Space Dragon 6

- Dragonstone Beach -

"I can't help but feel reminded of home," Liselle notes, the younger asari carrying the Targaryen child on her shoulders as she says this. The former pirate queen snorts in amusement, but she doesn't disagree.

Gazing up at the imposing stone edifice of Dragonstone Aria is reminded of Omega more than any place she'd seen on this planet. It stood tall and proud, a beacon of civilization amongst crashing waves. If she swapped out the ocean for the starry canvas of space, it would have been a perfect contender.

She looked forward to owning it.

As she and her daughter stare at the keep, they spot a contingent of soldiers coming down a sandy set of stairs to meet them. Each wore the customary armor of a Targaryen soldier, and in their lead was a big bear of a man with greying hair and solemn face.

"Ser Darry!" Elia calls from where she stands beside the two asari, drawing the man's attention and bringing a smile to his face.

"Princess," he breathes a sigh of relief and leaves his men a few paces behind as he steps up to get a better look at you, "You're alive. Lord Varys sent word, but after the Sack… we didn't know what to think."

"I am alive, and well," Elia tells him, then turns to Aria and Liselle, "Thanks to my recent companions."

"The exiled queen and her daughter?"

"Is that what I'm being called?" Aria asks, raising an eyebrow.

Ser Darry nods his head, "It's what lord Varys called you in his raven. He didn't mention that you would be blue, though."

"Oh, he didn't?"

"It seems that would have been an important detail," Liselle notes.

"Aye," They turn as Euron joins them, "But that man seemed a slippery fella when I spoke with him."

"He is the sort," Aria agrees.

"Who are you?" Ser Darry asks.

Euron smiles and mockingly bows, "Euron Greyjoy, Ser, here for the gold and the women."

Darry narrows his eyes, "We've your gold, but if you think for one second-"

"Calm down," Aria snorts, "He's already had the women. Me, at least."

Euron smirks at Darry, but his attention is taken by Aria, who runs a hand along his cheek, "But now me must part, isn't that right?"

"Aye," The pirate agrees reluctantly.

"And you know what I'll do to you if I see you again?" She asks.

"I remember," Euron nods, and the soldiers can see how nervous he's suddenly become.

"Good," Aria pats his cheek patronizingly and tells him, "I'd hate to have to clean my boots. Make sure I don't see you again unless I call for you."

"Yes, my queen."

- Lannister Camp -

Lord and Warlord glare, unblinkingly, at one another. Tywin Lannister knew more about how to manipulate, intimidate, and coerce than anyone in Westeros save perhaps the spymaster Varys, but he could do none of those things to the krogan. Urdnot Wrex was larger than even the Mountain, though not by much, had no ties to the land that he could manipulate, and he was hardy enough to fight off the mild poison in his wine without any struggle.

Wrex felt the same trepidation, glaring at the Lannister. The human was cold, calculating, and if he'd seen the looks between him and the Mountain, could guess what the plan had been for the princess and her children. The warlord didn't have many scruples, but a big point of contention for him was always the killing of children.

Krogan were a dying race, and as a result their children were more valuable than any currency that existed. Even to the idiots that thought the best way to help the krogan was to go out and die for some mercenary guild knew the rules.

Children were off limits.

Tywin Lannister didn't think like that, and it showed. The man thought like an Asari matriarch mixed with a Turian Spectre. He played the long game, and any amount of collateral damage was acceptable so long as the job was done. What was his game, though?

"So what'd'you want me to do?" Wrex finally asks, taking another big gulp of the poisoned wine. He could taste it going down, gave the drink a nice kick to it as it tried to kill his second liver.

Tywin takes a more dignified sip of his drink, then says, "My army will be marching for Storm's End at dawn to give aid to Lord Stark's banners. I would like you to be a part of that force."

Wrex nods in understanding, and asks, "How much're you paying me for this job?"

Tywin grits his teeth beneath his lips. If Wrex had been an average man, he'd have had him whipped, perhaps even executed for his gall. But Urdnot Wrex was a krogan, and thus played by different rules, "five hundred gold dragons, should you actually find yourself in battle. But only two hundred if you do not."

Wrex raises an eyebrow.

"If you are not fighting, you are simply walking, I will not pay any man five hundred dragons for walking."

The krogan nods. It was the first time he'd ever run into a stipulation like that, but he could guess that the human was used to getting his own way without having to pay for a figure of Wrex's skill, so to waste so much gold would rankle.

"Alright, I join your army and march south with 'em," Wrex nods, "Then what? Who pays me?"

"My brother Tygett will be leading the army, he will have your gold."

"Another brother? How many do you have?" Wrex asks.

"Three, and a sister."

Wrex nods, then takes another gulp of his wine to wash out the bitter taste that has grown at the tip of his tongue. Standing, he sets the goblet down and turns to leave the tent. He didn't like being reminded that he only had Wreave as a brother, the annoying little pyjack who was probably celebrating his disappearance from the wider galaxy like nobody else.

Tywin simply watches, noting the abrupt departure and wondering if he did have some measure of leverage over the krogan after all.

- Dragonstone Throne Room -

Queen Rhaella was heavily pregnant. To Aria it looked like she was ready to pop out her next child any second. That she was willing to sit on her throne and greet them like royalty got a bit more respect than the pirate queen would have usually given.

She hadn't held audiences when she was so visibly pregnant, after all. Her enemies would have seen an obvious weakness and exploited it. So she'd spent the last months of her pregnancy hidden in the upper levels of Omega while the father ran the station for her.

"You stand before Rhaella, of House Targaryen, Queen of the Andals, the Rhynor, and the First Men, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and Lady of Dragonstone," Ser Darry, first name Willem according to Elia, announces as they enter the hall.

"This is Aria, Queen of Omega, Mistress of the Traverse, Master of all in her domain," Liselle announces right back.

"And this is my daughter, Liselle," Aria adds after he daughter is finished.

Rhaella nods, then looks at Elia and smiles weakly, "My dear girl, I'd thought you gone."

"I still live, good-mother," Elia tells her, moving up the small staircase to the throne and giving the Queen's hand a tight squeeze, "I, Rhaenys, and Aegon are all well. Thanks to Liselle and her mother."

"Not the Queen?"

"I fear she would have left us to die if Liselle had not become so fond of us."

"Why are they here?"

"I am… not sure," Elia admits, "It may be for different reasons all together that they each act."

"One at a time then, and what you suspect rather than know for fact."

"I think Aria aims to claim the keep," Elia tells her, "And both she and her daughter are gifted with magics I've never heard of. With it, and their skills in martial battle, I know they could take us both and negotiate with Robert Baratheon to keep the island."

"Why don't they, then?" Rhaella sends a concerned look to Aria, who smiles back thinly. It conveys no warmth, no reassurance, and certainly no kindness.

"Liselle," Elia swallows, "She did something to my uncle, Lewyn, as he died. She… copied his mind, and with it his love for me and my children."

"Copied his mind…?"

"It is how they know our language, she learnt it from him at the Trident, then shared it with her mother."

"So, we are at their mercy, even with a hundred men at our call?"

"I fear not even a thousand men would help win a fight against them," Elia tells her, "Their garb is strange, but it is stronger than even the greatest of steel."

Rhaella looks down at Aria and her daughter again, both wearing very liberal dresses. Dresses that fail to hide the fact that they do have some form of skin tight armor underneath. She takes a breath, trying to think of something to say.

Aria beats her to the punch though, "Don't bother, dear. I heard everything."

"What?" Elia breaths out, turning to look at her.

Aria smiles thinly, "We're already better than you in every way, you didn't think hearing would be part of that, too?"

"Mother, be nice," Liselle reproaches her.

Aria turns and glares at her daughter, "I don't need to be nice, dear. I'm the queen."

Rhaella pushes herself to her feet, "No, you are not."

Aria turns to glare at her, then stalks up the stairs. Ser Darry gives a shout for her to stop, drawing his sword. With a wave of her hand he's floating into the air, waving his arms in panic. There is a clattering of feet as a dozen soldiers rush into the room, but they freeze at the sight of Ser Darry floating. Then their eyes land on Aria, and they each decided that it would probably be a bad idea to poke the bear.

The Queen's eyes widen as the biotic forces swirling around Aria tear the dress to shreds around her, revealing her sculpted figure as she stops. They are nearly face to face, with only the gently bump of her belly keeping them apart.

Gulping, Rhaella wonders if this will be the end of her, be the end of her unborn child. She does not wish to die, and whispers, "Please…"

"Please what?" Aria runs a hand along the side of her face, "Please spare me? Please let my child live? Please take my castle and my men? Please take me?"

Rhaella blinks in confusion, trying to figure out how the last question could possibly fit into that list. She opens her mouth, but only air escapes her as Aria runs a hand along the side of her face.

"With pleasure," Aria tells her, "Embrace Eternity."

It all goes strange for Rhaella there. She stops being herself and she starts being somebody else.

Somebody strong.

Somebody powerful.

Somebody evil.

Somebody that takes life by the balls and fucks it how she wants it.

She's Aria T'Loak, the Pirate Queen.

She's Rhaella Targaryen.

She's Daenerys Targaryen.

She's yet to be born, but she can see the world through eyes that have yet to open.

She sees the woman that will birth her, the mother she would always love.

She sees the blue woman that would claim her as her own and raise her to be a Queen.

She was more than the sum of their parts, and she was nothing.

All she knew was that there was a power in her now that would never be contained.

- Storm's End -

Wrex decided that he hated marching. It was boring, irritating, and he didn't much like getting stared at either. The Lannister forces knew that he was a part of their army, and they knew he'd stolen a horse from the Mountain that Rides. They stared at him constantly for that, not for the fact he was an honest to gods monster.

To the common folk most lords were monsters, Urdnot Wrex just didn't bother to hide it.

Beside him, Tygett Lannister glares at his army, but says, "We make good time, we should be upon Storm's End by midday."

"Great," Wrex grunts, then asks, "I thought there was a war on, where's the other army?"

"The Tyrells have been besieging Storm's End for months, and they are unlikely to assault us," the Lannister general explains, "If any forces were still out scouting, Stark's armies would have dealt with them. We are most likely going to be arriving just as the battle is clearing up, if there was one at all."

"Why wouldn't there be a fight?"

"Mace Tyrell, the Lord of Highgarden, is not so stupid as to keep fighting when his King and Prince are both declared dead."

"What about the kid?"

"Who?"

"The one with the stupid name."

"Excuse me?"

"Eggon."

"Aegon? Rhaegar's son, you mean?"

"Yeah, him."

"There's been no word of the prince or either of the princesses since they fled the capital with your companions. If Lord Varys is to be believed, he sent them off with a Greyjoy."

"And?"

"Ironborn are pirates, raiders, and rapers," Tygett thells him, "If they are not dead, they certainly wish they were."

"Ha!" Wrex snorts, "If you think some pirate is gonna get the better of Aria T'Loak I got an aircar I can sell ya."

"Excuse me?"

"Aria's the pirate queen, kid," Wrex tells him, "She ruled Omega, the biggest hive of mercenary gangs, lowlifes, and vorcha in the galaxy. If anyone knows how to take control of a bunch of pirates, it's her."

"And you followed her willingly?" Tygett asks, disgusted at the prospect that he'd served a pirate in any capacity.

Wrex gives him a sidelong glare, "I go where the money is, human."

"What use is money to one such as you?"

"Used to be I'd send a lot back to my clan," Wrex tells him, then sighs, "Now, it's all going into buying scrap of any goddamn kind I can find."

"Scrap? As in, scrap metal?" Tygett asks.

"Yep."

"For what purpose?"

"Need to build a distress beacon," Wrex tells him.

Tygett doesn't understand, but he lets it appear that he does. Instead of continuing the conversation in which he is growing increasingly lost, he nods at Wrex and kicks his horse to trot to the front of the army to speak with his generals.

Wrex watches him go, then looks down at the horse under him. The animal was barely holding him up as it was, he wouldn't force it to trot after the human. He wondered if he'd be lucky enough to get a good fight any time soon.

He really hoped so.