Phantom // Tom -Iceman- Kazansky

Chapter 5

It was another hop and we were up in the air at the moment.  We were almost half way through training now and I was in third place, which infuriated me more than anything. Maverick didn't deserve second place, he was reckless and dangerous in the air. I couldn't for my life understand why he was in front of me. Yes, I might've lost my last few hops but he wasn't that much better than me. My plan on staying clear of him and Iceman and be at the top, had clearly failed. Iceman hadn't stopped with his comments but I ignored him as much as I could. I refused to let his word affect me and my self-confidence, because that certainly wouldn't help me get to first place.  

I realized that he was just playing a game and I wouldn't let him win.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts I returned to the situation at hand. "Where is Jester?" I asked Dino as I glanced all around me, trying to find him before he found us. It took a while before my RIO answered and I found Jester coming towards us. By now I was tired of getting shot down, tired of losing the competition with Iceman. I had to change some things if I wanted to win and I knew that it was a risk. But it was worth taking because I knew that no one could beat me at my own game.

"How about Ghost Flight?" I asked Dino through the comms.

"Hell yeah!" was the reply. As soon as Jester flew past us I dived right behind some mountains, careful to be over the hard deck. When Jester turned around he wouldn't be able to see us. Ghost flight was our keyword for playing hide and seek basically. From error and failure I had learned exactly how high and low I could fly without being seen. I had discovered how to hide in plain sight and then out of nowhere appear and get a missile lock. That's why my callsign was Phantom.

"Keep an eye on Jester for me, Dino." I said as I maneuvered through the mountains. 

"Ok, it's all clear, you can rise above the skies." Dino told me and I steered the plane towards the clouds. Since Jester was in our channel we used code words to make it harder for him to find us. Now on higher altitude I scanned the air under me, the sun hiding us.

"Jester's 3 o'clock, low!" Dino called in the comms and I nodded before sharply steering towards him. We followed above him as he twisted and turned around, looking for us. I heard him over the channel, wondering where the heck we went.

"I'm diving." I said to Dino and dove at the smaller jet. Since Jester was faster he was a bit ahead of us and as soon as I was on radar I went for the missile lock. It took a few seconds but then the beeping filled the cabin.

"Woah!" I yelled.

"That's how you do it! Good job Phantom!" Dino said behind me as a smile stretched over my lips. Finally! Another win to Phantom. You better watch your back, Icefall!

"Get back to base," Jester grumbled, irritation visible in his voice. With a grin I flew back to base and landed the plane. We hopped out of the plane and high fived and began making our way to the building.

♦♛⭑✦ ☯ ✦⭑♛♦

The class just ended and I stood up. With my notepad and pen in my hands I followed the other pilots to the exit.

"Phantom." Jester suddenly said and I turned around, "Viper wants to see you in his office."

"Yes, sir." I said and followed Dino out of the classroom.

"What do you think he wants?" Hugh asked me.

"No idea." I answered and shrugged. I hadn't done anything wrong exactly and I hoped that it wouldn't take too long since we had a hop in 15 minutes. I told Hugh that I would meet him by the hangar later and hurried towards Viper's office. I hugged my notepad close to my chest and saluted to the commanders and higher authorities as I passed them. Once outside Viper's office I took a deep breath and knocked on his door.