Red Bull

nine

BOB AND I WERE TALKING about the most random things, but after we made up with each other, we had become closer. I could even say that we were friends now.

"Wait, wait, wait, so you're saying Dr. Strange should've just switched the spell to make everyone forget about Mysterio revealing Spider-Man's identity?" Bob said, considering my argument.

"Yes! If he could make everyone forget Peter Parker, Dr. Strange could've made everyone forget about Mysterio, who caused the whole problem in the first place." I explained, moving my hands to enunciate my point.

Bob disagreed, "Then Spider-Man wouldn't have gone through the character development he needed to go through to grow as a hero!"

"He already lost his parents, Uncle Ben, and Tony Stark, did he really need to lose Aunt May, MJ, and Ned?" I asked, "Hasn't he suffered enough? He's just a teenager."

"But he's Spider-Man, besides this gives him a fresh start to help him figure out the hero he wants to be versus the hero he needs to be."

"Well I just think that—"

Admiral Bates cleared his throat, and we both turned to the front of the room, the class instantly silencing.

Maverick was standing behind him, looking exhausted as ever. And maybe a littler nervous.

"We've received more intel that the uranium enrichment plant, is be operational earlier than we initially thought. Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in almost 10 days time. Which is why, as a result, your mission has been moved up by one week." Warlock revealed.

Only one more week to train? Me and Bob were still working out the kinks between us, how would we be ready in only one week?

Bob suddenly puts his hand on my knee, stopping my leg from tapping. I hadn't even known I was nervously bouncing it.

I looked up, slightly red from his touch. Thank you, I mouthed to him.

Coyote speaks up, "Sir, no one here has successfully completed the low level course."

"Your orders are to move on." Admiral Bates reintroduces, "Captain Mitchell."

Warlock then promptly leaves.

Maverick looked at us, like really looked at us. It looked like he was taking a mental picture, and if he lost just one of us, he'd take it personally. He was not a stranger to loss.

"We have one week left to focus on Phase 2. It's the most difficult and crucial part of the mission. It's a pop up strike with a deep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles." He says, holding up two fingers as he says this. "Two pairs of F-18s will fly in a column formation. Teamwork and precise coordination is essential to the mission success, and your survival."

Maverick continued, and an icon appeared on the monitor, mapping our entire mission.

The uranium plant.

"As you know, the plant rests between the mountains. On a final approach, you'll invert directly into a steep drive. This allows you to fly down the mountain at the lowest altitude and the only possible attack angle."

It shows in 3 dimensional images the stunts we are about to pull. It then zooms in on the top of the uranium plant, showing what we're trying to explode.

"Your target, is an impact point less than 3 meters wide. The solo seat aircraft will lead, they will first breach the reactor by releasing the laser guided missile, on the exposed ventilation hatch, here. This creates an opening for the second pair, to aim, lock, and load, therefore delivering the kill shot to destroy the target from the inside. If either team misses the target... the mission is considered a failure."