𝔹𝕒𝕞𝕓𝕚 | Bradley Bradshaw

|7|

ᵂᵉ'ʳᵉ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵍᵒⁱⁿᵍ ᵗᵒ ᵐᵃᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵃᵐᵉ ᵐⁱˢᵗᵃᵏᵉ

Bambi couldn't stop thinking about the events that took place the night before. Moose and Phoenix nodded at each other, Bambi looked over at Rooster before looking out the window. "You have something on your mind?" Rooster asked. She made eye contact with him. "Last night was great Bradshaw." She said with a slight smile. He smiled back at her. Then the door opened, Maverick, Cyclone and Warlock walked in the room and made their way to the front of the room.

"The uranium enrichment plant will be operational earlier than expected. Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days' time. As a result, the mission has moved up one week." Admiral Bates explained to everyone. Thumper and Moose looked at each other. "I be damn." Bambi muttered. "Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course." Coyote stated. "Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on." Admiral Bates responded before Maverick took his spot up front.

"We have one week left to focus on phase two; it is the most difficult stage of the mission. It's a pop-up strike with a deep dive requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles." Maverick said. A simulation appeared on the screen behind Maverick. It showed the inverted dive that two single and two double F-18s would be required to make to reach the target.

"Your target is an impact point less then three meters wide. The two-seat will mark the target with the laser bullseye. This will allow the single to drop a guided bomb into the reactor through an exposed ventilation hatch. This creates the opening the second pair. That's miracle number one. The second team will deliver the kill shot to destroy the target. That's miracle number two. If either team misses the target, the mission is a failure." Maverick explained.

The screen behind Maverick changed to display the required steep climb out of the mountain or as Maverick referred to it as Coffin Corner.

"A climb at that speed will have you pulling at least 8 Gs." Hangman guessed. "Nine, Minimum." Maverick responded. "The stress limit of an F-18 airframe is 7.5 Gs." Rooster noted.

"That is the accepted limit. To survive this mission, you will need to pull beyond that even if it means bending your airframe. You'll be pulling so hard, that you'll weigh close to two thousand pounds. Your skull will feel like it's crushing your spine and your lungs will implode like an elephant sitting on your chest, fighting with everything you have to keep from blacking out and this is where you'll be most vulnerable." Maverick explained. Bambi bit the inside of her cheek as she stared at the screen. Thumper sighed. "But by the looking of that slope we would need to pull about 10 gs?" Bambi questioned to herself.

"Assuming you avoid crashing into this mountain. You'll climb straight into enemy radar while losing all airspeed. Within seconds, you'll be fired upon by enemy SAMs. It'll be a dogfight all the way home." Maverick explained as he pointed to screen.

"This is going to take you and your aircraft to a breaking point." Maverick added. "Sir, is this achievable?" Phoenix asked, this was on everyone mind as well. "The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box." Maverick responded to her.

"Pilots, prepare for take for take off. You've been briefed on phase two, time to give it run." Admiral Simpson said to from the back. Everyone headed to the locker room. "Don't worry Bambi, we so got this." Thumper said. "Yeah." Bambi said as she got her gear on.

...........

Bambi, Thumper and Moose set out before Coyote, Phoenix and Bob. Nobody hasn't achieved the task at hand.

"Alright, Talk to me Thump, what's happening?" Moose asked Thumper. "It's Thumper, well we're are twelve seconds behind on target, we have to pick up the pace here." Thumper spatted. "Damn it to hell." Bambi mumbled. "Copy, Moose, you two try and stay with me." Bambi added.