Selene was sitting in a random cafe' when they came for her. Sipping a cup.
Two enforcers walked up to her imposingly.
"Ms. Desrae?"
One of them asked.
"Yeah? What do you want?"
One of them grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the seat.
"You're under arrest for fraud."
"Oh no. Please don't. Why? What's your proof?" she deadpanned. She was never a very good actor. Or liar in general.
"You can argue your case in court. For now you're going to jail."
"This is police brutality. Tyrants. I'm going to sue you."
They led her to the hovercraft floating outside before tossing her in the back. It was shaped like a wheeled vehicle but in place of wheels was a series of vents that emit a cyan blue light.
Step one complete.
The ride to the prison was short. They processed her, took her photo, scanned her thumbprints, took blood—all of which should lead back to the fake ID the resistance had setup for her instead of Selene Carrington who died in a chemical explosion on Alexandria.
The building had moss green linoleum floors and slate grey metal walls. Soulless white fluorescent lights shined down from behind grated bars.
They dressed her in a vibrant orange outfit and white laceless slip-on shoes.
When she arrived it was currently lunch time so they took her to the women's side of the prison and left her in the cafeteria. The entire room seemed to glare at her as they undid her cuffs. It was a hexagonal shape with rows and rows of long benches and tables.
Full of other inmates eating and talking.
She heard cat-calls and whistles as she took her place in line at the cafeteria.
If she didn't have nanofiber muscles, telepathic and Zykra abilities she'd be terrified. But she did. And the unbothered expression on her face intrigued a few inmates.
She got a plate of prison gruel and sat down at free spot at a table.
She felt the bench indent downwards as someone took a seat next to her. She didn't look to see who it was and simply continued to glare at the slop on her plate. It was grey. And did she see... Movement?
"Hey'a there sweet thing." a voice pretty deep for a womans told her. "Aren't you just the cutest thing? Like a little humming bird."
Selene glanced at her then. She had arms like pythons and double D breasts. Thick neck muscles and tribal tattoos all over. Knicks and scars. Her hair was buzz-cut but a tiny row down the middle of curly hair. All dyed dark red as well as her eyes.
"Humming bird? That's the first time I've heard that one. Come up with that yourself?"
"No. One of my other girls came up with that. I keep my girls safe, this place is dangerous for little things like you." she leaned in close to Selene. Most of the women at the table were ignoring them, but a few were watching with rapt interest.
Selene could feel the large woman breathing in her ear.
"Don't you want to be my girl?"
Selene visibly cringed.
"Sure. Why not?" she smiled the fakest smile she ever smiled.
This surprised the butch woman. But she smiled too then. "Huh, usually they take some convincing."
"But one thing you have to do for me first." Selene put a hand over the womans curled fist on the table.
"And what's that dollface?"
"Find the biggest woman in this place and hit her."
She got up and walked off.
Selene turned away and started poking her plate with a plastic spoon.
"Everyone else find someone in your weight class and do the same."
She said as she took a scoop full of the gruel and let it drip back down onto the plate. Half the table she sat at got up and went searching.
"What the fuck bitch!?"
Selene heard someone shout out. That was her que. She got up and dumped her plate in the garbage can at the end of the table.
The sounds of punches hitting and furious voices shouting out began to fill the room.
"Hey! Knock it off!" an enforcer said, flipping out their stun baton.
Selene hurried towards them and pretended not to be talking to them as she passed; "Go to stop them but when you do take a fall."
She went around the room giving suggestions like this until the chaos was perpetuating itself. Rioters were quickly equipped with stun batons and shanks with their own motives to cause trouble.
One even went for Selene sensing a weak target.
Selene ducked their punch and pushed them into the crowd. They bumped into someone who turned around and picked them up by the collar and slammed them down onto a table before wailing on them punch after punch.
"Yeeesh... Go easy."
The punches slowed down slightly.
"Follow me to the gate." she said, directing the order to a few of the more muscular women. They followed.
When they arrived at the gate at the far end of the room she ordered them to try to bring it down. They couldn't of course—they were only human. But she only needed them to give her cover. She hid in the center of the crowd as they pressed against the gates and transformed her arms.
She punched the locking panel and the gate swung open.
"Try not to kill each other." she gave one final order before the swarm of prisoners realized the exit was opened.
Ronald Carrington did something similar in the men's section of the prison.
Using his powers of persuasion to instigate a riot. Though he was much more careful about it, having years of experience. As he patrolled the rim of the cafeteria he told them things like;
"Wait until someone says something you mildly dislike then punch them."
"After five minutes slam your tray into your friends face."
"Give your shiv to your worst enemy."
Within a half hour the prison was seeing the worst riot in it's history.
Enforcers had stopped trying to stop it and instead began to hold up in the security rooms. Sealing off the exits and flooding the place with tear-gas.
But somehow, door after door continued to be opened, or smashed. Beyond human means.
A guard screamed in terror as they were dragged into a prison cell by the ankles. A group of enforcers were giving it their all despite being surrounded on all sides. The warden was on the loudspeakers ordering everyone to return to their cells or face dire consequences.
Some prisoners had a stash of molotov cocktails that they were giving out.
Selene breathed a sigh of relief as she tore open the final gate to the prison yard. That should be sufficient for now. Then she turned and walked to where the sewer maintenance room should be. Somewhere on the basement level. The last place prisoners should want to be if they want to escape. But that was all apart of the plan.
Inside the sewer maintenance room was a dozen meters in diameter with catwalks that went around the room to give access to a variety of valves, pressure gauges, and giant fluid filled cylinders.
The chaos above was reduced to a muffled thunder of storming feet and shouting voices.
Here was only the quiet speaking voices of two dozen resistance members of either gender.
"Hey all!" Selene said as she entered. "Over here!" she waved them to follow as she went to a far end corner behind one of the big sewage filtration tanks. This should be it.
"Who are you? Are you the contact?" a latino man with a full faced beard and bald head asked.
"That's me. And our dig team should be here momentarily."
She reached out with her mind.
"Now."
The floor began to crack and fall in. Scythed claws began to poke through and pull downwards.
"What the fuck is that!?" one of the female resistance members shouted.
"Them?" she gave a complacent wave of her hand; "Don't worry. That's the dig team. They won't hurt you, I trained them myself."
The latino prisoner who spoke before took a hesitant step towards the hole opening up in the floor; "You sure? You don't seem like a day over 16. How could you train these fucking things?"
A vein bulged out on Selene's forehead.
"I'm 20. And what can I say? I have a talent for it. Now get in the hole."
Selene jumped in.
After a short drop she entered a 3 meter wide tunnel that gradually curved deeper underground. The soil compacted around giving the tunnel structural integrity.
Her scantids had already took off back down the hole as per her orders she'd given many hours in advance.
Above, the prisoners gave one another a hesitant look.
"Fuck it." one of them said and jumped in. Then one after another they started filing in.
After a half hour of running Selene and the prisoners saw sunlight. It opened up just outside the treeline nearest the prison.
"Fucking aye those things are good at digging! Thanks Xaya!"(Zie-ah) a pale skinned asian man told a woman with black hair and eyes. She was about 6"2 toned but not very bulky.
"The resistance provides. Does that mean I can count on you?" she said, helping another prisoner climb out of the hole.
"Damn right! If the resistance can do this, maybe we really have a shot!"
This 'Xaya' character looked towards Selene with an appraising look.
"So you're Prestons niece?"
Selene nodded. "Yep. I'm Selene."
They shook hands.
"Xaya, one of the commanders. Welcome to the team... Just what are these things?" she said, gesturing to the 8 scantids lined up nearby.
"Uh.. Trade secret."
"I can respect that."
The latino man from before approached them; "Commander—we better head out. Who knows when they'll find the tunnel."
The commander pulled up the sleeves on her orange pants.
"Probably a good idea... Everyone here? 'Kay? Good. The DZ should be around sixty miles south-west, just one more push and we're home free! So fall in! And don't fall behind!" she waved and began jogging into the jungle.
A crowd of orange jumpsuits disappeared into the under growth.
Selene remained behind for a second and knelt down near the smallest scantid.
"You guys did so good! Who's a good tunneler? You are!" she patted it on the head. A high-pitched rumbling sound similar to a slow purring emitted from it as it nuzzled it's rough head into her hand.
"Okay, let's catch our ride!"
She partially transformed and ordered. Her powers weren't as effective on Zykra in her human form, but while in her Zykra form her orders could last for almost a day.
Which was how she got them to dig a hole under the prison and wait beforehand.
By the time the prison discovered they'd escaped Selene was already back on her ship. With her family.
Floating alongside a massive resistance battle-frigate.