I don't know what it was, but I went to this chapter like a moth to a flame, though i suppose it helps that a large section is essentially me repeating what happens in the books since Imperius does not have that massive of an effect yet, though he is getting close to a major decision that will change the direction of the story in slaver's bay and give him more freedom to act.

After regaining control of his emotions, Imperius became aware of what was truly happening when later that day, despite his hopes for an assault, Daenerys gathered her host, now swelled to 80,000 after the slaves of Yunkaai joined, and continued it's march north to the city of Meereen. He was confused at first, then he learned from Strong Belwas that this had been her deal with the Masters of Yunkai, if they surrendered all the slaves of Yunkai in three days, she would spare the city from a sack and march on.

This infuriated him, she was winning, the Masters of Yunkai were back into a corner, the very fact they surrendered the slaves of their city only proved they were desperate and knew they could not hold the city if she ordered an assault, her Unsullied could have easily taken the gate in an assault, her sellswords could have ridden the defenders down in the streets as her dragons roasted the masters alive.

Instead he was left to stew for the rest of the day's march, running through the facts in his head, she had some 10,000 Unsullied, of them only 8000 were fully trained, the rest having been only partly trained when she sacked Astapor. She also commanded some 30 dothraki riders and now 1000 mounted sellswords, in total her force numbered some 11,000, he doubted the city could muster a force even close to parity to that.

That city would have the riches to keep the army going for months, instead she has some 80,000 mouths to feed and no supply chain, with no way for an army of that size to live off the land for long, especially if the masters of Meereen were ruthless enough to burn everything between Yunkai and Meereen, attrition would certainly settle if the food ran out, would she be willing to ration the food, prioritize feeding the soldiers that will win her battles? Or would she try to be fair and let all the hosts starve slowly rather than make the necessary sacrifice? He thought he knew which she would do, he only hoped she was quick enough to march on Meereen.

It was only that night that he finally found the chance to confront Daenerys on her decision, as her council exited her tent, he made his way in unseen, only appearing as Jorah passed through the flap, giving a moment before he spoke to Daenerys

"You must realize, you have made a terrible mistake" The Voice of Imperius had taken Daenerys by surprise, as she looked up from where she sat upon her makeshift throne, she found Imperius standing near the center of her tent, his face once again hidden under his mask, it's empty sockets boring into her as the small fire highlighted him and casted a large shadow over her.

"How did you get in here." Daenerys demanded, steeling herself as she prepared to call for aid if needed

"I have already shown you my magic, and I'm certain your unsullied have relayed what I did in the battle, do I even need to explain." His magic terrified Daenerys, for now it seemed to allow the man to enter her tent without Grey Worm or Ser Jorag noticing, and if he could do such a thing, what else could he do.

"You have sworn to me, if I command an explanation you would be wise to give it to me or els–" Imperius interrupted her before she could finish, raising her hand as if to silence her as he cut in without hesitation.

"Or what? You'll have my tongue ripped out, have me lashed, do you think such an order could be uttered before you laid dead upon the Floor. Even then I never swore to serve you, I only offered you my services, for we share a common enemy, I only remain for our enemy still lives, in part because of your choices." His voice grew colder, even without seeing his face, she could feel the barely held back contempt as he spoke, not even skipping a beat before continuing his speech. "You may have freed the slaves of Yunkai, but their masters still live, they still possess wealth and power, without a doubt they are to begin rebuilding their power and seek allies to crush you. All you have done is left an enemy city behind you and an enemy city ahead of you"

"And who are you to question my decision, I came to free the slaves of Yunkai and I have done so, if they wish to still challenge me, they are welcome to do so, and I will burn their city to the ground" She sat straight upon her throne, gazing back at Imperius, doing her best to give the look of a queen against him, refusing to bend to his contempt and anger.

"If you were willing to burn the city down, you'd have done it once Yunkai surrendered their slaves, once all that remained were the masters and whatever defenders they could gather, the wealth and food of the city would be yours, instead soon the army will starve if you do not take Meereen quickly, and do you have what it takes when people starting demanding food and this fantasy of you being their mother shatters." His voice grew lower, an edge forming within his words as he stared back at her, not breaking eye contact for a second.

"I gave them my word, they freed the slaves of Yunkai and I let them live, I would not sack their city and no one would have to die"

"The value of your word to slavers is mud, you have allowed their city to survive and within a generation they will have rebuilt the numbers of slaves they have, and they will find the largest bulk of slaves among your followers when they come to reclaim what they believe is theirs. If you sacked the city, you could have claimed it for yourself, its treasures would be yours and you would have a place from which to march on Meereen with safety." The Way Imperius spoke to Daenerys infuriated her, she felt herself boiling from inside as she felt like a child being chastised by an adult for something they did, she would not let herself be talked down to.

"You will mind your tongue Imperius, or else I may decide to have it removed" As Daenerys bore into those dark empty holes of his Mask, she looked for some sign of emotion or reaction to her threat, but he calmly and simply responded

"I shall mind my tongue, and when you finally decide to do what is needed, You know where to find me. Until then, I believe it's best for you, if I am nowhere near you until we reach Meereen" The way he said it, best for you, was insulting to Daenerys, but before she could say anymore he abruptly turned and marched away quickly, walking right out her tent, undoubtedly taking the Unsullied outside by surprise, but she heard no shuffle or confrontation as her tent flaps settle still, blocking her view of Imperius.

Imperius marched right through the Camp, not taking a moment to stop as he felt his emotions slowly come unraveled as he forced himself to keep moving. How dare that girl, that child speak to him, threaten him, how dare she defy a Lord of The Sith, he could have so easily killed her there, scorched her body with the force, cut her in half with his lightsaber, so why didn't he?

It was when he asked that question that he realized how far from the camp he was, it looked like a series of lights in the night, but that barely even registered as the Question racked through his brain. He was one of the strongest Sith alive, a member of the Dark Council, he had killed countless Sith, Jedi, criminals and soldiers without hesitation, people who had defied him for less were killed with no remorse. So this child, the way she spoke to him, how she seemed so naive and unwilling to do what was so necessary, why did she not kill her and simply do what was needed.

In that moment he had his answer, even if he didn't think of it. If he killed her, none of the army would follow him, they would seek to kill him to avenge her or simply break in all directions as the masters quickly clamped chains on everyone they could. He would survive the thousands who sought to avenge her, but what then, he was powerful but the climb to tear it all down would take a long time, and he did not feel like waging a war alone without assistance.

Besides, ignoring the fact killing her would gain him nothing, she and her dragons were something he needed to study, the way they interact with the force was fascinating and something he needed to understand and try to catalog, he may not fully understand the force but he could not resist the chance to expand his understanding over something so fascinating.

As he stirred within his thoughts, and did his best to calm himself before he marched back into that camp with his lightsaber drawn, he found his mind calming down and slowing down, he felt his body grow heavy, and within a moment he collapsed, letting sleep take him, before waking early the next day, heading back to camp as they prepared to continue the march North.

—-

As the March continued north along the Road, Imperius found himself near the front of the army, taking the chance to analyze the landscape, and he had found himself proven correct about the willingness of the Great Masters of Meereen to stall Daenerys and her army, harvesting all they could and burning what they could not harvest. Scorched fields and poisoned wells had greeted her army at every mile they marched, but worst of all had been the markers.

Each Marker, set a mile apart from Yunkai had slave children, still living when nailed to them, their entrails hanging from their cut open guts as one hand was nailed up, pointing in the direction of Meereen. From what he heard, Daario had ordered the first child taken down, but Dany had counter manned that order, she took her time to gaze upon the child upon the post before having her cut down and buried, as she did with every child on the route to Meereen, it was after the 163rd child that they reached the City, 163 miles marched, 163 children lashed to posts, and Imperius could tell it gave Daenerys 163 new reasons to take the city.

Meereen was as large as Astapor and Yunkai combined. Like her sister cities she was built of brick, but where Astapor had been red and Yunkai yellow, Meereen was made with bricks of many colors. Her walls were higher than Yunkai and in better repair, studded with bastions and anchored by great defensive towers at every angle. Behind them, huge against the sky, could be seen the top of the Great Pyramid, a monstrous thing eight hundred feet tall with a towering bronze harpy at its top.

Upon their arrival at the city, Daenerys had summoned a war council and Imperius insisted upon his presence, even if Jorah protested, Daenerys did not forbid it, he wasn't sure why but he would not question it, he wanted to be here for this, to make sure she didn't repeat the same mistake twice. Outside some rider had been taunting the army when the council was called, and Imperius

The pink-and-white hero taunted the besiegers for an hour, mocking their manhood, mothers, wives, and gods. Meereen's defenders cheered him on from the city walls. "His name is Oznak zo Pahl," Brown Ben Plumm said when he arrived for the war council. He was the new commander of the Second Sons, chosen by a vote of his fellow sellswords. "I was bodyguard to his uncle once, before I joined the Second Sons. The Great Masters, what a ripe lot o' maggots. The women weren't so bad, though it was worth your life to look at the wrong one the wrong way. I knew a man, Scarb, this Oznak cut his liver out. Claimed to be defending a lady's honor, he did, said Scarb had raped her with his eyes. How do you rape a wench with eyes, I ask you? But his uncle is the richest man in Meereen and his father commands the city guard, so I had to run like a rat before he killed me too."

They watched Oznak zo Pahl dismount his white charger, undo his robes, pull out his manhood, and direct a stream of urine in the general direction of the olive grove where Dany's gold pavilion stood among the burnt trees. He was still pissing when Daario Naharis rode up, arakh in hand. "Shall I cut that off for you and stuff it down his mouth, Your Grace?"

"It's his city I want, not his meager manhood."

High on the walls of Meereen, the jeers had grown louder, and now hundreds of the defenders were taking their lead from the hero and pissing down through the ramparts to show their contempt for the besiegers.

"This challenge must be met," Arstan said again.

"It will be" Daenerys said, as Meereen's hero tucked he penis back under his robes "Tell Str—" Imperius spoke before she could finish, interjecting with his thoughts.

"Send me to face him" His voice echoed among her council, all heads turning to face the man, he quietly stepped forward to better stare at Daenerys

"I command none of your men, I hold no place of importance in these ranks, it would serve me well to silence this fool and demonstrate to Meereen the power laid before them. And if nothing else, I know how to put on a good show" Dany allowed his words to sink in, what the man spoke was true, Imperius was a man she could easily spare if Meereen's champion killed him, but she doubted the champion could kill him, instead she understood Imperius wanted a chance to show Meereen his power and put on a show, a show to demoralize them.

"What you speak is true Imperius, but why should I give you such an honor, to be my champion against that of Meereen"

"Simple, let it be a chance for me to prove my worth, you lose nothing if I die and it will demoralize the Enemy when I win"

"When you win? You seem often confident of your skills" Arstan said, his eyes gazing at Imperius with distrust, and mild disbelief on his overconfidence

"When I win yes, if you do not believe me, then let me show you" Without another word, Dany watched as Imperius turned and marched out into the field.

A thrum of excitement went through the siege lines when Imperius was seen heading toward the city, and from the walls and towers of Meereen came shouts and jeers. Oznak zo Pahl mounted up again, and waited, his striped lance held upright. The charger tossed his head impatiently and pawed the sandy earth. Imperius looked small aside Meereen's hero atop his horse, and for a moment she believed he was to be killed.

Oznak zo Pahl lowered his lance and charged.

Dust flew from the hooves of the white charger. Oznak thundered toward Imperius, his striped cloak streaming from his shoulders. The whole city of Meereen seemed to be screaming him on. The besiegers' cheers seemed few and thin by comparison; her Unsullied stood in silent ranks, watching with stone faces. Imperiusmight have been made of stone as well. He stood in the horse's path, Cloak billowing around his feet. Oznak's lance was leveled at the center of his chest. Its bright steel point winked in the sunlight. He's going to be impaled, she thought . . . as the man spun sideways. And quick as the blink of an eye the horseman was beyond him, wheeling, raising the lance. Imperius made no move, simply turning around to face Oznak again. The Meereenese on the walls screamed even louder. "What is he doing?" Dany demanded.

"Giving the mob a show," Ser Jorah said.

Oznak brought the horse around Imperius in a wide circle, then dug in with his spurs and charged again. Again Imperius waited, then again in the Blink of an eye, faster then should be possible he spun away from the strike, and Oznak rode past him. "The lance is too long," Ser Jorah said. "All Imperius needs do is avoid the point. Instead of trying to spit him so prettily, the fool should ride right over him."

Oznak zo Pahl charged a third time, and now Dany could see plainly that he was riding past Imperius, the way a Westerosi knight might ride at an opponent in a tilt, rather than at him, like a Dothraki riding down a foe. The flat level ground allowed the charger to get up a good speed, but it also made it easy for the man to dodge the cumbersome fourteen-foot lance.

Meereen's pink-and-white hero tried to anticipate this time, and swung his lance sideways at the last second to catch Imperius when he dodged, and it seemed that he had anticipated correctly, as Imperius dodged but the lance was set to land straight into his chest, but right before the point made contact the impossible happened. The Champion and his horse froze, stopped as if an unseen force had dripped upon them so tight they could not even struggle, then he was ripped from his horse, flung to the ground and his lance sent flying aside as Imperius stood over him, hands clasped behind his back as he stared down at the man.

A sudden silence swept along the brick parapets of Meereen. Now it was Dany's people who were screaming and cheering.

Oznak seemed to writhe in pain as he seemed lifted to his knees, looking up at Imperius with a look she could not discern from a distance, then Imperius slowly withdrew his metal staff from his cloak and ignited it, a crimson red blade glowing as he without hesitation swung down and decapitated Oznak, his head rolling along the sands.

"So much for the Hero of Meereen" said Daario, laughing

"A victory without meaning," Ser Jorah cautioned. "We will not win Meereen by killing its defenders one at a time."

"No," Dany agreed, "but I'm pleased we killed this one."

The defenders on the walls began firing their crossbows at Imperius, but the bolts fell short or skittered harmlessly along the ground. Imperius seemed to not care from the attacks, holding his arms out as if daring them to kill him, resulting in another volley before he turned and calmly walked back to the camp,

The besiegers gave him a raucous welcome as soon as he reached the camp. Her Dothraki hooted and screamed, and the Unsullied sent up a great clangor by banging their spears against their shields. "Well done," Ser Jorah told him, but Imperius paid him no mind, catching a peach tossed to him by Ben Plumm, but instead of eating it, tossing it towards a nearby freeman, as he simply strolled forward, following Daenerys and her commanders into her tent, she dared not deny him a place in it.

"I must have this city," she told them, sitting cross legged on a pile of cushions, her dragons all about her. Irri and Jhiqui poured wine. "Her granaries are full to bursting. There are figs and dates and olives growing on the terraces of her pyramids, and casks of salt fish and smoked meat buried in her cellars."

"I've had a look at the landward walls, and I see no point of weakness," said Ser Jorah Mormont. "Given time, we might be able to mine beneath a tower and make a breach, but what do we eat while we're digging? Our stores are all but exhausted."

"No weakness in the landward walls?" said Dany. Meereen stood on a jut of sand and stone where the slow brown Skahazadhan flowed into Slaver's Bay. The city's north wall ran along the riverbank, its west along the bay shore. "Does that mean we might attack from the river or the sea?"

"With three ships? We'll want to have Captain Groleo take a good look at the wall along the river, but unless it's crumbling that's just a wetter way to die."

"What if we were to build siege towers? My brother Viserys told tales of such, I know they can be made."

"From wood, Your Grace," Ser Jorah said. "The slavers have burnt every tree within twenty leagues of here. Without wood, we have no trebuchets to smash the walls, no ladders to go over them, no siege towers, no turtles, and no rams. We can storm the gates with axes, to be sure, but..."

"Did you see them bronze heads above the gates?" asked Brown Ben Plumm. "Rows of harpy heads with open mouths? The Meereenese can squirt boiling oil out them mouths, and cook your axemen where they stand."

Daario Naharis gave Grey Worm a smile. "Perhaps the Unsullied should wield the axes. Boiling oil feels like no more than a warm bath to you, I have heard."

"This is false." Grey Worm did not return the smile. "These ones do not feel burns as men do, yet such oil blinds and kills. The Unsullied do not fear to die, though. Give these ones rams, and we will batter down these gates or die in the attempt."

"You would die," said Brown Ben. At Yunkai, when he took command of the Second Sons, he claimed to be the veteran of a hundred battles. "Though I will not say I fought bravely in all of them. There are old sellswords and bold sellswords, but no old bold sellswords." She saw that it was true.

Dany sighed. "I will not throw away Unsullied lives, Grey Worm. Perhaps we can starve the city out."

Ser Jorah looked unhappy. "We'll starve long before they do, Your Grace. There's no food here, nor fodder for our mules and horses. I do not like this river water either. Meereen shits into the Skahazadhan but draws its drinking water from deep wells. Already we've had reports of sickness in the camps, fever and brownleg and three cases of the bloody flux. There will be more if we remain. The slaves are weak from the march."

"Freedmen," Dany corrected. "They are slaves no longer."

"Slave or free, they are hungry and they'll soon be sick. The city is better provisioned than we are, and can be resupplied by water. Your three ships are not enough to deny them access to both the river and the sea."

"Then what do you advise, Ser Jorah?"

You will not like it

I would hear it all the same.

As you wish. I say, let this city be. You cannot free every slave in the world, Khaleesi. Your war is in Westeros.

"I have not forgotten Westeros." Dany dreamt of it some nights, this fabled land that she had never seen. "If I let Meereen's old brick walls defeat me so easily, though, how will I ever take the great stone castles of Westeros?"

"As Aegon did," Ser Jorah said, "with fire. By the time we reach the Seven Kingdoms, your dragons will be grown. And we will have siege towers and trebuchets as well, all the things we lack here . . . but the way across the Lands of the Long Summer is long and grueling, and there are dangers we cannot know. You stopped at Astapor to buy an army, not to start a war. Save your spears and swords for the Seven Kingdoms, my queen. Leave Meereen to the Meereenese and march west for Pentos."

"Defeated?" said Dany, bristling.

"When cowards hide behind great walls, it is they who are defeated, Khaleesi," Ko Jhogo said.

Her other bloodriders concurred. "Blood of my blood," said Rakharo, "when cowards hide and burn the food and fodder, great khals must seek for braver foes. This is known."

"It is known," Jhiqui agreed, as she poured.

"Not to me." Dany set great store by Ser Jorah's counsel, but to leave Meereen untouched was more than she could stomach. She could not forget the children on their posts, the birds tearing at their entrails, their skinny arms pointing up the coast road. "Ser Jorah, you say we have no food left. If I march west, how can I feed my freedmen?"

"You can't. I am sorry, Khaleesi. They must feed themselves or starve. Many and more will die along the march, yes. That will be hard, but there is no way to save them. We need to put this scorched earth well behind us."

"No, you do not" for the first time of the meeting, Imperius Spoke. He stepped forward and commanded the attention of everyone in the tent

"You vowed to destroy the slave masters of Slavers Bay, you have sacked Astapor and killed their masters, the slaves of Yunkai now march with you even as their masters continue to rule their city, and now abandoning Meereen would only make your promises Mud and conviction less than that of a coward. There is no food, no ships, little supplies, if you do not take this city, you will never see Westeros, you may never gain what is needed to cross the Sea, and you will be forever remembered by the Slaves of Essos as the promise of freedom, who abandoned them when faced with opposition." His words stung deep, but within them was truth, what he said was not deniable.

"You are Right, so I ask, there must be some way into this city."

"I know a way." Brown Ben Plumm stroked his speckled grey-and-white beard. "Sewers."

"Sewers? What do you mean?"

"Great brick sewers empty into the Skahazadhan, carrying the city's wastes. They might be a way in, for a few. That was how I escaped Meereen, after Scarb lost his head." Brown Ben made a face. "The smell has never left me. I dream of it some nights."

Ser Jorah looked dubious. "Easier to go out than in, it would seem to me. These sewers empty into the river, you say? That would mean the mouths are right below the walls."

"And closed with iron grates," Brown Ben admitted, "though some have rusted through, else I would have drowned in shit. Once inside, it is a long foul climb in pitch-dark through a maze of brick where a man could lose himself forever. The filth is never lower than waist high, and can rise over your head from the stains I saw on the walls. There's things down there too. Biggest rats you ever saw, and worse things. Nasty."

Daario Naharis laughed. "As nasty as you, when you came crawling out? If any man were fool enough to try this, every slaver in Meereen would smell them the moment they emerged."

Brown Ben shrugged. "Her Grace asked if there was a way in, so I told her . . . but Ben Plumm isn't going down in them sewers again, not for all the gold in the Seven Kingdoms. If there's others want to try it, though, they're welcome."

Aggo, Jhogo, and Grey Worm all tried to speak at once, but Dany raised her hand for silence. "These sewers do not sound promising." Grey Worm would lead his Unsullied down the sewers if she commanded it, she knew; her bloodriders would do no less. But none of them was suited to the task. The Dothraki were horsemen, and the strength of the Unsullied was their discipline on the battlefield. Can I send men to die in the dark on such a slender hope? "I must think on this some more. Return to your duties."

Imperius exited the tent with little care, he had seen how she commanded, and it was…fine enough, but she should have silenced any dissent from Jorah quickly, instead of letting him suggest such a cowardly and foolish action for so long. Beyond that, the promise of a way in via the Sewer was promising, a small enough force could sneak in and create chaos within the city to permit a breach in the defenses.

But he was not focused on that, any assault was days away, equipment needed to be prepared and the time right for an infiltration of the Sewers, until then they settled in for a siege, and he settled in to meditation.

Imperius Focused on his own thoughts once more, trying to focus on the Force and this world and it threw whatever he knew outside the Window. This planet, not just Daenerys and her dragons, were wrong. The Force here felt twisted and thin, as if something was slowly stripping it away and leaving only traces, it was only around him that the Force seemed…whole.

Despite that, his own connection felt strained, he was able to do most of his basic force moves without much hassle, but his healing was slowing, he felt his senses become muddled and he doubted he could sustain some of his more intensive abilities without draining himself or outright collapsing.

This world was wrong, somehow it was like the force itself was being drained away, and he was like a conduit for the force here, this was something he needed to study, desperately, but until this army halted it's march and gave him time to settle in, any research he could hope to conduct would have to wait, which means they needed to take the city first.

That Night Imperius would become aware of the secret Arstan was hiding, as he had saved Daenerys from Mero, the former commander of the Second Sons, who had hidden himself among the slaves of Yunkai and waited for a moment to strike and kill Daenerys. Instead he had been warded off by Arstan and ripped apart by the freedmen following Daenerys, and when she ordered the elderly squire knighted, he revealed himself to be Barristan Selmy, a member of her father's kingsguard, and the man who usurped him after, who has now come to serve her.

Honestly he could care less who she welcomes into her service, but the man seemed to change his loyalties as quickly as they come, there seemed to no guarantee he would not betray her if given the chance, but for the time he bit his tongue, no use giving advice she would not head.

That night, Daenerys set into motion the plan to breach the sewers, Jorah, Barristan, Strong Belwas Imperius and some 20 men, a mix of sellswords, Unsullied and Freedmen were sent to, under the cover of an assault on the gates by Daenerys' army and ships, with her archers raining arrows down on the defenders, the plan was rather simple. They would crawl through the Sewers until they reached inside the city, from there Strong Belwas would lead them towards the nearest arena and strike the chains off the slave warriors, starting a revolt within the city as Daenerys attacked from the outside.

The Gate into the sewers was rusted and it was trivial for the men to create an opening large enough for everyone, with Imperius Blade easily cutting through the rusted metal, much to the astonishment of everyone, even those who had seen what his Lightsaber was capable of.

"An impressive weapon, where did you come across such a thing?" Asked Barristan, the man had shaved off his beard and seemed a decade younger, with his elderly eyes staring at his saber with a look of fascination.

"My Lightsaber is just one of many from the Empire, every Sith possess at least one, many even possessing several for collection. I myself have 4 in my collection, though this was the only one I had with me when I was shipwrecked"

"Where exactly is it you are from?" Jorag spoke this time, the man turning half way to face Imperius with his torch before continuing forward. He had been in the tent when he mentioned the Sith Empire originally to Daenerys, but after that he only spoke of it once with Sirona.

"The Sith Empire, I do not truly recall where within it I was born, though my life before Korriban was of little consequence, I was reborn within the tombs there and began to rise within the Empire"

"This Empire…You have never spoken of it, how exactly were you allowed to rise so high as a Former Slave"

"Simple, unlike your Westeros, where power is concentrated in great families and dynasties, Power in the Empire is concentrated in the individual. You can only rise as high as you are able from your own ambition, skill and ability to best your rivals, of course my rise was not easy, I was looked down upon by many within the Sith for my origins as a Slave, but now I sit at the very top of the Empire as one of the 12 greatest sith alive, and none dare question my ability or mention my origins openly."

"The Empire sound rather…ruthless"

"Oh It is, the Empire is home to a society that is cutthroat, if you can kill a Sith above you in the ranks, either through a Kaggath or without anyone being able to prove it, chances are you will rise to take their position and absorb their powerbase for your own. There is no Status Quo in the Empire, you must always be climbing up and wary of those below you who want the same thing, power is the ultimate goal in the Empire, and that drives it forward even as the Sith tear itself apart."

Before anyone could continue the conversation, one of the freemen screamed out as some white lizard-like creature bursted from the waist high sewage water and snapped its jaws around his leg, pulling him down under the sewage while the man made a thrashing attempt to break free. All at once panic set in among the freemen, while the rest drew their weapons and tried to anticipate the things next move,

Imperius reached out with the force, the creature had for a moment retreated into a den under the water, dragging the drowning man before rapidly coming back up towards Jorah, but before Imperius could warn the man Jorah drove his blade straight down into the water, impaling the lizard upon his blade. It seemed Jorag had spotted the beast rising quickly from the bubbles rising to the surface and drove his blade down.

With the Beast dead, the group of men, now one fewer, managed to make their way through the sewers, they had at several points taken wrong turns or been forced to back trakc when sections of the sewers proved to narrow or dangerous to traverse, but eventually they found a grate that lead to the streets of the city, which was easily cut open by Imperius allowing them to climb to fresh air, even as the stench of the sewer stuck to their clothes.

Once above ground, Strong Belwas took the lead, leading the men through the streets, the sound of fighting in the distance as Daenerys kept up her attack on the Gate, if they were correct then most of the city guard and soldiers would be manning the walls, with no signs of patrols on the streets until they reached their destination. The Fighting Pit as it was called, was very literal, wooden and sandstone stands sat around a large open Pit where fights were held, killing the small number of guards protecting it was trivial, with Imperius decapitating one while Strong Belwas took another, and Barristan slew two on his own.

They soon found themselves before a series of cells where the many pit fighters lived, standing before them Strong Belwas offered them the chance to fight for more than the entertainment of the masters, the chance to take their revenge and become their own men, something they quickly agreed to. Striking open the cells and breaking their chains, the fighters gathered their weapons and went into the streets, for the next hour they went from fighting Pit from Fighting Pit, killing the guards and freeing the slaves inside, soon the city was in chaos as the fighting slaves and regular slaves rose in revolt.

It was then that it became clear the city was lost, for as the Slaves rose in revolt, a call of terror went out across the City, the Eastern Gate had been branched and the Unsullied were pouring through and into the streets, any hope the Meereense held of holding the city was lost, and it was only a matter of time before it was over.

Imperius stood in the Plaza before the Great Pyramid of Meereen, the Great Masters of Meereen huddled together like cattle by the Unsullied, old and young alike, they seemed pathetic, their valuable jewels and treasures stripped from them as Daenerys rode into the Plaza atop her silver horse, and for a moment Imperius forgot she was a child, she seemed a proper conqueror.

"I want your leaders," Daenerys sad. "Give them up, and the rest of you shall be spared."

"How many?" one old woman asked, her sobs interrupting her words. "How many must you have to spare us?"

"One hundred and sixty-three," she answered. Ahh, the number of slaves left on the Road, how poetic, and a firm message to the slavers, but still. To let any of them live, why not kill them all and be done with it?

One hundred and sixty-three men were lashed to Posts in the Plaza, each man arrayed just like the children had been, except their arms no longer pointing to Meereen, each man instead pointing to the next, on and on it went. The moans and groans of Pain were music to his ear, as the Slaves of the city took the chance to hurl rocks and all sorts of insults in their native tongues at the slave masters.

Imperius enjoyed the sight, he himself detested torture for a multitude of reasons, but he was always willing to make exceptions, and this was an exception he would have been glad to make, atleast Daenaerys showed the conviction and will to make an example out of her enemies, something he could atleast admit was smart.

But now she was set to rule all Meereen, and honestly Imperius wasn't sure she had what it took to do so, already he was to begin looking for a way out, or at least tomorrow, it's been a long night, and he needed his sleep.