There was no way you could evade him, you could barely even think. The only thing screaming through your brain was that you
had to get away, and you jammed the stick forward clumsily to put it into a dive. The plane lurched against the torque of the engine and you instinctively applied rudder against it, and that instant was the most pain you'd ever been in in your life. Like a red-hot nail, driven into your leg and tearing up, up past your knee, like you were on fire.
The nose flopped down, pointing you down between two clouds to the green beyond no man's land. You worked the blip switch in pulses, trying to get the RPM of the engine down like you taught, hoping you weren't overdoing it. Every time the sound cut out, it was replaced with howling winds as you picked up speed.
They would still be closing, you knew they would. The only hope you had was that because you were starting slower, you could dive farther without breaking up or blowing up your engine. Hopefully. He might even misjudge and doom himself killing you, you didn't know. The plane was starting to fight you, like it was pulling up on its own even though the stick was still, and you heard an awful creaking in the wing roots to either side of you as something twisted.
You thumbed the blip switch again, and this time you heard gunfire in the gap between engine noises. You released the switch and the sounds disappeared, replaced by the howling engine. Again, more gunshots. Farther away this time. There was a
crack to your right, right past your ear, a tiny hole appearing in the metal of the windscreen frame maybe inches from your face. You released the switch and the engine cut back in, drowning out the world. You counted to three and pressed the switch again.
No gunshots.
Nervously, you glanced behind you to see the enemy plane had leveled out, falling well behind you now. You did the same, very gently pulling back the stick, and the plane rattled and shook in protest and the world went blurry. You could hardly see a thing. You touched a gloved hand to your goggles to wipe away whatever it was and realized it was tears welling up in your eyes. Clumsily, you pulled up the goggles and wiped an oil-stained glove across them. It stung, but with a few blinks your vision was clear.
You were already passing to your side of the line.
---
[ ] Put down in the nearest flat-ish field. (Slightly more dangerous landing, but get out of the air.)
[ ] Make for the aerodrome and land properly (Safer landing but a potentially dangerous journey)
