A/N Okay, originally, I wanted this to be purely a Rooster fic, but I had a lot of ideas for developing Hangman's character arc in a world war as well, and I thought about writing two separate fics, but in the end, I decided one fic, two pov's (I felt I didn't have enough content to write just Rooster's perspective over the length of time this fic will span). This is a test chapter/prologue just to see what y'all think. I'm actually really happy with how this turned out, and it was easier to write than the chapters after it. If you want a music track for this one, at least for the flight scenes, an instrumental of "Danger Zone" works well.
Area 51: January 2021
"This is Control, proceed to target."
"Copy." Hangman rolls right, Spark Plug on his left following suit.
"The best direction to take is through the canyon." The third jet, flying to his right says.
He's still not used to the aircraft talking to him, instead of a human.
"We can't go through the canyon. Our jets are bigger than you, we'll hit the walls." Hangman says, rolling right again to proceed behind some mountains. "We covered this in the mission briefing AJ. We're going around behind the mountains, dropping below radar, Spark Plug will jam their detection and we'll come out of the far valley. Low detection risk until we hit the target."
"They have drones patrolling the mountains. The drones are faster and better armed than the F/A 18 Super Hornet. The Growler is likewise slower and underarmed. The drones also have jamming capability and equal chance of detecting us. Your plan is in error." AJ informs him.
"It's not my plan, and we don't know that it's in error. Our job is to follow orders and neutralize the target and any encountered defending aircraft. And to do it safely."
"The canyon route is safe, provided you watch where you're going."
The artificially piloted jet almost seems to audibly roll it's nonexistent eyes, even though it has no emotions. Hangman briefly wonders if maybe he's projecting his own exasperation onto the artificial jet.
"AJ, Spark Plug and I are not capable of flying that precisely. Even with fly by wire, we do not have the level of control you do. We will hit the walls."
"By my estimation of your flying skills, you have even odds of making it through."
A fifty-fifty shot, huh?
"And Spark Plug?"
"A "lost cause". But it is an acceptable gain to loss ratio. The enemy has five manned aircraft and eight drones in addition to the target itself."
"In a real mission, I'd agree with you. But this is a training simulation. There is no need to risk anyone's life beyond the acceptable limits of equipment failure, pilot error, and freak events like bird strikes. A collision with the ground is an avoidable risk that doesn't need to be taken in a training simulation."
"We are wasting time. The loss of one to two pilots and aircraft is an acceptable loss for the targeted gain in this scenario, regardless of the cause. Would you like me to list the number of pilots killed in training exercises over the course of aviation history? I can do so while we proceed to the target." For an AI that is only semi sentient and has no emotions, the thing sounds way too smug to Hangman's way of thinking.
"That's not necessary. They taught us all about it at flight school." Hangman replies.
"Very well. Proceeding to target. Please follow closely."
"Spark Plug and I will circle around."
"Negative. The enemy drones are faster, better armed, and more manuvuerable than the Super Hornet. Even if you manage the unlikely feat of shooting down the other manned aircraft, the drones will ascertain our target from the patterns inherent in your actions."
"Listen here, Einstein," Hangman says through an exasperated sigh. "I'll take my chances with the drones. That canyon is too narrow, even for me."
"Strike Team, this is Control. Exercise terminated. Knock it off." Comes the message on the radio.
"Negative. The target is not yet neutralized. Retreat will give enemies time to intercept. Detecting patrol coming around the mountains now. The canyon is the only option to avoid detection."
"They're just returning to base, AJ. Exercise is terminated. Mission is over. Let's go on back to base." Hangman doesn't like where this is going. Through the course of this conversation full of mental gymnastics in the art of debating a semi sentient AI jet, said jet has been slowly turning them back towards their previous heading. Now they are pointing at the canyon.
AJ moves into an offense position behind them, with the clear intent of herding them through the narrow opening.
Hangman can't even see the opening from here and they're only ten miles out. The walls will be on them in a few seconds...
"Spark Plug?" He gives her a heads up. Abruptly, he rears the jet up on his tail.
Spark Plug breaks left, both she and AJ shooting right past him. The AI jet barely breaks stride in turning after her, missile lock screaming, and in a moment Spark Plug's aircraft flashes white in his HUD as a kill.
He pursues the jet, hoping that "killing" it will convince it to return to base. It evades him, shooting straight up and arching over backwards, firing a harmless training laser towards command. The building flashes white in the HUD as a "kill".
Hangman's mouth drops open inside of his mask. This thing just "killed" it's operator/commander.
It proceeds to smoke the other manned jets, and the few drones still out around the mountains.
When it turns it's attention to Hangman, it happens so fast his head doesn't even have time to spin.
It banks left, Hangman shoots straight up into the sky, and it follows him. He puts his aircraft into a nosedive aiming straight for the peak of the tallest mountain.
The artificial jet keeps trying nudge him towards the canyon, but it isn't happening.
For some reason, it hasn't tried to get a lock on him yet. It must consider him essential to the mission. Hangman would be flattered if he weren't being flattened into his seat by the steep turn he's using to reverse course.
"You want the canyon so badly? Okay, let's go to the canyon." Hangman dares.
"Understood. Proceeding to target." This thing can't read into tones and inflection.
Good to know...
The wall gets closer and closer and suddenly a mile out, Hangman can see the opening. He makes a minor course correction and the walls swallow him.
There is absolutely no room for error. The walls are an inch away from either wing tip. He hopes there are no outcroppings or snags coming up.
He checks his terrain map and dips lower.
"Want to avoid any potential SAM sites intel may not have known about." He tells the menacing thing behind him.
"A good decision." It descends with him.
A giant rock formation screams down the corridor ahead of him, filling his canopy in less than a second.
"Holy..." He yanks up on the stick and just misses the thing. He loops back around to see if the artificial jet is still pursuing the target.
AJ isn't so fortunate, and the blazing cloud near the ground above him makes him very aware of it.
"Uh oh."
-o0o- -o0o- -o0o-
"What were you thinking?!" The Admiral asks, a breath away from shouting. Hangman, standing ramrod straight at attention, doesn't bat an eye.
"I was thinking I'd rather have two live pilots than two dead pilots." He says.
"You think this is funny?!" Admiral Cain gets right up in his face. "Thanks to you, there is a multi billion dollar smoking hole in the ground that was worth more than the F35, F22, and Space Shuttle programs combined. Your job was to evaluate whether or not this AI is capable of following orders that run seemingly counter to it's assigned mission and whether or not it was capable of knowing if or when to disregard orders if it saw a better way to achieve it's goal. You were not supposed to try to outfly it! It cannot be bested by a human pilot!"
"All due respect, sir, it can. And it was. But that's not the point." Hangman can't resist. He just can't.
"You're at attention, Lieutenant!"
Lieutenant? He'd been so proud of that promotion. And now he's back to Lieutenant? For WHAT?!
"Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Denied." The Admiral paces around him for a moment. "You're lucky we have the AI on another system. We only lost the aircraft. I'd have you court martialed for disobeying a direct order otherwise. But, since the program isn't entirely destroyed, I'm inclined to be lenient in this case."
He comes to a stop, directly in front of Hangman. "You'll pack a sea bag and report to the USS Nimitz by this time tomorrow. I want you off base by the end of the day. Dismissed."
-o0o- -o0o- -o0o-
"I can't believe they demoted me. For trying to get the drone back to base! I thought if we hit the target, it would come back. How was I supposed to know there was a giant boulder in the way? AJ should have been faster than me, fast enough to correct. Why wasn't it?" Hangman fumes, as he nurses a water bottle in the ready room. His sea bag sits packed by his side.
"Maybe because you can't avoid what you can't see. Your jet was in the way and you pulled up at the last fraction of a second. I don't know how your instruments missed it. Maybe because it was using the simulation's version of the map, instead of a live one?" Spark Plug's tone is reasonable, although her face is pinched in disappointment.
"I'm more worried about the fact that it was perfectly willing to shoot down it's allies and it's command center as well as it's target. And it did so after it was ordered to return to base." Hangman crosses his arms.
"Thanks for trying to get it off me, by the way." She pops an orange slice into her mouth.
"I was trying to, but it was just so fast!" He protests.
"I know. No matter how good we are, there is always someone...or something out there better than we are." She shrugs.
"They want to put that thing into an F35. And an F16. And maybe a stealth nuclear bomber. That thing is self teaching. It can learn without being programmed. It can remotely access the Internet, if they don't stop it each time it tries. It can reason logically. But it doesn't have morals. It's just barely self aware. It has the self awareness and regard for others of a two year old! It's like it's just learning how to use the word "no"." He shakes his head. "It's like giving a giant torch to a two year old buried under a mountain of fireworks. They've programmed this thing to be able to drop nukes."
"There's nothing we can do about it. Either they'll fix it or they won't. They're canning us as test pilots. They're even sending us to opposite sides of the world."
"You got your orders?"
She nods. "I'm heading for the Atlantic. You said Nimitz? You're in the Pacific."
"Be sure to write me, Sweetheart. I don't know what I'd do without you." He grins, making it clear he's joking. She throws an orange peel at him.
"Shut up, Hangman."
"Want to see what there is to see around town before catching your flight? I've heard of this awesome karaoke bar."
"I'll drive."
"Sure thing." He tosses her the keys.
A/N A note on timeline: Since Top Gun: Maverick was filmed in and originally scheduled to release in 2019, that is when it takes place for this story's timeline. I'll be adjusting existing chapters to reflect this as I can. This fic takes place roughly two years after the uranium mission. As details unfold in the story, I may also publish a timeline for the overall fic, including for any flashback/memory scenes (some of which will fill in the time Maverick and Rooster spent apart prior to the movie).