automatic stop, bradley bradshaw

twenty-eight.

AFTER HER CONVERSATION WITH ROOSTER, SKYE WAS GEARING UP AND CLIMBING INTO HER PLANE. she and katia bumped their helmets, which matched in paint scheme, together before putting them on and strapping into their seats. "baby's first mission, huh?" skye joked, knowing that this was more intense than the missions they'd flown with their previous squadron.

she looked around at the aircraft carrier, trying to memorize the way everyone moved around it as if it was the last time she'd ever take off of one. she then noticed that hangman was the one joining them in the air, and that rooster was staying as backup, and she shook her head before refocusing. 

"mystic one, ready for takeoff." skye said after she and katia had closed their canopy.

they waited for their orders before giving a salute and taking off over the indian ocean, heading to aide the other ship. "mystic one," a man on the comms said, "you've got a pair of bogies, 12 o'clock, 15 miles."

katia nodded, seeing them show up on her radar. "mystic one, 090 radar contact 15 miles. they're doing 500 knots."

"roger, that's your bogey." the man replied. 

"we're a little close together." skye said to hangman after a moment of hovering. "let's take a wider split."

"they're at 15,000 feet now, dead ahead, ten miles." katia said, watching as the unidentified plane moved. "air speed is still increasing. eight hundred knots. dead ahead, now, 8 miles."

skye looked around for it. "hangman, you got 'em?"

he shook his head. "not yet, I can't see them."

"they must be close," skye replied, "keep your eye on it."  they kept moving for a bit before the other planes began to hover next to them. "okay, i'm taking the lead. let's identify them." she said.

hangman nodded. "roger, riot, you got the lead. i'm on your left side, a little low."

"he's driftin' left." skye mumbled. 

"still maneuvering, course 090." katia added.

hangman looked to the side. "let's bring it to the right, and we'll get a better angle on them." 

skye shifted to the right, stopping when katia cleared her thought. "uh, ri, we got a problem here." she said. "now i'm seeing four aircraft on the radar."

"two pairs?" skye asked. 

katia nodded. "not one pair, two pair. four bogies."

skye groaned. "shit." 

the radar beeped again. "okay, make that five!"

"five?" skye questioned. "shit!" 

"they're on me, they're on me." hangman said as one of the planes moved to attempt to target him. he managed to swerve out of the way in time, but he and skye were now attempting to dodge their missiles. "we're gonna need backup."

"rooster is airborne." rooster said only seconds later. 

skye let out a sigh of relief. "thank god." 

"riot, what's your position?" he asked.

"090 at 180 miIes." she replied.

"yeah, we're coming in left!" katia added.

skye began to shift her plane through the sky, trying to outrun the other planes. "three of 'em, dead ahead, coming down the left side." she announced. "i'm going after them. i'm bringing it around to the left."

"we got four on our tail!" katia said. 

"that makes six of these bad boys." skye added, hearing katia shift around in her seat behind her. 

"he's firing!" katia warned. "break right!"

 skye spun and managed to avoid getting hit. "this is mystic one, we are totally defensive."

"i'll be there in 30 seconds." rooster replied.

this made her almost want to laugh. "move your ass! we needed you here yesterday!" skye released a set of flares, gaining altitude in an attempt to get away from one of them. "i can't shake these guys. can any of them chase you, hangman?"