"Raptor One copies. Rolling."

The twin F-22 Raptor fighters surged forward down the runway almost immediately, their Pratt & Whitney F119 engines roaring louder as thrust increased. Heat distortion rippled violently behind them, the force of the exhaust kicking dust and loose debris across the tarmac.

Inside the cockpit, the pilot kept one hand steady on the throttle while the other rested lightly on the stick. The canopy reflected the runway lights as speed climbed rapidly.

One hundred knots.

One fifty.

Two hundred.

"Rotate."

The nose lifted smoothly.

The aircraft left the ground like it had been pulled upward by force alone, landing gear retracting almost instantly as the jet climbed into the night sky at an aggressive angle.

Raptor Two followed seconds behind.

Both aircraft ascended fast, pushing north toward the ongoing engagement above Metro Manila.

Back in the airspace near the city, Falcon One rolled sharply to avoid another incoming flyer.

The creature flashed past the canopy again, close enough for the pilot to see its twisted frame illuminated by the city lights below.

"Jesus, these things are persistent," Falcon Two muttered.

"Stay focused," Falcon One replied.

Another flyer burst upward from between two buildings.

Falcon Two immediately switched targets.

"Locking."

The F-35’s radar tracked the creature despite its erratic movement.

"Fox Two."

An AIM-9X Sidewinder missile launched from the aircraft, its seeker locking onto the flyer’s heat signature almost instantly. The missile curved sharply through the night sky before slamming directly into the creature.

The explosion lit up the side of a nearby building.

"Splash."

But more replaced it immediately.

The tactical display inside both F-35 cockpits remained crowded with hostile markers.

Then, two new blue markers entered the combat grid.

"Raptor flight entering AO," a new voice transmitted across comms.

Falcon One exhaled slightly.

"About damn time."

The F-22s arrived from high altitude first.

Fast.

Much faster than the F-35s.

The Raptors cut through the sky above the city with terrifying speed before splitting apart into separate attack vectors. Their AN/APG-77 AESA radars immediately began tracking the airborne contacts below.

"Raptor One has visual," the pilot reported. "Multiple hostiles confirmed."

Back in the command center, Adrian watched the new blue markers descend into the combat zone.

"Engage freely," he ordered. "Clear the airspace."

"Copy, Command."

Inside the Raptor cockpit, the pilot selected long-range engagement mode.

Target boxes appeared rapidly across the helmet display.

The flyers below still moved aggressively, weaving through buildings and dipping across roads, but unlike the F-35s earlier, the F-22s attacked from above with overwhelming speed advantage.

"Raptor One. Fox Three."

Missiles launched.

One after another.

Bright streaks erupted downward from the Raptor as AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles accelerated toward the swarm of airborne creatures.

The flyers reacted too late.

The first missile detonated directly in the middle of a cluster, vaporizing one creature instantly while the shockwave tore apart another beside it.

The second missile slammed into a flyer trying to break low beneath the buildings.

The explosion engulfed the entire intersection below.

"Multiple splashes confirmed," Raptor One reported calmly.

Raptor Two entered seconds later from another angle.

"Fox Three."

Two more missiles dropped from the internal weapons bays before igniting.

The flyers scattered.

But the Raptors were too fast.

The missiles corrected aggressively mid-flight, adjusting trajectories faster than the creatures could evade.

Another explosion.

Then another.

Burning bodies fell from the sky, crashing into roads, rooftops, and abandoned vehicles below.

Inside the command center, the tactical display began clearing rapidly.

"They’re dropping fast!" one of the operators shouted.

"Raptor flight is shredding them," another added.

Back in the air—

One flyer suddenly climbed directly toward Raptor Two.

The pilot reacted instantly.

He rolled the aircraft sideways, the thrust-vectoring engines allowing the F-22 to pivot aggressively through the air before lining back up almost unnaturally fast.

"Close contact."

The pilot switched weapons.

"Gun."

The internal M61A2 Vulcan cannon opened fire.

A stream of 20mm rounds ripped through the night sky, tracer fire tearing straight into the incoming creature. The flyer’s upper body exploded apart mid-flight, chunks of flesh scattering behind it as the remains spiraled downward.

"Splash."

Raptor One accelerated hard through the middle of another cluster, the aircraft moving so fast the flyers barely reacted before missiles struck among them again.

Explosion after explosion lit up the night sky above the city.

The flyers began thinning rapidly now.

Some tried diving lower.

Others attempted to scatter outward.

But the Raptors controlled the airspace completely.

"Remaining hostiles breaking formation," Falcon One reported.

"Do not let them escape," Adrian ordered immediately.

"Copy."

The F-22s split apart again, hunting down the remaining contacts one by one. Missiles and cannon fire tore through the last scattered flyers as they tried desperately to flee northward.

One exploded near a rooftop.

Another crashed into an elevated roadway after taking cannon fire through the torso.

Another lost both wings from a missile detonation and dropped straight into the dark streets below.

Within minutes, the sky cleared.

Back inside the command center, one of the operators stared at the tactical screen.

The red aerial markers were disappearing one after another.

Then, gone.

"All airborne hostiles neutralized," the analyst confirmed.

Silence filled the room for a brief moment.

Then Adrian finally spoke.

"...Good work."

Above the city, the F-22s continued circling through the dark sky, engines roaring softly as burning debris from the destroyed flyers fell toward the ruined streets below.

Adrian kept his eyes on the screen for several more seconds, making sure no additional aerial contacts appeared on the radar grid.

Nothing.

Only the massive ground swarm remained, still marching north through the ruined highways and darkened streets below.

"Maintain combat air patrol," Adrian ordered. "I don’t want those things catching us off guard again."

"Copy, sir," one of the operators replied immediately.

On the main display, the two F-22 Raptors continued circling above Metro Manila, their blue markers sweeping across the airspace while the F-35s repositioned further north to maintain intercept coverage.

Below them, parts of the city still burned.

Some of the destroyed flyers had crashed into buildings during the engagement, leaving scattered fires across rooftops and roads. Smoke slowly rose into the night sky, illuminated occasionally by flickering electrical arcs from damaged power lines.

"Ground swarm still advancing," the analyst reported quietly. "No change in movement pattern."

Adrian nodded once.

The air threat was gone.

For now.

But the real problem was still coming.

And it was far larger than anything they had fought tonight.

Adrian folded his arms as he stared at the marching red mass moving slowly toward Basa Air Base.

"Prepare everyone, it’s going to be DEFCON 2," he said quietly.