So, I'm aware that Saxby was unreasonably kind in the previous chapter. The humans are supposed to be furious, and waging a war of extermination. So why is Saxby so nice to an alien allied with the same species that they're trying to exterminate?
Because Saxby is against the war in the first place. That's why he's guarding Tarantulon, instead of taking part in the invasion. Other humans are pissed, and aren't gonna be so nice.
As for Gandaldore -being nice, he's just a weird dude- he's never mean to anybody. He's too cheerful for that.
By the way, for everybody who was disappointed by my failure to follow through with the war of extermination, I highly recommend the fic A Dark Dawn, by Ave Imperium. It's a truly fantastic story about a humanity that's hellbent on the extinction of the Citadel races. "Vengeance for the fallen!"
Thanks to Wolfey141, TheMysteriousOtaku, RightHandOfPalpatine, EXpertUS, TheGhost129, Zippy Saboteur, and six samurai of dragon order for taking a few moments of their time to leave a review.
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o
Six hours, thirty seven minutes, twelve seconds, and ninety two miliseconds later, Gandaldore stopped talking. Briefly. After his pause, he turned away from the holographic chalkboard he'd been using and said to Arysa, "The Empress just entered Tarantulon space. Admiral Saxby is coming to get you. Remember, address her as 'Your Emminence,' and be polite, but you don't need to bow, or anything like that. Good luck. You'll need it."
"Thanks," Arysa said as the door opened to reveal the admiral once more.
"Let's go," Saxby said. "A shuttle is already waiting to take you to the Hammer of Sol, where you'll meet the Empress to present your case."
"Thank you," Arysa said as she followed him out of the room. The admiral led Arysa through the ship once more and back to the docking bay, where Arysa was loaded onto another shuttle.
The ride to the Imperial Flaghship was short, about twenty minutes long. Upon arrival to the ship, she stepped off of the shuttle, to see another human.
This human was clearly female, and like Admiral Saxby, she was wearing a red and gold skintight suit and a lopsided hat. The human's skin on her hands and face was covered in bright green tattoos, while her long fur (hair, Arysa reminded herself,) was a lustrous yellow. Unlike Admiral Saxby, this human did not seem very pleased to see Arysa.
"Welcome aboard the Hammer of Sol," the human said coldly. "Follow me."
With that, the woman turned around and walked off the docking bay. Arysa, caught by surprise, was forced to move quickly to catch up with the woman before losing sight of her entirely in the maze of corridors that was a human spaceship. The Asari diplomat was led to a large door, either side of which was guarded by two humans in battle armor and a... golemn.
When Arysa's human guide got to the door, she turned to the guard on the right.
"Captain Aytes here with the Asari diplomat to present her case to Her Emminence," the human stated. The guard turned to Arysa and looked her over from head to toe, then nodded. A few moments later, the door slid open and Arysa was ushered through.
Arysa was surprised. She had expected a large audience chamber, like the one the Council used on public occasions or when they were trying to impress somebody. Instead, she was in a large, comfortably furnished office. In the center of the room was a large desk made of dark red wood, and lining the walls were beautiful portraits of different men and women in ornate frames.
Arysa abruptly remembered what she was here for, and stopped admiring the office, instead turning her attention to the woman behind the desk.
She had long black hair, and was wearing, rather than the "skinsuits" of the naval officers, one of the dress uniforms that Gandaldore had shown to Arysa. Like the woman who had met Arysa at the docking bay, every inch of exposed skin on the woman's body was covered in tattoos, except that these were an icy blue. Behind her, on either side, stood another human in full body armor.
"So," said the woman. "You're here to persuade me to end this war. I would rather have expected the council to send one of their leaders, considering that was what we were doing when my father was murdered, rather than just a diplomat, but no matter. I will not count that against you, as the insult was not one of your choosing. You may present your case."
"Thank you, your emminence. As you said, I'm here to convince you to end your war of extermination against the Turians. While the death of your emperor was a tragic event, the perpetrator is already dead, and the rest of the Turian race is guilty of no crime. Furthermore, your bombardment of colonies has caused the deaths of countless civilians..."
"Don't lie," the Empress broke in. "There's no such thing as a Turian civilian. Even the children know how to use a weapon."
Arysa was surprised, though she realized belatedly that she shouldn't have been. Gandaldore had displayed intimate knowledge of Citadel culture- of course the Empress would know just as much as he did.
"Yes," she said, "but what of the Asari maidens who lived in those colonies? The Volus economists? The Salarian researchers? The Quarian technicians? Can you say the same for them? They truly were civilians. And the Turian children, while they may know how to wield a weapon, are still children. They are taught combat only to protect themselves and others. Can you justify their deaths because of the murder of one man, no matter how prominent?"
"You forget, Asari, that that 'one man' was my father."
Arysa flinched mentally. She had forgotten that, but she knew that admitting it would be a fatal mistake now. "I did not forget this, your emminence. But the fact remains that he was one man. And the fact also remains that many of those slain were somebody else's fathers, too. If you feel so much pain, do you want others to feel it as well?"
The human woman's eyes softened, and she motioned for Aryssa to continue.
"I understand that you hurt," the Asari said softly. "But is it fair for millions more to hurt, just because you do?"
"No," said the Empress softly. "No, I suppose it is not. I would see a thousand worlds burn for my father's death, but I cannot do to others what has been done to me. To be honest, I knew this from the beginning, but chose to ignore it in favor of vengeance." What the Empress did not add, for it was no business of the alien's, was that her father would be tragically disappointed in her choices. He had always preached peace, always tried to do the right thing for everybody, and here she was, murdering thousands because of his death.
"Very well. Return to your Citadel. Tell the Council that I will be visiting in one week's time for negotiations."
Arysa nodded as she let out a breath of relief. "Thank you, your emminence. And... I'm sorry."
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o
"Well, this is it. The human Empress is expected to arrive any minute now, and crowds have gathered to catch the first glimpse of what is soon to be the Citadel's newest member species, though there is a notable lack of Turians in the crowd," said the reporter.
"Well, Polerh, that's rather understandable, considering the fact that these humans completely destroyed three Turian colonies, with no regard for civilian casualties. Most Turians are furious that the Council is going to offer the humans an embassy on the Citadel. Many feel that the humans should be subjugated and made into a client race of the Hierarchy as payment for their crimes."
"That seems a bit harsh, Caecinea. The humans' leader was, from their perspective, murdered. Of course they went to war. Can you honestly tell me that if Primarch Fedorian were murdered by an alien race that the Hierarchy wouldn't go to war?"
"Of course we would! But we wouldn't kill civilians for it- we're not barbarians," replied the Turian reporter.
"That's fair, I suppose. But remember, we don't know much about human culture. Maybe from their perspective, this was a measured response."
"A measured response? They killed thousands of innocent Turians! How in the name of the spirits could that be called a 'measured response'?"
"Well, their culture could... Wait, I've just recieved word that an unscheduled ship is coming through the Relay. This must be the humans' ship..."
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o
Eleanor frowned as she looked at the space station on the holoboard. At forty five kilometers long, it was a third larger than the Sol Space Station, and much larger than the stations in the colonies. The defenses, however, were... lacking. It seemed to depend entirely on the large fleet that was patrolling the space around it for protection, and completely lacked orbital defenses of any kind. It was standard practice in the Empire to build enormous Orbital Defense Platforms around any colonized planet. The Sol system itself was a veritable fortress. The SSS had all the firepower of a full fleet, and there were no less than twelve ODPs orbiting Earth, each with the firepower of a superdreadnought. In addition, three massive stations housed thousands of fighter drones, all ready to be released at a moments notice. As a last resort, thousands of invisible mines were orbiting the planet. Without knowing the proper flight paths, it was impossible to land a ship on the planet without being blown to hell. Compared to the massive amount of firepower in the human home system, the twenty-eight dreadnoughts and their complements seemed a pitiful defense.
No matter, she thought to herself. After today, we should be at peace with them, unless somebody does something spectacularly stupid. Perhaps someday we will even point these flaws out to them, once we are sure we won't need to take advantage of them.
She was interrupted from her thoughts as the door chimed.
"Enter," she said calmly.
The door slid open, and Captain Aytes entered.
"We've entered orbit with the Citadel, your Emminence. They asked us to send a single shuttle with a delegation from our government and no more than six military personel."
Eleanor frowned for a moment as she considered this. "Very well, but I'm taking my full guard. Have the four members most suited to unarmored combat change into civilian outfits. They may keep their longknives, but no other weapons. They have ten minutes."
"Yes, your Emminence," Aytes said, then saluted and left the room.
Thirty minutes later, Eleanor was accompanied by six heavily armed and armored guards, two combat golemns, four "civilians," and her two most trusted advisors, Solomon Ickes and Fyunch(click), as the shuttle docked at the Presidium.
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o
The waiting crowd was pushed back by C-Sec guards as the alien shuttle landed. A hush fell over the mass of people as they waited to find out what a human looked like, and then the door slid open.
"Well, here we are. The human shuttle has just landed, and we're about to get a glimpse of the newest members of the galactic community," came Polerh's voice as the reporter stood next to her partner in the Presidium, "and... here we are! Our first... wait, what?"
"Did they say anything about having two species among them, Polerh?"
"Not that I remember, Caecinea. Well this is certainly a new development..."
The crowd froze, then burst into chattering as out stepped two different creatures- one was Asarioid, with long, vicious claws on its left hand and a blade nearly as long as it was tall for its right, while the other was shaped like a great cat. Both were covered in black and gold body armor, and the cat had a large gun mounted on its back.
Then six more aliens alien stepped out and confusion spread. The eight aliens spread out and looked around, then took up positions around the door to the shuttle. A few moments later, another alien stepped out, and the crowd silenced as the slower members finally figured out that the first two "aliens" were, in fact, simply mechs, and that this was a human.
"It seems there was a bit of a misunderstanding, there folks. It turns out that the humans forgot to warn us they were bringing mechs, so we assumed that the creatures we saw were humans. This is a human, and, judging by the bodyguard and the outfit, I am led to believe that this is the Empress herself. And behind her are four more humans, in much less imposing outfits. Yes, it certainly looks like that's the Empress, people."
It turned out that they weren't that exciting. The human looked almost exaclty like an Asari, except that it was pink instead of blue, and had long black fur instead of a headcrest. It wore a long, flowing outfit that was made of a single piece of shimmering fabric which seemed to change color as it moved, stretching from the shoulders to the ground, and every inch of exposed skin was covered in tattoos of alien symbols.
Shortly behind the human were four more of the aliens. These humans wore varied clothing, but were each covered in tattoos of different colors.
"I wonder what those marks on their skin mean. Any ideas, Caecinea?"
"Well, they likely have some cultural significance, much like a Turian's face paint. It's possible that all humans have them, and... wait, no- here comes an unmarked human, and some other kind of creature. It may be a pet of some sort, or it may be another mech."
The camera zoomed in on the last member of the party. It was a strange creature, a small biped with two three-fingered arms on its left side, and one tremendous muscular arm took up the majority of its right. From its head sprouted a single gigantic ear, and its body was covered in white fur.
"It's probably some kind of pet of the Empress's. I wouldn't be surprised if she took it with her everywhere. And here comes a C-Sec officer, Captain Marcerius, to escort the Empress and her party to the Council Chambers for the negotiations and initiation into the Citadel."
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o
Eleanor ignored the splendour around her as she stepped out of the elevator and followed the C-Sec officer to the Council Chambers. Really, the decadence of these people surprised her. The Solian Empire valued practicality and substance, rather than shameless displays of wealth. Even as Empress, she lived in a rather modest house near the state building, not some enormous palace as past leaders had. Houses were modest affairs, not lavish mansions, and meetings were held in small, comfortable offices, rather than imposing audience chambers. This was, of course, the result of humanity having survived an apocalypse and three interstellar wars. After so much conflict, resources had been devoted to pracical purposes. Sure, there was leisure in Solian space, but not decadence- comfort did not requre opulance, after all. Most humans were disgusted by garish displays of wealth, in fact.
But, she supposed, not every species would have been as inured to practicality as humanity had become, and she was obviously supposed to be impressed by the beauty of her surroundings, rather than annoyed by the waste of resources they represented.
She almost sighed in relief when the tour finally ended, and then almost groaned when she stepped into the Council Audience Chamber- it was just as bad as the rest of the Tower. It perfectly fit the cliche of the massive audience chamber, complete with three pedestals raised far above the rest of the chamber, on which stood the members of the Citadel Council.
"Welcome," said Tevos, "to the Citadel. I am Councilor Tevos, representing the Asari Republics."
"And I am Councilor Sparatus, representing the Turian Hierarchy."
"Am Councilor Valern, representing Salarian Union."
"Together we represent and guide the people and races of the Citadel Council," finished Tevos.
Those who are fortunate enough to be a member of one of your races, Eleanor thought to herself. Outloud, however, she echoed the greeting she had recieved.
"Thank you. And I am Empress Tyson, representing the Solian Empire," she said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Empress Tyson," said Tevos, dropping the mor formal tone used for the initial greetings. "I wish that our races had met under more peaceful conditions."
Eleanor smiled wanly. "It seems to be about par for the course, for humanity, I'm afraid."
"I don't understand. What does 'par for the course' mean?" Tevos asked.
"It means that it's exactly what we're used to. Nothing more, and nothing less," Eleanor explained.
"Ah, yes. The Fortigal and Triathing that Arysa spoke of. It was most kind of you to provide her with a copy of your history."
"It was necessary, if our races were to cooperate. You had to know something of our culture to understand us, and we already knew everything about yours."
"How did you access information?" Valern asked. "Expect that it would take longer than a few days to decipher codex."
"All I am at liberty to say is that the information was gained through powers granted by the plague."
"Ah, yes. The magical disease that wiped out most of your species and gave the rest 'magic powers.' You will forgive us if we do not believe such blatant propaganda," Sparatus sneered.
At this, Eleanor scowled. "You mock the deaths of five and a half billion people, Turian, and the collapse of an entire civilization. It took us over a century to recover from the damage the plague did to our world, and there are places that lay in ruins to this day which were once great cities. Do not laugh at what you cannot comprehend."
"Forgive my colleague," Tevos said, shooting Sparatus a glare. "He did not mean to cast doubt upon the fall of your civilization, nor to mock the deaths involved. However, the claim of 'magic powers' is difficult to believe. Yes, biotics can do some incredible things, but our people understand the science behind it. However, to a race which fails to understand the science, biotics would indeed seem like magic."
"We do not use, 'biotics,'- when we learned of the capabilities of your people, we immediately compared your knowledge to our own. Within hours, our best scientists, enchanters, and arcaneotechnicians had dismissed the possibility that there was any similarity. We do not have element zero in our bodies, and our powers follow no science which we have been able to determine. For the past two hundred and fifty years, we have studied the plague and the powers it granted us, and have come to the conclusion that they are not natural."
Before anybody could object again, Eleanor turned to her advisor. "Solomon, if you would be so kind as to provide a demonstration?" she said politely.
The man nodded, and the other humans and golemns spread out, giving the councilors a clear view of the man.
The councilors watched in shock as, with a grimace, the man's body began to shift. A moment passed, and, standing where the human had been, was an exact copy of Councilor Tevos.
"Inconclusive," said Valern. "Many species demonstrate ability to change outer appearance, though not to such a degree. Does not necessarily mean magic."
"Very well. I shall provide a demonstration of my own. Besides, I grow weary of standing."
While the councilors exchanged looks, Eleanor reached out her hand. The runes on her body began to glow, and a mist came from her extended palm. When the mist reached the floor, it began to take a solid form. Before long, a staircase stretched from the floor until it reached the level of the councilors' platforms. A wide dias was formed at the top, and a high-backed throne rested on the dias. Frost coated the staircase, the dias, and the chair, and mist began to form around it as Eleanor took her newly created seat.
"Now, Councilor Valern. Are you aware of any creatures capable of cryomancy? If so, I would dearly like to study them. Among our people are also the ability to animate objects, to teleport, to turn invisible, to control the elements (as I have just demonstrated), and many more such powers. Do you know of any one species with such varied capabilities?"
"Point taken. Still not enough evidence for claim of magic, though," Valern said.
"You don't have it. That doesn't mean the evidence doesn't exist. We have plenty of evidence, and have for the past three centuries. You will understand if we don't share such sensitive information with you, however."
"Indeed, but without that evidence, you will understand that we will simply have to assume that there is an explanation which you are unaware of."
"That is not unreasonable. Though I think that some of our scientists may be somewhat offended. But at any rate, the notion of magic is not why we are here. The matter of the Turians' murder of my father is."
"Murder!" Sparatus burst out. We didn't murder anybody!"
"Oh? What of the unarmed, unprotected civilians on the vessel your ships opened fire on in the initial conflict?" Eleanor challenged.
"They were breaking the law!" Sparatus stated forcefully.
"A law which does not apply to my people, and they had no way of knowing anyway!"
"Citadel law applies to everybody!"
"No! It applies only to members of the Citadel! The Solian Empire is a sovereign nation, and does not subjugate itself to your rule! If your laws apply to us, then our laws should equally apply to you, in which case, all three of you would be sentenced to the death penalty!"
There was a loud gasp from the watching VIPs and reporters, and Tevos looked shocked. "What?! You practice the death penalty? And believe us deserving of it?!"
"Indeed. The crime of slavery is punishable by death in the Empire, and by our laws, anybody who is aware of a crime and has the legal authority to prevent it or bring the perpetrator to justice, yet willfully does nothing is equally guilty of the crime and deserving of the same sentence! You know fully well that the Batarians practice slavery, which against your own laws as well, and yet you do nothing! Year after year, you allow hundreds of your own people to be captured and enslaved! If the laws of different nations apply to each other, then you are all guilty of slavery, a crime punishable by death!" Eleanor's voice was steadily raising as she spoke, until she was practically shouting by the end of her speach.
"You must understand, the Batarians..." Tevos began, but Eleanor interrupted her.
"Blatantly flaunt your own laws, and are unpunished for it! Do not give me excuses! I am fully aware of the claims that they hide behind- that the practice of slavery is important to batarian culture, or that the slavers are unsanctioned by the governent. But you have the capacity to prove otherwise! Do you honestly expect me to believe, Councilor Valern, that your famed STG could not find evidence linking a single slave raid to the Batarian government? And even if they couldn't, a single Spectre is all it takes to prove that the Batarians do practice slavery!"
"ENOUGH!" Sparatus said. "The Batarians, as despicable as they are, are not the reason for this meetiing! Your complete destruction of three worlds is a crime beyond any level ever committed by the Batarians! And, by your own admission, you were fully aware of Citadel laws by that time!"
"But the fact remains that we are not under Citadel law!" Eleanor shouted. "You have no authority to punish us for actions which were performed outside your jurisdiction! While the destruction of those colonies was regrettable, they were performed during a time of war between two nations, with no superior authority mediating! No laws were broken, because we do not fall under any authority other than our own!"
"Sparatus," Tevos said, "the Empress speaks the truth. The Solian Empire is under its own power. We have no authority to punish them for breaking the laws of a nation not our own, unless we allow them to apply their laws to us, as well."
"Indeed. No treaty or agreement between nations means no overlying authority to disobey," Valern put in.
"Very well," Spartus spat. "But the Turian Hierarchy expects full reparations for the colonies destroyed, as well as a bloodprice for each colonist killed. The total cost is..."
"Irrelevant. The Empire will be paying no reparations to the Hierarchy. In fact, it was originally my intent to demand reparations for the murder of our leader, the destruction of dozens of ships, and thousands of deaths, all due to Turian aggression. However, my advisors," at this, Eleanor waved in the direction of the human she had referred to as "Solomon," and then to the strange three-armed primate, "have advised me against this action, as the damage we recieved was minor compared to that which we dealt. As such, the Empire will not demand reparations for the unprovoked attack on our people. We will not, however, offer reparations for our retaliation."
"What!?" spluttered the enraged Turian councilor. "You bar..."
"ENOUGH, Sparatus," said Tevos, breaking him off before he could make a fatal mistake. "The Empress is right. The Hierarchy started the war, and while the retaliation could have been more measured, it was a response against what the humans perceived as an unprovoked attack. No reparations will be payed by either side. Let us move on to the next issue."
"Fine," Sparatus spat.
Tevos turned to Eleanor. "As you repeatedly said, the Empire is a soveriegn nation, with no allies or treaties. We would like to extend to your people an invitation to join the Citadel. If you were to do so, you would be required to abide by our laws, but would gain important resources and trade agreements. You would also be granted an embassy on the Citadel, and, in the event of an attack on your people, the Citadel would come to your aid."
"I am sorry," said Eleanor, "but I must refuse your offer. The Empire will remain soveriegn. We will not subjugate ourselves to a government which does not support its own laws, and which condemns its member races to extinction."
Tevos looked at Eleanor in shock. She had a feeling things were going to take a lot longer than she'd expected.