automatic stop, bradley bradshaw

thirty-three.

THE NEXT DAY ARRIVED, AND IT WAS TIME FOR SKYE AND KATIA TO REENTER THE DOORS OF TOP GUN. their training two years prior had been an absolute blast, but they were worried about what the new mission would mean. every one of the people called there had been taken from various squadrons. the best of the best.

skye herself had called it a suicide mission. she was fully confident in both her and katia's abilities, of course. but it seemed like this would be the mission someone wouldn't come back from.

she'd tried to keep all of the negative thoughts out of her head as she brushed her teeth, sloshing her mouthwash around her mouth. "who do you think's gonna be teaching?" katia asked next to her, spitting out her own toothpaste. "think they'll bring panther back?"

skye shook her head. "no, i don't think so."

"what makes you say that?"

"i wasn't gonna say anything about it last night in front of rooster because of.. obvious reasons." she said. "but my dad being here doesn't seem like a coincidence."

katia tilted her head. "you think he's gonna teach us?"

skye shrugged. "i think there's a pretty high possibility that he just forgot to mention it last night."

the two women finished their breakfast before putting on their flight suits and heading off to work. they arrived nearly exactly on time, since they were both almost always late, and sped their way into their seats just in time.

"thought you two would never arrive." phoenix said from her seat next to bob.

skye shook her head, sliding into one of the two empty seats in front of rooster as katia took the other one. "beauty sleep, you know?" she joked.

"as if you need it." rooster mumbled so quietly that she thought she misinterpreted him. skye was about to turn and question him when a woman standing to the side cleared her throat.

"attention on deck!"

skye stood with everyone else, fighting the urge to turn to look at rooster. she instead looked at katia out of the corner of her eye, seeing that she was smiling.

admiral warlock moved up to the podium, encouraging everyone to sit back down. skye obliged, giving katia a look that said 'holy shit.' she was so preoccupied in her thoughts that she stopped paying attention to warlock for a moment, looking back up as he caught herself.

"i'm admiral bates." he introduced. "you're all top gun graduates. the elite. the best of the best."

skye smiled at this, looking to see everyone else having equal reactions.

"that was yesterday." warlock continued, and everyone adjusted in their seats awkwardly. "the enemy's new fifth generation fighter has leveled the playing field. details are few, but you can be sure we no longer possess the technological advantage. success, now more than ever, comes down to the man or woman in the box."

hangman turned to phoenix, who flipped him off, before making a similar glance over his shoulder at skye and katia, who both ignored him.

"half of you will make the cut." warlock continued. "one of you will be named mission leader. the other half of you will stay behind on deck for backup."

skye didn't miss the way hangman turned around to look at rooster, and she would've been more upset about it if rooster hadn't easily blown it off as nothing.

"you will be trained by a fellow top gun graduate. his exploits," warlock said, "are legendary. and he's considered to be one of the finest pilots this program has ever produced. what he's going to teach you may very well be the difference between life and death. i give you captain pete mitchell. callsign 'maverick'."