As she was pulled into Arkid's cell, the cell used for bad harem girls or slaves, Sonja did her best to struggle but not too much to avoid breaking the operation. She could take the guards she was with, she needed to get Arkid alone in the cell with her. This was simple and hard. Simple in that all she needed to do was get in the cell. Hard because he revolted against her. It wasn't due to his looks, he was quite handsome and had a good body, it was his personality and actions that he committed that made her sick.

During the war, he offered to buy any woman he liked the look of. Any refusal meant he would take the woman anyway and burn their family alive. And that wasn't counting the rumours of abuse he made towards his harem. Normally, people like this would get killed on Ark, but he survived because he was a good leader. Charismatic, proud, loyal, calculating, and a good military leader among other things.

All points made people ignore his bad points. The burning families and taking the women he liked could be justified as it being a war and being abusive towards his harem could be justified as punishing slaves. Both, however, weren't liked. Even on Ark, there were unspoken rules of engagement which included leaving civilians alone. Even slavery was largely tame as abuse was frowned upon. People from outside the Ark, especially humans, took a dim view of slavery and did their best to try and get rid of it. So far, they had succeeded in at least getting people to treat slaves as indentured servants similar to Illium's system. Which was at least a start.

Sonja struggled as she was pulled into the cell and had her hands locked behind her and to the rear wall before the guards left, taunting her as they did so. Once they were gone, she relaxed and moved back into the cell before digging into her loincloth for the pick that Kasumi had given her. She didn't know when Arkid would be back, so she needed to get to work hoping that Liara and Miranda were going the same.

OOOOO

Miranda had played many roles in her life. Playing the submissive, obedient and beautiful belly-dancing slave was not one of her favourite roles. Nor was it on her list of things to do and she hated it. As soon as she and Liara had been 'bought', they were taken up to the harem by Arkid who was talking about the rules. The two of them were half paying attention as they kept their eyes open for ways out of the main room.

As soon as they got the sword, they would need to make a very quick exit. They soon arrived and they entered with the door being locked behind them. The two relaxed as they looked around. From the sounds of things, it sounded like the harem girls were bathing in a pool next to the main room. That allowed the two of them to look around and make a plan of attack. However, there was little that they could do. There weren't any sharp objects, outside of things like scissors which wouldn't do much. The silk and cloth around also didn't provide enough of a reach to the ground.

But there was still a bit that they could use as makeshift weapons like hairpins. But they wouldn't be too useful against guards with rifles and spears. They needed range, and range was the one thing they lacked.

"Oh new blood," a voice said making the two turn to see an Asari walk into the main room with a robe covering her from chest to knees.

But as she looked between them, her eyes focused and widened at Liara. "Oh no, not you," she muttered.

Liara's eyes widened. "You're that scientist from Virmire, Rana right?" she asked.

Rana nodded as she looked to the sky with an annoyed sigh before sitting down with her head in her hands. "Why? What in the Goddess' name did I do?"

Miranda looked at the two before opening her mouth. "So, I take it you both know each other?"

"No," both asari said at the same, before Rana continued. "She and her friends blew up my job. Told me to run as fast as I could before a nuke blast destroyed the base. Granted it was a base cloning Korgan but the point remains, I almost died. Then I wake up in some kind of human prehistoric nightmare, collared and sold," she shook her head. "What did I do in a previous life to do this?"

That's when Liara moved forward to look at Rana's neck. "He choked you, didn't he?" she asked.

Rana just let out a teardrop and nodded. Nodding in understanding, Liara moved around to face the scientist.

"We are planning to get out of here, you can come along if you want," she offered.

"And what are you going to offer to get me out of here?" the asari said with a sad smile. "Here, I may be a slave, but I'm alive, I have food, a place to stay… there's no need…." she trailed off looking down.

"Not true," Miranda spoke up. "You're a scientist, right?" Rana nodded. "Then you might be able to help us, we need to see if dragons are real,"

Rana blinked. "Dragons, but they're a human myth,"

"Not quite," Liara said as she quietly explained the plan and what was happening outside.

By the end of it, Rana was silent for a moment before rubbing her forehead. "By the Goddess, I didn't even know," she muttered before looking up. "If I help you, I'm free?"

Miranda and Liara nodded.

OOOOO

"Let's see, a little to the left, a little to the right, move around and….." Sonja said as she tried to pick the lock like Kasumi taught her.

She had practised, but it was tricky even with practice. She had tried four times before now and something went wrong so she kept trying. Kasumi explained that even she found it tricky. It was rare to see and use physical locks like the ones the cuffs use as most worlds used a form of ID to unlock them. Like a code, fingerprint or something else that required a key that couldn't be duplicated.

Kasumi also mentioned how it was an interesting parallel. The more advanced a society gets, the less they know about how something in the past was done. Kinda like the lock. She was so used to electronic defences, that picking a lock was an interesting novelty for her. That wasn't to say she hadn't done it in the past, but it was rare to the point that each time she picked a lock, she was out of practice. Sonja didn't blame the thief as she understood. After all, she was trapped in a world filled with dinosaurs and 1940-level technology.

"Come on, come on," she muttered before a click sounded.

She smiled as she thought that the cuffs were about to come off, but that hope was dashed as Arkid appeared before her behind the bars.

'Shit,' she thought as she continued moving the lockpick a little more quickly and forcefully than necessary.

"Ahhh Sonja, it has been a while," he said as he stepped into the cell. "You have just grown in beauty since I've seen you,"

Sonja just scoffed at that. "Up yours,"

He just chuckled before walking up to her. "I am going to fix you, I am going to teach you why I am your best match," he reached out to cup her chin. "Our children will conquer this world, rule in my name as a God of this world. Doesn't that sound good?"

"Sounds delusional as fuck," Sonja shot as she felt the cuffs loosen. "Kinda like Saren," as she said that she moved quickly.

She grabbed his arm and pushed him into the wall locking his arms behind him. He grunted and cursed in response as she held him tightly.

"Now this is what's going to happen, you are going to tell me where your sword is… otherwise I'll start to break bones," she warned.

"The Dragon's sword?" he asked. "Why do you need that old heirloom? Planning to take my place?"

"I have no interest in ruling," she shot. "But your sword may have something we need,"

"If that is the case, fo… ahhhhh," he yelled out as Sonja snapped one of the bones in his arm.

"There's a few places it can be," she said as she pressed her hand into his broken arm. "Your private room, the armoury or the throne room. Which? Tell me and I might let you keep your 'personal tool',"

He blinked in fear. "You… you wouldn't,"

"Do you really wanna take that bet?" she asked as she reached down to his nether regions and lightly squeezed as a warning. "I have done it before, and I can do it again. Don't test me," she growled.

After a moment he spoke up. "My room," he said but before he could continue Sonja slammed his head against the wall knocking him out.

"Thank you," Sonja replied as she chained him up and used part of his clothing as a gag to prevent him from screaming out.

With that done, she took the short sword he had and moved to the door. Opening it a crack, she breathed a sigh of relief as her entrance wasn't guarded by anyone. Thanking small blessings, she eased her way through the door and made her way forward. Comparing where she was with the map in her mind, she planned her next steps as she moved through the corridors keeping low.

With a plan in mind, she made her way to the harem. She was going to need backup.

OOOOO

"I'm sorry," Liara apologised as she tied up the Qurrian who was staring daggers at her.

After telling Rana the plan, things went a little downhill as three of the harem girls attacked the two. While most of the harem used to be warriors, it seemed that they had let their skills dull allowing Miranda and Liara to counter them with ease. But not without a few up bumps and scrapes. The rest of the harem, however, wanted to join the two. There were 12 women in the harem. 6 of them were former warriors who fought Arkid and lost while the others were slaves.

The three who fought Liara and Miranda were warriors and seemed to have loyalty to the lord of the Iron Sting clan. That love wasn't shared between the rest of the harem. Once all three were tied up, Miranda and Liara walked into the main room where everyone was waiting.

"So, what's the plan?" an Asari covered in black tattoos asked.

"Well, the plan was to wait for Shepard to get her, but with the 11 of us, I think we could break the door down," Liara said as Miranda moved up to the door giving it a look.

"Locked, and the pick isn't going to fit this," she shrugged.

"Could one of the hairpins work?" one of the women asked, but Miranda shook her head as she held up the pick pointing out the teeth and prongs at the top.

"No, this is specialty-made," she sighed. "Looks like we are going to…" she started to say, but a thud and a crack on the door made her back up.

The sound of yelling and cries of pain echoed from beyond the door. After a couple of moments, the door opened and Sonja, covered in new scars and fresh blood, walked in.

"Hey guys," she said as she stepped into the harem fully. "What's going on?"

Liara, despite being transfixed by the sight of Sonja, shook her head and quickly explained that the rest of the harem wanted to leave. To her relief, Sonja nodded, but then she noticed the silver-haired Amazon's look at the woman.

"What's wrong," Miranda asked as she also noticed the look that was making the women uncomfortable.

After a moment, Sonja shook her head and turned to pick up fallen weapons. "This is good, we can split up into three teams," she said as she handed the weapons to the group. "One group heads to the throne room, the other heads to the armoury and the third heads to his room," she looked at the nine before pointing at three. "You, you and you are with me and we'll take the personal room. Arkid said that the sword would be there, but I'm not taking any chances,"

"I'll take the armoury," Miranda said. "You three," she pointed at a group. "Are with me,"

"You three with me," Liara said as she jerked her head to the door.

"Remember the exit plan," Sonja yelled as she, Miranda and their groups left the room.