History Recap / TopGunMaverick

The pilots include cocky Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin; Natasha "Phoenix" Trace and her GuyInBack Robert "Bob" Floyd; and Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late friend Goose. The pilots typically work in trios: the lead plane flies a one-seat F/A-18E and carries the bombs; the trailing plane has an aiming laser, controlled by the Guy In Back, to guarantee the PlayerGuidedMissile hits its target.

As Maverick's training pushes through to mixed results, Kazansky passes away. Almost immediately after, Cyclone fires Maverick and designs a new plan to strike the enemy base which is much easier to execute but carries a concomitant higher risk of getting shot down. Maverick makes an unauthorized flight following his own plan and becomes the first person to actually succeed at executing it; Cyclone reluctantly appoints Maverick as flight leader.

To actually execute the mission, Maverick pairs himself with Phoenix and Bob, while Rooster is paired with Payback and his WSO Fanboy. Hangman and the other five pilots are put on standby. The Navy launches Tomahawk missiles to destroy the enemy's air base before attacking the plant; this prevents the Navy flight from having to deal with reinforcements, but two 5th-gen fighters are already in the air and immediately set out for the plant to find out what's going on. Despite the harrowing circumstances, the attack is successful and the plant is destroyed; but, as expected, the Naval pilots are attacked by surface-to-air missiles during egress. Maverick performs a HeroicSacrifice to save Rooster and is forced to eject. Once Maverick regains consciousness, he is promptly spotted and attacked by a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-24 Hind-D]] gunship, which is shot down by Rooster, who disobeyed orders to retreat; he too is shot down in turn. Maverick is irritated to have his Heroic Sacrifice negated, but allows that he is glad to see the closest thing he has to family.

During the training, a rivalry forms between Hangman and Rooster due to their RedOniBlueOni contrast; Hangman, the only Naval aviator to score a kill this century, is [[HotBlooded impulsive]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]], while Rooster, despite a proven pedigree and clear ability, is stricken by ParalysisByAnalysis. Meanwhile, Maverick meets his former girlfriend Penny Benjamin, who now owns a bar called "The Hard Deck". He tells Penny that he wanted to keep his promise to Goose's [[MissingMom late]] wife Carole to keep her son from flying, which resulted in him blocking Rooster's application to the Naval Academy and setting back his career. He later meets with Iceman, who has throat cancer and has difficulty communicating, using his computer to type to Maverick before struggling to form a few words. After some flirting, Maverick and Penny close their RelationshipRevolvingDoor with an emphatic TheyDo.

More than three decades have passed after Pete "Maverick" Mitchell graduated from TOPGUN. Maverick, who has avoided promotion to continue flying, is now working on testing the hypersonic Darkstar jet, but the project is about to be shut down by Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain, who wants to redirect funds to developing new drones. Maverick decides to fly in the Darkstar before Cain arrives, eventually reaching the speed of Mach 10, which was the project's final goal that was still two months out, but, being Maverick, he continues to push the prototype past Mach 10 until it disintegrates around him.

Cain, despite wanting to ground Maverick for his actions, instead sends him to NAS North Island under orders from Maverick's old rival-turned-friend, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, who is now an Admiral holding the position of Commander, Naval Air Forces.

As part of a mission to bomb a secret uranium refinery that is deemed a threat to the United States, Maverick is ordered to train a group of pilots, all TOPGUN graduates, assembled by Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson and Rear Admiral Solomon "Warlock" Bates. The plant is hidden deep in a canyon and is guarded by SAM missiles and several enemy aircraft. The plan involves using two pairs of F/A-18 Super Hornets to fly through the canyon before dropping the bombs on the plant. The pilots include cocky Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin, and Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late friend Goose.

During the training, a rivalry forms between Hangman and Rooster. Meanwhile, Maverick meets his former girlfriend Penny Benjamin, who now owns a bar called "The Hard Deck". He tells Penny that he wanted to keep his promise to Goose's wife Carole to keep her son from flying before she died, which resulted in him blocking his application to the Naval Academy and setting back his career. He later meets with Iceman, who has throat cancer and has difficulty communicating, using his computer to type to Maverick before struggling to form a few words.

Later in the training, with the pilots struggling to execute Maverick's mission plan, word reaches them of Iceman's death. Almost immediately after Iceman's funeral, with Maverick no longer having Iceman's protection, Cyclone permanently grounds Maverick and designs a new plan to strike the enemy base which has a much higher probability of the pilots successfully reaching the base and being able to execute the attack, but almost certainly will result on them being killed on the way out of the area. Maverick makes an unauthorized flight following his own plan and shows the pilots that it can be done his way, and Cyclone reluctantly appoints Maverick as flight leader.

In the mission, Maverick pairs himself with Phoenix and her WSO Bob, while Rooster is paired with Payback and his WSO Fanboy. Hangman and several other pilots are put on standby. The Navy launches Tomahawk missiles to destroy the enemy's air base before attacking the plant. The attack is successful and the plant is destroyed, but as expected, they are attacked by surface-to-air missiles. Maverick sacrifices his jet to save Rooster and is forced to eject. Once Maverick regains consciousness, he is promptly spotted and attacked by a Hind-D gunship, which is shot down by Rooster, who disobeyed orders to retreat, and he too is shot down in turn. Maverick and Rooster team up to steal an F-14 Tomcat from the destroyed air base to escape, but once they are in the air, they are confronted by a pair of Su-57 Felons. Maverick promptly shoots down the first Felon by surprise before engaging the second one in a fierce dogfight. After a long battle, Maverick eventually manages to shoot down the second one, but once he's in the clear, he is confronted by a third and final Felon that they are unable to shoot down due to being out of ammunition. When Rooster is unable to eject and the Felon moving in for the kill, all hope seems lost until Hangman arrives and shoots it down just as it fires its missile. Maverick, Rooster, and Hangman then return to the carrier and are welcomed back as heroes, and Maverick and Rooster reconcile.

During the training, a rivalry forms between Hangman and Rooster. Meanwhile, Maverick meets his former girlfriend Penny Benjamin, who is now working at a bar. He tells Penny that he wanted to keep his promise to Goose's wife Carole to keep her son from flying before she died, which resulted in him blocking his application to the Naval Academy and setting back his career. He later meets with Iceman, who has throat cancer and has difficulty communicating, using his computer to type to Maverick before struggling to form a few words.

Three decades have passed after Pete "Maverick" Mitchell had graduated from TOPGUN. Maverick is now working as a test pilot for the U.S. Navy and has avoided promotion to continue flying. Maverick is called upon to test the hypersonic Darkstar jet, but is given orders by Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain to stand down as the project is deemed to be shut down. Nevertheless, Maverick decides to fly in the Darkstar before Cain arrives, eventually reaching the objective, but Maverick continues to push it further, eventually resulting in the prototype being destroyed. Cain, despite wanting to ground Maverick for his actions, decides to send Maverick to NAS North Island as a TOPGUN instructor at the request of Maverick's old friend, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, who is now working as an admiral in the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

As part of a mission to bomb a secret uranium plant that is deemed a threat to the United States, Maverick is ordered to train a group of pilots assembled by Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson and Real Admiral Solomon "Warlock" Bates. The plant is hidden deep in a canyon and is guarded by SAM missiles and several enemy aircraft. The plan involves using two pairs of F/A-18 Super Hornets to fly through the canyon before dropping the bombs on the plant. The pilots include cocky Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin, and Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late friend Goose.

During the training, a rivalry forms between Hangman and Rooster. Meanwhile, Maverick meets his former girlfriend Penny Benjamin, who is now working at a bar. He tells Penny that he wanted to keep his promise to Goose's wife Carole to keep her son from flying before she died, which resulted in him blocking his application to the Naval Academy and setting back his career. He later meets with Iceman, who is reveals to have throat cancer and has difficulty communicating. Iceman reassures Maverick to continue training the pilots before eventually succumbing to his throat cancer. Maverick and the other pilots attend his funeral later on. As a result of Iceman's death, Cyclone permanently grounds Maverick and decides a new plan to strike the enemy base. However, Maverick makes an unauthorized flight on his own and shows the pilots that it can be done his way, and Cyclone reluctantly appoints Maverick as flight leader.

In the mission, Maverick pairs himself with Phoenix and her WSO Bob, while Rooster is paired with Payback and his WSO Fanboy. Hangman and several other pilots are put on standby. The Navy launches tomahawk missiles to destroy the enemy's air base before attacking the plant. The attack is successful and the plant is destroyed, but they are not out of the woods yet: They are attacked by surface-to-air missiles and once they are out of flares, Maverick sacrifices his jet to save Rooster and is forced to eject. Once Maverick regains consciousness, he is promptly spotted and attacked by a Hind-D gunship, but it is shot down by Rooster, who disobeyed orders to retreat, and he too is shot down. Maverick and Rooster team up to steal an F-14 Tomcat from the destroyed air base to escape, but once they are in the air, they are confronted by a pair of Su-57 Felons. Maverick promptly shoots down the first Felon before engaging the second one in a fierce dogfight. After a long battle, Maverick eventually manages to shoot down the second one, but once he's in the clear, he is confronted by a third and final Felon that Maverick is unable to shoot down due to being out of ammunition. When Rooster is unable to eject and the Felon moving in for the kill, all hope seems lost until Hangman arrives and shoots it down just as it fires its missile. Maverick, Rooster, and Hangman then return to the carrier and are welcomed back as heroes, and Maverick and Rooster reconcile.

In celebration of their victory, Maverick and Rooster work on a P-51 Mustang and Maverick reunites with Penny and her daughter Amelia. Maverick takes Penny for a ride in his P-51 while Rooster posts a photo of their success next to a photo of his late father with Maverick.

In the mission, Maverick pairs himself with Phoenix and her WSO Bob, while Rooster is paired with Payback and his WSO Fanboy. Hangman and several other pilots are put on standby. The team launches tomahawk missiles to destroy the enemy's air base before attacking the plant. The attack is successful and the plant is destroyed, but they are not out of the woods yet: They are attacked by surface-to-air missiles and once they are out of flares, Maverick sacrifices his jet to save Rooster and is forced to eject. Once Maverick regains consciousness, he is promptly spotted and attacked by a Hind-D gunship, but it is shot down by Rooster, who disobeyed orders to retreat, and he too is shot down. Maverick and Rooster team up to steal an F-14 Tomcat from the destroyed air base to escape, but once they are in the air, they are confronted by a pair of Su-57 Felons. Maverick promptly shoots down the first Felon before engaging the second one in a fierce dogfight. After a long battle, Maverick eventually manages to shoot down the second one, but once he's in the clear, he is confronted by a third and final Felon that Maverick is unable to shoot down due to being out of ammunition. When Rooster is unable to eject and the Felon moving in for the kill, all hope seems lost until Hangman arrives and shoots it down just as it fires its missile. Maverick, Rooster, and Hangman then return to the carrier and are welcomed back as heroes, and Maverick and Rooster reconcile.

Three decades have passed after Pete "Maverick" Mitchell had graduated from TOPGUN. Maverick is now working as a test pilot for the U.S. Navy and has avoided promotion to continue flying. Maverick is called upon to test the hypersonic Darkstar jet, but is given orders by Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain to stand down as the project is deemed to be shut down. Nevertheless, Maverick decides to fly in the Darkstar before Cain arrives, eventually reaching the objective, but Maverick continues to push it further, eventually resulting in the prototype being destroyed. Cain, despite wanting to ground Maverick for his actions, decides to send Maverick to NAS North Island as a TOPGUN instructor at the request of Maverick's old friend, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, who is now working as an admiral in the U.S. Pacific Fleet.