At least not until the Sentella had enough firepower and backup to make the League High Command think twice about attacking them.
The beauty about most League prisons, and this one in particular, was that they were outposts far removed from the bulk of the League’s army or any largely populated planet. The thought being that if the inmates became too frisky and took control of it, the League could detonate whatever rock the prison was on and take out every prisoner. Yes, they’d lose a few staffers, too, but the League wasn’t really worried about collateral damage of their own people since their prisons were staffed with their more problematic soldiers and older assassins who weren’t mentally sound enough to be trusted with regular assignments and normal sentient populations.
The drawback for them on this mission was that the staffers were much crazier and more bloodthirsty than the inmates.
The League also kept their prisons remotely located to discourage escaping. If, by some miracle, a prisoner did make it out, in theory their sentries would be able to catch up to them before the escapees could disappear into a populated zone.
Caillen tucked his hands into his pockets as he joined Darling by his ship. “You know, this is a much nicer prison than mine was.”
Darling shook his head at Caillen. “Yours wasn’t a League prison.”
“True. If I ever get locked up again, I’m going to put in a transfer request. Send my butt here.”
“Yeah, it’s official, Cai,” Syn said as he joined them. “You’re insane. Trust me, you’d much rather be in your baby jail than this place.”
Ryn nodded in agreement. “I definitely concur. I don’t ever want to be in a League prison again. Bad flashbacks attacking with a strobe like effect. I’m getting hives just from seeing the security grid.”
Darling tried not to think about the fact that he was the reason Ryn had those nightmares.
Life was all about coming to terms with the mistakes made. Learning to live with them even when they cut soul deep.
Syn tsked at Ryn. “Be grateful they let you out. Me, Nero, and Jayne had to find our own door. Believe me, I’d much rather be breaking in than breaking out.”
“Oh yeah,” Caillen laughed. “They find out you guys are here and they’re liable to keep you. On second thought… What the hell are you doing here, Syn? You get locked up and I have to face the sister-beast. You know, she don’t hit like no girl and since I’m her baby brother, she has no compunctions against beating my ass. And I know you know this, she strikes below the belt when she fights. I’d like to have a son someday and for once at least match if not outnumber the estrogen army in my home.”
Syn arched a brow at his tirade. “Are you finished? Or do I need to sedate you?”
“I’m temporarily finished. However, if you get taken, kill me. I don’t want to face Shahara.”
Darling would take Caillen to task, but he well understood those sentiments. Shahara could be a hellcat when something set her off. He definitely didn’t envy her brother those fights.
Nykyrian, Maris, and Hauk joined them and rounded out their number.
Even though Nero was still in agony with his migraine, he, Chayden, Drake, Fain, Jayne, and the others were on standby to come in and transport their people home as soon they brought down the prison’s network.
Like the rest of his group, Darling didn’t remove his helmet and he kept the voice distortion on as they quickly prepped for their assigned roles. Only a very small handful were privy to their identities. The rest of the Tavali and Sentella with them knew that Darling fought with them and made weapons for them, but none of them needed to know he was really Kere.
Not until he was dead.
Syn was the only one of them who’d never hidden his real identity. The son of one of the most notorious serial killers and outlaws in history, he didn’t care who knew his name or face. Not until he’d married Shahara and had a family to protect.
While Syn worked on hacking the prison’s relays and feed, they checked in with their waiting ships to make sure they were ready to land as soon as the shields were down.
“So Nero,” Hauk said into his link. “We’re going to get out of this, right?”
“Not psychic. I can tell you what is, but not the outcome. Why can’t you people get that through your heads?”
“Not people, human. I’m Andarion. Why can’t you human’s get that through your heads?”
Darling cleared his throat to get their attention. “Once Syn has their transmitters down, I’m going in, explosives blaring. I’ll have them diving for cover. Let me know when you have the prisoners safe and I’ll protect your exit.”
Nyk inclined his head to him. “You got it.”
Hauk grabbed extra blasters and tucked them into his holster, within easy reach. “I’m ready to cover you. Just don’t lob one of your toys at me by mistake.”