Top Gun 2018 -

Jake hesitates. The drone passes. He fails the exercise.

They engage the drones. Maverick takes two, but his aircraft takes a shrapnel hit—canopy cracks, oil pressure plummets. He's bleeding from the scalp.

Maverick's engine seizes. He ejects at 300 feet. Parachute just opens before he slams into a pine forest. EXT. MOUNTAIN HOSPITAL - NIGHT

The mission. Four Super Hornets against five drones. The canyon is a blender of granite walls and SAM radar. top gun 2018

Training is brutal. Maverick pushes Jake into unrecoverable scenarios—engine flameouts, flat spins, head-on merges. During one mock dogfight, Jake gets a missile lock on Maverick but refuses to fire, screaming, "I won't be you!"

Jake slams the stick. A 9G turn. Black encroaches on his vision. He pulls lead, the piper on the drone's engine exhaust. He fires.

Maverick ejects. On the ground, he grabs Jake by the flight suit. "You're right. You won't be me. You'll be worse. You'll be dead. And your father will have to bury his son—because he taught you to fear the sky." Jake hesitates

Jake, now an instructor, walks the tarmac. A young pilot approaches him. "Sir? My dad flew with you. Lt. Bradshaw. Callsign 'Rooster.' He said you'd teach me the real thing."

Maverick: "He said, 'Tell my son I was wrong. And tell Pete... thanks for the save.'"

His RIO (unnamed) sighs. "Sundown... you locked up." They engage the drones

Phoenix confronts Jake. "He's not your enemy. Your enemy is the story you're telling yourself." EXT. CANYON RUN - DAY

Jake breaks down. Maverick pulls him into a one-armed hug.

Top Gun: Maverick's Shadow (Alternative: Top Gun: Afterburn )

In memory of those who punch out so others may fly home.