THE HARDEST: MONSTERING  

Permitted not another step if the gatekeepers could help it.

Plunging down in the darkness, a yellow plume. Seconds tick away, ending its existence in a small blast and then nothing. The yield visible on the FLIR – Forward Looking Infer Red. Positive result on the target, the crew judges in professional tone.

Night swept away by the FLIR camera. On the cockpit screen see the target collapse onto its side. Predator of the night is the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter. Per state policy to curtail small house sized creatures, a culling operation was authorized and the aircraft dispatched.

Small housed sized, really is the size of a small domicile. The behemoths trek would take them into populated areas authorities affirm if unimpeded. Stands to reason fences less than practical. “Monstering” a play on “ratting” or culling of pest rats.

The gunner places the crosshair on another, many to choose from traversing a landscape that itself registered on the FLIR, albeit less so than the so-called monsters by heat emitted. The scene presented as a black and white image.

Igniting, blasts off the launch rail. The motor of the AGM-176 GRIFFIN missile a yellow plume in the dark. It and intended victim captured onscreen. A short wait later and a blast. The aimpoint smack between the eyes, more or less dead-on.

The giant flails around, were any person or animal up close could feel the soft quakes of the ground. In a while ceases moving. Target down, ascertains the crew professionally.

The Kiowa flies to another angle. The tone playful, a missile starts flying a beeline aimed at a posterior…