Beyond the Horizon | Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

Part Ten - Impossible Becoming Possible

"Good morning, aviators," came a voice. I look to the classroom door and see Cyclone headed to the front of the classroom, papers in hand. Warlock and Hondo follow shortly behind, and Maverick wasn't even in the classroom at all. Part of me wondered if Admiral Kazansky's death took him to his breaking point. 

"Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor. He's been permanently grounded," Cyclone says. I look over to Phoenix with a concerned face, and she shrugs in response. "And as of today, you have new mission parameters. Time to target is now four minutes. You'll be entering the valley at reduced speed, not to exceed 420 knots."

"Sir, won't that be giving time for enemy planes to intercept?" Bob pipes up in a small voice. 

"Well Lieutenant, you have a fighting chance against enemy aircraft. What are the chances of surviving a head on collision with a mountain? You'll be attacking the target from a higher altitude, level with the north wall. It will be a little harder to keep your laser on target, but you will avoid the high-G climb out." I shake my head, surprised the mission is changing this much.

Before Cyclone can begin speaking again, the screen behind him starts to beep as a small animated airplane begins to follow the course of the valley. A single F-18.

"Who the hell is that?" Cyclone asks. I smirk, having my suspicions as to who it is. 

"Maverick to range control. Entering point Alpha. Confirm green range," Maverick's voice booms through the classroom as Hondo turned on the radio at the back.

"Maverick, range control, green range is confirmed," a voice replies to him suspiciously. "I don't see an event confirmed for you, sir."

"Well, I'm going anyways." 

"Nice," I mutter, I inch my way to the edge of my seat, my smirk growing. 

"Setting time to target, two minutes fifteen seconds." Maverick announces. The time at the bottom of the screen changes.

"2:15, that's impossible," Coyote says in disbelief.

"File attack point, Maverick's inbound." The animated plane flies through the point, signaling the start of Maverick's count down. He makes his way around the valley with complete and utter ease. 

Grunting noises come through the radio as Maverick is tossed from side to side with great force at every turn he makes. 

I lean forward in my seat as Maverick's time reaches 1:25, hoping that he can prove to everyone that this mission is flyable. Especially under the parameters he set.

Maverick's plane reaches the flat zone at the end of valley, marking the end of Phase One. "Popping in 3... 2... 1..." His plane flies perfectly perpendicular to the mountain side before he inverts the plane upon reaching the peak of the first mountain, starting the nose dive towards the makeshift target.

I hold my breath as we see his laser finding it's way to the target. The missile lock tone holds.  "Bombs away," Maverick announces. 

Finally, he initiates the high-G egress of the last mountain. Five seconds left on the count down.

He's going to make it. 

We all stand up as the last five seconds continue to count down. His G-force counter on our screen continues to increase. 8 Gs, 8.5 Gs, 9 Gs, 9.5 Gs, 10 Gs...

The target explodes on our screen.

He executed the run perfectly. 

"Bullseye! Holy shit!" Fanboy exclaims. 

"Damn," is all that Hangman says. Despite his best efforts, even Hangman can't hide how impressed he is by Maverick's impeccable run.

"Hondo, tell Maverick to meet me in my office," Cyclone says as he and Warlock leave the classroom. "Immediately," he adds with a raised tone as he turns out the door and down the hallway.