Augustus

Also known as "Emperor Augustus the First" and "Augustus the Great", Augustus lays claim to one of the largest (if not the largest) territories on Prison Planet.

## Backstory

*Childhood*

Augustus was born and grew up in the largest Living Complex on Prison Planet, Compound H-56. His mother, an unnamed woman who was smuggled to Prison Planet, placed him under the protection of The Daycare a few months after his birth. Augustus has a vague recollection of his mother as a wiry woman with long, reddish brown hair. He cannot recall any actual memories of his mother apart from the one of her dropping him off at the The Daycare. He received the name ACE from an automated naming system. As an infant, ACE was deprived of real touch and affection. Instead, he could interact with an artificial intelligence system that mimicked the sound of a mother and identified when his needs had to be taken care of. Oftentimes these needs would still be ignored due to prison staff being occupied by other matters in the prison, and thus he faced malnutrition and cried constantly. As ACE got older, he was bullied for being the scrawniest kid in The Daycare. He would claim that he knew his father was the most powerful man in the prison, but the other children did not believe him.

On his 11th birthday, ACE was allowed to graduate from the daycare and enter the general population. ACE was initially excited by this, but that excitement gave way to fear when he realized how dangerous general population was. To be alone at his age was essentially a death sentence, as he was the perfect vulnerable mark for gangs like Zeus's gang, which was known to target non-white individuals within general population who were not under the protection of gangs. A few weeks after entering general population, ACE was marked by Zeus's gang. The defenseless ACE overheard from the other inmates that he was going to be stabbed in the cafeteria the next day, at the middle of the lunch hour. He went to bed with the knowledge that he could not prevent his death the next day, the scene playing itself over and over in his mind. This was interrupted when he heard a scraping at his cell door. A boy, around his age, then entered his cell. He told him that if ACE wanted to survive the next day, he would have to join a gang. This gang was known for smuggling drugs throughout the prison. He was told that to accept the offer, ACE had to wear a black ribbon around his wrist in the cafeteria. The boy then left ACE to consider the offer.

The next day, ACE went about his business as normal. He was overcome by anxiety at the thought of joining a gang, but realized that he had no other option. Before he knew it the siren rang for lunch, and his heart began to pound. He felt disconnected from his body. As he walked into the cafeteria, he looked around for members of Zeus's gang, seeing every little movement around him as someone potentially trying to kill him. He also searched for members of the gang he was supposed to join, but he had no idea who they were. He felt the eyes of the inmates staring into him, though when he looked in their direction, they would immediately look away. He sat down in the usual, isolated spot where he ate. In his pocket, he felt the comforting black ribbon. He decided it was his only chance at survival. Three minutes before the clock hit 12, ACE slipped the ribbon onto his wrist. A few moments later, he noticed some suspicious looking inmates were beginning to make their way towards him. ACE closed his eyes and waited for death to come. The clock hit 12, and ACE felt a tap on his left shoulder. He opened his eyes, and looked at the man sitting to his left. He was grinning from ear to ear. ACE dashed from his seat and the man lunged at him. Suddenly, ACE felt himself being pushed backwards and surrounded. The last thing he saw was the man being wrestled to the ground by a group of inmates.

The lunch hour was ended early due to the event and the prison was put on lockdown. At the end of the lockdown, a man came to ACE's cell. He told ACE to come with him and not ask questions. He was brought to a dimly lit room where he met a brown-skinned man with black teeth and very thick hair, though he had the same haircut that every prisoner was forced to get when arriving at the compound. This man introduced himself to ACE as the leader of The Black Bands, the gang that ensured that ACE would survive the attack in the cafeteria. He told ACE that he was now a Runner, an initiate gang member who would be tasked with running contraband throughout the prison. The man gestured to a very short but stocky figure standing next to him, and informed ACE that he must do everything and anything this man told him to do. He would be ACE's "Father", and ACE should refer to him as sir. Almost immediately, the figure grinned. He ordered ACE to do one hundred push ups on the spot. ACE complied, and by about the twentieth push-up he began to falter. The short man then took out a baton and pressed it to ACE's neck. Fueled by fear, he did 30 more before collapsing. The short man then told him that for every push up that ACE could not do, he would get two hits with the baton, and proceeded to hit ACE one hundred times on the back with the baton. After he finished, he told ACE that he would be called Skinny because he could not do the push ups. Throughout this ordeal, the gang leader did not interfere, and instead watched as ACE was brutally beaten. The gang leader told ACE to get up, and ACE shakily rose from the ground, struggling to stand due to the blows inflicted to his legs. He then told him that he would be allowed one day to rest and recover from his injuries, and then at this time on the following day, he would report to his Father's cell. If he failed to do this, then ACE would lose the protection of the gang, and this would be worse than before as all prisoners in the compound would be discouraged from providing him with any form of protection, and the gang that marked him (which was ran by Zeus at the time) would see him as an extra valuable target due to their earlier failure to eliminate him. Finally, ACE was told that from now on, he should always wear the black armband in order to identify himself as a member of the gang. He was then escorted back to his cell.

Two days later, ACE still felt the pain from the injuries he received from the beatdown throbbing throughout his body. However, even though everything compelled him to stay in his bed and to continue to rest, what the gang leader had told him weighed heavy upon his mind. Since he had joined the Black Bands, there was no backing out now. After lunch, ACE went to the cell that he was told his Father resided in. Upon arriving, he was grabbed by the arm and pulled into the cell. The short man berated him for not coming to the cell more discretely, as this would key the guards in to their relationship. He thrust a small paper bag into ACE's hands, and told him that if he was asked by anyone what was in the bag, he would say it was a sandwich, and tell the guards the kind of sandwich it was. He was also told not to open the bag under any circumstances. He was then told to go to the yard and wait in a specific corner. At a certain point during the free time, a man with another bag would come over and exchange the bags with ACE. Then ACE would go back to the cell and leave the bag in front of it. ACE's Father would be waiting to snatch it through the bars. He told him that he would have to be quick about all of this, as if he got caught outside of his cell before the end of free time, the bag would most likely be confiscated.

ACE left his cell and began to make his way to the yard. For the most part, nobody really paid attention to him. He was a non-threat due to his size and the fact that he kept to himself. However, as ACE approached the yard, he realized that he would have to go through a security checkpoint. At the checkpoint, the guards asked him what it was that he had in the bag. As instructed, he told them that it was a sandwich and what kind of sandwich it was. The guards laughed at him and told ACE that they didn't give a shit what kind of sandwich he was eating for lunch, and shoved him through. He went to the spot he was supposed to wait at, and waited. He was overcome by anxiety as out of the corner of his eye, he thought that the guards were pointing and staring at him. This was interrupted when a man walked over to ACE. Before ACE had even processed it, he had exchanged the bag he was holding for one that the man handed to him. The man had vanished into a crowd of prisoners on the yard. Moments later, the alarm sounded the end of free time. Instead of heading back to his cell, ACE entered the cell block with the cell he was supposed to deliver the package to.

This time it was different. The bag felt a lot lighter to ACE. He was given the same instructions as he had received before.

ACE continued to run drugs throughout the prison.

John Rogen informed Augustus of the identity of his real parents. He told Augustus that his father used to be a notorious criminal who effectively ran H-56, named Bono. Bono was a terrifying man who was a contract killer on Earth, his father had a reputation for mercilessly beating anyone who did not do as he asked. As for his mother, she was a woman who had been smuggled onto Prison Planet during the first shipment by a trafficker who hoped to have companionship on the planet. She was raped by Bono in order to teach a lesson to a trafficker who had used her to steal food from his personal supply.

It is said that John Rogen's guidance in Augustus's early years on Prison Planet is why he currently accepts refugees from the Purist colonies run by Zeus. Perhaps he is repaying a debt to Rogen by accepting former Purists who are not tolerated under the new regime.