A/N: I have no idea what I'm doing in this chapter. Excuse the unnatural flow in this part of the story. :3

January 29th 2185 C.E.

Omega

So this is Omega, huh? Jesus Christ. Henry Rodriguez thought to himself as he slowly exited the Kodiak shuttle, which moments ago had just been secured by the station's docking clamps. He knew this place wasn't exactly a tourist destination from based on what he had read a while back, but he didn't know it was that bad. His eyes wandered around the docking bay they were currently situated in, and he still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Rust, dirt, and substantial amounts of filth were basically everywhere on this godforsaken shithole, with the neon lights providing the station's only source of illumination throughout the area. He shook his head in disbelief. It was still hard to believe that people actually lived in this place and called it home.

One by one, the others slowly disembarked from their transport, only carrying bags filled with their clothes and rations. As they walked through the corridor that led them inside the entrance of the station, his nose picked up this terrible, indescribable stench that was beginning to overpower his senses. It was like smelling a combination of blood, piss, puke, and shit that manage to have come from all the assorted species who had taken residence in this huge mining station. Just going further only made the stink unbearable, and he had to ignore the nausea that was slowly building up inside him. Some of them weren't that lucky.

"Oh, shit…" He heard Johnson speak in a low voice behind him. "I think…I'm gonna be—" Turning around, the former colonel saw his subordinate bend low to the ground, just in time to witness the poor southerner empty his stomach's contents on the already dirt-riddled floor.

"You okay, Alley?" Rodriguez asked, feeling a bit sorry for him. The younger man just looked up on him for a moment, his eyes starting to water as he put both of his hands on his knees for support.

"I'll be fine…I just need to—" Johnson eyes widened, and again he vomited on the floor, the bile streaming freely through his mouth. Behind him, Walters just awkwardly patted his fellow officer's back to help ease some of the discomfort. "Fucking smell…"

"Here," Suzumi handed Johnson his water-filled canteen. "drink this."

"Thanks." The ex-cavalryman sluggishly took the bottle and slowly drank its contents, taking a few sips before returning it back and facing his CO. "What now, sir?"

"We find a place to stay," Rodriguez told him as he motioned for them to move forward. "I'm sure there's bound to be a few inns in the area."

"Hopefully we'll find someplace that's nice and warm." Suzumi noted as he placed the canteen back on his satchel.

"I wish, let's move out and—"

"Contact front." Walters whispered to the rest of the group. Looking up ahead at the end of the corridor, Rodriguez saw two batarian guards that just seemingly came out of nowhere, who were treacherously staring at them with their two pairs of eyes. They wore medium-grade hardsuits, and wielded what looked like old Haliat Thunder assault rifles pointed on the ground; which would change soon enough if things went out of hand. Damn it!

"Shit," Suzumi cursed in a soft voice, his hands reaching for a non-existent weapon which he finally realized wasn't there. "what do we do?"

"Stay calm, and don't do anything stupid." Rodriguez faced his XO. "If they so much as raise their weapons at us, shoot 'em." Walters just gave him a nod in response, secretly pulling back the arming bolt on the squad's lone Predator heavy pistol, which was their only weapon.

Walking normally towards the entrance that separated the corridor from the rest of Omega, the group was about to pass through when the guards suddenly blocked their path, a scowl etched on both their facial features.

"Well, well," the first batarian said in an arrogant tone. "what do we have here."

"Humans." The second one spat out, voice filled with disgust. "I suggest you leave before things get ugly around here." It took all of his self-control not to clench his fist and deck the man from where he stood. He really just wanted to wipe that smug look on those bastards' ugly faces. But right now, discretion was the better part of valor, and one wrong move could quickly escalate this thing into fully-blown firefight in which he knew he couldn't win. Taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way in front of the armed duo, arms raised a bit in a non-threatening manner.

"Listen, fellas, we don't want any trouble." Rodriguez reasoned with them. "We just came here to look for work, that's all."

The second batarian's eyes bulged in its sockets, obviously angered at whatever he had said to him. The alien quickly streamed his way towards the former colonel, his glare never wavering as he dangerously closed the distance between the two of them, separating them a foot apart. Rodriguez could feel the alien's warm, stinking breath as the batarian spoke in a dangerously low tone.

"You already take away our land, our resources, and our dignity. And yet you have the audacity to come here and take what's rightfully ours?!" Rodriguez hadn't anticipated on what happened next, as he felt the air expel out from his lungs when the batarian threw a vicious gauntleted fist right through his abdomen, doubling over in pain from the unexpected hit as his cotton shirt failed to protect him from the assault. He was on his knees in an instant, a hand touching over the painful spot in his gut while the other steadied himself on the rusty, stained floor.

"You bastards!" He heard Johnson hiss out in anger, followed with a few heavy footsteps echoing in the narrow corridor. "You sadistic motherfu—"

"Johnson! Stand down!" Walters ordered as Suzumi and Cortez came into his line-of-sight, restraining the furious southerner from doing anything they might regret.

"But, I—"

"Stand. Down." Walters cut him off with a neutral voice, brokering no further argument. The former lieutenant thankfully heeded the XO's command, calming down at the tense situation.

Rodriguez stood up slowly, a hand still placed in his abdomen as he tried getting up; ignoring the lingering fact that the alien in front of him had just attacked without warning. Controlling his anger, he spoke to them again (through gritted teeth) with the same reasonable tone he used previously.

"As I said earlier, we don't want any trouble. We're just passing throuh"

"Why, you little—" Before the second batarian could finish his rant and start the eventual assault that was sure to follow, his partner interrupted him, placing a hand on the alien's shoulder.

"Leave 'em, Fornak. These wretched humans aren't worth the trouble."

"You're right." The hostile alien named Fornak faced them. "Be seeing you later, humans." He gave them one last look of repulsion and left with his partner in tow.

"You okay, sir?" Walters asked when the batarians were out of earshot, trying to come to the former colonel's aid.

"I'm fine," Rodriguez gestured off his concerns with a dismissive wave. "let's just go."

"This place doesn't look so bad." Suzumi voiced out as they finally found a room thirty minutes later, with the former corporal eyeing a view that was overlooking the slums in the Gozu district. Meanwhile, Rodriguez sat on the edge of one of the beds in the room, with his shirt raised as Cortez looked after his bruise that was getting worse by the minute.

"That's putting it mildly," Johnson remarked as he stood beside his subordinate near the window. "you damn well know this place definitely sucks ass."

"And whose idea was it, you know, for us to come here in the first place?" Suzumi retorted with an amused tone. Johnson looked at the man, his eyes showing annoyance at the guy's reference.

"Shut up, Rye."

"Just saying, man. It's not that bad, we could've ended up at someplace worse."

"What's your definition of worse, then?" The southerner asked in an irritated voice. "Have you seen where we are lately? We're at the fucking ass end of nowhere, in case you still haven't noticed it."

"I don't see why you have to make such a big fuss about this, Al."

"Because this is Omega, damn it! It's practically the Citadel's evil twin. At least that giant space station had some awesome sparkly fountains and shit."

"Hey, at least we're still breathing. Have you ever thought about that?"

"No, I didn't. But still—"

"Johnson." Walters interjected on their conversation, the XO lying down on a cot next to both of them.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Shut the hell up, will ya? I'm trying to get some sleep." Johnson exaggeratingly sighed as he threw his arms in the air.

"Fiiiiine," The man drawled out. "shutting up now."

Rodriguez winced, involuntarily inhaling a lung full of processed air as the shuttle pilot prodded the area in his gut which had hurt the most. He sighed, the tense standoff earlier with the xenophobic guards could've ended up way more differently than what had actually happened, and he was just thankful that it hadn't escalated into something they couldn't control. This minor wound he had right now was a reminder, of how it was a small price to pay, in a place where everything usually ended with a few rounds fired from someone else's gun. He honestly wasn't looking forward to that.

The room they were currently staying was surprisingly cheap, which was a far cry from the place they stayed back on Illium. It was no Hotel Requiem, he knew, but at least they could stay at this dilapidated inn for a little while longer with the funds they currently had. After all, the reason they were here was to look for a job, one that could pay them good money without doing anything that could compromise their principles. In other words, it was easier said than done.

He just knew it that somewhere out there, in the expanse that was the Kima district of this station, was a job that could that could support them for a few weeks at most before they could plan on their next step.

"Here," Cortez handed him an icepack. "take this."

"Thanks." He gingerly took it and pressed it on his stomach, evoking another gasp on his part as the pack started to quickly numb the bruise away.

"Well, you got us here, what's next?"

"I'm still working on it, Steve."

"I'm not trying to rush you or anything, but you better hurry. We don't really have that much money left," Cortez said as he returned all the tools he used earlier inside the first-aid kit. "With the clothes, the rations, and everything else, we only got about a week or two left before we run out."

"I know." Rodriguez stood, giving the fast-acting icepack back towards the ex-Alliance pilot, his wound now plain bearable instead of being painful a little while back. "Suzumi, you're coming with me." The former militiaman just gave him a confused look before nodding in agreement without question, both of them now heading towards the front door.

"Where are you guys going?" Johnson asked as the former colonel pressed the button interface that slid the door open.

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm going to go out there, and try to get us all a job." He turned around, with Suzumi on his tail as they exited the room, with doubt slowly creeping on his mind as he fearfully wondered if his idea to come here was becoming a huge mistake.