"You can do it, Bradley." Emerson whispered to herself as she continued towards the target with Phoenix following behind her.
She heard her boyfriend inhale deeply and let out a slow exhale all before she heard Reuben mutter over comms.
"Jesus, Rooster, not that fast!" The pilot exclaimed and increased his speed to catch up to the single-seater F-18 in front of him.
"That's it, babe, that's it!" The brunette said with a smile before glancing up at the sky.
'Thank you, Uncle Nick.' She thought, knowing full well that her uncle was with her boyfriend in that very moment.
"Alright, let's go." Bradley said.
"Damn, Rooster, take it easy!" Mickey exclaimed, quite surprised at whatever had come over the pilot that made him increase speed so drastically.
"Sir, Dagger Two is re-engaging." The officer onboard the carrier announced.
A smile tugged at the corner of Pete's mouth as he watched the E-2 picture of Bradley's F-18 increase in speed.
"That's it, kid, that's it!" He mumbled also while silently thanking his best friend.
"Alright, now hit your target and come home." Admiral Simpson stated.
"Thirty seconds to target." Emerson announced. "Bob, check your laser."
"Laser is a go, Deathwing." The WSO responded as he readied the laser for target lock.
"Watch your heads!" Bradley's voice echoed over comms, signaling to the brunette that he had just passed the bridge.
"Holy shit!" Mickey exclaimed. "Shit, shit!"
The female pilot couldn't help but release a small scoff of amusement "Sissies." She teased.
"Payback, you with me?" Bradley quizzed.
"Right behind you." Reuben responded.
Knowing that Bradley would soon catch up, the brunette trained her eyes on their fast-approaching climb up the mountain.
"Phoenix, stand-by for pop-up strike." She instructed.
"Dagger Three in position." Natasha responded.
"Popping in three, two, one." The pilot pulled on the joystick and pulled the F-18 up for its first climb, grunting against the g-force.
Reaching the top of the mountain, she quickly inverted the jet to maintain their instructed maximum altitude before she levelled out in their dive towards their target.
"Get me eyes on that target, Bob." Emerson instructed as she glanced down at her HUD.
"Stand-by, Deathwing." Bob replied as he tried to get target lock on the bunker. "Stand-by."
"Come on, Bob." She muttered.
"I've got it!" The WSO announced. "Captured!"
"Target acquired." The brunette announced and pressed the button on her joystick, which released two missiles towards the bunker. "Bombs away."
With a grunt, she jerked the joystick back and pulled the F-18 up for their second-climb up the mountain: Coffin Corner.
Emerson had gone through pulling G's before, every Naval aviator had and they had felt it during their training for the mission, but it was nothing compared to the real thing.
Her father was right, it felt as if an elephant was sitting on her chest, her head pounding as she fought to not lose consciousness.
"We've got impact!" Skye announced with a grunt against the g-force in the steep climb.
"Direct hit!" Bob exclaimed. "Direct hit!"
"Dagger Two, status?" Emerson questioned.
"Almost there, Deathwing, almost there." Bradley replied. "Fanboy, where's my laser?"
"Rooster, there's something wrong with this laser!" Mickey responded. "Shit, deadeye, deadeye, deadeye!"
"Come on, guys, we're running out of time!" Bradley pressed. "Get it online!"
"I'm trying, I'm trying!"
"Come on, Fanboy!"
"Nearly, there." Mickey responded. "Nearly there."
"Come on, Fanboy, get it online." Reuben said to his WSO.
"There's no time, I'm dropping blind." Bradley stated.
"Rooster, I got this." Mickey replied. "I got this."
"There's no time!"
"Rooster, wait!" Reuben exclaimed.
"Bombs away, bombs away!" Bradley said.
"Bullseye, bullseye, bullseye!" The officer announced and the carrier command center had erupted into cheers.
"Miracle number two." Admiral Bates said.
"Now they're in Coffin Corner." Admiral Simpson stated.
Meanwhile, still on stand-by in his F-18, Jake grinned at the announcement and did a little victory dance in his seat.
"We're not out of this yet." Emerson gritted out as they had fast-approached the top of the mountain.
Once the first two pairs of F-18s had made it passed the top of the mountain, alarms had blared throughout the cockpit.
"Here it comes!" The brunette stated as she glanced around at the SAMs that had instantly targeted them.
"Radar warning!" Skye announced, her voice calm and cool. "Smoke in the air!"
"Phoenix, break right!" Emerson instructed.
"Dagger Three defending!" Natasha responded.
"There's another one!" Bob exclaimed.
"Dagger One defending!" Emerson replied. "Siren, deploy the flares."
"Copy!" Skye responded and deployed the F-18s countermeasures, which threw off a few of the enemy SAMs.
"Rooster, status?" Emerson quizzed as she twisted and maneuvered the aircraft in the air, only to hear grunting in response from him, Reuben and Mickey.
Glancing back towards the mountain, she saw their F-18s fly up and soon enough, the enemy SAMs were locked on them.
"Oh my God.." Bradley muttered, noticing that the SAMs were locked on them. "Smoke in the air, smoke in the air!"
"Break right, Payback!" Mickey exclaimed. "Break right!"
"Breaking right!" Reuben announced. "SAMs on your six, Rooster!"
"Deploying countermeasures!" Bradley responded as flares were released from his aircraft. "Negative contact!"
"Dagger One defending!" Emerson stated and twisted the F-18 over an incoming SAM.
"Talk to me, Bob!" Natasha said.
"Break right, Phoenix, break right!" Bob replied. "Nine o'clock! Nine o'clock!"
Emerson and Skye released grunts as they had narrowly avoided enemy SAMs that had collided with each other.
"Shit!" The blonde muttered.
"Rooster, you've got two more on your six!" The brunette exclaimed as she spotted two SAMs tailing after her boyfriend's F-18.
"Dagger Two defending!" Bradley stated, deploying his flares once more and pulled his aircraft towards the right.
"Payback, same on your nose!" Skye stated.
"Tally! Tally!"
"Talk to me Bob!"
"Dagger Two defending!"
"Phoenix, break right!"
The pilots and WSOs voices all echoed over each other as they dodged and defended themselves from being hit by the enemy SAMs.
"Dagger Two defending!" Bradley announced. "Shit, I'm out of flares!"
Emerson's heart raced as she turned to look behind her where she had faced the sight of two SAMs tailing her boyfriend's F-18.
"Rooster, evade!" She exclaimed desperately. "Evade!"
"Come on, Rooster!" Skye muttered, worried about her cousin.
"I can't shake 'em!" Bradley responded.
"Deploy countermeasures, Siren." Emerson instructed and hit the brakes, pulling the jet up into the Cobra Maneuver over Bradley's aircraft as Skye had deployed the flares.
Time seemed to have slowed down but at the same time, it had all happened so quickly.
A loud boom could be heard as an enemy SAM had come into contact with an F-18 despite the efforts to evade both being made.
"Skye, Em, no!" Bradley exclaimed as he watched their F-18 burst into flames before falling apart. "No!"
"Dagger One is hit!" Natasha announced to the carrier. "I repeat, Dagger One is hit! Deathwing and Siren are down."
Pete's heart seemed to have stopped in that moment as he slowly staggered backwards before lowering himself onto his knees.
His daughter and his niece..
They couldn't be.
All while, in his own F-18, a numb-like feeling had come over Jake as he heard Natasha's cry.
Skye was gone..
He didn't even get to apologise for being a complete dick or tell her how he had truly felt about her.
He would never get the chance to tell the youngest daughter of Iceman that she had lured him in like a siren to a sailor, and had captured his heart.
"Dagger One, come in!" Bradley exclaimed in a desperate plea. "Does anyone have eyes on them?"
"I didn't see parachutes." Reuben responded.
"We have to circle back." The tall pilot stated, praying that he wouldn't lose more people in his life - especially the woman he loved.
"Commanche, bandits inbound." The commanche officer announced. "Single group, hot. Recommend dagger fly south. One minute to intercept."
Admiral Simpson remained silent as he had to make one of the most toughest decisions ever. "Get them back to the carrier, now." He announced.
"All Daggers flow to ECP." The officer instructed. "You have bandits heading for you."
"What about Deathwing and Siren?" Bradley questioned.
"Tell him there's nothing he can do for Deathwing and Siren." Admiral Simpson stated. "Not in a goddamn F-18!"
"Dagger Spare, request permission to launch and fly air-cover." Jake's voice echoed over comms, his voice shaky with emotion.
The Admiral shook his head lightly at the officer.
"Negative, Spare."
"Launch search and rescue." Admiral Bates stated.
"Negative." Admiral Simpson replied. "Not with bandits in the air."
"But sir, Deathwing and Siren are still out there!" Hondo stated.
"We are not losing anyone else today!" The Admiral exclaimed.
Pete, now overcome with anger, rose to his feet as he fixed his gaze on the superior officer. "That is my daughter and my niece out there." He gritted out. "My daughter! I'll be damned if I leave either of them there."
With that, the Captain left the command centre.
"Rooster, those bandits are closing." Natasha said, her voice thick with emotion at the thought of leaving her friends behind, even if.. Even if they might have been dead. "We can't go back."
"Rooster, they're gone.." Bob said sympathetically, as he had come to like the best friend duo and considered them his friends.
Bradley remained silent, his thoughts racing at a thousand miles a second. What would he tell Aunt Kara? He couldn't imagine breaking the news to his Aunt that she had lost yet another person she loved; her child, her youngest.
A numbness took over his body. Why was everyone he loved taken away from him?
First his dad, then his mom.. Uncle Tom not too long ago.
Now his baby cousin, who he had thought of as a little sister.
And his Emerson..