Ishigaki Island, Taiwan, Republic of China, 15 March 1921
"Happy Birthday!" their family and friends shouted for the children. Akira could only smile as she blew out the candles for the two babies.
Two years old, and they were already growing up so fast.
Michael, for his part, had spent every second of his paternity leave doting on the two with her.
Out of nowhere, the ground began to shake, followed by a bright light outside. It all seemed so familiar to her, as if it had happened before.
She looked at her husband, who was wondering just what had happened this time.
It was Marty who knew what was going on as the bright flash faded from the windows and the ground stopped shaking.
"Oh Goddammit. Not again."
Presidential Palace, Nanjing, Republic of China, 16 March 1921
"What exactly is going on?" President Song Jiaoren asked the cabinet. "We have earthquakes across the entire country, from Hainan to Haishenwai!"
"It seems we have experienced a Second Great Journey," Interior Minister Wang told him. "This is eerily-similar to accounts of the first."
"Alright." At least Song could pretend he was calm. In truth, he was positively screaming internally. "Just one question: Where exactly are we?"
Bridge of the Silence, Jade Sea, 295 AC
Euron Greyjoy had been many things, but most importantly, he had been the Captain of the SIlence. Crewed by mutes, his ship struck fear into any and all, whether they be victims to be plundered or fellow pirates to be cowed.
These people, however, were anything but intimidated. How could they, when they were flying in the air like his dreams as a child, speaking to him in Yi Tish and the Common Tongue?
"You have entered the waters of Republic of China. Furl your- er, sails, and prepare to be boarded!"
He intended to do anything but that. So he shouted to his men and they readied their bows.
"Knock!"
The Ironborn were more at home on ships and plundered ships than in the air; however, that did not mean that they didn't know how to adapt.
"Aim!"
His men reached back and aimed the massive ballista in the back at the flying metal beast.
"Loose!"
A flurry of arrows flew through the air. It was a common tactic that ensured that at least some of the arrows would hit their target. That worked just as he had expected.
What he did not expect was to see the metal beast shrug them off as if nothing happened.
Even the ballista, his last resort of a weapon, was easily dodged by the airship.
That, however, was to be expected when the airship was traveling too fast.
What he didn't expect to see was a stream of fire come from the airship's side.
It was louder than any he'd ever heard, and his men were torn apart by its rapid fire in a matter of seconds. He had been hit as well, but his Valyrian Steel armor had blunted the hits so that "only" his ribs had been crushed.
Euron lay on the deck of the Silence as the airship landed on the corpse-strewn deck. Out came several men and women who looked like they were from Yi Ti, carrying strange weapons and armor.
"Sweep the deck!" shouted one of them in what sounded like Yi Tish. "I want this ship cleared in five!"
"Colonel!" shouted another woman from the hold, "We have prisoners under the deck!"
"Call in for backup, then!" shouted one of the responders. "Huh?"
She looked at Euron, who only glared at her. In his current state, he couldn't do much with his crushed lungs.
"We have a survivor here," she said to another soldier. "Critical condition. Get him loaded up and sent back to the ship.
MIB Headquarters, Nanjing, Jiangsu, Republic of China, 20 April 275 AC
"FUCKING WESTEROS?!" Martin shouted through the mic, only for Aki to glare at him. "Sorry."
"You are very lucky that I have headphones on," she told him, before motioning to the sleeping children in the background. "Not exactly Westeros. From what Rachel has found, we seem to be to the east of Essos."
"What."
"You've seen the reports, Marty. Rachel even managed to capture Euron Greyjoy out of dumb luck, of all things."
"Yeah, I've seen the report. So, we're really in Westeros, huh? All of us?"
"It seems like it," she confirmed. "We, along with Korea, were somehow teleported to the World of Ice and Fire. At our current position, we are bordered to the west by the Mountains of the Morn, with Asshai to our Southwest, the Empire of Yi Ti to the West, and the Dothraki on the other side of the Bleeding Sea."
"Anything to the north?"
"There are the Grey Wastes and the Thousand Islands."
"Okay then," Michael finally decided. "Well, at least we won't run out of gas and ammo this time."
"Indeed."
Yin, Golden Empire of Yi Ti, 5 April 275 AC
Rachel had been no stranger to infiltration. She was the same woman who was able to infiltrate the MIB when she "defected."
That was all in the past. The PRC was gone, replaced by the Republic of China, which meant her loyalties now lay with... well, she wasn't quite sure, if she was being completely honest. Still, she had intended to serve China on her own terms.
This was why she had come to Yi Ti, along with the rest of her MIB team. With the modern world completely gone, the Republic of China now become the most progressive country on the planet. That meant keeping up her appearances and agreeing to scout out the Golden Empire.
Better than Asshai, at least.
Or rather, the three Golden Empires. While there was the main Golden Empire of Yi Ti here in Yin, there were two other pretenders to the East.
The "main" Golden Empire was ruled by God Emperor Bu Gai, 17th of the Azure Dynasty, though his realm was largely fractured under his weak reign. Now that she thought about it, his power was not that different from the Emperor's in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms before the conflict began.
Next was an exiled sorcerer who claimed to be the 69th Yellow Emperor, though his was a rumor and little more. If the satellite arrays were to be believed, he might not even have existed once the Second Great Journey happened, as his location largely corresponded to where Lhasa, Tibet was.
Last was Pol Qo, a rebellious general who had dubbed himself the first of the Orange Emperors. Apparently he ruled from the north at a place called Trader Town.
The differences didn't matter, of course, when both claimants ruled over realms that seemed more out of Crusader Kings than anything close to modernity. There was little in terms of sanitation, while technology was almost a thousand years in the past besides the ships. Those, to her surprise, were only a few centuries behind.
It was a lot to take in, to say the least. And that was before she noticed the red-haired woman following her around the city. Then again, it wasn't that hard, seeing that she looked like the only white person in a place that was almost entirely-populated by Chinese-looking people who spoke Mandarin.
Or close enough to Mandarin, anyways.
As she walked through the city to try to lose her among the crowd, Rachel couldn't help but see the woman follow her. Be it through alleys, crowds, taverns, and everything in between, the Red Woman followed her. Exactly how she had done that, Rachel would never know, but she began to grip her concealed pistol as she rounded the corner.
"I mean you no harm, traveler," said the woman in red. She was beautiful, or rather, the second most beautiful woman Rachel had ever seen, with her red dress and hair. "So you may leave your weapon at your hip."
How did she-
"I knew I would find you eventually... My Prince."
Leng Ma, Leng, 6 June 275 AC
Truth be told, Michael was just happy to get past Asshai. Even if the Red Woman from there had agreed to leave them be, so long as they were left alone.
Of course, that meant something else for him, seeing that he had to establish a protectorate over the Isle of Leng. It was an odd thing, to be sure, and Marty had been quick to remind him that the locals had an odd habit of trying to murder foreigners.
That said, they needed allies, and the Lengii "God Empress" was welcoming enough.
And unlike Asshai, this place didn't creep him the hell out.
MIB Headquarters, Nanjing, Jiangsu, Republic of China, 8 August 295 AC
"So you're telling me that Rachel... is Azor Ahai?" It sounded as stupid as he thought, but the facts remained that one, they were now in the world of Game of Thrones, and two, he was literally talking to Melisandre. "You will excuse me if you think it is hard to believe."
"Prophecy is indeed tricky," said the Red Woman. "But your subordinate is unburnt, born of salt and smoke."
"You mean how the hospital she was born in burned down?"
"Perchance. Prophecy works in mysterious ways."
"Of course. Which means that the Others are real as well?"
"Then you do know of them?" Melisandre cocked her head. "Then you know of the importance your friend has."
"Okay, say I believe you," Martin continued, "We here in China are kinda against the whole 'Lighting people on fire,' thing. Sure, we're fine with your preachers going around, but we draw the line at human sacrifice."
"Of course. I take it that you are worried that your friend may have to stab her wife?"
"Yeah, that too. I'd rather not have my subordinate stab her wife to make a flaming sword."
"Of course. But would you be willing to sacrifice so many for the life of one?"
"That assumes that the prophecy is literal. And as you said, Prophecy works in mysterious ways."
Melisandre gave him a knowing smile. "Then I have come to the right place."
Yin, Chinese-Occupied Yi Ti, 3 March 276 AC
Now, General Chen's life had been weird enough. After getting teleported and successfully attacking one Chinese Empire, the last thing he had expected was to do the same thing again.
Yet here he was, occupying the capital of Yi Ti in what was an even bigger curbstomp than the last time.
Honestly, what the hell did they expect? We have modern firepower, and they have fucking swords?
Now, he took no enjoyment in war, but this was seen as a necessity, ever since the 17th Azure Emperor had demanded their subjugation. Apparently, the man had thought two things:
First, that China was much smaller and weaker than it actually was.
Second, that this would unite the hundred princedoms under his authority.
In practice, it turned out that China had an army in the millions, and the fall of Yi Ti had turned the Princedoms' de-facto independence into de-jure independence.
Now came the hard part.
Sure, he could easily conquer every single one of these princedoms. This time, the enemy literally could not shoot back at them, and he had the entire country of China behind him. There would be no risk of running out of ammunition, this time around.
The problem was that he had to deal with one hundred princedoms who were very interested in maintaining their independence. Them, along with the brigands, priest-kings, sorcerers, warlords, generals, and tax collectors who ruled their own petty fiefs.
Michael sighed. As much as he hated war, he could at least have the consolation that most of these people were probably assholes.
That, and the fact that they all practiced slavery.
"You know," Marty said through the phone, "With the current God Emperor gone, that leaves a power vacuum that needs to be-"
"No."
"I'm not joking, Mike. Yi Tiish society revolves around the worship of a God Emperor, and that is what we need to secure our legitimacy. As much as I hate to say it, they're more like Japan than we are, when it comes to religion."
"So what, you want me to go around declaring myself the 'God Emperor of Yi Ti?'"
"Yes. And if you say the phrase 'I Dun Want It,'" I swear to God..."
"But I don't want it, Marty! I'm a general who is very happily married with two kids and is very content with my current life. Plus, I suck at politics."
"I get it, Mike. Don't worry, I have a plan, though."
"Oh God. At least let me deal with the princedoms, first."
"So," Marty continued, seemingly ignoring his brother in all but name, "What do you know about the Humanity Declaration?"
Ishigaki Island, Taiwan, Republic of China, 10 March 276 AC
HE DID WHAT?!
Yes, Akira was pissed. Sure, she had known that deployments were part of their relationship. The Yi Tiish Campaign was just another part of that.
What she didn't sign up for was her husband declaring himself God-Emperor. Even if she understood the logic behind it.
"It was an issue of legitimacy," Rachel had told her, and Aki knew she had a point. But still, Michael had gone and declared himself God Emperor. "I guess that makes you an 'Empress' now?
"He is going to do the Humanity Declaration, yes?"
"Of course he is," Rachel promised, and Aki let out a brief breath of relief. "Followed by development and integration into the Republic of China, or I guess it would be the Republic of Essos, now?"
"I believe so." That, of all things, had done enough to calm Aki down. "Do I have to move to the palace?"
"Eventually? It'll mostly be for appearances, though. Between that, and the Humanity Declaration, the position will largely be as a figurehead when all is said and done."
"Good. Now, onto the next issue," Marty said to the both of them over the screen, "To the north, we have the Jogos Nhai, while to the east, we have the slaver nations to deal with."
"We should deal with the Jogos Nhai first," Rachel proposed, "Which should help Michael solidify his legitimacy as well as the integration."
"Exactly how many people are we dealing with?" Aki added? "A hundred thousand soldiers?"
"Something like that," Rachel sighed. "Primarily horsemen, I believe."
Marty just shook his head.
Michael, who had somehow ended up as the God Emperor of Yi Ti, could not believe what he was hearing.
No, wait, yeah I can. Because my life keeps getting stupider and crazier by the day!
"Here we go again..."
Nefer, Kingdom of N'Ghai, 20 August 276 AC
"We are fighting what."
"Necromancers," Chiu told him, before pointing to the reconnaissance photos, "Apparently, they can summon the dead to fight for them?"
"Do the dead fight with swords?" Chiu nodded.
"Do they still go down after getting shot?" Chiu nodded again.
"Then we shouldn't have too much of a problem." Chen shook his head. "So, can we take it?"
"Probably as quickly as we could against the Jogos Nhai, once it turned out that machine gun beats horde of zebras."
"Yeah, still weird to hear that, Chiu. So, is that all?"
"Of course, God Emperor."
"You're saying that just to fuck with me, aren't you?"
Chiu had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.
"Yup."
Yin, Golden Empire of Yi Ti, 31 December 276 AC
"I bring you a proclamation by God Emperor Chen Qirui," said the crier, just as many would say across the Empire. "First Crimson Emperor, Prince of Shangren Zhen, N'Ghai, Tiqui, Piqui, Xin, Linqi, Jinqi, and Yin, Conquerer of the Jogos Nhai, and Protector of the Five Forts..."
This, of all things, was why Michael wanted them to get this over with ASAP. He really didn't like all the titles, along with the pomp and circumstances.
"The ties between Us and Our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths. They are not predicated on the false conception that the God Emperor is divine."
To this, the crowd was silent at first. Some gasped, while others were simply stared.
But when it was their own God Emperor saying so, the man who had brought peace to their lands and the Jogos Nhai to heel.
It wouldn't be easy, but they would listen to the man who liberated them.
Republicanism, on the other hand, would be a much harder sell.
Excerpt from The History of the Liberation Wars, by Empress Emeritus Chen Akira, Published 300 AC
Once China had come back to the past, it was inevitable that they would declare war against much of Essos. Then again, that was to be expected when the majority of the continent (sans Braavos), practiced such barbaric actions. Slaves would be abused, assaulted, and deprived of their human dignity at best.
One need only look at the Unsullied to see that.
The reunification of the Empire of Yi Ti, coupled with the subsequent Chinese occupation and reconstruction process, had all but assured this, and Emperor Chen Qirui would begin the invasion in 277 AC, in the largest campaign the world had seen since the Fall of Valyria.
In many ways, this was reminiscent of the Chinese Revolution of our own time. However, there are two factors that differentiated this revolution over the last.
First, was the fact that China had the entirety of its territory this time, rather than the island of Taiwan. This included resources, manpower, and infrastructure that they lacked in the first war.
The second factor was the sheer manpower China had. This was a nation four hundred million strong, with an army that could easily occupy the entirety of Essos two times over.
Armored vehicles full of Chinese soldiers, along with Yi Tiish auxilliaries, poured through Bayashabad and Ashabad, defeating any and all mustered armies in battles of annihilation. Those that resisted were bombarded and besieged with modern artillery that they had no hope of countering, until they too surrendered.
Next came Qarth, whose forces were overrun in the Battle of Matsar by maneuver warfare and superior firepower. The city fell a month later, and the warlocks, as well as anyone participating in the slave trade, were quickly put to the sword, while the House of the Undying was burned in the process. Slaves, of course, were set free and reparations were made accordingly.
Slaver's Bay was next, and they too fell to the "Army of Liberation," as the Chinese-Yi Tiish force had been called. They would be treated similarly to the Qartheen in that the slavers and leaders would be put to the sword while their captives were freed. Afterwards, they too would undergo a period of "De-Slaverization," as it is commonly known today, an initiative to rid liberated territories' society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of every aspect of the slaver culture that was interwoven into their societies, root and stem.
This would be done by the large occupation force, however, as the Army of Liberation would tear through the remaining Free Cities in the year 278 AC, with a similar process of De-Slaverization occurring in the eight Free Cities that practiced slavery.
When all was said and done in 279 AC, only Braavos would be free of conflict, given their abhorrence of slavery in all its forms. The Treaty of Braavos (279 AC) would ensure that Braavos and the new "Republic of Essos," as it had been dubbed, would cooperate on matters of combatting the slave trade.
As for the Dothraki, it was only a matter of time until they struck. Deprived of their usual tribute by the liberated Free Cities, Khal Drogo had amassed a khalasar of a hundred thousand to lay waste to them in retaliation. Though a great warrior, his forces were annihilated by airpower before they saw a single battle.
The Dothraki Sea, however, would be the greatest casualty of the conflict. As while the Dothraki forces were annihilated by constant airstrikes, the Dothraki Sea burned in a continent-wide wildfire that scorched the land black.
But with this conflict finished (and the ROC Armed Forces occupying all of Essos besides Braavos, the Liberation Wars had ended, with the Chinese- or rather, the Essosi, forces victorious. De-Slaverization would take the better part of two decades, though it would be done in time.
Slavery would be a thing of the past in Essos, with its atrocities replaced by the machinery and technology that we all enjoy today.
Dragonstone, Seven Kingdoms, 20 May 280 AC
Rhaegar Targaryen was many things. Crown Prince, brother, son, friend, and so many more, depending on who you were.
But today, he was a diplomat, awaiting the arrival of this so-called "Emperor of Essos."
Truth be told, he was a bit nervous. Boisterous as he may be (and quite happy despite his somewhat-cold relationship with his wife), he knew war.
And when somebody managed to conquer the entirety of Essos within a decade, that is something only a fool would be unconcerned by, even if it all began as rumors.
It had been all rumor at first, that a great nation had been found to the east of Yi Ti.
Then the rumors came that a new God Emperor had united the realm through conquest.
Next came the news of the Liberation Wars, and that same man had led an army from the east through the west, until nothing but Braavos stood in its place. To think that the entirety of a continent would fall in less than a few years, despite there being no more dragons?
He had to see it for himself. Even if his father could hardly care less.
In all likelihood, the old man is busy rambling even more than he had before. Seven forbid that he actually do something besides raping my mother and lighting people on fire!
No, this needs to be done by me. Better that he doesn't have anything to do with this.
As he looked on the horizon, he could see what looked like metallic ships, the likes of which he had never seen before. They were massive, larger even than the massive spice ships of Qarth.
They Essosi were here, and they would he would need all the help he could get.
Dragonstone, Seven Kingdoms, 20 May 280 AC
As far as God Emperors went (or former God-Emperors in this case), the Chen family were rather humble. Sure, they could keep up appearances well enough, but the fact remained that none of them really wanted the roles they'd been given. And if the estimates were as they expected, then they wouldn't bee doing this for much longer.
Yet the fact remained that Michael was still Emperor of Essos, even if he was basically a figurehead and delegated his power to actually-competent people. Which meant that he had to at least be the face of it all.
Then again, it wasn't so bad. Even if he and his family spent more time befriending the servants than actually being served.
For his part, Rhaegar Targaryen seemed just like the books had described him. He was tall, with long white hair that made him seem more at home in a Disney movie than Game of Thrones. Either way, he was still the heir-apparent to the Iron Throne, which meant that he would be the one fighting the Others.
"Do you mean to tell me that I come from the legends of your own world?" asked the Prince. Normally, this would be as absurd as it sounded, but the circumstances dictated otherwise. "If I may ask, do you know what will happen to me?"
"To put it mildly," Michael told him, "All you need to do is be faithful to your wife, and the realm will be prosperous."
"If you say so," Rhaegar agreed. It seemed like such a trivial thing to the man. "As for trade and ships, I agree with your proposal to limit the Ironborn from raiding. It would be much harder to enforce, of course, now that both Westeros and Essos are off-limits."
"We can handle the brunt of it," the eastern ruler promised. "All we ask is that you do what you can."
"It will be hard to do much with my father on the throne."
"Of course. Now, I think we should address the elephant in the room."
"Azor Ahai?" Chen nodded. "Then it seems we are in agreement. What do you know of him?"
"The same as the Red Woman told us. That a child would be born from salt and smoke, and they would save the world."
"Yes. And with the comet on my son's birth, I believe that he may be the one."
"Truly?" Michael tried his best to stay polite, despite his evidence to the contrary. "Prophecy is always tricky, of course. Say one thing, and two people'll believe two different things."
"Indeed," mused the Prince. "I take it that you have your own theory?"
"Apparently, one of my subordinates fulfills all the requirements because her birthplace by the sea burned down. But as I said, prophect is tricky."
"Indeed," said Rhaegar again, "Though I take it you didn't intend to come here to discuss prophecies and stories?"
"That I didn't, Michael agreed. So, do you know what Azor Ahai fought?"
"Only the broad details," Rhaegar sighed. "A relative of mine and I have a correspondence, but even he only knows so much."
"Then we better get started," Michael yawned, stretching his arms. "It's a long one, and I'm going to need your help once it's finished. Do you think we could bring back some of your dragonglass?"
Beyond-The-Wall, 17 September 280 AC
"Fuck the cold," was all Dexter Hu could say as he shivered at his camp. "Never should have come up here."
"You get used to it," Rayder chuckled, "Just as I have gotten used to those weapons of yours."
"Thank God for suppressors," Richard chuckled, before checking his magazines. "Three shots to down a direwolf, and we still haven't seen anything out here. Even after we passed by Craster's place."
"Sick bastard," the younger Hu muttered. "And you guys ally with him?"
"Not exactly," the ranger sighed, "We cooperate with him where our goals align."
Which, in this instance, meant that spying on the man as he traveled through the Haunted Forest was on the table.
"I see something," Dex said, before handing the binoculars to his brother. Doesn't show up on thermal, but the NVGs are fine."
Shit.
Richard knew what this meant.
"How many of the big ones?"
"One," Dex told him, much to their mutual relief. "Shitload of zombies with him, though."
"We only need one," Richard whispered, and then turned on his radio. "Pick a target. Wights first, then the White Walkers."
Sure enough, the lasers all lit up the swarm of wights, followed by the audible pops of suppressed rifles.
For a bunch of zombies, the wights went down quick enough. Couple shots to the torso were all they needed to be shattered by 7.62.
The White Walker, however, continued his slow march forward, spear at the ready.
"Switch to DG rounds!" Dexter shouted, before switching magazines and lighting the creature up until it shattered into shards of ice.
"Cease fire!" his older brother barked back, before looking through his NVGs. "One of the wights is still alive. Rayder, Chao, you and two go get him loaded up and ready once the helo gets here."
Dragonstone, Seven Kingdoms, 20 October 280 AC
"Well then," was all Rhaegar could say at the sight before him in the cell. "Your men actually did it."
"Yeah," Michael said sheepishly as the wight scrambled all over the cell. "So, do you think people will buy this?"
"When you show them a literal living corpse? I believe so, Michael," Rhaegar figured, before sighing once more. "There is only one person you need to convince, however."
"Who? You father?" The Prince nodded. "I trust that you have a way to handle that?"
"Of course," the Crown Prince promised, though he carried a grim look on his face, "I will need to take my leave to King's Landing. You and your entourage are more than welcome to the dragonstone on the island. Not sure how you lot have managed to do it, but at least it's somewhat useful, now."
"You have my thanks," Michael said with what little formality he could muster. "And my sympathies, as well."
"That is much appreciated," the Crown Prince told him. "Now if you will excuse me, I must take my leave."
Alchemist's Guild, King's Landing, Seven Kingdoms, 29 November 280 AC
King Aerys knew what he was called. They called him "The Mad," behind his back.
He was perfectly sane, if he was being honest. After all, when all of Essos was uniting under a single king in less than a decade, wouldn't anyone else want any edge they could get against them?
That was why he employed all the pyromancers, after all. That, and testing their concoctions on the traitors.
You never know when your mixtures could go bad, after all.
What surprised him, of course, was his son's presence. Apparently Rhaegar wanted to get away from that Dornish whore of a wife of his, and Aerys couldn't blame him.
"There is an old saying," Rhaegar said with much interest. "Piss on wildfire, and your cock will burn off."
"Oh, I have never tried such an experiment, but perhaps we can test it on the next person executed?"
Aerys tried his best not to laugh, while Rhaegar carried a small smile along with them.
"Remarkable, isn't it, my son?" asked the king. "Enough wildfire is in this one tower to match Balerion the Black Dread alone!"
"Indeed, father," the young man muttered. "Say, Lord Rossart, is all of this stored in this one storeroom?"
"That it is, Prince Rhaegar, and we are at the deepest depths of the storeroom."
"That we are," Rhaegar agreed, before looking down the massive hall. "Seven Hells. If you'll excuse me, I must relieve myself."
"You are excused," Aerys agreed, before Rhaegar bolted off. "No respect for genius, Lord Rossart."
King's Landing, Seven Kingdoms, 29 November 280 AC
One hundred and fifty, one hunderd and fifty-one...
Rhaegar ran off into the night as he counted the numbers in his head. Three hundred, and he would need to be as far down the streets as he could, in order to survive the blast.
The plan was simple enough, once he knew how his father would travel to the Alchemist's Guild more often than he'd have Small Council meetings. He just needed to go inside, lure his father and Lord Rossart into the storeroom, then find some excuse to leave.
After that, it was just a matter of setting a candle into the floor, surrounding it with wildfire, and running as fast as he could into the night through Flea Bottom. He'd always been good at disguising himself, and that it wasn't as if he announced wherever he was going.
Two hundred twenty, two hundred and twenty-one...
Eventually, he made it to an alley, checked that the coast was clear, then began counting down while he pretended to piss.
Two hundred and ninety-nine... Three hundred-
Off in the distance, he heard the loudest explosion of his life and saw a large green plume explode, right where the Alchemist's Guild had been headquartered.
It would be a tragic accident, of course. One that would almost certainly require an investigation.
And who better to lead it, than the bereaved son.
It's a good thing that I'm a good actor, then.
Obsidian-Tipped Bullets: A Primer (PUBLISHED BY HANYANG ARSENAL)
Despite our best efforts, it is nearly impossible to create an obsidian bullet or an obsidian alloy. While there are many reasons that relate to material scienct, the fact remains that obsidian (or dragonglass, as the locals call it) is a glass, and an entire bullet is impossible to develop.
However, weapons engineers have been more than capable of developing tips and using those for bullets, instead. While they are much more fragile, the fact remains that they are much more effective against Wights and White Walkers, given the field testing done by Special Forces and Night's Watch rangers.
To that end, Chinese (and by extension Yi Tiish and other Essosi) weapons factories have begun the mass-production and stockpiling of such weapons, as well as the training with the men of the Night's Watch.
In addition, King Rhaegar Targaryen has been more than willing to integrate the weapons, now that they have been proven effective in subsequent missions Beyond the Wall.
Of course, this is largely an infantry-based solution, and dragonglass-inspired weapons are not limited to firearms. For example, weapns engineers have developed artillery and tank shells that will disperse these weapons to an even-greater degree, as well as air-dropped flechettes.
These will all take time, and the primary issue will be developing the infrastructure to ensure that the weapons can be dispersed effectively. This includes, but is not limited to, fuel depots, armories, field camps, and airstrips.
OPERATION SKI-LIFT
OBJECTIVE: Retrieve any and all Free Folk (otherwise known as Wildlings) and transport them to Essos.
METHOD: Mance Rayder and Qhorin Halfhand, under orders from Lord Commander Qorgyle, has been authorized to travel northwards with a number of Rangers and Chinese volunteers to encourage them to evacuate from Beyond the Wall before the White Walkers/Others catch up to them.
To this end, the groups were authorized to travel via helicopter from The Wall, then fly to various points where Free Folk are known to settle. To that end, several UAVs have been dispatched, and they will guide the party to population centers.
Free Folk will be instructed to travel to two points, depending on which is closer: Fist of the First Men and Hardhome. Afterwards, helicopters will be dispatched to the Fist to transport people to Hardhome, where they will then be placed on ships to travel to Essos.
RESULTS: While many were disbelieving at first, many more were more-receptive to Mance Rayder's approach. As a result, most tribes were more than willing to accept the offer and were subsequently transferred to Northern Essos and settled in those territories.
While integration has been harder with more-traditionalist minded Free Folk, they seem largely content with their current status, particularly when compared to the subsistence existence they had endured beforehand.
Of note is a similar resonance in values between the Chinese and the Free Folk, given the two peoples' fairly-egalitarian values.
ANALYSIS: An overwhelming success, which greatly-surpasses that of Hardhome from the MEDINT (Media Intelligence) information.
Castle Black, 24 March 301 AC
"Right this way, Princess," Uncle Martin told her, much to her annoyance. "You too, Prince Lin."
"Uncle!" Morgan Chen shouted as she walked after him, "I'm 27 and a Captain now, so you don't have to call me that!"
Especially when Baba had abdicated over a decade ago!
"Is that any way to speak to your godfather?" the intelligence director chuckled. "At least your brother doesn't complain."
"You're a dick, Uncle Marty," Lin sighed, though he kept a smile on his face. "How's Dad?"
"Working himself to the bone as he always does. Same as your mother, you know."
"'Course we do," Morgan agreed. They continued to walk past all sorts of men and women as they spoke, from Essosi to Westerosi to Chinese and Korean. "We learned from the best."
"Aw, I'm flattered-"
"She means our mother," Lin cut him off. "So, everyone is here?"
"Pretty much," their uncle figured. "Lords Stark, Lannister, Tully, Martell, Tyrell, Arryn, Baratheon, and even King Rhaegar himself are already meeting with him, along with their subordinates."
Morgan whistled at the sheer number of people here. "That's a lot."
"It's the War for the Dawn, Morgan. Satellites caught the Others moving in a few weeks ago, so the King's been moving men and resources up north ASAP, while your father has been airlifting troops non-stop."
"How many are there?" Lin asked, only for Martin to shrug. "So a lot?"
"Yeah, a lot," he agreed, before opening the door to the conference room. There, at the front, stood General (and unwilling God-Emperor) Michael Chen. "Got somebody for you, Mike."
"I knew you two would come," Michael told them, and embraced his eldest children. "So, are you two ready for this?"
"Ready as we'll ever be," Morgan promised, before tapping her flight helmet. "We've run the exercises about a hundred times at this point."
"Two hundred for us," Lin yawned, "Tank's all gassed up and ready to fight the Others."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," their father told them.
"Yeah."
"Me too, Baba."
Castle Black, 1 April 301 AC
As far as celebrations went, this had to be the most-justified in Lin's eyes.
I mean, yeah it is. We literally fought off the apocalypse!
"Well that was boring," Lin said to his sister at the celebration. "We spent a whole week freezing our asses off and drinking coffee."
"What did you think was going to happen?" his sister yawned, "We can fly. They can't. That means we get to bomb them with napalm non-stop. And we did."
"Fair enough," Lin sighed, before looking at the wild and raucous crowd. "I mean, what are we going to do? Not bomb them into oblivion until they all melted?"
"Fuck no," his sister told him, before looking out to the crowd. "Not going to enjoy the party?"
"There'll be enough feasting for a month. Plus, I don't drink, remember?"
Apparently, that's the one thing I got from Mama.
"Yeah, I guess so," she figured. "Plus, I've had my fair share of men trying to ask me to dance, and all that."
"Not your type, Morgan?" She shook her head. "Then what is it?"
"None of the above!" she laughed, and then took another sip of water and looked over at the crowd. "Wow."
"What?"
"Jon really likes that redhead, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, he does. She was on the boatlift out, right?"
"I think so?" He could've sworn he'd met somebody similar when their father brought them to the Free Folks settlements in Northern Essos. "So, what happens now?"
"You mean, now that I saved the world-"
"Morgan..."
"...Fine. Not that we saved the world? No idea. I guess we can all do other stuff, now. Apparently Baba's going to retire back to Ishigaki with Mama."
"He's earned it. Not like Uncle Marty can drag him into becoming God Emperor again."
"Yeah, what was that about, anyways? Was it really that important?"
"Yeah, apparently." At least, that was what Lin remembered. "There was literally nobody else who could take the job, so he got it by default."
"Story of my life," their father chimed in, before sitting down with them. "Plus, we kinda sucked at the whole 'Royalty' thing."
"Probably," Lin figured. I mean, how else can you describe it when you end up befriending all the people who are supposed to be your servants?
"So, what are you talking about now?" Michael asked his two kids. "See anyone you like?"
"Nope!" Morgan said cheerfully, "And we were just talking about what we're going to do now that everything is finished."
"Fuck if I know," their father told them. "I'm retiring. I've had enough politics for one life, so I'm going back to Ishigaki to spend time with your mother and pray to God that we don't all get teleported again for a third time."
.
