"Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor."
The pilots and WSOs stiffened slightly at the news that Admiral Simpson had revealed while Bradley had looked over to Emerson, who appeared very unimpressed at the moment as she sat beside Skye, glaring at the Admiral before she met a certain pair of brown eyes.
The two exchanged silent words - with Bradley questioning whether she had known about this while Emerson mustered up a small smile.
"As of today, there are new mission parameters." The Admiral continued, eliciting a few worried glances being shifted between the graduates. "Time to target is now four minutes. You'll be entering the valley level at reduced speed. You are not to exceed four hundred and twenty knots."
The brunette rolled her eyes slightly and released a soft scoff before clenching her jaw firmly.
"Sir, won't we be giving the enemy time to intercept?" Natasha asked, voicing the very question that had been going through everyone's minds.
"Well, Lieutenant, you have a fighting chance against enemy aircraft." Emerson pursed her lips at the Admiral's response. "What are the odds of surviving a head-on collision with a mountain? You'll be attacking the target from a higher altitude, level with the North Wall. It's going to be a little harder to keep your cage on target, but you will avoid the high-G climbout."
"We'll be sitting ducks." Mickey whispered to Reuben from behind Emerson and Skye.
"And if we just happen to ignore everything that you just mentioned?" The brunette pilot quizzed, sarcasm laced in her tone.
Admiral Simpson shifted his gaze towards her. "Lieutenant Blackwood, I did not ask for your opinion, nor is this up for discussion." He stated.
"You didn't? Oh, I'm sorry." She responded with a sweet smile and tilted her head slightly, her brown eyes challenging her superior officer - knowing full well that she could end up being grounded and face disciplinary action. "So, not only do you want us to fly slower, risking the mission by making the time to target even slower due to the high probability of being intercepted by fifth generation fighters but you also want us to compete against a multitude of enemy SAMs?"
The briefing room had fallen silent as all eyes shifted between the brunette and the Admiral.
"When we die, because trust me, with your 'great plan', we will, I hope that you will be the one sent to our families to break the news of why we did not come home from this mission."
"Lieutenant--"
All of a sudden, the Admiral had been cut off in mid-sentence as the screen behind him had lit up with a beep which had indicated that someone had begun to fly the course.
"Who the hell is that?" Admiral Simpson quizzed, turning his full attention towards the screen.
"Maverick to Range Control." The voice of none other than Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell had echoed over coms. "Entering Point Alpha. Confirm green range."
Emerson couldn't help but allow a smirk to grace her lips as she watched the Admiral stiffen at the sound of her father's voice, while the rest of the pilots and WSOs seemed intrigued.
"Uh, Maverick, Range Control, uh, green range is confirmed." An officer from Range Control had responded, confusion clearly evident in his tone. "I don't see an event scheduled for you, sir."
"Well, I'm going anyway."
Natasha grinned slightly, her dark brown eyes trained onto the screen. "Nice!" She breathed.
Skye turned to her best friend with a knowing look, to which Emerson responded with a grin before she felt the burning gaze of Bradley, staring across at her.
The brunette turned towards the tall pilot, who had an expression that seemed to have said 'You knew about this, didn't you?' - which only made her smile back at him innocently as he shook his head with slightly amused eyes and a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips.
"Setting time to target: two minutes fifteen seconds." The Captain stated and the clock on the screen had changed to the new set time, resulting in looks of shock from the graduates.
"Two-fifteen, that's impossible." Reuben expressed with a light shake of his head, earning a few mutters of agreement.
"It is." Emerson agreed, her smirk broadening slightly. "But not for him."
"Final attack point. Maverick's inbound."
The pilots and the WSOs leaned forward in their seats with interest as their eyes focused onto the screen in front of them as the countdown had begun - the model plane showcasing Pete's flight pattern easily making his way through the course.
Emerson knew just how crazy her father was from all the stories that she had heard about him growing up and she knew that he could do this, but couldn't help but tap her foot lightly out of nervousness as he flew closer and closer towards the target with only about forty seconds left to begin the climb.
"Popping in three, two, one."
The diorama showcased the plane pulling up and inverting over the mountain.
"You got this, Dad." Emerson whispered softly as she watched him get closer to the target, releasing his missiles before he pulled up into the high-G climb over the imaginary mountain.
"Bombs away." Pete announced, his voice revealing the strain as he pushed through the steep high-G climb; the pilots and WSOs all on the edge of their seats before the missiles had finally hit the target with 0.16 seconds left to spare.
"Bullseye!" Mickey exclaimed along with a few other fellow aviators. "Holy shit!"
"Damn." Jake voiced, his tone quite impressed.
Emerson and Skye exchanged looks with one another - with smirks across their lips - before the brunette shifted her gaze towards Admiral Simpson, who still stood staring at the screen in complete silence.
YOU ARE READING
Danger Zone • Top Gun: Maverick
FanfictionEmerson Blackwood and Skye Kazansky had dreamed of becoming pilots for as long as they could remember. Through an extensive amount of training at the Naval Academy and flight school, the two best friends had easily become some of the best Naval Avia...
