After Lion Heart ordered their deaths, several things happened in the next fraction of a second.
The nearby soldiers started to raise their rifles. Wind Rider put a hand on his pistol. But the first gunshots exploded from over Rainbow’s shoulder, striking the designated executioners before they were able to fire.
Running on instinct alone, Rainbow dove at Wind Rider. He saw her coming, but didn’t have time to level his gun before she slammed into him. Her weight was barely half his, but it was Rainbow Dash; she had speed to spare.
The two of them went to the ground, gunfire from both sides going over their heads. Rainbow grabbed for his gun hand, fingernails digging at his skin. The pistol went off into the air, setting her ears ringing. He bent his legs, trying to roll up underneath her. Rainbow felt his boot plant in her stomach and gripped his wrist even tighter as he straightened his legs.
She went flying off him, but managed to strip the gun. It landed in the dirt nearby and they both dove for it. She aimed a kick at his face that deflected him and came up with the gun in her hands.
Though, it instantly flashed through her mind that perhaps standing up in the middle of a shootout was the worst thing she could do. She ran for the relative safety of the other hangar, from where the presumably friendly gunfire was coming.
The other pilots were already ahead of her. Pug was apparently Russian enough to know how to use an AK-47. He held one of the captured rifles. Lightning held another.
Soarin’ was just changing magazines when Rainbow shot through the door. She looked back. The airport had cleared out. No one, not even Wind Rider, remained in the open. A few bodies lay where they had dropped from the initial barrage.
Rainbow did a quick count, seeing that everyone was there. Soarin’s surprise attack had gone perfectly. She had time to take a breath and only then realized that it was now or never. If they were going to escape, there was no better opportunity. This was it. There was no backing down, there was no failure. It all ended now, one way or another.
Soarin’ glanced out the door and saw Lion Heart’s helicopter taking off in the distance. He raised his rifle, but reluctantly put it down again. The distance was a couple hundred meters, and the helicopter was Soviet. No way was a rifle going to take it down.
“We need to get out of here!” shouted Rainbow. Not only were several of their ears ringing, but it just seemed like a thing to shout.
“I can fly the C-130,” said Kiel.
That was an excellent idea. However, Striker cautioned, “We can’t just run over there. We have no way of knowing where the rest of them are. They could pick us off from cover.”
“I’ve got it,” said Lightning. She handed him her rifle and ran for her jet.
“What is she…” Rainbow watched Lightning yank the covers off the Su-22’s guns but do no other preflight. She jumped in the cockpit and spun up the engine.
The thrust blew the metal panels off the back of the building as Lighting accelerated the jet out of the hangar. The others scattered, trying to cover behind the Su-22 while simultaneously not getting blown away.
Lightning swung the jet around and pulled the trigger. The jet’s two 30mm cannons tore into the next hangar, the high-explosive rounds instantly setting afire the jets inside and tearing all the way through the building.
Soldiers ran from behind their destroyed cover. That made them easy targets and they knew it, preferring to flee rather than fight. Still, some did aim at the jet. The Su-22 wasn’t heavily armored, but it was a lot more protection than being out in the open.
Next, Lighting riddled the building with the Cessna and the Mirage. More soldiers had been hiding there, too. Her distraction was all the others needed to run for the C-130.
Rainbow did a headcount on the way. Aside from Lightning, all the pilots were there, plus a handful of mechanics including Jubi.
Clash and Wind Rider were there as they approached, trying to get aboard the plane. The gunfire in the distance had concealed the escapees’ footsteps until they already had their weapons trained on the two.
Clash carried his big anti-tank rifle, while Wind Rider was still unarmed. Facing three AK-47’s and a handgun, they put their hands up. Soarin’ said, “Grab them.”
Both were put in the back of the plane and bound with cargo straps by vengeful mechanics. The rest got aboard. Rainbow, Soarin’, Striker, and Pug stood guard with weapons. Between Lightning and them, they kept the UTA at bay while Kiel spun up the engines.
Pantera appeared at the side door, gesturing them in. The four hastily climbed inside, Pug remaining by the door for overwatch. The mechanics were in the cargo bay, hanging onto things in preparation for takeoff.
Rainbow entered the cockpit. Kiel was in the left seat, and Pantera sat down beside him. She put on a headset to match his. He released the parking brake.
“We need to take out the SA-6’s!” came Lightning’s voice on the radio.
“You’ve got weapons,” Kiel replied.
“But I don’t know if I can get both before they get me,” Lightning protested.
“I’ll do it!” Rainbow said. She didn’t even consciously make the decision. She ran to the door and jumped down, sprinting for the last hangar.
Kiel’s MiG was inside and she climbed aboard. His helmet was on the seat and she put it on, though it was too big. The oxygen mask didn’t fit.
The exhaust from hers and Lightning’s jets still hung heavy in the hangar despite the extra ventilation punched in the back wall. The blue and yellow Wonderbolts bandana Soarin’ had given her was still tied around her neck. She tugged it up, tying it over her nose.
As soon as the engine started to spin up, she keyed the radio. “I’m coming.”
“Glad to hear it.” Lightning’s voice was almost casual, trying to be cool in such a hot situation. “So, what are our callsigns?”
“Well, I’m claiming Freedom for us,” said Pantera.
“Nice. What about us? Suggestions?”
The opportunity was too perfect. “Harmony,” said Rainbow.
“Got it. This is Harmony Lead. Let’s go, Two.”
Why does she get to be the leader? But Rainbow shook it off. She had a job to do.
She and Lighting violated all safety rules in heading for the runway. They were at a critical juncture where they’d be leaving the C-130 vulnerable for a minute while they attacked the air defenses. Rainbow hoped that wouldn’t be too long.
Harmony flight thundered down the runway and pulled straight up as soon as they had the airspeed to do so. The MiG-21 out-accelerated the Su-22, but they weren’t racing each other, they were racing time.
The SA-6 probably had a minimum arming distance. Rainbow didn’t know what it was, and it didn’t matter anyway. The race was on to eliminate the launchers before they could shoot.
“The gunfire is getting too intense,” said Kiel. “We have to get moving!”
Rainbow glanced over her shoulder, seeing the C-130 begin to roll. Owing to its sturdy undercarriage, Kiel simply steered it off the pavement and around the burning hangar, putting it between the plane and the UTA. It began to accelerate for takeoff.
It was hard to discern what happened next. Rainbow saw the tiny figures of the UTA scattering and larger, faster shapes converging on them.
“Rhinoceros!” exclaimed Pantera.
One last send-off gift, Rainbow thought. The magic was protecting her friends as they made their escape.
She checked her altimeter and pulled over, throttling back for the maneuver to dive. “Harmony Two has the eastern target.” There was barely time to line up the reticle and drop the bomb. She pulled hard on the stick, squirming as the g-forces piled on. There hadn’t even been time to put on her seatbelt harness, much less a g-suit.
She barely cleared the blast radius as the bomb slammed into the ground within feet of the SA-6 launcher and exploded. Even still, she thought she felt a thump of something hitting the jet.
“Good hit! One has the western target,” Lightning announced.
Rainbow looked over as the Su-22 dove on the other missile system. She saw the SA-6’s launch rack turning and elevating its missiles. The bomb came off Lightning’s jet and she turned away, the jet’s variable wings splayed to gain every ounce of lift.
“Good hit!” Rainbow called as the weapon found its mark.
“Freedom is airborne,” Pantera called.
“You’re clear!” Rainbow called.
She and Lightning reversed course, catching up to the C-130 as it departed to the west after its ground roll.
Rainbow was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, when Lightning spoke up. “So...what now? We aren’t carrying the fuel to go anywhere, much less as far as Freedom can go.”
“Maybe the two of us can land at Manatada and transfer to the other plane?” suggested Rainbow. “Just a quick in-and-out.”
A voice said, “That might work, if we weren’t about to kill you.”
“Death,” spat Lightning.
“Yes, and this time I’m afraid that you don’t have a choice,” purred the voice. “That’s a nice escape attempt you’re making, but you’ve only made our job easier. It sounds like you took out the air defense. It sounds like there’s only two of you and a big, slow freighter. You should have engaged us when you had the chance. We brought four today.”
Without a word, the C-130 banked away to the west. There was nothing they could do. It would have been stupid of them to hang around.
Rainbow glanced over at Lightning, flying a quarter of a mile off her wing. It was just the two of them against bad odds.
But Rainbow had one trick to pull, one broken circle to close. Death had been mysterious so far, seeming to know everything. But after some long thinking, Rainbow had figured out what she was dealing with.
“We don’t want to fight, we just want to go home.”
Death started to say something, but Rainbow talked over the voice. This was too important.
“If we have to, we’ll fight. That cargo plane is going to get out of here one way or another.”
She took a breath, steeling herself what what she had to say next. “I know we should have had this conversation earlier, and I know that I might not be able to stop you now. But for what it’s worth, I want you to know that I’m sorry.
“...Vapor Trail.”