killshot (bradley bradshaw)

XVI

15 DAYS UNTIL THE MISSION

Jenna woke up in the morning and felt like she was hit by a train. She was so exhausted from the emotional events of last night. She hauled herself out of bed and into the bathroom, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

There were deep bags underneath her eyes, indicative of the lack of sleep she got last night. Falling asleep seemed nearly impossible after figuring out that Maverick was her dad. On top of that, she couldn't figure out the sudden change in Rooster's behavior towards her. She had to have eventually drifted off, but it wasn't a restful sleep by any means.

Jenna walked back to her bedroom and flopped onto my bed, reaching for her phone to turn off her second alarm. She saw a text from Maverick, telling her to meet him at 0730 at the lab on base so they could get the paternity test. She texted him back that she'd be there, and hurried to get dressed. It was a Sunday, so Jenna was surprised that the lab was open, but Mav must know a guy. Since Rooster drove her home last night, Jenna was planning on calling an Uber, but as she headed out the door, she spotted her car sitting in the parking lot. It was unlocked, so she opened the driver's door and saw her keys sitting on the seat. There was no note or anything, so she wondered who drove it back here for her.

Before Jenna knew it, she was sitting in an office at the lab next to Maverick. The doctor came in and explained that they'll draw some blood from each of them and analyze the DNA, looking for similarities. The phlebotomist took her blood quickly, and tells her the results will be available later that day.

"The head of the lab owes me a favor," Maverick explained to her after she looked at him questioningly. Jenna smiled and thanked him as they walked back out to the parking lot.

"I'll see you at work, okay?" Mav said. "Drive safe, kid."

"You too," Jenna said, waving as she got into her car.

~

Jenna entered the briefing room and made a beeline for Phoenix and Bob. Bob saw her first and tapped Phoenix on the shoulder, and she whirled around to face Jenna.

"Kill, Bob told me something big happened last night, but wouldn't tell me what. You gotta tell me," she pleaded.

"Okay, but you're probably gonna wanna sit down for this," Jenna said. They both sat and Jenna stood in front of the pilots, steadying herself.

"So in the oddest turn of events this century," she started. "Maverick is actually my dad." Jenna paused afterwards, waiting for their reactions. Bob sat back, giving her a look that tells her what she just said confirmed his suspicions. Phoenix sat there with her mouth hanging open, shocked.

"You're kidding," she said, shaking her head.

"She's not," Bob interjected. "I was there."

"Yeah I'm not kidding. We got a test run this morning and are waiting for the results, but the stories line up perfectly." Jenna turned to Bob. "Oh yeah, and sorry for just like totally leaving you at the bar last night, Bob."

"Don't worry about it," Bob said, chuckling.

"Wait, okay," Phoenix started. "So this happened after I went to see Hangman?"

"Yep," Jenna confirmed.

"Damn him," she said, smacking her leg. "I wanna hear the story from the beginning." Jenna dove into the story and finished up just as Maverick walked into the room to start the day.

"That's insane, Jenna," Phoenix said. "But I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks Nat," Jenna said as she walked to the seats behind Phoenix and Bob and sat down. Rooster's seat was empty beside her. Jenna glanced around the room, and just when Mav was about to start, he slid into the seat, not even sparing Jenna a sideways glance.

"Well good morning to you, too," Jenna huffed. Rooster opened his mouth to say something back, but Warlock cut him off.

"Good morning. According to our intelligence, the uranium plant is going to be operational days earlier than we thought. Your mission has been moved up 1 week," he said. Everyone in the room sat up a bit straighter.

"But sir," Phoenix said. "We haven't successfully completed Phase 1 yet. None of us have."

"Nevertheless, we have no choice but to have Maverick continue on with your training," Warlock said. He turned to Maverick, handing off to him as he moves to the back of the room.

"Training for Phase 2 of the mission starts today. You will need to perfect a pop up strike into a deep dive. The 2 teams of aircraft will fly in a welded wing formation," Maverick explained as the screen behind him showed the simulated flight path. "You will fly inverted into a steep dive, because this gives you the only attack angle possible. Your target is only 3 meters wide. The first pair will hit the target with a laser guided missile. The second pair will deliver the killshot," Maverick glanced at Jenna quickly. "and destroy the plant. If either team misses the target, the mission fails. To get out of the valley, you'll endure a high G climb out. You'll be pulling 9 Gs, minimum."

"But sir," Rooster interrupted. "7.5 is the accepted limit for the F-18."

"You'll have to pull beyond that to make it out of Coffin Corner," Maverick responded. "Worst case scenario, you bend your airframe." Jenna heard Cyclone groan quietly from his seat in the back. This seemed almost impossible. Jenna started shaking her leg, nervous about the entire scenario. Absentmindedly, Rooster lightly placed his hand on her knee to steady her.

"The Corner is where you'll be the most unprotected," Maverick continued. "You're flying right into enemy radar with decreasing airspeed. Enemy SAMs will fire as soon as you light up their radar."

"Sir, is this mission even possible to complete?" Jenna asked, skeptical.

Maverick looked at his pilots. "The answer to that question will come down to each and every one of you sitting in front of me."

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AN: Thanks for reading!! Tried to get all the information about the mission correct, so let me know if I got something wrong!