The air smelled like blood, sweat, smoke and tears. The air smelled like victory gained through annihilating conquest and brutal combat. It smelled like the fall of an empire. Blood painted the ground red and the corpses of his defeated foes made a scent that reeked of death and excrement. It was impossible to tell, however, whether or not his foes had shat themselves before or after they died. Telling by how the battle had been one long pursuit, mowing down retreating units, it was probably before. The firing of rifles and screams of pain could still be heard in the background. Xian Xiao felt proud; if his father had lived to know that his son would become as great a warlord as himself, he would have been proud. His father, who had founded the House of Xian, was the first to aspire to become king of the Stars Beyond Citadel Space, but it was now Xiao who would fulfil this ambition on his behalf.

A satisfied smile found its way to his lips. Legends would tell of Xiao the Conqueror's many brutal deeds. He had seen his enemy driven before him and struck down those who had challenged his divine right to rule… and those that had not. Now, he stood at the gates of the great prothean ruins that would soon be his kingly palace. The Seat of Arhnor had been the seat of the ancient kings of Khar'Shan, so it was only fitting that Xiao should choose this as his seat of power. He was no longer the Archduke of Kwaigorr nor just some power hungry warlord, no, he was a king and he ruled supreme.
"Our king!" General Ben Loawi said and wiped blood from a wound in his face as Xiao passed by him. All the soldiers outside and inside the palace knelt as Xiao passed by them, paying their deepest respects to a man they almost regarded a god of war. As Xiao went through the old stone halls, he felt like the god he knew he was; after eight long years of fighting and backstabbing, finally all Batarian lords, and even some Turian, swore fealty to him. He entered the throne room and threw his red silk cape on the floor; he would have to wear the royal purple from now on. The throne of stone, the throne he had yearned for and the throne that was rightfully his, stood right across the dark hall. But it was not as empty as he had expected.
"Brother! So good of you to come!" Xian Egor, Xiao's legitimised bastard half-brother, said, sitting leisurely in the throne. "I couldn't quite find you on the battlefield… did you get lost?" Egor asked with a spiteful smile upon his lips.
"Get off my throne or I shall have you flayed alive!" Xiao cried, enraged that his baseborn brother would defile his seat of divine rule. The brothers had always been rivals, and even though Xiao was a great man, whispers would tell of Egor's valour and fierceness in combat. He was called Egor the Unbowed, as he had never been defeated in personal combat, something Xiao couldn't brag about. It was even said that Xiao was craven and that Egor was the better ruler. Of course, anyone who would have claimed this would first have lost their tongues and then their heads.

Egor removed his giant muscular body from the throne and moved slowly down the stairs that lead up to the royal seat. The steps would almost tremble with every step he took.
"Relax, my king. I was only making sure no usurper would claim your seat in your absence" he said and presented the throne to his brother. Xiao went up to the chair of state and sat down. The soldiers, that were assembled in the room all knelt before their new king.

"My Lord!" Xian Joa, the youngest trueborn brother of Xiao exclaimed as he entered the throneroom. His armour was tattered and it was obvious that he had been stabbed in the shoulder. "The lords of Garlan bend their knee and beg for mercy! The keep has fallen! The ancient Iron Crown is ours!" he said and pointed to the old, jagged iron crown in his hand. Xiao took a greedy look at it. He now knew that his foes could sooner bring down the sky than face against him.

"Then let my coronation begin! Right here, on the battlefield. General Egor, I will give you the honour!" the Batarian warlord cried. Joa handed the crown unto Egor, and Egor held the crown over Xiao's head as he sat in his throne. Egor looked back at Joa before clearing his throat.
"Brother! My king!" Egor cried with a firm voice. "I bequeath unto you the Iron Crown of Khar'Shan and with it, the heavenly mandate to rule the world! I name you King Xiao, the first of your name and the first of your dynasty, of the Stars Beyond, King of Khar'Shan, Erszbat and Anhur, First Citizen of the Batarian Hedgemony, Protector of the realm and Warden of the Terminus! May your foes perish in fire and may your years be many!" Egor said and placed the ancient iron crown upon his brother's head. "All hail King Xiao!" he cried.
"All hail the King!" the kneeling men yelled.
"Thank you" Xiao said and leaned back into the ancient throne. "Now, kneel, rapespawn" he spat at his brother. "Kneel and swear your fealty to me". The disgust in Egor's eyes was less than inconspicuous, yet he knelt like the honourable warrior that he was. "Of course my king! I bend my knee to you! Know that my sword is yours and my levies are in your service, from now on and until the day I perish". Egor couldn't look his brother in the eyes while uttering his pledge, he hated him so. "Good" Xiao said in a sadistic tone.

"Men! Today we stand victorious!" the newly crowned king said. "The ancient kingdom of Khar'Shan stands once more and I am its king! With my many ships and my brave men – you – I have conquered. But my hunger for land is not yet sated, I will not linger until every living soul with a beating heart fear the Batarians and treble upon hearing our names! One day, I, and my descendants after me, shall rule the galaxy! Over a third of the Terminus already belongs to me, and the rest is mine de jure!" he said with an excited expression in his face.

"But we shan't conquer the rest of the Terminus!" he said, much to everyone's surprise. "No, not yet at least! For that has been the mistake of all the others in the past that wanted to become king and failed. No! I shall learn from history! Our ships shan't sail towards The Shrike Abyssal, nor The Far Rim! No longer shall the people of the terminus fare war against each other! No!" he said, rose from his seat and held a long, dramatic pause.
".. Tomorrow we set sail for Citadel Space. And we shall Pillage. And we shall rape. And we shall…" he said and paused for a minute.

"Conquer…"