They Call Me the Coroner | Top Gun: Maverick

Safe Enough

"Bad news, Mav."

His eyes dart to mine from across the room. Papers are strewn about on the table in front of him. He looks stressed in a very nonchalant manner. I have no idea how that's possible, but he seems completely in control, just barely worried. He pats the chair next to him as the first of the aviators make their way to their seats in the adjacent room.

"What's up?"

"According to the rumor, Cyclone has a change of plans to explain."

I glance at the door and practically smell the distain fuming off of the Admiral. His eyes scan the two of us as we stand in his presence.

"Your target, the uranium enrichment plant, will begin working sooner than expected. The raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days."

Mav eyes me and draws his lips into a line.

Cyclone continues, "As a result, your mission has been pushed forward a week to avoid contaminating the target valley with radiation."

"You chose to tell us this now? Right before the next planned session of training?" I squint. I hate it when plans get changed.

Mav puts a hand on my shoulder to quiet me. "Sir, no one here has successfully completed the low-altitude course."

Cyclone raises a brow and smirks smuggly. "Yet...you have been ordered to advance."

He leaves us to look at the aviators in the next room through the door. Mav taps my arm.

"I'm going to need your help. You and me. We got this, right?"

I blink at his intense stare. What he really means is 'you're not going to lose it on me because of your shattered mental state, right?' I nod. "Sure. Yeah we got it."

"No Marty." He whispers.

My nose twitches. Then my eye. If I can't think about my mistakes then he can't let his get in the way either. "No Goose or Rooster."

He nods once.

*****

"We have one week to focus on phase two. The most dangerous part of the mission, a hard dive that requires two miracles in a row."

I eye Maverick as he addresses the aviators. They glance at me as I take the reins.

"To leave the package, two pairs of F-18s will advance to the target, maintaining the attack formation."

"In order for the mission to succeed and for you to survive, it is very important that these planes work in coordination. As. A. Team." Mav drags out the last three words to really stamp the command on their foreheads.

"You may not like who you're flying with." I glance at Hangman. "They may not like you." My eyes flit to Rooster. "But that means nothing. Leave your petty feelings aside." I rap my knuckles on Phoenix's desk, moving around the rest of the aviators like a school teacher checking the tests of her students. "Your ridiculous feelings and trivial arguments mean nothing when people's lives are on the line."

I stop in front of Coyote. "You need to comeplete this mission. But you can't do that without your team. So, anything any of you have against one another, put it aside. We don't have time for that crap."

Maverick nods and tightens his jaw. "As you know, the facility is between two mountains. In the last step...you will go straight into a hard dive."

"This will give you the opportunity to keep the lowest possible altitude and will recognize a single angle of attack." I say, making my way back to Mav's side. "You'll never guess how big the target area is."