Steel Don't Bleed

Victory

The transports rumbled along the ridgeline, carrying thirty fighters — some exhausted, some shaken, all silent. The air smelled faintly of scorched metal, ozone, and dust, the remnants of Black Talon’s heart collapsing beneath them.

Delta team rode in formation, but the energy was different now — tense, wary, yet tinged with relief. No one spoke at first. The adrenaline that had carried them through the fortress lingered, making the silence feel heavy.

Iris leaned back in her seat, letting her rifle rest across her lap. Her synthetic systems hummed softly, tracking her own vitals, the energy cores of the conscious units beside her, the faint signals of the dormant machines left behind. The promise she had made to them — that freedom was possible — weighed heavily, a shadow over her relie