A loud huff leaves Stalker as she sits herself down opposite me, her tray of food clattering against the metal table loudly, causing other staff to send us confused and disgruntled looks. At her odd behaviour, I raise an eyebrow, glancing at Maverick questioningly, to which he responds with a brief shake of the head.
"What's up?" Hawk greets her from his place beside Maverick, just as confused as we are.
"Jolt's being an ass again." She growls in frustration, picking at the sandwich on her plate, "He really gets on my nerves."
"What did he do this time?" I inquire, rolling my eyes a little at the familiar reason behind her irritable mood.
"The same as always, critisizing me for being friends with you guys. I don't know what his problem is, I really don't, but he knows exactly how to get under my skin." The pilot explains, looking at us almost apologetically even though she has nothing to apologise for.
"Well, it's not up to him who you are friends with, so he can take his nose out of your business." Merlin points out from beside her, a frown etched on his face.
"I wish he'd take that advice." Stalker grumbles, before digging into her food, barely registering as a member of ground staff charges in through the doors, racing over to us in urgency.
Surprised and confused, we all watch as he skids to a halt near us, trying to catch his breath before speaking.
"The eight of you are needed on the runway as soon as possible." He reports, sweat coating his brow as he looks over us, only just realising there are only five of us at the table, "Where are the rest of you?"
"Iceman and Slider are in their bunk room, and I have no idea where Jolt is." Maverick responds, shrugging his shoulders as he goes to stand, taking his tray with him. Groaning, the staff member quickly looks around at the other people in the room, trying to discern if the missing RIO is present. As we get up, we move past him, only to be pushed out of the way as he runs back out into the corridor, heading towards the bunk rooms, obviously expecting to find all three of the needed aviators in that area. Together, the rest of us head over to the changing rooms, where we swiftly get into flight gear, going out onto the runway to receive instructions from someone, most likely a commander.
Sure enough, a tall man in commander's uniform makes his way over to us as soon as we get into a line, his face lined with worry and concern, hair messy and disheveled from where he's most likely run his hands through it. He doesn't even stop to make sure we're all present, starting his commands immediately.
"Just north of here, a few patrolling pilots have been ambushed by an escort of seven enemy jets, and have been shot down. They are alive, but we need help clearing the range, so that is where you come in." He looks over our suddenly surprised faces, all of us shocked by what we've heard,"You are to take them out, even if they retreat - they fired upon your comrades as they were doing so, waiting for backup before defending themselves."
Saluting him, we swiftly confirm we've understood, waiting for him to gesture us forwards, quickly running over to our jets, most of is climbing up, Stalker remaining outside hers, jittering nervously on the spot as she waits for Jolt to appear. As Hawk and I buckle up, hands shaking in anticipation, we glance up to check the changing room doors, only just registering as Iceman and Slider burst through them, obviously having heard the instructions and situation themselves, both aviators racing to their jet as quickly as possible. I pull on my helmet, switching on the engines as I do so, enjoying the feeling of the aircraft vibrating beneath me, even if my mind is dead set on one thing: not getting shot down by the enemy.
"Quicksilver, please take up your place on the runway, you are to take off first." The tower officer orders through the mics, rolling off further instructions to the others to follow as I taxi the jet into position.
"Ready, Hawk?" I call back to the RIO, taking in his swift reply before throwing the aircraft forwards, bracing myself for the sudden change in pressure as we hurtle off the edge of the carrier, wincing as it presses me violently against the seat.
Instantly, I steer the jet towards the designated coordinates, making sure the missiles are ready to fire as I do so, increasing the speed in order to get there as quickly as possible. Soon enough, the familiar dots appear on the radar, as well as two behind me, signalling the approach of Maverick and Merlin, as well as Iceman and Slider, as their voices confirm seconds later.
"We're ready."
"So are we."
"Let's go, then. I'll go in from the front, you two get the sides." I respond, slowing the jet a little to avoid being surprised by any oncoming bogeys.
"Copy." They both reply, their planes moving off accordingly, soon disappearing into the cloudy landscape.
"You see them yet?" I question Hawk, casting my eyes around the skies briefly as I concentrate on nearing the dots on the radar.
"Nope, not yet...actually, there's one dead ahead." The RIO reports, my own gaze quickly finding the corresponding bogey.
"Ok, got it." I bite back, my heart rate picking up again at the anticipation of a dogfight.
Nimbly, I fly the jet into position just above the unsuspecting enemy, starting to take aim with the missile lock. Just as it finally locks into place, the bogey dips out of range, the pilot finally noticing me, starting to lead me on into a tight chase. Growling in frustration, I pursue them, following their every move as accurately as possible, wincing as the pressure pushes me into my seat uncomfortably, my eyes watering at a particularly tight spiralling turn.
"Hey, Quicksilver, we have someone on our tail." Hawk informs me after a while, my attention briefly turning to the bogey pursuing me, a curse escaping my lips. Immediately, I try to avoid their range whilst staying in the chase with the other, my movements becoming more erratic and unpredictable as I do so.
"How the hell am I supposed to do this?!" I protest to myself, trying to think on my feet as the situation progresses. As I wrack my mind for a solution, a bit of light relief comes through the mics as Maverick reports the destruction of one of the other bogeys.
"One down."
"Can we get some help over here? We're being chased." Hawk requests, letting out a yelp of surprise as I turn into a sharp dive, following the jet into the dangerous flight path. As I do so however, the enemy jet falls right into my range, the missile lock beeping loudly as it locks on. A grim smile crosses my lips under my face mask, taking the chance I'm given and releasing the missile.
As it hits, I sharply twist out of the way, Hawk reporting the explosion as we go, my chaser still following me.
"Hey, where do you guys need us?" Stalker's familiar voice inquires through the mics, her jet appearing on the radar as she closes in.
"Can you get this bogey off our tail?" I ask her, relief flooding through me as she agrees, the dark shape of her jet dropping in behind our pursuer, just as Iceman reports another one down.
"Can you keep them level for the minute? I almost have them." Stalker informs us, voice strained.
"Sure." I reply, gritting my teeth as I risk being caught on missile lock, the enemy bogey mistakenly following on, falling into the trap, only to be blown up seconds later by Stalker's missile.
"Ok, another one down, that's three in total." I comment over the mics, guiding the jet towards the other dots on the radar.
"Make that four." Slider corrects.
"The other three are over here, we should be able to get them quickly enough." Merlin informs us, Maverick agreeing seconds later.
"On our way." Hawk says, wriggling in his seat to check the surroundings.
A minute or two later, we come into range of the remaining jets, circling them until we come to a suitable conclusion regarding our strategy. As we do so, one of the jets tries to flee, Iceman swiftly giving chase, Stalker following as backup, leaving Maverick and I to clean up the rest.
"I've got an idea." Maverick suddenly says over the mics, his dot moving away from mine as he goes to the east of me.
"Go on."
"I'm gonna fly out of range, as if I'm retreating. Can you bait them out? I'll get them once you've led them on a bit."
"Sure, I'll do that." I smile at his words, the strategy reminding me a lot of the one deployed by the most recent bogeys.
In response to his request, I edge closer to them, watching out of the corner of my eye as Maverick and Merlin retreat from view, their jet leaving our range very quickly. Almost instantly, the two bogeys turn their attention to me, falling into formation behind me as I start to enter a series of dives and climbs, spiralling and twisting as much as possible, dizziness starting to creep up onto me until I hear Merlin call to us through the mics.
"Hey, we're back. Just keep them behind you." Even as he says this, the sound of an explosion sounds behind me, one of the bogeys going up in flames as Maverick fires at them.
The remaining bogey starts to falter in its pace, the pilot clearly realising they are outnumbered, their jet edging away from us in way of retreat. Unfortunately for them, Maverick soon catches them out, their jet exploding into a burst of fire and scattering debris, the carcass falling to the ocean below us, the bodies inside lost to the depths.
"Ok, two are down." Maverick informs Iceman and Slider, waiting for their response.
"Nope, all of them are down. We can return home." Slider replies voice triumphant from the hard-won dogfight.
"Oh, thank god." Stalker laughs in relief, Jolt's deep voice sighing in exasperation seconds later.
"Let's go home." Hawk returns, chuckling as I swiftly bank the jet around, heading towards base, happy to have completed the task successfully.