Chapter 38: Detained
Several miles beyond the towering walls of Iron Bastion, another convoy carved its way through the frozen mountain roads.
VRRRRMMMM...
Its armoured tyres crushed patches of ice beneath their weight as snow drifted lazily through the night, carried by bitter winds that howled between jagged cliffs. Unlike the roads leading to Iron Bastion, this route felt abandoned—as though civilisation itself had chosen to forget it existed.
Inside the reinforced transport cage sat a single prisoner.
Monday Valhalla.
His wrists, ankles, chest and neck were wrapped in layer upon layer of specialised suppression restraints. Thick cables carrying crackling currents remained connected to the restraints at all times, flooding them with enough energy to suppress even the slightest fluctuation of Disorder.
Yet despite all of it...
Monday looked utterly relaxed.
He leaned against the steel wall with his eyes half-closed, gently tapping one finger against the restraint around his wrist as though he were bored.
Across from him, a prison officer stared at a holographic tablet.
The blue display illuminated the transport compartment.
PING!
The officer cleared his throat before reading aloud.
"Transfer confirmation approved."
He scrolled further.
"Prisoner designation: Monday Valhalla."
Another line appeared.
"Threat Classification..."
He paused.
"...Level One Disaster."
The younger guard sitting beside him frowned.
"Level One?"
"I've never seen that classification before."
The senior officer's expression remained serious.
"Most prisoners are ranked according to the danger they pose."
He looked up from the tablet.
"This one..."
"...is ranked according to the damage he'll cause if he ever gets loose."
The younger guard instinctively glanced towards Monday.
The prisoner slowly opened one eye.
"...Something wrong?"
The guard quickly looked away.
"...N-No."
The officer continued reading.
"New detention facility..."
"...Gregor's Peak."
Silence filled the transport.
The younger guard finally asked the question that had been bothering him since the journey began.
"...Why transfer him?"
"Iron Bastion already holds Savage-class prisoners."
The senior officer slowly locked the tablet before answering.
"Iron Bastion was built for dangerous criminals."
His eyes drifted towards the icy mountain visible through the armoured windshield.
Far ahead...
A colossal fortress gradually emerged from the storm.
It wasn't built upon the mountain.
It had been carved into it.
Towering walls of black stone merged seamlessly with the surrounding cliffs, making the prison appear less like a human structure and more like a natural scar upon the earth.
The entire mountain had become a prison.
"...Gregor's Peak," the officer finally continued, his voice quieter than before, "...wasn't built for criminals."
"It was built for disasters."
The younger guard swallowed hard.
Even from kilometres away, the place felt wrong.
Monday followed his gaze.
His lips slowly curled into a faint smile.
Tiny blue sparks danced across the restraints binding his wrists.
BZZT...
The nearest guard immediately tightened his grip on his shock baton.
Monday chuckled softly.
"...We'll see."
The convoy continued climbing towards the mountain.
Higher.
Colder.
Closer to the prison that no one had ever escaped.
* * *
Back at Iron Bastion...
Night had settled completely over the prison.
Searchlights swept endlessly across the walls while rain began falling in slow, steady sheets.
From the highest tower overlooking the entire complex, Director Cassian Vanderbi stood before an enormous reinforced window.
The prison stretched out beneath him like a kingdom of steel.
Rows of floodlights.
Watchtowers.
Patrolling guards.
Endless concrete corridors.
Everything functioned with flawless precision.
Behind him, the office remained immaculate.
Dark wooden shelves lined the walls.
Ancient books rested beside cutting-edge holographic technology.
An expensive leather sofa occupied one corner, while a polished desk overlooked the prison yard below.
The room reflected its owner perfectly.
Elegant.
Organised.
Dangerous.
A soft electronic chime echoed through the office.
PING!
Shinsei Voss stepped inside carrying her holographic tablet beneath one arm.
As always, her suit remained immaculate despite the night's events.
Not a single strand of hair had fallen out of place.
She approached the Director before activating the display.
Blue holograms expanded into the air.
One by one, the captured rebels appeared before them.
Brandon.
Champagne.
Wasabi.
Fah-jin.
Zachia.
Wei-Wan.
Avenor.
Every profile displayed the same status.
DETAINED.
Only one file remained highlighted.
Daito Greyhell.
Shinsei glanced at it briefly before looking towards Cassian.
"All prisoners have been processed."
"Each has been assigned to their respective containment block."
She scrolled through several reports.
"No casualties."
"No escape attempts."
"Security systems are functioning within expected parameters."
Cassian remained silent.
His eyes never left the prison below.
After several moments, he quietly nodded.
"...Excellent."
Shinsei studied him for a moment.
Then she noticed something unusual.
The Director was still looking at Daito's profile.
Not the others.
Only Daito.
"...You fought this one personally."
Cassian smiled faintly.
"I did."
"And?"
He finally turned towards her.
"...He's interesting."
Shinsei adjusted her glasses.
"...Interesting enough to warrant personal attention?"
Cassian walked slowly towards the window once more.
Rain struck the reinforced glass with gentle taps.
For a while, he said nothing.
When he finally spoke...
His voice was almost thoughtful.
"I've met thousands of Savages."
"Some were powerful."
"Some were talented."
"Some were born monsters."
He folded his hands behind his back.
"But very few..."
"...continue standing after I decide they're finished."
His reflection stared back at him through the rain-soaked glass.
"Daito Greyhell did."
Shinsei remained silent.
She understood what that meant.
Cassian rarely acknowledged anyone.
For him to recognise someone's potential...
Was extraordinarily rare.
"...Shall I increase surveillance around his cell?" she asked.
Cassian shook his head.
"No."
"Keep him alive."
Shinsei raised an eyebrow.
"...For interrogation?"
A small smile slowly spread across Cassian's face.
It wasn't warm.
Nor kind.
It was the smile of a man who had already decided someone else's fate.
"...No."
He continued watching the endless rows of prison cells below.
"I want him conscious."
"I want him to recover."
"I want him to believe he still has hope."
He paused.
Then finished quietly.
"...So I can break him properly."
For the first time that evening...
Even Shinsei said nothing.
Outside the tower...
The storm finally reached Iron Bastion.
A violent bolt of lightning ripped across the heavens.
CRRRRRAAAAAACK!!
For a single blinding instant, the entire prison was swallowed in white light.
The watchtowers.
The walls.
The endless rows of steel cells.
Deep beneath the fortress...
Eight prisoners sat alone in the darkness.
Separated.
Broken.
Uncertain whether the others had survived.
Yet somewhere inside that suffocating silence...
The smallest ember still refused to die.
Hope.
Because although the rebellion had suffered its greatest defeat...
Its story...
Was far from over.
To be continued...