Chapter 1

The Omega Nebula. Sarabaric. Omega.

In a small, musty bar, Elazar and Damia sat at a far table with two full glasses of some kind of alcoholic beverage in front of them. Their conversation would not be overheard from this position, but there was a view of the entire establishment. They were not the least bit disconcerted by the surroundings, for they were familiar and somewhat native to them, for it reminded them of any other such establishment on the hive world, if one excluded the presence of other species.

The ceiling lamps illuminated the room with their dim yellow light, and the air was saturated with cigarette smoke, the acrid odor of sweat and cheap booze. The walls, floor, and ceiling were covered with tiny traces of dirt and long-dried blood, as if the owner of the place didn't take the time to clean it, and didn't see the need for it.

The bar was only half full, with the customers mostly Batarians, like the owner behind the counter. There were only three waitresses, one Asari and two human girls, and their tired and malnourished bodies were clearly visible beneath the tons of makeup and provocative outfits. And each of them watched the two strangely dressed humans with side-eye.

Elazar, on the other hand, was not bothered by anything. He just stared at Damia, who was not hiding her anger and disgust, not touching her glass.

- Is there something wrong with you, Sister? - Elazar asked with his usual smile, to which Damia looked at him as if he were mad.

- And you are not, Inquisitor! There are thousands of Xenos around, and you refuse to eradicate them in the name of the Emperor! They must all be destroyed! I even think you're a heretic!" she said with anger in her voice.

- That may well be so," Elazar began, to which Damia reached for her weapon, "But what happens then? You won't live more than a day without me, and your body will be found by the same xenos in some drainpipe and probably abused and dismembered. You wouldn't want to be a xenos servitor, would you?

Hearing him, the girl clucked loudly and stopped, picking up her glass and drinking in a volley, since she had nothing to wing it with.

Damia is no fool, and she realizes that the inquisitor in front of her is right. Damia has only recently become a full-fledged Sister of Battle, and she doesn't know what to do besides eradicate heretics with bullets and fire and recite prayers. Her order is purely combat oriented, and Damia, like the rest of her Sisters, is trained to act only after receiving orders from higher ups.

And right now, that is what Elazar is, sitting before her, which has folded his fingers into a lock and placed his chin on them. He is the only member of the Imperium of Man besides her in this universe, and technically his rank is higher than hers. And the most important thing Damia realizes is his awareness and ability to act independently... something she doesn't have.

She found him annoying, especially his smile, for he acted as if he knew everything about everything. The problem, however, was that in reality it was as if he did. Elazar would find an answer to any of her questions and make arguments that were logically correct, but somehow they were all in his favor.

- This galaxy, this universe, does not know of the light of the God-Emperor, and it will never know if I perish, dear Sister. But if it makes you feel better, please. - Elazar provoked her, to which Damia sighed defeatedly.

- Your take, inquisitor. But I don't understand why we're here in this shithole when we could be on Holy Terra. Also, why did we give our weapons to that man?

Seeing her give up, again, Elazar mentally nodded contentedly.

He was lucky that he had gotten a Sister of Battle who thought with her brain, and not any of the others. It would have been easier to get rid of them at once than to dialog and convince them that he was right. She would have opened fire when she saw a xenos, and she would have paid for it instantly, given the environment of this universe.

Elazar managed to learn everything he needed to know about her very quickly in the one week they had been on "Earth," as they called Holy Terra. And all thanks to the Omni-tool and the Extranet, with the help of which the search for information was not a problem. Simple and convenient, if you compare it to the Administratum, although it is unusual.

Besides, Damia is not interested in anything other than doing her job as the extermination of the enemies of humanity, although, she still took some time to know only the bare minimum. As a result, Elazar had to essentially go it alone to learn information about this universe. It wasn't the first time he had done something like this, though.

- The Illusive Man was kind enough to provide us with omni-tools, documents, finances, and even set up a separate cell in his organization so we could operate relatively independently. And letting him examine our weapons is the least we can offer at this point.

- But haven't we shared information about the Imperium? And don't you think he's given us too much?

- That's true, but only weapons are something tangible rather than rumors and scraps of data. As it is, neither I nor you are knowledgeable in the manufacture of weapons, combat or any other equipment and all that sort of thing. And about your second question? Obviously, we haven't shared everything we know about, and Illusive Man is well aware of that.

Elazar paused and shifted his gaze to his hand, where the omni-tool had appeared.

- He wishes to study us. Given resources, he will see how we will use them and how useful we can be. By creating a cell, he will make sure we are fenced off from others in case of betrayal or any other negative impact on his organization, also to remain under his watch. By giving omni-instruments and documents, he will make us debtors and know where we are.

- He himself said the omni-tool is a tracker, but there could be something else in there, right? In that case, shouldn't we get rid of them? I've seen a few stores where you can replace them or buy a new one. - Damia raised an eyebrow.

- Оh? There's no need for that. I'm familiar with the type of person similar to Sir Illusive Man. There's no bomb or anything like that. Besides, considering the goals of his organization and himself, he's interested in gaining our trust, mostly because of you.

Elazar was deliberately silent about the fact that Illusive Man might be bugging them, because it didn't make sense. People like him would rather get verified information from his trusted people than through something like that. And also, by doing so, he'd stay out of their business directly, giving them the illusion of independence and certainty.

- That's fine then," Damia nodded, "But again, why are we here?

- Oh, that's easy, - Elazar smiled and looked at the Batarian watching their table - Are we inconveniencing you gentlemen?

- The human has finally noticed it! Isn't it a miracle? - Said one of them, and the others smirked derisively - Get out while we're still kind. We don't want to insult our kin by contaminating his bar with human blood. And get that shitty smile off your face. It's annoying us.

- Or what? - Elazar asked, tilting his head to the right side and tapping his finger twice on the table.

Damia stealthily reached for her bolter, and the Batarians stared at Elazar, grinning and clenching their fingers into fists. The waiters, meanwhile, huddled in a far corner, but no one paid any attention to them.

- Do you know what that gesture means, human?

- Of course I do! - Elazar said cheerfully - It expresses admiration and respect. Or am I confused about something? I apologize if you are, but your culture is so complex and multifaceted that it is difficult to navigate.

- Are you mocking us?! - growled the Batarian and reached the table with a loud stride.

- No, no, what are you... - Elazar waved his hand, and why tapped his finger once - Yes.

As soon as the last word was out of the Inquisitor's mouth, Damia, in one swift motion, hit the Batarian in the face, knocking him out, and with her free hand she grabbed her bolter and started firing at the entire bar. Elazar raised his lasgun and opened fire on those who were about to reach for their weapons. The Batarians didn't even have time to react before their bodies were blown to pieces by the bolts and the laser projectiles made holes in their heads.

After only five seconds, it was all over. A total of eight Batarians were present in the room, including the bar owner. Only one survived, the one who had been sent flying by Damia's fist. Asari received an accidental bolt that made her head explode, splattering purple blood on her two still-living former coworkers, who were shaking with fear. 

The filthy bar now looked like a slaughterhouse, as guts, flesh, eyes, brains, limbs, and other body parts were everywhere. The air was saturated with the metallic smell of blood, and the furniture, walls, floor, and even the ceiling were completely painted scarlet. Alcohol bottles became nothing more than trash, and their contents spread across the floor, mixing with the blood, making the aroma even more nauseating.

Such a quick outcome was due to the fact that the Batarians were very close to each other, so every shot hit its target. There was also the surprise factor, because they didn't expect anyone to be crazy enough to have a firefight in their territory and with a smaller group. Besides, the only thing the Battle Sister was confident in was her shooting skills.

As Damia reloaded her bolter and aimed it at the last remaining Batarian, Elazar stopped her. Of course, she made a disgruntled face and stared at him incomprehensibly.

- Don't kill him... yet," the inquisitor said and walked toward the two girls, who, seeing him coming, tried to press themselves into the wall even harder than they had been before. We are friends. You have nothing to fear.

Of course, his words had the opposite effect, and Elazar smelled a faint odor of urine that didn't really stand out among the other smells. But that didn't bother him in the least, and he squatted down so that their gazes were on the same level.

- You're slaves, aren't you? - If I told you that you could stop being slaves and even take revenge on your abusers, what would your thoughts be?

Now Elazar was able to get a better look at them. They were about the same age, only one had black hair and the other had blond hair. He noticed several abrasions, bruises, and cuts, and relatively fresh ones, indicating their household.

The two girls glanced at each other but didn't respond, as if they were afraid of something more than what had just happened to them.

- There's no need to be afraid. Tell me what you think. After all, we're not friends with the people who just painted the bar.

- W-we can't-- c-can't..." the black-haired girl said in a trembling voice, "They're... there's a lot of them... Y-Y-You've got to b-run! All of us!

- Well, why run when you can fight back?

- W-why are you doing this?! You're gonna get us all killed!

- Or we'll kill them all," Elazar said, then turned his head back, "Sister, would you be so kind as to bring him here?

Damia clucked her tongue, but complied, picking up the Batarian as if even being near him was disgusting, and dropping him at the Inquisitor's feet. Elazar scanned his surroundings with his eyes and, taking one piece of sharp glass each, the size of knives, he presented them to the girls.

Damia understood what he wanted, as she had been through similar things herself. His goal is to kill the fear in these girls and make them believe that fighting is always possible. And the method works on everyone, whether they're a child, an old man, or an adult.

- W-what do you-?

- Here's what I'm offering you. Take this and kill him," Elazar said slowly, and the girls' eyes opened wide, "He is completely in your power. Gouge out his eyes, open his skull, rip out his heart, cut off his cock. You're free to do whatever you want, because I'm sure he was one of the ones who hurt you. Show him the power of humanity, take revenge on him... make him suffer the way he made you suffer.

Five seconds passed, ten, thirty, a minute, and they still didn't move. Elazar didn't change his posture, still holding out the glass to them in the same way, until the girl with the blonde hair reached for the piece. She took the glass carefully, as if afraid of getting burned, and with both hands she lifted it above the Batarian's head. The black-haired woman, a couple of seconds later, repeated the actions of the first, aiming her piece at the heart.

And just at that moment, the Batarian woke up, and the first thing he saw was two pieces of glass pointing straight at his body.

- W-what the...

He didn't have time to finish, as the glass pierced his brain and heart, killing him instantly. But the girls didn't stop there. They struck again and again, putting all the power they had into their bodies. The sound of piercing flesh echoed through the bar, and fresh blood splattered into their fierce, hate-soaked faces.

Glass slashed their palms, but they didn't care. The pain was not ignored, but as if it was fueling the girls' strength. This scene resembled a competition where the goal is to let out as much blood as possible.

Neither Elazar nor Damia stopped them, but watched this bloody spectacle with their eyes full of indifference. This scene was not special to them, not even a little bit, because in their galaxy things are solved this way and no other way.

And so, after a while, the glass sprinkled with the girls' blood slipped from their hands, and they themselves collapsed without strength. Malnutrition and stress had taken its toll as the adrenaline in their veins dried up. Their bodies and faces were completely covered in blood, but a satisfied smile never slipped from their lips, even though they had lost consciousness. The Batarian's body, on the other hand... it looked more like a sieve than anything else.

- There's the answer to your question, sister," Elazar began, rubbing the bangs of one of the girls, "There are many like them. There are many. The Batarians have a slave trade, and there are many who would follow us.

- Just that? - Damia raised an eyebrow, "Somehow I don't think that's all.

- Of course it is," Elazar waved his finger in the air, "The Illusive Man has given us resources, and we need to maximize them. And there is no better place for that than Omega. There are no laws, no morals... and no shortage of the labor we need.

Omega is exactly the kind of place where scum from all over the galaxy gather. The potential is enormous, all that's left is to realize it. Plus, they need a base and a force. Illusive Man won't always provide for their cell, and becoming self-sufficient is priority number one. After all, you can't make plans without being one, can you?

-0-

A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.