Prisons

Smit had lost track of how long he had been in this tiny cell. They didn't bother to feed him, so he counted time by when the door opened and he was dragged out to be interrogated. He didn't like remembering that. He slept quite a bit, since there wasn't much else to do but wait.

It was his own damn fault. He knew that. Everyone knew the Grineer were dangerous. The clones defined dangerous. Their entire society was based on the strong taking from the weak and they considered humans to be nothing but vermin. He hated them with every fiber of his being. He had watched his family gunned down by the monsters, so when he had been offered the chance to fight back, he had jumped at it. In hindsight, it hadn't been wise at all. He hadn't wondered why the Arbiters of Hexis had been looking for soldiers. He hadn't asked why he had been given a Grineer weapon. He hadn't inquired about the plan or what would happen after. He had been too angry. And in perfect hindsight, too stupid.

He had killed five clones that he was sure of. He was proud of his marksmanship with the unwieldy Vulkar rifle he had been given. He had been aiming at a sixth when he had realized that all of the Arbiter troops had vanished. He had never been told what they were going to do and frankly? He hadn't cared. He had looked around and that was when he realized there were others. Other humans who were shooting at the Grineer from various places. At least five others had been using Grineer weapons with abandon. None of them had looked like they knew what they were doing. Smit at least had found a good high spot with a decent view to use his weapon from and he had braced it on some rocks to fire it. Most of the others had been lower down and when the Grineer landing craft had swept in, none had anywhere to run.

He hadn't known what to expect. He had been told he would kill Grineer and he had been happy with that. He hadn't known where they were going or why. Coming out of a portal onto a huge open plain had been a shock. Smit had grown up in an underground colony. He knew what the sun was, of course, but he had never seen it.

Now, he would never likely see it again.

He knew he had done fairly well. He had run away, but he hadn't been stupid about it. He had known that the Grineer would chase him and they could move far faster than him with their flying machines. So, he had run smart. He had hidden from the clones until night had fallen and they had inexplicably fled. Or so he had thought. He had been easing out of his latest hiding place when a shot had rung out and he had fallen. He had looked up to see a Grineer standing over him and reaching for him. He had woken in the cell. His leg hurt, but when he checked it, he didn't find any injury. Why would Grineer have healed him? That didn't make any sense. Grineer did not help humans. He checked the rest of himself that he could see and touch, but found nothing out of the ordinary. So… What?

He sighed as he lay back on the hard metal bunk again.

This didn't make any sense. He was supposed to be dead. All of the others were dead and the Arbiters had left them to die. He didn't know why and he didn't care. Now, he hated the Arbiters as much as he hated the Grineer. They had given him hope and then taken it away just as callously as any clone.

He closed his eyes and this time, he remembered his dream, But … his dream was strange. He was lying on something hard. He couldn't move, see or speak. He could hear however.

"This one is the only survivor, Doctor." A female voice sounded from nearby. "Fairly smart for a base, but as weak as the rest. We managed to field interrogate three of them and none of the others knew what the syndicate scum wanted. They were an obvious diversion."

"Too obvious." A snarl sounded from nearby, followed by whirrs. Pain flared in Smit's arm and he heard a scream. Was that his voice? "As pathetic as the others but potentially useful. The genetics are close to what we need."

"Close enough?" The other asked diffidently.

"I don't know." The male voice sounded unsure for a moment. "Then again, if we fail here, all we lose is another base. A small loss. The Queens say it is possible, so we must do it. We are Grineer. We obey."

"We obey the Queens." The other replied. "Orders?"

"Set for Level Three." The doctor or whoever commanded. "I will implant the brainstem and we can begin."

Something cold slammed into the back of Smit's head and he heard anther scream that sounded so much like his voice but not. Now he was flying or floating or something. The pain was growing as he writhed in whatever held him. Then a new female voice sounded. It wasn't out loud. It seemed to be only in his head.

Oh shit…

She sounded scared! Something wrapped around him and Smit felt the pain that had enveloped him from his head ease a bit.

Smit, listen to me. The woman said quickly. Something really bad is about to happen. The Grineer have no idea what they are playing with. The Orokin learned not to do things like this.

Will it kill Grineer? Smit managed to say that and the other heaved a sigh.

If we are lucky, it won't kill everything in this solar system. The other replied and Smit's rage flared and he snapped at her.

Let them die! They are animals! Smit snarled. Nothing but animals.

Believe me, I understand. The woman said as the warmth around Smit faded a little. But what they are trying to access won't just kill the Grineer. I know you are angry and I know why. But are you willing to kill every living thing in this solar system to kill some Grineer?

Yes! Smit snarled. Let it all die. Just like my family! Agony surged through his head and he heard himself scream again.

I am sorry, son. The other said sadly. I cannot do that. Rationally, I should end your suffering now. It would solve so many problems. But I cannot. You are a broken, hurting soul. You didn't have any decent choices given to you and they are… Oh no. Aw shit. Morons.

He was stunned when the pain cut off and he felt relief. He heard raised voices.

"What is happening?" The cold female voice sounded worried as things started pinching Smit and he felt more pain rise. It couldn't touch him though.

"This is unprecedented." The doctor said sharply. "This base is starting to project energy in an odd way? What? No! Not that pattern! Kill it! Kill it now!"

Too late, you fools. You got his attention. The female voice was sad as Smit felt something flare inside him. A very loud angry roar sounded close at hand and something Smit could not define happened. We play the hand we are dealt. Good luck, Smit.

Then he was flying.

Smit landed on his hands and knees on a yielding surface. He rolled awkwardly and managed to keep from breaking anything as the surface under him gave way to a harder surface. He came to a stop on his back and just lay there for a moment, panting. He basked in the absence of pain for a moment and then looked up. What he saw had his breath clenching. He saw the sun. He was lying on the bank of a small waterway. He felt strange but good. Nothing hurt, which was an improvement. He touched his face and froze solid as he realized his bodysuit glove was gone. His arm was covered in some kind of cloth that felt nothing like anything Smit had ever heard of before. It only went halfway down his arm. It didn't seem technological at all. He had one garment on his torso, he realized and other on his legs. At least the one on his legs ran all the way down to his feet. A pair of boots unlike anything he had ever seen finished the outfit. They looked like something out of a history text with actual zippers and all. He felt strange, so very strange. An odd hunger was surging inside him, but he ignored it as he had ignored hunger so many times in his life.

He took a long look around and everything was odd. When he had been on the plains, even as overgrown as some of it had been, he had always been able to see signs of the Orokin civilization. Even the Old War, followed by the Collapse and the many years since then hadn't been able to erase the signs of the Orokin completely. Nothing likely could.

But this place…

The waterway he could see was bubbling as it arced here and there across the landscape. It looked deep in places, but it was clear and clean looking. There were trees that he did not recognize all around him as well. He went still as a pair of small brown things hurtled across his view. He didn't get a good look at either of them. The area around him was filled with small sounds. Was this a forest? He had read a bit when he was younger and had time. He was bemused by this. Where was he? This was nothing like the Plains, nothing like any-

He hit the ground as gunfire sounded. Two shots, followed by two more. They weren't close, but they weren't that far away either. He crawled into a small pile of brush, acutely aware of his own vulnerability. He had no weapon, no armor. Nothing in case a patrol of Grineer…

Smit felt his guts clench yet again as dark forms moved into his view. Six of them. But they were not Grineer! He couldn't tell who they were, but they moved like humans. None had any prosthesis or any other visible Grineer tech. Certainly no bulky armor. What was more, none of them carried any weapons he could identify and he had seen more than his share of Grineer weaponry. They fanned out, obviously preparing for something. Was this an ambush? If so, on who?

Smit was rapidly becoming drunk on all of the shocks, but what happened next nearly made him start to laugh manically or wet himself. Someone was whistling! The tune was not familiar, but whoever it was he was happy? What the hell was going on here? He heard crashing in the underbrush. Something was moving towards the spot where the dark forms waited in ambush. Something large. Smit was not armed and from their intent postures, these strangers likely would not appreciate him foiling their ambush.

Then the crashing stopped and a cheerful voice called out in a language that Smit did not know. None of the men moved or spoke and the new voice spoke again, this time harsher. It sounded male, but not quite angry. Almost sad?

Without a word, the hidden men opened fire on the direction the voice had come from. Smit jerked as a huge white globe appeared in the near distance, the bullets sparking off it as if it were made of steel. Some of the ricochets bounced through the ambush site and more than one man cursed as the other voice laughed. It was a dark and terrible sound now and Smit's eyes went huge as a form out of nightmare appeared out of the white globe. A warframe! A Tenno!

Smit knew what was coming next and crouched low, covering his head with his arms as the golden hoops on the helmet turned from side to side, seeking enemies. Then two smallish axes appeared in the warframe's hands and it was in motion. Screams and awful noises heralded the Tenno doing what Tenno did.

Smit had never seen one before in person, but he had seen videos and heard all kinds of stories. Some of those were too fanciful to put much stock in. Beings made of energy who could sear men's souls with a mere look? Ships larger than an entire asteroid destroyed by four of them wearing wings that let them fly in space? Huge robots with impervious shields brought low. Madmen, technological horrors, biotech monstrosities, armies of clones...The list went on and on, most of the tales utterly implausible. But one thing was utterly clear. Only fools fought Tenno on anything even remotely close to equal footing.

Sudden silence had Smit curling up even tighter. He didn't dare move. If he drew the Tenno's attention, he would die. He knew that.

"Battle is over, boy." A calm voice that held a hint of amusement spoke up from nearby and while the language was odd, he understood it somehow. Smit didn't move. He didn't dare breathe. "You are not one of these fools. You don't look North American." Smit didn't move even when an oddly shaped foot came into his view. "I won't hurt you, boy." Smit shook his head and the voice sighed. "Almira, I better check the area. See if you can talk to him."

"Yes, Master Frost." A younger sounding female voice spoke up and the boot or whatever in Smit's vision vanished. The voice turned worried. "Boy? Are you hurt? Did those crazy bounty hunters hurt you?"

Bounty hunters? What? Who would dare hunt Tenno? Smit felt a hand touch his head and then it was under his jaw. He looked up into dark browned eyes. The girl was about his own age. Or maybe? She looked oddly ageless. She had a long rifle sling across her back and it looked archaic.

"My name is Almira." The girl said with a nod as Smit stared at her. "We won't hurt you. We don't attack anyone who doesn't attack us first. But those morons have to keep trying. Their way of dealing with the world is doomed, but they cannot accept it. I guess I wouldn't either if the shoe were on the other foot. Did they hurt you?"

"No." Smit managed. "Just hid."

"Smart." Almira held out a hand and Smit took it. She looked small and slight, but she was a lot stronger than she looked. Smit stared at her as she steadied him on his feet and then her eyes widened. "Oh dear. You were lying in poison ivy."

"What?" Smit asked as he absently scratched his arm. He stilled as she grabbed his hand and shook her head.

"You don't know what poison ivy is?" She asked as her other hand darted to her belt and came up with something. Smit shook his head and her eyes narrowed.

"No." Smit said weakly as she sprayed his arm with something that soothed the itching that he had barely recognized. He was shocked as her hand twisted and the sudden, unexpected pain sent him to his knees.

"Don't lie to me!" Almira snapped as her hand twisted again. Smit bit back a scream as the pain flared again. He tried to flail at her with his other hand and she grabbed it effortlessly. "Who are you?"

"My name is Smit!" The boy snarled, trying to get free. He might was well have been fighting a Grineer. She was a lot stronger than she looked. "Let me go!"

"You were here with them!" Almira nodded to where several dark thing lay on the ground. None of them looked human anymore. Smit didn't look too close. He had seen enough death to know that none of those would be getting up. But then he saw another dark form ease out from near a tree. That human was unharmed and he was aiming something at Almira!

There was no way for Smit to break Almira's hold, so he threw himself backward as the dark man fired. Almira was surprised by Smit's move, but she was well trained. Smit screamed as both of his forearms protested severely when she twisted them almost hard enough to break them. Then she let go when the bark of the weapon behind her startled her. Smit could do nothing but sob as Almira dove to the side, her rifle coming off her back. The dark man snarled and corrected his aim, but a whirling thing came flying out of nowhere to hit the man who slumped back into the tree he had been hiding beside, suddenly and completely dead.

"Almira?" The warframe appeared out of nowhere walking to the newest corpse and wrenching the ax from it. The blade spun oddly for a moment, gore flying off it.

"This boy..." Almira stood, her rifle aimed at Smit as he cradled his wrists. "There is something very strange about him."

"You want to go back?" The Tenno in the warframe asked. Now that Smit had his faculties mostly working, he wondered about that. Tenno did not speak, did they?

"No!" Almira said quickly. "This is my first time out since apprenticeships started. I really wanted to do some fishing and Ember wanted some fresh meat for the kitchen. I will get the deer set up for transport, but Master Frost… This boy is more than he seems."

"Then I guess I better have a word with him." The warframe moved to stand in front of Smit as Almira darted off. Smit looked up at the Tenno as the non-human slowly shook his head. "My kin say you are not in any databases we have access to. Mind telling me how you got here?"

"I don't know." Smit fought hard to keep the pain from his voice. "I don't even know where 'here' is."

"So much for our vacation." The Tenno sounded calm, but one hand was playing with the handle of one of his axes. Then he snorted.

"Tell me, do you know how to fish?"