The A-10's cannon roared again, tearing through the forest below.
For a brief moment, it looked like they still had control of the situation.
Then everything changed.
The forest did not answer from below this time.
It answered from above.
Marcus caught it first. It was not clear. Not obvious. Just a flicker at the edge of his vision, something cutting through the smoke left behind by the last rocket strike.
Too fast to be falling debris.
Too controlled to be random.
He did not even think about it.
He looked up.
"…Contacts high," Marcus said.
The co-pilot followed his gaze.
For a second, he said nothing.
Then his face went pale.
"…Oh, shit."
They were already there.
Dozens of them.
They were not circling like scavengers anymore. They were not gliding. Every single one of them folded its wings and dropped.
They came down all at once.
It looked like a wave.
