Day 4 | Afternoon | The Debriefing

[Ambrose Pantazis]

The revelation that House Corrino might be targeting House Atreides came as a shock to Ambrose. He'd been very much engrossed in his personal problems and out of the loop for some time, but could things have deteriorated to such an extent? How could the emperor believe Duke Leto would betray him?

His suspicions of the Imperial Planetologists resurfaced and he thought back to his report, wondering if he'd been clear enough in regards to Sinsei's sentiments about Duke Leto and House Atreides. The kidnapping or Dr. Vim would seem to exonerate him, but it wouldn't be the first time those without honor turned on a collaborator. Their presence on Caladan was unannounced and could've been there far longer and for multiple trips, could have fed lies and false reports to House Corrino. He'd heard Dr. Vim speak so casually of bringing melange for his daughter's treatment. Bought with blood money for his treachery no doubt.

So consumed with trying to rationalize how things could've come about was Ambrose that he almost missed the part about Gurney Halleck. The man's loyalties and stubborness were both well known. He was a man who would die for his comrades as well as for his Duke. If he sent out an SOS, then there was still hope.

Taking a half step forward Ambrose spoke up, "I volunteer for the mission. I took minimal injuries out in the jungle and Dr. Yueh's cleared me. I can be ready tomorrow."

[Kannon]

"Then it makes two of us on the trip, Lieutenant." Hawat nodded, without surprise that Ambrose had volunteered first.

[Razar Lanville]

Razar considers the the implications and dangers of the mission at hand. But this most recent mission had shaken his confidence. If he had the same estimate of Sinsei that Ambrose had, without having seen Paul handle her with a softer approach, he might feel better about his own decisions and performance. But as it stood, he was questioning his fitness for such a duty. But also... he likes Halleck. He's only met the man a handful of times but the thought of him being in the clutches of that deprived mentat irked him enough to say. "I'll try to avoid flying a thopter like a missile into anything if I can. If my skills can be of use," he says, volunteering.

[Kannon]

Thufir.jpg (20.18 KiB) Viewed 1372 times

"Three then." Hawat nodded again. "There is a piece of intelligence I have been sitting on for a while we'll make actionable since we're already taking the risk. We know where the Baron has been keeping his illegal spice stockpiles on Lankiveil. There are deep vaults within glaciers. By destroying them, we will alter his calculus of what military adventures or retaliations against us he can afford. Especially that his situation on Arrakis has become difficult."

[Efren Lanville]

Efren waited for what he thought would be an order… but none came. Instead the people all began volunteering.

This was no simple mission… to travel into enemy territory… fight men who had already captured the great Gurney Halleck… and blow up melange reserves that the Baron relied upon.

There could not be a more dangerous mission than that…

Efren thought of his promise to his mother and to U. Of the plight of his people… and the change which he had unknowingly begun within them… They would need him too; he felt sure of it.

But he was a Lanville of House Atreides… there was no call he would not answer.

He looked over to his father… and then back to Hawat.

“If you think I would be of use… I will go wherever I am asked and do whatever needs to be done.”

[Kannon]

Roger nodded, both proud and anxious. Hawat smiled.

"Four then. I will muster the others..."

Paul 3.jpg (15.05 KiB) Viewed 1366 times

"You'll do better than that, Thufir." Paul interceded, his demeanour much altered now. The boy had disappeared. "I am authorising the use of two of our atomic warheads against those glaciers."

He held his hand.

"Hear me out before you dismiss it. I'll give you a piece of what you have taught me. First, it won't be against the Great Convention as the current interpretation stands. You won't be targeting humans. Shaddam himself has endorsed this view during his Great Spice War, obliterating illegal stockpiles of several houses with atomic blasts, including the Richesian Korona. Besides, I project that the Baron will do nothing if you succeed. He will not tell a word. Because the next question in the Landsraad will be what was in those glaciers and he will fear we have evidence. He won't hang himself on the rope we can put in the Emperor's hands."

Paul stepped toward Thufir, looking at Duncan.

"I am tired of hiding from assassins. If the Harkonnen want to play a game of chicken, they will learn they play with hawks. We can one-up them and give my father the breathing space he needs to deal with our other enemies. If any of you calling me Duke in my father's absence do it beyond empty platitudes, you will abide."

Hawat needed a moment... to compute. His whites rolled up.

[Ambrose Pantazis]

Ambrose was pleased to hear Hawat would be joining them. Only a fool would see the man's age and take him for granted, his blade was as sharp as his mind. He took the subtle rankup in stride, still reeling from the mission in general and more so at his recent reinstatement and battlefield commission to sergeant. Now a lieutenant, he was almost a proper pilot. If only Demetrius could see him now.

The news of the Harkonnen stockpile played in the back of his mind, but he kept his focus on Gurney Halleck. With their previous mission, they'd had the benefit of the cartel not being directly linked to Duncan and Paul's MIA status and the two were more than capable enough to evade a two-bit cartel operation. Of course, reality had proven to be more than what they had initially assessed and the target of their rescue were genuinely in danger. Now though, there was no doubt. Gurney had been captured and by the worst possible enemy.

When Paul pronounced the use of atomics, Ambrose was taken aback. His youthful conditioning kicking in again and making him blanch at their mention. The young heir was certainly aggressive, as they'd seen with his decision to fly a thopter into the sensory field. The tactic had paid off, that could not be denied, but at what cost? The flames of the jungle still burned in his mind.

He held no love for the Harkonnen or their allies, but there were those stuck under their thumb aplenty. Gurney himself had been an escape from Giedi Prime. He felt it his duty to speak up. "My Duke, I question if we should immediately resort to atomics. We may not be targeting humans, but they will certainly be affected nonetheless. Recall what you told me not two days ago. We are called to protect, not to senseless violence. They would be an invaluable asset to have available if called for, but should not we first look for other options? At the very least, we should consider what secondary and tertiary effects that kind of attack will have. Although I would not bring this up to Dr. Vim. He is a planetologist, but I do not trust him. I question his and his daughter's presence here during such turbulent times and their motivations and involvement."

[Kannon]

"As of now, the Vims are an asset in our hands. However, anything about our attack is an Atreides military secret."

Hawat said after emerging from our calculations.

"If I assess after recon that conventional munitions would succeed, then we may accomplish our objectives without using them. But we'll take the atomics. The approxmiation of Harkonnen reaction is correct. And yes, two is a good number. One as a statement of will, another as deterrent for our exit."

The mentat gave a slight nod to Ambrose's objections but wasn't too perturbed by ecological consequences. In fact, melting glaciers would raise sea level, flodding coastal areas and setting back the whaling industry by decades. A suitable retaliation for killing off the Caladan moonfish. But still a stretch objective.

Paul thought of Ambrose's words.

"Caladan is our stewardship, Lieutenant. Lankiveil is Rabban's. There is no escape - we pay for the violence of our ancestors. Violence against us must beget violence of our own making, until magnanimous justice can arrest it in a way for all the Imperium to see. In that field, my father will beat the Baron. If House Atreides is ever defeated, it will be in darkness."

[Efren Lanville]

Paul's reference to stewardship brought to mind his conversation with his father on the flight that morning.

He would not let that stewardship falter... and if it did... Well... the words of the ancient toast came to mind.

May you die on Caladan!

[Ambrose Pantazis]

"My Lord." he replied and left it at that. He'd aired his concerns and provided a dissenting voice so they might consider alternatives. It was more than his station generally allowed and he'd only done so because of who it was he was addressing. Had it been Duke Leto, he might not have had the confidence to speak. Had it been a Harkonnen or too many other nobles, he likely wouldn't have a head any longer after speaking outside his station.

His mind couldn't help but wander to the fishing villages on Lankiveil. The time he'd spent after his brother's death had been mostly among the fishermen of Caladan. They were a hardy bunch who eked out a living at the mercy of nature's whims. He tried not to imagine what would happen to them in the wake of what Paul was planning. Tried and failed. Those who'd been effected by the moon fish mite infestation on Caladan were mostly being taken care of by the Duke. The ones who lost their trade on Lankiveil would likely end up in a Harkonnnen slave pit.

[Efren Lanville]

Having no questions about greater strategy, Efren asked logistical ones, "What time do we leave tomorrow and what do we need to prepare?"

[Bernard Martikova]

So much for heading home and getting a chance to recover. Hopefully this time, at least, he could be more prepped with better equipment, rather than the simple things he brought along to deal with robbers. He listened to the talk in silence, having not been addressed and knowing his place in the ranks, just simply let the others speak. He didn't really have much to contribute beyond giving his attention.

The talk of using the atomics for this purpose was a strategic one, and one that would...technically sneak by the Great Convention rules, as Paul had said. It was not only clever, but efficient in preventing more Atreides causalities for ground troops. A example had to be made against the House's enemies, no doubt, but the backswing of a pendulum always matched the force put into it.

[Kannon]

Having no questions about greater strategy, Efren asked logistical ones, "What time do we leave tomorrow and what do we need to prepare?"

"We'll have the gear loaded on the frigates by tomorrow morning. It's better we're already in space when the heighliner arrives. The quicker we dock, the less time we spend in the queue, exposing ourselves to unwanted attention." Hawat replied, waiting for any other queries.

[Kannon]

Duncan 2.jpg (15.98 KiB) Viewed 1263 times

Duncan moved in his seat.

"Why don't you tell them about our previous raid, Thufir? Your habit of drip feeding information feels unnecessary in this case. We want officers with situational awareness to make their own calls on the ground, don't we? I get there are reasons you are leading this, not me, but no need to make it too old school."

[Kannon]

Thufir.jpg (20.18 KiB) Viewed 1257 times

The thing about mentats people often misunderstood was that they weren't stubborn know-it-alls. They did propose the most likely interpretations and the most sensible courses of action based on huge amounts of diverse data normal human beings were unable to collate with such efficiency and speed, if it all. But if confronted with relevant arguments altering priority frameworks or providing new data, they were very adaptive. Hawat couldn't be swayed by Idaho's bluster. But he extended the mission parameters to encompass wider, long-term goals of Atreides tactical preparedness. And so, he nodded.

"Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck led a retaliation raid on Lankiveil immediately after we found out the culprit behind the moonfish mite was Rabban. The raid set back fishing operations on the planet, but a larger operational goal was accomplished under that guise. We spread Ix-made spy-eyes all across the planet we had stockpiled during the time of our alliance with the Vernius. Their transmitters can piggyback ship and heighliner relays and deliver us diverse signal, audio and image intel. For half a year, we have been receiving quality information on all larger Harkonnen movements on Lankiveil with delays determined by the arrival of heighliners."

Thufir watered his lips.

"Halleck managed to pass his rescue call through one of the eyes. So far, we have had no indication that they have been discovered or compromised, though some have turned blank over time, likely due to malfunction or environmental reasons like being snowed in. This is also how I have been able to project the approximate location of illicit Harkonnen spice stockpiles. The Baron's treatment of Lankiveil as a backwater unworthy of technological investment is partially out of spite for the legacy of his late half-brother Abulurd Harkonnen-Rabban, a weakness of character that offers us a strategic opening. He apparently assumes secrecy and glaciers are enough to keep his ill-begotten hoard safe, a reasonable assumption in normal circumstances. Of course, our aura of lack of technological sophistication keeps skewing de Vries' broader analyses."

A slight brow-rise of satisfaction.

"I am leading the strike instead of Duncan because I will be able to analyse the data from orbit in real time, direct your actions efficiently based on the intelligence I can retrieve, and assess if we should attempt recovery of any of the missing eyes for highly actionable intel. This is how we'll find out where exactly Gurney is now held, and how to destroy the Baron's capability to finance major inter-planetary assaults in the near future."