Chapter 18
The Duke Leto of House Atreides was one of the more exemplary lords of the Imperium, he was a just man who inspired absolute loyalty from his men, and it was this reason that the betrayal of one of his close aides shook him to the core.
And as he stood with a retinue of guards infront of the traitor, he found himself questioning himself and much more as he stared into the eyes of the man who had betrayed him and his whole family to the accursed Harkonnens.
"Why?" he questioned, and as he saw the Doctors' eyes scan the surroundings, observing and understanding that he had been caught, he saw him still as resignation registered.
And he saw the doctor's eyes tear up as he collapsed onto his knees, and his voice shook.
"I am sorry, but all I did, I did for my poor Wa..."
"LOOK OUT!"
BOOM!
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SHISHAKLI
As Inzal left for the council, it fell to her to organize their forces as they gathered around the city for what she believed was to be the start of their liberation.
There was tension in the air. While they had gathered in sufficient numbers and carried out numerous attacks previously, it would not be wrong to say that this was their ultimate test and that they had never carried out an attack of such scale.
Yet her people were fearless as they sat hunkered down in the specially constructed bunker hidden in a cave just on the outskirts of the city. They had gotten here a day ago on Inzal's instructions as they waited for his arrival.
Everyone was ready, and as she crouched on the rocks, binoculars in hand, looking over at the city infront, silence reigned over the desert planet, with only the distant sounds of the worms' rumblings reaching her.
"Is everything ready?"
"AHHH!" she shrieked, reaching for her blade instantly and spinning it when her arm was caught. Then she realized just who had spoken up.
"Inzal," she called out, exasperated, as he simply smiled at her.
"Hello," he said as she breathed out and let go of the knife as she began to berate him.
"What the hell were you thinking sneaking up on me like that? I could have injured you!" and he scoffed as he raised a brow.
"As if, my dear," he mocked her flaunting, his superiority he looked her in the eye teasingly.
"What is our score in our spars again?" he asked teasingly. She shook her head as she spun the knife in her hand and put it back in her pocket.
"How did the Grand Council go?" she asked as she saw him look into the distance at the same city she had just been staring at with binoculars.
Yet she had no doubt that even without the binoculars, Inzal saw much more than she ever could hope to.
"As well as it could be expected to go, few of the Naibs tried to get in my way, but most of them owe me big debts and would not have dared to go against me," he said, and she shook her head.
"So, you have their support," she asked, jubilant at that achievement and he nodded.
"With some caveats, I do," he answered as he stared at her. Relief washed over her at his words, for she knew just how stubborn Fremen society was and though she had full belief in Inzal, she worried still. Yet she had not missed the rather glaring point.
"And what were those caveats?" she asked, as Inzal suddenly frowned, head snapping towards the skies.
"It is starting," he whispered, and she frowned when suddenly she saw the city shake as the ground beneath her shook.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three massive explosions rocked the city, and then she saw the blue dome-like blanket covering it fall in front of her eyes as large ships and ornithopters began to flood the skies.
"Their shields are down," she gasped out as she recognised the symbols on the large frigates as sounds, shouts, alarms, and sirens filled the air, reaching even up to them.
"Harkonnens," she uttered with sheer disgust, for while she had no love for the Atreides, she held little except disgust for the accursed Harkonnens. She had seen first hand their atrocities, and cruelties, the sights she had seen in their prisons still often haunted her sleep.
"Not just Harkonnens, those ships carry on them the deadliest force of the Imperium. The proverbial dogs of the emperor," he added as she saw the attack commence.
"The Sardukar," she added, and though they had not faced this formidable enemy, from what she had heard from Inzal, they were a force of considerable strength and should not be underestimated.
"I will go and get the men ready," she added, and he shook his head, making her stop.
"Not yet," he added with a frown.
"Why?" she asked, perplexed by his words.
"They are attacking the Atreides. You said that we are allied with the Atreides. This is what we have been waiting for all this time," she asked, and he pointed towards the city.
"There is yet no signal," he added, and she realized his words.
"So, they have rejected our offer," she asked, surprised that the Atreides would choose extinction over joining hands with them.
"No, they will accept, but we will not jump in until the signal comes," he added and she nodded yet she still whistled and the men and women of their force jumped out off their hidden crevices and caves and began to assemble behind them both as they stood on that cave, nearly half of their full force including all the elites ready right behind them as the city went up in flames right infront of their eyes.
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INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
Inzal felt it when the last of the Harkonnen ships entered Arrakis's atmosphere, pushing the assault to its limits as the city burned in front of him.
Though he stood there impassively and without any worry, he was growing more and more worried by the second. The intensity of the attacks had been greater than his imagination, yet the more worrying aspect was the situation of the Duke and Lady Jessica.
He held little affection for the Atreides Duke, yet the man was a good ally. Ever since he had begun to run surveillance on the Duke, the man had not moved and was immobile. He had been right near the first explosion, and that worried him.
Add to that the fact that, despite it being nearly half an hour since the beginning of the attack, there was still no sign of the signal he had given to Lady Jessica, who, like the Duke, had been immobile ever since.
"Inzal, it has been enough time. Shouldn't we..."
"Not yet," he cut in as Shishakli backed off, and he continued to look on at the city infront as the clash between the Atreides and Harkonnen forces intensified. The Atreides had managed to form a line and were holding back the Harkonen forces, yet he knew that the stalemate would end as soon as the Saradukar joined the attack.
And then he felt it. He felt her move once more, and his heart began to thrum as he smirked and turned towards his men. Truthfully, there was not much to say; all of them had been briefed rather sharply over their respective duties and tasks by Shishakli and the other captains already.
"For years now, we have lived like rats on our land," he began as he attacked the transmitters to the mini-computer attached to his helmet.
"We have survived on scraps as we were hunted and killed just for the crime of living, made to watch as we were robbed of our treasures and our captors languished in luxury as we thirsted for water," he added as Shishakli came and stood by his side.
"Our captors would have us wait for a savior, keep us compliant with their so-called prophecies as they rob us of our very future! YET ALL THT CHANGES TODAY!" he shouted and saw the men and women perk up at those words.
"WE SHALL WAIT FOR NO MORE SAVIOR! WE HAVE SUFFERED ENOUGH! OUR FREEDOM! OUR FUTURES!" and he raised his fist into the air.
"WE SHALL TAKE IT WITH OUR OWN HANDS!"
"AYYYYYY!" the men roared with him as he felt it, the thrum as suddenly a blast happened, and a yellow hue spread all over the city and its skies and in an instant the city was plunged into a sea of darkness.
"OUR FUTURE BEGINS TODAY! TODAY WE TAKE OUR FIRST STEP INTO THIS ARDUOUS JOURNEY!" he began as he turned away from them and pushed up his mask, and with thought, the suspenders attached to his suit glew an ominous orange as he felt his body lighten up and took out his sword, and raised it in the air.
"SO SOLDEIRS! DEDEICATE YOUR HEARTS...."
He watched as the ships littering the skies above the city began to land, and the EMP pulse knocked out their primary power, forcing them to land at once.
And then, with the loudest voice he could muster, he brought down his blade and screamed.
"....AND CHARGEEE!"
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