The staging grounds outside Dominion City stretched farther than the eye could see, layered with steel platforms, launch rails, and armored hangars arranged in precise geometric order, each one humming with restrained power as thousands upon thousands of mech units stood dormant, waiting for the command that would wake them fully.
Harper stood at the central command dais, elevated above the sea of metal giants, her figure small in comparison yet unmistakably commanding, her posture straight and unyielding as tactical projections floated around her, painting the skies with threat vectors and incoming trajectories that were no longer hypothetical.
The enemy was coming.
And this time, it was not a simulation.
She activated the open channel, her voice amplified not through speakers but through every cockpit interface, every neural link, every visor that would soon be staring into an alien sky.
