Citadel Part 13 Crew talks

-Normandy-

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"Cocksucking burning pheasants!" Leo was walking up the ramp agitated. Wrex looked at him amused. He reminded him of a few of his lieutenants when they had to do something they didn't like. "It is ok, a chance for women and violence. All the violence. And test subjects. Think of the test subjects. Just have to put up with shitty Alliance regulations from people. Not so bad. Most will get themselves killed anyway."

"Hmm, maybe this will be more interesting than I thought." Nihlus hummed from the side. Moving into the Officers quarters was decent enough. "Not bad in here. Can see where the Turian aspects come from."

"I bet you can." Leo dropped his rucksack to the side. He received a message on his Omni-tool. "Go ahead Dr. Chakwas"

"Leo why didnt you tell me you had a Masters's in Genetic Engineering, and in Biology. It is also not in your records. Just the Bachelors and Masters in International Relations. Why not add that to your record?"

"Umm yah see what had happen was.." Leo didn't know what to say since it didn't matter. He was not going to share the genetic engineering with anyone anyway really. "..eh I do not want to lie to you Doc. So not gonna answer. How did you get this information anyway."

The line went quiet for a while.

"I see. Come to medical when you have the chance." Dr.Chakwas hung up.

"Very interesting. We should tour the ship. We will be here a while." Nihlus said. Leo shrugged. "Considering the others are still sleeping in medical, we can save that for last. What did you give them anyway?"

"Sure, why not." Leo was interested in checking the ship out more. Possible design upgrades for later anyway. He also needed a better location to train besides the hanger. "A small vaccine. That poison that Sha'ira received was something else."

"Oh, Sha'ira is it now?" Nihlus teased. Leo just grinned rolling his eyes. "I just thought of something, what are you gonna do about those two?" He gestured towards Zed and Felicia. The two were coming with despite the advice of Leo. But Felicia had contacts that paid off well. And Jane vouched for the woman.

"Nothing to be done." Leo shrugged.

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-The Crew-

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"Commander Leo!" Jenkins said excitied. Almost like a kid with a puppy. Eyes bright and shiny. "Man I know you are not happy but I am. Good to have you onboard still. You as well Nihlus. You did well by us I heard. Makes you okay in my book."

"Thank you, Corporal Jenkins. Heard you did fine down there. I look forward to seeing you rise through the ranks." Nihlus sat down and started to try the food. "What is this?"

"Oatmeal." Leo answered. He did not touch it. "I find it disgusting. Where the hell is the grits at? Maybe I can slip off the ship and go buy some snacks before take off?"

"We already lifted out. Leaving now and they would think you are abandoning ship." Tasting the food, Nihlus was ecstatic. "This is fantastic. Is there more?"

"Of course. It is easily made. Comes in different flavors to." Jenkins said. They spent over 20 minutes talking about oatmeal flavors. Leo chimed in every now and then. But other than that his eyes looked around at the crew.

A.I.- A lot of them have potential. A few ground missions for dispatch can definitely improve them by leaps and bounds.

'Yeah, sounds about right. Quite a few missions would go better with other teams down on the ground. How to do it though?'

A.I.- With the help of Nihlus it is easy. I will send a report via your omni-tool. You won't have to do anything.

'That makes it so much easier.' Finishing up, they walked to the next area. The armory had actually two people in it at this time. "Ah seems occupied."

"Hold on." Nihlus grabbed Leo by the shoulder. "So quick to leave."

"Nah it is a courtesy. A courtesy man. They need alone time to become good friends. No need for us to get in the way of it." Leo actually just wanted to get away from Ashley. She gave him resting bitch face very openly. 'I really want to punch her in the face. But she is giving off good cultivation energy. So there is that.'

"It is fine." Garrus answered moving over. "We were just cleaning guns and talking over a few finer points of breach tactics."

"Stick around Commander, you might learn something." Ashley said insipidly.

"Tch!" Leo sucked his teeth and stood put. They talked about guns for a bit. He kept his eyes on a busted smg. Walking over the A.I. instructed him how to fix it. He had the parts in his inventory from Eden Prime actually. "Nice set. Who do they belong to?"

"One of my squad from 212. It jammed up on him in a geth attack. Cost him his life." Ashley said sadly. "He never did proper maintenance on it. No matter how much I got onto him about it." Leo remained quiet for a while.

"So, mind if I use them?" He rose them up and checked the sights. "Not bad weight either. Or buy them off you?"

"I rather you didnt." Ashely said stronger than she wanted. She watched as Leo took the gun back apart and shrug. He made no fuss but wouldn't leave his upgrades in a gun that would just sit there. "So are you gonna stay mad at Jane?"

"Not mad at Jane anymore. I do not care anymore about what happened." Leo picked up a sniper rifle. It was the one he expected Garrus to use. "This yours Garrus?" Eyes roaming over to the turian.

"Yes. Custom model. How does it feel?"

"Slightly off-putting. Turians have longer arms than humans. But the gun is the same. Makes no sense really. Then again.. Guess it is because of the shooting style." Leo put the gun back down. "Nice calibrations. Would you do it for a sniper rifle I am making?"

"Sure. Anything special about it?" Garrus asked interested. Common ground was always a good way for different teams to get along.

"Yeah. Anti-human and synthetic. Can't change the specs on the rifle to much. Its whole design is.." He looked over at him slightly. "..design to put both species down. And a fusion of them…" Leo let out a slight whistle before continuing. ".. it will rip them apart and whatever is behind them a little. Hopefully more of its kind if it is a good shot anyway."

"Sounds deadly." Nihlus said. Him and Leo went to the door to leave. Having spent enough time there already.

"Think it will come to that?" Ashley asked.

"You bet your sweet ass it will." Leo answered as the door closed.

"I think he is really trying for a court-martial." Garrus said to Ashley amused. 'They are all planned jabs. Ever shifting personality. I will need to do some digging on his training. Something just doesn't add up.'

"Yeah, I think so." Ashley found it odd but left it alone for now. Eyes turning to the different guns on the table. 'Put it togethor then took it apart after. Should have asked if anything else was wrong with it.'

She worried maybe it was more than what she thought about the gun. Maybe a malfunction and not just a lack of cleaning.

Garrus wonder what components would be involved in the gun's design.

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Medical-

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They passed a few in the hall and made it to Engineering. Tali waved as she was talking to Gabby. She was slightly more outgoing than before thanks to Leo. More respect is given to her from fighting in the firefight earlier.

As well as hitting Leo in front of the council.

Passing on by, they made it to Medical after a quick check over the lower areas. Nihlus sat down to get checked over by Dr.Chandra. Leo sat in another bed. Dr.Chakwas went over to Nihlus with Dr.Chandra since the younger woman was rusty in a sense.

Both doctors wanting to check him over for injuries still. Feeling like he owed Leo a little after the Council incident, the Turian let the doctors fuss. With the treatments he received in the last few days, it was a good idea.

"Haaa." Leo leaned back in a cot and fell asleep. 'Maya can take over any trouble that might arise.' He didn't wake up until much later.

Maya spoke with the crew only as needed. The "orders" she had made it clear, she only reported to Leo and the Admilitary Board of the Alliance. Even Nihlus couldn't order her about. Let alone Jane. Credits talked. Moved mountains. As well as blackmail and extortion most likely.

Leo was snoozing away happily for a bit. A little to happily apparently.

"Hey, sunshine." Hearing the voice, Leo looked over ready to strike as he popped up. Biotics wrapped around his palm. "Take it easy. Not here to fight." It was Jane. Hands in front not wanting any trouble.

The fact she was calm, impressed Leo.

"Ugh." Groaning, Leo threw his feet to the side getting up. Checking his Omni-tool, let him know he slept for 13 hours straight. "That sucked. Good thing I don't have anything planned."

"Are we going to talk at all?" Jane asked. "Are you going to talk to Felicia and Laz?"

"What is there to talk about? Leo eyed her over his shoulder. "You chose your "father" over me, which was ok. Teenage girls love their dads in all kinds of ways." His voice caring a slight suggestion. "Even though you clocked him at graduation, you apologize afterward and made peace with him really quickly. Then the times I tried to contact you on leave, you stood me up. There are no mixed signals, just a stupid person trying to make a connection with someone who obviously doesn't want to. Forget what I said on the shuttle, it was stupid of me."

"Wait Leo.."

"Commander Shepard you should focus on your job. Duty first." Leo rolled his shoulders as he left to get something to eat. Removing his armor after having slept in it. For several reasons actually. "You are a Human Spectre after all. Comes with.. some attachments."

The A.I. went through a good bit of the info from the Prothean Beacon. Jane stood there until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Dr. Chakwas had heard everything.

"Just sit down Commander. Your brother is going through some things. I can not tell you what. But he is." Dr.Chakwas would not break doctor-patient confidentiality. She also could see that the siblings would not get along without a little special care. Or a major slug match. Whichever came first.

Leo went to workout. Setting the controls at the highest resistance to push his body over. His body was craving to advance to the next level. Something he wanted just as much.

Sha'ira and her newest apprentice joined the Normandy. Connections definitely to allow it to happen quickly. The crew grumbled a little bit but shut up the moment they saw actual food come on board.