Shepard ran her fingers through her mahogany hair as she got into the ships elevator. The day had been… long. Proving Saren was a traitor, becoming a Spectre… but still not being able to convince the Council that the real threat wasn't Saren, or the geth, but the Reapers. At least not all mistrusted her. She had the crew. And she had her team, people who knew what she'd seen. Maybe they didn't know all the details, but they trusted her and that was all she needed them to do right now.
She stepped out from the elevator, her feet moving quickly as she climbs the steps up and passes through the CIC on her way to the cockpit. As she gets closer, her steps slow down before she stops, standing next to her pilot.
"I heard what happened to Captain Anderson" Joker said, looking up at her for a brief moment before turning his head back, continuing the ships start up. "Survives a hundred battles, and then gets taken down by backroom politics. Just watch your back Commander." He looks at her again, "Things go back on this mission, and you're next on the chopping block."
Avery shook her head, "This feels wrong. It's like I'm stealing the ship from Captain Anderson."
"Yeah, the Captain got screwed, but it's not like you could've stopped it," the pilot looked back to his screen, "Nobody's blaming you."
She knew that. But it didn't make it easier to bear. Because she knew that if she hadn't become a Spectre, Anderson would've been commanding officer of the Normandy, and not her.
"Everyone on this ship is behind you, Commander. One hundred percent."
Her lips curved into a smile.
"Intercom's open." Joker nodded to her. "If you've got anything you want to say to the crew, now's the time."
Avery nodded slowly, leaning against the co-pilot chair, trying to figure out what she wanted to say and how to word it.
"This is Commander Shepard speaking." She exchanged glances with Jeff before continuing. "We have our orders, crew; Find Saren before he finds the Conduit." She paused, took a deep breath before she continued, "I won't lie to you, this mission is going to be far from easy. Our enemy knows that we're coming. When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us." Another pause. "But we'll be ready for them too."
Avery leaned in closer to the intercoms microphone. "This is the most important mission anyone of us has ever been on." There was weight behind every one of her words, but there was a lot of weight on her, on her crew, with this mission. If they failed, if Saren found the Conduit and he managed to bring back the Reapers… that would mean the end for the galactic civilization. "The fate of an entire galaxy is at stake. Now it's time for humanity to step up and do our part of the rest of the galaxy." Shepard looked at Joker, saw him smirking, causing her to smile too. "We will stop Saren, no matter what the cost!"
She watched the light indicating that the intercom was on, turn off, straightening herself again.
"Well said, Commander" Joker said, and she turned to him again, "Captain would be proud."
"Not if we fail," she responded, reminding him of the possibility of failure. It might not be an uplifting thought, but chances are that they could be unsuccessful. "Speeches won't stop Saren from finding the Conduit. If we really want to make the Captain proud, we better get this bird in the air."
"Yes ma'am." Jeff turned his attention forward, preparing the Normandy to leave the docks.
"Set course for the Knossos system in the Artemis Tau cluster." Avery turned around, started walking back towards the CIC, "We need to find Liara T'soni."
"Roger that."
Shepard walked with a fast pace through the ship, the images from the beacon flashing through her mind. The Protheans… was being wiped out by the Reapers. But it was still a mess in her head, the memories blurry and she couldn't really get a grip of anything. She knew the vision was important; otherwise Saren wouldn't have been after the beacon, but she couldn't figure out why it mattered so much. It had something to do with the Conduit, that much she knew. But... she didn't know much else.
"Commander?"
She stopped as she heard her name being called out. Looking in the direction the voice came from, she saw Kaidan walking up to her.
"Something on your mind, Lieutenant?"
He stopped a few feet away from her, "Uh, yeah, I was… I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment." Kaidan's eyes swept across the CIC and everyone in the room, "In private?"
She raised an eyebrow looking at him, "Yeah, of course."