killshot (bradley bradshaw)

III

As she walked into the locker room, Jenna spotted a small group of women across the room standing at their lockers. She headed over to find that they had all been assigned lockers next to each other. Setting her bag on the floor, she turned to the group to introduce herself 

"Hi guys, I'm Jenna, callsign Killshot." she said with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, we know." One of the girls said, rolling her eyes. She gestured to Jenna's locker, pointing at the nametag near the top of it. She then turned and continued talking to the girl next to her, clearly not wanting to continue the conversation. 

"Hi, I'm Natasha, callsign Phoenix. Nice to meet you!" A dark haired girl responded. She stuck out her hand for Jenna to shake and she gladly took it. 

"You know how some of these girls can get." Phoenix said with a knowing look as she opened the locker next to Jenna's. 

"Yeah sometimes they are real bitches." Jenna said back.

Phoenix laughed in agreement. "Just wait until you meet Jake Seresin. He's a real piece of work even on his best days."

Jenna laughed along with her, a little bit nervous with how comfortable everyone seemed to be with each other. 

"I kinda feel like the odd one out here," Jenna admitted. "I just graduated from the program a few weeks ago, and it seems like you guys all know each other, or know of each other, at least."

"Yeah," Phoenix responded. "A few of us go pretty far back, but don't worry. I'll introduce you to a few of the guys that I know. You'll fit right in, I can already tell. It will be great to have another girl in our group."

"Okay great! Thanks so much!" Jenna said. The two girls quickly changed into their flightsuits and shut their lockers, heading out the door to the main hanger.

"Are you flying solo or do you have a WSO that hasn't turned up yet?" Phoenix asked as they walked towards the desks on the far side of the hanger. There seemed to be a few pilots sitting down already, talking amongst themselves. 

"It's just me," Jenna said. She would have loved to have a WSO, but truthfully, the thought of being responsible for someone else in her aircraft freaked her out a little. 

"My new WSO just turned up last night," Phoenix explained. "His name is Bob."

"What's his call sign?" Jenna asked.

"Bob." Phoenix said with a small laugh. 

"Huh. Simple. Easy. I like it." Jenna said with a smile. "I wonder if Bob is short for Robert, or if it stands for something and we just don't know yet."

Phoenix opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by a man coming up behind them. 

"If I'm not mistaken, Bob stands for Baby on Board, isn't that right, Phoenix?" He said with a smirk on his face.

Phoenix stopped and they turned around to face him. "Killshot, this here's Bagman." She said, annoyance displayed across her face. 

"You need a new joke, that one's getting old." The man said to Phoenix. He turned to Jenna, "It's Hangman, actually. You must be Jenna Harrison, Killshot, yes?"

Jenna looked at him curiously. "Yeah that's me. How'd you know?"

"I just heard all about you back in the locker room." Hangman said with a cocky smile on his face. "Rooster said something about the new girl, and when I didn't recognize the girl walking with good ol' Phoenix here, I just had to see what the fuss was about."

Jenna's face warmed slightly at the mention of Rooster and took a step back from Hangman. "Well, here I am. Take a nice look at your mission leader," she said confidenly. 

"Oh Killshot, we'll just see about that, won't we? I wanna know which of you," Hangman replied, gesturing to the other pilots listening in on our conversation, "have the guts to follow me."

"The only place you'll lead us is an early grave," Phoenix retorted. Jenna gave her a high five and they walked away from Hangman. The girls stopped at a desk with a pilot sitting at it, playing with his glasses.

"Hey Bob, this is Killshot," Phoenix said. Bob looked up at the two of them standing next to him and smiles.

"Nice to meet you, Killshot. I'm Phoenix's WSO." He said.

"Nice to meet you too, Bob." Jenna replied. Phoenix sat down at the desk next to Bob, and Jenna looked around, searching for an empty desk. She spotted an empty chair next to Rooster and headed over to him.

"Hey, this seat taken?" she asked.

"Nope, it's all yours." Rooster said warmly. Jenna slid into the seat next to him and turned to face him.

"You solo or have a WSO around here somewhere?" She asked him the same question she got from Phoenix.

"Nah, I fly by myself. When you fly with a WSO, there's another life in your hands, and I'd prefer it to just be my own." Rooster said, a somber look coming across his face. Before Jenna could ask him about it, his features cleared and he turned to her with a smile.

"What about you, Killshot? Hell of a callsign by the way. Where'd that come from?" Rooster asked.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," Jenna said with a smirk on her face. Rooster laughed and Jenna continued, "I'm by myself too. Never flown with a WSO and probably won't ever will. For kinda the same reason as you, actually."

Rooster nondded in agreement and the two pilots sat in comfortable silence, flipping through their manuals for their F-18s.

"Attention on deck!"

Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson and Admiral Simon "Warlock" Bates came walking into the hanger and all of the pilots immediately stood at attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Warlock started, standing in front of them. "You have been called back to Top Gun because you are the best of the best. The mission in front of you is a dangerous one. Listen closely, and fly like your life depends on it. Because it does."

"Yes sir," the pilots responded in unison.

"You will be going up against 5th generation enemy aircraft. There is no comparison to your F-18s. Mission success depends on the man or woman in the plane."

Hangman turned around in his seat and looked at Phoenix. She rolled her eyes and subtly gave him the finger, pretending she was scratching the side of her head.

"Only 6 of you will be chosen for this mission with one being named mission leader," Warlock continued. "The other 6 of you will hold support roles and be called upon if needed." 

Hangman turned around again, this time looking at Rooster and Jenna. Jenna followed Phoenix's lead by pretending to scratch her nose and gave him the finger. 

"Fuck you" Hangman mouthed, a smile on his face, and turned back around to the podium. Jenna heard a quiet chuckle and glanced over at Rooster. He put his fist out on the desk and she bumped it with her knuckles.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering, if you're the best, who did we get to teach you." Warlock said. Rooster and Jenna snapped back to paying attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, you will be taught the skills needed for this mission from a former graduate of Top Gun and the only pilot with 3 confirmed air to air kills in the past 40 years. I give you Captain Pete Mitchell, callsign Maverick."

------------------------------------------------------------

AN: I know it's not exactly like the film but I can't remember the exact dialogue, plus I wanted to put my own little spin on it. I didn't want it to feel like you are just reading the movie, if that makes sense? Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!