The Elder Council

They reached Nirn in less than an hour and they had a first-class view of it when Vincent sat down again and began to talk, "Here the Black Emperor. We request permission to land in Kvatch for some repairs."

"Of course, your Majesty. We heard that the First Contact Protocol was activated by you. The Emperor wants to see the people," says the traffic controller informing Vincent.

"Tell him that we will meet him today. But first I need to land on Kvatch. They need to repair the ship of the people that activated the protocol in the first place," says Vincent as the traffic controller informs Vincent about the place he should land.

He pushes the button to cover the roof again as they entered the atmosphere of Nirn which pulled them in making Vincent maneuver the Black Emperor with skill as he needed to land with one inactive ship that was hanging from his side.

Once in Kvatch, they opened the hatch and they left the Black Emperor. On the ground, Mannimarco and Flemeth were awaiting Vincent and his family.

"I thought you wanted to relax for a while before the war begins," says Flemeth as she was in an Exo body which was created for her.

"We were about to arrive when we stumble upon that," says Mina as she pointed at the Normandy.

"The shipwrights to fix it but it seems quite fragile compared to our ships," says Mannimarco as he wanted to take a closer look at it.

"Fragile?" asks Titania as Mannimarco nods.

"Forget him. We have somewhere else to be," says Vincent as he guided them out of there towards the street where a bus was already waiting for them.

The whole crew was fit into it before they began to travel when Titania asks, "Where are we going?"

"You are going to meet some of the most important people of the Empire," says Mako as she was sitting beside Titania.

"And they are?" asks Titania suspiciously.

"The Elder Council, the Emperor, and the Empress. If you are lucky you will even meet the prince and princess," says Mako as the trip took them an hour.

They arrived at the Imperial City and the bus stopped once they were in the Palace District which was still unchanged. The crew was surprised that the Palace District was still this well kept for being the oldest part of the whole city.

They arrived at the Palast when Vincent says, "Only five people can go inside. I would recommend taking open-minded people with you."

"Why is that?" asks Titania as Vincent looks at her.

"Because of what they will be seeing in there. I would recommend leaving the Quarian outside. She almost overreacted when she saw an Exo. If she sees what is inside she might pull the trigger and that's something we want to avoid at all cost except you want to start a war," says Vincent as the Quarian seemed to be angry about what Vincent said.

"My people have a bad relationship with robots. I didn't know that an Exo was a human that gave up his body for one made out of metal. If I knew I wouldn't have pulled my gun out," says the Quarian as Vincent looked at her seriously.

"How much do you know about what happened between the Geth and the Quarians? Because if you knew the whole story you would at least understand why the Geth rebelled against the Quarians," says Vincent as the Quarian was enraged.

"Are you moc-" says the Quarian when Titania intervenes.

"Tali!" shouts Titania as Tali stopped but still murmured something to herself angrily in her tongue.

"That's what I mean. You are still young and don't try to see the other side of the coin. The people in there are foxes that will use everything they have to see how you react to their insults that are disguised as compliments," says Vincent knowing what he was talking about.

"If they only see what they already know about your races they will vote on something that only two persons can revoke," says Vincent as Titania was thinking hard over this matter.

"Who can revoke their vote?" asks Titania's brother as he was curious.

"You are Tristan, her brother," says Vincent as Tristan nods.

"The only people able to do that are the current Emperor and the First Emperor," says Vincent as Titania opened her eyes.

"Tristan, Garrus, Kaidan, and Wrex, you will follow me inside," says Titania as the female human got angry.

"Why can't I join you?" asks the female human angry that she had to wait outside with the others.

"Ashley, it is better you stay here. It's because of your racism that I can't take you with me," says Titania as Ashley showed it quite open when she was on the Black Emperor and the Normandy.

"Racism," says Vincent looking at Ashley with an intimidating glare.

"I should tell the Crownguards to keep an eye on you just in case that you cause trouble," says Vincent before he guided Titania and her chosen companions inside the Palast.

"The Elder Council, what is the idea behind it?" asks Titania as Vincent smiles.

"The Elder Council was reformed and exist to give every race inside the Empire a voice but many things have changed now we also have people that represent their race and people that represent their province," says Vincent as he explained to them how the Elder Council works.

"So they democratically vote about the future of the Empire," says Tristan as Vincent nods.

"Yes, the Emperor normally doesn't intervene with what the Council decides except it goes against the Empire's ideals," says Vincent as they arrived where the Elder Council takes place.

"I will be waiting for you in another room. I really hate to be in a room full of politics," says Vincent as he leaves making the group suspicious of him.

"Who do you think he really is?" asks Tristan as they saw how everyone interacted with Vincent so far.

"Someone important maybe a General or Admiral," says Titania as they entered the room when suddenly they came face-to-face with a Geth.

Now they understood why Vincent didn't want Tali to come with Titania. She would have lost it if she came face-to-face with the Geth standing in front of them.

"What is a Geth doing here?" asks Garrus as the Head Councilor sees them react to the Geth.

"Have you never seen a Geth? They are the last race that entered the Empire 50 years ago," says the Head Councilor as the group was surprised to hear that.

"The Geth are part of the Empire for 50 years now. But why are they helping the Rogue Specter Saren?" asks Titania as the Geth stood up.

"We have nothing to do with the actions that the Heretics are doing in the name of the Old Machines," says the Geth distancing his race from the actions that the Heretics are accused of have done.

"It is right. We can vouch for the Geth. They haven't joined that Specter Saren you are talking about," says one of the Councilors.

"But what about their past. They went to ear against their creators after developing intelligence," says Tristan as the whole Council until the Head Councilor made them quiet down again.

"Let me ask you this. What would you do if your God decided to genocide your race of the face of the galaxy?" says the Head Councilor as he looked at the five newcomers.

"Would you accept it or fight back," says the Head Councilor as he saw them thinking hard about it.

"The Geth are a peaceful race that hates to fight but still does it because they need to defend themselves from the Quarians," says the Altmer Councilor as the five couldn't believe what was said a moment ago.

"But why aren't they then showing themselves?" asks Titania as the Geth stand back up.

"Before we joined the Empire we tried to talk with the Citadel Council but they shot our ship down. That was the only evidence we needed to know where we stood in their eyes. That is also why the Empire hasn't shown itself to all the other races even when they knew about them since before we joined them," says the Geth as this shocked the five.

"You knew about the other races outside and didn't inform the Citadel to get registered," says Kaidan as the Head Councilor stood up.

"We know and we think that your system doesn't follow the ideals of the Empire. The Citadel is Corruption incarnated in our eyes as they decide the future of all races with only three councilors that only represent the interest of their races instead of the interest of every race in it," says the Head Councilor as Wrex gave a small laugh.

"I like those people," says Wrex as he looked at his companions.

"But if you know about us someone had to know about you right?" asks Tristan as an Awoken stood up.

"The first race we encountered was called Batarian. They tried to kidnap some of our people when we just blew them from the sky. We defend our people not like your Council that just sanctions them. We shot at least a thousand of their ship down without suffering many casualties," says the Awoken Councilor as Wrex looked at his companions.

"They seem to be the ones responsible for the disappearance of all the Batarian ships that entered this sector of the Galaxy," says Wrex as he began to like the Empire more and more since they aren't all talk.

"How about we slow down a bit we can't judge them on the mistakes that the Citadel Council have committed. Remember what the First Emperor uses to say, 'We don't judge the descendants for the mistakes their ancestors did.'. We should see them as what they are not as who they represent," says an Au-Ra that looked exactly like Mako but had Vincent's skin color and eyes.

The five companions could easily see that she had to be related to them as the Head Councilor closes his eyes. He knew that far too well since he is a Highwind as well but he wanted to see how loyal they were to the Citadel Council.

"We should let them speak," says someone that wasn't in the room until just a moment ago.

Everyone suddenly kneeled in his presence and that of the woman beside him making the five companions follow the example to not enrage the people in this Council.

"His Majesty, Naomasa Highwind, the current Emperor of the Highwind Empire. And her Majesty, Brelvala Dralril, the current Empress of the Highwind Empire," announces the Crownguard to everyone in the room making the five companions realize that they dodged a bullet by kneeling.

"Now speak and we will listen as long as you don't insult us as you did before by accusing the Geth of joining the so-called Specter Saren," says Naomasa as his aura manifested behind him.

"Tell us why you entered Imperial Ground," says Naomasa as Titania told them about everything that was going on when Naomasa stood up and says, "So you are saying that the Turian named Saren is working from a ship that looks like a Netch."

"A Netch?" asks Titania as they showed them a picture of a Netch in the display.

"Yes, something like that," says Tristan as the mood change in the room quickly.

"Are you sure about that?" asks Naomasa as Titania nods when Naomasa stood up.

"The Reapers have finally shown themselves," says Naomasa as the five companions were confused.

"Reapers?" asks Wrex as Naomasa nods.

"They are the bane of this Galaxy. They come every 50.000 years to purge the Galaxy of all life that has reached space traveling. Why do you think the Protheans disappeared? They didn't just pack their baggage and left," says Naomasa as he looked at them.

"So they were killed off by the Reapers," says Titania as Naomasa nods.

"Yes, it is finally time to reveal ourselves and join the war," says Naomasa as the five companions were confused.

"What do you mean with join the war?" asks Titania as Naomasa looks at the five companions.

"The Reaper won't stop until every single one of us is killed. We received a prophecy about them way before I became the Emperor that they would appear and kill us all," says Naomasa as he turns to the Elder Council and shouts, "Is everyone behind me!"

The whole Council stood up and they pointed their weapons into the air before they all together say, "We fight and die for the Empire. Nothing should ever stand in our way."

"Good, but before we join the fight we will have to send people to the Citadel. I suggest sending Vincent Highwind, Naosane Highwind, and Naokichi Highwind with their companions. Does anyone have an objection?" says Naomasa as no one seemed to have anything against it.

"Good," says Naomasa as he turns to the five companions.

"You heard me and we heard you. Your people will be accommodated in the Palace District. I heard from Vincent that some of your crew members could run into trouble if they joined our society. But we can teach you some of our history and culture while you wait until your ship is repaired," says Naomasa as he then turns around and leaves the room while the Elder Council followed.

The Five Companions left the room and found Vincent waiting for them who says, "Now it seems we will be companions for a little while longer."

He guides them out and once reunited with the crew he brought them to where they will be staying until their ship is completely repaired.

Once there Vincent left them and Titania asks her brother, "Can we trust them?"

"They haven't attacked us and it seemed more like they were testing us in that room," says Tristan as Titania thought the same.

"We should trust them for now. But have you noticed something strange yet?" asks Tristan as Titania looked at him puzzled.

"They don't carry firearms. They all carried cold steel weapons as if they don't care about guns at all," says Tristan as Titania suddenly realized it too.

Everyone they met so far except for Vincent was carrying a cold steel weapon instead of a gun. Titania was now deep in thought about why that would be so while her brother left her for tonight knowing he wouldn't get an answer while she was thinking this hard.