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“Below the hard deck doesn’t count,” might just be the dumbest thing he’s heard today.
Maverick was still reeling from the locker room conversation as he walked silently alongside Goose to their new instructor’s office. His brain was running a mile a minute as different scenarios popped up in his head. Would Viper and Jester be more upset about them buzzing the tower or the hard deck?
In Maverick’s opinion, Viper and Jester ought to give them slack…and the points. He had many reasons for thinking so and wouldn’t hesitate to defend not only his actions but Goose as well.
As they entered the hallway where Viper’s office was, he immediately heard the furious yelling coming from the aforementioned room. “Two of your snot-nosed jockeys did a fly-by on my tower at over 400 knots!” Goose slowly turned his head to stare down at Maverick in visible apprehension. Maverick gave the fakest smile to match Goose’s expression. “I want somebody’s butt—I want it now. I’ve had it!”
A man—the new Air Boss—threw open the office door and stormed right into an unsuspecting Petty Officer carrying a tray of coffee. The tray flipped, drenching the poor soul in hot coffee. The Air Boss shouted in frustration. “Goddamnit! That’s twice!” He stormed off, but not before shouting “I want some butts!” right in Maverick and Goose’s faces.
What a weirdo.
“Well…that’ll just about cover the fly-bys.” Maverick had to restrain himself from turning to look at Viper. He could feel Jester’s burning stare from inside the office. “Get in, Lieutenants.”
After they awkwardly shuffled their way in, not making a sound, Viper sighed, turning to look out the window, a piece of paperwork in his hands. Maverick tried to not look at Jester—who was stonily looking the other way—but it was hard since the man was in front of him.
“Gentlemen, you’ve had a hell of a first day. The hard deck for this hop was ten thousand feet. You knew it and broke it. You followed Commander Heatherly below after he lost sight of you and called “no joy”. Why?”
Maverick took a breath, considering his response. “I had Commander Heatherly in my sights…he saw me move in for the kill. He then proceeded below the hard deck. We were only under ten thousand for no more than a few seconds. There was no danger, so I took the shot.”
Viper turned and gave Jester a look before continuing. “Yet, you broke it. Then, you broke another one with that fly-by. Lieutenant Mitchell, the TOPGUN rules of engagement exist not only for your own and other’s safety but also for the safety of your aircraft. They are not flexible, and neither am I. You will not get any points for this hop,” he said, turning to stare the two Lieutenants in the face.
“I–” Maverick began before hastily shutting his mouth. Viper raised an eyebrow.
“Objection?” Maverick didn’t say anything. “No, really. If you have something to say, I want to hear it.”
He looked at Goose, who was staring straight forward, probably trying to wish any confrontation away. “I…don’t agree, sir.”
“With?”
“The points…or, lack of, I guess,” Maverick told him.
Jester sighed, finally turning to stare at the young pilot. “And why is that?”
“Jester,” Viper warned, receiving a look in return.
“I believe that it would be within reason to give us the points,” Maverick began his reasoning. Both Viper and Jester looked at him expectantly. “TOPGUN is about preparing us for these scenarios in real life, yes? And the hard deck—in real life—is the ground or water.”
“And this means what, Lieutenant?” Viper pushed.
Maverick took another deep breath. “Jester hit the hard deck knowing we were going to get a lock on him if he didn’t. He would’ve crashed in real life, and even if we didn’t get a lock on him, we would’ve won as a result.”
Viper let out a hum, looking down at the paper again. “How do all these what-ifs excuse you from following him below?”
“If it had been real life, I wouldn’t have hit the floor to make a lock—I would’ve let the bogey burn out.”
“You got the lock after you hit the hard deck,” Jester told him with a sense of finality in his tone.
“Like I said, sir, we would’ve won regardless in a real-life scenario. Respectfully,” he tacked on.
Viper huffed out some sort of laugh and clicked his tongue. “Okay, I’ll entertain your point. Do you truly believe that your instructor went under the hard deck to escape your tone?”
“Yes, sir,” Maverick answered honestly. “I don’t see how it’s fair to the class that you aren’t held to the same standards as the students.”
“You do know a lot about unfairness, don’t you, Lieutenant Mitchell?” Viper asked, and Maverick stilled. His back straightened and his lips tightened at the reference. “We’ll get back to you on your…objection. Dismissed.”
Maverick and Goose hightailed it out of the office, letting the door shut and walking out of the hallway with the speed of an Olympic athlete. When they exited the hallway, Goose stopped—causing Maverick to as well—and leaned back on the wall.
“Is it too late to be a truck driver?”
“Welcome back, Gentlemen,” Viper greeted the class as he walked to the front of the classroom. “Glad to see you all are well. Let’s talk about yesterday’s hop.”
A couple of heads turned toward Maverick, but he stared straight at the instructor.
“Yesterday, somebody pointed out something that had a bit of merit, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you. We want every person that comes into TOPGUN to leave with a true understanding of how to use their skills in real combat. This includes the hard deck. If anyone, in a real dogfight, hits the “hard deck”, they would be dead. In our instruction, that counts as a loss.”
“We know all this,” someone said from behind him. He thinks it was Hollywood, but you can never be too sure. “What’s new?”
“To get the most out of dogfight exercises, everybody should be following that rule to mimic the atmosphere properly. That includes Jester and I, as well as any other instructor that may come through,” Viper told them all. “If any of you or us—accidentally or not—hit the hard deck for any reason that isn’t a true emergency, that is a loss, and no points will be given. That is final.”
Viper stepped back, and Jester began his spiel. “Today, we’ll be starting with written assignments and having a hop at 1400 hours.”
“Oh, and by the way,” Viper cut in quickly, redrawing the attention again. “Iceman and Slider, as well as Maverick and Goose, were awarded points for their win yesterday.”
Maverick smiled as Goose gave him a pat on the back. “Nice going, Mav.”
“Thanks, Goosey,” Maverick whispered back with a bright grin.
“But never do that shit again.”
“Got it.”