Adrian stared at the tactical screen for a few more seconds.

Then he made the decision.

"...We hit it with everything."

Several operators immediately looked up.

"Sir?"

"I want full saturation," Adrian continued. "Every available air-defense asset. Every aircraft still combat capable. We overwhelm it."

Inside the command center, the atmosphere changed instantly.

No more observation.

No more testing.

This was now an all-out engagement.

"Patch me through base-wide," Adrian ordered.

"Yes, sir."

The communication officer opened the command net across Basa Air Base.

Adrian grabbed the mic.

"All combat stations, this is Command. We are initiating full saturation engagement against the airborne hostile. Repeat, all units prepare for coordinated attack operations."

Outside the command building, alarms finally began sounding across the base.

Floodlights intensified across the runway and perimeter sectors.

Missile crews sprinted between launcher vehicles.

Ground crews rushed toward aircraft shelters.

On the tactical map, blue markers began waking up all over Basa Air Base.

Patriot batteries.

Avenger systems.

SHORAD teams.

CIWS platforms.

Aircraft shelters.

Everything.

"Recall remaining combat aircraft and rearm immediately," Adrian ordered. "I want every available missile loaded."

"Copy!"

One of the operators looked back toward Adrian.

"Sir, the AMRAAMs barely affected it earlier."

"I know," Adrian replied. "We’re not trying to pierce it anymore."

He pointed toward the glowing fissures visible on the live feed from Raptor One.

"We’re trying to overload it."

Back in the air.

Raptor One continued pulling the creature westward through the clouds.

The pilot checked his fuel briefly.

Still manageable.

But not forever.

The monster roared again behind him, the shockwave rattling the aircraft even at distance.

"Command, this thing’s getting more aggressive."

"Good," Adrian replied. "Keep it angry."

The pilot almost laughed.

Almost.

Then another warning tone appeared across his display.

New friendly aircraft entering combat airspace.

"Raptor Two rejoining."

"Falcon flight rejoining."

Blue markers surged north from Basa again.

This time—

Loaded.

Inside the hardened aircraft shelters, ground crews had moved with brutal speed. Missile carts rolled beneath the wings of the returning F-35s while loaders attached fresh AIM-120 AMRAAMs and AIM-9X Sidewinders onto the weapon racks.

Fuel hoses disconnected.

Panels sealed.

Pilots climbed back in.

"Falcon One rearmed and ready."

"Falcon Two ready."

Raptor Two’s engines ignited moments later.

The F-22 roared back down the runway before lifting into the dark sky once again.

Back in the command center.

"Patriot batteries synced."

"CIWS sectors active."

"Avenger teams online."

Adrian nodded once.

Then looked back at the screen.

The monster still chased Raptor One through the clouds, massive wings tearing across the night sky while tracer storms from distant ground defenses occasionally illuminated its silhouette.

"Command," Raptor One transmitted. "How exactly are we doing this?"

Adrian stepped closer to the console.

"We’re going to keep forcing it into engagement zones."

The tactical display shifted.

Large blue engagement circles appeared ahead of the creature’s projected path.

Layered.

Stacked.

Kill corridors.

"Raptor One, maintain heading west another thirty kilometers," Adrian ordered. "Then turn north toward Grid Echo."

The pilot checked the projected route.

"...That’s straight through Patriot Alpha’s engagement lane."

"Exactly."

Back on the ground, Patriot launcher crews finished repositioning their canisters slightly upward.

Targeting radars rotated toward the incoming vector.

The operators inside the engagement control station watched the massive red signature moving steadily closer.

Even on radar—

It looked wrong.

Too large.

Too hot.

"Target acquisition stable."

"Missile solutions prepared."

The battery commander inhaled slowly.

"Wait for command authorization."

Meanwhile—

The fighters assembled.

Falcon flight climbed from below cloud level while Raptor Two approached from high altitude. Their radar systems all locked onto the same monstrous airborne contact now racing after Raptor One.

The sky around it looked violent.

Clouds churned.

Lightning flickered inside the turbulence surrounding the creature’s wings.

"Jesus Christ..." Falcon Two muttered as visual contact finally appeared through the canopy.

The monster looked even larger now.

Raptor One suddenly banked sharply northward.

The creature followed instantly.

"Command, target entering engagement lane."

Adrian immediately raised his voice.

"All units."

The room tightened.

"Execute."

Patriot Alpha fired first.

The launchers erupted simultaneously, missiles screaming upward into the night sky one after another. Their rocket motors illuminated the entire perimeter sector as they climbed before angling directly toward the incoming creature.

At the same time—

The fighters attacked.

"Fox Three!"

"Fox Two!"

Missiles launched from every direction.

AIM-120s.

Sidewinders.

Patriot interceptors.

The night sky became filled with streaking fire as dozens of missiles converged on the monster simultaneously.

The creature roared.

Then accelerated.

Fast enough to blur across the clouds.

The first Patriot missile hit.

Explosion.

Then another.

The sky erupted around the creature as multiple detonations slammed into its body almost simultaneously. Fire engulfed sections of its wings while shockwaves rippled through the clouds.

But the attack didn’t stop.

More missiles hit seconds later.

One detonated near its shoulder.

Another struck directly beneath one wing.

Falcon One’s Sidewinder exploded near its neck, briefly illuminating rows of armored scales beneath the fire.

"Impact! Multiple impacts!" one operator shouted inside the command center.

On the screen, the creature vanished behind explosions.

Fireballs lit up the clouds continuously now as the saturation strike hammered the monster from every direction.

"Keep firing!" Adrian ordered.

The Patriot batteries launched again.

Another volley screamed upward.

CIWS platforms near the base perimeter opened fire next, streams of 20mm tracer rounds reaching upward toward the burning shape inside the clouds.

The fighters pushed in closer.

Raptor Two switched to gun.

The M61A2 Vulcan cannon roared as the F-22 streaked past the creature’s flank, thousands of rounds hammering across its damaged shoulder.

This time—

Something changed.

The monster screamed.

Not a roar.

A scream.

Inside the command center, one analyst pointed immediately.

"Sir! Heat spike!"

The glowing fissures across the creature’s body brightened violently, almost white-hot now beneath the armor.

Another missile slammed directly into the same damaged wing joint Raptor One had been targeting earlier.

The explosion tore away chunks of armored flesh.

For the first time, blood sprayed across the sky.

"Confirmed penetration!" Falcon One shouted.

The monster twisted violently through the clouds, clearly wounded now as flames spread across sections of its left wing.

But it still flew.

Still alive.

And now, it was completely enraged.

The creature turned mid-air toward the incoming fighters, its molten eyes glowing through the smoke and explosions surrounding it.

Then its chest began glowing brighter.

Much brighter.

Inside the command center, the thermal feed suddenly spiked off the charts.

"Sir..." one of the analysts whispered.

Adrian stared at the screen.

The heat signature inside the creature’s body was rising rapidly.

Too rapidly.

And then he realized.

"Break off," Adrian said immediately.

The pilots heard the tone in his voice instantly.

"Command?"

"BREAK OFF NOW!" Adrian shouted.

The fighters peeled away almost immediately.

Afterburners ignited across the sky as the F-22s and F-35s scattered from the engagement zone, banking hard away from the creature.

A second later, the monster opened its jaws.

And the night sky turned orange.

A massive stream of burning energy erupted from its mouth like a volcanic blast, tearing through the clouds in a straight line across the airspace. The beam carved through the night with terrifying force, vaporizing smoke clouds instantly while the shockwave rolled outward across the sky.

One of the Patriot missiles flew directly into it.

It disappeared instantly.

"Holy shit!" Falcon Two shouted as the blast passed beneath his aircraft.