Chapter 53: Catching Up

"TED, what've we got?" Mal casually asked after decimating an advancing trio of minotaurs with a shockwave before opening fire on their cohorts with his new M-7 Lancer assault rifle.

"All minotaurs and an Overseer. There's no sign of a Zodiac Commander." TED replied while firing several homing grenades at the opposition.

"Damn, I hope the bastard didn't make a run for it before we got here." Mal replied in agitation before erecting a biotic barrier and modifying his ammo to fire warp rounds.

"If he did, it just proves how cowardly and weak they truly are." Tag derisively added while firing his M-11 Wraith.

"His possible escape is a troubling development, especially if he happened to be this 'Taurus' that you mentioned before." Zade calmly stated after draining the shields of a small squad of minotaurs and deploying his combat drone to finish them off.

"I guess that's what happens when you're late for the party. I blame Mason, if he hadn't held us up trying to look cool in front of Rika, we could've gotten here a lot sooner." Lance complained before opening fire on several approaching minotaurs with his Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle, effectively wiping out an entire squad of hostiles in the process. "By the way, remind me to thank Max. This gun is my new best friend." he pleasantly added.

"Well at least you've got something else to make you happy now that you can't hassle Mason about striking out with Rika anymore." Mal joked before firing another series of phase disruptors from his hand, utterly annihilating what remained of the minotaur forces. "There, nice and neat. Now we'll deal with that Overseer and Geist then be on our way. With any luck I'll be able to catch up to that Zodiac Commander before he leaves the planet." he calmly added.

Both Ethan and Isaac were completely stunned by how quickly Mal and his people had destroyed the enemy forces and also by how well armed they were. "Mal…is that an actual M-7 Lancer? Those things are practically antiques, collector's items, hell I've never seen one outside of a history book. I've heard rumors that a few had actually been refurbished and modified to fire the more powerful rounds of modern day weaponry, but still…how did you manage to get your hands on one?" Ethan asked in awe.

"I'm the Terminus Hunter, enough said." Mal replied humorously. "I also happen to have a wife who gets jealous easily and doesn't appreciate me using any armaments that were a gift from an asari stalker. She's got no problem going out of her way to one-up what she perceives to be the competition, but hey, I'm not complaining. It is a damn good gun." he added appreciatively.

"Wait, you already got married?!" Ethan spluttered.

"Yeah, I'm a newlywed now. I was hoping to spoil my lady a little bit longer but we had to get back to work. Anyway like I said before, we can talk later. Right now I've got a Zodiac Commander to track down and kill." Mal replied seriously.

"Um, excuse me." Isaac quietly interjected. "I'm afraid we already killed the Zodiac Commander who was in charge of the operations here. He didn't give us much of a choice in the matter, I wish he'd surrendered though."

Mal and his friends took a few moments to gawk at both Ethan and Isaac before finally laughing. "They actually stole my kill!" Mal chuckled.

"No wonder they're so messed up, oh man, these guys can't be typical Alliance grunts." Lance cheerfully added.

"I don't know about the kid, but Ethan is an N7 and a SPECTRE. I'm not really surprised that he managed to pull something like this off. Damn, you definitely earned your pay grade this time." Mal stated in admiration while facing Ethan. "I don't suppose you know which one you killed?"

"He said his name was Cancer and he sounded like a really twisted bastard to me." Ethan explained.

"The number two scumbag, huh? Well, that just leaves the worst of the worst." Mal quietly mused. "With no Zodiac Commander here for me to take out, I guess we should just finish this up and rendezvous with the others. After all of this, I'm going to need to unwind with my sexy wife who I'm sure is missing me terribly right now." he added pleasantly.

"Mal, hold on a minute." Ethan quickly said while grabbing his friend's hand. "There are a lot of things that I want to talk to you about, but right now I'll keep it simple. I need your help. Our mission is to shut down the ZEN relay core and bring down the blockade surrounding the planet. If you're planning to finish off the enemy opposition anyway, I could really use some assistance. I know how you feel about the Alliance and I can't say I blame you after what happened four years ago, but I'm asking that you do me this favor as a friend." he pleaded.

Mal took a moment to consider Ethan's request while observing him before finally smiling. "If I had to meet a Shepard after so long, I'm glad it was you." he replied warmly. "Zade, can it be done?" he asked after turning to face his drell tech specialist.

"Yes, but it won't be easy. The core is protected by a heavily fortified kinetic barrier and assuming we gain access to it, we can't simply destroy it, not by conventional means anyway." Zade explained while examining the core and analyzing several blueprints on his omni-tool.

"Come on, why not? Blowing shit up is how we usually solve our problems." Lance grumbled.

"And it's fun!" Tag chuckled.

Zade simply sighed in exasperation. "Mason is in good company it seems." he lamented. "There's a failsafe in the core's design that prevents catastrophic destruction in the event of serious damage. A protective shell composed of reinforced silaris plating and Foucault Currents will immediately be deployed to seal off the focal point of the device, mitigating any potential harm to the nerve center and allowing continued communications between the ZEN.

"He's right, the only way to bring it down is to manually implode the core." Isaac added. "That was my plan until we-"

"Until we ran across a damn Zodiac Commander AND an Overseer. We were expecting the latter, not the former and definitely not both." Ethan said bitterly.

"Mal, imploding the core is an incredibly dangerous prospect. We won't have much time to evacuate once the sequence is initiated and the process itself would require several skilled technicians to commence the procedure." TED cautiously explained.

"Isaac's a genius, he can handle it. That's why I brought him along." Ethan confidently replied.

"Zade is no slouch either, so they may as well work together." Mal replied casually. "I'll destroy the Overseer, Tag and Lance can handle the Geist, Zade you and the kid can work on bringing down the kinetic barrier around the core. TED, I want you to grab Ethan's frozen friends and keep them out of trouble." he ordered. "The Matriarchs are paying us extra for this, believe that." he added while erecting another biotic barrier.

Moments later, he and his team launched into action. Shiver and the Geist Unit were still struggling to recover from Mal's initial storm of phase disruptors and their kinetic barriers had yet to recover. As Mal made his approach, Shiver attempted to freeze him with a cryo blast that he promptly ignored while his barrier shrugged off the effects. He then fired his Lancer and maintained his assault as he continued his advance, his warp rounds causing significant damage to the enemy synthetic. Afterwards, he sent her flying with a pull and quickly followed up with a warp, triggering a biotic explosion that completely destroyed the Overseer.

Meanwhile, Tag had already staggered the enemy Geist Unit with a biotic charge and was already pummeling his adversary with a vicious string of punches, culminating in a massive head butt that toppled the synthetic. "No setting me on fire this time." he stated darkly before unleashing a carnage blast from his shotgun that obliterated the Geist's head.

"Damn it, Tag! I didn't get any shots in!" Lance complained after catching up with him.

"Next time, be quicker!" Tag laughed before slapping him across the back causing him to stumble slightly.

"Unbelievable, we nearly get killed by those things and these guys completely demolish them without even breaking a sweat." Temple remarked wryly while TED administered first aid to him and Gaines.

"I'm not complaining. I'm just glad they're helping and not trying to kill us. That Terminus Hunter guy is NOT a fan of the Alliance." Gaines replied in relief.

"While it's true that Mal isn't fond of the Alliance or Citadel Council, he'd never exhibit open hostility towards any soldiers, except for the ones who pointed guns at him several years ago…luckily that isn't you." TED quietly explained.

"Captain Xuen had better stay on the ship." Temple immediately whispered to Gaines who nodded his agreement.

"Alright, we're all clear. How's the work on that barrier coming along?" Mal asked after reconvening with the others. He got his answer within seconds as the kinetic barrier surrounding the relay core suddenly dissipated.

"Exterior defenses around the core must have been linked to the Overseer Unit. The moment you destroyed her, disabling the barrier became considerably easier." Zade calmly stated while working on his omni-tool.

"Now comes the tricky part, we'll have to hack into the core, override the safety protocols and initiate an implosion. This goes against my scientific ethics but it has to done." Isaac said regretfully.

"I have a feeling this is going to be one hell of a demolition, so I think I'll call for a ride." Mal quipped before opening a communication line with another member of his crew. "Blaze, things are about to get messy. I want you and Lira to pick us up in those new toys that we 'borrowed' earlier. And be quick about it, if I end up dying in an implosion, Tess will never let me hear the end of it." Mal humorously commanded.

"We're on our way, Mal. And don't worry, I'd rather die with you than have to face Tess if you did." Blaze joked back before ending the communication.

"This is going to be close, isn't it?" Lance asked apprehensively.

"Probably. I should've spent another week on Bekenstein pampering Tess. Oh well, let's do this." Mal replied leisurely.

Within moments, both Isaac and Zade were hacking their way into the controls of the relay core and preparing to trigger a massive implosion. After several furious minutes of work, they were successful and the enormous tower standing before them began to tremble as sparks began to fly. "Time to go." Mal calmly announced before grabbing both Ethan and Isaac and tossing them over his shoulders and making a mad dash for the exit. TED followed his lead while carrying Temple and Gaines as the others sprinted behind them.

"There's no way we'll reach one of the entrances before this place goes!" Gaines shouted desperately.

"Who said anything about heading for an entrance?" Mal mused serenely while leading the way to a seemingly dead end. He then set Ethan and Isaac down before directing his attention at the wall standing before them. Without hesitation, he unleashed a massive biotic flare that completely destroyed the hindrance and revealed the outside of the facility and the disturbingly arduous height from which they were positioned. "Okay, now we wait." he calmly stated afterwards.

"WHAT?!" Ethan and his comrades shouted in unison.

"It seems our rides haven proven to be more punctual for once." Zade remarked as a pair of unusual looking sky vehicles approached and came to stop below them before opening their vertical facing door hatches.

"And now we haul ass." Mal announced before once again grabbing Ethan and Isaac and jumping into one of the waiting vehicles.

"I'm guessing we missed something fun, as usual." Lira replied sullenly after Mal approached her once he was inside of the vessel. "Who're they?" she asked curiously after glancing at Ethan and his compatriots whom TED had carried.

"An old friend and his crewmates." Mal replied earnestly. "Now let's put some distance between us and this damn fortress." he ordered.

Within seconds, the two vehicles had shot off and not a moment too soon. The implosion that followed their departure was quite impressive and thoroughly destructive. "Tess and the others are already waiting for us at the Huntress base. They finished liberating the last prison an hour ago and every enemy outpost in the region has been destroyed." Lira explained brightly. "So how did your hunt for the Zodiac Commander go?" she asked curiously.

"To make a long story short, he's dead but I wasn't the one who killed him. These two did." Mal explained before pointing to Ethan and Isaac. "It wasn't the guy I'm looking for anyway, but he was one of their worst. I guess I'll have to try the next front." he added pleasantly while relaxing in a seat next to Lira.

Several hours later, everyone had reconvened at the huntress' secret base of operations where a celebration was already unfolding. The destruction of the relay core had completely crippled communications within the ZEN and allowed the Orizaba to annihilate their blockade around the planet. Allied ships from the Turian Hierarchy and the Alliance were already heading for the planet to assist in wiping out the scattered ZEN forces that remained on the planet's surface. Thessia was officially free of enemy control and the asari fleets would soon be ready to mobilize now that they weren't burdened by the seemingly impossible task of liberating their home system. Despite the fact that another phase of his plan had come together, Ethan found himself completely distracted by the lovely visitor who was currently sitting by his bedside inside of a small room that was acting as one of the many medical areas of the asari base.

"The doctors tell me that your injuries aren't as serious as they'd originally believed. I'm glad." Liara sighed in relief.

"Liara, listen I-"

"No Ethan, I need you to listen." Liara quickly cut him off before taking a deep breath. "There is something between us, but for me it is the result of my lingering feelings for someone else. Many years ago, a young Alliance soldier and SPECTRE rescued me from the clutches of a rogue colleague and geth heretics. He was and still is a remarkable and selfless individual whom I cherish quite deeply. Even though he chose to spend his life with someone else, my feelings for him haven't changed. I still love him a great deal and…you remind me of him. Your spirit, drive and altruism are all the same as your father's and you also physically resemble him, especially now that you're all grown up. But that doesn't excuse what I've allowed to occur between us. If this continues, I'll end up hurting you, even worse than how I'm hurting you now. You, your brothers and sisters all mean more to me than you can imagine and the fact that I may have jeopardized one of the precious bonds that I have with one of you is unforgivable. I won't ask you to forget about what has transpired but I must make it clear right now, we can never be more than what we already are. I'm sorry that I allowed things to go so far but I won't use you as a replacement for you father, Ethan." she quietly explained before standing and making her way towards the open doorway of his room. "I'm…sorry." she tearfully added before finally leaving.

As Ethan laid in his bed, he suddenly felt hollow and embarrassed. His father, she loved his father. It was his own fault, he knew that. Miranda had tried to intervene, she had probably known the truth. The pain and humiliation that he now suffered were his own fault for pursuing a silly childhood crush. At that moment, he felt quite stupid and alone.

"Ouch, that uh…that had to hurt." a sympathetic voice suddenly stated. As Mal entered the room, Ethan was surprised to discover that he was somewhat relieved. It was without a doubt awkward having someone else know about his shame but somehow, the fact that it was Mal made it less uncomfortable. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything but by the time I was outside the door she was already talking. So, um-"

"Yeah Mal, I'm still an idiot." Ethan sighed. "I've spent four years climbing my way up the ladder in the Alliance, busting my ass to become an N7 and SPECTRE and doing everything I can to clear out Equinox spies and operatives in the Citadel and everywhere else. But as far as relationships go, I've done nothing but screw up. I can't seem to do anything else, especially since I lost her." Ethan explained.

"And by her, you mean Zoe." Mal replied while taking a seat. "Damn it Ethan, what the hell is your problem?" he added in exasperation. "So, what has Zoe been up to? She's an old friend and I do still think about her sometimes. She's also the only member of the Valkyries that I don't despise." he inquired.

"She's great, beautiful as ever, her career is flourishing and she's even got a boyfriend." Ethan replied somberly.

"Oh boy, okay, is he a decent guy? Should I be worried?" Mal asked.

"That's just it Mal, he's perfect. Well, not perfect but he is a nice guy. An N7 demolisher with an impressive military record, a friendly personality and a face that I just want to punch senseless." Ethan replied bitterly.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that? Less than five minutes ago you were pining for Liara and now you actually have the gall to be jealous of this mystery soldier who's dating Zoe, a fantastic woman that you HAD by the way, and blew things with. I'm going to be honest, my sympathy for you is running real thin." Mal stated irritably.

"The thing with Liara is, I was probably using her as much as she claimed she'd be using me. I just wanted to forget, to try and move on with someone else. But I can't, I just can't." Ethan explained in exhaustion.

"Well, I don't think I'm the most qualified person to be giving you advice. I've got my own share of troubles that mostly involve women." Mal replied in exasperation.

"What do you mean? How can you be having problems already, you just got married?!" Ethan asked incredulously.

"Yeah and it's great. I love Tess more than anything and she's seen me through some of the worst moments of my life." Mal replied fondly. He didn't need to elaborate, Ethan was certain that he knew what those moments were and he also remembered who Tess was from a prior meeting four years earlier. "After that Citadel shit…I was pretty messed up for awhile. I was pissed off, bitter and heartbroken. If my friends and family hadn't been there, especially Tess, I don't know what I would've done. In the center of all that pain and turmoil, my flower gave me the strength that I needed to move forward and I'll always love her for that. But as happy as we are right now, I know that it won't last. You remember my little secret don't you? I'll be around for at least a millennium, maybe longer. But Tess doesn't have that kind of time, we've only got a few decades to enjoy before…before she joins her family." he quietly explained.

"Mal, I don't know what to say." Ethan replied sympathetically.

"There's nothing to say, it is what it is." Mal stated before sighing. "She's already talking about having kids, but should I even be having children? I have no idea how they'd even turn out. Would they be superhumans? Hybrids? Suppose I have to explain to them someday that they'll outlive practically everyone that they ever get close to. I don't know how the asari or the krogan do it." Mal said wearily.

"Have you tried asking an asari or a krogan? I mean, you have friends from both." Ethan inquired.

"Don't remind me." Mal laughed. "Krogan aren't really hung up on this kind of thing and the two guys that I know are just happy about the fact that I'll be around to get into trouble with for the next few centuries, my pop is more or less the same way but a little more poetic than he'd care to admit. The asari are more philosophical about it, savor the time you have together and all that crap. It's a nice notion until you're faced with that final, inevitable goodbye. Pop worries about that part when it comes to mom, but up until now he's never had anyone that he was close enough to care about, so he's in the same position as me only further along. And I prefer not to discuss it too often with one of my asari friends because of her feelings for me. She's hoping for something someday and I honestly don't know if I'll be able to deliver on her expectations." he continued.

Listening to Mal's concerns made Ethan's own problems feel insignificant to say the least. "You really know how to put things into perspective, don't you? Ethan joked.

"Do I really?" Mal quipped. "Oh, and did I mention having a possessive, unbalanced, dangerously obsessed asari stalker who also happens to be the leader of an infamous group of assassins. So there's that too. And a Zodiac Commander has a thing for me, not really sure how either of those are going to pan out. Anyway, what were you saying about missing Zoe and having problems?" Mal replied humorously.

"Fine, you win. I don't even-A Zodiac Commander?!" Ethan spluttered after doing a double take causing Mal to laugh.

They spent the next hour sharing their concerns about the future, swapping stories and overall just making up for years of lost time. Mal was eager to hear about Will, David and Hannah and he was also slightly taken aback when Ethan revealed that Isaac was in fact Hannah's boyfriend. The two subjects that Ethan had been careful to avoid were his parents and Allie. He knew that his sister still had feelings for Mal and that she wanted to resolve things with him at some point but at that moment it was clear that Mal had moved on and he didn't feel that it was his place to interfere.

"Well Ethan, I don't know what to tell you. In a few centuries my love life is probably going to be as complicated as yours, so I think I'll enjoy the simplicity of sheer bliss right now." Mal stated humorously. "I'm just glad that David and Hannah haven't followed your example when it comes to romance."

"You and me both." Ethan replied in relief. "David and Sophie have been together for four years now and Isaac, he's a good guy. Hannah adores him and he's already proven how much he loves her. Even if everything else in my life goes to hell, as long as my little brother and sister are happy, I can cope with the other garbage."

"Same old Ethan." Mal said while shaking his head in exasperation. "I hate to break it to you, but you not being happy won't go over well with them. The Shepard kids have always been connected, you share each other's joys and sorrows. In a way, it makes you special." he added appreciatively. "By the way, just because you gave the Graham kid your approval doesn't mean he'll get mine. I care about Hannah too and if I'm not convinced that this brat can protect her and face down the asshole who I know will give them a hard time, I'll personally kick his ass and be proud to do it." he continued in a somewhat serious manner.

"Geez Mal, cut the kid some slack. He's not ready to face the Terminus Hunter." Ethan joked.

"Who said anything about facing me?" Mal asked while grinning. "I think it's about time that you both got formally introduced to my family. We were about to relax anyway, so now's a good chance for you to meet everyone."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Your wife DOES NOT like my dad and I've heard how protective your other friends are." Ethan cautiously inquired.

"Relax, you aren't your parents and you're not a Valkyrie either, so everything will be cool. Tess knows that we go way back, so she'll be fine. Now get off your ass and let's go grab the kid. He needs to be evaluated and you need some cheering up." Mal commanded before standing.

As apprehensive as Ethan was, he couldn't help but feel a little bit excited. He was about to meet the Terminus Wolves, Mal's friends, the people who'd stood with and fought alongside him for the last four years. If nothing else, it would make for a great story to tell his brothers and sisters. After all, they'd been curious about Mal's companions too.