Author Note
In the next chapter we'll have the Lord-Captain visiting King's Landing and the conquest of Meeren.
Reviews
CrazedGammaMan1721
I'm glad that you are enjoying it.
Williams1996
Given that the Lord-Captain lacks the contacts required to sell horses to anyone in the IOM it seems best to leave them with the PDF regiments on that planet so that when the Lord-Captain needs more men and travels to Plantos to pick them up he'll have regiments with warhorses ready to fight for him. That could come in handy if he goes to less-developed worlds.
Morkail
I don't think having Planetos blow up or get invaded by Chaos or Orks would be good for the story as there's already a lot going on. We have the Eldar sneaking about that's enough aliens for this story arc what with the local politics and wars.
He can get more ships from the forge-world, but he will need to trade something with the Ad-Mech to make it more worth while. Conquering a feudal world won't be enough, just a step in the right direction, he'll need to go after more profitable targets.
My current plan is for the Rouge-Trader to upgrade to a Luna-class cruiser and then to acquire some support ships that will be command by the children of his many wives some decades in the future. Getting a whole fleet will require him to acquire some cool technology for the Ad-Mech and to bring rare resources back to the IOM.
The life span of the Lord-Commander will be measured in centuries assuming that he doesn't obtain immortality, so I will have to time skip if I ever want to write about him commanding a fleet and taking on whole empires. Future story arcs can take place decades apart if that works for what I want to write about.
His kids will have psyker powers that allow them to use the warp without becoming corrupted by Chaos. The Lord-Captain is A New Man, sort of like the Emperor in the sense that he's an evolved human, but less powerful since he wasn't made the same way as the Emperor. Big E just just gave him a little of his power.
Rogue Trader CYOA Story
Part 6
"If a man can be judged by the quality and number of his foes, then I am indeed a great man."
— Imperial Commander Throm Percevus
Winterfell. The North.
Ned Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, sat by the Weirwood tree and cleaned the ancestral blade called Ice as he tried to find some peace, only his mind was so filled with concerns that even his prayers to the old gods were incomplete due to how distracted he'd become. Only cleaning Ice brought him any comfort as the familiar smoothness of the weapon made him feel closer to the many Starks that had come before him and to those that would follow in this line long after his bones had turned to dust.
According the Lord-Commander of the Night's Watch The Wall had been shaken when a land far to the north, in a part of the world even the Wildlings wouldn't venture to, seemed to have undergone some of disaster. The Wall had shook as a mighty wind nearly blew some of the black brothers off the top of The Wall. Thankfully no one had been hurt and nothing else like that had happened, but it sounded as if another Doom had taken place. Like what had happened with the Freehold all those centuries ago.
Maester Luwin could only speculate on what could have happened, and the reports of a bright light in the distance just before the shaking and the wind, well these weren't much to go on. Lord-Commander Mormont would try to find out more, but given the distances involved it seemed unlikely that even the rangers would be able to find out what happened. The lands struck by this new Doom were so far from The Wall only the Wildings would ever go there and they wouldn't be eager to share any information with the south.
No one knew if this new Doom would happen elsewhere and this had put people on edge, to make matters worse a man who'd been executed by Ned this very day had sworn he'd seen the White Walkers not long before the Ne Doom happened. If not for the Lord-Commanders report, words that Eddard felt sure that his brother would confirm soon, he would have assumed that the boy whose head he removed was just mad, but the northern lord couldn't help feeling that something was very wrong with the world.
There had been rumours of a flying machine seen in Pentos and that the Free City had some new weapons. Details were hard to come by because only White Habour had much contact with the people of Essos, and recently there had been a sharp decrease in ships from Essos. There was talk of the Stepstones having been invaded but here in The North there were few details.
The presence of his wife, who had just entered the godswood, did nothing to ease Eddard's tension, if anything it increased despite the fact that he often found her presence to be soothing during troubled times.
"I'm so sorry my love" she said as she passed on some news sent by raven.
The Hand of the King, Jon Aryan, a man who had been like a second father to Ned, was reported to have past away very recently and now his old friend Robert, the king, was coming to The North, and Eddard knew that it couldn't have anything to do with The Wall shaking as even the Spider's little birds could not have gotten that information down south so quickly.
"If he is coming here there can be only one reason" stated Lord Stark.
His wife had come to the same conclusion as her husband as Ned expected since she'd always had a keen mind.
"You can always say no" she advised.
The last time King Robert had asked his old friend to come south it was to help put down the Greyjoy rebellion, and while Ned had come home many brave men of the North had not. Cat worried that if her man left again he would not return to her.
"Robert will need my help" said Eddard "And I have a duty".
His wife did not agree.
"You have a duty to me, to your children, to Winterfell, to the entire north" she stated "Isn't that enough for one man".
It should be and Eddard was proud of the work he had done. While many of his men had been forced to fight in the wars in the south during his life time the North had remained stable. Sure the Wildling were increasing their raids and the coming winter would be harsher than any in living memory, but they would endure as they always had, and his bannermen were honourable men and loyalty to him. Or at least that was what he told himself. Deep down he had to wonder if soon his whole world would come crashing down around him.
(Line Break)
Private Chambers. Dauntless-Class Crusier His Glorious Aspirations.
I'd taken a break form helping to manage the conquest of the Stepstones to visit Pentos again as Magister Illyrio had left word with some of my underlings about doing more business. The demand for guns in Pentos had greatly lessend of late even if we were still selling ammo to Illyrio, so he wanted to be allowed to export guns and ammo on behalf to the other Free Cities.
To be more percise the Free Cities to the east of Slavers Bay such as Myr and Norvos which could be reached in resonable amount of time while travelling overland. We only sell them rifles, pistols and shotguns, no machine guns or fortifications ensuring that Pentos still had advantages over its neighbours. Pentos would also be the only Free City in the part of the world allow to buy ammo from me which would always been in demand since no one else could make ammo. So I could still cut everyone off it I wished to.
We would share in the profits as partners despite me providing the guns, the ammo and the trainers as Illyrio would handle the shipping deal with his counter parts in the other Free Cites. The rest of Essos was due to conquered by the Imperial Guard and I would be handling Westeros.
To help cement this new deal Illyrio had presented me with the crown of Queen Rhaella, which he claimed to have purchased from another Magister, one known for collecting rare treasures, but I had to wonder if he'd had for a while as part of his scheme with Varys aka the Master of Whispers, to place that fake Aegon on the Iron Throne. Not that it mattered much as I would have my puppet sitting on the Iron Throne.
If the crown was the real deal then Viserys Targaryen should know as when he and Daenerys Targaryen fled to the Free Cities after Robert's Rebellion, they took the crown of their mother with them. While in exile, Viserys sold this crown in order to survive. I'd heard it mentioned that selling Rhaella's crown took the last of whatever joy had been in Viserys, leaving only rage. Perhaps seeing his mother's crown on his sister's head would restore a little happiness to the man. I would soon find out.
"Good morning, your graces" I said to my two royal guests who were having breakfast together.
I liked to keep the two royals close so I had them staying in my private quarters, which were themselves a palace, while they would dine together I kept them separated most of the time with lessons and while swords would become less important in Westeros in the years to come it was still important that Viserys be able to play the part of a warrior. Because in Westeros being able to stab people with sharp bits of metal made you qualified to rule for some reason.
"Good Morning, my lord" said Viserys "Will you be joining me for sparring practice this afternoon".
I should be able to make the time and while I didn't think that a kingdom needed a warrior as a ruler, lots of other people did so I needed to keep my skills sharp. I'd had knowledge of warfare implanted into my mind, only the teaching engines could only do so much.
"Should I find the time I will" I promised.
Daenerys was getting a different education. She also needed to learn about warfare and about trade, they could often be quite similar, and how to talk to people. That last part was more complex than it sounded because as one of my wives (I intended to have a few) she would be expected to speak for me if I wasn't available and it wasn't ship's business, as that would be handled by an officer.
"What is in the box my lord" the princess asked.
This wasn't the first time I'd given her a gift. I knew that she was under pressure from her brother to 'make me happy' but I wanted her to mature more before we started making babies so I tried to keep her happy by giving her gifts and taking her places when possible. I couldn't take her to the Seven Kingdoms, so it was a good thing I had such a nice gift ready for her.
"Open it up and see" I invited.
Inside the wooden box was a simple yellow gold band, set with seven gemstones of different colours.
"Mother's crown!" called Viserys.
So it was the real thing. Good to know.
"I acquired it as a part of a deal in the Free Cities" I explained to the royals "I considered keeping until Visyers chose a bride, but I think it should grace the head of a true princess and stay with a Targaryen. I'll have a new crown made for the next queen of the Seven Kingdoms".
My puppet king seemed lost for words.
"I think your mother would want Dany to have it" I said.
He didn't argue about that and gently placed the gold band on this sister head. He was affectionate about it.
"It suits you" said the man who would be my puppet king to his sister "Yes it should be kept in the family. Passed down from mother to daughter I think".
Meaning any daughter I had with Dany. Something I found odd to think about.
"You two shouldn't be let for your lessons" I said as I headed my room to get changed "I'll try to catch with you later".
I expected to see Yara Greyjoy, who I'd turned into a servent, like her how her brother would have served that Bolton bastard, only without the flaying and Reek business, I'd resisted the urge to take Yara to bed and I only had her performing simpy duties since I wasn't totally okay with what had happened to her.
Only it wasn't Yara I found in my bedroom it was Missandei, until recently been a slave who served as an interpreter to the now very dead Kraznys mo something or other, now she served Dany as a servant, a handmaiden. As such she shouldn't be my bedroom.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
The woman gestured to the ensuite bathroom, which like everything else around here was opulent to the point that it got silly.
"The princess is concern that you are tended to properly" said the Handmaiden "You have not yet married and men have needs".
Well I had my battle-harem if I felt the need to unwind that way. Granted they were rather dull in bed, simply following my commands, with no desires of their own or any real playfulness, still they got the job done.
"You don't need to do this" I assured Missandei "You're not a slave any more".
That did change her mind.
"I volunteered my lord" she assured me "I would like to thank you for my new station".
She'd taken it all in stride, going from the slaves of a major asshole to the handmaiden of a princess who lived in space.
"Do make yourself comfortable while I take my bath," I said.
After placing my armour on the stand I got naked, with Missandei watching, and since I had nothing to hide having been gene-modified very well, I got into the tub, it was more than large enough for me to sit in comfortably. I sat in the warm water and enjoyed the effect it had on my aching muscles. I sat back and closed my eyes thinking about how uncomfortable those seats had been during my meeting with Illyrio. No doubt he'd set them on purpose so that I would be uncomfortable and a little distracted during our meeting.
Before long I heard some water and felt the water moving. Upon opening my eyes I found a naked Missandei climbing into the tub, she sat facing me and until now I'd not realised that she was so skinny. Rather than say anything about this Missandei began to clean me, gently with a soft piece of cloth that she had soaked in the water. As you might expect, having a naked attractive woman touching me got me very hard, but the handmaiden didn't pay that part of me any attention or even react to it.
"You don't have to give me a bath Missandei," I said, "I mean, you can if you want to, but really you're not a slave anymore".
She kept cleaning me, not seeming to be affected by my words.
"The Princess asked me to arrange for someone to take care of you" the former translator explained "I volunteered. We are both grateful for what you have done for us".
I was going to point out that Dany might have been planning to send me a few whores or get into bed with me herself so I would feel honour bound to marry her sooner rather than later, only I stopped thinking about that as soon as Missandei put aside the piece of cloth and proceeded to guide her soft hand underwater so that she could get a hold of my hard cock. Missandei's small hands made my dick seem larger than normal and Missandei's grip on my cock was just perfect, not too tight nor too loose, she knew what she was doing.
Before long she moved so that she could straddle before she guided my cock inside her. She began to move her hips and she stayed focused on my pleasure.
"I hope I please you, my lord," she said.
She didn't need to worry about that. She was very pleasing, and before long she'd be getting a cunt full of my cum to prove it.
(Line Break)
Winterfell. The North.
While some of the events going on in other parts of the world remained mostly unknown about to the King of Westeros, he knew enough to know that something major was happening. The Wall had been shaken and reports from sailors returning from Essos had spoken of men with unknown weapons and flying machines. Normally such stories could easily be ignored as sailors spoke about a lot of silly things, but Robert just knew his big gut that it would be best not to ignore these stories.
"There is a war coming Ned, I know you feel it too" said Robert as she sat down with his old friend in his solar "I just know it".
Eddard could not find it in himself to disagree with this king. A Ser Davos who had served Lord Stannis was rumoured to have sailed off to Essos with the intent of finding out who had killed the family he swore to protect. Also news had reached Westeros that the city of Astaphor had been destroyed. That was more rumour than fact, but it worried the Warden of the North.
"I know" he replied "I've already sent letters to my bannermen telling them to report anything strange to me and to be prepared to fight. If war comes we'll be ready".
King Robert was pleased to hear that the North would stand with him, but he wasn't so sure about the other kingdoms giving him such support.
"I'm worried, Ned" he admitted "There are still those who call me Usurper. I can't be sure that they'll for me if I call the banners, not when we don't even know what we're fighting".
Eddard wasn't as worried.
"They flocked to you when the Greyjoys rebelled" he reminded Robert "If another threat appears they will fight with you if only to protect themselves".
True the lords would fight to keep their positions of power it was just that the king had no idea if it would be enough since he didn't even know what it was they were fighting or if it had any connection to what happened beyond The Wall, which he was sure it would do. How did you fight something like that? Would he face men or were the gods themselves taking action?
"We'll know more when we reach King's Landing" said the monarch "I hope you'll be ready to go in a few days".
So far the kings visit had been a much more sullen affair than expected with only the welcoming feast having been any sort of celebration. At least that meant there had been no trouble to deal with and Sansa at least was happy to be going south. Ned had promised to find Bran a knight to squire under and he'd considered taking Arya before deciding against it. His main concern was Jon who seemed more convinced than ever that it was worth going to The Wall as if he might somehow make a difference it whatever was going on beyond The Wall.
The Night's Watch had reported more on the matter. Some Wildlings who had been closer to this New Doom had actually request to be allowed down south in case another Doom happened. The Lord-Commander had allowed a few Wildling families to pass since they had many women with children and they'd agreed to hand over their weapons. Eddard didn't think this had ever happened before, but he would not stop women and children from finding some sort of safety even it made the lords grumble. He would soothe them and ensure that they understood that the Watch was no letting raiders past The Wall only scared families.
At least there was no more King-Beyond-The-Wall to worry about. According the Lord-Commander's reports many Wildlings had been killed by the New Doom, and those closer to than The Wall, those who had livied in villages that offered some shelter from the elements, confirmed about the sudden strong wind and that the sky had lit up for a moment. Nothing had been heard from anyone who'd lived further to the north than the villages that were not that far from The Wall.
The Night's Watch was unlikely to find out more as there were doing their best to prepare for some kind of attack so perhaps it was good that Jon would be there as he might make a difference. Or maybe he was just sending his boy to die?
(Line Break)
Vaes Dothrak. Esso.
No Khal, not even those of legend had ever commanded a fighting force such as this. Khal Drogo might have missed out on a chance to claim an exotic princess as his wife, but that would hardly matter should he be the warrior who freed the city from the invaders, he would have no need to look for a beautiful woman. Soon they would come to him, as would others to pay tribute to the greatest Khal in history as not only was he planning to retake Vaes Dothrak, he had the idea of finding out where these invaders were before marching the greatest horde ever to their cities and laying them to waste. He didn't care how long of a journey it would be or if led him to be the first Khal to cross the water that their horses could not drink.
A few things about all this did worry Drogo, even if he'd never admit it, like the speed of which these invaders had put up such high walls, and how they taken the city without any of the Dothraki even realising that there were invaders in their lands. Traders who took the paths to Vaes Dothrak were not harmed, but there was no way an army of invaders could have been able to reach the city without news having spread across the grasslands like a wild fire. Even if he had been given the answers to his question he wouldn't have understand anything about orbital scans and landing craft.
Drogo had learned much about the defences the invaders had put place from those who had failed in the other attacks, so he knew about the horses and men who simply die as they charged towards the city. These tricks did not concern The Khal as the riders under his command would not be driven away by foreign magic tricks. Given the sheer number of Screamers he would lead into battle it didn't matter if hundreds died before they reached the walls. Such a charge could not be stopped by anything and his words had done much to fire up the blood of the warriors.
Now they were ready for the charge, they simply waited for Khal Drogo, the greatest leader their people had known and would ever know, to give the signal. When Drogo brought up his curved blade it glittered in the morning sun for a moment before he lowered it and then the screaming started. To start with the screaming was the battle cry of tens of thousands of Dothraki warriors riding into battle (no one knew how many men Khal Drogo had at his command) to reclaim what they saw as their city, even if it had changed greatly in appearance.
For a time all that existed for the riders was the screaming and the charging. Sadly for the Dothraki this state of affairs didn't last for very long. While Drogo had questioned some of the survivors of past attacks he'd deemed them cowards who had fallen for the tricks of foreign mages rather than true warriors, he belivied that a proper Dothraki horde would overcome any illusions and win the day. He proved to be very wrong about that.
The ground shook as both men and horses died when they charged into the minefield. The randomness of the deaths along with the fact that the horse riders couldn't see what it was killing them was enough to scare even the bravest of the warriors. Only this time it didn't prove as effective as it before because the sheer weight of numbers kept the charge going.
When the bombardment started it helped that Khal Drogo's warriors were more spread out due to them not wanting to all rush at what they saw to be the weakest part of the outer most wall, which was now massive gate rather than a gap in the defences. Hundreds died and yet they kept riding and screaming right up until the men on the walls opened fire.
Those Dothraki that lived through this day would call it the red death because all they saw was red. They had no knowledge of lasers and while there were many jokes about the ineffectivness of the lasgun when it came to fighting some of the horrors of the 40k galaxy the lasguns made short work of half-naked barbarians whose limit of range weaponary was the bow. Had they fired off more than a few arrows they might have at least killed a few guardsmen, but the Dothraki as a fighting force ceased to exist this day.
This didn't mean that they simply accepted their end. Khal Drogo nearly made it to the wall before the legs of his horse got tangled up in trip wires. Some warriors managed to keep moving only to find that when they started to climb the wall that the invaders of their holy city did not flee as many others would have. They held their ground and shouted the strange warcry 'fix bayonets' as they dared to engage the few still fighting Dothraki in melee combat. They didn't fear the Screamers, and why would after watching so many of them die.
Khal Drogo and his dreams died that day and while his attack was arguable more successful than the others since his warriors actually killed a few of the invaders the Dothraki lost so many fighters that they could no longer keep the slaves in line. A few of the higher ranking warriors tried to take charge by killing anyone who dared to stand up to them, but many just fled into the great grass sea.
In time the Lord-General sent out his war machines so as to ensure that the Dothraki did not regroup and in the future when the Imperial conquest of this world was recorded in history books this would be the date when they declared that the Dothraki way of life came to an end.
(Line Break)
Bloodstone. The Stepstones.
It had taken six weeks to fully pacify the Stepstones, an impressive feat by local standards for sure, and the Imperuim wasn't exactly know for having speedy conquests instead perferring to go slowand steady, but I'd found the whole thing to be rather dull since I'd been kept away from the fighting and left to deal with admistative matters. At least while working I'd been able to help sort out getting us a proper foothold on this messed up excuse for a human held planet.
While the Dothraki hadn't been wiped out the different Khal's had attempted to take back their holy city and lost many warriors doing so without any Imperial losses up until Khal Drogo had managed to get the scattered warbands to join him in an alliance that no power on this world would have been able to withstand. Sadly for them they'd not been facing an army from this world. Now the Imperium controlled the grasslands the Dothraki had called home and would be converting into farmlands so as to feed the regiment.
Wiith that part of Essos secured the Lord-General had decided to turn his attention to the Free City of Meeren, at least according to Major Gwynenya Ionael who I would be leaving here at the Stepstones so that she could keep them secure and set them up to further support the growing 2nd Regiment. This including adding to the regiment by training the locals who had joined us, either as fighters or as one of those who supported the regiment.
"Why Meeren" I asked "I can't imagine that the Lord-General is interested in the pleasure slaves".
The men and at least some of the women under his command might be, but that would be no reason to go and conquer the city. The Imperial Guard had its own whores, they were called Joygirls and they latched on to Imperial Guard regiments. STDs were a concern for the Imperial Guard, but far less so than other for other armies in this world due to IOM medical science.
"The Lord-General has decided that the Meeren will serve as the new planetary captiol" the Major told me "The Dothraki city is simply too far from anywhere else to make for an effective adminisation centre so it while it will still become the miltry centre of power for this world, and PDF units will be trained there, Meeren will be the centre of policatal power. It's also a port city which helps with trade".
That seemed sensible to me, and thinking back I could recall General mentioning Meern as a target conquest in some report that had crossed my desk. The different branches of the Imperium were working on separate goals, yet we still did our best to keep each other informed and even made efforts to support each other.
"While the Guard focused on Essos I'll be moving west" I informed the Major "As we've discussed before, given the sheer size of the Seven Kingdoms a direct invasion wouldn't be wise, but from what we've been able to find out they can't afford to invade the Stepstones, not with their debts to the Iron Bank. They haven't been paying back their loans and the Iron Bank is known to fund the enemies of those that don't pay".
Interesting but not relevant right now.
"I intend to stop at Braavos and open up an account with the bank while making contact with the Sea Lord, who rules that city. Their concern is trade and we can help secure that trade" I told the Major "Since it's a trade city we might be able to get Braavos to ally with us".
I'd have to run that by the Lord-General as Essos was his business, but he had limited resources and only so many soilders so he would no desire to conquer Bravos if we could make it an ally. We could sell them guns and offer protection for their ships now that we controlled the Stepstones. They would just need to offer support to the Imperium and once this world was more secure we could take another look at the city.
"With Pentos now so heavily armed I'll think there's a good chance that Bravos will try to get me to supply them with enough firepower to keep things even" I was now saying "Assuming that Inquistor doesn't decide that the whole city needs be cleansed".
The Faceless Men clearly used some kind of magic, and they worshipped death so I could see the Inquisitor deciding to destroy the temple. If he deemed Bravos to be tainted like Quarth had been due to the Warlocks it would be wiped off the map.
"It might be best to avoid Bravos in that case Lord-Captain" suggested the Major "At least until the Inquisitor gives in the all-clear".
I knew that the Inquistor was off investagting the Free Cities one by one and had alreadly cleared Yunkia and Meeren, hence why the Guard were heading that way. I couldn't recall which of those Free Cities crucified children, and it hardly mattered since the Guard would kill every last slave master in those cities and replace them with people more suited to carrying out the Emperor's Will. I assumed the Inquisitor had just figured out that the killing of the slaves wasn't ritual in nature, simply a display of cruelty and power.
As for Westeros I knew that magic was a dormant force unless you went north of The Wall. Well there was a Maester of Magic if I recalled correctly so the Inquisitor might want Old Town destroyed. And there were those guys who made Wildfire which was suppose to be magic, but that they could just have some cool chemical formula that seemed magical. Still, I'd hate to have to stand by and let King's Landing be destroyed as it could result in me wasting a lot of time on diplomatic matters. Perhaps I should inform the Inquisitor and ask that he deal with the pyromancers?
"We're far from ready to invade Westeros" warned Ionael, and not for the first time.
While we could recruit from the locals and train them, this took time and we had to keep the bulks of the 2nd Thrax Regiment here to keep the islands secure as we didn't want those pirates and slavers who'd managed to escape the conquest slinking back to the islands. We also had to keep an eye out on the Free Cities in this part of world because they could hire sellswords to send against us and arm them with guns coming out of Pentos.
Invading would not be a totally futile idea since the regiment was spread out over the islands and while taking even one of our forts would be costly to any attacker the last thing we wanted for our much better weapons to fall into anyone else's hands as while they wouldn't be able to replicate laser guns they were built to last quite some time. Not to mention the fact that we so vastly outnumbered that we needed every trooper alive and able to fight, not dead or in enemy hands.
"So I'll go ahead and make contact with rulers of the Seven Kingdoms" I was saying "By now they will know for sure that we're in the Stepstones and I want to approach them before they send someone to us since me landing at the Red Keep will impress the savages".
I planned to go there and make alliances with important, while also making a profit, and when the civil war, which would happen unless I took some real drastic action, was well underway, then we would invade. With the armies of the locals weakened by fighting each other we'd be able to move in, restore order, place Viserys on the throne, marry that Tyrell girl to him to help support his rule, and Westeros would be ours. Converting the people of the Seven Kingdoms to the worship of the God-Emperor would take time, but that wasn't my problem.
No I had to deal with the people living in the Red Keep. Maybe the orbital bombardment of King's Landing wasn't that bad of an idea.