We Can Heal Together

Battle for Fair Isle


Before the Royal Army could land on the Iron Isles, the Royal Navy needed to clear out a path for them. And who else would lead the navy but the Master of Ships?

Just fucking great. I get a chance to die in the water like my parents.

With gritted teeth, Stannis Baratheon stood upon the deck. He waited for the battle to begin, confident in the success of his plan.

The ship he is on is a Great War Galley called Fury, the flagship of the Royal Navy. Behind it was the combined fleet of Kings Landing, The Arbor, Oldtown, Highgarden and any coastal castle along the way that had a ship under its control. Ser Davos Seaworth, who was commanding Stannis's own Dragonstone ships, was hidden and waiting. A beacon upon the Fair Isle cliffs stood silent, ready to signal when it was time to tighten the noose.

The combined fleet was bottlenecked in a strait, with cliffs and beaches to both the left and the right. Galleys, cogs, hulks, fishing ships conscripted into service as, and even a Jade Sea merchant's dhow that was pressed into service for the battle.

The coast was atypically deserted, save for a smoldering fishing village.

No doubt the work of IronBorn reavers. They deserve to hang for such crimes.

And from his position, Stannis Baratheon could see the IronBorn longboats sailing into view. The IronBorn outnumbered the Royal Fleet four to one, and their ships were notably faster. This speed is what gave the, the ability to pillage the coast and return to sea before any forces could gather.

Not that their speed will matter here. Soon there will be nowhere to run.

One one of the sailors on the ship signaled the obvious. "M'lord, longboats spotted!"

Stannis wasted no time, giving instructions with both haste and precision.

"Catapults, release opening volley at the left flank. Scorpions and archers, hold fire until my command!"

Shouting excitedly, the catapult operators opened fire.

"Send 'em to the depths!"

"Open fire!"

"Ours is the Fury!"

Large boulders jolted through the air in lumbering flight, hurdling towards the longboats in the left flank. Only two boulders hit their mark, ripping apart and sinking the longboats. However, this did cause the rest of the Iron Fleet to row at double time and to push themselves further into the strait.

Just a little bit closer ...

As the ship's loomed closer, the Golden Krackens that emblazoned their sails were clear.

Finally, Stannis gave the signal. "Scorpions, fire!"

With that, the scorpions on his ship fired at the IronBorn Longboats. The sharp scorpion bolts slammed into the longboats in all directions. Those hit in the hull began to flood with water and sink, those hit in the deck cracked and burst and in one case even flipped forward, and those longboats hit in the masts saw their sails torn through and their ship all but stranded in the water.

As a result of this sudden burst, the seas were full of bloodied corpses and reavers thrashing against the water in a vain attempt to stave off their own mortality.

For all their songs and boasting, the IronBorn fear death as much as any other man. After all the people they raped and murdered along the Westerland Shore, I'd say they're getting off easy.

This also caused the beacon on the cliff tops to light up, and as a result Davos Seaworth lead his part of the fleet to swarm in behind the IronBorn and block them in.

Now they're trapped.

Stannis gave his fleet instructions. "Cogs, Hulks, and boats; have your bowmenmaintain fire upon the longships. Everyone else, ram them double time!"

With that, two war galley wedges moved towards the cluster of panicked longboats from each end of the strait.

The salt sea was carried by the wind into Stannis's face the whole time, yet throughout the battle he maintained a calm and calculating stance. The IronBorn ships got closer and closer, until eventually the ram of the Fury smashed through a longboat with enough force to rip in in half in an explosion of splinters. One man in full armor, who was almost certainly a Greyjoy, was thrown from the deck. He fell face first into the water and sunk like a stone.

One Kracken down, one less enemy to defeat.

However, there were still many longboats left. One such longboat took this opportunity to row up alongside the Fury, and now several axe wielding brutes are rushing aboard.

Drawing their swords, Stannis and the knights surrounding him clash against their foes. Steel smashes against steel as axes and swords become reddened.

Stannis is not by nature a warrior: while he has no problem fighting or killing, his strategist's mind is what Stannis really brings to the battlefield. But now there were enemies all around, and Stannis remembered the sword training he endured under Donal Noye's insistence.

Keep your grip loose, keep your stance poised, and don't hesitate.

Stannis turned and lifted his shield to block the axe swing of an axe wielding IronBorn. With a swift motion, he drove his sword through the axe man's leather armor and into his soft belly.

Pulling his sword out, he turned around and swung at the throat of another raider. The sword cut deep, almost decapitating the head and causing the assualter to mis-aim his throwing axe.

That was about all the foes Stannis killed before the skirmish was over. Most of the IronBorn who tried to board the ship were dead, with the exception of one cornered man who threw himself into the sea to drown.

Now let's finish this.

Stannis surveyed the battlefield, pleased with him accomplishment. The entire Iron Fleet was obliterated, and the strait was littered with sinking longboats. The only ones that wern't sinking were the ones that were captured.

The path was now clear for Robert and his army to land on the Iron Isles. It is the beginning of the end for the Greyjoy Rebellion

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