Chapter Twenty-Two: Hot Pursuit

"So, where'd you learn how to fly a helicopter, anyway?" asked Daniel.

"I've worked for BAINE for more than thirty years at this point," replied Carter. "When you're that deep into it, you really should broaden your horizons."

"Noted."

The plan was simple: follow the train tracks. And as the tracks only went in a straight line, the duo was able to do so rather quickly. The chopper sped along, fairly close to the ground, its rotors creating a trail of dust and sand behind it. Luckily for both of them, their helicopter's top speed was greater than that of Pierce's train. They soon saw it appear on the horizon.

Unfortunately for them, Pierce saw them as well. SEEN's leader first caught a glimpse of the vehicle from the engine out of the corner of his eye. He had not sent any helicopters after the train, and yet, here one appeared behind them, gaining ground. No doubt it was BAINE, coming to ruin things yet again.

Pierce ran over to the engineer. "Can't we go any faster?" he growled.

"This is as fast as we can go, sir," said the engineer. "This is pushing it as is. We might need to slow down when-"

"No!" Pierce yelled. "We're not slowing down until that copter…" he pointed out the pursuing vehicle. "...is shot out of the sky! Is that understood!?"

"Er, yes, sir," said the engineer, clearly unnerved by his boss' deteriorating sanity.

"Now then..." Pierce picked up a radio nearby, contacting yet another of his associates. "This is Pierce. We're en route to La Vega station, but we seem to have picked up a hanger-on. Send some choppers my way and take care of this mess. And above all, be there when I arrive. Pierce out."

Carter and Daniel were rapidly approaching the train. "So, not to doubt your tactical genius, captain," said Daniel, "but how exactly are we supposed to take this thing down?"

"You got guns, don't ya?" said Carter. "Use 'em!"

Daniel grabbed on to the mounted gun on the helicopter's left side. "Well, I can't exactly see this working, but here goes!" He opened fire. As he had expected, the bullets did little against the freight cars. "Maybe if there were some explosives in there, but I don't think this is gonna do much!"

"Try aiming for the couplings, that might work," Carter said.

"Well, I can't hit 'em from this angle!" Daniel replied. As he looked forward towards Carter, something came into view. "Uh, Captain? You see that too, right?"

"Yup," said Carter. "Wish I didn't, though."

From the direction they were heading, a pair of helicopters identical to theirs approached. It was evident that Pierce had called for backup.

"Well, crap," said Daniel. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"Again, you have a gun," Carter said. "This shouldn't be that hard for you."

One of the helicopters whizzed past them, while the other came to a hard stop to follow them. The gunners in the second opened fire, the bullets denting their armor. Daniel opened fire as well, intent on taking out the gunners. A barrage of enemy bullets narrowly avoided hitting Daniel.

He cried out in alarm. "Captain, maybe think about some evasive maneuvers?"

"Doing my best here, Bridge!" said Carter. Nevertheless, he did his best to evade the enemy bullets. "Hold on, this is gonna be a bumpy ride!"

What followed was a sort of aerial dance, as both helicopters swerved this way and that to both avoid the other's fire, and to get a better shot at their enemy. As expected, such choreography was quite strenuous for those within.

"Woah!" Daniel cried, holding on to the turret for dear life. "Why the hell doesn't this thing have any seatbelts!?"

In the midst of this deadly dance, Daniel was forced to take only the occasional shot at the enemy chopper. To stay still for too long was to risk being hit.

"Hang on, I'll try to get you a better shot," said Carter. He slowly tilted the throttle to the side, giving the impression he was about to swerve to the left. The enemy took the bait, moving forward to intercept him. As soon as they did this, Carter slammed the stick to the right, with the chopper making a sharp turn. The result of this was that the front of the enemy chopper became directly lined up with Daniel's turret.

Daniel opened fire, the machine gun penetrating through the copter's windshield and into the cockpit. The pilot was riddled; and as a result, the helicopter began to spin out of control with no one to operate it. The vehicle made a rapid descent towards the ground, where it spectacularly exploded upon colliding with the desert below.

"Whoo! Now that was one helluva shot!" said Carter.

"What can I say? I guess I've just got a knack for-"

Before Daniel could finish, another barrage of bullets shot through the open doors of their chopper-the second enemy vehicle had only just now decided to make its move. The leftmost turret took the brunt of the attack, protecting most of Daniel at the expense of rendering it inoperable. Most of Daniel,

"Graaagh!" Daniel collapsed against the side of the copter, clutching his side. He had been hit."

"Bridge, what's going on back there!?" asked Carter. "Bridge, talk to me, Bridge. Is it serious?" The enemy helicopter continued to pepper theirs.

"Nngh...I don't...think so," Daniel strained. He examined the wound: the bullet was lodged in his side, preventing some of the blood loss. "It looks like it...it missed my vital organs." Daniel struggled to his feet, wincing. "Aargh! Smarts, though."

"Bridge, keep it together back there!" said Carter. "Don't push yourself too hard. Now, what's the status?"

Daniel examined his surroundings. "Th-the left turret's shot. I think the r-right one still works." Daniel hauled himself over to the gun. "Get to that side of him, I'll see what I can do."

"You won't be doing much with a bullet in your gut," said Carter. "We'll have to fall back, I-"

"No, I can still do this," said Daniel. "It's just a fleshwound. And I realize the connotations with that term, but it's true." Daniel grasped onto the gun's handles, pulling himself up it. "Get me into position."

"Heh. You are one stubborn son of a so-and-so," said Carter, maneuvering to the left side of their enemy. "I knew I made the right choice when I chose you."

"Good. Now, let's-wait, 'chose me?' How so?"

"Kid, who do you think was it that though you were good enough to join BAINE? The other four, too. I'm your captain for a reason, you know!"

"C-Captain, I-"

"Aw, let's save that for when we land," said Carter. "You gonna light this guy up, or what?"

"Sure thing, Captain." Daniel opened fire again. He found, to his dismay, that while the machine gun was still able to fire, he could not turn it. "Damn it, this thing's stuck!" he said. "You got any more of that fancy flyin' left in you?"

"Kid, I could fly fancy with my eyes closed!" Carter pulled back on the throttle, sending their helicopter up higher into the air. The other followed suit, though was careful to maintain a safe distance. "I think he saw what we did to his buddy. He won't be falling for any of our tricks."

"Then we'll just have to rely on good old-fashioned brute force," Daniel said. "Ram 'em!"

"What? In a helicopter?" Carter said. "Bridge, do I even have to explain to you why that-"

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but trust me," said Daniel. "Think about it: I was right about SEEN with that sniper rifle, and I was right about the Forge, so why wouldn't I be right now?"

"Because that's not how being right works!" said Carter.

"Well, unless this thing has any missiles hidden somewhere, what other options do we have?" More bullets collided with their chassis. "Aim for the tail rotor. If you angle it right, it should give me an opportunity to unload on them."

After a moment of hesitation, Carter groaned. "If this doesn't work, I'm gonna haunt you. You know that, right?"

Daniel nodded knowingly. "Can't haunt me if I'm a ghost, too, Captain."

"Alright, here goes nothing!"

Carter slammed the throttle to the side, throwing their copter towards the other one at top speed. The enemy had little time to react-the air was filled with sparks as metal collided with metal. Just as the vehicles collided, Daniel let loose with his turret. The bullets flew into the chopper's rear rotor, shredding it to scrap. This, combined with the aforementioned impact, was enough to send it careening out of control.

The SEEN helicopter spun around as it rapidly descended. Rather than land on the ground like the one prior, this one had the misfortune of slamming headlong into one of the train cars. The impact completely derailed the car, sending it and those behind it falling to the side. One car in front of it was dragged off as well, but the coupling snapped before any more could be taken. The end result was the loss of half of Pierce's supply of Breaking Points-still leaving far too many.

Carter fought against momentum, pulling the chopper up and out of a fatal tailspin. He was then able to continue their course after the train. "Holy-you outdid yourself with that one, kid!"

Daniel pulled himself off of the floor, holding his side, and laughing despite the pain. "Hell yeah."

Within the engine, Pierce was anything but happy. "NOOO! DAMN IT!" He slammed his fist against the wall hard enough to draw blood. Taking a moment to compose himself, he then got an idea. "Keep us on course, no matter what happens," he said to the engineer. He then picked up a black case and headed for the door. "I'm taking matters into my own hands."

"So, what's the plan now?" said Daniel.

"Well, we're down a gun, the other one can't turn, and one more impact like that'll have us good for scrap," said Carter. "That said...I do have an idea, but it's kind of crazy. Are there any parachutes back there?"

"Hey, we just rammed our helicopter into another helicopter, I think I can handle crazy," Daniel said. He retrieved two parachutes from the back of the chopper. "I get you, Cap. We're doing things up close and personal, yeah?"

"Sort of," Carter said. "Put one on, we-oh, now what?"

Carter had seen Pierce climbing up onto the roof of the train. He braced himself against the strong winds, holding a black case in his hands, which he then opened and began to rifle through.

"What's that he's got there?" said Daniel.

"I think I know," Carter replied. "But I wish I didn't."

Pierce kicked the now empty case off the roof as he stood up. In his hands, he held exactly what Carter had feared: a rocket launcher.

"Well, that ain't good," said Daniel.

Pierce fired. The rocket streaked through the air, narrowly missing hitting the copter. Some ways away, it exploded in the air.

"Die! Die already!" shouted Pierce, loading another rocket into the launcher. He fired once more, this one also missing. Carter was taking swerved this way and that, careful not to stay in one place for long.

Daniel tried and failed to hit Pierce with his machine gun, made even more difficult as Carter rarely moved into position. "You'll need to hold still, I can't hit him!" Daniel said.

"What happened to evasive maneuvers?" asked Carter. "You wanna get hit by a rocket?"

Pierce growled. "Hold still, bastards!"

"What else can we do?" said Daniel. "Just for a moment, it's all I'll need."

Carter sighed. "Okay, but make it quick." He moved the helicopter in position, lining up the stalled turret exactly with Pierce.

A rocked whizzed past them. "Now, now!" Daniel said.

"Lucky us he didn't spring for heat-seeking." Carter, following Daniel's directions, brought Pierce closer into the gun's sights. The latter loaded another rocket.

"Just a bit higher," said Daniel. "Quick, he's getting ready to fire!"

Daniel let loose a barrage of bullets just as Pierce fired his rocket. Both projectiles his their marks. Carter had swung upwards to dodge the explosive, causing it to glance off of the landing gear. The rocket nevertheless detonated, rocking the helicopter, and causing severe damage.

Meanwhile, Pierce reached his hand up to his chest-his fingertips were covered in blood. The leader of SEEN stumbled backwards, where he fell directly in front of the train, disappearing beneath it.

Both Daniel and Carter struggled to gain control of the situation. Carter tried to wrestle control of the helicopter, while Daniel pulled himself off the floor yet again.

"I think...I think that's the last we'll see of that guy," Daniel said.

"No time to celebrate," said Carter. "That rocket was the last straw. We aren't completely shot yet, but it's only a matter of time until this thing shakes itself apart!"

"We've still got to stop that train," said Daniel. He adjusted the parachute on his back. "Get me over it, I'll see what I can do."

Carter pulled up, taking the helicopter higher than it had been thus far. The train began to speed ahead.

"Uh, Captain, how am I supposed to board the train from here?" asked Daniel. "That was your plan, right?"

"Not exactly," said Carter. "Bridge, I...look: you've been far from a model soldier these past few months, but I can honestly say I'm glad I recruited you."

"Captain?" asked Daniel. "What's going on? Why the speech?"

"Because I want you to know that I expect great things from you," Carter said.

"Captain...what are you planning?" Daniel ran up to the front of the copter beside his captain. The man wore a big smile, despite a look of what must have been dread on his face.

"You're gonna make a great captain one day, Bridge."

With that, Carter gave Daniel a shove, pushing him out of the helicopter. They were high enough in the air for him to have plenty of time to get his bearings and open his chute. Suspended in the air, Daniel witnessed exactly what Carter's plan had been.

The helicopter caught up with the speeding train. Daniel was at first unsure of Carter's plan, but the reality of it hit him when the vehicle pulled far to the left. "Captain, no!" he yelled, knowing that he could not hear him. Upon reaching a reasonable distance, the helicopter rapidly swerved to the right-Carter was building up speed. It was then the chopper slammed into the train engine.

Metal creaked and screeched as the two vehicles collided. The helicopter, being less massive, was first to go, exploding in a massive fireball. The force of the impact sent the engine careening off the tracks and screeching to a halt. The cars behind it went as well, adding to the cacophonic symphony of metal and flames.

After what seemed like ages, Daniel reached the ground. He collapsed to his knees, clutching his bullet wound as the parachute enveloped him like a great white shroud, obscuring the giant pile of wreckage in the distance.