Call Back {Top Gun Maverick - Completed}

14: Close Call

"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 informed.

"Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course," Coyote stated what everyone was thinking.

"Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on," Warlock looked at Maverick and stepped off the podium, "Captain."

"We have one week left to focus on phase two. It's the most difficult stage of the mission," Maverick started, "It's a pop-up strike with a steep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles. Two pairs of F-18s will fly in a welded wing formation."

Hennessey glanced back at Evelyn. This mission was about to get a lot harder than they expected. Out of the corner of her eye, Hennessey could see Rebecca staring at her. Hennessey thought nothing of it, the two were going to be paired up for their run of the course later.

"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," Maverick shared. Well it was a good thing that everyone felt more like a team from yesterday's events.

"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. Your target is an impact point less than three meters wide. The two-seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bull's-eye," Mav said.

"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..." Maverick trailed off.

"And destroy the target. That’s miracle number two. If either team misses the target," Mav was almost finished, "The mission is a failure."

"Egress is a steep high-g climb out to avoid hitting this mountain," Maverick explained.

"A steep climb at that speed, you’re pulling at least eight G's," Hangman said.

"Nine, minimum."

"The stress limit of the F-18’s airframe is seven point five," Rooster and Vulture spoke out.

"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 two-thousand 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," Maverick explained, pointing at the board, "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 S.A.M's. You’ve all faced sustained G’s before, but this… This is gonna take you and your aircraft to the breaking point."

"Sir, is this even achievable?" Phoenix asked. Maneater, Marilyn, and Phoenix all had the same slightly worried look on their faces.

"The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box," Maverick finally finished.

The first few groups that had gone up had ended up missing the target, which resulted in an immediate failure. Icarus, Halo, and Omaha had been one of the first groups that failed, but they had landed the missile the closest so far. The current group up was Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote went up.