“To me? Who am I? There's a hundred guys in this building alone who fit my description. Middle aged men, paunchy, glasses...You bring them here? What's this? Empty office, leased to a guy who died in the last days of Vietnam...Call me up. My number never existed. No. I'm not too worried about that.”
The United Liberty Paper contact wants the Russian businessman Eduard Borodin dead. The only way to reach him is through the air, so he sends Niko on a deadly mission to chase the helicopter. Niko finds the target chopper and follows it to the meeting place in the Western Algonquin docks. Bellic gains cover and ambushes the meeting, killing all the members including the chopper driver, allowing him access to the helicopter itself. Niko flies it to Francis International Airport in Dukes and lands it next to the Cargo Yard where the Company's mechanics collect it to install a rocket launcher.
Mission Objectives
In order to complete the mission the player must:
Get a vehicle and go to the Civilization Plaza
Follow the helicopter
Let the helicopter land, then move in to take it
Fly to the dropoff point on the south side of the Airport
Land the helicopter next to the Cargo Yard
Walkthrough
After a meeting with United Liberty Paper, Niko gets a car and goes to the Civilization Committee. A helicopter will take off. Niko follows it. The player is on the expressway and should have a clear view of it.
After a long chase, the helicopter will land near the sports plaza in Westminster, Algonquin, where six armed men will stand guard, and two men will be at the entrance to a dock leading to the landing pad. Niko fights and kills all of the armed men and steals the helicopter.
He flies the helicopter to Francis International Airport, but when the helicopter is about to take off, a final goon will run at the helicopter, grabbing onto the leg and trying to prevent the player stealing it, yet he will fall to his death as the player hovers or the player crushes him with the heli. Two FIB agents will collect the helicopter and his mechanics will install a rocket launcher inside.
I didn't give you a free pass to act like an asshole. You're bringing a lot of heat. Hanging out with bad people, doing bad things, making idiot moves.
Niko:
I'm an idiot. I move...
ULP Contact:
True... but the last thing I need is you getting caught.
Niko:
Why? Because I lead them to you in some plea bargain thing?
ULP Contact:
To me? Who am I? There's a hundred guys in this building alone who fit my description. Middle-aged men, paunchy, glasses... you bring them here? What's this? Empty office, leased to a man who died in the last days of Vietnam... Call me up. My number never existed. No. I'm not too worried about that. I mean, I think you'll end up on a flight deck, but that's your business.
Niko:
Then what?
ULP Contact:
Because you're good! Because I need you to keep being good. And you're getting distracted.
Niko laughs.
ULP Contact:
Funny, yeah. Good. I need someone neutralized. Guy is moving a lot of money for terrorists... Whatever. It doesn't really matter. The guy's gotta go. But I need to know his movements first. How? I've got something that's going to help you. Head over to Albany Avenue in Lancet and give me a call. Go.
Michelle? Karen. We gave her her life back. We didn't play too rough. We gave her some money. She still works for us.
Niko:
What about me?
ULP Contact:
We'll discuss that later.
Niko leaves.
Helicopter Chase
Niko gets a vehicle and drives to the entrance ramp for Union Drive East just north of the Algonquin Bridge. On the way, he gets a phone call from the ULP Contact.
ULP Contact:
Nearly there? You are about to see a chopper taking off from Civilization Plaza. We need to get hold of it. Follow it. Wait until it touches down then, when the passengers are out, get in and fly it to the airport in Dukes.
Niko:
Okay then.
Niko follows the helicopter to a landing pad on the west side of Algonquin and allows it to land.
Cousin. How you doing? I'm in the gentlemen's club. I think you'd really get into this. You should come down.
Niko:
I don't know if you can hear it, Roman, but I'm in a helicopter. Yes, that is the crazy shit I am having to get up to after you introduced me to Michelle or Karen, or whatever her name really is.
Roman:
I don't get it, is she a government agent or an undercover cop? What is she?
Niko:
Shit, I don't know. All I know is that her friends have got me by the balls.
Roman:
Someone's got me by the balls, too, cousin. I'll send you a pic.
After a moment, Roman sends Niko a text message.
Roman:
(text message) Niko, you need to get over here. I think your balls must be getting very jealous of mine. Rom
After a moment, Roman sends Niko a text message.
Roman:
(text message) Niko, I'm at the gentlemen's club! Check this ass out. Rom
Niko lands the helicopter at the airport. A couple of agents approach.
Agent:
Thank you. We'll take it from here.
They get in the helicopter and leave with it.
Mission Complete
Niko calls the ULP Contact.
ULP Contact:
My men have the chopper. They're going to strip it down and put it back together. It should be ready for you when you need it.
Niko:
Why would I need it?
ULP Contact:
The guy I told you about. The guy you need to eliminate. The only way you'll get to him is in the air. I'll call you when we have a window. Goodbye.
Some things are bigger than you, Bellic. We needed that bird. Come back to the office, fool.
Niko calls the ULP Contact.
Niko:
The chopper's not in such good shape. I'm afraid you're not getting it.
ULP Contact:
Not acceptable, Bellic. I'm cutting you a lot of slack and I need you to appreciate that. Come to the office.
Niko calls the ULP Contact.
Niko:
I couldn't get to the helicopter.
ULP Contact:
You scared it off? Come to see me at my office.
Niko:
What can I say, I am scary guy.
Video Walkthrough
Trivia
Roman Bellic calls Niko during the part where he flies the Helicopter, asking Niko if he can join him at the Strip Club. Niko then replies by saying "I don't know if you can hear it Roman, but I am in a helicopter", he also explains that Michelle's friends has got him by the balls. which prompts Roman to respond by telling Niko that someone has also got him by the balls, after this he sends a text with a picture of a stripper's butt. He won't call if the mission Hostile Negotiation has not been completed. Unlike his other calls, this does not serve as an ironic joke. In an unused phone call, Roman would've originally asked Niko to go bowling with him instead of the strip club while chasing the helicopter in a car.
Roman: Hey man, it's me. Want to go bowling?
Niko: Roman, I really wish I could go bowling. But you're setting me up with that Michelle woman has meant that I am chasing a helicopter through the streets of Algonquin. We can't all have fun. I'll talk to you later.
The helicopter almost always spawns inside the helipad rather than on it because of a glitch. The player can witness this by entering the plaza and running up the stairs to the helipad prior to reaching the mission marker. As with any vehicle that is breaking game physics, if it is touched, the game will attempt to fix it by any means. This usually means the helicopter will flop upwards from the helipad and usually land on its side. However, in the cutscene where the helicopter lifts off, it will immediately reorient itself right side up.
The player cannot steal the helicopter before going to the mission marker.
This is the only U.L. Paper mission which does not feature an assassination. If the player is quick enough, they can simply run past the six armed men at the helipad and fly away, although one of these men will very possibly grab the helicopter skids and fall off while over the city. The player can also somewhat avoid the 2 guards at the entrance by going to the north, where there will be an unguarded entrance to the same helipad. However, they will open fire as soon as Niko reaches a point any more westerly than they are.
The helicopter will remain flying even if Niko kills the pilot, as the flight route is scripted. However, if the pilot, passenger, or both are killed before it lands, the Russians will be alerted instantly, even if Niko is nowhere in sight.
After landing, the two occupants of the helicopter will have a silent conversation with three of the men stationed at the helipad. If Niko waits too long, the occupants will eventually finish striking a deal and will re-enter the helicopter and fly north. The player will fail the mission as soon as the two parties finish speaking to one another.
It is possible to not alert the men at the helipad until actually walking on the westernmost square by bumping the 2 guards at the east into the water with a car or by hand. The men will not be alerted even if one of the guards opens fire.
After dropping off the helicopter, do not hang around inside Francis International Airport for too long, otherwise, the player will attain a 4-star wanted level. An Emperor will be there available to take. The player can stay as long as they like inside the airport without attaining a wanted level if they have not landed the helicopter yet.
The helicopter would be violating lowest safe altitude regulations set by the FAA in real life, as helicopters must fly at an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal distance of less than 2,000 feet if they are over a congested area (which Algonquin is) unless otherwise given express permission by the FAA.
The name of the mission may be a reference to the expression "knock some dust off", which means to get reacquainted with an activity one has not participated in for some time. In this case, Niko is flying a helicopter again for the first time since the war he participated in some years ago.
