Salvatore [Top Gun: Maverick]

5

  "Time is your greatest enemy," Maverick said grimly, with a projection of their mission behind him. It was the grand reveal and so far Stella didn't have high hopes.

  "Haven't heard that one before," Stella mumbled to herself which meant unnoticed by the rest of the crew.

  They all listened closely to Maverick as he described possibly the most insane mission Stella had ever heard of. All with the belief they were suppose to be able to complete it successfully. Though it remained unclear whether the pilots coming back home in good shape was apart of the mission's success.

"These SAMS are lethal," the instructor continued, zooming in on the missiles designed to take a F-18 in a single blow.

  "However they are designed to protect the skies above, not the canyon below," Maverick described as if he found a simple shortcut.

  "Cause no one is insane enough to fly through canyon," Rooster interjected.

  He acted as if he just dropped a huge bomb on the old pilot but at the end of the day it would be Rooster flying the impossible course not Maverick. Stella rolled her eyes at his unhelpful comment which Rooster spotted out of the corner of his eye. She didn't care. Nor did he.

  "That's what I'm going to train you to do," Maverick said simply.

  Stella tried to follow Maverick's description of the canyon course. With a max height of a hundred feet with the minimum of six hundred and sixty knots giving them two minutes and thirty seconds to the target, Stella was feeling pretty good about the success of the mission. Just as good as a gazelle being chased by a lion.

Maverick concluded with the same warning of time closing the simulation to the seemingly impossible course. Which was only Phase one of the mission is Stella may add. He gave them a sympathizer smile facing the shocked faces of his students.

  Not that Stella was a cynical person but she was a realistic one. It wasn't just the the sharp turns and maneuvers done in such a low level but it was the chance of the aircraft withstanding the entire pressure. She knew that F-18 were not built for this type of flying. If they did complete the mission there was no way these jets were ever going to ever fly again.

The crew looked at one another in disbelief with certain thoughts lingering in the back of their heads. Those regarding whether being the best didn't mean the same thing as being indestructible. Rooster chewed on his bottom lip and his eyes were unreadable but Stella could've sworn a hint of fear flashing through them. She herself was in no better condition with her knee bouncing and her hands growing slick.

  "Today we're working on the easy stuff. The canyon maneuvers completed in under three minutes with the max ceiling being three hundred feet. See you all on deck," and with that the group went to suit up.

  She wondered if it wasn't too late to drop out now, a coward move. There was a high chance Stella wouldn't even be chosen to go on the mission so was her presence really necessary she wondered. But if that meant the team had to fly with Hangman, she should at least give the route a try.

Sure enough Stella found herself in the cockpit getting ready to enter the canyon. Payback and Coyote were on her left as the pair of keys entered their simulation.

  The speed made it difficult to keep the low level and in control on the jet. But if those four extra years of schooling taught her anything was some basic physics about aircrafts. She led Coyote and Payback through the course keeping up with the clock. Knowing the right amount of speed to apply in order to make the turns without flying up. If she didn't think about the hundred foot ceiling it made the course somewhat easier to navigating. The previous attempts had always ended in failure before even reaching the target. Stella had hope or she was delusional.