30

Chapter 30 Pushing Boundaries

White Walkers.

WTF?

Winter doesn't start for another year! It's still autumn right now!

Huh. They don't seem to be doing much. Just staring at the Wall. Maybe they're just scouting right now?

A few wights probed my defenses, but pulled back after the first few were shot down. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll decide to wait another eight thousand years?

Damn it. I'm not going to take any chances. At least Westeros has already been crushed. I'll leave my son to clean it up while I go deal with the Long Night.

First thing I do is order my scrying division to stop checking the far north. In the books the Night King could reach out through greenseer visions. No point risking any of my very limited subjects who can actually use glass candles. And I'm certainly not going to expose any of my children to him.

I have them monitor the Wall for now. That should be safe enough. I should probably start reinforcing my air fleet. I guess I can't really take my time with my enemies if the Long Night really is starting.

I order all of my land cruisers, at least the non Thornhold versions, to be assembled into a single unit and sent south. I was going to crush Ghis before it had a chance to become even an irritant. I don't want any distractions. I also began another project, this one to deal with the Deep Ones.

So far the Deep Ones hadn't proven too dangerous ever since I had implemented countermeasures. That was no reason to ignore them though. My marines were coming along nicely, but I strongly disliked being stuck on the defensive. I also remember the giant shadows deeper in the ocean. While I don't know they are hostile, I'm not about to assume they aren't either.

Sadly none of the weapons or enchantments I have will work well underwater. From what I remember the only effective underwater weapons were basically drones, so I went in the opposite direction. I went big.

My first submarine design was a massive valyrian steel vessel propelled by turbines along with a dragon skull. It stretched six hundred feet long and two hundred feet wide. It would house dozens of beacons with overlapping fields. Each one would only slightly damage an enemy, but with enough of them even an elder guardian would be destroyed in seconds.

The amount of valyrian steel required was ludicrous. I doubt I'll make more than one, but that should be plenty. Still I devoted all the resources I could spare for the project. Sadly it will months at the minimum to complete. I'm tempted to stop making equipment for my military to finish it faster, but I'm not that desperate. At least not yet.

The Dreadnought will serve as the battering ram for my more mobile marines. Just in case I included a heavily enchanted battering ram in the front. That way I can use it in naval battles as well. It was already going to take enormous amounts of resources, what's a bit more?

I even managed to incorporate a bay on the bottom that allowed marines to be deployed or just catch a breath of air. Sadly it was only because the beacons didn't reach downwards. Despite the extra thick layer of armor it left the bottom exposed, like the underbelly of a dragon.

I couldn't really find a way to fix the problem so I came up with an alternative. The animated puppets from Yi Ti can reach epic proportions so I just need to make some for myself. They can serve as escorts and support. Of course that will take time to develop and delay my assault, but I wasn't willing to wait a decade or so for the next generation to grow up.

Maybe I should try out beastmen again?

Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO

Beastmen will have to wait for now. My Jotun project was far more important. By the time I initially expected the Long Night to start they would have been ready. I wouldn't have many, but they would at least exist with a stable population. Now they'll take much longer with all the projects I'm rushing through.

Besides, I might want to avoid anything like that after the example of the manticoremen. The thought of unleashing mirelurks on the world is not a happy one. Even if they would make amazing shock troops. And jotuns are much more likely to be useful than any beastmen I can build I can build in that time frame.

Speaking of beastmen, that given me an idea. I immediately send orders out to the troops expanding my borders southwards. I want to them instead concentrate on securing the railroad that leads to Meereen using the same tactics.

Given my land cruisers had just pasted through the area it should be relatively clear. Also, it would allow me to both finish off Ghis and give me a southern coastline. I really really wanted access to Sothoryos. Ulthos and Asshai would also be a nice bonus. The Summer Isles too. And Naath.

I should probably stop any plans for expansion until I at least secure Westeros. Still, it isn't like there is going to be much competition with what feels ninety percent of the population dead. Fucking crazy Targaryens. It makes me monitor my kids all the closer. No way was I going to unleash brood of mad dragon riding maegi on this world.

At least my air fleet is coming along nicely. My setup continues to harvest dragons in the End. In fact just a little work had exponentially increased their spawn rate. Parties of advanced golems hunted throughout the Nether for the parts I needed. Every few hours a new dragon was harvested and most of that time was actually from the harvesting.

With the abundant supplies I also take the time to upgrade the design of my zeppelins. A third air bag allow for the bags to be set up with an internal cell structure. I don't remember if the massive ice javelins from the show were in the book, but I've already run into enough surprises.

Even with each zeppelin using up several times as much resources I'm able to turn out one a day. The excess dragon skulls all go to my slowly expanding navy. With pretty much every other major naval power destroyed my traders and explorers have free reign.

The lack of the navies though means that pirates are once more flourishing. You'd think the lack of shipping or even countries would be a problem. Instead they're spreading like a sea borne version of the manticoremen.

Interrogating captured pirates reveals they seem to operating from several areas. The main ones though are all islands, which is why they haven't been overrun. Seems it's time to head south. Well, not me personally, but I send a fleet there.

Sometimes, between the aerial view from scrying and how I maneuver the automated zeppelins and land cruisers I feel like I'm playing an RTS. Of course it's the slowest RTS I've ever faced. So maybe less Starcraft and more Dawn of War.

I don't actually spend too much time focusing on the south. The various islands being used as bases were assigned several zeppelins and then I moved on. Stepstones, Basilisk Islands, Valyria. I tried to cover everything.

Only one place was spared. Lys.

Not because they were in any way innocent. In fact they were among the worst. But because of their enormous slave population. A population I can definitely use. Most of the trainees from several branches of my military took part in the invasion for the experience.

I was pretty annoyed to find they were also using beastmen. Thankfully the majority were all trained as servants and shouldn't have any problems integrating into my empire. The Ghiscari troops were another story. Almost a full legion was stationed there. Not that it did any good. My troops may be considered fresh out of training, but they were still terrifying compared to normal soldiers. Between armor and potions I didn't lose a single soldier. A flawless victory.

Naath and the Summer Isles were both free from Ghiscari influence. Looks like I arrived just in time. Naath wasn't too hard to incorporate. Between their pacifist ways and virulent diseases no one really bothers them much. I still took the time to meet with several of their leaders and gift them with valyrian steel tools. None of my laws really bothered them, so they easily agreed to join my empire. Easiest conquest ever.

The Summer Isles actually proved almost as easy. Warfare there was in the form of elaborate tournaments between small groups of champions. Myself alone would have been enough, but I took the time to show off.

Three marines and three samurai accompanied me and I let them destroy the competition. Then I would proceed to spar with soldiers, me against the other six. They were much more challenging then any enemy I had faced before, but tattooes, enchanted equipment and other bonuses all stacked. Animating the various layers of armor to grant myself power armor just made it even more unfair.

In the end the Summer Isles were conquered after a few weeks of tournaments and feasting. I laid out my laws, which they largely didn't mind. Citizenship and trade restrictions were the only real issues. In the end though they backed down.

In the interest of trade I only planned on transporting golden heart to a very few places and none of them were to be used for mass production. They didn't like it, but agreed in the end. Since I gave them valyrian steel tools and dragon skulls in exchange I felt that it was more than fair. Besides, they no longer had to worry about being invaded now, so the original reason for the ban was no longer valid.

Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO

The next few months were spent trying to wipe out all of my enemies. I had spent a solid could of days finishing up the Dreadnought and it's launch was enough to give me enough of a reprieve from raids that I ended up building more.

I never got around to building the animated guards so I had them operate in pairs. Coupled with the fact I was restricting them from making any forays into deep water they were safe enough. More importantly my seas were finally fairly safe.

Just too bad it was a bit late. With the rising popularity of air ships most trade was now aerial, not naval.

Of course this was only possible because I had finally caught up with the demand for new equipment. For some reason I expected it to be constant drain. I forgot that it'll probably be years before my population grows enough to provide another generation of recruits.

Afterwards I micromanaged my land cruisers to ensure the Ghis Empire was thoroughly destroyed. I sent the trainees out again. They here necessary to take most of the cities since I wanted to actually save and free as many slaves as possible instead of just killing everything.

The legions were hilariously outmatched by the land cruisers. Sure they were highly trained, but their discipline just made it easier to kill them since they didn't run. After the last few enemies I had faced it was decidedly anticlimactic.

I even managed to get more materials from Yi Ti. Despite my aid the war was still a fairly slow affair. It was highly ritualized and thus exploitable.

In the dead of night all of my land cruisers along with two thousand samurai riding autos. A single auto drove up to the wall and along it, dropping pallets of TNT as it went. The explosion completely destroyed their western wall.

The land cruisers drove in and rampaged throughout the city slaughtering everything in their reach. The samurai followed behind quietly and started looting the buildings I had marked. In less then an hour they retreated with the cumulative written knowledge from one of Yi Ti's maegi academies.

Afterwards I had a dozen Napalm-class zeppelins burn the remains of the city to the ground. I also had the rest of the walls destroyed. I really didn't want to give them any reason to consider me an enemy.

Checking on Westeros showed the Wall was still only being probed. Also while King's Landing was secured, Dhagon lacked the manpower to expand further. He had moved to the north and started rounding up survivors there.

There weren't many. Between my zeppelins, the manticoremen and them killing each other he was having trouble finding pockets of more than a dozen or so at a time. I have no doubt in a another few years there wouldn't have been anyone left. I hope their grateful.

I sent him supplies to rebuild to North as his new domain. He seemed happy enough with that idea, especially with the Long Night approaching.

Now if I could just get the rest of my children interested in ruling.

Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO

It seems there will always be crazy brave people in my empire. With the destruction of my last public enemy my empire relaxed. More and more veterans were opting to retire. Sometimes they settled down, but most often they became explorers.

The process of reclaiming land from the manticoremen had become largely routine the crews were slowing down. It wasn't as if there wasn't already enough cleared land to house the population of the empire several times over. With cleared land on the southern border and a railroad connecting it new lands and more importantly the unknown called to them.

Ironically it was Ghis that had given me the key. Manticoremen don't eat each other. In fact they actively ignore each other once they mature. Armor made from their shells apparently is close enough to trigger the same instinct.

Since that discovery I've had teams of armored golems sweeping the land. Already the rate of reclaiming land had risen dramatically. I've even sent a few teams to Westeros to start there. Everywhere possible I'm attempting to secure my territory.

Both Valyria and Sorthoryos were considered the new frontiers. While I have no intention of conquering it anytime soon, it is still a vast untapped well of potential resources. In the this time of relative peace people seem eager to throw themselves into danger. My only consolation is they aren't completely reckless.

The price of potions skyrocketed as they were stockpiled by teams preparing for expeditions. I often traded sponsorship since gold had long since lost any meaning to me. After all I can generate it if I need too.

Which reminds me to try and find a solution to hyperinflation soon. The only thing preventing it right now was the state sponsored farms and industries selling so many of the basics at fixed prices. Really hoping my empire lasts more than one generation.

Expeditions to Sothoryos have already paid off. Exotic plants and animals are being imported daily. Several, such as pineapples, i've already added to my gardens. It's funny how much I've missed the variety of foods from my past life.

Of course the expeditions aren't without danger. There are a number of ruins found throughout the land and despite all their preparations people still die. Still, everyone presses on, each eager to find the natives I suspect live there and that I've posted a huge bounty for.

Even with numerous groups foraying into the jungle progress is slow. Without actually leveling enormous swaths of jungle they have an enormous disadvantage. The diseases and poisons are a constant drain on resources. The heat and humidity is the last part. Coming from dry cool Essos, the climate kills more people than anything else.

Sorthoryos isn't the only place explorers are venturing. A number are in Asshai and despite my warnings Leng. They're very strictly unofficial since I have no desire to draw the attention of what may live there. There are just too many clues pointing towards the existence of Old Ones.

I considered trying to block it off, but it didn't seem worth it. People had survived on the island for centuries already, why draw unnecessary attention to it?

I also have a trickle of people heading further east now that the Yi Ti civil war was dying down. My raid had really shaken confidence in the Azure Emperor and more and more provinces were defecting. Already the northern most roads were safe to use.

The future looks bright. However there's less then a year until winter begins.