Alright guys im back with chapter 10, I would have got it out last night but work is a killer when it comes to making fanfics, anyway this chapter is more like the last chapter only this time I will be focusing on having interactions with the crew and the gears, specificly the rivalry that seems to develop between kasumi and sam. I wont spoil who gets with carmine but hey the journey is better than the destination. Haha anyway enough gabbing outta me on with the show, I don't own gears of war or mass effect.

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Chapter 10: Gears keep things turning

It had been two days now since the gears arrived on Shepards ship, she didn't particularly mind if it wasn't for the fact they refused to go on a collection mission to hunt for artifacts they may find usefull. She was lucky Baird was the only gear on the ship willing to go exploring, he seemed to love the idea of hunting for things of interest. Sam always made the comment how he was in a nerd's paradise…Shepard had to chuckle at that one, the tall woman had a point. Anytime she saw Baird he was always talking with either Mordin or Tali, either working on ways to improve the counter measure with Mordin, or talking mechanics with Tali. Mordin always seemed happy to use Baird as a soundboard for any ideas he had about the collectors and anytime she saw Tali with him, the girl always seemed excited to hear about his stories from his world and the mechanics. Things had become very lively on the Normandy and honestly Shepard wouldn't want it any other way, sure these gears had destructive skills but they were over all a friendly bunch. Shepard walked into the CIC when she was stopped by Kelly chambers who was having a rather active chat with Cole.

"Oh commander, Cole here was telling me how back home before their war he was a sports star." Kelly said smiling. While cole beamed with pride, about his days playing thrashball. Shepard folded her arms across her chest cocking her head to the side.

"Really? I take it you must have been pretty good at sports then cole…what was the sport called?"

"Thrash ball, ohoho man you would have loved it…the lights the action, man it was just another day for the cole train…NUMBER 83 THE COOOOLLLLLEEE TRAIN! WOOOO!" the crew on the deck simply smiled and laughed, they could never seem to have a bad day when Cole was around. His cheery attitude was just too over powering for anyone to be depressed.

"I won so many games, they actually made a statue of me infront of my home town stadium. Man I loved it…not the fame though baby, I just loved the sport so much I couldn't stop playing…well at least I wouldn't of if wasn't for that war that went on. But hey its all in the past." Cole said smiling. Kelly smiled as well.

"I have to admit commander I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when you brought the gears on board, but after talking with everyone I have to be honest Im glad they are on our side fighting to help humanity." Kelly said with a smile.

"What do you think of the other gears Kelly?" Shepard asked.

"Well you already know my opinion on carmine, Baird is defiantly a genius in his own right…he has so many ideas and theories sometimes I think he might as well be another professor mordin, Tali defiantly seems to like him. Cole here is a pleasure to bring around, its just hard to be sad or even mad or anything else. He's always so happy its contagious."

"Hey hey baby, when the Cole train's around it's a party everyday of the week haha." Cole said felxing his arms a bit causing Kelly to blush a bit.

"Anyway as for Sam, she seems to be the more serious one of the group but I imagine that when you've had to fight a war for so long it can tend to take the tenderness from you…I have noticed she watches Carmine like a sort of Hawk. She and Kasumi haven't really been getting along, well on the surface they do but as soon as Carmine comes up they give each other rival stares almost."

"Ahh that's just sam being sam…she doesn't wanna admit it but I could tell back when we were at home that she always had a thing for Carmine. She was always supportive of the guy…don't worry commander She won't do anything rash…sams a gear, and a good one at that." Cole added in.

"Other than that commander I actually am glad to have Cole and his friends on board…their views and perspective on the situation is so simple yet it's also so sound and determined. I wish there were more people like them around. There like brothers and sisters looking out for one another…and besides Cole here is such a big sweat heart despite how he looks." Cole smiled, Shepard was glad these two were getting along. She nodded and walked to the elevator to see how everyone else was getting along with her new squad mates. In shepards mind however she knew they would be a good bunch, her main concern however was Miranda…ever since the gears openly refused to work for the illusive man she had been in a sour mood all damn day. She would have to try and fix that as soon as possible.

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Deck 3, 4 minutes later

As shepard exited the elevator she was surprised that it was relatively quiet, walking over to see Garrus she was surprised when she saw him sitting on a chair talking with sam. Garrus was looking over one of her guns and whistled.

"It's no wonder you and Carmine did so well against the Geth and Collectors sam…this weapons doesn't have any element zero or fires any projectiles im aware of. Whats exactly were you guys fighting back in your world that you needed such big bullets?" Garrus asked curiously. Sam was chewing on a toothpick.

"We were fighting a horde of monsters called Locust, ugly buggers if you ask me. Stupid as fuck and damn near impossible to kill, their armor was as tough as ours but they also had an advantage we didn't. Their skin was incredibly tough, if you went into a fight Garrus you would have died 2 seconds in." She said leaning her head back on the desk in boredom.

"Hold on your saying that I couldn't of even stood a chance with one of the locust?" Garrus asked

"Not with the plastic toys you call weapon, see where I come from it was either slaughter your enemy or get slaughtered yourself. And the locust defiantly slaughtered us…they'd even rip off one of your arms and beat you to death with it…if you didn't bleed out first that is." Garrus scratched the side of his face in thought about what it would be like to fight such creatures; it was already hard enough to deal with a collector. So it was possible sam was right about how the locust could possibly be worse than even a reaper.

"I see you two are getting along." Shepard said deciding to let them know she was in the room.

"Ah commander, I was having a discussion with sam about ways we could possibly incorporate some of their tech into our own weapons but these guns are as ancient before my race even mastered flight." Shepard picked up the lancer and despite how heavy it was it didn't show any advance tech at all. It was actually the opposite and resembled guns made in the past during World War 2 in her world, but it was the size that was impressive.

"Well of course Chicken head…our guns didn't need any of that fancy space mumbo jumbo; if it could kill then it worked. Besides we never mastered space flight we were too busy trying to figure out how to kill the next grub that came alone, if it wanted to kill us we made sure to kill it first." Sam said as she stretched.

The Normandy had provided civilian cloths for Carmine and did the same for Sam and the others, however when she was out of her armor Shepard could tell that guys in her world must have thought she was a looker. A long sleek figure with long legs and a well built form, Shepard guessed that her chest had to have been at least a c cup…of course compared to the humans of the Alliance they may as well have been F cups. Shepard actually felt a little embarrassed at her own chest size. She thought about what cole said and could tell the woman was very agitated whenever Kasumi was near Carmine. Perhaps cole was right. Sam must really care for Carmine.

"Hey sam mind if I ask you something?" Shepard asked

"Sure whats up?" Sam didn't even look towards Sam, she seemed a little reserved for a soldier only wanting to really open up to her fellow gears. Maybe she could gain her trust in the future.

"Do you and carmine have a thing for each other?" Shepard was actually surprised when the woman almost fell out of her chair, Garrus just chuckling a bit. When she looked at shepard she had a serious look on her face but even if she tried to look intimidating the woman couldn't hide the massive blush on her face.

"N..no me and carmine don't have a thing for each other." Shepard decided to pull some strings.

"Oh well then I guess I can tell Kasumi she's got the all clear to seduce Carmine then….She's been telling me how she wants his babies."

"HELL NO THOSE NADS ARE MINE!" the silence in the room was so thick a pin could drop and it would make as much noise as a gun being fired. The blush covering sams face only got redder as the the blush actually looked like it was now covering her whole body. Shepard let out a massive toothy grin and Sam suddenly realized she had just been played like a harp; Garrus was despratly trying to hold in a laugh almost at his limit.

"D…don't you dare fucking say a fucking word to him, or Ill kill you myself!" Sam said wanting to keep her secret…secret.

"Don't worry Sam your secret's safe with me." Shepard walked out as Garrus started laughing his butt of only for his laugh to be followed by a painfull scream as Shepard could hear sam kicking his ass for him laughing at her. Well Kelly was right about sam, the woman had deep feelings for Carmine. But she wondered about Kasumi, shaking her head she decided to see what that one felt. Walking into the master thief's room she spotted Kasumi reading an article about how to seduce a hard to get man on her Omni-tool. Shaking her head she sat down next to her on the sofa.

"Ah shepard I'm glad you're here I wanted to speak to you."

"About what exactly?"

"It's about Carmine…do you think he likes Japanese girls with a talent for kleptomania?"

"Im not sure Kasumi, you would have to ask him…why all the interest in Carmine, you could always go for other guys. Doesn't have to be the guys from another dimension."

"Well its not that he's from another dimension shepard…Carmine is, well he's one of those rare guys you don't normally see. Strong, Charasmatic…kind…gentle…even his eyes are fun to look at." Shepard was now curious and wanted to find out what would happen if she didn't get Carmine or if she did.

"Kasumi…what will you do if you actually managed to get Carmine as your own?" She seemed to be in thought for a moment before finally answering.

"Well as soon as I've had my fun being a master thief and once we're done with the Collectors, I was actually thinking about maybe starting a family. I know it sounds silly, but I honestly think Carmine could be one of those great guys who would make a wonderful father.

"And if you don't get him?" Kasumi's head visibly sank a bit.

"Well…if I can't have Carmine I suppose there's always Jacob. The man's very nice, and just…mmmmm" She sounded like she just tasted the greatest cookie in galaxy.

"Well glad to know you have a backup plan."

"Of course shepard, I'm a thief after all…I have to have a fall back plan incase my first one didn't work." Shepard nodded before leaving, this was defiantly more drama than she was used to, here were two women who had a major thing for Carmine. One was a master thief who could steal anything you could think of, while the other was a full blown power house that could destroy anything she wanted to. She'd have to keep an eye on those two for safety reasons.

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Miranda's office

Shepard walked in to a very angry Miranda who looked like she had been through hell, sitting down shepard leaned back in the chair.

"Miranda you look like a mess…something on your mind?" Shepard asked concerned her second in command might do something stupid.

"Shepard, im just…I have never been flat out rejected like that? Sure I've given people the option to say no though they usually don't…but I didn't even get to explain my situation to them and they flat out said no."

"I don't see a problem Miranda…they did make their decision after all so why so hung up on it?"

Miranda looked visibly deflated as she rubbed the sides of her head out of frustration. Shepard kept her thoughts to herlself although she found the situation funny.

"Miranda don't let it get to you alright, so they said no…big deal. I don't trust Cerberus but here I am working with you to stop the Collectors, and the others said they would do the same. So just take what you can get and be happy with it…think of it this way, least their guns aren't pointed at you." Miranda looked up at shepard and gave her a faint smile.

"Thanks shepard, sigh…your right. The collectors are our biggest problem right now, and if Carmine and his buddies are willing to help us with our mission then I won't complain."

"Ill see you later Miranda." Shepard said walking out of her office, getting into the elevator. She only had one other person to check on and that was Baird. She had seen his reaction and figured she had to make sure the man wasn't getting into any trouble.

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Engineering deck

As shepard was about to head to engineering she was stopped by jack was waved her down to her room. Shepard thought this was odd and proceeded down to jacks room, the woman normally wasn't one for conversation.

"Whats up jack? Something on your mind?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah…its about those guys you picked up, the gears."

"What is it?...you don't trust them?" Shepard asked

"Nah that aint it…I trust em more than Cerberus that's for sure."

"So what is it about then? Not sure they'll handle the mission?"

"Are you kidding?...those guys could tear through A collector base with no problem what so ever, I actually wouldn't wanna face down those guys in any kind of fire fight. Especially not their entire army."

"Why not jack?...your supposed to the queen bitch remember, the psychotic biotic that can destroy anything." Jack was pacing around the room and smiled a little from Shepards attempt at cheering her up but she had to let shepard know.

"Shepard…biotics don't work on them."

"Whaddya mean jack…biotics work on everyone no matter who you are."

"No not what I mean…i….I challenged Cole, the Guy whos like Carmine?...the big one…I asked him to spar with me to a fist fight ya know. Just so I could see how he fights up close and personal, Shepard these guys ignore the laws of Biotics."

"Tell me about it jack…something I need to know?"

"Okay…Cole charged at me with everything he had right?...well naturally I tried throwing him back with a warp field and he plowed right through it and right through me, I saw that warp field hit him shepard, and it just bounced off him like it didn't even matter. Shepard those gears are tough, I mean super tough…Shit." Jack finally sat down with a plop onto her bed, Shepard leaned against the wall looking over jack.

"You okay?"

"Yeah im fine, its just…I've never met anyone like that who took the strongest thing I had and tossed it aside like I was just throwing a pebble at them. I tell you shepard, in all honesty…I do not want to be on their bad side."

"you and me both…I've seen firsthand the carnage their capable of…makes the Krogan seem tame." Shepard said thinking more about Carmine and his friends. Shepard made her goodbyes and left heading for the engine room, upon opening the doors she found Tali, Kenneth and gabby huddled around Baird as he looked like he was fixing something.

Getting closer she looked over their shoulders and noticed Baird was inside the console Tali normally worked on, as He grabbed a few tools and torches everyone was amazed as suddenly the panel's screens not only got brighter they seemed to be working faster.

"There ya go, maximum capacity output should be better now, and thanks to my genius this console along with everything in this room now runs as smooth as a babies bottom." Baird said smiling.

"Baird that was amazing." Tali said.

"Hey no problem, Im still trying to figure out what to do about your suite but I figure since Im going to be here for a while I can get you healthy to the point you don't even need that helmet." Tali's eyes grew wide behind her visor.

"Baird you could really do that?"

"Hey come on…if it's technical and has a function I can fix it or repair it." Well shepard didn't expect that but didn't even need to say anything, what she did notice however was Tali's obvious flirting with Baird. She always knew tali was attracted to the smart type, good for her. Baird looked like a good person, if at times a bit too curious about things. She was even surprised when the girl openly hugged the man and caused him to blush a bit. Shepard quietly left before they realized she was there.

Things were going to be interesting from now on…and hopefully just hopefully. The reapers will have something to fear for once.

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Alright guys sorry this chapter was a bit rushed, work is kicking my ass…anyway I did my best at having casual interactions between gears and Cerberus….but im more used to just straight up fighting scenes…anyway let me know how I did. Ill be trying to upload another chapter tomarrow or Saturday if possible. Like I said work schedual is hectic right now LOL. I look forward to your reviews…and be sure to tell your friends about the story…because I have big plans for this story I even plan on doing a sequal that continues into mass effect 3…anyway I may even do a fancomic based on this story if you like that idea let me know, I enjoy reading your reviews and any PM's I get I read and respond to as best I can…and if you have an idea for a story and want help or just a good soundboard for ideas hit me up LOL anyway ICEGOD out