Rematch - a countryhumans story

Chapter 14: It's a trap!

30 December, 2042

- Right! - FFN heard and spinned his jet in said direction. An explosion was heard from the ground, explosion that could be much closer to his vehicle.
- Tail report! - He almost yelled into his helmet.
- Two directly behind us using machine guns, and a lot more over us! - Jan, his back gunner responded.
Federation bit his lip under the helmet. That was supposed to be easy, but somehow Turkey got it hands on what seemed to be half of Soviet plane stockpile, and somehow released it just at the moment it could kill the finest pilots of entire Latin Alliance in one go. That wasn't message interception, that had to be straight up spy in the high ranks.
- Front left! - Jan suddenly spoke. Federation spinned left and slowed down, letting the missile fly by and hit the ground. God, how are they going to get put of this? It was just matter of time before the Turks land a hit on somebody, staying low won't save a lot of them.
He looked around the swarm of planes, looking for an entrance while also keeping his machine from hitting the ground. C'mon, just a little hole, he thought. Just for him to fly up and cause enough chaos for the rest to regroup.
- Jan, you better grab something! - Federation warned his gunner.
He already started to see patterns in enemy movement. The window he wanted so much was there, he just had to calculate when to pull up, including the change in their behavior after he attacks. Aaand...
Now! He pulled the stick inward while pushing the speed lever forward. If he miscalculated, he'd die crashing into another jet... But he didn't. He was right above most hostiles that were moving in now much more chaotic way. And that was where he wanted to be. He slowed down and almost immediately turned the nose of his airplane down and activated a multi target computer, releasing four missiles at once. Then, he switched to guns, and threw himself into the lion's jaw.
Five Nations quickly picked up first target among the swarms of suprised enemies, and without wasting time, he pulled the trigger.
Two heavy machine guns spinned to action, sending a storm of bullets at the Turkish plane. The pilot realised what was going on and tried maneuvering, but it was too late. The fighter got hit multiple times and lit up on fire, slowly loosing speed and altitude. But that was but one of many enemies. A tear in an ocean, and that was quickly brought up by Jan.
- Three on tail! - FFN heard in his helmet. - All released missiles! - his gunner added. He knew what to do in this situation. He speeded up and started to cautiously listen for Jan to give him the sign.
- Now! -  he slowed down while lightly pulling up and pressed the button for releasing flares. Three explosions could be heard behind, indicating that all rockets got fooled.
Federation sighed in relief, and started to turn his fighter to engage in a dogfight. Three opponents used this as an opening and fired their machine guns. Computer inside the cocpit beeped and flashed a yellow light, signaling that althought they did hit him, no machinery was damaged.
As he rotated towards the trio that was chasing him, two of them spreaded out, propably trying to take him from behind again. One decided to distract him by charging right at him; big mistake when you're outclassed in armor and firepower. Federation engaged in the simpliest way possible: he charged back and pulled the trigger again. Two opposite designs flied right at each others, spitting out bullets and hoping it wouldn't end in an instant explosion of their equivalent machine. However, the unknown pilot's faster firing rate was no match for Five Nation's thicker plating. As he was charging almost unefected, his own machine guns tore enemy plane's wings like paper. It didn't catch on fire, but dark, blueish fuel could be seen leaking. That was enough to make the pilot catapult.
- Good job, sir! One is left, I've managed to take the other down myself - Jan spoke out. That one didn't put on much of a fight.  FFN simply slowed down and let him pass by. The pilot tried to turn back, but Federation re-accelerated and opened fire, turning that plane into scrap.
- Excuse me sir, but what are you doing? - a female voice spoke in his helmet. It was Zuzanna, the second in command of the airwing.
- I'm letting them know who pilotes this aircraft! - he responded.
- That will make them all attack you at once! -
- Exactly. You'll use gained breathing space to get me out of the mess I just got into and shatter the Turkish morale -
-Down! - Jan interrupted them. FFN pushed the control stick forward, causing his plane to duck down and barely dodge the missile. Little annoyed, he turned and responded with his own, leaving himself with just one rocket.
- So, you're using yourself as a bait - Zuzanna continued, her voice remaining calm despite flying at ridiculous speed almost barely over ground while having aroud thousand fighters above her shooting at her.
- Mhm - the countryhuman responded, watching the plane he just shot at fool the rocket. He already got to know his opponent was good at dodging missiles. Let's see if he can dodge them while being fired at, Federation thought.
- Well, I can tell you it's working. There are a LOT of planes turning back to face you - her voice almost wasn't hearable under the sounds of Five Nations's guns and electronics warning him about incoming enemies. Knowing he cannot defeat them all, especially after using up most of his ammunition he sped up to maximum, leaving behind him a swarm of pilots eager to take the prize for shooting down a country personification.
- Looks like your plan is working, sir! There's more than I can count! - Jan spoke out. At this moment, Federation decided to turn on the short range radar, the only device capable of telling apart different fighters. As he pressed the button to his right, a small, transparent cube poped out, displaying his surroundings full 3d in real time. Now he could easily see what and how was chasing him, allowing Jan to focus on his job as the back gunner. Now, the hard part - dodging all missiles and bullets while letting the machine gun on his stern to return fire. Ok, the last one can be forgotten about. Well, this doesn't make this much easier, but that's all he has to work with. He turned right, and then immediately left, and then up. Can't fly in a clear direction with all these chasing you. He already got a warning from stunning 56 missiles shot at him. Crap. After few more maneuvers, these started to catch up on him. FFN rushed towards ground, hoping it could fool them. The screen on his left flashed orange, signaling non-crucial damage. Federation could've read what was damaged, but he was too busy with not getting shot down entirely. He pulled up, letting the hills take the explosives intended for him. He quickly checked on the radad. There was still a lot to dodge. Five Nations pulled right again, this time releasing flares. Yet more harmless explosions, although with this amount of rockets it was predictable. And there still was more, while he had only two series of flares, one missile of his own and a handful of regular ammo left.
- I'm out! - Federation suddenly heard. Great. Now his back turret is worthless as well. But he won't give up. He'll fight until he's out of fuel.
The radar signalled that seven rockets got dangerously close. FFN made a sharp turn right, but that didn't fool them. Without time to focus on them, he decided to release the flares. The explosion was so large that it activated other missiles while they were too far, but also threw his plane out of balance. The machine started to spin in chaotic way and fall.
Not like this, he thought. No, he still can pull it up. He heard Jan ejecting. Well, he couldn't help anyway, so Federation won't blame him. But he has to survive, and that wasn't easy. His jet was spinning in three axis at once, but he slowed down and one after another, stabilized them. He pulled up to see what's happening. The chase after him totally gave up, focusing on the rest. And it looked hopeless. His best pilots were doing all they could to minimize enemy effectiveness, but it was simply too many of them. One after another, they were getting hit or running out of fuel or ammo. Some managed to eject, some died in their machines. Five Nations couldn't let them die. He sped up to maximum again and tried the same trick as before, but there was only as little as he could do. They shot down tens, if not hundreds today. But that didn't matter. They all had to seek refuge on the ground.
The best of the best, Federation thought bitterly, as he pressed the 'eject' button on his seat. Cocpit cover went out, but he still was inside. Shocked, he pressed the button again. Something hissed, but he still didn't eject. Malfunction. Panicking, he searched for the small knife he had. Every second was a risk he dies inside of the plane. There! He pulled it out and started to cut the belts. There was still one way out. The radar showed a new red dot. FFN couldn't hear it in the wind, but he knew somebody just released a missile. He quickly cut the last one, and jumped outside.

Over 500 meters above the ground.

No parachute.

But wings.

Federation opened them wide, trying to slow down. He still was going at the speed of his aircraft, and touching ground at that speed would basically rip off that part of him that he would land on. So he tried to slow down, hoping that the Turks will loose intrest in him.
Vain hopes, they distinguished him almost immediately and started to turn back at him. Seeing this, Five Nations folded his wings to speed up falling. That made him realize the danger was still here, propably more dangerous than before he jumped out of his plane. If he falls down quickly, there won't be anything left of him. But if he slowes down, then Turkish foghters will get in range in time, and propably there won't be anything left of him. Well, at least the ground below him isn't moving at over two thousand kilometres per hour anymore. He searched the ground for any trees. There is a bunch. Maybe if he'll glide to them and unfold his wings the branches will slow him down just enough to not die. He'll probably break a leg, but that's better than dying, right?
So he did just that.
He glided towards the trees, and when he was sure he'll hit them he folded his wings again and begun falling.

The roar of jet engines got louder every second.

Not yet.

Not yet.

A thought went through country's mind. What if he can't time it right? The window between becoming a target and turning into a mangle of human body parts was narrow. What if he misses?

Shut up, he though. He must focus on doing this, he doesn't have time to consider if he can do it.

Not yet.

The fighters that have spotted him opened fire, but since he was much smaller than a plane they couldn't land a hit from this distance.

Not yet

Now!
Federation unfolded his wings and hit the branches.
Few minutes later he hit the ground with his right foot. Pain pierced his entire leg, causing him to let out a short scream, and he fell with his entire body. He lied there for a minute, comprehending what just happened. Then he looked at his leg, examining how bad is it.
A twisted ankle. Not bad, actually. He thought he'll have to hobble to the frontline on one leg, but all the damage he had could be healed here. First, he had to snap it back. He looked for something he could immobilize his ankle with, but didn't find anything. After a bit of thinking, he started to dig a hole in the ground with his hands. Couple minutes later he decided it was deep enough, and put his right foot inside, then started to bury it with dirt he dug out. After he kneaded it, he decided to give it a shot, and gustily bent the leg. He felt pain again, but this time it meant something different. Bones snapped into the right places.
Relieved that it worked, Five Nations searched around for two short solid sticks. After finding one long and breaking it in half, he used his knife to cut out some material from his uniform and used is as rope to tie up the two sticks. Well, that wouldn't allow him to walk like nothing happened, but at least he won't have to worry about accidentally breaking it again. Next, he needed something to replace his leg for the time of being. Few meters away was a pile of fallen branches. FFN cravled towards it and searched for a long and solid straight branch. After finding one, he used it as a staff to support on.
After taking care of his wound, it was time to get back to the Czechoslovak-Hungarian army and avoid getting captured. First, contact. Federation checked for his walkie-talkie, but he must've left it in the jet. Crap. Cz-H doesn't even know about the lost air battle. Next thing, what hour is it? His watch tells that it's 16:34, so the sun has already moved towards east. He needed to go north, so about 90 degrees left from where the sun was.

This was going to be a long march.