Chapter 143: Fighting it Part 2

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

The beam continued cutting across the night sky for several more seconds before finally dying out, leaving behind glowing clouds and a burning scar across the atmosphere itself.

Inside the command center, nobody spoke immediately.

The thermal readings across the screen had gone insane.

Temperatures spiked so high near the beam path that several sensors temporarily lost clarity from overload.

"Damage assessment?" Adrian asked.

One of the analysts swallowed before answering.

"No confirmed friendly losses... but several Patriot interceptors were destroyed mid-flight."

Another operator pointed toward the screen.

"Sir, look at the creature."

The smoke surrounding the monster slowly cleared.

It was still airborne.

Still flapping those enormous wings through the burning clouds.

But now it looked worse.

Much worse.

Large sections of its armored hide had been blasted apart by the earlier saturation strike. Several glowing fissures across its chest and shoulders were fully exposed now, pulsing like molten veins beneath cracked skin.

Its left wing also sagged slightly.

Not enough to ground it.

But enough to prove something important.

"It can bleed," Adrian said quietly.

Back in the air, Raptor One circled wide while keeping distance from the creature.

The pilot stared at the monster through the canopy.

"Command, I think we actually hurt it."

"We did," Adrian replied immediately. "Which means we keep going."

Inside the command center, he stepped toward the tactical display.

"Prepare second saturation wave."

The operators immediately moved again.

"Reload Patriot batteries."

"Reposition CIWS sectors."

"Get me firing solutions from every available platform."

Outside Basa Air Base, missile crews sprinted around the Patriot launchers as fresh interceptors were loaded into the canisters. Avenger teams repositioned Humvees along alternate firing lanes while CIWS systems recalibrated toward the new engagement corridor.

The base had fully transformed into a war machine.

Above them, the monster screamed again.

This time louder.

Angrier.

The sound rolled across the clouds like thunder, rattling even the fighter cockpits from kilometers away.

Then it accelerated again.

Directly toward Basa.

"Contact pushing north!" one operator shouted.

Adrian immediately grabbed the mic.

"All fighters, re-engage. Keep it inside the kill corridor."

"Copy!"

Raptor One rolled first.

The F-22 banked hard left before diving back toward the creature at high speed. The pilot switched weapons again, selecting another AMRAAM despite knowing the missile alone would never kill it.

But that wasn’t the point anymore.

"Fox Three!"

The missile launched.

Moments later, Falcon flight joined from below cloud level.

"Falcon One engaging!"

"Fox Two!"

Sidewinders streaked upward toward the monster while Patriot batteries launched another devastating volley from the ground.

This time—

The creature reacted faster.

It twisted violently through the air, narrowly avoiding one Patriot interceptor before another slammed directly into its side.

Explosion.

Flames erupted across one wing.

Another missile hit moments later near the creature’s exposed chest fissures.

The blast caused the monster to recoil visibly.

"There!" Falcon One shouted. "Those glowing areas are vulnerable!"

Adrian heard it instantly.

"All units," he ordered. "Prioritize exposed fissures. Aim for the glowing sections only."

The tactical feeds updated immediately.

Targeting overlays highlighted the brightest thermal zones across the monster’s body.

The fighters attacked again.

Raptor Two dove from above the clouds, the F-22 screaming downward almost vertically before leveling out just long enough to fire.

The M61A2 Vulcan cannon roared.

Hundreds of 20mm rounds slammed directly into one glowing fissure near the creature’s shoulder. This time the impacts didn’t just spark.

They punched deeper.

Burning blood exploded outward across the air.

The creature screamed again.

A real scream.

Not rage.

Pain.

"That’s it!" one of the operators shouted inside the command center.

The monster suddenly snapped toward Raptor Two.

Fast.

Too fast.

"Oh shit—"

The creature lunged through the clouds with terrifying acceleration, jaws opening wide enough to swallow the fighter whole.

Raptor Two rolled hard right instantly, thrust-vectoring nozzles pivoting aggressively as the aircraft barely escaped the creature’s bite.

The shockwave still struck the jet.

Warning alarms erupted inside the cockpit.

"Stability warning!"

The pilot fought the controls.

"Still operational!" he shouted.

Then Patriot Alpha fired again.

Six interceptors launched simultaneously.

The missiles climbed hard before descending directly toward the monster from above.

Impact.

Impact.

Impact.

Three explosions erupted across the creature’s back almost at once, briefly engulfing its upper body in flames.

The monster lost altitude slightly.

Just for a second.

But everyone saw it.

"It dropped!" Falcon Two shouted.

"It’s getting weaker!" another pilot added.

Adrian narrowed his eyes.

"No," he said quietly.

"It’s getting desperate."

As if responding to his words—

The glowing fissures across the monster’s body suddenly brightened again.

Brighter than before.

The clouds around it turned orange from the heat radiating off its skin.

"Thermal spike again!" the analyst warned.

The creature’s chest expanded.

Its mouth opened.

"Break!" Adrian shouted immediately.

This time the fighters reacted instantly.

The aircraft scattered in every direction moments before another massive beam erupted from the monster’s mouth.

The sky exploded orange again.

The energy blast carved upward across the clouds, narrowly missing Falcon One as the F-35 rolled violently away from the attack path.

"Jesus Christ!" the pilot shouted.

But while the creature fired—

It exposed itself.

Its chest fissures glowed completely open during the attack.

Adrian saw it immediately.

Then his eyes widened.

"...That’s it."

Everyone looked toward him.

"That’s the weak point," Adrian said.

On screen, the monster continued unleashing the beam across the sky while the exposed fissures along its chest glowed brighter than the sun itself.

For the first time since the battle started, Adrian finally believed they might actually kill it.

He stepped closer to the tactical console, eyes locked on the glowing weak point burning across the monster’s chest.

"All aircraft," Adrian transmitted across the combat net. "New priority target confirmed. Aim for the exposed chest fissures during beam discharge."

Inside the cockpits, the pilots immediately acknowledged.

"Falcon One copies."

"Raptor Two copies."

"Targeting chest cavity."

Outside, the sky above Luzon looked like a battlefield from another world.

Missiles streaked through burning clouds.