automatic stop, bradley bradshaw

three.

"THEY WEREN'T KIDDING ABOUT AN EARLY START." SKYE JOKED AS she and katia ascended into the air. they had barely been there for a day before they were in the sky, working on some test or other. the admiral had told them that they were going to be simulating what it would be like to fight one of the enemy planes, something to the modern equivalent of a mig. "do you see him?"

kat turned in her seat, putting a hand on the canopy. "no, i don't have eyes on him." skye moved the plane up a bit higher, hoping it would give the blonde a better view. "i got him, i got him." she then said. "he's on our tail." 

skye broke right, effortlessly shifting the plane through the sky in an attempt to shake the other plane. "talk to me, havoc, what's he doing?"

"he's still on us," katia replied before her eyes widened, "oh, yeah, yeah, he's closing in on us. he's closing in fast. go go go." 

"i'm going." skye grunted, moving higher. the gained altitude sped her up, and she had to swerve to the right to avoid hitting straight into a mountain. "he still back there?"

katia looked back over her shoulder. "oh, yeah." 

skye continued shifting sides, trying to keep clear of the guns of the plane behind her. "i'm gonna.. i'm gonna do some pilot shit." she said. "hold on." she kept the plane moving straight ahead for a moment before she inverted it, making katia laugh. they hovered there for a second before she moved the plane behind the other one. 

the other plane sped up, and skye followed it through the sky before finally landing her target on it, cheering as it turned red. "we got him we got him!" katia cheered.

"hey, this is riot and havoc, we're requesting a fly by." skye said, a smile on her face.

"that's a negative." a voice on the comms replied.

katia shrugged her shoulders. "i mean if we get kicked out, it'll be your fault more than anything." 

skye smiled and circled the plane around the base before doing a couple of tight spins in the air. "come on, you can't tell me this isn't a good time." 

when they got out of their plane, they were almost immediately met with the other pilots. phoenix was the first to reach them, and she smiled. "you guys are one of the only ones who managed to pass." 

skye ran a hand through her hair, which she'd taken out of its bun. "who else passed?" 

hangman smiled. "little old me."

"go figure." katia replied, making everyone around them laugh.

"rooster passed too, he's just too humble to brag about it." phoenix said.

skye nodded. "of course he did."

"what is with you two?" the other woman's brows furrowed. 

she didn't reply. "so, we're gonna be up against hangman and rooster in the next round? are they going by themselves or is one of them gonna backseat?"

"maybe one of them can sit on the other's lap." katia suggested.

phoenix only shrugged in response. "i guess one of them might be your wingman." 

skye tried to avoid visibly reacting to this, walking with katia over to the monitor where they could see their performance. she watched as the plane that was marked as theirs successfully flipped and then landed what would've been the final shot on the other plane. 

"you guys did good out there." a voice behind them said, and skye turned around to see rooster. "for what it's worth, it would be an honor to be your guys' wingman tomorrow."