Anchor ⚓︎ Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

⚓︎ chapter twenty-three ⚓︎

The next day, all the pilots sat in the debriefing room. Every single person knew that there was something more because both admirals were in there with one standing at the front and Maverick off to the side.

"Good morning," Admiral Bates began as he stood at the head of the class.  "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."

Everyone in the room seemed to share a collective confused look.  They all had to be thinking the same but it was Coyote who spoke up.

"Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course," he stated.

"Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on," Admiral Bates told them before turning to where Maverick stood off to the side, patiently waiting.  "Captain."

He made his way back to the front of the room and looked over all of the pilots.  "We have one week left to focus on phase two.  It's the most difficult stage of the mission," he began.  "It's a pop-up strike with a deep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles.  Two pairs of F-18s will fly in a welded wing formation.  Teamwork.  Precise coordination of these aircraft is essential to both the mission's success and your survival."

The giant monitor on the screen showed them an animation of what the mountain looked like as Maverick continued explaining, "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.  Your target is an impact point less than three meters wide.  The two-seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bulls-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."  The monitor showed the bomb being dropped on the target.

"That's miracle number one," Maverick stated.  "The second team will deliver the kill shot and destroy the target.  That's miracle number two.  If either team misses the target, the mission is a failure.  Egress is a steep high G-climb out to avoid hitting this mountain."

"A steep climb at that speed, you're pulling at least eight G's," Hangman stated, causing everyone to glance in his direction.

"Nine, minimum," Maverick told him.

"The stress limit of the F-18's airframe is 7.5," Bradley added.

"That's the accepted limit," Maverick stated.  "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, your skull crushing your spine, your lungs imploding like an elephant's sitting on your chest, fighting everything you have to just keep from blacking out."

The more he explained, the more the pilots glanced at each other, some nervous, some determined.  Hangman felt his stomach tighten with anxiety over the thought of Eleanor being able to know what the aspects of the mission were.  She'd surely have a panic attack, which was the last thing she needed being pregnant.

"And this is where you'll be at your most vulnerable," Maverick continued. "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."  The monitor showed the steep climb out and then the SAMs heading to take out their jets.

"You've all sustained G's before, but this-" Maverick continued, gesturing to the monitor, his tone tight with a hint of worry, "this is gonna take you and your aircraft to the breaking point."