The Bradshaws: A TopGun Maverick Story

~SIX~

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.

Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course. Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on. Captain.

We have one week left to focus on phase two. It's the most difficult stage of the mission. 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. 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. 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.

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. That's miracle number two. If either team misses the target... that's a miss. The mission is a failure. Damn it.

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. Nine, minimum. The stress limit of the F-18's airframe is 7.5. 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.

Sir, is this even achievable?

The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sky split with a thunderous sonic boom, the jet cutting through the air like a blade.

"Talk to me, Bob," Phoenix's voice crackled over the comms, a touch hoarse and dry, the hangover still lingering. Her head throbbed, but she pushed through, hands steady on the controls. "We are twelve seconds late on target."

In the backseat, Bob's eyes flicked over the screens. "We gotta move! We gotta move!"

"I'm on it," Brandy Bradshaw muttered, forcing herself to blink through the pounding ache behind her eyes. Her stomach turned with every sharp maneuver, the previous night's tequila still lingering. "Copy. Try to stay with me."

[Radar beeping]

"Huh? Wait, who's that?"

Down below in the control tower, everyone leaned forward, tension thick in the room.

[Maverick] "Blue team, you've been spotted."

"Shit," Phoenix hissed. "It's Maverick. What the hell is he doing here?"