ℳ𝒾𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓁𝑒 𝒩𝓊𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 | Top Gun Maverick

Chapter 10: Count me in

The next morning, Snow-white was about to head to class when she saw that Maverick's bike was parked at the base. But the night prior, he had told her that he wasn't teaching anymore...so why was he here? Her guess was that he was going to steal a plane and prove to everyone how badass he is.

She had to go to class, but curiosity got the best of her, so she chose to be reckless and walked towards the planes. Sure enough, he was there just as she had predicted. He had already been preparing to go in the jet.

"Are you gonna steal that?" She interrupted his action. He jumped and turned around to reveal his startled face, causing her to giggle.

"That depends on your definition of stealing."

"Taking something that isn't yours."

"Well, yes, but I will return it."

"If you don't crash, nor ruin it." He sighed and gave up on the argument. He knew it was pointless. "I'm coming with you." Snow-white changed the subject.

He shot his head up. "No, you're not!"

"Yes, I am." She insisted.

"It's dangerous."

"So is the mission, at least here I don't have missiles chasing my ass." She placed a hand on her hip.

He gave her a "touché" look but persisted. "You're not coming. You could get court-martialed."

"So could you." She answered back to him. She sure did get her stubbornness from him.

"You have your whole career ahead. Why would you wanna risk that?"

"My dad believed in you, Mav." He looked at her, ready to be disappointed or hurt again, but she continued."So do I. You're our best shot at surviving this mission. We're gonna show Cyclone that he needs you, that WE need you. Besides, you need two bullseye to complete the mission."

He smiled at his daughter. "All right, let's steal those planes!" he clapped his hands together.

"Technically, I'm not stealing. There's my name written on it." Snow tried to defend herself, He laughed.

"Whatever you say." He got his helmet on. "Snow, one last thing,"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for not snitching on me." They both smiled at each other and got ready to take off and start the simulation.

╚»★«╝

Everybody sat down to their seats. Cyclone looked around the class.

"Where's Snow-white?" He asked, but nobody knew the answer.

"Where's Maverick?" Hangman asked back. He thought she was still distraught about Iceman's death, so he had tried to distract Cyclone with another answer instead.

"Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor." Cyclone announced to the class. "And as of today, there are new mission parameters. Time to target is now four minutes. You'll be entering the valley level at reduced speed. Not to exceed 420 knots."

"Sir, won't we be giving their planes time to intercept?" Bob asked, concerned about the new changes.

"Well, Lieutenant, you have a fighting chance against enemy aircraft. What are the odds of surviving a head-on collision with a mountain? You'll be attacking the target from a higher altitude, level with the north wall. Gonna be a little harder to keep your lase on the target, but you will avoid the high-G climb out."

"We'll be sitting ducks for enemy missiles." Fanboy complained to Payback. Then suddenly, something came up on the screen, and everybody looked in confusion. 2 F-18 singles popped.

"What the hell are those?" Cyclone looked at the board in confusion.

"Maverick and Snow-White to Range Control. Entering Point Alpha. Confirm green range." Maverick announced over coms.

"Maverick, Range Control, green range is confirmed. I don't see an event scheduled for you two, sir." Range control informed them.

"Well, we're going anyway." Snow-White replied, proud of her rebellion for once.

"Nice." Phoenix whispered to herself, proud of her best friend.

"Setting time to target: Two minutes and fifteen seconds." Maverick announced.

"2:15? That's impossible!" Payback exclaimed in disbelief.

"Mav, you could have told me you wanted to spice it up a little!" Snow was already starting to regret her decisions, but she couldn't go back, not now.

"Final attack point, Maverick's inbound." He ignored her snarky remark.

"Alright then, let's go!" Snow started accelerating with Maverick.
The planes flew through the starting checkpoint on the map, and the timer began to run down. Everybody was tense, intrigued. Hangman, however, seemed to not be surprised in the slightest. A content smile on his face, showing some pride as well. Rooster, on the other hand, was still shocked and worried about this reckless decision.
The planes were fast, swerving swiftly at every turn. Now, with only 1:30 seconds left, everybody was the edge of their seat. They kept on flying through the simulation.

40 seconds left on the clock. The atmosphere was tense.

"Popping in three, two, one." Maverick announced as he began to fly up. He flew high up, spun upside down at what would have been the tip of the mountain.

"There goes nothing." Snow-White went after him.

Maverick spun back and aimed at the target. "Bombs away." He exclaimed as he flew back up towards the other edge of the mountain.

"Bull's eye! Holy shit!" People in the room cheered.

Now, Snow-White had to do the same and hopefully succeed. People stood up, waiting for Snow's hit. Not a noise could be heard in the room.

"Come on, babe. You got this." Rooster whispered as if she could hear him. He gripped the seat in front of him, listening closely to every single noise or whisper.

Snow aimed at the target. "Alright...bombs away!" She flew up, trying to stay conscious.

7 seconds

"Come on, come on!" She murmured as she was waiting for the bombs to hit something and...

"Bull's eye!" Rooster shouted proudly, jolting up in excitement.

"Damn, they're good!" Hangman tried not to show that he was happy but failed. He let his smile come through and shook his head.

"HA WE DID IT!" Snow- White was over the moon, joy filled her heart.

"Yeah, yeah, we did. Well done, Snow." Maverick was out of breath, but you could tell he was proud of what they achieved.

Now the fun was over. It was time to face the consequences.

╚»★«╝

They were called into Cyclone's office, Snow-white was standing next to Maverick, Warlock next to him as he was witnessing the whole conversation.

"You two have put me in a difficult situation." Cyclone started. "On the one hand, you have demonstrated that this mission can be flown. Perhaps the only way it can be survived. On the other hand, you did it by stealing two multi million-dollar military aircrafts and flying them in such a manner that they may never be airworthy again."
Snow gave Maverick a cheeky smile, to which he smiled back at before Cyclone could continue.
"Iceman is no longer here to protect you." Her smile faded instantly when he mentioned him, reminding her yet again that he was gone. "I have everything I need to have you court-martialed and dishonourably discharged. So what do I do? Risk the lives of my pilots and perhaps the success of this mission or... risk my career by appointing you team leader and guaranteeing Snow-white a place on the mission?"

"Sir -" Maverick tried to speak but was quickly interrupted by Warlock

"I think the admiral's asking a rhetorical question, Captain."
Snow-white giggled a little at his excitement. He seemed like a child.

"You're dismissed."