A/N: As you might have surmised, this is an AU based on the movie Top Gun. It's heavy on the military lingo and everyone has two names - their given name and their call sign.
Radio transmissions (and singing!) are indicated by italics.
If you're confused by something, don't hesitate to ask (though in-flight lingo isn't going to make or break the story for you).
Also, most of the call signs have been changed from the movie. Have fun guessing who the characters are!
14 APRIL 2017
16:09
SOMEWHERE OVER THE INDIAN OCEAN
"Ghost Rider, this is Strike. We have an unknown aircraft inbound Mustang. Vector 0-9-0 for bogey."
"Who's up there?" Commander Smith demands from the depths of the USS Enterprise as he watches the radar screen.
"Cougar and Bobcat and Maverick and Goose," an ensign replies.
"Great. Maverick and Goose."
"Talk to me, Goose." Lieutenant Beca "Maverick" Mitchell smiles as she hears the transmission come through from her carrier. She's on a routine hop patrolling the Indian Ocean. Tensions with Russia are high - for the hundredth time in half as many years - and there's been word of the Russian Navy moving a few subs nearer neutral waters.
And things are about to get interesting.
"Roger, I got them. Contact, 20-left, 30 miles. 900 knots closure." Goose always knows all as her Radar Intercept Officer and never once has Maverick lost faith in her RIO. Beca protects Jesse. Goose protects Maverick. They have their shit worked out and know how to get shit done.
"Cougar, you hear that?" Maverick looks out across the nothingness between her F-14 and her wingman's. She'll fly 10,000 times and it will still feel badass to look out at a bird and know she's right up there with them.
"Roger. Bobcat, you got 'em?"
"Roger. I've got radar contact."
"I'll get a visual ID. Cougar, you hook 'em." She's itchy and excited with the unknown. There is no war, but the only birds that are supposed to be in that airspace right now are hers and Jessica's.
"Roger, and I'll clean 'em and fry 'em," Goose calls in with a laugh.
Like a choreographed dance she and Cougar bank left to intercept the uninvited bogeys.
"Ash, see if he's a single."
"Roger. Goose, you see a trailer?"
"Negative, Bobcat. Looks like he's a single."
Maverick smiles - that's exactly what she wanted to hear. "Cougar, I'm going to go head-to-head with him."
"Take it easy, Maverick. I don't like this." Jessica sounds worried, but Jessica is always worried. "I'm going to break high and right, see if he's really alone."
Maverick sees Cougar peel away to go hunting and Goose calls in with an update. "We've got a thousand knots closure, Mav. He's coming right at us." And fast.
She snaps her mask into place; if this is real-world, she's going to need it. "Okay, buddy. What's on your mind?" She sees the first bogey on the horizon and a second later, two scream past her, dangerously close. "Shit, there's two of them!"
"MiG-28s! No one's been this close before!" Jesse's excited, too; she can hear it in his voice. He's totally geeking out over the new foreign jets that they've received precious little intelligence on to-date.
"Coug, you've got MiG One. I'm going after MiG Two." She banks to catch her target, seconds later hearing Jessica's increasingly panicked transmissions.
"I lost him in the sun! Shit, what's he doing? You got him, Bobcat?"
"He's coming around on our tail!"
"God dammit! This bogey's all over me!"
"Airspeed 300; go get 'em, Mav!" Goose calls in.
"I'm going for missile lock; let's see if we can scare him out of here." She pulls closer, tailing the bogey, willing the nose of her bird to pull into range. Almost...almost...the lock tone of victory rings out in her ears and on her radar screen and she cheers to herself, watching the bogey bank hard to shake her lock.
"We got 'em, Mav! He's bugging out!"
"Mustang, this is Maverick. MiG Two is going home," she calls in to the carrier. They aren't finished yet, though, and she hears Ashley's calm but anxious voice come in.
"Cougar, he's got missile lock on us. Get away from this guy."
"What the hell is this? He's engaging me! God dammit, Mustang, this is Ghost Rider 1-1-7, this bogey's all over me, he's got missile lock on me. Do I have permission to fire?"
"Do not fire until fired upon!"
Maverick spots Cougar's bird, banking wildly trying to shake the bogey that is matching her every move. "Goose, there they are, right below us."
"The MiG's in perfect firing position. He's right on Cougar's tail."
"No way, Goose. He'd have fired by now. He's just trying to piss us off."
"Maverick, get down here and get this asshole off me!"
She slides in like a thief until she's tailing Cougar's tail. "Easy, Cougar. Bring him back, hard right. Help me engage." Jessica banks right, opening it up for Beca. "I'm on my way." The trio of jets spiral through the sky nearing the speed of sound and Beca's blood is singing. "I can't shoot this son of a bitch, so let's see if we can have a little fun with him."
A hard pull on the stick puts her into a full inversion and she laughs at the feeling, her weight against belts keeping her strapped in place as she descends upon the MiG until they're upside down on top of the bogey.
"Is this your idea of fun, Mav?"
She's close - too close, by any rational analysis - close enough she can see the details of the other pilot's flight suit and the fact that he has a photo tucked onto his dash. She smiles, though it can't be seen hidden under her mask, and offers him the international symbol of "Fuck you," with her middle finger. "Greetings!"
"Watch the birdie!" Goose laughs and Maverick sees the quick flash of the Polaroid camera Goose always has handy for moments like this because Maverick likes to pull stunts, and rolls out of the inversion. "Geez, I crack myself up. This is a great shot, Mav. I should be a photographer."
She laughs and watches MiG One disengage, leaving Jessica clear. "Cougar, your tail is clear. MiG One has bugged out. We've had enough fun for one day, don't you think? I'm getting a little low on fuel, so we're heading home. See you on deck." She banks and dives for her heading back to the carrier, giddy from the adrenaline of the unexpected dogfight.
"Cougar, we're running low on gas, we gotta get out of here. Cougar?"
Maverick hears Bobcat talking, but Cougar isn't answering. "Goose, is Cougar behind us?"
"I don't see her, Mav."
"We're on vapor, Cougar, let's do it. Cougar! Come on, Jess!" More radio silence as Maverick lowers her landing gear. "Let's take it back to the ship. We are way low on gas; do you understand me? You all right?"
"Maverick, you're at three-quarters of a mile, call the ball."
"Roger, Maverick has the ball."
"Cougar, it is time to land, let's do it!"
The deck of the Enterprise is at the nose of her bird, but she's not thinking about landing anymore. Cougar isn't responding and hasn't said a word since MiG One had missile lock on her. "Goose, Cougar's in trouble."
"C'mon, Mav, we're getting low on gas. Let's land this sucker."
"Cougar!"
The impact of the flight deck rocks the jet and instead of engaging the landing she re-engages a take-off.
"What are you doing, Mav? We don't have enough fuel!"
"We're going after Cougar." She ignores the repeated commands pouring in over comm to land, ignores the warning buzzers of the jet's fuel levels, and heads back above the clouds until she's alongside Cougar's aircraft. "You ladies seen an aircraft carrier around here?"
"Mav, we got a little problem up here," Bobcat calls. "That MiG really screwed her up. I don't think she can make it back."
"You're okay, Jessica. Just stay on my wing. I'll take you all the way in. Just stay with me." She watches Jessica struggle to pilot, wings dipping and tilting like she's asleep at the stick. "Easy, Jess. Just a walk in the park." She checks her altimeter. "You're a little low, Jess. Pull up. Good, that's it. Almost there."
The flight deck calls in the landing and Beca gives Cougar more space, the Tomcat swinging wildly as it descends toward the runway. But she does it, catching the last wire to stop the jet from careening over the end of the carrier.
14 APRIL 2017
20:23
USS ENTERPRISE, INDIAN OCEAN
Beca and Jesse wait in the hall; they've been summoned by the Commander to report on today's events. Something tells her he cares less about the bogeys and more about her insubordination. They have to wait because Jessica's already inside, speaking to Smith.
When she exits, she has tears in her eyes.
"Cougar?"
"Thanks, Maverick." Beca notices her wings are no longer on her uniform.
"Maverick, Goose. Come in here."
"What the hell's going on?" she whispers to Jesse, who looks as worried as she does.
"I don't know."
"Shit."
They enter the Commander's office and stand at attention. He doesn't look up at them, instead, continues reviewing the papers on his desk. "Maverick, you just did an incredibly brave thing."
She keeps her mouth shut, feeling very much like a "but" is coming.
"What you should have done is land your plane! You don't own that plane; the taxpayers do! Your ego's writing checks your body can't cash. You've been busted. You lost your qualifications as section leader three times. Put in hack twice - by me - with a history of high-speed passes over five air control towers, and one admiral's daughter."
Jesse leans over to whisper, "Lexi Davidson?" and Beca offers a half-shrug confirmation.
"And you, asshole," Smith directs at Goose, "you're lucky to be here."
"Thank you, sir."
"Let's not bullshit, Maverick. You and I both know there are a hundred men who think you don't belong here and they do. You need to be doing it better and cleaner than the rest. Now, what is it with you?"
Beca holds her chin high against the jabs. "I just want to serve my country and be the best fighter pilot in the Navy, sir."
Smith sits on his desk, glowering up at her. "Don't screw around with me, Maverick. You're a hell of an instinctive pilot. Maybe too good. I'd like to bust your butt, but I can't. I've got another problem here. I've gotta send somebody from this squadron to Miramar. I gotta do something...I still can't believe it." He looks physically pained, sweating, grimacing. Whatever it is must be good, because Miramar is Beca's heaven. "I've gotta give you your dream shot. I'm going to send you up against the best. You two characters are going to TOPGUN."
She fights back a smile and sees Jesse shift next to her, surely doing the same.
"For five weeks, you're going to fly against the best fighter pilots in the world. You were number two, Cougar was number one. Cougar lost it, turned in her wings. You guys are number one. But you remember one thing." Smith's in her face. "You screw up, you'll be flying a cargo plane full of fidget spinners out of Hong Kong."
"Yes, sir!"
"That is all. You can tell me about the MiG some other time."
She and Jesse bounce toward the door exchanging excited glances only to be stopped by Smith's voice again. "Good luck."
21 APRIL 2017
10:03
MIRAMAR, CALIFORNIA, AKA FIGHTERTOWN USA
Beca has spent, quite literally, her entire life dreaming about Miramar.
She grew up hearing about it from her dad. Even visited it a few times. They'd sit on the trunk of his car along a runway and watch the jets fly in perfect formation overhead, marvel at the power of takeoff and grace of landing. Her dad would tell her about each type of jet they saw, its statistics - range, weaponry, what it was best matched against both with American and foreign aircraft. She knew by the time she was ten-years-old she wanted to be a fighter pilot just like him.
And now she's back, this time alone - well, with Goose, but technically alone - as she races toward the air base on her Ninja 650 to catch up with the Tomcat that's taking off. She watches it head up into the sunset and cranks the throttle of her bike as if she could possibly catch up with it in the sky.
Maverick = Beca
Goose = Jesse
Cougar = Jessica
Bobcat = Ashley
Commander Smith = John Smith (of Gail and John)