The main Hall was empty except for Arya, Tyrion, Ming, Tse, and Captain Dirk. They were sitting at their favorite table in a small pool of light, which had become a real thing between battles, drinking stone-kin whiskey. Arya laughed at Tyrion, saying, "You stay here to drink down the last of this stone-kin whiskey, don't you?" The stone-kin were brewing more, but it took a long time to age it, and there were only 6 bottles left from the case Tyrion had bought from them. The stone-kin, who sold it to him, told him it was the last of the old country whiskey they had. Tyrion dearly loved it; the whiskey was both smooth and had a terrible bite. It made Tyrion feel like he was home. He looked around the table at the faces and smiled, saying, "And the company." He raised his glass to them all, "To Brandon's Rest, and people we love." Arya clinked her glass against his from across the table, and chided him, "Bran has asked twice and commanded once that you return to King's Landing. How long till he sends someone to kidnap you?" "He won't," Tyrion responded. "He knows the best military minds, the best intel minds, and the best hope for the survival of Westeros are here. He needs me here to see a way through this morass we face. When this war is over, he will chastise me and give us all medals...if we survive it. And the best chance of that is here." He downed the last of his glass and, smacking his lips, dove into a soliloquy of the war so far. Of the 170,000 estimated Zonian troops, 95,000 were presumed dead, 6000 were in prisons around the country, and over 1000 ships had been sunk or captured. Tse, who rarely said anything at these gatherings, spoke up, saying, "Where would you focus the last of your troops if you wanted to gain a foothold and capture guns? You know he had to be tasked with capturing guns and ammunition to send back to Zon, right? There must be a thousand Zonian scientists there working on that conundrum as we speak."
Tyrion smiled at the man; he truly respected and valued him. His question was on point, and Tyrion relished being in the company of like minds more than he could say. "Two places," and his finger came down on the map on the table before them, once at the Iron Islands, and then again on Deepwood Motte. "And to get to them, the Motte, he must come through us." As he finished saying the words, a telepath ran in saying, "Reports are coming in from everywhere that smoke is rising in the dark on the ocean. The Portsmith reports seeing slinger ships throwing smoke pots, but they were escorted by assault ships, so Syrio has ordered them back to shore." "So it begins," Tyrion muttered.
Sansa was awakened in the dark by the reports from her telepath. She had gathered 2000 men from the surrounding areas in case Winterfell was attacked. She knew the fight was coming to the West Coast now, so she instructed the telepath to send word to that fancy new steam train to swing back north and pick up these troops to take them to the fight. They would better serve her North fighting on the coast than here.
Till received that word as they were resting at the Barrowton station. Long lines of troops were returning north from the beach battles. He roused a man in charge of the troops and told him that anyone who could fight should board the train now. The man shouted orders at the incoming troops. 1500 could be spared and climbed aboard. Though they were all tired, the troops and the steam train crew headed for the crossroads. The troops spread out in the cars and rested as they could. When they reached the crossroads, 400 men were waiting. The train stopped for water, and the men, locals who had come to defend their homeland, climbed aboard.
It was evening when the train reached Winterfell, and Sansa was waiting by the tracks. Her people fed all these men and bade them rest the night. In the morning, they were fed again, and Sansa's 2000 men climbed aboard too. The train stopped at the tree-kin station, and another 300 tree-kin and hunters joined them on the way to fight. By evening of that day, the train arrived in Btandon's Rest.
The first reports that came in were from the Lonely Light; five ships had landed there, and with some small fighting, they had captured the island. But they couldn't get into the keep. The telepath said it was a feckless bunch of poor soldiers and wondered if they were sent there because they were worthless for anything else. It was clearly a feint towards the Iron Islands, and the intell people at Brandon's Rest were pretty sure now that the full attack would center on Deepwood Motte. The soldiers and hunters who arrived by train were sent to the town to bolster the troops there.
Preparations against this assault at Brandon's Rest were fully underway, with a similar formation of ships and men as before. But the Tower of Westeros was the first to message out, sighting troop ships appearing out of the smoke south of Sea Dragon Point. The balloon crew on the point called them out next and began firing what they could on them. It was the full invasion force.