Got Smoke?

In The Air

When Luis said that the helipad would be heavily guarded, he wasn't kidding. We weren't even anywhere near the helipad, but all the combatants seemed to be charging in on us from every corner. Unfortunately, there were no more secret paths to get to the helipad, so we had to go all out with guns blazing instead of stealthily avoiding fire. I did my best to ignore the pain in my upper left shoulder as I shot at the incoming Ganados. If it weren't for Luis covering my back, I was sure that I would've been dead. The Ganados were definitely slowing us down, so we hurried towards the helipad. Leon and Ashley needed us as soon as possible, and we couldn't let him down. As we arrived at the helipad, several combatants were already waiting for us with rocket launchers. Luis pulled me away into a tight corner just in time before they fired. With my back pressed to his chest, I whipped out a flash grenade and threw it. Once it exploded, Luis and I quickly jumped out from behind the wall and shot at the combatants.

"Hey, grab one of those! It might come in handy," I instructed, pointing at one of the unused rocket launchers.

While Luis ran to grab one, I covered his back just in case there were incoming Ganados. We then hurried into the only helicopter left in the helipad. I plopped into the driver's seat, immediately flipping a few switches. I slightly panicked when the engines didn't start so I flipped on a few more switches and prayed that it would work.

"Amara, you know what you're doing?" Luis asked, peering over my shoulders.

"I uhh..." I mumbled, looking around on the dashboard. I pressed another button and finally, the lights started to flicker and the rotors began to spin. "Yes!"

"How'd you learn to fly this thing?"

"Honestly? Back in Kathmandu where I uhh... stole a helicopter for the first time to get out of the enemy's base," I said, recalling the events.

"When was that?"

"2... 3 years ago?"

"Weren't you... underaged?" Luis questioned, slightly raising his voice in concern.

"Bite me, Luis. I didn't have a choice!" I exclaimed, gripping the cyclic control hard. "Don't worry, I promise I'll fly safe!"

"I sure hope so, mi amor! I really do!"

"Trust me!" I yelled, even though I wasn't so sure myself.

The roof to the helipad began to open up. Just before I could fly us out, more Ganados came into the helipad and started shooting at the glass screen. Luis and I ducked down instinctively. We were lucky that the glass was bulletproof, but once they saw that their bullets weren't fazing us, they rushed towards us with their weapons raised.

"Amara, mi amor, anytime now!" Luis yelled hurriedly, gripping onto the back of my seat.

"Here we go!" I exclaimed. I had difficulty pulling up the throttle, but I managed to get the helicopter into the sky. Soon we were in the air and away from the helipad. "Where to, my co-pilot?"

Luis pointed towards the construction area. Just before I could spin the helicopter around, another helicopter had emerged from behind us.

"What the hell!" I yelled. "I thought there was only one left!"

I spun the cyclic control around, trying to avoid the constant fire from the other helicopter. Compared to the enemy helicopter, ours was a pathetic version of theirs. The other helicopter was a fighter buzzard, and they were raining bullets on us. I tried as best as I could to avoid all the fire to protect the rotors and engine. Luis scurried to grab the rocket launcher. He positioned himself beside the door and got ready his aim. I stabilised the helicopter, allowing Luis to take his shot.

"Great shot, Luis!" I commended him when the other helicopter blew up.

But once the helicopter exploded, the rotors flew right at us. I made a sharp turn, hurriedly warning Luis to hold on. I managed to avoid it completely, but my injury stung so bad because of the sudden exert of force. Our helicopter began to spin uncontrollably, and I couldn't grab hold of the controls properly. Luis hurried to my side, holding onto the controls over my hands. He was alarmed for a moment, but I instructed him how to use it. Thankfully, he could understand what I was trying to say with my words rushed. Once the helicopter was stabilised again, both of us heaved a sigh of relief. I looked down at the controls to see that he still hadn't let go of my hands.

"Luis, we should... focus on flying," I muttered.

He let go of my hands, but his eyes never left me. I tried not to look at him, so I stared right ahead. We weren't far from the construction area despite having to take a detour.

"Are you sure you can continue?" Luis asked.

"Fine, I'm fine! Don't worry, Luis," I answered quickly.

I checked the dashboard, ensuring that the helicopter wasn't damaged too badly. Luckily, the helicopter was still in good shape to fly safely. Just when we thought that there were no more Ganados on our trail, another helicopter came flying towards us fast. Sometimes, I really hated being so popular and at this point in time, I was so done and ready to get it over with.

"For the love of— When the hell are they going to take the hint?!" I grumbled, looking at the radar on the dashboard. Suddenly, I winced at the pain in my shoulder. It was too unbearable for me to continue. "Not fine, not fine...!"

Luis stumbled to get into the co-pilot seat. Once he was strapped in, he did the same thing I had instructed him to do before. He tried to be calm, but his hands were visibly trembling. "A-Amara?!"

"Okay, okay, we've got this. Bank left!" I commanded. On the count of three, we made a left turn, avoiding a missile just in time. That seemed to have ticked off the Ganados as they launched yet another missile in our direction. We weren't able to avoid it completely, and the missile hit the tail rotors. The meter on the dashboard went crazy. "Dammit! Luis, pull up! Now!"

We managed to pull up successfully. Glancing at the dashboard once in a while, I tried to find a button or switch or anything that could help us out of the situation. Just our luck to have gotten the non-fighter helicopter.

"Amara, what now?!"

"Fly this thing!"

"W-what?!"

I got myself out of the seat and went towards the door with my sniper rifle in hand. If the helicopter had nothing to offer then I had to do it the old fashion way. "Keep it steady, baby! Don't fail me now!" I psyched myself up as I aimed at the pilot. With one straight shot, the bullet managed to kill the pilot instantly. The other helicopter went out of control and burst into flames. I placed my rifle back and hurriedly got back to my seat.

"Good going, Amara! Now, please!"

"You're doing fine, Luis! Relax," I said, strapping myself back. "You've actually got this."

"Is this how you taught yourself to fly the first time back in Kathmandu?" he asked.

"More or less."

"Ai ya ya... Remind me never to fly anymore," he said, finally relaxing.

I laughed. Miraculously, we were still fine and going. We quickly flew our helicopter back on route and headed straight towards the construction area without any more interferences.