Chapter 106: A Fragile Victory

The facility's AI was down, and the team emerged from the underground passage into the crisp night air. Exhaustion hung heavy in the air, but so did the sense of a small victory. Another one of Solas's nodes had been wiped off the grid, but the fight was far from over.

"Two nodes down," Nyla said quietly as they gathered at the extraction point. "But we know there's more."

Zane nodded, still catching his breath. "It feels like we're just scratching the surface. Solas must have set up dozens of these places around the globe."

General Aria stood nearby, her arms crossed, surveying the perimeter. "We can't afford to let our guard down. Every one of these nodes is a potential time bomb. If we're not fast enough, someone else will gain control of Solas's tech, and it'll start all over again."

Nyla stared at the distant horizon. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to feel the weight of it all—the enormity of the task ahead. They had to fight not just to dismantle Solas's system but to ensure that no one could rebuild it in the shadows.

"The world doesn't know how close we are to falling apart," Nyla said. "It's up to us to make sure it doesn't happen."

"Then let's get back to base," Zane said. "There's a lot more work to do."