Kote took the drink without sipping.
His eyes locked onto the main screen's edge—there, the icon representing the "Balance Beam" early warning aircraft was cruising at high altitude behind the war zone, with the data link status all green.
"The beam of information flow has been set up." He murmured, "Now, let's drop that heavy hammer."
04:50, over Tetric City.
The deepest darkness before dawn enveloped the city.
A hint of white appeared on the eastern skyline, like pale blood oozing from the edge of a giant wound.
Then the sky began to scream.
Not the roar of engines, but the increasingly sharp wail of air being torn apart by high-speed objects.
The sound fell from the high altitude, like the Grim Reaper sharpening its blade.
Four F-16C "Fighting Falcons" entered from the northwest direction, flying at an altitude of 25,000 feet, and a speed of 0.9 Mach.
