//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 
// Story: Until Fairer Skies Beckon 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

The MiG-21 had grey paint flaking off and enough leaks that they ran together on the hangar floor.  Rainbow didn’t care.  It was beautiful.

There were eight iron crosses painted below the cockpit.  That seemed like a strange symbol for someone like Angels, but perhaps they weren’t all her doing.  Kill marks traditionally followed the aircraft, not the pilot.  Knowing that also made the skulls on Pantera’s jet less intimidating.

The mechanic Rainbow had inherited along with the jet was named Jubi.  He was taller and skinnier than Rainbow thought possible, and didn’t talk much.

As excited as she was to get into the cockpit, there was so much more to learn.  The radar, primitive as it was, still had to be properly manipulated.  She’d also never flown a jet before.

Rainbow learned as much as she could from Kiel about flying the Fishbed.  There wasn’t much time, though, because - of course - her first mission in it was the next day.

She would have also liked Pug’s input on flying the Fishbed, but he still wasn’t speaking to her.  Granted, while that was probably an improvement, she at least needed to be able to communicate with him if she was going to try to make real friends.

Four of them were wheels-up in the morning.  Pantera was lead, followed by Kiel, Striker, and Rainbow.  It was a beautiful day, a shame that she couldn’t just enjoy flying.  As always, the mission was at the forefront of her mind.  There was no ground controller today.  The UTA had simply sent them on a prelanned strike to hit a designated target.

Rainbow spend her time in transit to the target exploring the new aircraft.  It was equipped with a double-barreled 23mm gun in the fuselage and four hardpoints under the wings.  They were loaded with two bombs and two Soviet-surplus Atoll missiles.

The ancient heat-seekers were better than nothing, but only slightly.  Rainbow explored them, using the hot exhaust of the other planes to tune her ear to the tone the missiles made in her headset as the seeker heads acquired a target.

She contemplated the other three jets.  Missiles for two, and a gun battle with the other.  Probably the L-39.  That seemed least threatening.  With the three of them down, there would be nothing stopping her from escape.

Rainbow shook her head.  She wasn’t going to kill Striker and Kiel, and probably not Pantera, either.  The jury was still out on Lightning, but at this point Rainbow realized she’d missed her opportunity.  Not only had she turned over a new leaf, but revenge so far after the fact would be more confusing for everyone else.  Not that she cared, but it would hurt her chances of making friends with them.

Lightning would be harder to kill, anyway.  She’d seemed hopeful that Angels would give her the MiG Rainbow now flew, but failing that had campaigned hard to be given the newly arrived Su-22 and had succeeded.  The others seemed attached to the aircraft they were comfortable in.

Rainbow shook her head again, getting back to the mission.  Lightning could wait.  Her attention was needed elsewhere.

She checked the time and looked outside.  The Fishbed was a lot harder to see out of than the Tucano.  That was pretty standard for Soviet planes, though the MiG had been designed for high speed and high altitude instead of low and slow.

“That looks like it,” said Pantera.  Rainbow spotted a small cluster of buildings.  However, something seemed strange.

“Four, go get it,” said Pantera.

“Hang on,” said Rainbow.

“This again?” growled Pantera.  “You want to stay alive?  Follow the leader.”

“No, I mean, doesn’t it look like it’s already been bombed?”

There were a few seconds of silence.  Striker spoke up.  “Yeah, maybe.”

Rainbow circled, studying the small village intently.  It didn’t look like there was any activity down below, no people, no vehicles.  She realized she’d dropped into MANPADS engagement territory, nearly down to ten thousand feet.  In the back of her mind, she knew the much faster MiG was harder to hit, but pulled up anyway.  Still, she looked back down.

Buildings had been destroyed and debris littered the ground.  The swath of destruction looked like a cone shape, starting from a sharp point just outside the village and smearing into a wider arc, nearly bisecting the settlement.  Whatever had happened, it flattened buildings and scorched the savannah.

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” said Pantera.  “We were told to bomb.”

It was difficult to argue that logic.  Rainbow delivered her ordnance.  The MiG was a lot harder to do it from, but its speed probably kept her safer.  Though, that might have been balanced out by its hotter jet engine being a bigger target.

Still, there was no response from the village and the four of them turned for base after completely leveling the target with their bombs.

One the way back, Rainbow continued to learn the controls on her jet.  The radar was the hardest, requiring her to take her hands off the controls.  The symbols on the tiny screen weren’t easy to interpret, either.  Her head was down, looking at the instrument panel, when Striker called out, “What’s that thing?”

He called out a clock direction and Rainbow looked.  She didn’t see anything at first, but picked out a small movement near the ground.

Without saying anything, the four of them circled lower.  “That thing” turned out to be some sort of small aircraft.  Very small.  Rainbow could just barely make out its stubby grey body and slightly swept wings.  None of them were willing to get close enough to ID it, however.  It was likely flying at only a few thousand feet, probably had no heat signature to speak of, and would be near-impossible to hit with guns because it was small and probably going less than a hundred knots.

“Let’s go,” said Kiel.  “We don’t have the fuel.”

Rainbow considered the small aircraft all the way back to base.  It was clearly some kind of drone, but whose?

After landing, she went to find Soarin’.  He was still alongside the Tucano, tending to its new pilot.

Vapor Trail looked even more scared and frail sitting in the cockpit, even with the engine off.  Rainbow tried a smile.  “It’s a good plane.”

Vapor still looked nervous.  “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Frowning inwardly that Vapor still couldn’t even appreciate the new airframe, Rainbow turned to Soarin’.  “I think I saw a drone.”

She described what it looked like, but that was hard to do with just words.  Rainbow beckoned and the two of them went outside.  She drew a crude sketch with her finger in the dirt.  Soarin’ studied it.  “It could be a ScanEagle.”

“What’s that?” Rainbow asked.

Soarin’s mangled hand unconsciously rested on his chin as he stared at the drawing.  “Are you sure that’s what it looked like?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow confirmed.  She repeated, “What’s a ScanEagle?”

“It was originally developed for US special forces.”

Their eyes met.  Soarin’s voice went quiet.  “Where did you see this?”

Rainbow matched his tone.  “I’m not sure.  Maybe fifteen or twenty miles north.”  She swallowed.  “Do you really think it’s…?”

“I don’t know.  I heard they were selling pretty well, and to all kinds of people.  Maybe the Freedom Army has managed to get their hands on some.  Maybe even the UTA.”

His pessimism was not misplaced.  Rainbow fought to get control of herself.  There was no way of telling who owned the drone, not from the altitude from where she’d observed it.

But a chance was better than nothing.

She wondered what to do with this information as Soarin’ walked away.  The other three who had seen the drone would probably ask the UTA about it, so it wouldn’t hurt to find out if the UTA knew anything.  If they didn’t...well, it was still only a chance.

In the hangar, she spotted Sky Stinger over at the Hawker Hunter.  Lightning was giving him a tour around.  He seemed bored, though Rainbow imagined it was probably an act.  If he and Vapor had been in the same flight class, then Sky had never flown a jet before.  If he was any pilot at all, he should be excited.

Lightning seemed excited, though Rainbow couldn’t tell if that was because she was upgrading to a new jet, or if she was just happy to be showing someone around.  It reminded Rainbow of how Lightning had treated her while she was new.  How was it that someone could be so friendly, but so cutthroat?  Was this the most extreme example of “nothing personal” in existence?

Lightning waved Sky away to make his own inspection of the Hunter.  She came over just as Rainbow was leaving the hangar.  The two of them ended up walking together back to the Flyers Club.

“I’m worried about those two,” said Lightning, breaking the silence.  Her face had lost its cheer.

“Yeah,” Rainbow acknowledged.

Lightning sighed.  “I mean, I’m going to try to help them, but sometimes you just know when you see someone, right?  I mean, look at you.  I knew you were a survivor when I first saw you.”

Rainbow glanced at her.  “What do you mean?”

“I know you won’t quit.  Not even after trying to run and getting the whip.”

Rainbow didn’t plan it, but now was as good a time as any.  They were alone.  She stopped.  Lightning paused, turning to face her.

Rainbow began.  “About what you did-”

“What did I do?  Why would I do anything to you?”  Lightning laughed.  “Especially with what you did to Stratus after he snitched on you.”

She knew.  Panic shot through Rainbow, but then she wondered: if Lightning saw the shootdown, why didn’t she say something to anyone earlier?

And why would Lightning say that Stratus had been the one who ratted Rainbow out?  If it was actually her, then she would know that Rainbow probably never suspected Stratus.  Was it a desperate, last-minute ploy to throw Rainbow off?

Rainbow asked, “How did you know it was him?”

“Well, you killed him.  I knew you wouldn’t see what he did as just business,” said Lightning.  “You were going to have justice.  You’re really on the straight and narrow and loyal to what you believe in.”  She shrugged.  “I’m surprised, honestly.  Most people break and turn into criminals, just to survive.  Well, not literal criminals, but you know what I mean.”

What if Lightning was only guessing?  What if she only assumed Stratus had squealed because Rainbow had shot him down, even accidentally.  Apparently, from her cockpit it hadn’t looked like an accident.  What if Lightning was wrong and it was actually someone else?  What if no one had actually ratted her out and Rainbow had just been caught through dumb luck?

But then why would Lion Heart tell her it was Lightning Dust?

“So did you break?  Are you a criminal?” Rainbow asked.

Lightning’s casual manner instantly sobered.  After a moment, she said, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“I wouldn’t sell you out,” said Rainbow.

Lightning looked at her.  “I know.”