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Chapter 15 Part 1

=Sith=

291 AC

Meereen

News of Yunkai's fall and the disaster at the city's harbor spread through Meereen like a wildfire-fed inferno. Disbelief came first, followed by stunned denial. Learned people across Essos knew that magic was real, even if it was almost completely gone from the world. It wasn't impossible that the last Targaryens were sorcerers. People could believe them, even powerful warlocks.

However, the age of magic died with the Doom of Valyria. The time of dragons ended centuries ago when the Targaryens nearly extinguished the last embers of old Valyria when dragons danced.

Thus, even first-hand accounts of Prince Viserys manhandling whole warships like toys with his magic had a predictable outcome – denial. It took days of arguments and screams from dozens, then hundreds of witnesses, for the people of Meereen to even begin to accept the truth of the matter. By then, Oznak zo Pahl and the other survivors from the fleet were beyond tired and done with the whole thing. It was no small miracle that by the time the dust settled, no one in Meereen died, murdered by a vexed soldier, sailor, or noble furious because people kept calling them lairs.

Oznak felt his world crack even more than watching the impossible power of the Targaryen Sorcerer manhandle whole ships like children's toys. He screamed himself hoarse when trying to explain the truth of the matter to his own father.

"You need rest, son. Take some dream wine. We'll talk again when you're better," the kind words and the pity in his father's voice cut as keenly as the deadliest of blades.

Oznak raged silently, wanting nothing more than to shake his father until the old man saw the truth. Instead of doing as his father 'suggested,' the Pahl scion left to find the mercenary commanders who survived the encounter with the Sorcerer. He found them in their camps, doing their best to convince the sellswords left behind of the truth. Oznak shouldn't have been surprised that they faced as much disbelief and derision as he did. At least there was no pity to be had among these professional killers, which was a small mercy.

Then and there, the only thing Oznak wanted was to get drunk and forget the danger and ongoing madness for a night. Instead, he gathered the commanders who saw the truth with their own eyes so they could plan and plot. They met on the cozy top floor of a tavern famous for its exotic food and drinks. Oznak paid for privacy and security so the commanders could speak in peace. Fear and contempt at those who refused to believe them created a bond of sorts, no matter how fragile. Their experiences ensured that the commanders were willing to attend the meeting and listen, or at least commiserate. That at least allowed Oznak to be heard.

"That vile Sorcerer will be coming for us," Oznak declared when most of the people he invited made themselves comfortable. "We all saw what he is capable of. He has no reason to stop with Meereen," the Master stressed, speaking to the sellswords who could simply leave when push came to shove.

Oznak knew he was playing a dangerous game now. If he wasn't careful, some of these commanders might decide that the only winning proposition was to turn their cloaks and join the Valyrian bastards. However, simply letting frustration and dear simmer didn't sound like a good idea. That way, these sellswords might go for it on their own accord.

"Some of you heard what our Yunkish allies did," Oznak sneered.

When he heard from Agnak about the crucifixion, it sounded like a proper punishment for uppity slaves. In hindsight, that proved an excellent way to provoke the Targaryens with undeniable and painful consequences. Oznak had to remind himself that he had to strangle any similar ideas coming from the Good Masters in the cradle. Holding and preserving Meereen would prove hard enough without ensuring the enemy was as murderous and furious as they could be. At the same time, Yunkai's misstep could be useful here and now. Oznak had to speak with Agnak to ensure everyone heard a version of the truth that best served Meereen. In fact, he would be talking with the man and his family as soon as he finished this meeting.

"I've spoken with the Wise Masters who made it out of Yunkai. You've heard parts of their accounts. The Targaryens are painting us all with the same brush!" Oznak declared with as much conviction as he could gather, hoping it was good enough. "That insane Sorcerer Viserys holds us all responsible for our ally's actions. He will show us no mercy when he comes here with his armies! You heard of his pledge! He will hunt us to the end of Planetos to make an example. Unless you all want to spend the rest of your lives running and looking over your shoulders for an insane Sorcerer, we need to stop his quest for power at the gates of Meereen!"
Uncomfortable, sullen grumbles met Oznak's words. It was far less than he hoped for but better than he feared. He could work with this, or so he hoped.

=Sith=

291 AC
Yunkai

A fortnight after taking the city, Yunkai appeared peaceful. At dusk, its streets were quiet and subdued. A curfew and constant patrols in strength helped keep the peace, especially reprisals from freshly liberated slaves against their former masters who were still alive. While the grand slavers of Yunkai were all dead, dying, or on the run, most of the remaining Yunkish citizens were all slavers of one stripe or another.

Deep within the Targaryen's Yunkish residence, Daenerys and Viserys sat around an intricately carved ebony table inlaid with gold, silver, and gems. Their principal advisers in the city sat beside them, discussing the situation at hand.

"This isn't Astapor," Marwyn the Mage gesticulated in agitation. "We have tens of thousands of slavers here who are of no use!" The Maester was pale. His form rippled with fury, revulsion, and pity in the Force.

"Most of the fuckers training swordsmen and pit-fighters are incompetent hacks. They're of no use to us," Ser Lonmouth grumbled.
Many members of the Royal Guard were former pit-fighters liberated by the Targaryen. Richard vouched for key members, who even now guarded the meeting and its attendants. Viserys wouldn't call most of them excellent or good people. They were accomplished killers. Hard men who lived hard, violent lives. It was easy to understand how they became jaded and uncaring towards anyone beyond a small circle of friends and family. However, they were both grateful and loyal, for they knew what fate awaited them if it wasn't for the Targaryens.

Viserys himself was no different. Seven Hells, he had been worse for lifetimes.

"It is easy to close your eyes and ignore the suffering of others, especially when it is not shoved in your face in a way you can't ignore," Viserys spoke quietly. "It is even easier when you benefit from it in one way or another. How many of you have enjoyed the attention of pleasure slaves without a second thought?" He asked the Royal Guards in the chamber. "How many of you were simply glad you ended up as pit-fighters instead of fuck-toys?"

At the latest count, there were nearly a hundred thousand pleasure slaves in Yunkai, with tens of thousands working in the pleasure palaces, pillow houses, or ready for sale across Essos and beyond. All the rest were "fresh" slaves in training. Nearly thirty thousand of those were children, many younger than Dany. She stiffened, acutely experiencing the flare of anger that burned in Viserys' heart. More importantly and infuriating, she was painfully aware that if not for providence, she would have shared that wretched fate with countless other less fortunate children.

The worst was that under different circumstances, Viserys would have ignored the horrors happening in Yunkai for expediency. He spent lifetimes loathing slavers and slavery, yet either taking advantage of it or ignoring it, for he had bigger fish to fry.
However, the Dark Side here was different. It wasn't tainted. While it still allowed him to function with his choices and memories without going insane, it no longer provided a sweet, poisonous comfort that allowed him to blithely ignore what was happening around him as he did for decades. And at the end of the day, here and now, it was cheaper, much easier to do something about slavery and slaves than it ever was when he used to be a cog in the Imperial machine.

The knowledge that if facing the same choices again, he would have ignored slavery and slavers for doing anything else at a grand scale would have been a suicide, burned. What are dubious ideals worth when you discard them when standing by them is tough and dangerous? When trampling them was expedient, so you chose the easier, sane route?

"Visy?" Dany asked with a tremulous voice.

Viserys gritted his teeth and wrestled his raging emotions so they stopped slamming into his innocent sister.

"I remember fragments of the life many people lived in the Freehold, of their treatment of slaves. For all that, I am grateful for the power that our ancestors blessed us with; the more I recall their lives, the more furious I become," Viserys admitted, twisting the truth.

Dany frowned at him, keenly aware that he was choosing his words very carefully. Bless her soul, she didn't push here in front of everyone.

"I freely admit that at the beginning, liberating slaves was as much of a means to an end as it was doing the right thing."

No one was surprised by Viserys words. If anything, they earned him grudging respect from some of the Royal Guards. They, more than most, were aware he wasn't the saint many of the liberated slaves built him up as in their minds.

"After all we've seen here in Yunkai, that is no longer the case. Securing Slaver's Bay. Building a solid foundation for a Second Valyrian Freehold," Viserys sighed. "Those were also meant to be means to an end, with the end being a second conquest of Westeros."

Again, no one was shocked. The admission allowed a few of the advisers to relax a bit.

"That's no longer the case. While my long-term goal is still reclaiming our House's Throne and birthright in Westeros, that can and will wait. We will be in Essos for the long haul until we eradicate slavery root and stem."

Viserys' advisers looked at each other, silently contemplating the monumental task that was before them. Securing Slaver's Bay and creating a Second Freehold that could stand on its own would be relatively easy, simple, and straightforward compared to a crusade against slavery across Essos. Their Prince's pledge here and now would ensure endless wars of liberation and conquest. Decades of conflict, if not longer, was before taking Westeros into account.

Viserys didn't care. Dany looked at him as if he just promised her all the stars in the sky. She was damn proud of him, and that was more than enough to convince Viserys he made the right choice. That really wasn't a surprise. For the past fortnight, Dany had been night inseparable from the two Rahiar girls when not training or studying. She was the one to make them open eventually, after convincing them that Viserys didn't take them in to be his sex toys. At the same time, he was furious, for what these children shared murdered another piece of Dany's innocence. As if all that wasn't enough, those two were now family despite their very distant blood connection.

Dany always craved a large family, a taste of what the Usurper and all the traitors in Westeros stole from them. As a Sith, Viserys also craved what was denied to him, and he rarely experienced it. For all his power, for all he achieved, family was an illusory concept that always slipped through his fingers, no matter how tightly he clung to it.

It was no minor miracle that Viserys had one more chance at the happiness of a family. He would be damned if he lost it again.

=Sith=

Chapter 15 Part 2

=Sith=

291 AC

Meereen

Not so long ago, Oznak zo Pahl would have felt vindication, if not outright righteousness, at being proven right. That used to be his due because of his position and birth.

The damned Valyrian Sorcerer fucked it up, yet, Oznak wasn't sure if that was entirely a bad thing. Either way, he was glad that his foresight proved useful. After endless days of arguments and painful, disdainful disbelief, people finally got a clue about the true danger facing their fair city. The worst thing was that all the skeptics were right to be so. He wouldn't have believed it before Oznak saw the truth for himself. However, such a truth was cold comfort. It did little to soothe all the aggravation and anger he had to suffer through.

"We are doomed!" One of the Great Masters despaired, bringing Oznak back to the here and now. He was attending a meeting between the most powerful people in the city and distinguished military commanders. That most of the commanders in question were sellswords was another painful reminder of how far Meereen had fallen since the old Ghiscari Empire when it was second only to Old Ghis itself.

For all the danger they were in, Oznak found himself thankful that he lived in a time where he had a chance to change things for the better in a way no one could even fathom for countless centuries.

"While you've been calling us deluded fools and cravens," Oznak sneered, "we've been planning on how to save Meereen!" he snapped, breaking protocol.

A few of the oldest and most set in their way Great Masters leaned away from the Pahl scion in shock, while others gave him venomous looks. At least his father looked at him with pride and offered a tiny nod of respect.

"When Viserys Targaryen comes for us, there will be no siege! We won't have months to gather more allies! We can't hope that disease will ravage the enemy's army while it waits desperately to starve us out!" Oznak's voice rose, carrying out clearly through the Pyramid's great meeting chamber. He very pointedly didn't mention that a siege would be a foolish proposition because no matter how dangerous the Sorcerer was, he couldn't simply sweep a fleet from the sea. Otherwise, Oznak wouldn't be here to save his beloved city. That also meant the damn Valyrian wouldn't be able to properly cut off and starve Meereen.

"I saw the Sorcerer charge Yunkai's gates by himself!" Agnak zo Ghaqa shared his experiences once more. The old man was clearly tired of doing it again and again in an endless, thankless attempt to warn the Great Masters about what danger they were all in. "When the Valyrian Warlock arrives, he won't need siege machines or a siege."

"That's correct. Viserys Targaryen and his hordes of murderous liberated," Oznak spat the world like a vile curse, "slaves will simply storm the gates and walls, relying on the Sorcerer to open the way!" His gaze swept over his peers, allies, and old obstructionist fools. "When they come for us, we will make them burn!" the young Great Master declared and pointed at a cluster of people waiting in a corner of the great meeting chamber. "Our alchemist friends can brew us all the wildfire we need to burn this Valyrian disease threatening us all. Let Viserys Targaryen come to our walls! Let him storm our gates so he can burn!"

The truth of the matter was simple. After what Oznak saw and days of discussions with seasoned killers, he had no intention of meeting the bastard Sorcerer in open combat. Who knew what other sorceries that man could wield?! Yunkai's impossibly swift fall proved that a direct confrontation on the enemy's terms was madness. That was why Oznak planned to avoid one at all costs.

=Sith=

291 AC
Yunkai

Viserys and Ser Richard walked through the city's streets late one evening, surrounded by a cluster of Royal Guards. Two Spears of Unsullied marched behind them to further dissuade troublemakers. It was closer to two fortnights since they took Yunkai than one, and by now, they had a good enough estimate of the city's state and resources. That was the reason for part of tonight's excursion – they were on the way back from inspecting the most promising local soldiers willing to enlist in the army.

"Ser Richard, you've had time to think about what we saw. I'll hear your thoughts now," Viserys spoke quietly, using the Force to ensure privacy despite their escort and anyone passing by.

Yunkai was returning to a semblance of life, even if said life was very different from what it was before the conquest.

"We might have our first two Legions that exist on more than parchment," Ser Lonmouth allowed after a few moments of contemplation.

Weeks of deliberations and consultations between Viserys' commanders led to preliminary plans for the military of the coming Second Freehold. Some of those plans were already in motion back in Yunkai. The military and naval academies there were busy creating a critical foundation for a professional military. Ultimately, the decision to model the army on the legions of Valyria and, more recently, Volantis, which were, in turn, inspired by the steel fist of Old Ghis, made sense. There was a historical precedent with a proven record of success. Viserys added his own twist on the idea, setting up future formations that currently existed only on parchment as training formations for one type of forces. That would make things easier and simpler administratively and logistically. The actual combat Legions would draw units from those training formations to build up their roster with the necessary structure and support for the task at hand.

By sheer necessity, most of the Legions would consist of various types of infantry, with mounted scouts when those were available. Notably, the Legions were going to be a professional army meant to fight in the field and take cities. The garrison troops that now held Yunkai would be second-category troops, not expected to fight field battles outside of holding fortified positions. Then, the militia combined with the city guard, would be the last line of defense.

"It was a mixed blessing that the Wise Masters kept their standing army under lock and key," Ser Richard continued.

Outside of the City Guard, which used to be filled with noble scions, the bulk of the city's military for defensive purposes was a five thousand-strong slave army commanded by scions of the Wise Masters. While they were nothing like the Unsullied, those slave soldiers were among the best trained in the city and a far cry from the masses of expendable swordsmen Yunkai trained to die en mass each year.

"We've got over three thousand of the city's original army already sworn to serve you, my Prince. Between then and the more competent pit fighters and swordsmen who already enlisted, we've got enough people for the First Yunkish Legion once you authorize its proper formation."

In hindsight, one of the reasons why Yunkai fell so quickly was that virtually all the forces protecting it were freshly raised and still undergoing training. For once, the Wise Masters proved themselves wise, for it turned out that there were very few slave soldiers fighting those coming to liberate them. Frankly, it took an embarrassingly long time to figure out that Yunkai's old standing army was mostly intact - under lock and key in their barracks.

"However, the other recruits leave much to be desired," Ser Richard nodded at a few of the Royal Guards around them. "While many are fierce pit-fighters, putting them into formation and expecting them to fight as an army, instead of how they've been taught, will take time and effort. While they're much better individually than our garrison troops, the latter might be more effective in a large-scale conflict as things stand."

At the end of the day, the Royal Guards were glorified bodyguards. They weren't expected to fight a pitched battle as a part of a large army. In such a conflict, their sole job would be to stick to Viserys and, in the future, Daenerys and do their best to keep them alive, especially when tired or distracted. The Royal Guards' training reflected this. They needed to be individually much deadlier than regular soldiers.

"So we can, at best, raise two Legions and have them ready for heavy combat by the time we go after Meereen," Viserys concluded.

"That's from Yunkai, yes. Training more garrison troops, city guards, and the militia is another matter. We might get a Legion or two from the garrison troops we brought. We won't cease their training, and enough of them might qualify over the coming few months," Ser Richard noted.

"We'll have the Unsullied and a maximum of four Legions to take Meereen with," Viserys agreed. "We should have enough garrison troops to secure the city and deal with stragglers after we break the enemy's army and sellswords."

"Without you, I don't think it will be possible, my Prince. However, after the stunt you pulled to take Yunkai…" Ser Lonmouth shrugged helplessly. "I wish you allowed us to do our job and keep you safe."

"Where's the fun in that?"