The Winter Tyrant

Chapter 102: Retaking the Foundry

When the bandits left behind the foundry, which they had turned into their fortress away from the freezing death that awaited them outside in the long winter. They also left behind their slaves.

Women, girls, and the occasional man here and there that the bandits found to their liking were often taken as a form of tribute when other resources couldn’t be paid.

These slaves had for the first time since their capture been left utterly alone in the foundry. They didn’t know why nobody ever told them everything.

But they also didn’t dare leave. They huddled near the heat of the forges and whispered among each other in silence.

"Do you think they’re all dead?"

One of the women asked, looking around first to ensure that nobody was nearby to hear it before daring to do so.

Another was quick to interject, her tone hushed and fearful.

"Don’t even think that! If they find out you are wishing ill upon them, they’ll do horrible things to you!"

A properly beaten slave knew that resistance was a futile effort, and one that only caused greater suffering. And the bandits had properly beaten these slaves into submission.

The very idea of thinking that they had gone off and gotten themselves killed was too much for some to listen to without admonishing the notion. Even if nobody was around to see their act of "loyalty," they still performed it.

It was perhaps because of this that when they finally heard the roar of snowmobiles approach the slaves huddled together and remained utterly silent.

But one had more sense than the others. They had heard the snowmobiles approach a million times. They were loud, obnoxious, and the bandits had a tendency to rev them more than necessary.

These had silently snuck up on the foundry, these snowmobiles were quiet... Too quiet... Her eyes opened wide as she realized... hoped... that maybe, just maybe someone had come to their rescue.

The doors to the foundry were breached almost instantly, violently so. Multiple 12 gauge slug blowing out the locks, without a single care for what remained behind.

Truth be told, breaching slugs had largely gone the way of the dodo, if one wanted to remove a lock, then they had to risk harming what existed behind the door.

Even Dean hadn’t suspected the need to procure such munitions when preparing his fortress, because he had never thought he would one day lead an army. Let alone a city-state.

Luckily the slugs didn’t go far, nor did they manage to ricochet into one of the slaves. Because of this, the doors forcefully opened without incident.

There Zach stood aiming down the Saiga-12 shotgun, and the optic on its railed dustcover.

He flashed his light through the dimly lit foundry. While the men poured in after him, moving in perfect synchronization as they cleared the initial area.

It was after turning the corner that Zach found the slaves huddled together, and he was far from graceful in his interrogation approach.

"Show me your hands!"

They didn’t resist in the slightest, they instantly raised their hands as the Peltasts continued to keep their lights on them.

Zach reached towards his pushed to talk button and immediately began to speak.

"This is Perseus, we’ve got a bit of a situation here at the foundry. Hostages, by the looks of it. Unsecured, there’s no telling how many of them there are here, or if they’re going to be cooperative. I need backup ASAP, over."

There was a brief moment of static over the radio before finally a voice responded.

"Alpha Squad is already on its way, ETA: five minutes. Hang tight and secure the point of entry. If the hostage poses a threat to your lives, shoot to kill. Over and out."

Zach didn’t hesitate to point to his men silently in a way that perfectly communicated their orders.

---

Back at Elysium Dean stood in his equipment at the doorway of his home. He looked at his watch, waiting for the news to come in.

Brooke stood behind him, silently, she was skittish like a mouse. Trying to hide behind a corner while watching him.

She didn’t know if he would really succeed. Her heart desired reclaiming her family’s property more than anything.

Brooke stepped forward, she was just about to say something when Dean moved. He moved his hand to the push to talk button embedded on his shoulder and was quick to press it.

"I understand.... Secure the perimeter, confirm the inventory, and we will be there within the hour. Over and out."

Dean then looked over at Brooke, there was no expression on his face, but his eyes told her all she needed to know before his words ever could.

"There were no bandits lingering in the foundry. Only a group of women, girls, and a few men they kept as hostages. Your family’s factory and warehousing complex has been fully recovered."

Brooke stood there in shock, tears forming in her eyes. She couldn’t believe it. After everything that had happened. The long winter, the exodus, the bandits who had taken her family’s property, and now its recovery.

She had gone through an emotional rollercoaster over the course of the last few months. And now... now it was finally returned to her. She grew weak at the knees as she slumped against the wall.

Prompting Dean to rush over to her side, helping her stand, as he checked on her condition.

"Are you alright?"

Brooke simply smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes, nodding her head not once, not twice, but thrice.

"Yeah... I am... I just never thought I’d actually live to see this day.... So... what now?"

Dean released his hold on Brooke only after she had stabilized herself. And then he quickly broke down his plan to her.

"Now I’m going to send over some men to erect some fortifications around the plant. We need to make sure it is every bit as secure as Elysium is. The problem is... the distance between us an it. The foundry will need a permanent garrison, and we’ll have to debate whether your employees and their families will continue residing in Elysium and make a difficult commute through the snow every day. Or... if they will live there long term."

That was the real problem.... Transportation through the snow was extremely limited. Even for Dean and his men, they had access to only so many snowmobiles.

Even if they recovered a fraction of them that were functional from the bandits and their federation.

There was honestly no telling how many they would have overall, how many would need immediate repairs, repairs they couldn’t perform for the time being. And how many were necessary for military operations.

Without transportation, reliable, consistent transportation, a commute was impossible. And frankly, even if they did have the transportation it was a waste of resources in an era of immense scarcity.

Brooke knew this. But she also knew that many had grown comfortable living in Elysium already, and would be hard to convince going back to the foundry.

This was an enormous problem. One that Brooke stood there in silence, thinking about for quite some time. In the end, she sighed heavily and shook her head.

"It’s a temporary arrangement, but we’ll have to transition them long term. I’d advise to make a wall around the foundry and establishing many of the comforts and production capabilities we have here. It will take... a while and will require constant security to assist with the transportation of what we need. But it would be the wisest course of action."

Dean had thought the same. Building a secondary settlement around the foundry was the easiest solution. But... providing power to it would be difficult. They would need the ability to manufacture and design a new geothermal power plant for consistent energy.

Otherwise, they would be relying entirely on bio-diesel, and generators to keep the power online. And that would itself require long term planning for the sheer logistical reality of regular transport convoys.

It was perhaps the most difficult position Dean had ever been in, even after the long winter. On paper he had just gained everything he needed to being expanded his power base. In reality, he was suffering from lack of transportation and a severe manpower shortage.

And that... was an engineer’s worst nightmare. He could only sigh and shake his head. Brooke noticed that Dean suddenly felt like he had somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

But she leaned in tight and hugged him. Her cheeks reddened as she felt his warmth through the multiple layers of clothes she currently wore.

She cringed just thinking about it, but in the end she looked up and kissed him before whispering words of encouragement in his ear.

"Well, it’s a good thing I’ll be staying behind to help keep you company, now won’t it."

Brooke, then realized exactly what she had said, what it meant, and found herself hiding her head in Dean’s chest.

Their... relationship, if one could call it that. Had started as a matter of pride, and transaction. She had lived with the man for over a month, shared the same bed as him, despite never sleeping with him.

And had feuded with the other women in his life over his attention, even if she said she had done it solely for the prestige of her "status."

And now... she had realized after everything, more importantly, after actually delivering on the impossible promise he had given her. Maybe... just maybe... she was actually in love with him.