As they sprinted down stairs and across busy walkways, it was all Kaidan could do to suppress a sigh of annoyance. He was all set to confront Nash, before she managed to turn the interrogation around. He had not planned on talking to her about his failed marriage…

How had he started talking about his son? It was so typical of that woman to deflect his questions. Shepard always played to win, even if it meant playing slightly dirty.

And now he was following her around an alien world at high speed, with the knowledge of a coming firefight. Just like old times.

"What's the plan, Nash?" He asked.

"We improvise. I assume they are after our prisoner. We just have to stop them first…"

"So run in, guns blazing, and hope everything works out?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Nash smiled at him. Kaidan felt a sharp pain in his gut.

The docking bay was empty, but Nash did not slow down. She plowed through customs and stood awkwardly still in the decontamination room.

"Greetings, Captain Nash. Scanning for discrepancies…" Said the ship's VI. The hum of the sensors was accompanied by the sound of Nash's booted toe tapping the ground. Kaidan took the moment to quiet his gasps for air, a result of the long sprint to the ship.

Though he was in better shape than most men of his age, Kaidan noticed he tired more quickly than years before. It was nothing major, but long sprints in combat armor were maybe not as easy as when he was in his prime. He glanced up. Nash was not winded in the slightest.

The airlock doors finally opened. Immediately bullets scored the hull doors behind Kaidan's head, and Nash swore somewhat creatively.

She leaped behind an empty crate. Kaidan dove behind one as well, avoiding high velocity sniper shells.

He glanced over the cover. Six assault mechs occupied the cargo hold. Their arms were trained on him and Nash.

Only six mechs were sent to take her ship? Nash was used to being underestimated since changing her name. Most of her defense was based on being underestimated, which was why she traveled without assault armor and avoided recognition for most of her deeds as a Ranger.

Still, this was just ridiculous. "Barrier!" She shouted. Without waiting for conformation, she stood and shot repeatedly. The return fire bounced harmlessly off of Alenko's biotics.

Six money shots, straight to the control chip. The mechs dropped in succession like a wave.

Alenko popped out of cover. "What if they had warp ammo equipped?"

Nash smiled. "Afterthoughts are pointless. They didn't, so my plan worked. Lets move." She shot a quick glance to the side to ensure the Tupari machine remained unperturbed by the firefight. Satisfied by the lack of bullet holes through its front, she climbed up the ladder to the next deck.

There was less cover in the crew quarters than in the cargo hold. Nash was increasingly grateful for the presence of Alenko, or at least for the presence of his biotics. He seemed to anticipate where and when Nash wanted a barrier, or a throw, before she formed the thought. As the last mech fell, comically into one of the vacant crew hammocks, Nash raced to the door of her closet of a cabin.

It was cracked open, the lock disengaged. The prisoner was gone. She kicked the door in anger, receiving in return a stubbed toe.

On the bridge, a crowd of mechs stood in front of the helm console. Tiny faced then back, his cushy chair turned away from the console with a pistol in his hand. A blue energy shield separated the pilot from the intruders. Nash raised her rifle.

After the ensuing firefight, the shield shut off. "Where did that shield come from?" Asked Nash.

"I installed it about a year ago," Tiny said, and then he shrugged. "Its my insurance that the only sticky end I meet will be of my own making."

"Bastard. The crew?"

"Sidonis and Tinea just arrived in the cargo hold. They got my emergency transmission but had farther to travel than you did."

"Murphy?"

"Taken. I have a recording of it." He punched a few buttons. The display screen was cracked in half but still functional. On the screen, Murphy hid behind a tarp in the cargo hold. Henderson and several mechs descended down the ladder from the crew deck. Before the reached the exit, Murphy leapt from cover ineptly holding a pistol. She said something and Henderson laughed. One of the mechs shocked her, and she collapsed. They carried her off the ship.

Nash flicked the screen. "Do you have audio for this?"

Tiny shook his head. "It recorded, but the speaker is broken. I heard it through the comm link though. She said" he pitched his voice high and squeaky "You are in the custody of a Terminus Ranger! Do you think we would let you just walk off the ship? Henderson just laughed at her. They all departed in a waiting Kodiak."

Alenko frowned. "And you just sat here and did nothing?"

He swiveled in the chair to face Alenko. The hinges creaked in complaint. "Look here buddy, Nash pays me to fly this shit - I mean ship - and that's what I do. Daring rescues are not in my job description."

"So saving the life of one of your crewmembers was above your paygrade? That's no excuse. I don't know how things are run in the Terminus, but where I operate senior officers would be court marshaled for such behavior." Said Alenko.

"Hey, I've saved the kid's life before by my flying... Besides, how was I supposed to know she couldn't hold of Henderson and those mechs?"

"Is this some kind of joke to you?"

"Nash, tell your damn boyfriend to lay offa me…." Tiny's voice was plaintive. Nash felt bad for him, since being on the receiving end of an Alenko morality rant was always a difficult experience. Still she was too angry to feel pity for the pilot.

"Shut up." Her voice was cold. "I don't know where they've gone but we have to follow them. Prepare for takeoff."

"Any idea of where we're going, Ma'am?"

"Hell!"