Reunion

Aayla cautiously peaked out of the manhole. Her head emerged onto a wide-open street near the prison complex. The ground shook from the fighting a couple of streets down. If they barely turned their heads, Aayla could be easily seen. The fighters were distracted, but she would need to work fast anyways.

She pushed herself out of the manhole and motioned for the others to climb up behind her. Professor Brenys came first. Then came Chris, Daren and Jacki. The team quickly moved out of the way by hiding inside an alley.

Professor Brenys led them to a tall grey wall with sharp spikes covering it. There was no way to climb up without being skewered.

"This is it. Daren, can you get us inside?"

"One moment please." Daren carefully examined the wall for several minutes before slowly nodding his head. "Yeah, I think so, but it's going to take a while. The magic formations on the wall are completely intact. I'll have to reroute some to get us through."

"How long will that take?"

"Half an hour at least. Maybe a full hour?"

"Then get to work. The rest of us will cover you. Miss Glowery, keep blocking our mana signatures."

Daren focused on the wall while the others kept watch. The shaking got worse as the fighting increased in the distance. Nervous civilians finally decided to flee their homes. The threat of the True Order wasn't enough to override their fear of getting caught in the crossfire.

Everyone ran away from the prison. They didn't notice that some people stayed nearby at all. Still, Aayla remained highly nervous. Her nerves only got worse as Daren continued to rework the wall's defenses. The defenses fell much more gradually than Daren estimated as one hour became two.

With a final muffle thud, the defense mechanisms on a small section of the wall deactivated. The spikes sucked themselves inward, leaving a blank grey canvas. That spot began to ripple just like what happened with the middle wall.

"Done! We can enter now."

The team sighed in relief. Chris entered the prison first. A few minutes later he stuck his hand back out and motioned for the others to come in. The wall stopped rippling after the final person entered. They found themselves in a large open area surrounding the main building.

Chris had already cracked open a formerly locked door. Several guards lay unmoving on the ground. The team easily entered the main building. The inside of the prison was dark and dreary. There were no windows and everything was a grey stone or metal.

Moving quickly, the team travelled deeper into the main complex. The entire place was like a maze. Each door required a special key. Unexpectedly, the New Moon Bracelet could open the doors by absorbing all of the mana inside the locks. The locks would disengage for a few seconds before the flow of mana returned.

This unexpected boon made their infiltration much quicker. Finally, they arrived at the central security office. The entire section of the prison was swarming with guards. Between the prisoners rioting inside and attackers outside, the security team had their hands full.

Still, the guards were too numerous. The team would be spotted the instant they decided to make a move. Chris tried to gather more information, but he couldn't make it very far before he had to turn around.

"There are too many guards on this floor. We'll never make it into the main control center if we try a frontal attack."

"Could we go up or down a floor where there's less security? We could tunnel into the main control center after that with Daren's spells."

"We have no other choice. There are no better options right now. Let's move."

The team hurried up the stairs once more. There was no time to waste. Fortunately, the floor above had far fewer guards. The True Order didn't have many to spare between the riot and outside fight. They certainly didn't expect that anyone could silently break in without them knowing.

When they finally arrived in the room above the security center, Daren easily cast a spell on the floor below them. Professor Brenys began the attack with Chris and Jacki. Aayla could hear the groans and violent bangs coming from the floor below them.

After the fighting stopped, she and Daren followed the rest of the team down. Bodies littered the ground. Chris and Jacki frantically bushed buttons on the security panels while Professor Brenys held the door closed. Muffled thumps of the guards trying to break in resounded from outside.

"How do we disable the security system?"

"I have no idea. Just keep pressing random buttons until something happens."

Daren and Aayla joined Chris and Jacki. The lights flickered and alarms blared as the prison complained about the idiots messing with its systems. Systems were overloaded in one second then starved of power the next. Prison cells started to lock and unlock at random.

Eventually, someone hit the right button and the front doors of the prison opened wide. The True Order agents frantically tried to close it, but failed. The former prisoners abandoned their fights to flood the defenseless prison.

The defense systems still weren't entirely disabled. The attackers fought every step of the way to infiltrate the prison. The battle spread inside the prison as more defenses went down. The rioters inside became bolder as they realized that someone was helping them.

The guards began to panic. They frantically attacked the main security center. Even the guards stopping the riots were pulled back. The situation only deteriorated from there. The narrow hallways stopped the guards from attacking the doors all at once.

Meanwhile, the prisoners finally broke into the main complex. With fewer guards to stop them, the already somewhat lopsided battle swung completely into their favor. They managed to find and attack the power station. The prison was plunged into darkness.

The doors of the security room stayed tightly shut. However, without power the locks began to give way. The security panels were also useless. The team focused on holding the door for as long as they could. The True Order couldn't be allowed to take this place back.

Suddenly, the banging on the door stopped. The shouts outside grew fiercer before they were abruptly cut off. The doors wilted as someone pushed them inwards. Professor Brenys sighed in relief when he saw who entered.

"Ramona!" Aayla shrieked with joy and jumped towards her godmother.

"Aayla?! What are you doing here?"

Stupefied, Ramona gently held Aayla in her arms and patted her back. A team of professors and other former prisoners took control over the room.

"Deputy Heston, it looks like someone's hit the power station. The entire prison is down."

"Can you open all of the cell doors and access to the lower levels?"

"I think so. Still, without power the doors will have to be physically forced open."

"Very well. Just do what you can."

Ramona turned her attention back to Aayla and the team. She pinched Aayla's cheeks as she glared at her goddaughter.

"What were you thinking, coming to this sort of dangerous place?!"

"I was worried about you! You're the idiot who got herself captured – OW! SHTOP THAHT HUWTS!"

Aayla's cheeks were pinched harder. Daren quickly stepped in to stop the punishment.

"Deputy Heston, please stop. You and Aayla can talk later. The military has infiltrated the middle ring, but the inner city is still securely in the True Order's hands."

Ramona narrowed her eyes. That little boy was addressing Aayla quite casually. Since when did they get so close? She put that thought into the back of her mind for now. Ramona had bigger problems to worry about, like the final battle raging in the middle ring.

"Tch. Fine. You all can stay by my side. We need to release the prisoners as fast as possible. Well, most of them. There are even a few people imprisoned that the True Order didn't dare to try to bring over to their side. Let's contain the rest of the agents before we bring the power back online."

**********

The battle for the middle ring continued to rage. The inner city wasn't as secure as the True Order thought. Stallesso and his elite team tried to force their way in. The most powerful True Order combatants faced them. Both sides kept each other in check, leading to a stalemate.

With the military gaining ground in the middle ring, the battle was tilted in the military's favor. The True Order didn't seem to care. Agents tried to stretch out the battle as long as possible. They didn't even bother to hide that fact.

The attackers became more and more worried as time wore on. The Prophets hadn't made an appearance yet to lead their troops to victory. They didn't know the Prophet of Terra, but this was highly out of character for the Prophet of Truth. He loved his monologues and acting pretentious.

Indeed, he was planning something awful. Something that would be completed very soon.