A loud boom sounded across the city.

The Hierarchy shuttle was wreathed in red-hot flames as it plunged past the cloud layer. From where I stood, I could see tiny dots hovering behind it, each glowing with the heat of re-entry.

: Where are our fighters?

: They’re chasing the shuttles. Missiles are having no effect.

: Not unexpected. Too few jets, too slow to really chase them.

: The local RAF and the NATO jets are reaching them now. Two hundred fighters.

: I can’t see them….

: That’s because they’re still twenty kilometres away from your position. They’d be too tiny to see.

: What? I can see the alien shuttles just fine.

: The lead shuttle is the size of a stadium. The others are the size of buildings.

: That’s…. crazy. Why would you make shuttles that big?

: That’s what they’re trying to figure out. There’s a lot of guesswork here… The shuttles are headed for Bushy Park. That’s a thousand-acre open area in the middle of London.

: Any units near there?

: About fifty Challenger tanks and five thousand soldiers. As soon as the ships open up, they’re going to close and start shooting. The Hierarchy isn’t going to have it easy today.

A dozen heavily-armed Eurofighters screamed overhead, zooming towards Bushy Park.

I could hear Winford explaining to the British ultras. “Close attack support. They’re going to hit the shuttles the second they land.”

“They’re landing in the middle of one of the Royal Parks,” came Derry’s voice. “It’s a sin, that’s what it is. The place is home to a host of rare fauna and flora.”

“Didn’t know you were interested in that sort of thing,” Bulldog responded.

“I have a degree in botany, you know.”

“Does that help catch crooks? Other than flower thieves?”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Lay off, you two,” Rhodia interrupted. “We need to focus. Sergeant, any idea when we can move?”

“We wait for orders, ma’am.”

A loud crack of thunder sounded.

No, not thunder….

: The big shuttle just landed. It’s ploughed up a ton of dirt.

: Can you see what’s happening?

: Not exactly. There’s a dust cloud over the entire place. The tanks are closing in, though, and they’ve started firing.

: Shells are smashing into the shuttle. No real effect.

: It’s the size of a football field, right? Going to take time.

: Yeah, that’s true. Wait, I think something’s opening up… no, still too much dust…. Oh crap.

: What.

: Carnotaurs.

: … Plural?

: Two just bounded out of the dust…. Oh crap, crap, crap!

: Anne?

There was silence for a second. Then….

: The Carnotaurs are wearing shields. And armor. I just told the Colonel here, he’s contacting the units…. Dammit!

: They’re reached the tanks, they’re flipping the tanks. Five down. Seven. Fourteen. Damn those things are fast… Troops are falling back, the Carnotaurs are going through the armor like a wrecking ball with skittles.

: Are they retreating?

: Not fast enough. The tank shells are just bouncing off the Carnotaurs, they’re too fast to track as it is… Damn, one tank just got killed by friendly fire. And that’s another one crunched by the Carnotaur…. Wait. They’re perking up… They’re falling back into the dust cloud….

: Uh… Andrew, I see the Greater Carnotaur.

: Three Carnotaurs? This is going to be bad….

: Worse. Five. Four on the sides, and the Greater Carnotaur in the centre. Andrew, it’s at least a hundred feet tall.

…. A hundred-foot tall Carnotaur?

: What’s it doing? Dodging?

: No…. it’s just standing there, the surviving tanks are shooting at it… The shells are splashing against the shield, no damage, but it’s …. Andrew, I swear to you, it’s smiling.

: … smiling?

: Yeah… now it’s opening its mouth…

The world trembled.

I could hear screaming around me. The men of Alpha platoon were covering their ears.

Where was the radio?

Suddenly, two notifications popped into my view:

AREA EFFECT APPLIED: ROAR OF THE CARNOTAUR.

THE CARNOTAUR’S ROAR IS A DEVASTATING FORCE. AT ITS SOURCE, IT UNLEASHES 230 DB OF SONIC ENERGY, CAPABLE OF SHATTERING WINDOWS, DENTING ARMOR, AND KILLING UNARMORED HUMANS OUTRIGHT. THE DEGREE OF DAMAGE REDUCES WITH RANGE, WITH MOST OF THE ENERGY BEING CONVEYED VIA HIGH-FREQUENCY SHOCK WAVES.

DUE TO THE HIGH CALORIFIC DEMAND IN USING THIS WEAPON, ONLY A GREATER CARNOTAUR CAN USE IT, AND ONLY ONCE IN 2 HOURS.

LEVEL 6 JAMMING FIELD ACTIVE.

BLOCKS EM, ACOUSTIC, GRAVITIC, LASER, OPTICAL FIBRE, THERMAL, RADIO TRANSMISSIONS. JAMS ALL BEYOND VISUAL RANGE SENSORS.

ONLY FOLDSPACE TRANSMISSIONS UNAFFECTED.

: Andrew? Can you receive me?

: Anne - are you all right? What’s going on?

: Communications are down. Across the whole city. We can’t reach any of the staff, the units, the radar stations, anything.

: There’s chaos here. Everybody’s trying to get in touch with the staff, but nothing’s working. Not landlines, not buried cables, nothing.

I took a deep breath.

: Anne, can you see what’s happening in Bushy Park?

: … yeah, and it’s not good. Andrew…. The soldiers, they’re all dead. Some of the tanks are just … crumpled… There’s bodies everywhere.