The next day of training was still quiet. The aviators knew what the mission was. They knew how dangerous their job could be. But the Admiral's funeral, even if he died from cancer, was still a bit of a wake-up call.

It's only made worse when Cyclone starts talking, standing at the front of the room.

"Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor. And as of today, there are new mission parameters," Cyclone informs them. 

The mission clock on the monitor resets from 2:30 minutes to 4:00.

"Time to target is now 4 minutes. You'll be entering the valley level at reduced speed. Not to exceed 429 knots."

Everyone looks at each other with worried and concerned faces, Hangman especially looks concerned. This was not what they had been training. And it was going to get someone killed.

"Sir, won't we be giving their planes time to intercept," Bob asks the first one to snap out of his astonishment.

"Well, lieutenant, you have a fighting chance against enemy aircraft. What are the odds of surviving a head-on collision with a mountain?" Cyclone answers him.

"You'll be attacking the target from a higher altitude, and the cyclone continues, level with the north wall. It will be harder to keep your laser on target, but you will avoid the high-G climb out." Even Warlock is looking wary, observing the looks of the aviators around him.

"We'll be sitting ducks for those enemy missiles," Fanboy whispers to Payback.

Neither were particularly happy about these changes. They both had people to come home to, and it seemed as if Cyclone was limiting that possibility.

But suddenly, the screen starts to move, and a beeping comes online. A small dot is being tracked.

"Who the hell is that," Cyclone questions as an F-18 appears on screen.

"Maverick to range control, entering point alpha, confirm green range." Maverick's voice comes over the speakers.

"Maverick, range control, uh green range is confirmed, but I don't see an event scheduled for you, sir," range controls answers back.

Everyone in the mission room looks excited to see Maverick let go of all restrictions.

"Well, I'm going anyway," Maverick says back. 

"Nice," Phoenix whispers. 

"Setting time to target, 2 minutes 15 seconds," Maverick says. 

"Two fifteen, that's impossible," Payback says. No shot he actually made that. They weren't even under two thirty yet, as that had been the next goal.

Hangman looks at the screen with a slight smirk, anticipating finally seeing Maverick show his full range.

"Time set for you," control informs him.

"Never say no," Maverick says, locking it to start.

Everyone is watching the screen, hardly breathing as they watch Maverick fly the course, navigating tight turns faster than they've ever seen.

The time is 1:30, and he's already halfway there, as everyone watches in anticipation
39 seconds on the clock as he approaches the target point.

"Popping, 3,2,1," Maverick counts down as he prepares to enter the inverted climb.

"Bombs away," as he launches the first missiles.

The missile hits with 0.16 seconds left on the clock as maverick hits 9.5Gs.

"Bullseye," Payback calls out as the missile lands. "Holy shit," Coyote says.

Cyclone stares at the screen, showing Maverick has just hit 10Gs. His mind was racing, unsure of what to do now.

"Damn," Hangman admits.

But now, all the pilots know that this mission is possible to pull off, which is what they needed.

☽☆☾   ☽☆☾   ☽☆☾

Back on the movie set, Jia was going through the motions. She always tried to keep her personal life and work as separate as possible.

(It was quite honestly a matter of life or death if she wasn't focused, depending on the stunt she was doing.)

And while she was doing her stunts with little issue, nailing almost all of the takes, it was clear her head was elsewhere.

So when they had a break, some of her friends cornered her.

"What's going on with you, Ji?"

She looked to Mary, the woman who asked the question. Mark and Henry were behind her.

"What do you mean?"

Mark gave her a look. "You've been off for the past few days. Nothing that has affected the shoots, but you're too in your head. We can't help if we don't know what's going on."

Jia shook her head. "It's nothing you've got to worry about. I'm working through it just fine on my own."

All three of them scoffed. "Yeah, and I'm Princess Peach." It was Henry who said that, which earned some very weird looks.

Jia could tell they weren't going to leave her alone. "It's Reuben." She had a small pause, but seeing all of them starting to open their mouths, she was quick to continue. "And before you jump to any conclusions, it's his job. Not him."

They let out small breaths. They loved Reuben and didn't want to have to hurt him if he hurt Jia.

"He's got a mission in the next few days, and it's dangerous. And I'm not talking the usual level of danger. Dangerous as in someone not coming home is entirely possible."

Mary pursed her lips, realizing just how much Jia had been dealing with. "How long have you known about it?"

Jia shrugged. "It's been almost three weeks. And we always knew it was dangerous, but his team had a scare in training that really got to me."

Benji, having noticed the group off to the side, made his way over, especially after seeing the look on Jia's face. That look alone told him exactly what they were discussing.

Henry and Mark gave her sympathetic looks as Benji took her hand. "I'm sure it will all be okay in the end. He knows what he's doing, and his partner does too."

Mary nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and if all of his team are anything like you've described him, they will have no trouble making it home."

There wasn't much else Jia could tell them without disclosing too much. There were plenty of things she wasn't supposed to know, much less tell anyone else.

They huddled in, surrounding Jia in a big group hug, giving her as much strength and support as they could.

"We will be here for you, whatever you need, just tell us, okay?" Henry told her, watching as she gave them all a small smile.

No matter what, Jia would have a support system when she needed them. Even if none of them knew the exact dangers of Reuben's profession, they knew risks when they saw it. It came with being a stunt person.

No matter how skilled someone was, anything could go wrong. It was just a matter of knowing how to adjust.

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Word count: 1,127

Maverick ran the course and Jia got her worries out. All in all, a pretty uneventful chapter but still important nonetheless.

Next chapter is all fun and games, so get ready! Bye guys!!

(Gif by me)