"what now admiral? we're prisoners"

"unfortunately I'm not sure Lt. if we had our supplies I might have been able to think of something but since everything was taken from us I have absolutely no clue as to what to do next"

well a Cardassian prisoner overheard them and decided to butt in seeing as how he had nothing better to do

"so you were captured as well I'm not surprised really seeing as how they're after anyone who's not allied with them"

"yes I'm admiral Jewel and this is my crew well those that were put in here with me I have many others but since we won't all fit and since they also decided to split up the command crew you're only seeing a portion of my group"

"so you're the famous admiral that kept her crew alive for nine years"

"indeed I am so since we're in the same predicament why don't we work together"

"that works for me unfortunately the last time I tried to escape they made sure that I couldn't make another attempt"

"what did they do to you?"

"they put a collar around my neck for one thing and for another they smashed my feet and left leg and they still force me to fight so that they can train their troops"

"I see if we can come up with a plan are you willing to try another escape attempt"

"yes I am but I will no longer be a soldier"

"you may never be able to fight yes but as a former prisoner of war you have valuable experience that you can teach the younger generation plus you have some knowledge of how they work now you can help make up strategies for your government"

"you may have a point very well once we escape and I go home I shall see if they have any use for me"

"excellent so ensign can you think of anything that could allow us to escape?"

"unfortunately no admiral but that's only because I have yet to see exactly where we've been placed"

"hm how about this whoever is taken out for training exercises try and memorize the place we're being taken to and then report back the general layout of the fighting area we can always work from there"

"agreed"

as it turned out a Lt. was first to be taken out for training and he came back a mess but managed to make a map of the area that they were currently at

"hm it looks like we're in a Starfleet station"

"yea that's good for us actually since we know the general lay out now"

"I say we go and free ourselves now"

"unfortunately we can't do that without better planning"

well a few weeks later they had what they thought was a pretty solid plan but it failed just as they were getting to the shuttle bay but this time they didn't hurt any of them since it was there first attempt and they thought that they were ignorant of what would happen to them if they tried

"I'm surprised they didn't hurt you as when I did a first attempt they did what I told you about"

"for some reason I think they're waiting for a better opportunity and I think that some rules have finally been put on them"

"let us hope that is the case"

"yes let's hope"

well Jewel was put in her second round of battle which was stupid of them since even though they no longer had their weapons Jewel's crew was very capable of taking care of themselves and she did five rounds without major bruises

"I'll take care of her"

"do it"

and so Jewel went through fifteen more rounds and was badly injured and her crew and fellow prisoners were appalled at the damage

"you creeps when I get my hands on you…"

"leave it for the arena"

Jewel awakens a few hours later and she surprises them by grinning

"I win the first battle for this place and our freedom"

"what do you mean by that admiral?"

"oh simple look what I swiped from them"

she reveals the keys to their cuffs and the code to a weapons locker

"nice work admiral bet they didn't notice that"

"nope they have no clue as to what I've done"

well five years later the prisoners were very weary of both the battles in the arena and the private battles of freedom that the Romulans never let them win but those that were free were also weary even more so than before the official war began. On DS9 they had four shifts now a days since they were so physically and mentally exhausted plus they were constantly losing people to transfers or on occasion actual battles