The battlefield around Dominion City had finally begun to quiet, but it was not the calm of peace, only the exhausted pause that followed violence too intense for the body to immediately comprehend. Burnt metal littered the ground in twisted piles, shattered mech suits still crackling faintly with dying energy cores, and the air smelled of scorched alloy and ozone so thick it sat heavy in the lungs.
Harper stood among her men, her armor stained and scratched, issuing firm, controlled orders as the final remnants of the Sovereign Protocol soldiers were hunted down and neutralized, one after another, with no mercy left to give.
"Secure the perimeter first," she said, her voice steady despite the chaos that had just passed. "Confirm every cockpit. If it twitches, you finish it. We don't leave any chance for regrouping."
"Yes, Commander!"
