Heart of Steel: B. Bradshaw

Five: Explanation

Steely's butt was growing numb as she shifted in her chair. Her eyes drifted back and forth between the front of the room and over her shoulder to the rest of the pilots around her. Once again they were waiting for Maverick to arrive, being on time wasn't his specialty. Her head was throbbing and her sun glasses stayed firmly on her face.

Omaha teased her relentlessly this morning over her growing hangover. She really needed to dial back the dirty shirley's when she had to be here the next day. She hasn't always been the best about remembering exactly how she would feel the next day and always swore she wouldn't end up like this, obviously it never worked.

Finally after what seemed like 15 minutes Maverick waltzed into the room and stood in front of a huge screen. The screen changed to show a diagram of their mission.

"Time is your greatest enemy. Phase one of the mission will be a low-level ingress attacking in two-plane teams," He turned to face the screen as it changed once more showing a closer view of the course.

"You'll fly along this narrow canyon to your target. Radar-guided surface-to-air missiles defend the area. These SAMS, they're lethal.But they were designed to protect the skies above, not the canyon below." A plane followed a dotted course through the canyon while staying well below the red line.

Steely's eyes followed the plane as it flew the course. Her mind was reeling with all the effort it would take to accomplish this. She was excited and they hadn't even gotten to phase two.

"That's because the enemy knows no one is insane enough to try and fly below them."

She heard Roosters voice from behind her and turned to look at him. He found her eyes quickly and winked at her before turning back to face the front. She shook her head slightly and mumbled under her breath "stupid cocky flyboy."

"That's exactly what I'm gonna train you to do. On the day, your altitude will be 100 feet maximum. You exceed this altitude, radar will spot you and you're dead."

A loud beeping noise filled the room as the screen displayed the plane breaking the altitude and being hit by one of the SAMs.

"Your airspeed will be 660 knots minimum.Time to target: Two and a half minutes. That's because fifth-generation fighters wait at an air base nearby.In a head-to-head with these planes in your f-18s, you're dead. That's why you need to get in, hit your target and be gone before these planes even have a chance of catching you."

"This makes time your greatest adversary. You'll fly a route in your nav system that simulates the canyon. The faster you navigate this canyon, the harder it'll be to stay under the radar of these enemy sams. The tighter the turns, the more intensely the force of gravity on your body multiplies. Compressing your lungs...Forcing the blood from your brain...Impairing your judgment and reaction time."

Steely's body tensed as she listened to Maverick explain phase two. Her body reacted with the coming pressure and pure skill it would take to successfully fly this mission. Now, she was a little nervous but Maverick continued speaking.

"So for today's lesson, we're gonna take it easy on you. Max ceiling: 300 feet. Time to target: Three minutes. Good luck."

Everyone looked around the room at each other, eyes wide and mouths drawn tight. They slowly made their way out the door and towards another room where they would all wait their turn. Each pilot clutched their helmet closer and waited for their name to be called. Teams were made and the training day started quickly.

As Steely waited for her turn she listened to the people before her. She paid attention to all the positive and negatives they did in order to give herself a better understanding of what she needed to do while she was up there.