A prison without walls

Ric was awake. Sort of. He couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't do anything but listen, so he did that.

"Idiot." A soft female voice sounded close at hand. "What was he thinking? Was he thinking?"

"Don't start." A familiar female voice replied. Kori. "He was protecting his kin, trying to delay us. He did delay us."

"The MOA?"

"Destroyed." Kori replied evenly. "He was telling the truth. According to the few records I found that were unencrypted, they removed the organic parts and the chassis self destructed."

"Pity." The other female voice said sadly. "The MOA would have been very useful. As it is, now we have three female non-combatants and a male Tenno we cannot use instead."

"We can use him!" Kori protested. "We just need to be careful!"

"Kori..." The other voice said sadly. "Have you looked at his scans? His memory is so fragmented that I wonder how he can talk! Not to mention the anti-interrogation protocol that nearly killed him. That is Orokin tech. I have never seen one so sophisticated, but it is similar to others I have seen. If he has that, then he has others. We cannot use him. Not safely."

"But... Brianna..." Kori pleaded.

"We are not going to kill him, Kori." Where did Ric know the name Brianna from? It didn't -quite- click. "We are going to be in enough trouble with Karl's people as it is." The one called Brianna sighed. "Lets get him..." She paused. "He is awake!"

"That is not possible!" Kori snapped. "I hit him with a full freeze pulse and then Olim sedated him. He can't be awake!"

"He is... not all awake." Brianna said, her voice absent. "Ric?" She asked gently. "Can you hear me?"

"Gold Level six authorization required." Ric heard himself respond.

"Crap-" The world went dark again but only for a moment. Then it brightened again. Warmth surrounded Ric's head now, pulsing warmth. "There we go, protocols sequestered. That won't hold them forever, but it will let us talk to him without worrying about him dropping dead. Ric?" A gentle hand touched Ric's cheek.

"Ni-pang." Ric replied.

"What?" The voice of the one called Brianna asked, confused. "Ric, talk to us. We haven't hurt anyone. We don't want to hurt anyone."

"Ni-wooom." Ric replied savagely.

"What the hell is he saying?" Brianna asked. "Does that make any sense to anyone?"

"He is quoting a movie, doctor." Ric's guts went cold as he heard Sara's voice. It was...wrong. She sounded...wrong. Exhausted. Then it hardened. "You...evil... scum..."

"Oh, Sara..." Brianna said softly. "Little one, it's okay. Go back to sleep. It's all right. Sleep now."

"No..." Sara begged, but her voice trailed off.

"She is too young." Kori said with a sigh. "But I couldn't just leave her there. As soon as I broke my control, she started to fight."

"She doesn't want to fight." Brianna said softly. "That is clear from all of the readings. She is asleep again, dear child. We can use her. She won't be a perfect fit, but we can use her. A few gentle nudges and she will serve well. She will sleep until Jac needs tending. It will take some time to do the mental reworks, but with time and care Jac will be fine. Mishka is coming along well too. She is old enough for full indoctrination. Jac... will need a lot of help to adjust to her new life. I think those two girls will make excellent attendants. Now... for Ric." The hand was back, tracing his cheek again. "Come on, Ric, talk to me.

A gentle pressure started encroaching on Ric's mind, but he focused on other things. As he had during the mindscan, he started doing many things at once in his mind. But this was different. There was no pain, no pleasure. Instead, it was just a gentle pressure all around him.

"Resist if you must, Ric." Brianna said sadly. "We all did. But we will welcome you eventually. The Order will grow strong once more and take it's..rightful..." She trailed off, her voice turning shocked. "Oh my god!"

"Brianna..." Kori sounded shaken. "Is that...? It can't be..."

"It is." Brianna sounded awestruck now. "Ricard. It's Ricard!"

"That is not possible!" Kori replied sternly. "The Empire killed him!"

"I..." Brianna said slowly. "Gene scans don't lie, Kori. Ricard...? How?" She asked, the hand was back on his cheek, gentle, careful. "We need to know. This is going to hurt, Ricard. I am sorry."

"We are knights of the round table, we dance whene'er we are able." Ric managed to gasp out as the pressure increased suddenly. "We do routines... and chorus scene and..." He screamed as the power flooded into his mind with all the grace of a tsunami. Then he was swept away by it, still singing.

"Stop it!" Kori cried after an eternity. "It will kill him!"

The pain suddenly ebbed and died, leaving Ric to gasp in remembered agony.

"Get him out of there!" A stern male voice commanded.

"Elder..." Brianna protested. "We need to know."

"He is resisting." The voice of the one who had to be in charge was taut. "Can you get through when he resist so strongly?"

"I...thought so, Elder." Brianna said sadly. "I... I was in error."

"How long on the others?" The one in charge demanded.

"At least 24 hours for the girls. Any faster and we risk permanent mental damage." Brianna said sadly. "For Jac? Since we don't want to hurt her, or cause complications, double that. Minimum."

"And if we remove her child and put it in a clone tank?" Ric stiffened at the totally ambivalent tone. This person didn't care about Jac's child except as a hindrance.

"It would speed things up, but... That procedure is dangerous with a control hood attached to her skull, Elder." Brianna said diffidently. "The odds are not good. We could lose both mother and child."

"And if we cannot access the Vault, Karl's Tenno will find us and slay us all before we can flee. We need a female Tenno of the proper age and disposition." The Elder said with a snap. "Do it."

"Bunch of Black Knights!" Ric screamed. "You are all dead! Every last one of you!"

"You are one to talk, Ricard." The commander said with an odd laugh. It was...almost a sultry laugh. "If I didn't know better, I would say you built this place just to annoy me." Ric went still. Built? A Vault? "Go ahead, doctors. Get it done. Now." The presence left and both women breathed sigh of relief.

"No offense, Brianna." Kori said softly. "But can't he do something...?"

"His memory is so fragmented that he is barely coherent even in the scan." Brianna said sadly. "He must have gone into cryo, but... How long? Ricard vanished hundreds of years before the collapse. If he was in cryo that long..."

"Then he likely won't remember anything." Kori said sadly. "I see." Armored arms moved underneath Ric and lifted him easily. "Easy, Ricard. I have you."

"Bunch of lying scum!" Ric snapped, trying to move, to fight, but none of his muscles moved properly. "My name is Ric!"

"All right..." Kori said soothingly. "I will call you Ric if that is what you wish, First Sword."

"What?" Ric demanded. "Just..." He broke off as he was laid down on something soft. Something that felt...familiar. It wasn't a bed, it moved under him as if alive. "What the hell?"

"Easy." Kori said gently. "Let the pod help."

Suddenly, Ric could see. The architecture was familiar. A derelict Orokin spacecraft. He was lying on something that moved underneath him and as he watched, flimsy looking golden filaments arced over him, making an effective prison. His eyes went wide in horror as he saw Sara and Mishka suspended upright in oblong pods, odd fleshy things covering their skulls. Neither was awake, and both jerked in their sleep.

"What have you done?" He demanded, trying to rise. But he couldn't. His hand came up to his own head and found a fleshy thing on his as well. He tried to find purchase to pry it off, but it adhered tightly.

"We have restrained you gently. "Kori said. She stood nearby, still in her warframe. "I am sorry. I didn't understand. If I have given offense..."

"No, you didn't give offense, you stupid tart!" Ric snapped. "You kidnapped three of my friends and I don't take that badly at all! Not at all!" He snarled and tried to grip the filaments, but they eluded his grip, forming a tighter and tighter covering over him. "Why would I take offense at people being stupid? Kind of like the ones who run off and leave the pod unprotected when we try to defend sleeping kin. Or the fools who rush off to get all the kills while some of us try to do the mission? Why would I be irritated by stupidity? Hmmm? Just charge right in to rescue someone who doesn't need rescuing like Lancelot did!"

"I know you are upset, um... Ric." Kori said with a sigh. "Go on, sleep. You will feel better."

"Kiss my butt, you stupid... ugh..." Ric gasped as waves of lethargy swept through him. "No..."

"It's all right, Ric." Brianna's voice said as red haired woman in a medical tunic stepped up beside Kori. Her face was sad. And...wrong. There was something subtly wrong about it. He couldn't define it. "It's a gentle EM somatic pulse. It will soothe you to sleep. Who knows? Maybe it will help you remember."

"Kiss my ass!" Ric screamed, then gasped as golden energy played across the pod. "No..." He begged as his eyes shut of their own accord.

"Sleep, brother." Kori said kindly. "When you wake, the world will be better. Everything will be better."

"It will not work." Ric heard himself say on the edge of sleep.

"Ric..." Brianna soothed. "Easy."

"Using an unwilling Tenno, even programmed, will skew all of the systems." Ric heard his voice say as Brianna gasped. "The security will activate. Everyone will die."

"How...?" Kori asked, but then Ric was asleep.

Heartwrenching sobs woke Ric from an uneasy slumber.

"Jac?" Ric asked, sitting up quickly. He wasn't in the pod anymore. He was in a small room. Jac was sitting on the floor nearby, her head in her hands, crying. He looked up and her face was red, covered in tears. The fleshy thing was still on her head and she wore a grey smock of some kind. A patient gown maybe? Her belly...was flat. "Oh no..."

"R...Ric..." Jac said, half scream, half plea.

"Oh Jac..." Ric said, rushing to her side and kneeling beside her. He took her in his arms as she cried. She grabbed him tight and clung. He held her for a few minutes and then looked around. The room was bare except for two beds. When he spoke, it was cold, hard and merciless. "You fools are dead. Every last one of you is dead. Do you hear me. There is nowhere in this system you can run, nowhere you can hide. I will find all of you and when I do, you are dead." He said holding Jac as his sister sobbed.

"Her child lives." The voice of Brianna came from a hidden speaker. "We are trying to help her."

"What you are trying is the little bit of patience I had left." Ric retorted. "When I get out of here, even if it takes me a thousand years, I will have my vengeance for her, Sara and Mishka."

"Ric, this isn't what you think." Brianna begged. "We don't want to hurt anyone. We want to help her. We didn't understand."

"Butt out, moron. When I want to talk to stupid people, I will call. Until then, shut up." Ric snapped and hugged Jac tighter. "Jac?" He said in a soft voice.

"They took my kid, Ric." Jac sobbed. "They took my kid!"

"And we are going to get your kid back." Ric said with a nod. He could feel gazes on him. "If I have to do it over the dead bodies of everyone aboard this godsforsaken derelict, I will." He touched the fleshy thing on Jac's head and winced. "Orokin tech, but...not." It seemed..familiar somehow.

Jac was beyond words, so he just held her until she quieted a bit. Then he rose and looked around the room. Two beds, one door. Nothing else. Nothing to use as a weapon. Even the beds were fused to the floor. No terminal. Well, only a complete idiot with a death wish would lock an aggravated engineer in a room with functioning computer access. But again... It seemed...familiar somehow.

Jac gasped and slid down, her eyes rolling shut. Ric was at her side in an instant, then he went stiff as the door opened. The Ash warframe from before stood there, a Burston rifle in hand. Ric ignored him.

"Come." The Ash said calmly.

"Screw you." Ric retorted. "Or better yet, why don't you take that rifle and do something constructive with it? Like shove it up your ass? I am not leaving my sister to your non-existent mercy again." He wrapped his arms around Jac, who whimpered a bit but relaxed.

"You will come." The Ash repeated, his rifle aiming.

"If you do not want me to take that rifle from you and insert it's muzzle somewhere very unpleasant..." Ric said with a sigh. "You should leave. Now. "

"Who said you had a choice?" The Ash said quietly.

"There are always choices, brat." Ric said with a snort. "Not that you would know anything about informed choices. If you don't leave, now, I am going to deny Karl the joy of killing you. Get lost or get dead. Either way, I couldn't care less."

"So be it." The Ash said sadly. Ric felt a tingle from the fleshy mass on his head but no more. He smiled as he reached up and pulled it free. "What the-?" The Ash demanded. "How did you do that?"

"To tell the truth?" Ric said with a shiver. "No idea. But since obviously you all like hurting people as goads..." He touched the fleshy mass on Jac's head and it fell off into his hand. Jac jerked and then was still. "Much better. Rest Jac..." Ric said sadly. "I have some education to dispense."

"Okay..." The Ash said slowly. "You are free. Now will you come?"

"No." Ric said, sitting beside Jac, one hand hidden by her body. "What are you going to do about it? Hmmm?"

"If I have to shoot you and drag your carcass to the doc, then so be it." The Ash said, taking careful aim. Then he stiffened as a Ric's hand blurred.

"You talk too much." Ric said quietly as the Ash fell, the Hikou protruding from where the eye would be on a human. Even a warframe's armor wasn't proof against such an ancient but still deadly weapon. "Never underestimate your opponent, fool."

Ric said as he strode to where the Ash lay twitching. The rifle had fallen free and Ric picked it up, checking it automatically. One clip's worth of bullets. He jerked the razor sharp throwing star from the dead Tenno and it vanished back to its hiding place.

The Ash likely wouldn't stay dead. Warframes were renowned for their regenerative properties. But now, Ric was armed. Or was he? He looked at the weapon and sighed as he realized it was genetically locked to the Ash. It wouldn't fire for him, but... He expertly field stripped it and, discarding most of it, held onto the power supply. The door hissed open and three warfames stood there. Kori in her Nyx, a Trinity he didn't know and a Volt who was also a stranger. All of them aimed weapons on Ric.

"Ric..." Kori sounded upset.

"You want to be stupid, go ahead and be stupid." Ric said with sigh as he sat down back by Jac, taking her in his arms. She snuggled close in her sleep. His right hand was hidden again and none of the warframes moved. "I couldn't care less."

"We are members of the Order." Kori said quietly. "We want to help you."

"Bull." Ric retorted calmly. "You want to control me the same as you want to control Sara, Mishka and Jac. Over my dead body. And several of yours." He said with a slightly maniacal grin. "Go ahead. Make my day."

"Ric..." Kori said sadly. "Okay... You leave me no choice." She raised a hand and power flared but... Everything went still as Ric laughed.

"What is wrong, Little Miss Mind Control?" Ric asked with a grin. "Performance issues?"

"What have you done?" Kori demanded. Ric grinned as he lifted the power supply from the Burston which was now attached to the fleshy mass that had been on his head. It had been attuned to his brain, so it made a dandy makeshift psychic shield. "How did you do that?" She asked, hesitant.

"No idea." Ric said with a grin. "You know..." He toed the other fleshy mass so it was near his foot. "I wonder how much feedback it will generate in your neural linkages if I squish this under my boot?" He raised his foot and all three warframes took a step back. "Now. Are you going to keep being stupid?"

Kori stared at him and then sighed as she lowered her rifle. "Lower your weapons." The other warframes did, but did not relax. "Get Olim to Brianna." The Trinity and Volt grabbed the still Ash and left the room quickly, leaving Kori to stare at Ric.

"Is this now the 'Come to the Dark Side' spiel?" Ric asked sourly. "Because if it is, don't waste your time. I won't join you."

"I don't want you to join us." Kori said slowly. "We are trying to join you."

"Okay, that I did not expect." Ric said with a nod of appreciation. "Way to be subtle. A little too subtle since I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Your name is not Ric..." Kori said quietly. "Or... It wasn't."

"Right." Ric said with a grin. "Was I a 'Harvey' or a 'Ralph'?

"Your name was Ricard and you were the First Sword of the Order of the Sword." Kori said, still quiet. "The founder of the Order of the Sword."

"Sure I was." Ric said with a laugh. "And of course the Order was all about chivalry and honor."

"It was." Kori said calmly. "It was perverted. You vanished and others took over, took the Order a different way. A way of blood and death. Then they all vanished, just disappeared one day."

"Riiight." Ric said with a grimace. "And of course, you want to resurrect the original."

"Not me."