Veyran Detention Complex — Transit Level
"You really think walls will stop me?"
Commander Solas moved before the sentence finished.
The guards reacted fast—too fast for an ordinary man—but Solas was no ordinary man. He slammed his shoulder into the first, tore the shock-baton from the second, and fired it blindly down the corridor.
Alarms howled.
"Seal the level!" someone shouted.
Too late.
Solas ran.
---
Upper Concourse — Minutes Later
Kael was already there.
Unarmed. Unarmored. Waiting.
Solas skidded to a halt, chest heaving, eyes wild with fury and something close to relief.
"So it's true," Solas said. "You really do walk without protection."
Kael replied calmly, "Protection changes the meaning of this."
Solas laughed harshly. "You think this is philosophy?"
He charged.
---
The Fight
Solas struck first—fast, brutal, desperate. Years of battlefield instinct compressed into a single goal: kill the architect before the system reacts.
Kael didn't retreat.
He stepped inside the strike, redirected the blow, and absorbed the impact with controlled precision. He wasn't stronger.
He was prepared.
"You planned this," Solas snarled, swinging again.
"Yes," Kael said, deflecting. "You always attack when cornered."
Solas roared and drove Kael backward. For a moment—just a moment—it looked possible. The kind of impossible moment legends were born from.
Solas slammed Kael into a pillar.
"You took my country," Solas growled. "I'll take your life."
Kael met his eyes, unshaken. "No. You'll prove why I was needed."
Solas raised the weapon.
And froze.
---
The Collapse
The floor lights shifted from white to blue.
Not soldiers—containment units.
Silent. Coordinated. Already positioned.
Solas turned, snarling. "Cowards!"
He fired.
The weapon died mid-discharge.
"Electromagnetic suppression," Kael said evenly. "Non-lethal."
Solas lunged anyway.
Three units moved as one.
No strikes. No brutality. Just angles, leverage, and inevitability.
Solas hit the floor hard.
He tried to rise.
Restraints locked around his wrists and ankles.
Breathing heavily, Solas laughed through bloodied teeth. "Even now… you never fight alone."
Kael knelt beside him. "Neither did you. You just mistook force for loyalty."
Solas glared up at him. "Kill me."
Kael stood. "No."
"Afraid?" Solas spat.
"Practical," Kael replied. "Dead men inspire. Captured men explain."
Solas was lifted, restrained, defeated—not by strength, but by preparation layered years deep.
As he was dragged away, Solas shouted back:
"This won't end with me!"
Kael didn't raise his voice.
"I know."
---
Aftermath
Footage leaked within the hour.
Not of the attack—but of the restraint.
Of Kael standing unarmed.
Of Solas striking first.
Of the system responding without rage.
Public opinion didn't shift.
It locked.
Commander Solas became the final proof.
That resistance now looked reckless.
That violence now looked obsolete.
That Kael's rule was not enforced—
It was inevitable.
And somewhere beyond Veyra's borders, other leaders watched the clip on repeat and understood the truth:
Against all odds, Solas had tried.
And against all odds—
Kael had already won.