As was to be expected by this point, Grayson was already waiting by the time Locksmith Squadron had returned to the briefing room. If Avery didn't know any better, she would've thought that he hadn't moved an inch since they first left- although it was still a distinct possibility. At this rate, the man was going to end up working himself to death. And yet, he still smiled from ear-to-ear as soon as the five pilots entered the briefing room.
"Ah, Locksmith Squadron. It's good to see you all back safe and sound," he greeted them as they all found their seats. "I heard you ran into some trouble."
Shepard shook his head. "It was nothing we couldn't handle, sir. Sometimes, it's just better to run and fight another day than rush into a fight you can't win."
Grayson nodded in agreement. "I couldn't have said it better myself. Speaking of which, I must commend you all for your remarkable work today. Thanks to your quick and decisive action, we managed to not only prevent a significant amount of damage to the geothermal facilities at the Hayden Valley Fracture, but you also saved countless lives protecting those evac choppers."
"Ah, we're just doing our jobs. No need to thank us for it," Cutter replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Hey, speak for yourself. I'll take all the praise I can get- especially when it's coming from Grayson," Pad chimed in with a smirk.
"Make no mistake, though," Grayson interjected. "The assault on Yellowstone that happened today has been nothing short of a disaster. The rebels have caught us completely off guard and drained us of precious resources in the process. In short, they've put us on the back foot. If we want to have any chance at all of preventing our front lines from collapsing, we'll need to dig in and wait for them to make the next move."
"Is there anything else we can do, sir?" Shepard asked.
Grayson shook his head. "No, that's quite alright. You've all done plenty to help out today. Thank you, though." He plopped himself down at his desk, leaning idly back into his chair as he stared blankly at the screen in front of him.
The five pilots all stood up and saluted him before filing out of the briefing room. For a time, they all walked together, talking about what they all thought of the mission, and what it signaled for times yet to come. Shepard, as usual, did his best to dispel any doubts the rest of the squadron might've had, but even he could only do so much. The thought of the Federation- the most powerful entity on Earth- being put on the back foot by a bunch of rebels made everyone on edge. Slowly but surely, though, they began to split away from one another, all going their separate ways until Avery found herself walking through the halls alone. No doubt, ASH was going to turn in for day, and Avery didn't blame her one bit. Although she wasn't ready to join her quite yet, so she started toward the mess hall instead, opting not to disturb her.
By the time she arrived, there were only a handful of people around- all spread out at different tables. Eventually, though, she managed to catch a glimpse of Statts, dressed from head to toe in combat gear, and it didn't take long for him to see her. After giving the pilot a quick wave, he gestured for her to join him, and she obliged.
"Hey, there ya are. Was startin' to wonder where you'd gone off to," Statts greeted her as she sat down across from him.
Avery shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, you know… just went out to Hayden Valley and back, shot down some mercs, you know the deal."
"Ah so you were right in the thick of things, eh? Lucky you. My boys'n I just got back from the front lines, holding back the rebels' advances." he paused. "Was it as bad as folks are makin' it out to be?"
Avery's expression darkened. "There was damage quite literally as far as the eye could see. I've never seen so much smoke and fire before."
"Dust Mother preserve us…" Statts murmured gently, toeing the line between a simple expression and an actual prayer. "Let's just hope it's not as bad by the time we get there."
"You're going back out?" Avery asked curiously. "I thought you just got back."
Statts scoffed. "We did. But accordin' to Grayson our involvement in the next battles is "of the upmost importance" to the Federation." He made heavy emphasis on the air quotes he was using.
"Sounds like he must think pretty highly of you guys," she replied.
Statts shrugged. "Nah. Y'see, everyone on this base has a weapon. You've got your plane, I've got my rifle, but Grayson? His weapon is flattery. He'll make ya feel like the most important person on the continent- someone who he values and respects, but it's all just a veil. He makes ya do all this shit, but you go way past what you should because ya just think've it as doing it for a guy that respects you, and that you respect in turn."
Avery looked down at the table. Although his assessment may not have been entirely wrong per say, it didn't exactly feel like a fair judgement to make of a man in Grayson's position. "Maybe…" she conceded aloud. "But then again, he is the Commander of all the Federation forces in Cascadia. That's kind of his job."
Statts shrugged. "Sure, but there's a limit to how far you can push people. Y'push long enough, someone's gonna break. And if shit like what happened with Crimson keeps happenin' then that day'll come sooner than you think."
"Crimson?" Avery echoed, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "What happened with Crimson?"
Statts gave her a look that shared just as much confusion as the one she was giving him. "Mean you haven't heard yet? Apparently Crimson went to Appodock to intercept the merc with the Crown emblem that everyone's been blabbing about. Soon as they got there, all the other mercs started high-tailing it outta there, but the Crown fought 'em head-on- nearly shot one of 'em down, too."
Avery's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
"Damn straight I'm serious. Only reason I knew about it was 'cause I heard all them Peacekeepers arguing once they got back," Statts explained.
"By the Dust…" Avery murmured mostly to herself. She'd looked up to the Peacekeepers- especially Crimson Squadron- for most of her life. For as long as she was old enough to know what planes were, her parents would take her to airshows whenever they could, and without fail she'd spend the whole time waiting for the planes in red to do their flashy maneuvers. It was why she became a fighter pilot in the first place. To think that there was a mercenary out there who could send her idols running… it instilled in her a feeling that she wasn't equipped to describe.
Finally, Statts let out a heavy sigh as he stood up. "Well… been nice catchin' up with ya, Glade, but I better start gettin' ready to head out. You take care o' yourself, alright?"
Avery simply nodded in response. It was all she could manage. Before long, she was alone again, but she decided that at that moment, she didn't need to just be alone, she needed solitude- to hear her voice in her own mind rather than the comings and goings of those around her. She quickly slipped out from the mess hall, and before long, she found herself sitting outside, just a few dozen yards away from the tarmac. All things considered, it was surprising peaceful, and it was just what Avery needed; a place where she could unwind and decompress.
She let out a heavy sigh, briefly glancing up at the dark clouded sky above her. "Just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" she asked herself before scoffing. "And right as I was starting to think that things were going my way for a change."
Suddenly, she felt something land on the bridge of her nose, then another something on her cheek, and again on her hand. She looked up at the sky, and sure enough, it had started to rain. She never would've imagined herself getting excited at something so mundane as a little rain, and yet, here she was. It almost felt like it marked a sense of… finality, for lack of a better word; as if one chapter was ending and another was about to begin.
Suddenly, she heard a groan behind her. "Ah, great. That just figures, doesn't it?" It was Cutter, leaning up against the wall of a building.
Avery whipped around in surprise, her heart thudding heavily at the realization that she wasn't alone. "How long have you been here?"
He smirked. "Longer than you." He paused to look around at the secluded area they'd both found themselves in. "Choice spot we've got here, isn't it? I come here when I need a little time to think."
Avery followed his gaze as it swept across the area. "Well, it's definitely a good spot for that," she agreed, pausing for a moment before looking at the second-in-command. "What uh… what brought you out here, then?"
Cutter shrugged dismissively. "Ah, nothin' much- just thinking about home, is all. That and collecting my thoughts for my next letter back."
The younger pilot raised a curious brow his way. "Who to?"
"My daughter," Cutter answered with a warm smile. "She's probably just a few years younger than you, actually. Right now she's at Ulaanbaatar for flight training."
Avery never would've suspected Cutter to be a parent. Not only did his hand not bear a ring, but as she thought harder on it, the math of a man in his early thirties having a kid in their twenties didn't add up. Her brow furrowed as she thought harder on it, but none of the answers she could think up made much sense.
Cutter took notice of her struggle to comprehend the concept and chuckled. "She's adopted," he finally told her. "Found her on the streets not too long after I'd gotten back from my first deployment. She was probably around… ten or eleven, I think. Anyway, she was all alone with nowhere to go, so I took her in, and I wouldn't have it any other way."
"I never imagined you as the type to have ties across the ocean," Avery said.
He looked at her with an expression mixed of surprise and confusion. "Of course. We've all got family. It's what keeps us going. I've got my daughter, Shep's got a wife and two kids, Pad has his sweetheart down in Victoria, and ASH has her parents and sisters in Magadan. I'm sure you've got your own family here in Cascadia."
She nodded. "I do- just my parents though." The wait she went through to hear back from them after the war started was agonizing. There was a time when she was convinced that her father didn't make it. After all, he was in the Federation Embassy- where the first shots of the war had been fired- on that fateful day. He was nothing more than an advisor to some politician, but she knew perfectly well how common collateral damage was. Fortunately, he'd always been tough as nails- as was her mother, and they'd both managed to flee into the countryside.
"See? We've all got someone. After all, we're social creatures at heart. It's just who we are." Cutter paused for a moment, staring blankly ahead toward the tarmac. "Lotta people in our line of work don't talk about their families and loved ones back home. Hell, most of 'em seem to avoid it like the plague. They say it's bad luck and that you're just asking to get killed but… I disagree. To keep such a big chunk of our identity under wraps- to just lock it away and bottle it up- it denies us a part of ourselves that's crucial in this profession: it keeps us grounded to the why- to understanding what we're fighting for and keeping that in the forefront of our minds."
Avery looked up at him and smiled. "Awfully insightful of you, Cutter."
He shrugged. "What can I say? I guess Shepard's rubbing off on me as I get older." He nodded toward the barracks as he straightened himself up. "C'mon, now. Let's get out of this rain already."