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Chapter Text

"I name you Towerfall; For reasons which require no explanation."

-King Rhaenyra I Targaryen granting the Sixth Legion their Cognomen

114 AC, 12th Moon, 14th day, Fist of the First Men,

The order came on the wings of a raven, for there were no mages in service of House Targaryen so far north.

Well, there were, but the Skinchangers were a touchy lot, and their sorcery didn't interact very well with glass candles.

Princess Alanna Stark had tried and largely failed to explain the specifics to the two Legion Generals at least thrice, but she'd managed to get the broad strokes across.

Basically, the skinchanging abilities— and the natural healing practised by Haegon and Naerys Fyre— were more along the lines of natural talents or superpowers, while the Valyrian magic practised by House Targaryen required actual learning and study. There was some overlap, but not a lot.

Regardless, the messenger raven arrived at the Fist—freshly rebuilt by Fifth Legion sappers to serve as the linchpin of the defensive lines against the savage wildlings— in good time, and there was no mistaking the order.

"The cipher is clear." General Lucius Serrett stated, placing the paper scroll onto the table. "We have been recalled to King's Landing."

"Our defensive lines are solid, and the volunteer militia well-trained." General Roderick Dustin frowned. "But I worry about such an action."

"Yeah, pulling out of a defensive line, after spending so much time and effort to hold it?" General Serrett agreed. "This does not bode well for the situation in the south."

The whole South had been a shitshow ever since Shaera's hostile takeover of House Tyrell. Hand of the King Rhaenyra had to pull out of both the Reach and the Westerlands, and had been forced to spend a truly ruinous amount of political capital to prevent her coalition from splintering in the aftermath.

And just when she was starting to get a handle on the situation, her husband was killed by the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and things went back to hell.

"Regardless, orders are orders." General Dustin shrugged. "I'll go brief the boys to pack their bags. We'll be pulling out by the end of the week."

"Aye." General Serrett nodded. "Can't wait to stop freezing my balls off up here."

———

114 AC, 13th Moon, 5th day, King's Landing,

The Fifth Legion counted a full five thousand men, having just received their sappers last year. Meanwhile, the Sixth was still a half-Legion, having been raised in a hurry, out of the men whom opposed Lady Cerelle Lannister's regime.

Exiles in all but name, they knew that if they stayed in the Westerlands, it would be knives in the back and shallow graves for them all. As such, General Serrett was more than happy to accept his commission a bit earlier than initially planned, before grabbing as many malcontents as possible and fleeing.

Initial hopes that Cerelle's reign would collapse under her mismanagement had proved… overly optimistic. By some miracle, the Lady of Casterly Rock had managed to secure her rule, ruthlessly playing her subordinates off one another to weaken them all and consolidate her own position.

It was in shocking defiance to her rather… mercurial demeanour and normal recklessness. And if Lucius' King had not personally assured him that the Greens had sworn to withdraw as well from the Westerlands, he'd have assumed the previous Hand of the King was whispering in Lady Lannister's ears. Puppeting her every move.

Someone clearly was though, but the number of people with such political acumen and callous cunning were few and far in between. Most were either Green or Black, and the remainder— such as the traitor Shaera Tyrell—could or would not get involved.

Regardless, the point of the matter was that the exile was going to be longer than expected, for the slightly under three-thousand men of the Sixth Legion.

And significantly less comfortable. General Serrett thought uncharitably.

The Fourth Legion had arrived in King's Landing before them all, two weeks ago on the 20th. This meant that the Valemen had priority for bunking in Legion Headquarters.

Secrecy was tantamount to Operation Towerfall, which meant that no one was to know that the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions were in the capital. And while Legion Headquarters could hide a Legion, it could not hide three.

As such, the Fifth and Sixth Legions were ordered to hold position in Blackwater Bay, just out of sight of King's Landing. They would not get to leave the confines of the ships of the Royal Fleet that had transported them down from Hardhome.

And considering that these ships had been home to eight-thousand men for the past two weeks… well, at least bad smells couldn't kill a person… he thought.

Thankfully, Rhaenyra had summoned both General Serrett and General Dustin to meet with her in the Red Keep, and both men had immediately abused their authority to order a bath drawn and a proper bed provided. It would after all, not do to let the King see them as smelly, dishevelled and travel-worn characters after all.

That it allowed the two generals to get a proper bath and good night's sleep in weeks was a complete and utter coincidence.

Relishing the feeling of waking up in something other than a cot or hammock, General Lucius Serrett immediately headed to the washroom, shaving off the stubble that had accumulated over the journey and freshening himself up, he put on his uniform and stepped out to meet with the King.

———

"My aunt Rhaenys has deployed from Driftmark as of two days ago, and is in full pursuit of Aerion. But it will take time before she can catch up and execute the traitor. As such, for the foreseeable future, we will be proceeding under the impression that we shall not be having any draconic air support." Rhaenyra informed the two generals as the three of them walked the battlements of the Red Keep.

"That complicates matters." General Serrett replied. "Can Operation Towerfall still proceed without them?"

"Of course. A plan with only a single point of failure is not a plan, it is wishful thinking." Rhaenyra retorted. "Operation Towerfall has contingencies just in case of a situation such as this."

"You planned to lose all your dragons?" General Dustin incredulously asked.

"As my mother likes to say; Always make backup plans for even the most improbable of situations. Better to have them and not need them than vice versa."

General Serrett frowned. He knew the late Queen Aemma, and that didn't sound like anything she said. Her idea of backup plans usually boiled down to 'pray to the Seven for guidance'.

But it wasn't his place to pry. Rhaenyra was King now, and duty compelled him to obey.

"And what may I ask, are these contingency plans?" General Dustin pressed.

"Weapons, General. Some of the most potent anti-dragon weapons the world has ever seen. Weapons so powerful they make the Triarchy's anti-dragon ballistae look like cheap peashooters." Rhaenyra grinned, passing them both a sheaf of papers.

General Serrett felt his eyebrows shoot higher and higher, as he read the specifications and design of these 'Manglers' and 'Megapults'. Seven Gods, Valyrian-steel tipped bolts, goldenheart frame, dragonbone bow limbs… House Serrett was a wealthy family from the Westerlands, owning many gold and silver mines. But even they would be hard-pressed to afford such a magnificent beast of a weapon.

"Gods be good." Lucius faintly muttered, passing the sheaf of papers back. "You sure had one hell of a contingency plan, my King."

A smirk played at Rhaenyra's lips, as she leaned on the railing, watching the churning sea far below. Her two generals stood respectfully a few paces behind her, flanking the King on either side.

"General Serrett, I'll be assigning all of the half-trained sappers to your Legion. That should get your half-Legion up to fighting strength." Rhaenyra informed the man. "You'll also be getting a battery of Manglers and Megapults, just in case. Use them wise—"

Just then, the two twins whom had been trying (and largely failing) to stealthily tail them burst out of the bushes they were hiding in, dashing straight towards the two generals.

They never reached either man, both of them suddenly finding themselves floating in midair when they came within a foot of the two soldiers. The twins barely had time to squawk in surprise before Rhaenyra telekinetically threw them both off of the battlements.

"I'm sorry, where was I before the interruption?" Rhaenyra asked, even as both boys dangling by their waistbands on the decorative gargoyles below started yelping in pain and fear.

"We were discussing the deployment of the Sixth Legion." General Serrett replied, unfazed by the attempted ambush.

"Ah yes, as I was saying, a key part of Operation Towerfall revolves around misdirection." Rhaenyra nodded, strolling away from the idiot twins languidly. "While the Second thru Fifth hit them from the front, I want the First and Sixth to slip around and hit Oldtown in the back."

Ah, so that was why she gave him those siege engines. The Hightower was one of the most fortified castles in the Realm, and he'd definitely want the big weapons if he was to take the castle.

"But what of the rest of the Legions?" General Dustin asked. "If we shuffle around a few companies, we can hide the disappearance of one Legion, but two? The Greens are dumb, but not that dumb. They'll notice if ten thousand men are missing."

"That's why I had the two of you leave most of your men out in Blackwater Bay. As far as the Greens know, you two are still on the way back from the Northern front. We'll be throwing a big parade in a few weeks time. To 'welcome' the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions to the capital."

"Ah, a diversion." General Serrett approvingly nodded. "I trust that we'll in fact, be somewhere else?"

"General Dustin, coordinate with General Arryn on how to run the parade. Are you aware of the 'unending loop' trick?"

"Aye."

"Get some uniforms of the Sixth. Make seven thousand men look like fifteen. Put on a big show, and deceive any and all Green spies that the Legions are in the capital."

"I can do that."

Clever, clever. By marching an army in a circle, it was possible to make it seem larger, if the start and endpoint was carefully obscured. If the legionaries changed uniforms each time they passed by, they could put on an even more convincing performance, and trick the Greens into thinking that the Legions were in the capital and not somewhere else.

"And where then, might my Sixth Legion be?" General Serrett smiled, enjoying the cunning involved.

———

114 AC, 13th Moon, 8th day, Cider Hall,

It had been surprisingly easy to slip into the Reach.

The Third and Sixth Legions had set out under cover of darkness, hiding in the holds of merchant vessels and warships disguised as civilian watercraft.

Ten thousand men, bringing with them a truly prodigious quality and quantity of siege engines.

General Serrett had been absolutely sure that they'd be caught and have a fight on their hands, but the two Legions had managed to sail past Tumbleton, Bitterbridge, Longtable and Cider Hall with no one the wiser.

There was a distinct possibility that news of the war had yet to reach this quarter of the Reach.

It had, after all, only been a week or so since House Hightower had executed the Dragonseeds in Oldtown and called the banners. And the feudal armies were not as quick to mobilise as the professional Legions. It took weeks if not months to arm and armour all the men, to gather the necessary supplies for a protracted campaign. And that was not even counting the time it took to levy and train the men.

Logistics were the backbone of any army, and unlike the Greens, the Legions were ready for war.

They met up with the First and Second Legions, sailing down from Camp Cockleswhent, and a war council was swiftly called. A glass candle shone, generating the holograms of King Rhaenyra, Generals Jaime Arryn and Roderick Dustin. With this, the seven highest-ranking military officers were present in this meeting.

"Good evening gentlemen." Rhaenyra begun, her generals all making noises of greeting in response. "Shall we begin?"

"Yes." Marshal Darry nodded. "The Third and Sixth have met up with the First and Second, near Cider Hall. The Greens are none the wiser."

"Excellent. I have briefed you all on Operation Towerfall, and I trust that you all remember your parts in the plan."

"Apart from a small detachment of giants and marines, the First Legion shall be heading further north, up the tributary of the Mander that leads to Goldengrove." General Tarly replied.

"The Second shall continue onto Highgarden and lay siege to the castle. My Cataphracts are ready to deploy and pick the surrounding lands clean of food." General Dondarrion continued.

"The Third shall accompany the Second, dressed in the uniforms of the First Legion." Marshal Darry nodded.

Current estimates placed Highgarden as sitting on over six thousand men. Professional soldiers, knights and men-at-arms. They would be a hard nut to crack. If only one Legion went by themselves to siege the castle, they were risking annihilation. Sending another Legion to pad out the numbers was a prudent choice.

"The Fourth is prepared to take Tumbleton. We shall wear the uniforms of the Third to mislead the Greens on your location." General Arryn reported.

"The Fifth is ready for the parade." General Dustin sulked, sounding annoyed at being left out of the action. "We'll prance around like show ponies as expected."

"My apologies, General, but your Legion is rather… unique." Rhaenyra sighed. "Giants, mammoths, berserkers, skinchangers… I gave you leave to customise your Legion as you saw fit, so it is not my fault you chose something so… eccentric."

That was one way of putting it. Unlike the other five Legions, which were raised around the Andal model, the Fifth Legion was modelled after the ancient hosts of the First Men.

Ferocity and savage tribal might were the backbone of their Legion, with discipline and coordination being less prevalent compared to a more conventional Legion. 

General Serrett had fought alongside these men, and knew well their strength. Their untamed power and savage might made them well-suited for unconventional warfare. But he also knew well their weakness, and in this case, it was the fact that they were way too conspicuous. Armoured mammoths were ridiculously hard to hide, after all.

While the other Legions could convincingly pass themselves off as one another by changing uniforms, there was absolutely no way anyone could convincingly pull off the Fifth Legion. Their appearance and composition was simply too distinctive.

"Yeah yeah… I get it." General Dustin grumbled. "It's a sound strategy, and I can respect it. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Enjoy parade duty, my friend." Lucius teased. "My Legion and I will be running up to Goldengrove while you try look pretty on a horse."

Roderick cussed and flipped Lucius off, which was a victory in every way that mattered. The other generals laughed for a bit, before Rhaenyra cleared her throat and everyone got back to business.

"Ahem, like I was saying. The Sixth Legion shall follow the First up north to Goldengrove. I'll be leaving two-thirds of the Manglers and Megapults behind with General Dondarrion, as planned." General Serrett reported.

"Good. Lord Rowan is aware of your presence, and will make himself available to all your needs. You will brief him on his part in Operation Towerfall." Rhaenyra nodded.

The rest of the meeting went by quickly. Everyone here was a professional, and Rhaenyra was one of those politicians willing to listen to the words of her generals and take them to heart. The last details were hammered out, and the opening act of Operation Towerfall began.

———

114 AC, 13th Moon, 22nd day, Old Oak,

Old Oak was a stout castle of stone and wood, built high.

Sitting at the border of the Reach and Westerlands, this castle and lordship had been one of those whom benefited the most from the Aegon's Conquest.

With the peace between Reach and Westerlands, the two most wealthy of the Seven Kingdoms, the Ocean Road had seen a massive boom in business. The trade passing between Oldtown and Lannisport via the Ocean Road had seen House Oakheart grow rich and fat from tolls and taxes.

The fortress Old Oak had been expanded thrice in the past century, with new rulers adding more wings, towers and walls to the place. Where it had once been a glorified border fortress between the Reach and Westerlands, it was now one of the finest castles in the Realm.

While it would have been child's play for the First and Sixth Legion to take the castle by storm—particularly given the sheer number of sappers at the Sixth Legion's disposal—Operation Towerfall dictated that no one be aware of their presence this far west.

As such, instead of trebuchets and wildfire, it was a bag of gold and daggers that orchestrated the fall of Old Oak.

Mysaria had spies in every gutter, and had provided detailed briefings on the staff of the castle.

Lord Oakheart's sons were a spoilt and unruly lot, and had been known to mistreat the female staff of the castle. One of the cooks there had a sister whom had been raped by the sons, and had sworn vengeance for that.

It was far too easy to bribe him with a bag of gold, to open one of Old Oak's side gates in the dark of night. From there, a team of handpicked Legionaries entered the castle and put House Oakheart to the sword, sparing only the women and children.

With the Lord of Old Oak and most of his trusted lieutenants dead, the castle was in no shape to hold off an attack by the Blacks. Dressed in the livery of House Rowan, the Legionaries of the First and Sixth Legion swarmed the walls of the castle with ladders. They swiftly overwhelmed the disorganised and leaderless garrison, swiftly defeating them.

That was over a week ago, and since then the First and Sixth had dug themselves in.

The surviving Oakheart garrison and a contingent of local smallfolk had been put to work chopping trees and digging trenches, under careful supervision of the First Legion. Meanwhile, the Sixth Legion put their vast number of sappers to work, raising fortifications in anticipation of Lady Cerelle's arrival.

"Your men do good work." Lord Thaddeus Rowan remarked, peering out of the window at the defensive lines.

"They are swift learners." General Serrett agreed. "Half-trained, yes. But eager to learn under the First Legion's sappers."

"Ah, battlefield learning." General Tarly smiled. "Truly, the finest of teachers."

"If you're smart, you'll learn! If you're dumb, you'll die!" Lord Rowan quipped. "Either way, problem solved!"

There was a round of laughter, before the three of them retreated back to the table in the middle of the late Lord Oakheart's solar. The room was high in a tower, giving it a commanding view of Oakheart lands. And anyone whom insisted that the Generals had commandeered the solar for the war effort due to its multitude of creature comforts was a liar.

Pouring his compatriots a glass of wine each, General Serrett reclined in a plush armchair and got down to business.

"It's good that you've arrived, Lord Rowan." General Tarly nodded. "Our scouts have reported that Lady Cerelle is but two or three days march away from our position."

"Yes, and it would not do for her to catch the two of you here." The General-to-be of the Seventh Legion agreed. "The whole ruse would come crumbling down."

"Indeed. We intend on leaving on the morrow. Will your men be able to hold Old Oak?" General Serrett asked.

"I foresee no trouble." Lord Rowan replied. "The defensive line you have raised for me is impressive, and my men are well-trained."

Like it or not, the defensive line they had raised at Old Oak was not enough. And it would never be enough, to hold back the Lannister host of thirty-thousand. But it would slow them down enough. Long enough that the Second could bleed the Hightowers to a crawl and long enough for the rest of the pieces to fall into place.

"Do no hesitate to retreat, should the situation take a turn for the worse." General Tarly instructed. "You are here merely as a delaying action. King Rhaenyra fully intends for Cerelle Lannister and her army to die at Highgarden."

"About that, do either of you have any idea what the Dragonqueen schemes down south?" Lord Rowan asked. "She seems oddly confident that she can break the Greens at Highgarden, despite the fact the castle still hasn't fallen."

"Unfortunately not." General Serrett shook his head. "Operation Towerfall was strictly need-to-know. We were only briefed on our own parts, and have little knowledge of the rest."

"Best we can tell you is that tonight, the Fourth Legion will strike." General Tarly replied. "They will sally out of Tumbleton, hit Bitterbridge under the cover of darkness, and continue on towards Longtable and Cider Hall. Speed and surprise shall be their sword and shield, and they will crack the Green defensive line open like an egg before they can even react."

"I expect Highgarden to fall by the end of the week. No matter how well-garrisoned and fortified the position, there is no way it can withstand the full might of four full Legions." General Serrett added. "After that, only the gods know."

———

Under the veil of night, ten thousand Legionaries marched to a shadowed inlet, where a secret cove was hidden amidst the tall cliffs of the West Coast.

Here, the Legionaries embarked on vessels with masts bearing a green hand emblazoned on a gold escutcheon.

Lord Moren Chester was a coward and craven. While the Shield Islands had declared for the Greens, Lord Chester had tried his utmost to keep out of the war, trying for neutrality before being forced to knuckle to the demands of his fellow Shield lords.

So fearful, and so desperate to avoid Rhaenyra coming down on him like a barrel of hammers, he was more than willing to throw all of his compatriots under the chariot and defect to the Blacks at first opportunity.

The deal Rhaenyra cut with Lord Moren Chester was thus; His fleet would secretly ferry the First and Sixth Legions to Greenshield, hiding them there right under the Green's own noses. They would hide there, until the Hightower host was routed at Highgarden, at which point, the Chester fleet would ferry the two Legions to hit undefended Oldtown in the back.

In exchange, he was to be given a full royal pardon, and his House promised overlordship over all four Shield Islands.

General Serrett was pretty sure Rhaenyra was lying through her teeth with her promises, but Lord Chester was blinded by fear and greed, and questioned her orders not.

———

115 AC, 1st Moon, 23rd day, Oldtown,

The Fall of Oldtown begun with a bang, literally.

Hundreds of wildfire breaching charges went off all at once, painting the Whispering Sound green as the Oldtown Fleet was sunk in the opening strike of the battles.

As alarm bells rang and screams started rising up, the two Legions sprung into action.

The Chester fleet immediately sailed into the harbour, rowing at full speed. They'd snuck past the Green patrol lines in the day prior, using the fact that House Chester was publicly aligned with the Greens to avoid inspections.

Dozens of ships landed on the piers and begun disgorging legionaries.

The Hightowers weren't idiots, and so the harbour was properly walled off from the rest of the city, to prevent a naval incursion, but the gates were open, and the alarm bells and braziers surprising silent.

They had after all, been seized by the Marines of Westeros, whom had snuck in ahead of the full invasion force. The snorkel troopers had swum beneath the dark waves, ghosts in the gloom. After placing the wildfire charges beneath the hulls of the Oldtown Fleet, they'd surfaced and had slunk through the harbour, dark wetsuits making excellent camouflage in the shadowed night.

Following maps drawn up by those familiar with Oldtown, they'd slipped into the gatehouses and guardposts of the harbour walls, assassinated the unprepared and unwary guardsmen inside, before waiting for the fuses on the bombs to run out.

With the first defensive line compromised, the First Legion spilled into the city unopposed, spreading out like a drop of ink in water.

A thousand knights rode out, splitting into companies of a hundred that hit barracks and armouries as fast as possible, battering down the doors before slaying everyone inside. Killing the soldiers before they could properly rally.

Bells tolled dolorously, as the First Legion infantry approached the second line of defence.

Too few defenders so late at night, and what few that were there were caught off-guard by the sudden incursion. They were no match for the First Legion. Dozens of ladders mounted the walls, and battering rams begun knocking on the gate.

Within ten minutes, the wall had fallen, and the soldiers poured into the city.

Oldtown had been designed with a series of seven walls, each encircling different districts of the city such that the fall of one would not herald the fall of the entire city. But of the seven, only two were designed towards the harbour.

Both walls had fallen within a span of an hour, before the Greens could properly react, and none of the rest were facing the right way to properly defend against an amphibious assault.

The Green defenders tried their damndest though.

Oldtown City Watchmen fought alongside Hightower soldiers, fiercely contesting the remaining walls.

Entire districts were put to the torch in an attempt to contain the Legions.

The Paladins of Oldtown came out in force, fighting like devils to protect the Starry Sept and other places of holy worship in the city.

It was not enough.

First Legion sappers swiftly contained the blazes, clearing paths for the Legion advance.

Three of the remaining five walls fell in quick succession, and while the last two walls repulsed three Legion assaults, by the fourth siege engines had been brought out of the ships and assembled. Trebuchets begun shelling the last holdfasts of the Greens, slowly pounding them into submission.

Paladins locked shields with legionaries, and while their holy armours rendered sorcery impotent, they weren't much good against steel broadheads fired by lever-action crossbows.

———

115 AC, 1st Moon, 24th day, Hightower,

While it was on the First Legion to take Oldtown, it was on the Sixth to take the Hightower itself.

Seven-hundred feet tall, the castle was a marvel of human ingenuity and engineering.

Like a layered cake, the stepped tower rose up in six great stages, each smaller than the last. The first layer was a solid fort of fused black stone, the foundation of the grand tower. Crenellated and dripping with siege engines, the building was practically indestructible. So tough and durable was this fort, that the tallest structure built by human hands could sit atop it's roof comfortably, with no visible stresses or degradation upon the load-bearing walls and pillars of the fort.

The Hightower had been cast down low before, but the fort?

The fort had endured, untouched and unmarred, and not for lack of trying by the besiegers.

But for all that, the main defence of the Hightower was neither it's height nor it's indestructible foundation, but the fact that it was surrounded on all sides by deepwater. Battle Isle was surrounded by sheer rocky bluffs impossible to land ships on or climb up, and it was no coincidence that the one and only beach it had was the single most fortified position south of Storm's End.

As the First Legion made landfall on Oldtown, the Sixth did the same on Battle Isle.

Horsemen rode up the narrow and winding path to the Hightower, making it halfway up the ridge before any response was mustered. Withering arrow and scorpion fire battered the riders into retreat, a lucky quarrel having struck the wildfire breaching charges carried by the knights and killing near two dozen of them in a blast of green flame.

Tortoises and mantlets advanced, checked by trebuchets and ballistae.

Then the Manglers came forth, and shredded the enemy siege engines in a wave of Valyrian steel-tipped bolts.

They had more though, much more, on the upper layers of the tower, beyond even the reach of the Manglers, but the rate of fire had slackened.

A siege tower was brought forth. Made completely out of ironwood laminated with as much fireproofing as possible, reinforced by steel beams and warded personally by Daenys, it was utterly impervious to anything that the Greens could throw at it.

Trebuchet and catapult rocks glanced straight off it. Scorpion and ballistae bolts thunked harmlessly into the wood. Even pitch and wildfire failed to bite into the siege tower, fire dripping impotently off of the warded wood.

It rolled right up to the gate of the Hightower, before the front wall became as a gangplank, landing on the roof of the blackstone fort. Legion berserkers poured out of the siege tower, greataxes and warhammers hacking straight into Hightower soldiers.

Hightower siege engines on the layer above begun unloading, barrels of wildfire crashing down onto the fused stone roof and indiscriminately incinerating both Legion and Hightower men alike. Stemming the breach in a wave of green fire.

With the siege engines focusing on the siege tower, legionaries were able to run up uncontested and place breaching charges on the gate of the blackstone fort, blowing it open in a burst of wildfire.

As the Megapults unleashed volleys of fireworks onto the Green siege engines, the rockets flying forth with wails like the clarion call of death, legionaries sprinted for the ruined gate.

Legion heavy infantry were the first into the breach, soldiers in full plate and tower shields crashing into household knights wearing maille. Swords and spears glanced harmlessly off plate armour, while the axes and maces wielded by the Legion heavies had no such issue, splitting mail and shattering skulls with contemptuous ease.

Following behind the heavies were regulars bearing crossbows.

Under Rhaenyra's insistence, all Legionaries regardless of specialisation were drilled extensively in modern CQB tactics and urban warfare. Crossbows were not rifles, of course, but the basics of checking corners and performing breaching operations was still applicable.

Covering one another, the legionaries moved through the labyrinthine corridors of the blackstone fort, methodically breaching and clearing rooms, securing the bottom layer for the rest of the Sixth Legion to move in.

The maidstaff and other servants were spared. Taken prisoner, but otherwise left unharmed. Any soldier found in the rooms, or anyone attempting resistance, was summarily shot.

With the loss of the blackstone fort, the Hightowers had fled ever higher up the tower.

Like TV stations and other such places on Earth, the Hightower was designed in such a manner that most of the staircases were scattered, with few ascending more than a couple of floors before stopping. This defensive measure prevented easy capture of the place, extending the distance needed to ascend the floors and making it more difficult for besiegers.

Most of the stairs were broad and located in airy rooms, deliberately designed in such a way that there was no cover for people attempting to climb up from below.

The rest were narrow and spiralling affairs, forcing attackers to ascend in single file, and filled with all sorts of nasty traps.

The only uninterrupted paths straight up from bottom to the top of the tower were the elevators. Miniaturised versions of those the Night's Watch used to ascend the Wall. 

Unfortunately, the Hightowers had cut the cables to the lifts behind them, forcing the legionaries to take the stairs.

And so up those stairs the Sixth Legion went.

They chose the broad stairs, heavy infantry bearing thick tower shields were put up front, wading through crossbow fire from the galleries above.

Where the crossbowmen failed, the scorpions did not. The siege engines were brought forth by Green engineers, spewing destruction down the stairs. Long darts skewering even the most heavily armoured of soldiers.

Great round boulders were pushed off the upper landing, and made to tumble down the stairs, smashing through the Legion phalanx like a bowling ball toppling pins.

For a moment, it seemed as though the Black tide could be stemmed, but then the sound of hoofbeats killed the Green's hopes.

Yelling encouragement, Commander Jason Lannister led a wedge of horsemen, riding up the stairs. The knights slammed into the Greens, lances impaling men as steel-tipped hooves brutally trampled soldiers underfoot.

Bolstered by the arrival of the calvary, the footmen rallied and charged up the stairs. Rams cracked open the doors at the end of the staircase, and the second layer was breached.

Clearing this layer was far easier than the first. The walls and floors here were made of conventional quarry stone, not the indestructible fused blackstone.

The sappers were unleashed, bearing rams, hammers, picks and explosive shaped charges.

Walls were cracked open like eggs by the pyrotechnics, allowing legionaries to breach defensive hardpoints from unexpected positions. Hitting them from the sides instead of head-on.

Within the hour, the second layer and fallen and the Sixth Legion pushed on towards the third.

The third layer of the stepped castle was the second tallest of the six sections, surpassed only by the sixth and final stretch. It was where the bulk of the living quarters and function halls of the castle were located. In particular, the entire first floor of the third layer was but a single massive ballroom, with the one and only access point up from the second layer being a grand sweeping staircase.

With zero cover on the stairs, and the Hightowers undoubtedly having mustered siege engines in ballroom to contemptuously shred anyone whom attempted the climb up, hundreds if not thousands of soldiers would die trying to force the castle.

This was the single most fortified position within the entire Hightower. The bane of any force whom managed to breach the gates and take the first two layers.

If General Serrett went at it half-cocked, he'd lose half his Legion taking the ballroom.

Against a more conventional foe— A convention Legion, even!— they would be forced to take the plunge and send men into the meat grinder. But the Sixth Legion was nothing but conventional.

General Serrett's Legion fielded twice as many sappers as any other Legion of Westeros, and while it made them more fragile in a pitched battle, it granted them infinitely more options in a siege.

Options such as mining the load-bearing columns beneath the great ballroom with a copious amount of detonation charges.

The charges blew with a great rumble that shook the entire tower, instantly pulverising the pillars into dust and shards.

Bereft of support, the mirror-smooth marble floor of the grand ballroom caved inwards like a sinkhole.

Screaming, at least four hundred Hightower guardsmen found the ground vanishing beneath their feet, plummeting down to their deaths. What few whom were not crushed by the falling rubble or did not break their necks on impact with the ground were swiftly picked off by Legion light infantry.

Ladders were brought to the fore, and through the hole in the ceiling they went. Legionaries climbed up into what was left of the grand ballroom, and swiftly secured the room. 

Over half of the remaining Hightower garrison had been in the ballroom when it was brought down, and the remainder were too few to truly resist the Sixth Legion.

Up and up they went, the last three layers of the tower falling in a span of time faster than what it took to break the first layer alone.

By the time dawn broke over Oldtown, both the city and tower had fallen into the hands of House Targaryen.

———

115 AC, 2nd Moon, 1st day, Oldtown

"Execute Towerfall." The Dragonqueen proclaimed.

"It will be done, your grace." General Lucius Serrett promised.

With that command, the order was given, and from a plethora of ships Battle Isle, sappers unleashed a volley of over a hundred flaming rockets from a dozen Megapults.

The rockets flew through the open doors and windows of the Hightower, looming above them all. Like streaks of lightning, piercing into the darkness.

A heartbeat passed.

Two.

Then there was an almighty rumble as hundreds of barrels filled to the brim with wildfire detonated in unison. Days of work by the sappers, skilfully targeting weakpoints in the building and deliberately engineering the tallest structure built by human hands to come crumbling down in an instant.

It was in that moment, that General Serrett could have sworn he heard hope break. Shatter as irreparably as the tower behind him. Crumbling in the same instant the sundered tower struck the sea.

Green soldiers fell to their knees, dropping their weapons and looking to the sky fearfully as defeat and despair engulfed the ranks.

The banners of the Legions touched the sky a heartbeat later, another nail in their coffin.

"Fuck." Someone, some nameless Green soldier muttered, the voice somehow carrying in the dead and utter silence of despair.

They stood there, exhausted and hungry. Outnumbered and outmatched. Pincered between the First and Sixth manning the walls of Oldtown and the remaining four Legions of Westeros behind them in full battle array.

Rhaenyra raised a single banner of pure red, and the rest of the Legion signallers obeyed, raising the red flags high.

The bloody banners, they were called, and they all proclaimed but a single order; No quarter.

Notes:

Long story short, Operation Towerfall was all about pulling a fast one over the Greens as a whole, with a LOT of gaslighting.

The whole plan basically involved tricking the Greens into thinking that the First and Sixth Legions were accounted for, while those two secretly went to hit Oldtown in the back. All to set up the Towerfall.

Timeline:

114 AC, 12th Moon, 14th day: Rhaenyra issues a command recalling the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions to King's Landing.

12M, 20th day: 4th Legion secretly arrives in King's Landing.

12M, 21st day: Daeron is born. Alicent KIA.

12M, 22nd day: Viserys KIA.

12M, 23rd day: Daemon kills Kingsguard, Aerion steals dragons.

12M, 26th day: Rhaegar KIA.

12M, 27th day: Vaegon, Haegon, Maegelle and Daella KIA. House Hightower declares war on Rhaenyra and begins mustering troops.

13M, 2nd day: Rhaegar arrives in King's Landing. Messenger ravens reach Casterly Rock and Storm's End as well. Both Westerlands and Stormlands call the banners.

13M, 3rd day: Erik torches Redwyne Fleet, Ironborn torch Lannister fleet. Rhaenys starts hunting Aerion. Royal Fleet retrieves Manglers and Megapults from Dragonstone.

13M, 4th day: Ravens arrive at Camp Cockleswhent, briefing the First and Second Legion on the new battle plans.

13M, 5th day: 5th and 6th Legions secretly arrive in King's Landing and receive the Manglers and Megapults. Rhaenyra tosses idiot twins off battlements.

13M, 6th day: Rhaena KIA.

13M, 7th day: Shaera chases off Erik and declares for the Greens. 1st and 2nd Legions depart Camp Cockleswhent. 3rd and 6th Legions (with the siege engines) smuggle themselves down the Mander, hiding in the holds of cargo vessels.

13M, 8th day: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th Legions secretly rendezvous near Cider Hall. 1st and 6th continue sailing up the Mander tributary that leads to Goldengrove, leaving behind some giants and Marines from 1st.

13M, 9th day: 2nd and 3rd Legion (disguised as the 1st) arrive to siege Highgarden.

13M, 10th day: Tumbleton falls to the 4th Legion (disguised as the 3rd)

13M, 14th day: 1st and 6th Legion (disguised as Rowan soldiers) seize Old Oak. They begin raising fortifications in anticipation of Cerelle's arrival.

13M, 15th day: Hightower host departs Oldtown.

13M, 19th day: Cerelle Lannister's host departs Lannisport, marching down the Ocean Road. Honeyholt surrenders to Hightower host.

13M, 21st day: 4th, 5th and 6th Legions publicly 'arrive' in King's Landing, to great fanfare. Only the 5th Legion and parts of the 4th attend. They use tricks to fool Green spies that there are 3 Legions in King's Landing.

13M, 22nd day: Horn Hill surrenders to Hightower host. Lord Rowan arrives with his army to take over the defence of Old Oak. Lord Moren Chester secretly smuggles the 1st and 6th Legion to Greenshield.

13M, 23rd day: 4th Legion takes Bitterbridge, Longtable and Cider Hall within the same day. The Legions send ravens from all 3 castles lying that only Bitterbridge has fallen.

13M, 24th day: 2nd Legion Cataphracts begin hit-and-run attacks on the Hightower host.

13M, 25th day: Lucille coup, Highgarden falls. Faux Legion created.

13M, 26th day: Cerelle begins attacking Old Oak.

13M, 29th day: Hillside ambush. 2nd Legion leaves dead dressed in the uniforms of the 1st Legion behind, as part of the gaslight.

115 AC, 1st Month, 1st day: First Skirmish of Southpool. Dragon Urrax is slain. 2nd Legion fakes a retreat.

1M, 2nd day: Greens take Southpool. The Legions send messages lying that Longtable has fallen.

1M, 3rd day: Second Skirmish of Southpool occurs at 2 AM. Dragon Daybreak and all Green dragonriders are slain.

1M, 4th day: Most of the Hightower calvary crosses the Mander. The infantry stays in Southpool and begins sending outriders out to conscript more men to make up their losses.

1M, 10th day: Hightower calvary arrive at Old Oak. Lord Rowan surrenders, and retreats to Goldengrove. Letting the Lannister host pass.

1M, 17th day: Lannister and Hightower hosts arrive at Highgarden. Parley. Fifth Legion skirmishers batter the Greens throughout the day. The exhausted Greens camp at Rosewood

1M, 18th day: At midnight, the 3rd Legion attacks the Greens from the forest. The 2nd, 4th and 5th Legions (plus Faux Legion) march out of Highgarden. Pincered, the Greens retreat, abandoning their camp and losing most of their food.

1M, 23rd day: Greens attack Highgarden. Desolation. Shaera KIA. Greens rout. 2nd Legion deployed to hunt down survivors in the day. 5th Legion to hunt them down at night. Simultaneously, 1st and 6th Legion launch an amphibious night attack on Oldtown, capturing the city.