Happy N7 Day! Now go get ready for Andromeda!

The crew quickly straightened up respectfully when they recognized who was walking past. "Who was that?" one of them could be overheard whispering.

"That was Commander Shepard, you idiot!" another retorted.

Shepard stifled a laugh at many of their reactions. Some of them recognized him instantly while others had to be told that yes, that really was who they thought it was walking by.

"You didn't tell anyone I was coming?" he asked Anderson.

"I did. Either no one was paying attention or they thought I couldn't possibly be talking about the Commander Shepard," Anderson replied.

His family did have a pretty high presence in the Alliance military, but he was the only one currently holding the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Who the hell did they expect was coming?

"That's Commander Shepard?" someone whispered. "I've never actually seen him before. Why didn't anyone tell me he was hot?"

"I heard he likes aliens. I saw on an extranet news site that he was apparently dating some turian lieutenant a while back."

Shepard wondered if any of them were aware that they weren't quite out of earshot yet as they continued to whisper about who he might or might not have slept with at some point in the distant past.

"Wow. Guess my tabloid reputation really precedes me," Shepard replied sardonically.

"Indeed. I'll have to have a talk with the crew before we take off," Anderson agreed.

So this is the Normandy, Shepard thought to himself. Guess I could get used to this place for a little while.