AN: Hello all, sorry for the delay, I was busy with work and life so had only been able to write a little bit at a time but I can now post a finished chapter. Please you enjoy.

Coming of the Red Anchor

Lions Rest, Wolves Ponder and a Kraken Swims

Mid 299 AC

Harrenhal

Jaehaerys

Word came of the battle at Kings Landing a few days after the event. Shock and surprise was the common reaction. No one had expected Tywin and the Lannisters to defend the capital against an army rumoured to be over 80,000 strong. That wildfire had been used so extensively to demoralise and destroy large chunks of the enemy host was just another demonstration of the danger many believed the Lannisters posed to both the North and the realm as a whole. However that was not what gave him pause, at least directly. It was deciding what to do now.

They still had the numbers against Tywin and the Iron Throne. He had over 24,000, near 35,000 if the Riverlands got its act together but they were busy chasing down The Mountain and Amory Lorch. Not that he disagreed with their goal as he wanted them both dead too, justice for Elia and her children could only be good, but he wished they'd hurry up with it so he could move on to the capital. Not only that but the pair may prove useful in gaining Dornish aid or tacit support for his rule, at least that's what his uncle Ned said. Still what to do about the Reach and Stormlands?

His first instinct was to ignore the Stormlands as they were likely to be depleted by the assault on Kings Landing but his uncle said the Stormlands could still raise another ten or so thousand on top of the remnants of Renly's host giving Stannis, and thus himself, a total of around 19-20,000 men from the Stormlands. The Reach would be the key though. They still had over 60,000 troops (if not more), most of whom were fresh and ready for war, and could therefore tip the balance of power either way though he doubted they would immediately join the Iron Throne with himself in the running since most of the Reach lords had been Targaryen loyalists. Thus he had hope they might join him in time.

So what could he do? Jon would probably duck his head and then do what he could for his family; stay in the Riverlands and clear out the bandits and remaining Lannister forces. Jaehaerys, however, would likely want to push south and bring the Reach and Stormlands to his side, ensuring his numbers before making a move on Kings Landing. 'But which should he go with?' he pondered as he walked through the halls of the old broken fortress.

He entered into the main hall of Harrenhal which they had been using for meetings with the lords. There were only northern lords present since the river lords were still rooting out brigands and raiders under the employ of Tywin such as his mad dog The Mountain. The lords rose at his entrance and he took his seat at the head of the large rectangular table that sat in the middle of the room. "My lords pray be seated" he said as calmly he could while he leaned back in his chair. He had grown somewhat more comfortable addressing them, taking extra lessons with his uncle and his brother in all but blood Robb to help, but it was still somewhat nerve wracking leading like this when for so long he had tried to stay in the shadows and away from Lady Stark's icy gaze.

"Your Grace what do we plan to do about those lions? The tales say they used barrels of wildfire to destroy large portions of Renly's host" voiced Lord Karstark worriedly.

"Indeed, perhaps we should approach the capital cautiously, send a message requesting they surrender?" Roose Bolton suggested softly and more cautiously.

"Nay, storm it lad. We have the men, lets shove our swords up their bungholes!" the Greatjon shouted loudly to some laughter. His brother Robb seemed to agree somewhat given the smirk on his face though his uncle kept a stone-faced look on his long face.

"You do remember the wildfire used on Renly my lord?" Lord Bolton countered.

"My lords! My lords please, we have time and while we could rush to the capital we would only tire our men. It would be best if we assist with the riverlords in getting rid of the Mountain and Amory Lorch first" Jaehaerys said eventually after some more argument over what the north should do, thus informing them of his decision. "With that done we can rally the freed up men to our host and then march on the capital. With the Westerlands effectively gutted of soldiers and leaderless thanks to House Britanican, we can take most of the soldiers the Riverlands can raise without worry." Heads nodded and mugs were thumped on the table in support. Ending a mad dog like the Mountain would bring honour and prestige to many if it could be done.

"Your Grace, surely we should press the advantage now while the capital will be disorganised?" Lord Glover wondered aloud.

"Nay that would be a waste Lord Glover" Ned answered from Jae's right. "True we could attack but there could be more wildfire left and we wouldn't know of it. Best to secure our position now by proving my nephew Jaehaerys is the true protector of the realm and an honourable lad by ending the banditry and then marching as one on the capital. Besides it gives us time to gather intelligence on Tywin's intentions and the true state of Kings Landing." That got a few nods of agreement, even a short hesitant one from the leech lord of Bolton.

"Do we even know where the Mountain or Lorch are?" Maege Mormont asked.

"Word from my uncle at Riverrun says that the Mountain was spotted over by Pinkmaiden" Robb spoke up. "He's rallied around two thousand to hunt the Mountain and his three hundred men over there. Lorch meanwhile was spotted with around a hundred at Saltpans."

"Would not the Vale deal with that if it involves Saltpans?" asked one lord hopefully.

"No, it still lies within the territory of the Riverlands so Riverrun will need to answer the call" Ned replied shaking his head at his knowing of the lands of the Vale from his youth.

"Then it seems we have our target for some men to go to" Jaehaerys said. "We'll send two thousand to Saltpans at the mouth of Trident to deal with Lorch with another two thousand to go aid Lord Tully with the Mountain. The rest of us shall patrol from here to the Antlers so as to keep an eye on Tywin and secure the southern Riverlands for us."

"What of the Reach and Stormlands nephew?" Ned asked while looking down at the map on the table with counters on.

"I'll send word to Stannis to rally the Stormlands to our side if he isn't already. They can raise more troops and regroup in the Kingswood. For the Reach I will send a raven proposing an alliance. We shall go from there" Jae said after some consideration. It seemed he'd decided on a mix of Jae and Jon for his plan.

"They may ask for a betrothal lad" the Greatjon rumbled. "And she's a pretty rose if the songs sing true!" he then roared prompting a few chuckles from around the table while sending a blush Jaehaerys' face and small smirk to Robb's. Yes the tales did say the Lady Margery was quite the beauty.

Kings Landing

Tywin

The clean up from the battle and the siege was progressing although fairly slowly. Things had clearly fallen lax since his time as Hand and it didn't help that the city watch was depleted, down to barely a thousand men. His own men, some 17,000, were having to both guard the city and help clean up. He supposed it was less strenuous than fighting so it was a rest for most of the men but he did need the city put back in order. Even his own beast of a son Tyrion had done a reasonable job of keeping order before the battle after his idiotic daughter's failures and loss of control. Lions may not concern themselves with the opinions of the sheep but they damn well made sure not to cause too much trouble that the sheep decided to be lions for once in their miserable and gods forsaken lives.

As it stood he doubted he could wage a war successfully. He had less men and a kingdom under mountains of debt from the foolish drunken oaf Robert. At least Lords Arryn and Stark had both cut some of his excesses even if Robert had still spent like mad and left Lord Baelish unsupervised. Unwise and clearly stupid. It didn't help either that the books for the treasury were still missing as they hadn't had the time to search everywhere given Renly's approach. With him as Hand he had rewarded Tyrion, gods how he hated having to do that but he was a Lannister and had done a decent job and so deserved a slight reward, the position of Master of Coin and thus the job of finding the damned books.

Now though he was waiting at the head of the table for the small council to arrive in his office in the Tower of The Hand, a power play on his part to remind them all who was Hand and Lord of Casterly Rock, though that was in name only now given those northern foreigners had seized his home. He would make them pay for the slight eventually.

Cersei stepped inside gracefully, that stupid arrogant smirk on her face as if she had won or discovered some great secret. Varys appeared a minute late walking in with his feet only softly touching the ground in his slippers, hands tucked under his robes. Pycele joined them afterwards, his chain clanging and feet shuffling, his act fooling no one in the room though Tywin had his doubts about his daughter knowing. King Tommen was the penultimate arrival with Ser Jamie joining as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and his son. Tommen gave a small smile to him and a nod while taking his seat at head of the table. "Grandfather, I hope you are well? Uncle Tyrion is the last right?"

"I am well Your Grace, thank you, and yes Tyrion is the last to arrive." Said man, or disfigured beast would be a more appropriate description, came waddling in while whistling tunelessly barely a minute later giving Tommen a wave and a smile before taking a seat and quickly pouring a glass of wine from the jug on the table.

"Do you really have to do that now?" Tywin ground out in annoyance.

"What?" Tyrion asked innocently. "It's one of the two or three things I do; I drink and I know things" he replied with a shrug, only to make Cersei glare while Jaime and Tommen both tried to hide the small grins on their faces. Tywin just glared before quietly sighing and turning his attention to the meeting.

"Now that we are all here," he paused to give a pointed look at Tyrion. "I want a report on our preparedness for battle and state of the city."

"Why? Our enemies run from us and we hold the throne" Cersei asked uncomprehendingly of why any readiness was needed. Gods, why couldn't she have at least some of Tyrion's intelligence Tywin grumbled mentally.

"Sister, we may have driven off Renly but the Starks and their allies are still out there" Jamie pointed out. Cersei scoffed.

"Bah, they won't attack us with this victory hanging over us. Stannis will just cower at Dragonstone and the Starks will stay in the Riverlands or flee to their northern wastes" she replied with a dismissive wave. "We should crown Tommen now, and summon them all to bend the knee or face our might."

"What might is that sweet sister? Our army is only seventeen thousand strong while the Starks have over twenty thousand and Stannis could rally the Stormlands to get another ten. Then there's the potential of The Vale and the Riverlands, once the bandits and raiders are dealt with there, for another thirty or forty thousand. Add in the Reach siding with them and we have well over a hundred thousand against us" Tyrion explained as if to a child. Tywin nodded, at least one or two of his children understood how dire things still were.

"The roses wouldn't dare rise against us again surely? They have seen our might and they will likely just sit out anything further. Robert always said they were cowards who just sat out his rebellion and that if they had wanted to they could have ended it at the Trident easily." Tywin grudgingly nodded again. It was true, they could have ended Robert's little rebellion if they had truly fought but instead they had sat out the war at Storm's End while Robert and the rebels fought and won the war. They were opportunists and were not loyal at all he thought, pointedly avoiding his own sitting out of the war until the Sack. He would put good money on them having thought that they could do as minimal as possible, given they didn't actually like Aerys but they did like Rhaegar, and so they sat out the way they did except for Tarly beating Robert at Ashford.

"The Tyrells need to be swayed or they could present another hurdle to our survival. Grand Maester, send a raven to them at Bitterbridge commanding they come forth and bend the knee. In return we shall ignore their attempted treason against us and just perhaps offer the chance of them to get a queen. In return I want their aid against the northerners and the Stormlands. Both should be easily dealt with, with their aid."

"A queen?! To those power grabbing roses? My son is worth more than some flower. He should marry from the West from a good strong house, perhaps even a Lannister!" Cersei exclaimed indignantly. Tommen merely looked between the two in confusion.

"Would the marriage really help us grandfather?" asked the young boy uncertainly. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that. I just want to play with Ser Pounce and maybe go to the odd lesson or two on ruling. You're doing well anyway so why do you need me?"

"Your son is the king and the offer of a bride is a valuable tool in our arsenal, so yes he will marry her. We need allies and having the Tyrell girl in bed with the king and providing his heirs will solidify our rule and extend my legacy" Tywin commanded with certainty while glaring at his daughter before turning to look more kindly to his grandson. "And yes Your Grace, a marriage would be helpful to us indeed. You will also go to more than just one or two lessons as you need to learn as much as you can to prepare yourself for ruling. No you don't need to know everything as that is what advisers are for but you must be knowledgable and instructed well in arms and leading men. You are to be king so it is expected of you."

With that pronouncement he glared around the table as if daring others to speak against him. Tommen just nodded and then slightly curled up in his chair under his grandfathers stern gaze while Cersei met his gaze, fury burning in her eyes as her son was bartered off for armies. Tyrion and Jaime just sat there looking a bit sad for Tommen but otherwise not reacting. Pycelle and Varys both kept blank faces given the family drama unfolding. "Now, is there any more of that damned wildfire or are we all out of it?" Tywin asked moving swiftly on to other matters.

"We used it all to burn large parts of the Tyrell river transports and their vanguard plus parts of the army. We'll need the pyromancers to make more" Cersei admittedly sadly.

"Then do so, it is our one advantage over the Starks and I mean to use. We shall throw it from the walls as they approach."

"It will take time father. The pyromancers will need moons to build up similar amounts that we just used" Tyrion nervously added.

"We do not have moons, we need it within the next sennight or two. Is there truly no more to be scrounged up? Did Aerys not have any left over?"

"They probably used that as part of the stuff we just used" Tyrion mumbled. Jamie, Tywin noticed, looked more uncomfortable and less cocksure the more the topic of wildfire was discussed.

"And what is wrong with you Jaime, you look like you seem unwell?" Tywin asked of his true heir.

"I, er, I...I'm fine father, just tired from the battle" Jamie replied nervously. 'A lie' Tywin thought, seeing through the facade.

"And the truth?" Tywin pressed.

"I, er, nothing, just nothing" Jaime mumbled more but was clearly agitated.

"Well? Spit it out, something is bothering you boy and I won't have my heir a stuttering fool. What. Is. It?"

"Aerys had stockpiles of wildfire, hidden throughout the city. He was going to ignite it during the sack. It's still there probably as no one else knew. I killed those who did during and after the sack" he finally admitted much to everyone's surprise.

"So the reason you killed Aerys was that he was going to set off the wildfire?" Tywin asked curiously. He had always wondered what had made his son break his oaths but had assumed it was to prove himself loyal to Robert or to protect himself from some mad order by Aeyrs. He hadn't imagined his former friend and King would attempt to destroy an entire city with them all still in it.

"Yes father. I, I f-felt I had no choice. Kill the king and his pyromancers or let the city, myself and everyone else burn. That's all he said by the end; 'Burn them all'. So I killed Roussart and then Aerys. Stark came in not long after while I was sitting on the steps in shock and tiredness and, well, you know what happened after." Jamie admitted. Tywin hummed thoughtfully.

"And where were these stocks?" Tywin asked, already coming up with plans for the stuff and how to spread the news of Mad King which would damage the former Stark bastard. If the boy wanted to be a Targaryen he could deal with the baggage which came with it, including his grandfather's insane plan.

"Under the gates, the Dragon Pit, the Sept of Baelor and under the Red Keep. Might have been one or two other stashes under the city to make sure it all went up" Jaime answered after a thinking it over. "But surely it's all useless anyway, being so old? It should just be left alone or poured away out at sea. That stuff is incredibly dangerous, we don't want it here in the city" Jamie argued earnestly. Tyrion and Varys nodding in agreement if looking a bit pale from the news but Tywin remained unmoving.

"Grand Maester, would it be inert after all this time?"

"Hard to say my lord Hand. The only ones who could truly know are the pyromancers but I would wager that it should still be active if it has been kept in a cool, dark place, which these sound like they have been. In fact it could be more potent having matured for twenty years" Pycelle added in warning. Jamie paled at the idea it had in fact gotten worse over the years. Tyrion just looked at his brother both sadly and with some anger at the stupidity. Indeed it was stupid to not tell anyone till now of what occurred, 'Stark might have even eaten his hand to take his kingslayer comment back' Tywin thought viciously.

"Jamie organise a search and find the wildfire, I want it secured and ready for use when the Starks or our other enemies come. Grand Maester assist with the search and have the guild check the stuff to see how useful it will be. Good, that will be all. Dismissed."

Everyone slowly left the room with Jamie hanging back. Once everyone was gone he turned to his further worriedly. "We shouldn't used, it. It needs to be destroyed. It's not right having it in the city when it could ignite at any time."

"Then why did you not tell Robert before hmm? He would gladly have destroyed it as another thing tarnished by the Targaryens, his own ancestors, the stupid fool. We need it and we shall use it. Now go find it" Tywin commanded and finished the conversation before it had even began. Jamie slumped slightly before nodding and leaving the room with a soft "of course father."

xxxxx

A day later, as soldiers and gold cloaks searched below the city, one guard stumbled into a wide corridor that lay underneath the sept of Baelor. As he walked along it he did not see a small device in the corner about ankle height start to blink as he walked down the corridor. His flame torch lit up the room enough to see the remains and left overs of what had once been stacks for barrels and barrels of something. An awful lot of something had been stored here until recently the man guessed but it was clearly all gone. The man turned around and hurried back to the ladder to climb back up and report his findings.

In another section of the city another two men were walking slowly through the dark dingy and damp corridors of the under-city, passages long forgotten and created by the Targaryen kings as escape routes in a siege. Here Jamie led a guard to a place where he knew for certain some of the foul substance had been stored, right under the Street of Steel. Taking a left he came to a closed wooden door that creaked slightly when he unlatched and opened it. When it had swung inwards he shone his lantern into the room only to find wooden stacks and shelving or the remains of them. The one hundred barrels he had found previously were gone. It was all gone. Nothing had been left except for the holdings for the barrels and some shelving. Jamie gulped nervously. Someone had taken all of the barrels here without anyone noticing. Gods, what had he done by not telling anyone?

Little did he notice but another device had gone off at the opening of the door. Similar ones activated when soldiers approached each of the former sites. The signal was relayed to a small satellite dish on hidden on a building near the docks. From there a signal was beamed back to its masters along with other transmissions. When someone noticed, alarms began to ring.

Casterly Rock

Warrington

"Lord Warrington, we have a problem." Not the words he wished to hear but not unexpected given their occupation of the castle.

"What happened Admiral? The Lannisters rallying for another attack?"

"No sir" reported Admiral Cosmo. "In the battle for Kings Landing it seems the Lannisters used wildfire. They destroyed parts of Renly's host and killed him in combat. However that's not the concern, they must have used up their stock of wildfire because our motion sensors have been tripped. Someone has been going to all of the former locations of the wildfire left by the Mad King. It seems they want more."

"Bloody hell, they actually used that stuff?! And they are looking for more? Good thing we removed it all to Pearl Harbour." Pearl Harbour, the code name for the island base set up almost a decade ago in the sunset sea, was the location the wildfire had been taken to for storage and experimentation. On site was a full marine platoon along with the USS George H.W. Bush and the majority of the steel fleet. HMS Queen Elizabeth and four surface ships plus two submarines had remained on the west coast near Stoney Shore to assist if the Ironborn ever tried anything or were needed otherwise. It also meant that the remaining ships were less likely to be spotted since there was less to see.

"Yes but what do we do? That stuff is volatile and powerful, even the geeks on the island are both afraid and in awe of the stuff" Cosmo warned.

"You think we should remove the Alchemist Guild before they make more?"

"It limits the proliferation of a dangerous substance and only they seem to know how to make it. Other than the guild I doubt there's really anyone who could make it."

"Not even in Essos?"

"Maybe those supposed warlocks in Qarth but I doubt it. They're more likely just high on some drug anyway" Cosmo replied with a shrug. Indeed while no one had gone to Qarth to check it out, the tales told did make it seem more like the 'warlocks' drank some drug to get 'visions' and then declared it magic. Even the shadow binders of Asshai sounded more interesting and magic-like even if it was more likely smoke and mirrors than anything else.

Of course tales from the Wall of the dead rising and the attempted murder of the Lord Commander by a corpse was still confusing to many given that corpses don't walk or kill, they're corpses. Add in that magic had not truly existed in their world it meant many were sceptical to begin with, that they were military only really enhanced it since proof was needed for most to accept anything. It all meant that the world of Planetos was proving challenging to many long held beliefs, particularity in regard to magic and myths. Indeed it was only because the Watch was so certain dead bodies had done what they did that Warrington had tasked his spy chief Baker to keep an eye on things there and north of The Wall.

"Regardless, suggestions about the wildfire then Admiral?" Warrington asked, returning them to the point of the discussion.

"Drone strike, just like we did on Myr. Destroy the guild and everyone should be safe."

"And how do we know that any strike won't set off an explosion that will destroy the city? Wildfire is volatile, you said it yourself."

"We don't" Cosmo admitted before rallying. "Though it's doubtful they have much if any since they just used so much. At most, aside from the guild building, the street will blow up. If you recall nearly three hundred barrels were found under the Sept of Baelor with two hundred under the Street of Steel. If they only have a couple of barrels made it will likely only destroy a few buildings at most."

"So a few buildings to end the creation of a WMD. The needs of the many against the needs of the few eh?" Warrington supposed.

"You could frame it that way yes. Not wrong either. Wildfire has no good uses but painful death and destruction. Better we rid this world of it and all WMDs, not that they have any other than wildfire."

"True though how hard would it be to rig one of the nuclear reactors of our ships and subs into a bomb eh? We aren't so high and mighty now are we as a people?" Warrington countered with a depressed chuckle. "Your right of course, we best make sure the stuff is never created again. Alright I'll approve a drone strike on the Guild. Best conduct a survey or two of the building to make sure we know how deep we need go and which bomb we need."

"Of course, I'll send word at once to the Elizabeth to launch a reconnaissance flight followed by a strike" Cosmo said before standing and preparing to leave before the door was barge open and Rob Baker hurried in looking worried and concerned.

"Rob what brings you here? I thought you were busy looking out for any sign of the Westermen trying something?

"I was but I just got a report from Captain Isaac Henley on the USS Iowa about a large movement of ships from the Iron Islands heading north. When he checked it out he counted over one hundred ships heading northwards, one hundred and twenty in fact. I think the Ironborn are going to invade the north while the bulk of its troops are south and our navy is down here" Baker reported worriedly.

"Damn those bastards" Cosmo cursed.

"Do we have the ships admiral?"

"Maybe? You had me send a few ships back with the gold from the mines and some injured troops so they might be ahead of the Ironborn but it'll be close. Otherwise… We have 60 galleys and 25 long ships plus a few carracks in total. Most as you say are here around the Westerlands' coast, raiding and keeping the coastal keeps occupied. Back home I'd say we have maybe 15 galleys and 10 longships plus some carracks. Sure the carracks have a few cannons and galleys outclass the longships the Ironborn favour but…" he trailed off. The fact was the bulk of their fleet was elsewhere and while they'd heard of the attack now they wouldn't be able to get their fleet back in time to do something.

"Send the steel fleet?" Baker suggested

"Aye we could do" Warrington said thoughtfully before getting a gleam in his eye. "What about project Victory and project Dauntless?" he asked, looking towards Cosmo.

"That could work, all three ships are ready but they lack crew" the ageing admiral admitted slowly, hope flaring slightly. "We'd need to take crew from the steel fleet and those from any merchant ships in the town, effectively conscripting them to boost our numbers though given who we're gonna face I bet most would volunteer for just this engagement."

"Do it. Send word to activate all three and get what crews they need however they can. Have the four surface steel ships as a rearguard for the fleet with the two subs interdicting at will" Warrington commanded, jaw setting with the command. Cosmo nodded and quickly left to issue orders.

"You sure we want to reveal Victory and her sister ships?" Baker asked. "It's a game changer in naval warfare in terms of ship building and weapons. Tactics would change too."

"We have no choice, the Iron Born have forced our hand. Besides they aren't too much of a leap except for the cannons. I'd agree if we were building dreadnoughts or battleships but this is still period appropriate, sort of." He gave a sheepish shrug which Baker nodded with.

"Barely, it's a first rate ship of the line along with two fifth rate ships that most call frigates. They are basically dreadnoughts compared to the Roman-like galleys and early medieval ships."

"Then the Ironborn will meet their drowned god" Warrington said with a grin like a shark.

xxxxx

In a cove just up the shoreline from Stoney Port, activity around three large wooden objects increased five fold. Sails were hoisted up onto their masts and secured while anchors were locked in place as the many ropes and chains were tied down before finally the hatches on the gun ports were sealed. Then, with skeleton crews safely aboard, the large ironwood gates, which had held back the icy sea water, were slowly opened inwards thereby allowing the water to come rushing in and slowly lift the three vessels within their three docks.

After an hour it was declared safe and all three were successfully afloat, much to the cheers and joy of those onboard or watching from the shore. The three vessels then slowly exited their docks and went out into the bay before turning towards Stoney Port itself to recruit their new crews. Today the guns are silent, tomorrow though? Tomorrow would see the new dawn of a different kind of naval warfare, one which even the Ironborn would tremble at the sound of the guns.