Chapter Sixteen

The Stepstones. The Summer Sea.

Having seen them from far above I could see how these islands could be considered a chain of sorts, linking the most eastern part of Dorne in Westeros and western parts what were called the Disputed Lands over in Essos. Since we intended to conquer both land masses in some form it made sense to take these islands as by doing so we would be greatly lessening the chances of nations on either side of the Narrow Sea from aiding each other. It would also give us the ability to limit shipping between Westeros and Essos.

Not that any alliance between the peoples of the two major landmasses was likely to happen given how divided the peoples of this world were even at the best of time, but keeping Westeros and Essos apart was only a side benefit. The other reasons for taking these islands were that they were divided, making them easy to conquer, and they were havens for pirate activity as well as slavers so no one would rush to their defence and any prisoners could be turned into servitors.

They would be able to put any kind of unified defence, giving us yet another advantage, and we did somewhat need to stack the deck in our favour as while we had a huge advantage in terms of technology, and we were unified under a common purpose, we were vastly outnumbered by the natives. Even with The Unsullied, we could be overwhelmed. Hence the need to take this world one part at a time.

I also knew that the Stepstones were often affected by storms that sank as many ships as the pirates. Not that either presented much of a problem for us since we had shuttles and landing craft so minor storms only made the ride a bit bumpy. As for the pirate ships they were targeted by the laser cannons on the support craft and when it came to the pirate dens we sent the Unsullied in with some guardsmen as a backup.

The only major in this part of the world was Tyrosh, which could be found in the easternmost part of the Stepstones, and it was the only real threat to my conquest of the Stepstones as no one else would be able to get any army here in time to do anything. If Westeros did make a move, which seemed unlikely, we'd have cleared the islands and dug in before they could arrive.

I knew Tyrosh to be a harbour city and that it could afford to hire a lot of sellswords, so they could be sent a fleet and armies at us and this stage of the conquest it could be trouble. But I doubted they'd do anything and even if they did their ships could just as easily be sunk as those belonging to the pirates and slavers who had infested these waters.

Other than that all I knew about Tyrosh was that it could be considered a mercantile city, where trade is very important, and considered a much more honourable profession than being a warrior, a good reason not to worry about that city sending men after us. Shortly after its founding, Tyrosh quickly grew into a rich city, due to the discovery of a certain variety of sea snail, what they did with the snail I had no real desire to find out. I did know that Tyrosh has at least one bank, but that wasn't important since I kept my growing wealth on my cruiser.

Perhaps I would attack Tyrosh one day as it was deeply involved in the slave trade, and Tyroshi slavers were known to be especially aggressive. They even sailed to the northern parts of Westeros beyond The Wall, in search of Free Folk to enslave. Slaves outnumber freeborn in Tyrosh three to one so I might look into funding a slave rebellion at some point. Assuming that the Lord-General didn't wish to conquer the city the old fashioned way when the time came.

I had recently landed here on the island known as Bloodstone, which I claimed for myself and I didn't think any of the other Imperials would mind since they all had the rest of the world to play in. Bloodstone would my personal little kingdom and the other islands extensions of it. I would have a fortress-palace built here and any tribute to paid to me would be stored here for when I returned to this world. But that would have to wait a while as those who would build such a structure would have better things to do.

As for this island's history, I knew that it was once the seat of Daemon Targaryen when he was the self-declared King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea.

Already I'd realised that conquering these islands would involve a lot of waiting as while my new regiment, the 2nd Thrax, had already been blooded they were far from a properly organised military force. Thankfully the Lord-General had sent one of his better officers here to oversee and organise the regiment. This left me free to manage matters as best I could, ensuring the supply lines were maintained all over the planet and to plan out how the islands could best be put to use once they were pacified. I was thinking about setting up some plantations.

My cruiser had months worth of supplies and the Ad-Mech could turn the bio-matter of distant jungles into ration packs, however, I'd rather not live on rations for the next couple of years and simply buying enough food would be too costly so I was going to supplement the rations with food grown on these islands. The least I owed the warriors fighting for the Imperium and me was a few hot meals.

"Is this really what war looks like?" Viserys Targaryen asked of me.

So far it seemed to be. I'd brought him down from the cruiser with his sister so that he could see what conquest really involved. So far all we'd done is sit around in a rather nice command tent and listen to the reports of the men who were doing the real fighting. Viserys would need to learn how to manage a war and his tutors could only teach him so much. Practical experience would serve him well.

Daenerys Targaryen was also here, and she seemed eager to learn, her tutors reported that she took her lessons well and seemed interested in the life of a Rogue Trader, having adapted quickly to living in space. No doubt she'd realised that as my wife she'd be more than a pretty face and broodmare, she would be one of my advisors and our children would carry on our great work in the centuries to come, plying to stars. That was something far greater than marrying some horse lord.

"You won't be a commanding knight and peasant levies in the future," I told Viserys who was harder to educate than his sister who has clearly gotten the better genes from their parents "You'll be commanding men with guns rather than swords and bows. Armies like that don't need their king charging into battle. You'd just get in the way. They need someone who can come up with a battle plan and make sure that they the tools to fight. Soilders need to be fed, to be sheltered, to have the proper equipment. Numbers matter, but so do the weapons your fighting men use and the support they are given".

If we had any contact with the space marine chapters they might be interested in recruiting young men raised among the nobility of this world who liked to swing a sword around, but the Imperial Guard valued men who would hold their line and keep firing a lasgun even with a massive swarm of Nids charging at them. A general in that kind of army doesn't lead from the front.

"As my ancestors used to say 'An army marches on its stomach'" I told the man who I might place in the Iron Throne "You need to understand how to feed and arm your men, and what troops are best sent where".

The Targaryens had fallen far if this boy who stood at my side as I looked over reports and maps was a descendant of Aegon The Conqueror. Perhaps Viserys needed reminding of who he was descended from.

"Your noble ancestor, Aegon, didn't just fly around Westeros burning anyone who got in his way," I told Viserys "He carefully planned his war and picked his battles".

While Bloodstone seemed secure the other islands would take weeks, perhaps even a month or more to claim as while the troops under my command were all fine soilders they were still learning to work together and the Ad-Mech needed more time to set up the means to support the conquests. This was why the Lord-General had not yet even left the Dothraki city, which was becoming a fortress city. He knew the value of proper preparations.

Of course, we were in no rush to conquer this world, but it could be a bit more thrilling. Hopefully, I'd be more entertained once the Stepstones were reasonable secure and I'd leave someone else to ensure the good work here carried on. The Islands would need to be transformed so that their resources could be exploited.

"Compliments of the Inquisitor" I was told by a stormtrooper who had just escorted a shackled woman into my tent "He has no further use to her and she might be useful to you when you deal with the savages. The Inquisitor had her mind-cleansed and suitably altered so she won't cause you any trouble".

I knew right away that this was Yara Greyjoy, the Lady of the Iron Islands and Lady Reaper of Pyke, the daughter and by the end of the show, the last surviving child of Balon Greyjoy, as well as the older sister and only surviving sibling of Theon Greyjoy. She was raised at Pyke, the stronghold of House Greyjoy. I knew Yara Greyjoy to be a fierce warrior and commands her own longship, only this version of her had clearly been broken. Much like her brother would have been at the hands of Ramsay Snow.

In the show, after the assassination of her father, Yara laid claim to the Iron Islands with her brother's support, but when the Ironborn captains chose her Uncle Euron, who murdered Balon, as their next king, she and Theon fleed with a portion of the Iron Fleet and their loyal followers.

Yara and Theon become allies with Daenerys Targaryen. Yara was then captured by her uncle when he attacked the Targaryen fleet, though she is later freed by Theon and their remaining loyalists. Intent on claiming the Salt Throne, Yara went on to sail what remains of her army to successfully retake the Iron Islands. After the assassination of Daenerys, Yara participated in the Great Council and consents to the choosing of Bran Stark as the new King of the Andals and the First Men. Not that this made any sense as she could have declared the Iron Island independent as Sansa Stark did with The North.

Now I had her in rags, kneeling on the ground before me, clearly, she'd been broken, and not just by technology, it was likely that the Inquisitors psyker Suzan, or another person with such a talent that the Inquisitor had hidden away on my ship, had altered her mind to make sure that she'd remain passive and loyal to me. Unlike brainwashing and other means of mind control she wouldn't revert because any part of her personality or memories that would make her anything less than the perfect follower wouldn't have been changed they'd have been removed. In a very real sense, this wasn't really Yara Greyjoy any more.

It wasn't impossible that a part of the women she was could somehow return, nothing is ever totally certain, but there were other ways to control someone, the heavy metal collar around her neck would most likely remove her head if she did anything drastic that she wasn't ordered to.

I did feel a bit bad about enslaving this woman, but not much since she was a pirate princess of sorts and so she'd have a lot of blood on her hands, still that didn't mean I should mistreat her and she might be useful if I ever needed to deal with the Iron Islanders. While she was not that attractive Rogue Traders did often end up with strange characters supporting them so why not a mind-cleansed, enslaved pirate princess from a backwater planet? At least she wasn't a horrid xenos.

"Missandei!" I called out.

I'd brought Missandei with me from Astophor, not to serve as a translator for me, since the Ad-Mech had teaching engines on my ship that could insert the understanding of a language directly into the mind, rather I'd brought her to serve as a handmaiden. Missandei was here to serve the Targaryen Princess. I didn't want Dany to get lonely.

"You called for me my lord?" asked the former slave as she entered my large tent.

Missandei was bound to me, but as a servant rather than a slave, which meant she got a little time off and even some pay.

"I'd like you to get this young lady cleaned up and dressed in something presentable" I ordered.

Yara Greyjoy would either prove useful to me or I'd cast her aside. There was always work to be done somewhere and as such there was a demand for labourers. If she annoyed me, well the Ad-Mech could always do with another servitor.

As for me, I had some more paperwork to handle and a prince to educate in matters of war.