Despite the storm battering the chopper, Amy was holding her own against it and she decided to risk a quick look. She dropped altitude rapidly, quickly coming into visual range of the objects.

It took her a minute to figure what was going on. Two motorcycles were being ridden in circles around a group of three people. The bikers were striking at the group with pipes or clubs, and the group was huddled together, trying to protect each other. The heat from the engines of the bikes is what she had seen on her screen.

Amy suspected the noise of the bikes and the wind and rain of the storm had prevented anyone on the ground hearing the helicopter's approach. Now though, Amy dropped low to the ground and rapidly approached the group. One of the bikers suddenly noticed the approaching helicopter and signaled to his partner. The two bikes sped off toward the west.

Amy dropped the HU-60 to about twenty-five feet above the ground. She kept the nose of the aircraft pointed towards the two bikers, who'd come to a stop about fifty yards away and were watching her movements curiously.

Four ropes dropped down from the helicopter, and in seconds, eight men rappelled to the ground. When they reached the wet sand below, six of the men spread out and formed a perimeter around the three people who had been attacked. They dropped to the ground in a prone position, automatic weapons pointed outward and fingers on triggers. The other two approached the three in the middle of the circle and began assessing their injuries.

While this was transpiring, the two figures on motorcycles stared on with expressions of amazement. Having seen the two viciously attacking the unarmed people, Amy almost wanted them to draw a gun and start shooting. If they did, she would be justified in pressing the trigger button her finger rested on. The action would release a pair of high explosive rockets, which would easily obliterate both the men and the machines they were sitting on.

The two bikes accelerated abruptly and turned away, moving out into the desert swiftly. “Ground 1, targets are gone. Report your status,” Amy requested.

“We're prepping three civilians for transport. We'll be ready in three.”

“Acknowledging three minutes, I'll sweep the area once to make sure there are no more of them. Be quick, the weather is getting worse.”

Amy flew a quick circle several hundred meters out from the people on the ground. When she was comfortable that there were no additional threats, she landed the aircraft, and the men came aboard with their three patients. All three were lying on portable stretchers and quickly secured inside the helicopter. Less than a minute after touching down, they were back in the air.