Top Gun: Phantoms
Chapter One: Old Flames
Four of the best fighter/strike pilots at Top Gun sat patiently waiting for their instructor to inform them about their next mission. Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell stepped up to the podium.
"Good morning, men… and women." Maverick nodded in the direction of Lieutenant Natasha "Phoenix" Trace.
Phoenix nodded back with a smile. She was accompanied by Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw; Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin; and Lieutenant Javy "Coyote" Machado.
"The reason for this meeting is because Special Intelligence has discovered a new threat… That threat being biological and chemical warfare…"
Maverick paused for a few seconds and looked around at his pilots, knowing he was about to ask them to take on a dangerous mission. "What is it we do here?" he asked.
Hangman quickly piped up. "We study new maneuvers for fighting air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat, and air-to-sea combat… Sir!"
Maverick shook his head up and down, reluctantly agreeing with Hangman's answer. "Thank you for answering… as technical as possible, Hangman. But… can someone explain to me what we do here… in layman's terms?"
"We take care of the shit that nobody else on Earth has the ability to take care of… Sir!" Rooster declared, causing Maverick and the other pilots to smile at his response.
"Exactly!" Maverick agreed. "We take care of the… shit… as Rooster put it… that nobody else on this Earth has the ability to take care of. And that is what our country is asking us to do… again."
"You said the enemy has weapons of biological and chemical warfare. What are they trying to spread? Is it some sort of a new COVID virus?" Phoenix chuckled.
"Worse!" Maverick boldly stated. "It is an airborne virus that makes COVID seem like a nice vacation. Once infected, you would only have hours to live… or less."
"Where is it?" Coyote asked.
"The lab is located in the Himalayan Mountains." Maverick replied. "The mountain region is guarded by ballistic missiles and a few fighter pilots. They have radar technology that can detect any aircraft traveling above two-hundred feet from the ground level."
Rooster quickly raised his hand. "If this is an airborne virus… why haven't they called in the Navy Seals? Wouldn't they want to send in a ground team? Wouldn't we be taking a risk of causing the virus to go airborne if we blow it up?"
"Good question, Rooster." Maverick replied. "That's why we aren't blowing it up."
"Then, what would we be doing?"
"We would be destroying the mountain that the lab is located on, causing the mountain to implode in on itself, containing the virus below thousands of pounds of dirt, rock, and rubble."
"Why haven't they deployed the weapon yet?" Hangman asked.
"Money." Maverick replied. "They are waiting for the highest bidders. Not only have they discovered a new virus… they've also discovered a cure for it. Once they've made the amount of money they are hoping for, they plan on letting it loose. And that is going to be happening soon."
"How soon?" Phoenix piped up.
"Tomorrow." Maverick sadly replied, holding his head down. "That means we won't have any practice drills before executing the plan."
Maverick then put up a picture of the mountain region on a large monitor.
"To avoid radar, we would have to be traveling faster than mach-6… and below the hard deck."
He then displayed a curvy flight pattern.
"Our planes would have to travel between the mountains through this narrow region, causing us to have to maneuver tough angles at very high speeds."
Rooster quickly raised his hand again.
"Yes, Rooster?" Maverick asked.
"When do we get started?"
The entire team looked around at each other. They all began acknowledging that they were ready for the mission.
"We head out at O' eight-hundred."
The pilots had been studying the flight pattern and basic maneuvers for several hours and Maverick could tell that everyone was getting anxious about the mission. They all knew it was going to be dangerous, especially since there would be no opportunity for a practice run.
Suddenly, Maverick abruptly turned off the projector. "You know what?.. I don't think this is the right place to study anymore. You guys are the best of the best. We need to go somewhere familiar to help us clear our heads."
Everyone was surprised.
"Where would you suggest we go?" Phoenix asked.
Thirty minutes later…
Maverick and his crew walked into the most familiar place they know, which was a bar called "The Hard Deck." It was a place they had frequented almost as much as the bright blue sky.
"First round is on me, boys… and girls!" Maverick announced. "But not too many. We need to be looking sharp tomorrow morning."
Rooster and Phoenix grabbed a booth. They had been romantically involved for a few months now. Hangman and Coyote spotted a couple single ladies mingling in the corner and decided to walk over and introduce themselves. Maverick made his way towards the bar area. On his way, he passed by the piano, which was near the jukebox. He began to reminisce about the old days, when he and Goose would sit and play tunes for the single ladies. There were also a few scratches from the bar fights they got into while trying to entertain the, not-so, single ladies.
"You guys are here earlier than usual." his on-and-off girlfriend- and owner, Penny Benjamin made mention as Maverick approached the bar.
"Big mission tomorrow. I wanted to give them time to collect their thoughts."
"Well, that was nice of you to give them the rest of the day off," she said, handing him a tall, cold one.
"Actually…we are still on the clock…so don't tell anyone," he winked, tipping the bottle back and taking a swig.
Penny began wiping down the top of the bar, getting ready for the evening rush. "You had a visitor who came in looking for you a bit earlier."
"Oh really?... Who?"
Just then, before Penny could answer, a song began playing on the jukebox.
"You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips
And there's no tenderness like before in your fingertips
You're trying hard not to show it,
But baby, baby I know it.
You've lost that lovin' feelin'
Whoa-oh, that lovin' feelin'
You've lost that lovin' feelin'
Now it's gone, gone, gone
Whoa-oh, Whoa-oh, Whoa."
Maverick turned to look at the jukebox. "Charlie?"
There she was, standing only a few feet away from him. Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. He hadn't seen her for quite some time.
"I'll let you two get reacquainted." Penny said in a slightly jealous tone as she made her way over to wipe down a few tables.
"Hey sailor, do you gotta name?" Charlie playfully asked.
"Maverick," he happily replied.
"Maverick? What… did your parents not like you, or something?"
"It's my callsign… I'm a pilot."
"Are you a good pilot?"
"I can hold my own." Maverick smiled, reaching out to give Charlie a big hug.
After holding each other for a second, Maverick stepped back, looking over at Penny. Penny was acting as if she wasn't paying any attention, though, she most certainly was.
"You remembered our song." Maverick smiled. "Although, I was expecting you to do it "Karaoke style" like I did," he teased.
"When you did it, you were trying to get in my pants," she retorted, causing Maverick to smile even wider.
"And you're not?" Maverick flirted.
"No. I just wanted to see you again. I figured I would find you here."
"I'm actually surprised to see you here. I heard you had retired a couple years ago." Maverick made mention.
"I did," Charlie replied. "But… I've recently come out of retirement."
"And why is that?"
"It involves the mission you guys will be completing tomorrow," she replied, her face turning more serious looking.
"You know about the mission tomorrow?"
"Of course. Who do you think was the special intelligence behind the discovery?"
"How did you even get word about the lab?"
"Someone on the mountain leaked the information directly to me."
"Well, at least that's the only thing that has leaked from there so far."
"Something doesn't seem right about this mission, Pete." Charlie warned. "I can't understand why they told me."
"Maybe someone on the mountain remembered you and figured you would be best to try and stop it."
"Perhaps… but it just doesn't seem right. It seems too easy."
"I don't mind easy," Maverick retorted, taking a sip from his bottle.
"Just be careful up there tomorrow."
"Actually… I'll be on the ground… playing backup quarterback," he informed her. "But don't worry. My pilots are the best of the best. I think they can handle it."
"I'm sure they will."
For the next couple hours, Maverick and Charlie spent time catching up and reminiscing about the old days. Eventually, the other four pilots sat down with them and joined in on the conversation. Charlie told Rooster about how his dad and Maverick were such a perfect team. She also told him how happy she was to see that he had also became a pilot.
"I heard you saved Maverick's ass a few months back?" Charlie mentioned to Rooster.
"Yeah. I figured the old guy needed my help," Rooster joked.
"Ahem..." Hangman quickly piped up. "Actually, I remember having to save both of your asses!"
"Well, that's why I kept you around." Maverick smirked.
Maverick then raised his bottle for a toast. "Here is to saving each other's asses!"
They all clanged their bottles together and then chugged them down.
"Well… it certainly has been fun catching up… But… we have a few more things to go over back at the base." Maverick said. "I'm going to go pay our tab and then meet you guys out in the parking lot."
Maverick then walked over to the bar area where Penny was standing. "What's the damage?"
"A little bit of heartache, but I think I'll recover." Penny replied.
Maverick smiled. "Me and Charlie go way back. We aren't trying to relight a flame or anything like that."
"Are you sure about that?" Penny asked, gathering a few empty bottles to take out to the trash.
Maverick pulled Penny in close. "100 percent sure," he replied, gently giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"If you say so," Penny smirked.
"I'll stop by tomorrow after our mission." Maverick said as he began walking towards the door.
Penny then went out the back to finally throw away the empty bottles.
Before Maverick could exit the bar-
"Hey, sailor! Would you like to walk me to my car?" Charlie blurted.
"Sure." Maverick reluctantly replied, still thinking about how Penny was feeling.
Seconds later, as Maverick and Charlie were meeting up with the other pilots outside-
"Oops! I forgot my purse inside. I'll be right back!" Charlie said, running back into the building.
Suddenly, just as she went back through the doors-
KABOOM!
The entire bar exploded, causing the pilots to shield their eyes from the blast and take cover.
"CHARLIE!" Maverick cried out.