Space Dragon 4
How should a king respond to a direct threat to his power?
If you're Aerys Targaryen, you stew silently as your Hand tries to console you. The Hand in question, his favored pyromancer Rossart, was assuring him that everything was going according to plan with their caches of Wildfire. The jars had been placed and they were ready to be detonated by Rossart's most ardent disciples.
The only two within the throne room on this early hour of the day were the King and the Alchemist, not counting Aerys's ever present shadows of course. They did throw strong shadows, as well, stretching across the throne room as the sun rose against the windows and threw the king and his hand in darkness. Urdnot Wrex and Jaime Lannister would never betray their King, Aerys convinced himself.
Not like the Martell bitch and those blue whores that were even now being escorted to the sea. Aria T'Loak had made a true enemy, when she had struck the king. She and her daughter would not survive long once she was on the ship to Dragonstone, Balerion. Aerys had given orders that the ship be manned with his most grizzled seamen, the worst men his Master of Ships could provide.
Not in the ways of sailing, of course, but in character. The deposed Queen would be raped to death if all went according to plan. The same fate would most likely befall Elia, Liselle, and Rhaenys as well; but a slight must be answered.
"Are they on their ship, yet?" He snaps at Rossart, now eager to know they were suffering.
The alchemist starts, frowns and looks to Jaime and Wrex for context. He had not been present when Aria had threatened him and it was the captain of the city guard Jaime had ordered to escort the women and children to the docks.
"They should be there soon," Jaime tells the king, and the Targaryen monarch spins to glare at him. He takes a breath, "Captain Hollard will return once they are on the ship."
"Very well," Aerys turns back to Rossart and asks, "What of Tywin's forces?"
"They will reach the city well before the Stark army," Rossart tells his master, "We have but an hour to wait before he is in this very chamber with us."
"Excellent, and then we can begin to strike back against our foes!" Aerys breaks into a joyful cackle, heedless of the disgusted looks from both Wrex and Jaime.
The two guards, both krogan and human, roll their eyes in irritation at the mad king's antics. Jaime had grown accustomed to the eccentricities of the monarch and was merely counting the days until the rebellion claimed victory. It wouldn't be pretty and he'd probably die doing his duty, but a dead Aerys was better for the realm as a whole. Wrex had dealt with madmen in power before, mostly Batarians; and he wasn't sure how much he liked working for the strange human.
The warlord was thinking of a few of the worse jobs he'd had in his time as a mercenary. They'd been anywhere from horrible to hilarious, and he got the feeling that this one would be more the first than the second. If push came to shove, though, he could make a tactical retreat and call this adventure a win. He'd already claimed a large sack of gold as a hiring bonus and it didn't look like the second class humans had ever seen anything shiny before. He'd be able to live better than the king he was working for if he played things right.
"So what's your father like?" He asks Jaime.
The kingsguard turns to look at him, raising an eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"
"Well I doubt hairy over there would pay to make your armor outa gold," Wrex looks down at the ornamental armor that Jaime was wearing.
Jaime looks down as well, and sighs. Wrex was very right, as the sheer amount of golden decoration on his armor was enough to blind a man on a sunny day, "He's the Lion of Lannister."
Wrex blinks at him.
"The Lord of Casterly Rock."
Wrex raises an eyebrow.
"Paramount of the West."
Wrex's head tilts down so he can blink very slowly at Jaime.
The Lannister sighs, "He and my family own most of the gold mines in the kingdom."
"Ah," Wrex nods, "Why the hell didn't you just say that?"
"I'd thought I had."
"I've been on this planet three weeks, kid."
"Right," Jaime sighs, "I often forget, you so often claim to know everything."
"I know everything about killing, boy," The krogan grunts, "and don't you ever forget that."
"Then why didn't you protect the king when your companion assaulted him?" Jaime asks, then adds, "Why did you stop me from protecting him?"
"Because I'm smart enough not to fuck with an Asari like Aria."
"Her magic was formidable, yes, but she can't be that hard to kill!"
"Magic?" Wrex blinks, "Nah, that was biotics. No such thing as magic, kid."
"I believe my point still stands, Ser Wrex."
"Battlemaster."
"What?"
"Or Warlord," Wrex corrects him, "Sers are what you people call yourselves. Krogan are Battlemasters and Warlords. I'm both."
"So like a lord and a knight in one?"
"Probably," Wrex nods.
"Then my point still stands, Warlord Wrex," Jaime pats the sword at his side, "Despite her biotics, I'm sure Queen Aria would have been just as easy to kill as anyone else."
"It's not just her biotics that make Aria a fucking nightmare to fight," Wrex tells Jaime knowledgeably, "She knows her way around just about every weapon somebody's tried to kill her with."
"And how often have people tried to kill her?" Jaime leans back.
"I've been hired to try at least a dozen times over the centuries," Wrex muses, "plus there're the idiots that think they can take over Omega, the regular nuts, the Batarians, and whatever Merc group is most powerful at any time."
"She seemed remarkably at ease with you," Jaime notes, not sure how much he'd be able to associate with somebody that tried to kill him. Of the people that had, he would have gladly stuck a knife in them if they'd somehow come back from the dead long enough for him to see them.
"Nobody's paid me to kill her in a few centuries," Wrex shrugs, "Plus she always outbids them."
"You tell her you've been hired to kill her?"
Wrex gives a grunt in the affirmative.
"If only everyone were so courteous," Jaime rolls his eyes.
- The Lion Gate -
Gregor Clegane was far from courteous. It would be overly generous to say he was good, or at least a lie by omission. It was definitely a blatant falsehood if you said he was nice. Gregor, by the most liberal estimates, had the personality of a particularly ornery honey badger. This was unfortunate, because he had the size of a large bear.
This the guards at the gate were learning very much to their detriment as he easily reduced their number down to one. His massive greatsword, held with the ease a normal man would bear a bastard sword, cleaved through men that had expected to meet a friend.
Blood splashed across the cobblestones and peasants fled at the start of the carnage, and now the man known as the Mountain that Rides was free to call in the rest of the Lannister Bannermen. Tywin Lannister, standing at a far enough distance not to be splashed, watches dispassionately as his men begin their deadly work.
His brother, the more honorable Kevan Lannister, frowns at the sight before them. He did not know what history would say of his House after this bloody coupe, but it would not be kind to this moment. His brother had been careful to avoid giving any truly dark orders while in his presence, but he had not been included in several key meetings. There would be many dark deeds on this day.
It would fall to him, in all likelihood, to police their men and stop the worst of the raping and the murdering. Already he could hear screams of terror and pain spreading throughout the city. He tells his brother as much.
The elder Lannister regards him with the same measure he did only a few others. It was a look reserved for family, the look that said he supported your decision but could not truly comprehend it. It was the same look he had given Gerion before their brother had vanished into the Doom of Valyria, and even one he'd seen his brother give to their sister after she'd chosen to remain with her Frey husband.
"Take care of the peasants, Kevan," Tywin tells him, "Make sure that we are remembered as liberators, rather than raiders."
Kevan is quick to bow his head in agreement, and he calls for his own men to join him. He marches into the city and quickly begins to issue orders, "We are to keep the Mountain's men from destroying the reputation of the Westerlands, men."
"How're we to do that, M'lord?" One of his more intelligent officers asks, stepping up beside him.
"Stop the raping," Kevan tells the man, then looks to the rest of his men, "It's expected that some valuables will go missing, but if a girl of my nieces age is violated I will find the man and castrate him myself!"
The men all give crisp salutes, then they break away in teams of three or more. He'd always maintained a disciplined personal assortment of Lannister men, so he had enough to try and keep the peace in the Lannister controlled portions of the city. Hopefully his men would be able to keep the peace while Lord Leo Lefford secured the northern gates for the Stark army to march through.
- The Docks -
"What's happening?" Elia asks, peering into the distant landscape of the city as screams start to reach them from under the hood she'd donned to hide her identity.
"Sounds like the city is under attack," Aria shrugs, and pulls the woman along as she adjusts her own hood, "It seems we're leaving at the right time."
"The Starks are here already?" Elia wonders, adjusting Aegon in her grip, "Varys said they would reach the city after the Lannisters."
"Maybe the Lannisters turned on the King," Liselle offers. Rhaenys was in her hands, looking fearfully into the depths of the city, "I know he's been antagonizing Lord Tywin for years."
"Yes, but to turn so late…." Elia drifts off, and sighs, "Yes, it would make some sense. Lord Tywin has always been a practical man."
"Lord Tywin being…?" Aria asks, stopping as they reach the docks. Her eyes rove across the bay, looking for the ship Varys had told them to take, the Silence. It was captained by an apparently unpleasant lad by the name of Euron Greyjoy, but the gold offered was going to be more than enough to give them safe passage to some degree.
He also encouraged her to throw him overboard, if she needed to.
"Ho there!"
Their eyes turn and catch sight of a handsome young human standing on the railing of a ship. The ship, a heavily modified ironborn longboat, was moored at the start of the dock and the man took full advantage of that fact, swinging to the ground to greet them.
"Ladies!" He smiles wolfishly at them, "I am Euron Greyjoy, captain of the Silence. The fat Eunuch told me I was going to be taking all of you to Dragonstone!"
"You're right about that," Aria nods, and she pulls off her hood to give the man a proper assessment, "I hear you're being paid very well. Was Varys stupid enough to pay you before we left?"
"Afraid he was," Euron laughs, and the look in his eyes changes as his eyes catch the blue of her skin and the tentacles that took the place of her hair, "By the gods, you're a mermaid!"
"I am," Aria tells him, "We go by Asari."
"We?"
Liselle pulls off her own hood, and calling upon the knowledge she'd gained from Lewyn notes, "Greyjoys aren't known as ferrymen."
"Ah, well, I was here to pick the city clean while the armies fought; but I suspected the reward for this would be more than just gold," Euron notes, then waves at the two Asari, "And here I am, the first Ironborn to lay eyes on an emissary of the Drowned God in a thousand years or more!"
Elia eyes the Greyjoy warily, but she did know Euron to some extent. Pyke had been one of the many stops her family had taken when her mother had been trying to find her and her brother suitable matches. Euron had been intense, but pleasant on the surface.
"Captain!" All eyes turn to the ship and a man stands atop the railing where Euron had made his own entrance, "Trouble approaches!"
Euron snorts, "The Starks are at the other end of the city!"
"Not the Starks, Cap'n, it's the crew of the Balerion!" The man points, and eyes turn further down the docks.
A large group of men were climbing off of a menacing black ship, bearing an assortment of weaponry. Euron raises an eyebrow, then looks to Aria and her companions to see if they have some form of explanation.
"Aerys gave us that ship," Elia tells him.
Euron snorts again, "He must not like you very much then, princess. I've sailed with a man or ten of them."
"Unpleasant?" Aria asks.
"They give pirates a bad name," Euron jests, and he slips a deadly looking axe from the loop on his belt.
Aria smiles and twitches her fingers, "My kind of people, then."
The Greyjoy looks over to her and his eyebrows jerk up as he watches purple light play in her palm. He jumps back when she lashes out, and his eyes follow the small ball of light that flies from her hand. It soars through the air, unnaturally straight, and strikes the first of the charging men in the chest.
What happens to him would be difficult to describe, had he not once see lightning strike a man. Lines of power lash from the ball of light, twisting around the man and squeezing. Euron winces as the man screams in pain, the horrific light tearing the flesh from his bones as it digs its way through him.
Eventually the ball enters the man's chest, to the horror of his fellows. The dead man starts to fall, but before he can reach the ground he erupts. In an explosion of gore, pieces of the man fly from the ball of light and at his companions.
A hand smacks one man, a leg another, and one unfortunate sap takes the castrated unmentionables right to the face.
"Oh, mother," Liselle sighs, and the Greyjoy's eyes turn to watch her step up to her mother and pull the sword on the elder Asari's blade from its scabbard at her waist. Aria barely turns her gaze from the carnage she has wrought to raise an eyebrow at her mother.
"I've the experience of one of the best swordsmen in the land," Liselle reminds her as the Valyrian Steel shines in reflection of the power now wafting off of both women.
The young maiden marches towards the now hesitant men, and uses their reluctance to full advantage. She thrusts her hand forward, expelling a singularity at them. It drifts lazily at them, but it is enough like the warp that had destroyed their companion to force a retreat. Liselle pushed the biotic ball of energy in front of her, and then darts out from around it to rush at the pirates.
A slice of her blade cleaves the shaft of a spear in half, and the man who had tried to use it to block stares dumbly at it. He fails to react to the blade that passes through his throat after that in time to do anything but fall to the ground dead.
The blade is then used to catch an axe aimed at Liselle's face, and the men begin to circle her. They fail, in their unfortunate ignorance, to do anything more than try to step around the singularity as Liselle had. She detonates it when they step too close. Gravity fails them, and their feet cannot find purchase on the ground.
Cries of confusion fill the air as three men are lifted up and remain there. They are the lucky ones, spared the sudden lightning strikes of Liselle's sword. One man drops without his head, another screams in pain as his hand is removed, and two gurgle and try to stem the tide of blood as it spurts from their throats.
Euron laughs at the sight of the asari slaughtering the enemy crew, and decides he better join the fight. It would not look good if she were to take a knife in the back, which she doubtless would considering the men she faced. He charges forward, his axe swinging through the air.
There is a satisfying thunk as he buries it into the spine of an unwary adversary. Kicking the crippled man away, Euron turns to grab the hand of a man swinging a sword at him, then kicks the fool in the groin and cleaves his head in two.
Aria, satisfied that things were being settled, crosses her arms and watches the fight with amusement. Elia hides her daughter from the sight of the carnage, pushing the girl's face into her skirts, "I did not expect Liselle to be so well versed in swordsmanship."
"She took your uncles memories, remember?" Aria asks.
"I know," Elia blinks, "You mean to say she gained such ability from his memories?"
"Not all of it, clearly," Aria smirks as Liselle bisects one of the men hanging suspended in her singularity, "But we don't use swords, where we're from."
"You use your arcane abilities," Elia guesses.
"Biotics, dear," Aria corrects. Then she looks up at the man still on the rails of Euron's ship, "Hey!"
The man drags his eyes from his captain and the asari killing the opposing crew and down to the Princess and the elder mermaid, "M'lady?"
"How do we get on your ship?" Aria demands.
"The gangplank," he points to a wooden board leaning against the ship and giving a ramp on board.
Aria nods, then turns back to the fighting, "Liselle, now."
Immediately, her daughter disengages from the fight, and she pulls Euron with her as she goes. The Greyjoy turns to her, startled at their retreat from victory, but doesn't fight the pull.
"Mother wants to leave," Liselle tells him.
"And I suppose you always listen to your mother?" Euron smirks.
"She does when I am right," Aria tells him, "And I am always right."
"Are you really?" He snorts.
Aria narrows her eyes and then orders, "Get on the ship and get us out of this city."
The ironborn sighs, "Oh, very well."
"Good, I'd rather not have to kill you, the Starks, or the Lannisters," Aria notes, "I will need somebody to do business with once I've my own kingdom."
Euron blinks at her, but decides not to try and figure out what she means and instead do as she bid. He climbs up the gangplank and starts barking orders to his men.