As the Lieutenant turned on Captain Dawson and his group, the other three squads of crew members had their own problems. With the help of the psychic network and the security cameras all over the halls, the Disciples of Agony coordinated all the attacks to be unleashed at once so that the squads wouldn’t be alerted by their comrades through the comm.

When Dawson was being struck down, the squad heading for the Command Center was caught in an intersection when prisoners stormed them from all three sides. The fighting was brief and brutal. The prisoners were under strict orders not to kill, but they still hit hard and fast, their speed and strength bolstered by all the agony they have experienced in the past weeks. The crew were completely outflanked and surprised and went down without anything resembling a fight. Before anyone knew what was happening and could fire a single shot, they were stunned and knocked over already.

Another squad, one going for the Communication Center, was greeted by a squad of guards who the crew thought of as allies, since why wouldn’t they. The guards naturally blended in among the crew before suddenly attacking without warning. Before long, all the guards were on the ground, groaning in pain. They had no idea the hits from shock batons and fists were nothing compared to what they were going to endure soon.

Things got a little rough with the final squad, which included 35 crew members that were told to guard a position. They reacted quicker than Warden Locke expected against the squad of prisoners that tried to swarm them. The men in jumpsuits were only able to knock out a few of them before the rest opened fire, mowing down two dozen prisoners in just seconds and painting the walls red with blood.

Even the Disciples of Agony couldn’t survive when a dozen holes were opened in their bodies all at once. They were fast, but not fast enough to dodge bullets.

The casualties started appearing, but that was why Warden Locke used prisoners as the bulk of the forces instead of the guards, who the crew would naturally place more trust in. A dead guard would be difficult to explain. A dead prisoner wouldn’t. Aside from those with critical information withheld, the higher-ups couldn’t care less about most of the prisoners in Darkbane Prison. Warden Locke could burn them all and no one would really care.

Of course, now that the crews were alerted, Warden Locke saw no point in sending prisoners into their firing lines to die. Instead, he issued another order, and before long, the squad of armed crew members, who were horrified by the countless screams coming from their internal radio, found themselves facing lines of prisoners with bulletproof tactical shields and approaching them at a terrifying efficiency. Their shields locked together, forming a decent shield wall.

The crew tried to resist nonetheless, but they lacked large-caliber weapons as well as leadership and experience. Despite their initial success, these men were confused and headless, unsure of what was going on or what to do next. Their resistance came to an end when a wave of stun grenades flew over the shields and landed among them. The crew didn't have any time to wonder how the prisoners were able to acquire so much guard equipment before blinding light and ear-piercing shrieks exploded among them.

None of the crew died, but almost all of them were briefly blind, deaf, and disoriented. The prisoners used this chance to drop their shields and storm the line of the defenseless crew members. Soon, that final squad was gone.

At the end of the day, 30 prisoners were dead in the brief skirmish, all of them more than expendable. Disciples were faster and stronger than most, but charging firing lines of gauss weapons with shock batons was never a good idea. Around twice that number was injured, not that it mattered for Disciples who could draw strength from pain and heal their wounds.

Once all resistance was gone, the prisoners and guards started to work on converting the crew. This was why they never deployed lethal weapons against the crew members and instead tried to do things with melee and take more casualties. They needed as many crews captured alive and converted to not raise any suspicion.

The converting process was brutal, as time was quite a factor here. The interrogators offered the crew a simple choice. Say the oath and swear your allegiance. No? Fine, let’s see if removing another piece of your skin will change your mind!

Some of the interrogators were professionals, drawn from the guards employed specifically to torture prisoners. Others, like the Lieutenant, were more amateur. Yet they were able to make up for their lack of experience with their zeal. Due to the fact that the interrogated could heal their wounds once they become Disciples, the interrogators were more than fine with adopting methods that would leave permanent damage. In other words, almost all gloves were off.

At the same time, even before Captain Dawson and most of the security forces of the transport ship were lost in Darkbane Prison, Warden Locke had turned his sight to the transport ship itself. The vessel had to be seized, or it might get a chance to flee back to the mainland and call for help. At that point, all would be lost.

Once again, Warden Locke abused his ranks.

First Officer James Carlson stood on the deck of the transport ship with his hands folded behind his back. His eyes were trained on the form of Darkbane Prison, and he couldn’t help but sigh. They should be checking the identities of returning personnel already! Instead, they had to stay here and deal with a riot! A riot!

The officer couldn’t help but snicker at the incompetence of the Warden of this place. How did a riot even happen? Incompetence! This was sheer incompetence! Carlson couldn’t help but shake his head in disappointment. If he was Count Lamb, he would have the Warden burned for this failure!

Suddenly, one of the crew made his way up to him.

“Sir!”

“What is it, soldier?” Carlson asked without turning.

“Sir, a Company of the Darkbane Prison Security Forces is demanding to come aboard.” The crew replied, a tone of concern in his voice. “They say they’re under the orders of Warden Locke, and that they want to make sure prisoners don’t either seize our ship or somehow hide in our ship and smuggle themselves off the island.”

Captain Carlson snickered at the crew member’s words. He turned around and glanced at the young man.

“Well, let them on the ship then.”

“But, sir…” The crew paused before raising a question. “If I may, sir...doesn’t this sound a little off to you? I mean...the Warden got this ship’s security forces into the prison to help put down the riot, and now he is deploying the prison’s own security forces to protect our ship? Why?”

Carlson wasn’t quite offended by the young man’s question. If anything, he was satisfied, as this gave him a chance to show how smart he was.

“It’s simple, soldier.” Carlson replied with a mocking tone. “The Warden of this place is an idiot. I don’t know him, but he must have never spent a day on the battlefield. When he heard about the riot, he panicked and decided to send every man he had into the prison, and that’s why he forced Captain Dawson and our crew to help handle the riot. Only now did he remember that this is a bloody island, and maybe, just maybe, it’s important to guard the only way off! So what if the prisoners got out of their cells? Where can they even go without transport? Honestly, if I was the Warden and I’m trying to contain this riot, I would order this ship to return to Persh at once just to be safe. In summary, our commander is an incompetent fool, and that is why we’re in this whole mess!”

He glanced at the crew before shrugging. “Let the Company aboard and do the search they want.”

“Yes sir.”

As the crew left to deliver the orders, Carlson turned back to the water and returned to his thoughts. The funny thing about him was that he didn't even know Warden Locke’s name or cared enough to memorize it. He didn't know the experience the Warden had on the battlefield against the Republic of Dorn. All he knew was that the Warden was an idiot, yet that idiot happened to be in a higher position than he, who was obviously the smarter one here!

Arrogance was a dangerous thing.

The First Officer let out another sigh as he walked to a counter and picked up his MI. Unfortunately, his MI couldn’t access the planetary network from within the proximity of Darkbane Prison. Just as he was about to tap open one of the electronic books he had been reading, he suddenly felt a buzz on his earpiece, indicating incoming messages.

He tapped the earpiece and received the call. The message was from the crew that followed Captain Dawson, who switched to another channel to avoid complications. The message was...unexpected.

“First Officer Carlson! Please come in!”

“This is Carlson. Talk.”

“Thank god...sir! Something is wrong! We were just stormed by at least two dozen prisoners! We put them down, but...the situation here is off, sir. And we just heard a lot of screams from our comms. Everyone is under attack! We think Captain Dawson is down, sir! What are our orders?”

For a few seconds, the First Officer froze there in silence. He was always a cocky man, and he took pleasure in judging the actions of commanders around him and saying how he would be able to do things a lot better if he was in their place. Yet as the stakes were made high and he was truly in charge, he suddenly found himself paralyzed and unsure of what to do.

“Sir?” The crew member asked again, but before Carlson could answer, the crew member suddenly said something else. Something even more terrifying. “Sir! We think the guards also turned on us...judging by the comms! Wait...what is that? Sir! The prisoners are approaching with combat shields! We have no heavy weapons! We need aid now!”

The man was still talking, but the First Officer wasn’t listening to him anymore. His mind was blank, completely overwhelmed by the shock of what he just heard. The guards? The guards turned on the crew inside the facility? How? Why? Wait...the guards!

That was when he remembered the exchange between him and the crew member. A Company of the guards, the traitor guards, asked to board their ship, and he said yes!

The First Officer tapped his earpiece again and switched back to the channel used by the crew members that remained on the ship, and what he heard confirmed his worst fears. There were screams. A lot of them.

The guards were taking over the ship, likely slaughtering the crew in the process!

At that second, the First Officer’s thoughts flew. He had to get the news of this betrayal back to the mainland! Bringing the transport itself back to the mainland was clearly impossible, not with a full Company of the traitors on the vessel. Swimming was clearly impossible as well. By the looks of it, the island and the prison itself were completely compromised, which meant he could find no aid there.

Perhaps...the flares! The First Officer’s eyes suddenly widened as one bright idea came across his thoughts. If he could grab a flare and fire it into the sky, then maybe the outside world would notice it? It wasn’t much, but it was worth a shot. The man lifted his foot and dashed for a watertight container on the side that contained flares.

Unfortunately, before he could even reach the container, he found himself approached by two men in black body armor with fully concealing helmets. Two guards. The First Officer opened his mouth, trying to buy himself a few seconds as his hand went for his sidearm. A mistake. The guards had no intention of waiting to listen to his words. One of them took a few quick strides and made his way up to the First Officer before he could even pull his sidearm out of its holster.

After that, all it took was a punch to knock the arrogant man out. How...fitting.