The creature's eyes—if they could be called that—glowed with a sullen, deep-red intensity, twin slits of unnatural light set into a face composed of welded armor, fused bone, and twitching fibers. It didn't blink. It didn't flinch. It simply turned, slowly and deliberately, until its entire body faced the circling aircraft above.
"Is that... intelligent behavior?" one of the recon techs whispered.
Phillip didn't answer. He couldn't. His mouth had gone dry.
The beast stood easily fifteen meters tall, its frame an amalgamation of scrap metal and muscle, with biomass plating riveted like armor into its joints and limbs. Veins of molten orange pulsed beneath its ribcage, pumping something far hotter than blood.
Then it moved.
One step.
The earth shook.
"Pull us back!" Phillip barked. "Get us out of its line of sight!"
