Life has always seemed slightly adrift where Lara had been concerned. Every plan had a fall back, which fell through and kept falling. Somehow, Lt. Lara "lockdown" Mitchell found a way to keep things under lock.
Top Gun: Maverick
HANGMAN
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A coffee was handed to Lockdown, pulling her mind away from the book before her where she had written her training notes.
Lara looked up to find a small smile attached on the face of Hangman, who was waiting for her to accept the offer.
She outstretched and retrieved the cup. "Thank you, a perfect wake up call."
Jake chuckled, before smiling devilishly. "I could think of better ways." He responded before taking his seat as Phoenix, Fanboy, Bob, and Payback approached.
Maverick turned to face the group.
"Time is your greatest enemy." Maverick warned.
"Rooster knows all about that..." joked Lara receiving a couple of chuckles, but Rooster was not entertaining the comment.
"Shut up." He called, clearly unimpressed.
"Phase one of the mission will be a low-level ingress attacking in two-plane teams. You'll fly along this narrow canyon to your target. Radar-guided surface-to-air missiles defend the area." He called as he pointed to the training screen. "These sams, they're lethal-" Maverick was interrupted by his daughter.
"But they were designed to protect the skies above, not the canyon below." She stated, causing Maverick to agree.
"Exactly-"
"That's because the enemy knows no one is insane enough to try and fly below them." Rooster spoke as he interrupted Maverick.
"But 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..." the group listened and watched the screen ahead of them. "Radar will spot you and you're dead." Maverick warned. "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." He warned. "This makes time your greatest adversary." He spoke. "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." He paused as he watched the Pilots before him look on with concern. "So for today's lesson, we're gonna take it easy on you." He called, "Max ceiling: 300 feet. Time to target: Three minutes." Maverick quoted, "Good luck."
"Reckon we got this?" Fanboy asked as the pair climbed into their cruiser. He knew his copilot had this, he was more doubting himself.
"We got this." She responded as she looked her friend dead in the eye, offering the reassurance she knew he was after.
