Fight's On (Top Gun: Maverick)

Phase Two.

The next time they were in the classroom, Admiral Bates was stood at the front, with Maverick right beside him. "Good morning. The uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than expected. Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days' time. As a result, your mission has been moved up one week in order to avoid contaminating the target valley with radiation." Warlock announced. "Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course." Coyote informed the superior officer. "Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on. Captain." Warlock stated before letting their instructor take over. "We have one week left to focus on phase two. It's the most difficult part of the mission. It's a pop-up strike with a steep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles. Two pairs of F18s will fly in a welded wing formation. Teamwork. Precise coordination of these aircraft is essential to both the mission's success and your survival. As you know, the plant rests between two mountains. On final approach, you'll invert directly into a steep dive. This allows you to maintain the lowest possible altitude and the only possible attack angle. You target is an impact point less than three meters wide. The two-seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bull's-eye. The first pair will breach the reactor by dropping a laser-guided bomb on an exposed ventilation hatch. This will create an opening for the second pair. That's miracle number one. The second team will deliver the kill shot... And destroy the target. If either team misses the target... The mission is a failure. Egress is a steep high-g climb out to avoid hitting this mountain." Maverick explained as he went through the simulation on the screen. "A steep climb at that speed, you're pulling at least eight g's." Hangman stated as he gestured to the screen. "Nine, minimum." Maverick corrected, making Rooster and Ghost glance at each other. "The stress limit of the F18's airframe is 7.5." Rooster said as he looked back to his instructor. "That's the accepted limit. To survive this mission, you'll pull beyond that, even if it means bending your airframe. You'll be pulling so hard, you'll weigh close to 2,000 pounds, your skull crushing your spine... your lungs imploding like an elephant's sitting on your chest, fighting with everything you have just to keep from blacking out. And this is where you'll be at your most vulnerable. This is coffin corner. Assuming you avoid crashing into this mountain, you'll climb straight up into enemy radar while losing all of your airspeed. Within seconds, you'll be fired upon by enemy SAMS. You've all faced sustained g's before, but this... This is gonna take you and your aircraft to the breaking point." Maverick explained. "Sir, is this even achievable?" Phoenix asked what everyone was thinking. "The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box." Maverick told them. One by one they went through the course and failed. Ghost was up in the air with Phoenix and Bob. "Talk to me, Bob." Phoenix told her back seater. "We are 12 seconds late on target. We gotta move. We gotta move." Bradley informed them. "Copy, Try and stay with guys." Ghost responded before accelerating slightly. "Huh? Wait, who's that?" Bob asked before Maverick's voice came through the comms. "Blue team, you've been spotted." "Shit, it's Maverick." Ghost said. "What the hell is he doing here?" Phoenix asked her wingman. "I'm a bandit on course to intercept. Blue team, what are you gonna do?" Maverick asked. "He's 20 miles left. Ten o'clock. 700 knots closure." Bob told the team. "Phoenix, it's your call. What do you wanna do?" Ghost asked her friend and wingman. "Continue. We're close. Stay on target." Phoenix told the solo pilot. "He's swinging around to the north!" Bob informed them. "Stand by for pop-up." Ghost told her team. "Be ready on that laser, Bob." Phoenix told her back seater. "Copy. I'm on it." Bob responded. "Blue team, bandit is still closing." Maverick stated into the comms. "Popping now." Ghost said before pulling her plane up followed by Phoenix and Bob. "Talk to me, Bob. Where's Maverick?" She asked as they inverted into the dive before flipping the plane back around as Bob replied. "He's five miles out. He's coming fast." "Target's in sight." Phoenix informed the team. "Where's my laser, Bob?" Ghost asked the WSO. "Dead eye! Dead eye! It's no good. Sorry, I can't get a lock." Bob called out. "We're out of time. I'm dropping blind." Ghost stated before firing the missile. "Damn it, missed!" She cursed to herself. They pulled up into the high-g climb before Phoenix's aircraft alerted it's pilot and WSO to the missile lock their instructor had on them. "That's tone." Maverick said. "Maverick's got missile lock on us." Bob told his front seater. "Shit! We're dead." Phoenix grumbled before levelling out her plane followed by Ghost. "Blue team, that's a fail. That's enough for today." Maverick said as he pulled up by the two aircrafts. Something began to hit their aircrafts and Maverick glanced back to his daughter's aircraft calling out, "Bird Strike! Bird Strike! Bird Strike!" "Ghost, your left engines on fire!" Bob told the pilot. "Copy that. Climbing. Throttling back. Shutting off fuel to left engine. Extinguishing fire." Ghost stated as she went through everything she was taught. "Shit! Right engine is out. It's still spinning. Trying to restart it." She stated into the comms. "Ghost it's on fire. Don't start..." Maverick started before Ghost said, "Throttling up." The aircraft began to descend quickly with the engine smoking. "Damn it! Extinguishing right engine." Ghost stated. "Ghost punch out, punch out!" Maverick ordered her. "can't Control it!" Ghost told them. "You can't save it. Eject. Eject!" Maverick told her. "Eject! Eject! Eject!" She stated as she pulled the handle and shit up into the sky, jolting slightly as the parachute opened. Once reaching the ground she ushered into an ambulance and taken back to the base hospital. "They're keeping her overnight for observation. She's gonna be ok." Maverick informed the man sat in the waiting room. Rooster stood and walked closer to him. "That's good." He breathed out. "I've never lost a wingman. Olivia has but not me." He told the older pilot. "You're lucky. Fly long enough, it'll happen. There will be others." Maverick informed him. "That's easy for you to say. No wife. A daughter who can't stand you. Nobody to mourn you when you burn in." Bradley snapped at Maverick. "Go see her." Maverick told the man and watched as his daughter's fiancé walked towards her room. "Why'd you pull our papers at the academy? Why did you stand in our way?" Bradley asked when he stopped and turned to the man. "You weren't ready." Maverick stated. "Ready for what? Huh? Ready to fly like you?" Bradley asked. "No. Ready to forget the book. Trust your instincts. Don't think, just do. You think up there, you're dead. Believe me." Maverick told him. "My dad believed in you. I'm not gonna make that same mistake." Bradley snarled at his future father-in-law before turning back to walk into his fiancé's room only to be stopped when Admiral Bates called Maverick's name. "Maverick!" He watched carefully as the two officers talked before Maverick walked over to him. "You're probably better off telling her." He said once he reached Rooster. "Telling her what?" Bradley asked confused. "Admiral Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky has unfortunately passed on." Maverick stated, his voice breaking as he spoke, before he walked away. Bradley sighed before entering the room. "I'm sorry baby." He said as soon as the door was shut. "What's happened?" she asked as she moved to sit up. "It's your uncle. I'm sorry." He told her softly as she began to cry. It took him an hour to calm her down and she had finally fallen asleep in his arms, only to be woken as the doctor came in to check on her. "Lieutenant Mitchell, how are you feeling?" The doctor asked. "I just got told the man who helped raised me died, doc. How do you think I feel?" Olivia sassed back, making Bradley squeeze her shoulder gently. "Well, Hopefully this will cheer you up a little. We have run some tests on the blood you had taken. Your results came back, and your HCG levels are raised." The doc informed them. "What does that mean?" Bradley asked. "It means that Lieutenant Mitchell is pregnant. We will have to do an ultrasound to find out how far along, but her bloodwork shows us a clear indication that you are expecting." The doctor explained to the two fighter pilots. Bradley looked down at his fiancé in shock as she stared at the doctor. "I'll give you two a minute while I go and find an ultrasound machine." The doctor said before leaving the couple alone. "I'm gonna be a dad. We're gonna be parents." He mumbled to himself as he stood up and began pacing the room while Olivia just stared blankly at the door. "Baby. Talk to me." He said as he moved in front of her. "I'm pregnant." She mumbled. "I know we talked about getting married before trying but... If this is something you don't want right now. I understand, we can try again later." Bradley told her softly as he took her small hands in his. "Do you want this?" She asked him as she looked up at her soon-to-be husband. "I don't care as long as I have you." Bradley told her truthfully. "I want this and more with you, Bradley." She told him. Watching the smile grow on his face as his hands moved to cup her cheeks as he leaned down to kiss her passionately. "God, I love you." He mumbled against her lips. A knock on the door broke them apart as the doctor re-entered the room with an ultrasound technician and another doctor. "Lieutenants' this is Doctor Clarke, she is our resident OB. She will be in charge of pregnancy." The doctor told them. "Hi. Who want's to see this baby?" The woman asked with a bright grin on her face. They sat there and waited as the OB started up the machine and got the picture up of their child. Bradley was gripping Olivia's hand tightly as the OB turned the screen to show them. "Looks like your expecting twins, Lieutenant. From their measurements you are roughly 14 weeks along." Doctor Clarke informed them. Olivia and Bradley looked at the screen shocked. Olivia turned to her fiancé to see his face pale. "You ok, baby?" She asked, receiving a nod in reply as tears began to well up in his eyes. "Now, obviously this brings your line of work into question. I understand you are a Naval aviator. A fighter pilot to be specific." The doctor stated to the young woman. "Yeah." Olivia confirmed as she turned to the doctor. "I will have to notify your Commanding officers but with how far along you are and your line of work..." The doctor started to explain before Olivia asked, "I'm grounded, aren't I?" Doctor Clarke sighed before saying, "I do recommend that you do not fly for the foreseeable future. A pregnancy with twins can be difficult without your line of work, with the high speeds and high altitudes that, that aspect of your job requires will only make it more difficult and could end up with you losing the babies." She explained. "I'll leave you guys to talk." Doctor Clarke stated before handing them the ultrasound pictures and leaving the room.

Within an hour of being released from the hospital, they were all stood to attention in their dress blues at the admiral's funeral. She watched with tears in her eyes as the flag was folded into a perfect triangle and handed to her Aunt Sarah. Her father walked up to the coffin and took off the golden wings attached to his uniform and placed them on the dark wood. He raised his fist and slammed it down, imbedding the pin into the coffin as the last shot was fired. The planes flew overhead and they were soon dismissed from the parade. Bradley walked a few steps behind Olivia as she walked towards the Admiral's widow. "Aunt Sarah." Olivia said, her voice breaking as she gained the attention of the older woman. "Oh Olivia. He was so proud of you." Sarah cried as she pulled the younger woman into a hug. "I'm so sorry." Olivia cried into the woman's shoulder. "It's ok baby. He knew it was his time. The only thing he was mad about was not being there to see you down that aisle." Sarah told her. "He's still here in a way." Oliva stated as she pulled away from her Aunt. "What do you mean, sweetheart?" Sarah asked. "We found out after I was told he was gone." Oliva said as she pulled out the ultrasound picture and handed it to the woman. "Oh Olivia." Sarah cried as she pulled the girl into another hug before motioning for Bradley to join them. The two aviators hugged the woman tightly before they all let go and Sarah turned to the young man. "You take care of them, young man." She told him sternly. "With my life ma'am." Bradley said truthfully. Sarah handed them the picture back and pressed a kiss to both of their cheeks before they left to head back to base.

The next day, they were all sat in the classroom waiting for Maverick to come and tell them what to do. Bradley had made Olivia sit next to him and was gripping her hand tightly as Admiral Simpson walked up the aisle and stood at the podium. "Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor. And as of today, there are new mission parameters. Time to target is now four minutes. You'll be entering the valley level at a reduced speed. Not to exceed 420 knots." Cyclone explained. "Sir, won't we be giving their planes time to intercept?" Bob asked the Admiral. "Well, Lieutenant, you have a fighting chance against enemy aircraft. What are the odds of surviving a head-on collision with a mountain? You'll be attacking the target from a higher altitude, level with the north wall. Gonna be a little harder to keep your lase on target, but you will avoid the high-g climb out." Cyclone informed the fighter pilots. "We'll be sitting ducks for enemy missiles." Fanboy mumbled quietly to Payback. The monitor behind the Admiral beeped causing everyone's attention to be fixed to it. "Who the hell is that?" Cyclone asked as he turned to the screen. "Maverick to range control. Entering point Alpha. Confirm green range." Maverick's voice came through the comms. "Uh, Maverick, range control, uh, green range is confirmed. I don't see an event scheduled for you, sir." Another man's voice came through the comms. "Well, I'm going anyway. Setting time to target: Two minutes fifteen seconds." Maverick stated. "2:15? That's impossible." Payback said. "Not for him." Olivia told them. "Final attack point. Maverick's inbound." Maverick informed range control. The timer started and everyone watched the countdown and the GPS tracking of his aircraft through the canyon simulation. "Popping in three, two, one. Bombs away." Maverick stated. They heard him grunt as he pulled into the high-g climb. "Bullseye! Holy shit!" Someone called out from behind them while Admiral Simpson, Bradley and Olivia all stared at the screen as it beeped red showing that Maverick had reached 10 g's in an F18. Bradley and Olivia were both leaning forward on there desks as they glanced to each other. Bradley could see the smirk growing on his fiancé's lips.