I: Arrivals, Part 1

Jon
AC 300

"Oy. Lord Snow. If you'd kindly take your eyes off the south for five minutes?"

Jon started. He set down his farseers and turned from the battlements of Castle Black. He stood at attention properly before Alliser Thorne. The hardened Master of Arms narrowed his eyes at Jon, as they usually did. Jon remained at attention. Thorne walked up to the battlements alongside Jon, and looked out South himself. He shook his head.

"Yer Wildling whore running late again, Snow?" He asked. Jon twitched, but kept calm.

"No sir," he replied. That was the main epithet applied to Ygritte, but thankfully most people didn't use it around Jon. Thorne though, Jon couldn't just punch. Even with his status in the Watch after the Battle with the White Walkers near Craster's Keep, Thorne never let up. Not for an instant.

Thorne glared harder for a time. He shook his head again, and looked back at the South. In the distance, Mole Town could be just made out through the cuts in the forest. Even from this far away, the burning fires of Wildling camps could be seen through the glasses. Thorne sighed.

"Wishing yer brother to appear won't make it happen, Snow. No matter how hard you try it or use it to get out of your duties," he sneered. Jon kept his eyes politely forward.

"I wasn't aware I was derelict in my duties, Ranger Thorne sir," he stated calmly.

"No? What do you think of a great hero of the North, just standing and pining away like some shit Romeo? If you slack off, so does everyone else who think you're hot shit," Thorne growled low in his voice. "Get going and do something useful, Liaison."

Jon very slowly nodded. He looked down into the main courtyard of Castle Black, bustling with activity even at this early hour. Dozens of new recruits (many from the Wildlings) were marching in formation under more seasoned Brothers. Target practice was going on, new recruits firing muskets and the newer rifles at straw targets. A few Mechmen from the Umbers were hammering away at the lift system, affecting repairs. Jon took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. He made to step away, before Thorne grabbed his shoulder.

"Winning a war takes a lot less time than winning the peace. If yer brothers have got any damn sense, they've been working hard at that over these last four months. And they aren't gonna tell you anything they need to. No matter how prissy it makes you feel."

Jon grit his teeth... But nodded. The hardened Brother pulled his hand away, resuming his own lonely vigil. Jon took a deep breath.

"Any word on the Lord-Commander?" He asked. Thorne snorted.

"Same word as before: Fatty Sam writing that they're still recovering, keep sending supplies. And we send the same thing back: We will, soon as we get resupplied properly. You want to waste any more time, Snow?"

Jon turned away... His ears twitched. He turned back to the south, pulling his farseers and holding them up to his eyes. Thorne glared.

"Snow, I told you to-!"

"Listen!" Jon hissed. Thorne still glared, but he did stop talking. His eyebrows rose as he too heard it: A low, mechanical growl. Like several metal beasts were roaring their way towards the Castle. Thorne lifted his own glasses, and pointed it in the same direction as Jon's: At a ridge about a mile off from the castle, where the King's Road ran like a bent arrow for the Wall.

Among the many improvements made during Lord Ned's reign had been general road improvement, with smoother stones and better measurements for the mile markers. It also allowed observers to tell how far away something was, if the weather was clear. Under the clouds and light snow, it was difficult to see anything at a greater distance than 500 yards.

It wasn't hard to spot the first object though, cresting the ridge, the roar it was making clear as a church bell. It rolled down the hill, and was followed by another, and another, and another, and still more driving down the road.

"What the bloody hell...?" Thorne muttered. Jon adjusted his glasses. He'd seen carriages before, of course, but none like these. For one thing, none of them had a horse drawing them. All of them were mounted on spindly wheels that resembled a heavily reinforced spinning wheel. All of them had large springs visible on their axels and behind their wheels, letting them trundle along like prancing horses. All of them were painted in the same snowy camouflage pattern as the cloaks the Night's Watch possessed. Each was built up with wooden boards and plates of steel armor. Each had a man in a turret up top, manning what looked like a Bolter.

And each had various flags and insignia painted on: Including the Stark Direwolf, and the Karstark sun. Standing up in the front seat of the lead vehicle was a tall man, completely covered up in warm winter clothing, goggles, and scarf. He held up his hand, and the first of the vehicles screeched to a halt just outside the castle walls. The rest kept coming, slowly stopping in a large group on the battle plain outside the walls. By now, numerous Brothers and recruits were lining the battlements, looking down and muttering amongst themselves. Thorne cleared his throat.

"Identity yerselves!" He bellowed. The man at the head of the column pulled his goggles off, and removed his scarf. He was a tall man, tanned, balding, with an aristocratic nose. He looked up at them with steely determination.

"I am Lord Stannis Baratheon. I have come to pledge myself to the Night's Watch," he called out. "I was directed by King Robb to bring myself, and my fellow pledges, with these new vehicles. Also for the use of the Watch." He fixed his gaze right at Jon.

"I will take the black... And we will see about the rest," he stated solemnly.

Jon, for his part, just shook his head with a small smile. A smile that didn't go unnoticed by Thorne, but that the senior Ranger could not really fuss over.

Their day just got a lot more busy, after all.

To be continued...

Authors Note: I'm a bit rusty so it'll be slow going. But next time, we'll be seeing Theon meet Daenerys and Euron. So hold tight.

Mirror Note: Next update will be a combination of enough chapters to make up more than 3,000 words. Please read this story on Spacebattles if you want to get the chapters as they come out.

As ever, all canon omakes are canon to the story, and omakes in as much as they were written by people other than AndrewJTalon in the Spacebattles thread, but then accepted as canon by him. There are many non-canon, and semi-canon omakes also written for Greyjoy Alla Breve, but I'd recommend reading them in the forum.