Pulse of the Imperium

One of the elevator shafts Prince Rhombur Vernius had pointed out as yet undiscovered by the Tleilaxu occupants kept engulfing them as they descended on ropes into the depths of Ix. Duncan had been riding down first, seeking a floor that would be the inactive elevator, or some side-exit for them to get into the tunnels proper. The main Atreides liberation force had to be given a better point of entry into the subterranean world, hopefully to the cavern of the Grand Palais, and this was their task. They could well expect the planet, renamed Xuttah by the Tleilaxu, still being fully under their control, the suboid population fully brainwashed, with only scant resistance coming from the last Vernius loyalists. And if C'tair Pilru's reports were true, the Tleilaxu had some clandestine Sardaukar support...

Laila had a grin on her face.

The bright, sunny smile she wore when things were absolute and utter shit.

In uniform, armed, surrounded by other idiots like herself, this was entirely too familiar.

But what are we fighting for?

Kiran climbed down the rope, expression a mask of concentration. They weren't the best at this particular part. They were here, right behind Duncan, peering down into the darkness with their enhanced vision to try and see upcoming openings. The physical aspect was a challenge.

Laila Bridger of House Vidal didn't know Atreides Battle Language.

Laila Bridger of the Atreides strike force absolutely did, and signaled to the scout.

You okay?

Kiran would be the first to spot a hatch down below, seamlessly moulded into the rock in an Ixian fashion. It was hard to tell yet whether it could be opened or had to be carved out with an industrial laser one of them was descending with.

The battle above them was raging, with explosions from Atreides bombardment tearing down sensor nets and opening new avenues of entry. Sometimes, voices in their comms pierced through static.

"Those are Sardaukar!... They fight like madmen!... On drugs?!"

The rebels, they're joining us!

"Fucking Tleilaxu have trapped the tunnels!"

Laila signaled to Duncan.

Laser cutter. Shield? Telilaxu.

And then the elevator in the deep shaft below got lit and started ascent.

"No fucking choice now." Duncan added a few curses as he abseiled faster toward the shaft Kiran had pointed out.

The cutter-bearer followed.

"Here goes nothing."

The laser cut in...

...and they did not disappear in a small nuclear fusion. It might make no difference though as the elevator was gaining speed...

"Well, shit."

Laila, keyed up and loaded for bear, followed Duncan's lead.

This isn't Grumman, isn't Elacca, but it's all the same, the same sublimated terror and the same guilty rush of being alive...

When it became clear they wouldn't be able to cut out a nice hole in time for not being splattered, Duncan called her up when they were roughly two-thirds done. "Hey, Bridger, help us bend this fucking metal!"

[Athletics Hard w/Challenge (intense time pressure) and Setback (uncomfortable position), Idaho and and two others Assist. Do this one first, outline if you use Enhance]
[Then time for Resilience Drug Roll, same difficulty as during Dream One plus potential upgrades from Enhance.]

Be a hell of a way to die, when everybody else is getting shot, stabbed, spindled...

Say one thing for Laila Bridger, say she knew how to put her back into a job.

"Didn't come all this way just to die like this, goddamn it!"

She meant that on every single level of her mind, conscious, subconscious, all of it.



---
Can Laila bend steel?: 2eD+1eC+1eS+3eP+5eB 2 successes, 2 advantage, 1 Triumph


No force use, drugs are bad, m'kay?

I'M ON DRUUUUUUUUGS! Resilience Dream 2, burning the two advantgaes from the previous roll on a Boost die: 3eC+1eP+2eA+3eB 1 failure


1 failure, no Threats or Despair, think that means she's as okay as can be expected?]

The door budged, and then it bent. Just in time for people to lunge through it, squeezing through the opening by being pulled on one side and pushed on another, one by one, the last merely seconds before the elevator would hit them. Its light quickly vanished where they had been, taking their ropes and their path of return away. The only way was forward. Or, if someone wanted a long free fall as their last life experience - down.

Idaho regrouped them quickly. The tunnel was walkable, but narrow, forcing them into a line. Claustrophobic for anyone used to having open skies above their heads. One of the maintenance tunnels or Vernius escape routes, perhaps. It could or could not have been compromised as many such paths in the rock had been so far escaping Tleilaxu discovery. They wouldn't know until they would push forward.

There were no light switches. Darkness was as much as their ally as it was their enemy.

"Let al-Sahar through. They'll guide us here."

Close quarters. Well.

This is what I'm good at.

Knife and pistol in hand, Laila pressed against the wall to let the scout move forward.

Kiran focuses, adjusting their eyes to see as far as they can in the dark to spot any traps or enemies well ahead. They looked behind them. "Single file, keep a hand on the person ahead of you. Then we won't have to talk and potentially alert anyone to our presence," they said quietly, waiting for them to argue or follow through before moving forward.

Farsight Power Check: 2eF 1 Light Side, 1 Dark Side

Spending 1 on range and 1 to see in the dark.

Then knife it is.

She holstered her pistol and got in the lineup.

Their long march in the dark began. The space seemed insulated from radio waves, only shreds of information from the ongoing battle was reaching them thanks to odd quantum tunnelling phenomena some Ixian comm tech the Atreides got from Rhombur had, and an occasional tremor reminding them that a closer detonation may bury them forever without trace at any given moment.

Kiran farsaw bifurcations, but they proved to be shallow, unfinished tunnels, except for one, which seemed like a survival spot with a cot and canned supplies. There was no-one in there though, and nothing seemed to have been used. They could peek in only because the door seal had malfunctioned at some point, perhaps when the power had been cut or had run out in some unseen backup generator.

What they could gather from the shreds was the battle wasn't going well. The Sardaukar seemed to be getting the upper hand, not a surprise all things considered. Idaho broke silence and unleashed squadrons of fucks in emphatic sorties as he tried to speed things up.

In the dark, sign language wasn't much of an option, so Laila contented herself with humming an ancient tune Auntie had taught her back in her throat.

Auntie?

Auntie trained me.

But Auntie never worked for the Atreides...

Ecaz. Atreides. Does it really matter?

Kiran was already moving as fast as they're could, unwilling to leave their comrades to suffer. They reached back to the had they could feel on their shoulder, signing against it, I know. Hurrying.

[Will do resilience when I get home.]

And then, suddenly, the end of the tunnel. A door way more solid than they had cut through. They could try, but it looked eerily like...

[Education, Skulduggery or Mechanics Average]

[Laila's rolls for this are uniformly crap, so deferring to Kiran unless their rolls are ALSO crap]

Kiran felt the end, trying to see if there was any reason not to go through.

Skullduggery Average: 3eA+2eD 3 successes, 1 threat