away but then looked back at me and smiled.
"What?" I asked.
"I love you." He said and my heart dropped.
"I love you." He said again with a wide smile.
"I am so embarrassingly in love with you, it's ridiculous really. Only known you for a short amount of time, but I knew, from that first night in the bar, I knew. I knew that I was going to fall in love with you." He said and I smiled softly.
"And I needed you to know that, so when you are thinking about doing something Maverick style, you will think about the fact that I love you and need you to come home safely." He said and I looked down on the ground and then back up at him again and cheekily smirked at him.
"Bradley Bradshaw, I like spending time with you." I said joking to give him a little heart attack but right after I just smiled widely and he understood I was just playing with him.
"You! You are gonna pay for that one." He said and brought me in for a hug as we both laughed.
"I love you too." I said as we pulled away and he smiled widely and then gently put his lips on mine as they moved in sync.
"Now let's go get them rascals." He said and I laughed. He kissed me one last time before walking over to his aircraft. I took the ladder up and sat down. I took a deep breath before placing my helmet on.
"Dagger one, comms check." I said.
"Dagger two, up and ready." Dad said in the radio.
"Dagger three, ready to go." Bradley said.
"Dagger four, ready for you, Shark." Payback said and I chuckled. The canopy lowered down over my head and I put on my mask as it was getting close to take off.
The catapult officer signals it was time and Bradley and I started the engines. We saluted the officer and the final check crews gave us a thumbs up that the aircrafts were ready for takeoff. I looked over at Bradley who blew a kiss and I caught it making him do a thumbs up.
Our jets blitzed across the deck and up in the air. It was no turning back now. A few moments later the two last planes launched.
"Comanche, Dagger 1 stand by check in." I said.
"Picture clean, recommend Dagger continue." Comms said.
"Copy, Daggers descending below radar." I said and we descended to 100 feet.
"Here we go." I said as we were getting close.
"Enemy territory up ahead. Feet dry in 60 seconds. Comanche, Dagger 1. Picture." I said.
"Comanche, picture is clean. Decision is yours." Comms said and I breathed heavily. I needed to focus.
"Copy." I said.
"Dagger attack." I said. And I knew they launched the Tomahawk missiles. They roared over our heads making us all react.
"No turning back now." I said.
"Daggers, assume attack formation." I said and they all flew behind me as a pair of steps.
"Dagger is set, proceeding to target." I said.
"Two minutes and thirty seconds in three, two, one, mark." I said as the clock started ticking.
"Two mark." Bradley said.
"Three mark." Phoenix said.
"Four mark." Payback said.
"Let's do this." I mumbled and turned the plane sideways into the valley. The turns were sharper than what I had predicted. They were harder to navigate through, it took more out of my body and energy.
"First SAM sight overhead." I said as I looked up. Jesus Christ, those bad boys weren't to play with.
"Looks like we're clear on the radar." Bob said.
"Don't take it for granted, Bob." I said.
"More SAMs, 3 o'clock high." Bradley said and we all looked up.
"You with me, Maverick?" I asked as we roared through the canyon, the Gs were getting higher due to the high speed and sharp turns.
"Don't have to wait for me, Shark." He said and I let out a chuckle.
"Two minutes to target." Bob said.
"We're two seconds behind, Rooster, we got to move." Fanboy said.
"We're picking up two bandits." Comms said.
"What's their heading?" Dad asked.
"Bullseye, 09,050, tacked southwest." Comms said.
"They're headed away from us. They don't know we're here." Bradley said.
"The second the Tomahawks hits those bandits are gonna move to defend the target." I said.
"We have to get there before they do, increase speed." I said and pushed the stick forward.
"We got you." Dad said tagging along with the new increased speed.
"Impact! Enemy runway destroyed." They said and I smiled. Bullseye.
"Bandits changing course, moving to defend the target." Comms said and I sighed.
"Rooster, where are yah?" I asked as I noticed they had fallen behind.
"C'mon Rooster. Bandits inbound. We gotta make up time now. Let's turn and burn!" Fanboy said and I let out a small chuckle.
"Heads up, Mav." I said as a bridge came up head and I turned my aircraft to side to fit in between.
"Guys, we are falling behind, we really gotta move!" Fanboy said.
"If we don't increase our speed right now those bandits are gonna be waiting for us when we reach the targets." Payback said and I sighed.
"C'mon, Bradley. Don't think, just do." I mumbled.
"Bob, do you have a visual on Rooster?" I asked.
"Negative." Bob said.
"Fuck." I mumbled.
"One minute to target." Bob said.
"Jesus, Rooster, not that fast." We heard Fanboy say and I could finally take a breath of relief.
"All right, let's go!" He said and I chuckled.
"Thirty seconds to target, Bob, check your laser." I said.
"Air-to-ground check complete. Laser code verified, 1688. Laser is to go." Bob said as we were preparing to hit the target.
"Maverick, stand by for pop-up strike." I said.
"Dagger 3 in position." He said and I took a deep breath.
"Popping in three, two, one." I said and pulled pack the stick as an extreme g climb was in front of us.
I was breathing heavily as I rolled into inverted at the top and dove down the valley. I rolled back.
"Get me eyes on that target, Bob." I said as the target were right ahead of us.
"Dagger three, stand by Shark." Bob said.
"C'mon Bob. Come on." I mumbled.
"Stand by." He said.
"I've got it! Captured." He said and I sighed in relief.
"Target acquired. Bombs away." I said as I released the bombs.
"Let's deliver this goddamn mail and get back to the post office." I said and I could hear them chuckle.
I snapped the safety paddle on my stick and pulled it back as far as I could heading towards coffin corner.
"IMPACT! IMPACT! Direct hit! Direct hit!" Bob said as the bombs hit the target.
"Yes!" I said happily and then it was time for coffin corner. Keep focus, Sienna. We can't get in the SAMs radar.
"Dagger two, status." I said.
"Almost there, almost there." Bradley said.
"Fanboy, where is my laser?" Bradley asked.
"Something is wrong with the laser!" Fanboy said. Fucking hell.
As Fanboy were sorting out the laser with Payback and Rooster panicking on him, I watched the little red number go higher and higher, it was popping up to 9.4Gs, 9.5Gs, 9.6Gs. The pressure was enormous.
"I'm dropping blind." I heard Bradley said. Fuck.
"ROOSTER, WAIT!" Fanboy shouted.
"Bombs away! Bombs away!" Bradley said, piece of shit, dropping blind! Dumbass.
"Bullseye! Bullseye! Bullseye!" Bob said and I smiled widely. Yes. That's my boy.
"We're not out of this yet." I said as we passed coffin corner.
"Here it comes!" I said as the radar was buzzing and I could see the SAMs targeting us.
"Radar warning! Smoke in the air. Maverick, break right!" I said as I looked back and saw the missiles coming right at us.
It was time to fly for my life.