The illusive man watched the ever-changing sun in front of him. Something about it always seemed majestic to him. He just sat, watching it as the flames of the sun moved around like thousands of worms dancing around a ball. Taking a ship of whisky, the door opened behind him and a woman in a white skin-tight bodysuit walked up to him, her raven black hair flowed behind her in a wave motion as she moved next to TIM's chair.

"Sir, we have investigated the wreckage site and found no trace of the Commander's body," she said "On the surface, and in space, we cannot find her body,"

TIM looked at her with a face that was very hard to read. It was a mix of anger, fear and concern. He was not a man who liked to fail, but this was very unwelcome news. He, much like the rest of Cerberus, knew about the reason and the threat they posed. He needed someone like Shepard to try and force them back, but with this news, he needed to find someone else. If he cannot have Shepard, then he would need to settle for second best.

"Move on to the backup plan," he said. "Make sure we don't fail again,"

"Yes sir," she said before leaving.

"Too many eggs in one basket," he muttered as he took a puff on his cigarette. "Next time I need to have more options for backups,"

OOOOO 2 years later.

Sonja Shepard moaned as she awoke to light seeping through the window of her house. An animal, that looked like a cross between a rabbit and a kangaroo, lay on top of her but as she began to move, it too moved. It hopped off of her and made a squeaking noise. Shepard sat up and stretched her arms out cracking them as she did. Her tanned skin and silver hair shined in the heat of the light. She groaned as the light hit her one good eye. The other was covered with a patch.

"Morning, Jacko," she said as she climbed out of the bed.

Walking over to a wardrobe, she pulled out a cloth shirt and trousers. She sighed as she walked down a flight of stairs and into a lounge with a kitchen to the side. As she walked in, she turned the radio on and some music played.

"Hello my beautiful people welcome back to Ark radio, the only radio on the planet!" a man yelled with a trilled voice as Sonja poured some rice and water into a pot then setting a fire underneath.

Jacko hopped down to the ground floor and Sonja placed a bowl on the floor filled with leaves and berries. Chirping happily, he moved up and began to eat it. Smiling Sonja then walked outside of her house and into the heat of the sun shining on her farm. Cracking her neck, she spent the next half hour feeding her animals and watering the plants before returning to the house.

The rice was nearly finished, so she moved over to the refrigerator, grabbed a chunk of meat and threw it into a pan next to the rice. It was soon joined by a dollop of oil which soon bubbled and began to fry the piece of meat. Pulling up a chair, she then picked up a book and pen. While keeping an eye on the meat, she wrote occasionally turning the piece of meat so that it would cook evenly. As she did this the radio continued.

"We'll soon be receiving a new wave, but the when is always in question so keep an eye out for the newcomers," the radio said. "Still no new information as to why we are here though. But hopefully, this new group can tell us why. In other news…."

Sonja reached over and turned the radio down as the political side came on. She had enough politics for a lifetime. All she wanted to was tend to her farm, just like back home on Mindoir. Soon the rice and the meat were ready. Grabbing a wooden bowl, she scooped up some rice and placed it in followed by the meat on top. Music began to play on the radio which she turned up. As she ate, she began to dance while the music played.

But just as she reached halfway, gunfire echoed across the hills forcing her to look outside. Her eyes focused on where the flashes are coming from. Placing the bowl down, she grabbed a bucket of sand and threw it onto the fire putting it out. She then dashed across the house getting a pair of leather trousers, combat boots, metal armour and a rifle with some magazines. With the gear on, she then grabbed a saddle and ran up to one of the zebra-like horses sitting it on its back before jumping on and heading in the direction of the gunfire.

OOOOO

Miranda groaned as she moved on something soft but hard. Her eyes opened up to see pure blue skies and white clouds. Was this haven, if it was it was peaceful, calming. A sense of relief surged through her as despite all her failures, she knew she did what she could. She was about to take a deep breath before she realised something was in her mouth, something salty. She turned and coughed up a mouthful of salt water.

"Fuck," she muttered as she thumped her chest getting more of the water out.

As she did this, the sounds of footsteps met her ears. The way it moved it could only be one person. A hand forced her to turn so that she landed on her back. The tattooed form of Jack stood over her. Before she could say anything, Jack slammed her fist into Miranda's face cutting her lip.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" she yelled as she drew back for another strike someone grabbed onto Jack and pulled her back while the almost naked form of Jacob helped her up. "Let me go you Alliance whore!" Jack yelled as she struggled in Ashley's grip. "I'm going to fucking kill her,"

"Jack while I would love you do to that," Ash said shooting a deathly glare at the Cerberus agent. "Look around, we have no idea where we are,"

Miranda looked around to see the rest of the Normandy crew pull themselves up or look at her or Jack. She spat a gobbet of blood out of her mouth before wiping her mouth.

"Fuck," Jack muttered as she quit struggling allowing Ash to let her go. "This its's over cheerleader!" she said pointing at Miranda.

Inwardly Miranda chuckled, but outwardly she kept her calm demeanour. "The fee…" she began but stopped and her eyes went wide as soon as she looked past Jack towards the canopy of the forest behind them.

With all eyes on Miranda, confused looks passed through the group.

"Where's my suit!" a voice called making eyes turn to a purple-skinned woman only wearing a wrap around her waist and breasts.

"Tali?" Garrus asked as he walked up to her and crouched.

"Suit, where's my suit?" she asked as she curled up into a ball.

She began muttering to herself asking about her suit while everyone else just looked at one another.

"Sorry to take your attention away from Tali," Miranda said earning a few unimpressed looks but she ignored them and pointed. "But please tell me I'm seeing things,"

After a confused look, eyes turned to see what she was pointing at. All the humans who stood on the beach, and Mordin, had their jaws drop at the long brown neck of a brontosaurus lifted above the tops of the trees.

"Is that what I think it is?" Joker asked, his own eyes wide.

"What?" Grunt asked. "What is it?"

"It's one of the human dinosaurs," Liara said. "But aren't supposed to be dead?"

"Millions of years dead," Kasumi nodded.

As they looked up at the ancient beast, Miranda's eyes levelled. "We need to move," she then declared. "If we are seeing dinosaurs…."

"Shit," Jack muttered as she looked down.

"Why?" Samara said. "What's the problem,"

"If we are seeing dinosaurs," Zaeed said. "Then we need to find a safe hole to hide in. otherwise…" he trailed off.

"Otherwise, we are going to be a meal," Joker clarified.

"Ah," was all the asari said before Jack spoke up.

"What the fuck is going on?" she asked looking at her hands. "By biotics aren't working,"

Miranda, Liara, Samara and Jacob looked at one another before trying to activate their biotics. Nothing happened.

"Strange…" Samara muttered, her normally neutral voice betraying concern.

Miranda frowned as well as she tried to activate her biotic powers but nothing happened. Shaking her head, she looked around and saw what seemed to be a tower not too far away. She pointed.

"That looks like a good place to hold up," she said.

"Better than nothing," Garrus said as he picked up Tali.

"No, fuck no am I following her again," Jack growled.

"Fine, stay. I'm sure you'll be happy in the belly of a dinosaur," Zaeed shot as he picked up a heavy-looking stick. "Besides, no one had a better idea,"

Jack growled before picking up a stick similar to Zaeed and following the rest of the group.

As they moved Joker looked down at his legs and frowned. He stopped and ran on the spot expecting his legs to break, but they didn't. His mind buzzed when an idea came to mind. Picking up a stick he tapped it against, his leg. Nothing happened. Bracing himself, he slammed the stick against his leg, but aside from a sharp spike of pain, and a red mark, nothing happened.

"Err guys," he said getting their attention. "I think my vrolik syndrome is gone,"

He then ran on the spot before reaping bashing his legs with no effect. The crew's faces just looked at him surprised, then looked to Tali. Thane then took a sharp breath before releasing it. He repeated it two more times before tapping his chest.

"It would appear that our ailments have been fixed," he noted. "As to why, that may still allude us,"

"I wonder if it's the same for the genopahge," Grunt said aloud.

That was a troubling thought, but there wasn't much to do as they continued onwards to the tower. As they approached Miranda stopped as something caught her eye. Covering her eyes, she squinted and looked toward the glint and to her surprise, it was a greenhouse which was connected to a walled complex which included a house and what appeared to be a farm. Garrus stopped and looked as well.

"Is that a farm?" he asked.

"Looks like it," Miranda said. "Could be a place for answers,"

"Agreed," he nodded before walking up to the tower with her following soon after.

As they entered, she was surprised to see several boxes placed on the far wall. Jacob, Zaeed and Ash had opened them up to see what was inside. The three began to hand out fibre-like clothing to the rest of the crew.

"Anything else in there?" Kasumi said as she and the others got dressed.

Ash looked and pulled out several packeted blocks and a metal pick. "Just these,"

"MREs?" Chakwas asked with confusion. "What are they doing here?"

Garrus said nothing as he helped Tali get dressed, but the quarrian still shook in a ball.

"I'm more interested in the pick," Jacob said as he reached in and pulled out a hatchet and a wooden pike with a steel tip. "And these,"

"Errr guys," Liara spoke up as she took a piece of paper from the wall. "Listen to this. Supply tower D-24. Adventurers and newcomers, feel free to take what you find here. If you are a newcomer, welcome to Ark. The items you find in the boxes are basic survival gear to help you to survive. If you are looking for an explanation, find Rok city to the southeast from the tower. We'll help you and get you registered. Good luck, you'll need it," as she spoke, the crew finished getting dressed.

"At least we know where we are and have an idea about what to do," Ash said.

"Yeah," Miranda said as she turned to look out of the door towards the farm. "There's a complex out there, they may have answers and resources. Garrus, you stay here. Ash, Jack you two are with me,"

The two didn't look impressed but nodded as they both grabbed an axe and moved up to the door. But the criminal looked to the Cerberus agent with an unimpressed look.

"Well, get one," Jack shot.

Miranda rolled her eyes and went over to grab an axe of her own before heading out of the tower. The three ran down the hill and across a plateau towards the farm. It was a good 3 kilometres away from the tower. The complex sat up against a tall cliff with a large stone wall that extended half a kilometre around the complex. The three approached only to see the gate slightly open. They glanced at one another before slipping through the gate and entering. They did have to open it more before they could enter.

The farm was set out with a main path leading to the main building and had two buildings at the front and to the side. The right one being a large greenhouse, and the other one looks like a barn. In front of those, were a pen and two fields. The first pen held a zebra-like creature and the other was a sheep-like creature. The three couldn't identify what was in the fields, but they continued onwards, getting looks from the passive animals.

They reached the main building and entered with the smell of food meeting them. Miranda led them over to a kitchen-like room with a radio playing some kind of music. Miranda moved over to a bowl with a half-eaten portion of rice and meat while Ash moved over to a metal plate with a fire on it. Ashley reached over and held her hand over the coals.

"Still warm," she uttered.

"Lukewarm," Miranda said as she picked up a bite of race and ate it. "Whoever was here may come back soon,"

"Let's move then," Jack said before disappearing into the building with Ashley following.

Miranda, however, turned to look at a leather-bound book. Brow raised she walked over to it and picked it up. Flicking to the beginning, her brow furrowed as she read the first page.

Day 23.

Out of all things, I find some random person, dead, in a volcano being feasted on by meter-long giant centipedes? This place is all kinds of fucked up. But I did find this book in the guy's pack, so something good became of it.

It's been about 23 days since I got to Ark. I have no idea how I got here, or why, but I'm here and there's nothing I can do about it. I even got into a fistfight with a damned T-rex the first day I got here! Lost an eye and some scratches on my face for the trouble, but I'm still going through the meat of that damned beast. After that little happened.

I managed to set up a base camp in a small cave. Doesn't look like anyone was using it, so I decided to use it myself. I have quite a bit of food, and plenty of water but I have yet to meet anyone living. I plan to head to that Rok place the note mentioned. Hopefully, they can answer some questions. So many damn questions and no one to answer them.

In any event, I aim to use this book as a journal for however long I am here and make the odd note until I find some other books.

I wonder how Li is doing?

"Who's Li?" Miranda asked as she looked up and around.

There were no photos and the person in the book made it clear she was alone. Miranda was about to go back to the journal when she realised that there was another room to the side. Keeping her finger in the place where she was, she walked up and found herself in a library of sorts. On one side sat scrolls and books while the other looked like a desk with what appeared to be a workbench next to it.

Walking up, she read the spines of the books. Metalworking, basic medicine, dinosaur types and behaviours. All of them were about surviving alone. At least that's what she assumed. Frowning she turned back to the journal and moved through a few more pages.

Day 121

If anyone told me, that I would get challenged to a duel from a guy riding a giant fucking scorpion and the guy wielding a sword made from the bones of a dragon, I'd call them fuck off crazy. Now, I'm being hunted by that same guy to join his harem. Apparently, I won his affection and the duel was just to show how strong I was.

I would have refused, but the guy's clan practically cornered me and forced me into it. Thankfully, after the battle, and his declaration, I managed to escape thanks to a T-rex. Never thought I'd say that. But now the clan is hunting me to bring me back to the harem, alive and in chains, with the latter being optional.

But outside of that, I've found a good place to set up. Have to be on guard thanks to that clan, but the area is pretty defensible. I wish I had something like this back on Mindoir.

"Mindoir?" Miranda asked. "Wh…." she stopped mid-sentence as she felt something press at the back of her head.

The click of a 21st-century gun hammer echoed in her ears. "Raise your hands, and turn around. Slowly," a deep but feminine voice said.

Gulping, Miranda did as told as she turned to face a dark-skinned woman with silver hair tied up in a ponytail but had two braids hand from the sides of her head. A large leather patch covered her left eye. Three scar lines ran across her face making it clear what happened. She looked familiar, but the scar and patch didn't help.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?" the woman said.

"Well, you see…" Miranda began before moving quickly to grab the gun.

As she moved, she dropped the journal to the floor and grabbed the arm holding the gun. Using her body, she moved to twist the woman to the side and pull the gun from her. But that wasn't going to work. The woman was not only bigger but had muscles that even a krogan would be jealous of. And that is what she used, using her strength to pull Miranda back before slamming her fist into the agent's gut before dropping to the floor and kicking her feet out from under her. Miranda fell with a thud and the woman moved so that she had her knee on Miranda's back and the gun to her head.

"That wasn't a smart move," the woman growled pressing the weapon against her head. "Now who the fuck are you?"

Miranda said nothing but struggled under the woman's grip. But she wouldn't need to struggle for long as an unexpected saviour arrived. A darkened barrel of a long-range rifle pressed against her chest.

"Stand up bitch," Jack said. "And drop the gun,"

The woman pulled the gun away from Miranda's headand held it to the side as she stood. She then tossed it into the kitchen area. Did she have a plan up her sleeve? The woman turned to face Jack but didn't move her foot from Miranda's back.

"Safety's on," the woman noted.

"Do you really think I'd fall for that?" Jack scoffed.

The woman just shrugged. "Do you really want to take that bet?"

Jack frowned and turned the weapon to the side. Seeing her chance, the woman punched Jack in the gut, then the face. She then grabbed the rifle and Jack's collar before turning and throwing the convict over her shoulder. Jack was forced to let go of the weapon and landed on the wooden floor with a thud and a barrel in her face.

"For the record..." the woman said as she clicked something on the rifle. "It was on. Now tell me who the both of you are, and what you are doing here before I start shooting,"

"Fuck you, we just got here," Jack spat.

"New blood huh? Don't suppose you know what we are doing here?" the woman asked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about bitch," Jack shot.

"Drop it now!" a new voice yelled and the woman's eyes widened.

Not taking the gun off Jack she turned to the kitchen where Ashley stood, holding the weapon that the woman had discarded. What she said next surprised all three of them.

"Gunnery Chief?" the woman asked.

Ashley blinked in surprise. "How di…" she began before she lowered her weapon, recognition dawning on her. "Shepard?"

"What?" Jack and Miranda asked in surprise as the commander lowered her gun and took her foot off Miranda.

Shepard then walked up to Ash, reaching out with her free hand to touch the Williams scion before pulling her close, dropping her gun in the process.

"Hey C… Commander…." Ashely blushed.

"Just shut up Williams," Shepard said.

Williams fell silent and hugged the commander back. It was awkward for her, but not the commander it seemed. It was clear that she expected Ash to be a hallucination or something, but this… this was something like a confirmation to her that she wasn't dreaming. After a moment Shepard pulled away and looked at the former Gunnery Chief up and down.

"You look good," she said before looking at Jack and Miranda as they stood looking at the two. "Friends of yours?"

"More like, fellow soldiers," Ash responded and the Commander nodded.

"So, who are the two of you?" Shepard asked as she crossed her arms.

"I'm Miranda Lawson, Captain of the Normandy SR-2," Miranda said, earning a scoff from both Jack and Ash. "And this is Jack, also known as Subject Zero," the agent continued ignoring the scoff.

"Good to meet the two of you, sorry for the rough treatment," Sonja shrugged. "Are there any others?"

"Yeah, including us, that's 18 people," Miranda said.

"Ok, that's going to get a bit of attention," Shepard mused cupping her chin for a moment before nodding. "Ok, we need to get everyone here before we lose people. So, listen to me and we'll get everyone here. Jack, head to the armoury and grab the pistols and several magazines. There are a few sacks in there so throw them in,"

"And what makes…" Jack began but Sonja's eye focused on her.

Jack went still as a chill ran down her spine. She stood up straighter and just silently stared back.

After a moment, Shepard turned to the Cerberus agent. "Miranda, the pantry is over there," Sonja pointed to a side room next to the kitchen. "There should be some boxes filled with food. Grab a few, and get yourself something to eat as well. Trust me, you are going to need it," Shepard then turned to Ashley. "You're with me, Williams,"

"Sure thing, Commander," Ashley said and the two moved off towards a barn.

After a moment Jack spoke. "That bitch! Who the hell does she think she is ordering me around like that?"

"Someone who saved the Galaxy," Miranda sighed before looking over to the pantry. "Better do as she says, otherwise she might feed you to the dinos,"

That made Jack pale, something that Miranda burned into her memory. It wasn't often that the criminal was scared, but when she was, Miranda savoured it like a high-class meal or a fine wine. Jack then ran out of the room and up a flight of stairs while Miranda walked into the pantry. Opening the door, she looked around at the food assembled there.

Jars of berries and leaves filled one wall, meat on the other and vegetables on the middle wall. But she saw the boxes sitting next to the jars and moved over to one. They weren't labelled, but they did remind her of Japanese bento boxes. Taking one, she opened it up and looked inside. It was a bento box split into three sections with the biggest one holding rice and the two others holding chopped-up vegetables and what she could only assume was dried dino meat. Remembering what Sonja said, she gulped and took a piece of the meat. She looked it over, but there was nothing special about it aside from it looking like a piece of beef.

Taking another gulp, she closed her eyes and threw it into her mouth. She was expecting something foul, but instead, the piece of meat was juicy and tender despite it being dry. She took another piece, this time adding some rice and vegetables with it. She moaned as the flavour of the food filled her mouth and swallowed. When did Shepard become a cook? But then again if she was here all along, cooking would be one of the requirements for survival.

Shaking her head, she placed to box to one side and began to grab as many boxes as she could and put them into a sack.

While that was happening, Sonja and Ashely walked over to a barn at speed with Shepard in the lead. It didn't take long for the two to reach the barn and open it up. As they entered Ashley froze at the sight of four raptors in a caged area. Sonja, however, just walked up to the cage and cooed at them like they were cats.

"Who's a good raptor?" she asked while stroking the nearest one.

"Why do you have raptors?" Ashley finally asked.

"They were a gift from a Lord who had a bit of a bug problem," Shepard said as she turned grabbing what appeared to be a saddle from a wall. "A big bug problem,"

Ash gulped before walking further into the barn but keeping her distance from the cage.

"So who are they?" Sonja asked but Ash took a moment to respond as she still stared at the raptors.

"Uh? Oh, the long-haired bitch is Miranda. She was made, not born, to be genetically perfect. But that means she tends to have the attitude of an aristocrat. Despite that, she makes a good officer, not a leader or a commander, but an officer. She's fucked up more than one mission prioritising Cerberus' goals over the mission. Cost us a bunch," the marine shook her head. "Hell, she used a radio bomb to remove the Collectors from their base. That nearly killed us and damaged our drives,"

"So she has something to prove to everyone, not just herself," Sonja nodded as she strapped a second raptor with a saddle. "What about the bald tattooed chick?"

"That's Jack, also known as subject Zero. She was an orphan when Cerberus captured her and used her for biotic experiments. So she and Miranda butt heads, a lot. They even tried to kill each other at one point. Jack almost left, but Miranda pointed out that if she left then the only place she had to look forward to was jail. She's one hell of a fighter though. But she's mostly rage and little else," Ashley sighed as she watched Sonja fitted the final saddle on the last raptor.

"So she needs discipline and a place to vent that rage. This place will teach her that very well," Sonja said as she led the raptors over to a wooden and metal cart. "Give me a hand will ya,"

Ash was hesitant but nodded and walked over to the cart helping Shepard strap the raptors to the cart. It took a little longer than the commander would have liked, due to Ashely's nervousness around the vicious beasts. But they managed to get it done and take the cart outside where a Miranda and Jack were waiting for them. They had discarded their cloth clothing in favour of leather. But their eyes widened at the sight of the raptors.

"A…a…. a…" Miranda started but was slapped out of her silence by Sonja who had moved next to the two of them.

"Wake up, we have a crew to save," she said before reaching over to Jack's bag of weapons and looking inside. "A few of these don't work with each other, but good enough,"

She then picked up both the bags of food and weapons and threw them onto the cart. "Get on,"

Jack and Miranda looked at one another before getting on with Ash and Sonja before the latter took the reins and drove out of the compound.

OOOOO

Garrus grunted as he thrust his spear at the dire wolf that had approached the tower. It was bigger than he expected a wolf to be, but the big problem was that it came in a pack of seven. The pack charged at them when they smelled one of them outside of the tower getting a look at the rest of the area. The large dogs attacked unexpectedly at them with Jacob getting a few scratches and a bite on his wrist. But that beat died thanks to the hatchet he held.

That took out one of them, but there were still seven left to deal with. Garrus' wolf jumped to the side avoiding the spear. It then growled at him before pouncing at him, but he dodged out of the way so all it did was slash at him and bit was empty air. But Garrus turned this into an opportunity and thrust at the beast in its side. It howled in pain and snapped at Garrus who tried to pull away, but found that his spear was stuck in the creature's side.

"Shit," he yelled out as he tried to pull it out but failed and avoided another snap from the wolf.

Just as the wolf was about to strike at him again, a shot ran out hitting it in the head. Not wasting time, he grabbed the spear and pulled it out of the wolf and looked at where the shot came from. His mandibles twitched as he spotted several people riding large scorpions heading towards them guns raised. It didn't take long for him to find out their intentions as they fired towards him.

"Get inside!" he yelled as he and others, Jacob, Wrex, Grunt, Thane, Samara, and Liara turned and ran back into the tower as more shots rang out.

As they reached the tower, Chackwas checked them all but only found that two of them had been shot and the rest only suffered from scrapes. Garrus was the last to follow and cursed under his breath.

"How did they get guns?" he muttered. "Isn't this meant to be some kind of primordial world?"

"Miranda's coming, with…" Joker said as he lowered his binoculars and wiped his eyes before placing the binoculars back in his eyes. "Are those raptors?"

"As in velociraptors?" Kasumi asked as she ran up next to him and looked out.

"Yep," Joker said as he handed the binoculars to her.

Kasumi took them and paled at the sight of the primordial beasts, but then frowned as one of the occupants. "Who's the amazon with silver hair?"

As she said that, the silvered-haired amazon jumped off of the moving cart and ran towards the scorpion riders while Ashley struggled with the reins as she directed the raptors towards them. But she managed to stop them before they reached the tower. Miranda and Jack jumped off with the latter grabbing a bag of guns while the former grabbed a bag of boxes.

"Kuso, that was scary," Ashely sighed as everyone grabbed a gun but stayed clear of the raptors.

"Miranda, what happened?" Garrus asked as he grabbed one of the long-range rifles. "And who's that?" he indicated to the woman engaged with the scorpion riders.

"That, is Commander Sonja Shepard," Miranda said.

Those words almost caused Garrus to drop his rifle. He blinked and looked towards the silver-haired woman.

"Sonja?" Liara asked in a hopeful tone.

"It's the Commander alright," Ashley said as she jumped off the cart. "It's her,"

OOOOO

As the cart moved up, the unmistakable sounds of gunshots echoed in Sonja's ears. She looked towards where a group of scorpion riders were approaching.

"Shit," she muttered as she handed the reins to Ashley.

"Hey wait, I don't know how to control them!" she complained.

"When you want to stop just pull back," the commander said before jumping off and running towards the Iron Sting Clan with a sword and pistol in hand.

There were 10 of them in all riding specially bred pulmonoscorpius. These bugs were bred for armour, size and venom. That made them quite ferocious so only the best warriors could tame them. Said warriors were called Scorpion Knights and were dressed like the medieval warriors of old. But aside from their spears, they also carried assault rifles for those long-range battles.

Sonja's approach didn't go unnoticed, however, as two of the knights spotted her.

"It's Shepard!" one of them called out aiming his rifle.

"Don't," another called out. "The Lord wants her for his harem. Shoot to wound!"

Sonja jumped at the nearest knight and fired several rounds at him. Four of the rounds tinged off his armour, but three managed to hit him in the shoulder making him drop his weapons and hold onto his would. He didn't have long to react, however, as his head was removed from his body. Sonja then kicked the body off the scorpion before she drove the sword into the giant bug. The beast thrashed as it tried to shake her off and stab her.

It didn't last long as sliced off the stinger and then cut off a chunk of the beast killing it. As it died, she jumped off and move out of the way as one knight fired at her. She moved quickly and avoided the shots before grabbing a spear and implied him. With that done she grabbed his assault rifle, killed the scorpion she was on and emptied the magazine into three more of the knights and their mounts. In retaliation three of the knights threw their spears at Shepard while two of them fired their guns.

Tree rounds hit her in the arms and legs, but she moved out of the way before the spears hit her. In response, she grabbed one and threw it at the closest knight. It didn't hit but did force him to move out of the way, and into another knight. The scorpions didn't react well and began attacking each other. The knights tried to pull the bugs away from one another, but that just made them even madder. That didn't solve much as one of the scorpions grabbed the opposite knight with its pincer and pulled him away.

His fellow knight tried to stop it, but the other scorpion used its stinger on his neck. The poison ran through him burning his system from the inside out causing him to collapse screaming in pain while his fellow knight was cut in half.

"Fuck this!" one of the final three said. "She's dead!" he aimed his rifle and fired only to miss as Sonja quickly moved out of the way.

The others didn't disagree and fired their weapons at her. She moved from tree to tree using them as cover while they shot at her. While they didn't directly hit her, they did give her splinters, which were annoying but not debilitating.

"Shit she…." one of them tried to say but was silenced by a loud roar and growl.

The group stopped firing and Sonja looked around. Her eye scanned the trees. Something was out there and if it was what she suspected, she and her team were in trouble.

"What the hell was that?" another of the knights asked.

They looked around before one of them pointed at something coming at them from the trees. "Giganotosaurus!" he yelled before firing in the direction he pointed.

The other two followed suit as the largest predator on Ark ran towards them at full speed.

"Shit," Sonja growled as she turned and ran towards one of the fallen knights and picked up a spear.

The knights backed up before one of them just turned and ran gaining the dino's attention. It roared and charged after him faster than before and snapped the both of them up in its jaws. Despite the metal and leather, it swallowed them in two bites.

"Fuck this!" one of the knights said taking down his fellow knight's scorpion's legs before turning and running.

"Hey wait!" his friend said but he was soon eaten as well.

As the two corpses slid down the predator's gullet Sonja stood and took a few steps towards the predator's spear in hand. The beast looked towards her with a soft growl. Her eye narrowed as the two stared each other down before running at each other. As they got close Sonja jumped onto a tree and threw the spear at the Giganotosaurus. It yelled in pain as it pierced its neck. When she grabbed the spear, she tied a length of rope to it for what she planned next.

She pushed herself off of the tree and swung underneath the dinosaur using the rope like a swing so that she landed on its back. While she didn't land on two feet, she did use her sword to stop her from moving. The Giganotosaurus then began to thrash and slam itself into a couple of threes to try and get her off, but Sonja didn't budge as she moved up the beast's back and drove her sword into the dinosaur's head.

It gives a defiant roar before it collapsed and died. Taking a few deep breaths, Sonja jumped off and looked at the corpse.

"You're going to be my fucking lunch," she spat wiping blood from her mouth.

She turned to the tower and walked towards it. A smile moved across her face as she looked on at the faces of her crew, and the new members she had yet to meet. As she got close Ashley called out.

"Commander, what the fuck just happened?" she asked.

"A group of Scorpion Knights making too much noise," Sonja replied as she took out a small bag. "Which is why we need to get out of here. Noise attracts predators, and the soon we are out of here, the sooner I can answer questions. But I am going to need some help," she pointed at Wrex, Garrus and the new Krogan. "You guys are with me, the rest of you get on the cart and keep your eyes open. We'll be back in a moment," as she talked, she applied a green powder to her wounds.

"Err ok," Garrus said.

Wrex, the new Krogan and Garrus followed Sonja back to the knights and dino. "Check the knight's pouches you should find rope,"

"What do we need that for?" Wrex asked.

"We're bigging this beast with us," Sonja smiled barring her teeth. "It's lunch,"

Garrus paled but both the Wrex and new Krogan smiled. "Ha, I like your thinking Shepard," Wrex said before they split up and began to search the bodies and equipment.

OOOOO

It took an hour and a half before the crew got back to Shepard's compound, but by the time they did, they were worn out from the travel. The long travel was thanks to the Giganotosaurus and the fact that they needed to switch out the groups about who was walking, who was riding and who was pulling.

Once they arrived the crew jumped off the cart and began to shake their legs. The only one who didn't was Tali who was still curled up in a ball. Garrus picked her up and carried her off the cart. The group gathered around the cart as Sonja walked up to them.

"There's rooms on the second floor," she said. "I wasn't expecting 18 guests, so there's not a lot of room for you all. Which isn't a problem we can expand. You can get some clothing from the rooms but meet back down here in about an hour. I'll explain whatever I can,"

"But what about Tali?" Kelly asked indicating to the silent Quarrian.

"She's fine," Shepard said as she walked up to Garrus and looked at the Quarrian. "She's just going through suit withdrawal. And you shouldn't worry. Her immune system has been fixed, so there's no chance of her getting ill. But it will take her some time to get used to the lack of a suit. There should be one in the wardrobes. Get her in it and leave her on the bed. I'll explain everything to her when she's out of this funk,"

"So she…" Liara started.

"She'll be fine I swear," Sonja reiterated. "Go on, get something on," she then turned to the Giganotosaurus. "I need to chop this bad boy up,"

That got some pale looks from the humans in the group. But Sonja ignored them as she moved to cut open the dinosaur

An hour later, the crew sat around a large pot bubbling with a stew while a large chuck of dino meat was roasting on a grill. Shepard sprinkled some seasoning on it before sitting down.

Garrus opened his mouth, but Sonja interrupted him. "Yes, you can eat it. Your body has been changed to allow for the digestion of Levo-DNA. Don't ask me how or why, but that's the case. It's the same reason why Joker's legs are fine now and Chackwas's hips are causing problems,"

That silenced the turrian but everyone just looked at the amazon. Sonja sighed and looked up. "So let me get the main questions out of the way. No, I don't know how or why we are here, no I don't know why dino's are here, and no I don't know why your biotics aren't working," as she spoke, she occasionally turned the spit. "I also assume you have been trying to use your Omni-tools. No one knows why, but with few exceptions, we've been relegated to early-1900's earth like tech,"

The crew fell silent as they digested this information, after a moment Miranda spoke up. "So how did you end up here?"

After two more turns of the spit, Sonja leaned back. "When I was sending Joker into the rescue pod, the beam from that ship cut the gravity and the only thing I could do was send him on his way. I was blasted away, with my suit leaking and falling into the atmosphere. Oxygen was low and the only thing I remember was a flash of light then arriving here," she then pointed to her patch. "Got this the first day. Got into a fistfight with a T-rex, something I do not recommend,"

Wrex and Grunt laughed. "Must have been one hell of a battle," the latter said.

"It wasn't," Sonja said flatly. "I was nearly eaten more times than I could count,"

"So what is this place?" Liara asked.

"That, Li, is the trillion-credit question. But the thing is we don't know," Sonja said as she stood and began to cut the meat into chunks and throw it into the pot. "Food's just about ready. Eat up, we need to be heading to Rok tomorrow,"

"Why?" Jacob asked. "What's at Rok?"

"It's a city and a trading hub. But it's also a place to be registered. Everyone gets registered when they arrive, at least the ones who survive. That we can try and find out what the fuck is going on here," she explained.

The group nodded as Sonja poured stew and meat into bowls.