"Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell. Your reputation precedes you." Simpson nodded to Maverick who stood at the other end of the long table.

"Thank you, sir." Maverick nodded back awkwardly.

"Wasn't a compliment." Simpson stated back and Maverick sucked in an awkward breath. "I'm admiral Beau Simpson. I'm the air boss. I believe you know Admiral Bates." he nodded to the man seated beside him at the table.

"Warlock, sir." Maverick nodded in greeting, still standing. "Must admit, I wasn't expecting an invitation back."

"They're called orders, Maverick." Warlock reminded in a slightly more gentle tone than Simpson. "You two have something in common. Cyclone here was first in his class back in '88." Warlock added the fact.

"Actually, sir, I finished second. Just want to manage expectations." Maverick claimed, with his correction. Simpson sighed at that and Bates got back on track before an argument could start.

"The target..." He began, showing the simulation on the screen behind Maverick. "Is an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant built in violation of a multilateral NATO treaty. The uranium produced there represents a direct threat to our allies in the region. The Pentagon has tasked us with assembling a strike team and taking it out before it becomes fully operational." Bates gave instructions.

"The plant sits in an underground bunker at the end of this valley. Said valley is GPS-jammed and defended by an extensive surface-to-air missile array serving a limited number of fifth-generation fighters, which in turn are backed up by a plentiful reserve of surplus aircraft. Even a few old f-14s." Bates continued.

"Seems like we're not the only ones holding on to old relics." Cyclone commented towards Maverick who gloanced over his shoulder at him with annoyance for the comment.

"What's your read, captain?" Warlock asked.

"Well, sir, normally this would be a cakewalk for the f-35's stealth, but the GPS-jamming negates that. And a surface-to-air threat necessitates a low-level laser-guided strike tailor-made for the f-18. I figure, two precision bombs, minimum. Makes it four aircraft flying in pairs. That is one hell of a steep climb out of there, exposing you to all the surface-to-air missiles. You survive that, it's a dogfight all the way home." Maverick listed off with deep and sincere thought.

"All requirements for which you have real-world experience." Warlock reminded calmly.

"Not in the same mission, sir." Maverick clarified. "No." he shook his head in thought, looking back at the screen. "No, someone's not coming back from this." He accepted his realization.

"Can it be done or not?" Cyclone asked simply, wanting a yes or no answer.

"How soon before the plant becomes operational?" Maverick looked back at them curiously.

"Three weeks. Maybe less." Warlock said.

"Well, it's been a while since I've flown an f-18, and... I'm not sure who I'd trust to fly the other three. But I'll find a way to make it work." Maverick faced them properly with his decision.

"I think you misunderstand, captain." Warlock cut in as he shared a glance with Cyclone.

"Sir?"

"We don't want you to fly it. We want you to teach it." Cyclone stated.

"Teach, sir?" Maverick asked for further clarification.

"We've recalled 12 top gun graduates from their squadrons. We want you to narrow that pool down to six. They'll fly the mission." Cyclone explained as the list and photos came up on the screen and Maverick locked his focus on two candidates side by side, Rooster and Sunshine.

"Is there a problem, captain?" Cyclone prompted when Maverick looked away from the screen.

"You know there is, sir." maverick replied calmly.

"Yeah. Bradley Bradshaw, aka 'Rooster.' And Nicole Danvers, aka 'Sunshine'. I understand you used to fly with his old man and worked alongside her mother. What was his call sign?" Cyclone pulled up both of our profiles to get a closer look.

"'Goose,' sir." Maverick stated.

"Tragic what happened." Cyclone commented.

"Captain Mitchell was cleared of any wrongdoing. Goose's death was an accident." Warlock stated as a reminder to both men in the room.

"Is that how you see it, captain? Is that how Goose's son sees it?" Cyclone prompted. "And Nicole, her mother died and you never even reached out to check on her" Cyclone continued to point out Mavericks mistakes with his friends kids.

"Nick isnt a WSO anymore, she is working a desk job" Maverick reminded, confused as to why I was put up as a candidate.

"She came back into the field two weeks ago, teaching here at Top Gun and we know how good she was before that break" Warlock explained.

"With all due respect, sir, I'm not a teacher." Maverick started up again in protest calmly.

"You were a top gun instructor before." Cyclone recalled.

"That was almost 30 years ago. I lasted two months. It's not where I belong." Maverick decided.

"Then let me be perfectly blunt. You were not my first choice. In fact, you weren't even on the list. You are here at the request of admiral Kazansky. Now, Iceman happens to be a man I deeply admire, and he seems to think that you have something left to offer the Navy. What that is, I can't imagine." Cyclone gave his simple opinion to the former pilot. "You don't have to take this job. But let me be clear: This will be your last post, captain. You fly for top gun, or you don't fly for the Navy ever again." Cyclone gave him his final choice.

~~~

"Sunshine, I need to speak to you in my office" Warlock called out to me as he stepped into the hallway.

"Yes, sir" I nodded, worry taking over me as I didn't know why he wanted to talk to me.

"There is an upcoming mission here at Top Gun and you have been called back to be apart of the team, you start tomorrow." Bates said simply as I stood across from him at his desk.

"Sir, I don't know if I'm ready to fly just yet" I voiced my concerns.

"We wouldn't have called you in if we didn't think you were ready" he reminded. "You'll started tomorrow morning, I suggest you get some rest" with that he dismissed me and I was on my way back to my rental home for the night when I got a sudden call.

"Sunshine, are you still at Top Gun?" Phoenix asked quickly through the phone as soon as I answered.

"Yes why—"

"Good, meet me at the hard deck in thirty minute" she said before hanging up.

"What?" I asked myself in shock at what just happened. Nonetheless I changed my course and started off to the local bar.

~~~

"Don't give me that look." Penny told a man sitting at the bar as she talked to him when I walked over.

"I'm not giving you any look. I swear." he promised.

"It always ends the same with us, Pete. Let's not start this time." She leaned in close to tell him.

"Okay." he nodded in understanding.

"Okay." She smiled before noticing me standing at the bar. "Sunshine, its been a while, what can I get you?" She asked giving me her full attention.

"Beer, please"

"Coming right up" She pointed back at me before turning to get the drink. I looked to the man she had been talking to and gave him an awkward wave as he nodded back with a small smile.

"Thanks Penny" I smiled to her as she handed me the drink. I had turned around, seeing Phoenix walk across the bar with two other aviators behind her.

"Sunshine" Phoenix smiled as I joined her and she pulled me in for a hug.

"Phoenix" I smiled back at her. The bar erupted into cheers as Penny rang the bell, signalling a round on someone.

"Are you still teaching here or are you going on this top secret mission?" She wondered curiously with the wiggle of her eyebrows.

"I'm back for the mission" I told her proudly and her smile light up brighter.

"She's back!" Phoenix cheered proudly, knowing I made a big mistake when I moved to a desk job.

"What do we have here?" Hangman looked up from the pool table.

"Here we go" I told Phoenix as we started towards him and Coyote.

"If it ain't Phoenix! And Sunshine! And here I thought we were special, Coyote. Turns out the invite went to anyone. Including those with a desk job" Hangman looked at Phoenix and I as we joined him and Coyote, the other pilots with Phoenix still following us.

"Fellas, this here's bag man." She introduced as I took a sip of my beer.

"Hangman." He corrected calmly while staring at her.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes at him.

"You're looking at the only naval aviator on active duty with a confirmed air-to-air kill." I added in to her little introduction.

"Stop." He said sarcastically.

"Mind you, the other guy was in a museum piece from the Korean war." Phoenix added on.

"Cold war." Coyote corrected from beside Hangman.

"Different wars, same century." Payback spoke up from behind Phoenix.

"Not this one." Fanboy added.

"Who are your friends?" Coyote asked Phoenix.

"Payback."

"Fanboy." they each introduced themselves.

"Hey, Coyote." Phoenix glanced over at him.

"Hey." He smirked back.

"Who's he?" Phoenix nodded towards another pilot.

"Who's who?" Coyote asked back confused. She nodded over and looked this time to point out the man dressed in uniform sitting off to the side eating peanuts.

"When did you get in?" Coyote demanded as the man with glasses looked up at us like he had been caught.

"Oh, I've been here the whole time." He shook his head with a smile and I smiled over at him kindly, already liking his attitude.

"The man's a stealth pilot." Hangman told Phoenix.

"Literally." Coyote agreed in awe.

"Weapons systems officer, actually." He corrected awkwardly.

"Me too" I said, happy to find another WSO.

"With no sense of humor." Hangman commented dryly with a nod as his joke didn't get the reaction he wanted.

"What do they call you?" Phoenix asked him with interest.

"Bob." He claimed with a nervous glance away.

"No, your call sign." I corrected.

"Uh...Bob." he repeated awkwardly, feeling slightly ashamed of his call sign.

"Bob Floyd. You're my new backs eater? From Lemoore?" Phoenix asked putting the pieces together.

"Looks like it. Yeah." He nodded back at her.

"I thought Sunshine was going to be my backseater" Phoenix looked to me with confusion. "So who are you flying with?" She asked, directing her question towards me.

"I have no idea" I shrugged back. "I havent been in an F-18 since we graduated Top Gun nearly a year ago" I added.

"Nine-ball, Bob. Rack 'em." Phoenix held out the pool cue for him as a way to test his skills.

"Okay." he stood slightly nervous and took the pool cue.

Meanwhile outside a truck pulled up to the bar playing its old tunes from the radio. The driver stepped out, shutting the door and strolling into the bar like he owned the place.

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Question of the day: how do you think Rooster and Sunshine will react to seeing each other again?