Legacies •Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw•

Chapter 5

"Did you get in trouble again?" Silver asked as Lani met him on the tarmac. "With Uncle P? Nah, never," she replied as she nudges him on the shoulder. "You seem... happy?" Xavier remarked with a raised eyebrow. "You make that sound like it's a bad thing, X," Lani said. "With you... sometimes it is," he added as he noticed Winter and Rooster staring at each other from across the tarmac. Lani did a little finger wave with a smile while Bradley simply put his aviators on. "Oh great, what do you have planned?" X said. "Hmm, me? Oh, nothing," she responded with an innocent smile. "I don't like that look Wint," he sighed. Winter shrugged, "it's the only one I got."

Everyone first ran the stimulations solo, no wingman. Mostly to get adjusted to the course they were expected to successfully fly. It was no easy route, everyone struggled with the course, including Winter and Silver. Some did a little better than others, but everyone was having a hard time with it all the way around. Once Lani and Xavier finished the course, X puked the second he got out of the plane. Lani scrunched her face up as she watched her RIO puke out his guts before gently patting him on the back. "You're ok, you're ok," she repeated to him. "Says the one that's not puking," he responded with a cough before wiping his mouth. "At least you didn't puke on the jet," Lani added. "Classic Silver never had a strong stomach I suppose," Hangman said as he walked up to the two. "Well, if it isn't Bagman," Xavier added as he crossed his arms. "Hangman," Jake corrected. "I think I like Trashman better, I don't know what you think X?" Lani said as she leaned against her friend's shoulder with a smile. "Kazansky, living up to the family name huh?" Hangman said once he saw her come into view. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow. "Oh, nothing bad, no. Just that with someone of your skill should be flying solo. Not with the likes of him. He is distracting, I would know," Jake said. Silver stepped forward but Winter grabbed his arm, "he isn't your trash to take out, X. Come on let's go," she said as she pulled him away, while Jake stood there with his stupid grin.

After just the first course, everyone was wondering if this mission was even possible. Maverick called everyone back to the classroom for another short briefing. "So, now that you are all familiar with what this course consists of. Time to run the real thing. We're gonna take it easy on you. Max ceiling: 300 feet. Time to target: three minutes," Maverick informed. Everyone looked around at each other in disbelief. How was that supposed to be easy? Winter's thoughts went into a spiral, she had flown difficult missions before. It used to be with a team but after her accident, she flew all her missions solo, as much as she could at least, most of the time she did, however, have a wingman. She was now realizing that she would have to fly this mission with a team, and she wasn't sure if she could do that. Lani was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Rooster's voice calling her name, "Kazansky?" Bradley had said a little louder before she snapped out of it and looked up at him. "What?" She asked. "You, okay?" He said with furrowed brows, there was a hint of concern in his voice. "I'm fine," she said as she got up from her seat. "You look like you just saw a ghost," Bradley added. "I'm fine, Bradshaw, not like you care. Let's just fly this stupid thing already," she said as she shook her head and went to the waiting room.

They were going to be flying this sequence in pairs. After every sequence, they were called back to the room to reflect on how their training went. First up were Coyote, Pheonix, and Bob. It seemed to be going well until Coyote stopped without warning his wingman, forcing Pheonix to break the ceiling, which meant a SAM took them out. Next was Hangman, Payback, and Fanboy, which didn't go any better than the last sequence. "Hangman, ease up. The canyon's getting tighter," Payback informed as everyone listened over the radio. "Negative, Payback. Increase your speed," is all Hangman said before leaving his wingman. "He is reckless," Rooster said with a sigh. "Well, at least he isn't wasting any time," Winter responded. Bradley looked back at her, "of course, you would defend him."