𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫

❝ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 ❞



















































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"CAPTAIN MITCHELL IS NO LONGER YOUR INSTUCTOR."

Oops.

Faith tried to ignore all her friends' questioning glances. When she met their eyes, she just gave them a long closure, hand folded in front unfolded to wave them off in a manner of saying 'don't worry'.

All they could do was but that as Cyclone continued giving them the scare of their lives, "And as of today, there are new mission parameters. Time to target is now four minutes." There's a beep heard, and Faith's head drops, unable to meet the others' eyes.

"You'll be entering the valley level at reduced speed. Not to exceed 420 knots." Cyclone continues, and Faith puts her hand over her face, one hand reaching her waist, pinching her nose.

This was utterly stupid.

"Sir, won't we be giving their planes time to intercept?" Bob pipes up from the front seat with nothing but horror written across his face.

"Well, Lieutenant, you have a fighting chance against enemy aircraft. What are the odds of surviving a head-on collision with a mountain?" Cyclone continues, until the silence in the room after his words is broken up with a ring of Faith's phone.

She looks up, eyes widened, before putting her hand in her pocket and bringing her phone out. Cyclone turns back to look at her, giving her a scolding look before pointing finger towards the door.

Faith nods, hiding her smirk behind a face of embarrassment, moving down the line between the seats, giving Bradley her Kazansky smirk, and a quick wink, before placing her phone to her ear and spluttering out some words in hushed tones.

Once she's out the door, she's running towards the hangar where Maverick was waiting for her.

He meets her eyes with a smile of relief. They breath in and out together, bumping their fists with each others', before putting on their gears and making their way into their jets.



































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THE TWO CAPTAINS WERE SIDE BY SIDE, FLYING THE COURSE OF THEIR MISSION, ACCORDING TO PREVIOUS MISSION PARAMETERS.

Confidence was practically oozing from the two, as they make a drift, descending below. They share a glance, a determined nod, before Maverick's voice is heard on the radio, not just to her, but practically everyone at TOPGUN right this moment.

"Maverick and Archer to Range Control, entering Point Alpha. Confirm green range." They still fly drifting to the left, following a curve and bringing their attention back to the radio when there's a reply from Control, "Uh, Maverick, Archer, Range Control, uh, green range is confirmed. I don't see an event scheduled for you, Captains."

"Yeah, well, we're going anyway." Archer replies in a smug tone.

"Setting time to target, two minutes and fifteen seconds." Maverick calls out once more, and Archer continues with a jerk of her head to the side, there was no going back now. "Final attack point. We're inbound." The two Captains turn off their comms, sharing a glance of widened eyes at their actions, before turning back to the sky ahead with heavy breaths and steady grips on their yokes and throttles.

She'd never felt the thrill of rebelling so loud ever before. Probably because it was her first time, but she was with her uncle. So there'd be some rebelling at a point.

Pushing the throttle forward, heart beating just as fast, their jets align to higher speeds, inverting and throwing out some air as the Captains ignore the force on their chests. They level out slowly, gently pushing off the force, flying through the first jump point.

Then, it's a full race against time as they make sharp turns to their sides consecutively, before a single twist to their right, as they fly not too many feet away from the desert terrain below them.

A sharp left, throwing off some air, then once again, a sharp right. They make it out of the low terrain, ascending a tad bit higher and higher, continuously throwing themselves and the jets to the side.

Heavy breaths are taken in, heavy breaths are taken out from both Captains practically speeding their way out of the region. One twist to their lefts, and the two are sleeping off to the side, drifting towards the next jump point.

They follow the course, making turns to their sides back to back, one after the other, trying their best to shrug off the forces on their chests trying to weigh them down. Then, they fly, nose straight ahead, approaching the jump point from not twenty feet off the ground, it was just sand below them, reaching above one the jets made their way forward.

Maverick's back on the radio, announcing, "We're pumping in three, two, one."

Archer takes a deep breath before one, grasp on the controls tightening, knuckles turning white, jet falling behind Mav's. At one, their yokes are brought back, and throttles pushed forward, climbing the mountain at almost ninety degrees, with the heavy force returning, speed immensely gained, and hearts incredibly fast at racing.

Once they reach the peak, they invert one by one, avoiding the radar, and descending to the below. They throw off the air, ignore the weight on their bodies, trying their best to not fall into G-LOC, grunting and panting heavily.

A bit further down the canyon, and then they level out one behind the other, Maverick taking the lead to catch eyes and lock on the target, speaking to his partner, "Eyes on target?"

Archer nods, confirming back quickly, "Eyes on target."

They shift the laser to properly set on the goal, steady single beeps, until they get the targets right in the center, a single loud beep heard from both their sides. "Bombs away." Maverick throws down his missile with a push of his button. Then with a grunt, he's ascending higher, making way for Archer.

With a steady breath and a steady eye on the target, she presses the red button on her yoke, dropping both missiles, watching them fall for a second, before pulling the yoke to her self and forcing the throttle forwards, following after Maverick.

Her eyes fall down to the g-meter, groans escaping her as she ignores the weight everywhere on her body, trying not to feel the pain on her chest and head and lungs, which felt like they were imploding. She does her best to blink away the black spots which tried clouding her vision, force on her body getting heavier and weighted by the feet and second.

8.0 G

8.5 G

9.0 G

9.5 G

10 G

A loud rumble from below, makes Archer ignore the weight for a minute, head turning back as she keeps an even steadier grip on the controls. Her eyes widen, realizing they'd both hit the target with a perfect lock and eye, calling out to Maverick, "It's a hit! It's a hit!"

0.16 seconds left.

Maverick seems to take off his mask once they finish their course, as Archer flies up to him, by his side, taking off her own and giving him a huge smile. They say nothing, but share grins and joy. Maverick punches the side of his canopy with his fist, and she does the same, letting out a final heavy breath.

A perfect shot, a perfect bullseye, and the perfect way to fly the mission, properly demonstrated by both Captains in a perfect team.

It's the only way to fly the mission, and the only way to survive, at least, before the dog fight. And it'd have to do.













































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BACK IN THE AIR BOSS' CABIN, THE CAPTAINS ARE STOOD SIDE BY SIDE ONCE AGAIN, IN ATTENTION.

"You both have put me in a difficult position, Captains." Faith gulps by Maverick's side.

"On the one hand, you have demonstrated that this mission can be flown. Perhaps the only way it can be survived." Cyclone's eyes shift between the both of them. They take heavy breaths, waiting for his next words.

"On the other hand, you did it by stealing two multi-million dollar military aircrafts, and flying them in such a way that they may never be airworthy again." Faith rolls her eyes at his words, wincing when she feels her uncle slapping her forearm.

"Iceman is no longer here to protect you." What is up with him and his obsession with her father? Faith's brows raise in annoyance. She knew he was gone, there was no reason to bring up his absence again and again.

"I have everything I need to have you both court-martialed and dishonorably discharged." Faith sucks in a breath.

It had to be done. They had to show that it could be done. Even if at the end it wasn't either of them flying it, the others needed hope and belief that it could be done. And they'd done it. With no regrets. If Cyclone wanted to discharge them, Faith would honestly pack up her things and give up flying. For her uncle. If he wasn't in the air, then neither would she be.

"So what do I do?" I don't know, you tell me, Faith's voice in her head echoes. This guy was slow and boring her to death. She wouldn't be surprised if she did drop down dead right this second.

"Risk the lives of my pilots and perhaps the success of this mission?" Cyclone's way. Slow. And downright idiotic.

"Or..." Her heart races even faster, practically thumping it's way out of her chest. Her eyes close, and she takes a deep breath. Was he....

Maverick looks at Cyclone with furrowed brows.

No.

"Risk my career.." Cyclone continues to build the suspense, and Faith stops breathing, heart heard in her ears.

"By appointing you both team leaders?"

Faith lets out a sharp breath, frozen in her place as a chill runs down her spine, her arms, her legs, everywhere. She closes her eyes, shaking her head, staying still and silent. Maverick is stepping forward to talk with Cyclone with glistening eyes, "Sir-"

Warlock cuts in, "I think the Admiral's asking a rhetorical question, Captain."

Maverick looks to Faith, mouth open in shock, and eyes filled with fear and panic, and she returns his eyes with furrowed brows, and a hold on his hand with both her palms, rubbing up and down to comfort him.

This was... not good.

She wasn't sure how she felt.

Happiness, at making team leader? Sadness at not being able to assign one of her friends with said position? Fear, at being one of the heads? Disappointment, at herself for rebelling?