The black tactical gunship chopper dropped from the cloud line with a deafening roar, its underbelly 20mm minigun instantly tracking the **H2R**. Chains of high-caliber rounds chewed through the concrete highway, launching chunks of asphalt into the air like shrapnel.
Abir glanced at his side mirrors while maintaining a flat-out speed of 340 km/h. The chopper was hovering barely fifty feet above the deck, aggressive and hunting for a lock.
"Abir! They're painting us with a laser-guided missile lock!" Arisa screamed over the comms. "Five seconds before launch!"
"Arisa, reach into the right pocket of my rig. Pull out the dual-stage magnetic EMP grenades," Abir commanded, his voice ice-cold. "Tonight, we take down a bird."
Without breaking her stance, Arisa reached into his tactical pack, retrieving the compact, spherical EMP device.
Ahead on the horizon, a massive concrete highway overpass loomed. Instead of scrubbing speed, Abir pinned the throttle further, diving the superbike directly into the shadowed underpass. The structure instantly severed the chopper's laser tracking line. The pilot, anticipating a straight exit, surged the gunship up and over the concrete deck, hovering right at the exit to catch them on the flip side.
But Abir didn't exit. In the dead center of the dark underpass, he slammed the rear brakes, drifting the H2R in a tight, smoking 180-degree pivot. The tires screeched, facing back toward the approach ramp.
"Arisa, now!"
Arisa braced herself as Abir fired the supercharger up once more, aiming the machine toward a steep, rusted maintenance ramp running up the side of the overpass. The velocity was so intense that the H2R launched off the lip, airborne for a fraction of a second, clearing the concrete deck.
In that suspended moment of absolute zero-gravity, with the nose of the chopper framed directly in front of them, Arisa hurled the magnetic EMP grenade straight into the main engine rotor.
The moment the device magnetized against the hull, a violent blue electrical shockwave rippled through the air. The gunship's digital arrays, flight systems, and turbine engines died instantly. Before the pilot could log a manual override, the rotors stalled out.
The H2R slammed back onto the overpass deck, suspension absorbing the heavy impact cleanly. Behind them, Draco's multi-million-dollar attack asset lost altitude rapidly, crashing violently into the desert sand below, erupting into a massive, blinding fireball.
Abir brought the bike to a halt, flipping his tinted visor up to look at the wreckage in his rearview mirror.
"Tell Draco birds belong on the ground," Abir whispered.
Arisa checked her rugged terminal, a triumphant smirk appearing on her face. "Abir, their airspace dominance is officially zero. Ten kilometers out, embedded into the Juarez foothills—I have a visual on 'The Dragon's Den'. The front gates are wide open."
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