Tracer fire climbed upward from the ground defenses while the giant creature continued roaring across the night sky, its chest glowing like a furnace ready to burst apart.
Then Adrian gave the order.
"Final saturation strike. Hit that chest cavity with everything we have."
Inside the command center, every operator moved immediately.
"Patriot batteries ready!"
"Falcon flight repositioning!"
"Raptor flight lining up attack vectors!"
The tactical display filled with engagement lines converging toward the same point.
The monster's chest.
Back in the air, Raptor One banked sharply through the clouds, the F-22 cutting across the night sky with afterburners glowing behind it. The pilot's helmet display locked directly onto the burning fissures across the creature's chest.
Even from distance, the heat bloom distorted the air around it.
"Raptor One in hot," the pilot transmitted.
