I had decided to get some fresh air that evening on our way to the Hard Deck after work, celebrating Daniels departure. I had been taking in the cool air with a walk to the bar when some guys from behind me started calling out to me.

"Hey, little lady, need some company tonight?"

"Where are you heading all alone?"

"Wait up!"

"We don't bite"

"Fuck off!" I shouted back over my shoulder.

"She's a feisty one"

At that I stopped completely and waited for them to catch up as they had smirks on their faces, a group of four.

"Don't you know when to shut up?" I asked with a fierce glare.

"Don't you?" They shot back. A truck pulled up beside us yet I ignored it until someone was at my side.

"Why don't you guys, leave this nice lady alone?" Hangman's voice caught me off guard as I looked over at him in shock. "Now" he spoke more sternly and the guys walked off, muttering whatever's aside from one of them.

"Let your man come to your rescue, bitch"

Hangman nodded to me, letting me finish this real quick. I swiftly punched the guy and nodded, satisfied with my work.

"Come on" Hangman said offering me a drive the rest of the way.

"Thanks for helping me back there" I told him when he parked the truck, the drive having been silent.

"Don't mention it" he waved it off, getting out of the truck as we made our way into the bar.

"Though I didn't really need your help" I joked, getting back to our normal selves.

"Really you mention it to anyone in there and I'll deny it" he joked back. "I may be an ass most of the time, but nobody messes with naval aviators" he pulled the door open and we joined the others. The evening was calmer than most, me avoiding the alcohol after the night before.

~~~

"Good morning, Sunshine" Rooster greeted as I got out of my car at the beach, walking down to meet the others.

"Anyone know why we were told to meet here for training?" I looked around, not seeing Maverick yet.

"Nope" Phoenix shook her head.

"Good morning aviators!" Maverick called as he walked towards us from the Hard Deck parking lot.

Cyclone entered the base that morning to an unusual quietness. He passed the classroom, finding it empty. He moved to the common room, stepping inside to find it was also empty. Walking out into he hanger he stood in a row of jets, nobody in sight. Something was clearly going on, and Maverick was clearly behind it.

Hangman tossed the football in the air, spinning it on his finger as the sun beat down on us all. Two pilots stood head to head each holding a football as we gathered on the beach, Hondo blowing the whistle for the game to start. Maverick pushed up his sunglasses as Phoenix pointed across to Rooster who pointed back as we were on the same team.

As soon as the whistle blew the balls were thrown back to Maverick and Hangman, the game beginning. Maverick threw the ball to Rooster who had caught it before tossing it to me as I ran back and threw it to Coyote who scored the touchdown for our team.

"Touchdown!" Hondo cheered out. Coyote pointed tauntingly at the other team as I shared a high five with Rooster.

"Yeah!" Maverick cheered out proudly.  We reset on our side, each of us high-fiving maverick on our way past him. Rooster and Coyote bumped chests, Rooster doing a little shimmy dance when he landed.

"Get over here birdbrain!" I called and he laughed but followed my voice nonetheless.

I had been watching closely as Phoenix threw the ball towards Hangman but at the last second I jumped in and stole it from him, laughing proudly as I threw it to Maverick.

Hangman had the ball in his hands, throwing it over his shoulders and throwing his arms up as the three others behind him pretended to be blown up, falling to the sand draumatially.

As we scored another point, Rooster motioned for me to get on his back. With a laugh I followed his instructions and we did a victory lap around the teams, each of us laughing proudly.

Maverick was knocked down when he caught the ball, landing harshly in the sand with a thud. Bradshaw made his way over, offering Maverick a hand as Maverick gladly accepted it. Rooster gave him a nod, patting him on the shoulder before moving on, me smiling at the duo as they got past their differences. Maverick made his own touchdown our team cheering out as he tossed the ball over to a frustrated Phoenix and Fanboy.

"Boo!" We all called as Maverick went to sit out and take a break.

"Old mans out" Hondo told us as we laughed and continued to play around. We all cheered out as Rooster threw the ball to Bob who made a touchdown for our team. Maverick watched us with a proud smile, looking up when a shadow was cast over him.

"Sir." Maverick greeted.

"What is this?" Cyclone asked sternly.

"This is dogfight football. Offence and defense at the same time." Maverick explained to him as they both looked back to the team of us playing and having fun.

"Who's winning?" Cyclone wondered as we all ran around like crazy.

"I think they stopped keeping score a while ago." Maverick admitted with a smile.

'This detachment still has some training to complete, captain. Every available minute matters." Cyclone reminded sternly.

"Yes, sir." Maverick agreed.

"So why are we out here playing games?"

"You said to create a team, sir. There's your team." Maverick pointed to us all as Rooster lifted Bob onto his shoulders, Bob holding the ball up proudly as we all chanted out his name. Rooster laughed happily before setting Bob down on the sand again. We threw the ball to Hondo who caught it before being tackled in a dog pile by the rest of us.

"Come on sunshine" Rooster called out for the ball that I held as the game started to slow.

"Come and get it" I told him and Phoenix laughed as she knew this trick all to well. Rooster ran over and picked me up, running into the ocean with me and dropping me in the cold water.

"You bitch" I stated as I stood up with a look of shock on my face, wiping the strand of hair that stuck to my face away.

"Really?" He mocks offence.

"Yeah" I laughed, splashing him with water before taking the ball and throwing it back to Phoenix who was dry on land.

~~~

"Rooster, I need that for class!" I called after him as he stole my work notebook with mission notes.

"Come and get it" he taunted before running down the hallway of the base.

"No running in the hallways" Hondo warned as I chased Rooster. Rooster managed to slip into my room on base, locking the door behind him. With an annoyed sigh I knocked on the door only for him to open the door and lean in the doorway so that I can't get past him.

"There's an announcement" Maverick claimed as he rushed past us towards the classroom. Rooster and I shared a look of concern before he handed me the book back  and closed my door as we walked down together.

"Good morning. The uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than expected. Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days' time. As a result, your mission has been moved up one week in order to avoid contaminating the target valley with radiation." Warlock announced to our class as we gathered in the classroom to hear the announcement before our training of the day.  Rooster and I looked up with worried expressions at the timeline being moved up, knowing that we had to step up our game.

"Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course." Coyote spoke up with his concerns.

"Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on. Captain." Warlock stepped aside and allowed Maverick to take over again, everyone sitting tensely with the news.

"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." He held up two fingers as he briefed us on the mission. "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." he continued.

Rooster and I went up with Phoenix and Bob, Rooster looking back to make sure they were set and following him as we went into the course.

"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." Maverick said as the simulation showed the set up.

"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. That's miracle number one." He stated. "The second team will deliver the kill shot... And destroy the target. That's miracle number two." He added.

Rooster and I lined up our shot, me dropping the missile along the path Bob had set up for us.

"If either team misses the target... The mission is a failure."

"Damn it!" I cursed, pulling off my mask when we missed the target.

"It's okay Sunshine, you'll get it next time" Rooster told me with support though we both knew how difficult this would be.

"Egress is a steep high-g climb out to avoid hitting this mountain." Maverick said.

"A steep climb at that speed, you're pulling at least eight g's." I spoke up with my concern.

"Nine, minimum." Maverick corrected.

"The stress limit of the f-18's airframe is 7.5." Rooster added to my concern.

"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 described the feeling we would all have to experience to survive.

"And this is where you'll be at your most vulnerable. This is coffin corner." he looked back at us darkly with warning. "Assuming you avoid crashing into this mountain, you'll climb straight up into enemy radar while losing all of your airspeed. Within seconds, you'll be fired upon by enemy sams. You've all faced sustained g's before, but this...This is gonna take you and your aircraft to the breaking point." Maverick said as the simulation confirmed the situation.

"Sir, is this even achievable?" Phoenix wondered with worried doubt.

"The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box." Maverick said and I glanced over at Rooster who sat tensely.

...............................................
Question of the day: Do you think Sunshine will be ready for the mission?