take me to bed or loose me forever - Bradley Bradshaw

Chapter 11

Elena hadn't come out of her room at all yesterday. But she had to today, they had training. She hoped this thing with bradley would be over soon, she wondered how they went from saying I love you and less that 4 hours later he was walking out on her. She knew that kissing hangman was wrong and it hurt bradley.

"Hey babe. Are you okay?" Phoenix asked as she walked in the girls room.

"I'm fine. You do realise that I'm the dick in this situation right?" She slightly laughed.

"Look. You and rooster had a fight and in your defence you and bradley weren't official then, plus you where upset and drunk." Phoenix wrapped her arms around her friend. "Come on we've got to go to training" she dragged her out of the room.

"Good morning." Maverick began. "The uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than expected."

Elena hadn't spoke to rooster or hangman, she hasn't even looked at either of them. She planned on talking to bradley later after training, she also planned on talking to hangman.

"Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days' time." Maverick spoke again. "As a result, your mission has been moved up one week in order to avoid contaminating the target valley with radiation."

"Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course." Rooster leaned forward in his seat, clearly worried about how close the mission was.

"Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on."

"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. 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. 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. The two-seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bull's-eye."

Elenas eyes where set on bradley, his jaw tensed, his hands resting on his lap, and his leg bouncing up and down.

"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." Maverick turned to elena.

"That's miracle number one."

"The second team will deliver the kill shot
And destroy the target." He looked at her again. He knew she was the best pilot in the room, yet even she was worried about this mission. Someone wasn't going to come home. Matrix had a reputation for being reckless, yet always putting others before herself. Maverick knew if she was on this mission she'd do anything to make sure everyone else got home safe.

"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 explained.

"Nine, minimum."

"The stress limit of the f-18's airframe is 7.5." Bob said worriedly.

"That's the accepted limit.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." Maverick spoke like he was reciting a dramatic monologue. "And this is where you'll be at your most vulnerable." He pointed at the screen behind him.