⇢ five - a near death experience ⇠

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

      ELLIE SAT IN HER SEAT, HER HANDS CLASPED TOGETHER AS SHE watched as Warlock came and stood in front of them.

      "Good morning," Warlock greeted. "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."

      The blonde sighed to herself and looked around the room, noticing everyone else's faces at the information. Ellie shared a look with Daniel, both giving each other a look of disbelief.

      "Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course," Coyote told him.

      "Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on," Warlock replied before looking at Maverick. "Captain."

      Maverick took Warlock's place. "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," Maverick explained, turning toward the screen behind him, where it was simulating the mission. "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," Maverick said. "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."

      Ellie shook her head, leaning back in her seat. As much as she didn't want to admit, she was starting to doubt they were going to be able to do this. Of course, she would never voice that statement.

      "The two-seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bull's-eye," Maverick continued to explain. "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," Maverick said. "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 pointed out.

      "Nine, minimum," Maverick replied.

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

      "That's the accepted limit," Maverick replied. "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," Maverick explained. "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."

      Ellie felt eyes on her and she didn't have to look to already know who it was. Bradley stared at his friend, noticing the look on her face as she listened to Maverick explain.

      "You've all faced sustained G's before, but this..." Maverick trailed off for a moment. "This is gonna take you and your aircraft to the breaking point."

      "Sir, is this even achievable?" Phoenix asked.

      "The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box," Maverick replied.

      Each of them had their turns, but no one was successful on hitting the target. It was now Ellie and Daniel's turn, their wingman was Coyote. The three flew close to the ground, heading to the target.

      "Talk to me, Flash," Ellie said.

      "We are twelve seconds late on target," Daniel replied. "We gotta move! We gotta move!"

      "Copy," Coyote replied. "Try to stay with me."

      The three began flying faster, but the radar suddenly began to beep rapidly. Ellie's eyebrows furrowed, wondering who was coming up behind them.

      "Huh?" Daniel asked. "Wait, who's that?"

      "Blue team, you've been spotted," Maverick's voice sounded through the comms.

      "Shit, it's Maverick," Coyote sighed.

      "What the hell is he doing here?" Ellie asked.

      "I'm a bandit on course to intercept," Maverick replied. "Blue team, what are you gonna do?"

      "He's twenty miles left," Daniel informed them. "Ten o'clock. 700 knots closure."

      "Your call, Winters," Coyote told her. "What do you wanna do?"

      Ellie sighed. "Continue. We're close. Stay on target."

      "He's swinging around to the north!" Daniel warned them.

      "Stand by for pop-up," Coyote said.

      "Be ready on that laser, Flash," Ellie said to him.

      "Copy," Daniel replied. "I'm on it."

      "Blue team, bandit is still closing," Maverick warned.

      "Popping now," Coyote said.

      Ellie pulled up on the controls, causing her jet to fly toward the sky. She grunted as she felt the pressure on her chest, but she stayed where she was. The three of them then inverted into the steep dive, turning their jets as they dove down toward the target.

      "Talk to me, Flash," Coyote said. "Where's Maverick?"

      "He's five miles out," Daniel replied. "He's coming fast."

      "Target's in sight," Ellie said.

      "Where's my laser, Flash?" Coyote asked.

      Daniel tried to get the laser locked onto the target, but he was unsuccessful. "Dead eye, dead eye! It's no good. Sorry, I can't get a lock."

      "We're out of time," Coyote said. "I'm dropping blind."

      Coyote pressed the button on his controls, releasing the missile. Unfortunately, it had missed the target and Ellie groaned quietly, tightening her hands on the controls to get ready to climb to avoid crashing into the mountain.

      "Damn it, missed!" Coyote sighed.

      Ellie pulled up on the controls as the climbed to avoid the mountain. The blonde gasped and grunted, her vision going blurry as they climbed higher into the sky. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the blurriness before a beeping sound was heard through the comms.

      "That's tone," Maverick said.

      "Maverick's got missile lock on us," Daniel gasped out.

      "Shit, we're dead!" Ellie said, turning the jet and heading back down.

      "Blue team, that's a fail," Maverick said to them, but Coyote continued climbing. "Level out, Coyote."

      Coyote didn't respond and Ellie's breath hitched in her throat, there was only one thing that could keep him from replying. He was in G-Loc.

      "Coyote?" Maverick asked. "Do you copy? Coyote, come in. Coyote, level wings."

      His jet began falling toward the ground, getting faster by the second. Ellie watched in horror, keeping her hands steady on the controls.

      "Oh, God, he's in G-Loc," Maverick gasped. "Coyote? Coyote?"

      "He's gonna burn in!" Ellie warned.

      "I'm going after him," Maverick replied as he flew his jet down, chasing after Coyote. "Come on. Give me tone, give me tone, give me tone!"

      Maverick got his tone locked onto Coyote's jet, the beeping sound echoing through his helmet. Maverick shouted and continued to repeat his name, trying to wake him back up.

      Suddenly, Ellie heard Coyote gasp through the comms. His jet pulled back up and Ellie sighed in relief as it flew back up into the air, hearing Coyote breathing heavily.

      "Coyote, you okay?" Maverick asked. "You okay?"

      "I'm okay," Coyote replied as he continued to breathe heavily. "I'm good."

      "Good, good," Maverick replied. "That's enough for today."

      Ellie flew beside Maverick. "That was close."

      Maverick sighed. "Too close."

      Out of nowhere, birds suddenly flew into their jets and Maverick shouted, "Bird strike! Bird strike!"

      "Bird strike!" Ellie shouted as an alarm started going off in the jet.

      "Winters, left engine's on fire!" Daniel warned her.

      "Throttling back," Ellie replied. "Shutting off fuel to left engine," the blonde quickly reached over and pressed the left engine button, shutting off the fuel. "Extinguishing fire!"

      The alarm continued and Daniel's voice came back, "Right engine is out!"

      "It's still spinning," Ellie said, her heart racing as she pressed another button. "Trying to restart it."

      The engine tried to restart, but it was unsuccessful and Ellie cursed under her breath as she reached for the throttle.

      "Winters, it's on fire!" Maverick tried to warn her. "Don't start-"

      There was too much chaos for Ellie to hear him, so she grabbed the throttle next to her. "Throttling up!"

      Both engines went out and the jet began flying toward the ground. Ellie cursed again, grabbing onto the controls with both hands.

      "Oh, my God," Maverick gasped.

      "We're on fire!" Daniel shouted. "We're on fire!"

      Ellie groaned. "Damn it!"

      Then an automated voice sounded, "Engine fire. Right."

      "Extinguishing right engine," Ellie said, pressing the right engine button.

      "Winters, Flash, punch out!" Maverick shouted. "Punch out!"

      "Warning lights everywhere!" Daniel yelled out. "Hydraulic failure!"

      The automated voice returned, "Flight controls."

      Ellie's hands were shaking as she tightened them around the controls, but she couldn't get it steady. "I can't control it!"

      "We're going down, Winters!" Daniel shouted as the ground got closer. "We're going in! We're going in!"

      "You can't save it!" Maverick told them. "Eject! Eject!"

      "Eject, eject, eject!" Ellie repeated.

      Daniel grabbed the handles down under his seat, ejecting from the jet. Ellie let out shaky breaths, grabbing the handles underneath her seat. Right as she ejected from the cockpit, the jet flew into the ground and exploded.

      Bradley sat alone in the room, his mind racing as he thought about Ellie. The girl he loved had almost died and if she did, he wouldn't have known what to do with himself.

      The door to the room opened and he glanced over to see Maverick walking in. "They'll keep Winters and Flash in the hospital overnight for observation. They're gonna be okay."

      "That's good," Bradley nodded, relief filling his body. "I've never lost a wingman."

      "You're lucky," Maverick replied. "Fly long enough, it'll happen. There will be others."

      "Easy for you to say," Bradley scoffed. "No wife. No kids. Nobody to mourn you when you burn in."

      Maverick stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes as he sighed. He knew Bradley was upset over almost losing Ellie, so he tried not to take what he said to heart. "Go home. Just get some sleep."

      Bradley got to his feet. "Why'd you pull my papers at the Academy? Why did you stand in my way?!"

      Maverick turned to him. "You weren't ready."

      "Ready for what, huh?" Bradley asked as he approached him. "Ready to fly like you?"

      "No," Maverick replied. "Ready to forget the book. Trust your instincts. Don't think, just do. You think up there, you're dead. Believe me."

      "My dad believed in you," Bradley said, his voice low but harsh. "I'm not gonna make the same mistake."

      Maverick visibly flinched when he had mentioned Goose and Bradley immediately felt satisfaction when he noticed, but it failed to last long.

      The door opened again and Ellie walked in, tears in her eyes. "Mav..."

      Both of them turned to look at her and Bradley's eyes softened at the sight of her. Maverick gave her a confused look as he approached her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

      "What is it?"

      "It's dad..." Ellie's voice broke. "He's- he's..."

      Ellie didn't need to say much more, because Maverick already knew what she was trying to say. He immediately pulled Ellie in for a hug and she held onto him tightly, quietly sobbing into his chest.

      Although Maverick was close with Ice, he had to make sure that his daughter was okay first. Maverick looked over his shoulder, his eyes landing on Bradley, who kept his gaze on Ellie.

      Warlock approached the three of them, placing his hand on Ellie's back as she slowly pulled away from Maverick. The blonde let out shaky breaths, resting her hands on her hips as she tried to calm herself down.

      Maverick and Warlock left the room momentarily to talk, leaving Ellie and Bradley alone. Bradley walked up to her, placing his hand on the small of her back.

      The blonde tried to keep her sobs in, but she couldn't. Ellie looked up at him and Bradley's heart clenched at how broken she looked, so he immediately pulled her in for a hug.

      Ellie's arms wrapped around Bradley's waist as she sobbed into his chest. All he did was hold in her in his arms, not knowing what else to do for her at that point, but it was enough for her.