Tonn Actus prided himself on his vast, criminal and somewhat historic fortune. Amongst the turians, and some might even add the general underground galactic community, he was infamous for his collection of relics from centuries and wars gone by. He mostly had articles from the Krogan Rebellions, a war in which he took part in and profiteered from. Some even suspected he had a rachni exoskeleton with the organs harvested out in a freezer. Nowadays, he began to amass a small, but fairly sizeable collection from the First Contact War.

For Actus, First Contact War relics were hard to find, simply because the war itself lasted incredibly short when compared to the Rebellions. And the War itself was waged in a concentrated area of space, especially on a human colony. To get 'artifacts' from Shanxi, the turian pirate had to make new and somewhat uneasy connections and alliances with human pirates and gang leaders. He felt it was worth it though, if anything so that he could brag to his fellow turians that he actually had something from Shanxi.

Prized among these were the dogtags that belonged to General Joachim Williams.

As Actus walked away from the balcony overlooking his veritable museum, he held the dog tags in his claws, admiring their sheen. Such a curious little item, he mused, the humans have. What good were dog tags, he often wondered. One of his rare, few human hires told him that it was a means for the Alliance to identify soldiers. The turian felt it was pointless, but that may have been because in the turian military, everyone knew who one another was and the colony markings were the distinct features that set the otherwise vanillia turians apart from each other.

Yet there was something about the dog tags that sent a chill down his hardened spine.

Actus again inspected the engraving on General Williams' tags.

"Such curious creatures, these humans," he mumbled under breath, retreating to his personal quarters. "What good are these things for, anyhow?"

He set the tags on a table next to several other items of interest. Exhausted from the latest cargo inspection, Actus threw himself on his bed and closed his eyes. Counting armor, he had long since decided, was more trouble than it was worth at times. Perhaps because it all blended together after a while.

Not long before Actus was about to enter a dream state, was he awoken with a start by a loud buzz over the intercom.

"Lord Actus?" Spoke another turian voice.

"Do you MIND?" He snapped, shooting up from his bed. "If it's not important, forward all messages to Baylin or Walker. I'm not in the mood for small talk."

The crackle of radio static hurt his head.

"I'm sorry Lord Actus, forgive me," the voice apologized. "But I wanted to let you know that we haven't yet received the shipment from the Citadel. Vidin and the others dropped out of contact not long after they loaded the cargo."

Actus sat on the edge of his bed, struggling to stay awake. He could have sworn he heard something about the Citadel shipment, but what?

"So what you're saying to me is that the shipment has gone... what's the human saying... Ay-wall?" He grumbled. "... Dammit all! I'd expected just as much," he stood up and contemplated smashing his fist into the wall out of frustration. "Can you at least track the ship? The damn ship has to at least be traceable. It IS mine, after all!"

He folded his arms tightly across his chest, tapping his foot as he awaited a response.

"I... I think we might be able to." said another voice, time an asari.

"Well do it then!" He snapped. "And don't bother me about it until you do so."

Without warning, he terminated the connection. Actus felt a headache form at the base of his head, knowing very well that this was going to be a long day, indeed.

With a slight groan, Ashley slowly began to wake up. Rubbing one of her eyes, she stretched one arm above her and yawned. She wasn't sure how long she slept, but it felt as if she hadn't slept in years. Looking over to her side, she swore she saw that Wrex's seat was empty. Upon doing a double-take, she realized that Wrex was indeed missing.

Unbuckling the belt that held her to the chair, Ashley climbed out of her seat and began to look around.

"Wrex? Where are you?" She asked, nervously.

From a glimpse out of the corner of her eye, she realized they were now on the surface of what appeared to be a very chalky looking planet. They were surrounded by mountains and rocks, white dust floating through the air on a gentle breeze.

"Did... did we land?" Ashley asked herself.

"What does it look like?" spoke Wrex.

Ashley's eyes darted around the main cabin of the ship, hoping to find where the krogan was hiding.

"When did we land?" She then asked. "I mean, how long ago was it?"

A crate was promptly thrown across the hall, nearly missing Ashley by a hair. She winced as it collided with the wall, breaking open at the lid, its contents spilling out onto the floor before her. From the other room, Wrex strode forward, armed to the teeth with new weaponry and armor.

"Not that long ago," he explained. "Didn't wanna wake you up either."

"How thoughtful." she inspected him from head to toe.

Wrex wasn't sure what to make of Ashley's leering at him.

"Are you done staring at my ass, Williams?" He asked dryly. "We don't have much time before Actus' men find us."

"What do you mean by that?" She quickly became flustered, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "The, uh, time before his guys find us, I mean to say."

He threw another crate around.

"While you were dozing off, the ship ended up being tracked," he explained. He started to head out of the ship, not before shooting a couple things here and there. "Luckily for us, that's all they did. Downside is that they know we're here... in theory."

"So what you're saying is that we need to haul ass out of here?"

"Correct," Wrex nodded. "The upside to this is that while Actus' men are over here looking for the ship, that'll buy us enough time to get over to his base."

"What, no hiding in crates this time?" Ashley scoffed, opening the door for the krogan.

Wrex unceremoniously kicked Ashley out the door without even a flinch. The gunnery chief sailed through the air for a brief second, landing square on the rocky ground inches from the ship's door. Amdist the dust that had stirred up, Ashley began to choke, staggering upwards as she struggled to regain her balance.

Amused by this, Wrex chuckled under his breath.

Upon regaining her composure, Ashley brushed a strand of hair from her face and shot Wrex yet another dirty look. Before she could open her mouth, Wrex silenced her by holding up a finger in the air. His red eyes darted around, the roar of engines echoing in the vast distance of the wasteland, coming closer with every millisecond that passed.

"Over there," he instructed, running to a huge crop of rocks. "Actus' men are coming."

The pair dashed over to the rocks, ducking into a small cave-like formation inside one of them. The roaring of the engines was equal to that of a thresher maw, sans the acid. Although her hearing had been fairly dulled over time in the battlefield, Ashley still clutched her hands over her ears, desperately trying to block out the noise that sent her eardrums into a veritable fit.

As she covered her ears, Wrex peered over the edge of the rock, watching as the pirates parked their vehicle beside the ship. They climbed out of the tank, some with their guns drawn and ready. They called to each other, one warning them that the door to the ship was open and smoke was billowing out from inside. They then all headed inside, with only one standing watch over the vehicle.

"Now's our chance," Wrex grabbed Ashley by the wrist and pulled her up. "Hurry."

Ashley had little time to question, as she then found herself mere inches away from the tank. Signaling her to climb inside, Wrex pulled out a knife from a pouch around his ankle. Watching from the inside, the human winced as the krogan sliced the throat of the hapless asari; her body falling limp on the craggy ground.

Seconds later, Wrex hopped into the tank and turned on the ignition.

"Hm, similar to the Mako," he grumbled, pushing Ashley into the pilot's seat. "You pilot."

"Of course."

Inside, the band of bandits froze in their tracks upon hearing the roar of the tank's engine. Without hesitation, they dashed outside and watched as it began to drive away. Amidst screaming and shouting of various profanities, they began to open fire upon the tank. They chased after it, almost as if they had a death wish.

It was one wish Wrex was more than happy to fufill.

"Heh, what idiots," he sneered. "Keep driving, Williams. I'll take care of the pest control."

He climbed into the turret seat and began to open fire. Ashley wasn't sure what was more of a strain on her already battered hearing: the roar of the engines or the reptitive metallic ringing of the turret outside. Wrex grinned devlishly, taking the group out one by one in a blaze of glory filled with body parts and blood.

Upon taking the last one out, the krogan let out a hearty laugh.

"I think you're having way too much fun with this." Ashley rolled her eyes with a faint smile.

"Don't tell me you're not having fun driving this thing," he said. "You're a lot better than Shepard. At least with you, I'm not heaving my guts out every three seconds."

"For me? It takes about two," Ashley shouted above the grinding of rocks under the tires. "One to get it up, one to puke it out!"

For a brief moment, the both of them shared a moment of amusement. It was an odd sort of feeling, considering that not so long ago she threatened to kill Wrex on Virmire when he threatened Shepard. Funny how things change, she thought, especially in this day and age. Now she wondered how long it would be before they would be trying to kill each other again.

Wrex kept his eyes focused on the horizon; watching for the hideout of Tonn Actus. Yet his eyes occasionally darted to Ashley, who appeared to very much be enjoying the fact she was driving for once. There was something about her that he liked. He wasn't quite sure what it was or how to describe it. It was an odd feeling at best.

It wasn't one he liked to dwell on either.

"Stop here." he ordered, shaking his head.

The tank abruptly stopped before the slope of yet another small mountain.

"Any particular reason?" Ashley asked.

"Only a fool looks a nathnak in the mouth," he said omninously. "Knowing that son of a bitch he's probably found out the ruse and has the front of the base loaded."

"So you're suggesting we take the back way in?"

"I like the way you think, Williams."

"Don't tell me that wasn't your plan all along," she said. "Wasn't it?"

"Might have been," he unbuckled his belt and opened the hatch. "Let's move it."

As the two emerged from the tank, they found themselves surrounded by an entire platoon of about 30 of Actus' men; all armed and ready to fire upon them at any given second.

"Did you anticipate this as well?" She whispered.

The krogan seemed rather unsurprised by the whole scenario. The guards appeared to be waiting for the pair to make their first action.

"Get your ass back in the tank and drive." He growled.

"... What?"

"Just do what I said!" He snapped.

Ashley dove back in and slammed her foot on the pedal, sending the hulking car rocketing forward. Wrex felt himself being flung off of the roof of the machine, quickly grabbing the turret and pulling himself forward as a hail of gun fire rained upon him with an intense ferocity. The gunnery chief didn’t look back or even look out for anyone in front of her; her nerves shaking as she hear screams being muted under the tires. The constant thudding on the roof didn’t help her concentration either. She wanted to stop for Wrex, but couldn’t. A sudden stop would only fling him forward and thus into the loaded nest that was the front yard of Actus’ base.

Outside, the krogan made a herculean effort and smashed open the roof of the tank with his fist. Ashley yelped, cringing as Wrex hurled himself into the cockpit.

Not long after, the tank veered around the small hillside, eventually coming to a stop near the entrance of a large warehouse that was apparently built deep inside a nearby mountain. Ashley struggled to catch her breath; her heart pounding inside of her chest with ferocity she hadn’t felt since Virmire. Wrex, on the other hand, also deemed it time to catch his breath, but he instead slouched on the seat and stared up at the roof of the cabin.

“I don’t wanna know how you did it back there, but you…” She said amongst gasps for air. “… Are CRAZY!”

Wrex couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.

“I’d like to think of that as a compliment.”