By Frost, Eerie [Night 1]

[Kannon]

The way back to the ruins of the monastery had taken more time and effort than they would have liked, but such was the nature of going up after going down first. They arrived drained, exhausted, and on the verge of frostbite. The had just learned what Kova had long known - nights on Lankiveil can get brutal even for the well-prepared.

There was hardly any life manifest at their arrival amid the haunted passageways of the collapsed domes and halls. Or even light. If they didn't know better, they could easily assume the place was long abandoned, as it perhaps should have been.

[Efren Lanville]

Efren walked into the hallway leading to their resting place for the evening exhausted. Kova’s guidance got them back alive and he watched the local as best as he could to learn how to manage the savage environment.

As they set up their camp for the night, he watched Kova again… trying to glean from him the best way to prep for bed and make it to the next morning without dying.

He looked around to see if Kiran had found their way back before the rest of them.

[Ambrose Pantazis]

Ambrose felt like he was on death's door. He'd become to acclimated to the tropical climate back on Caladan. This frigid cold was unbearable and he didn't even have anything to take the edge off. Watching Efren and Kova set camp, Ambrose went through the motions on autopilot and followed suit.

[Kova]

Kova, a bit more acclimated, so while it sucks, he has no complaints. He simply moves to the nearest heat source without unloading and begins warming himself by the fire. "After I warm up, I'll go hunt up some game. Rest up and warm yourselves."

[Ambrose Pantazis]

Wearily, Ambrose dipped his head towards Kova, "You have my thanks. I have a strong feeling we would be in a much more miserable and much less operable condition without your help in the coming days."

[Efren Lanville]

Efren nodded his agreement and found a seat to begin to make himself as comfortable as possible.

“So… tomorrow… What’s our plan?” He said and turned towards the leaders.

[Ambrose Pantazis]

Now that they were in a more secure location, Ambrose felt more comfortable discussing things in a less veiled manner. "First, that message from Gurney is from about twenty-two days ago. If I'm not mistaken, that was the Baron's voice we heard. It is unlikely he is still here, which is both good and bad. Good in that there won't be increased security for his presence, but bad in that we won't get a shot at him. It did originate near Slaughterhouse, so that partially confirms our suspicions. Although it is entirely possible he's been moved since. Given it didn't sound like they gave his message out much credence, I would wager they didn't make any changes in how they were holding him. They'll want him close by... for reasons."

[Kova]

Kova nods to Ambrose. He understands his role. And he's more than willing to fulfill it. The Atreides have given some of his family a safe place to live. The Harkonnen have taken some of his family from him. His karma is worth the price he is paying in his heart. Once he gets warm, he sets down his pack. He won't have to stray far to find game. He's found food in worse weather.

"I miss whale meat," he says, just loud enough to be heard, having not had any in a while. "Discuss the plan of action. Consider multiple routes and paths to targets. When I get back, I'll let you know what I know about the different paths so you can make a decision based on the difficulty of the road ahead. The man that was guiding me before, your commander or whatever he is, he trusted me to know the land in person and take care of approach and retreat. Trust me to do so for you as well."

Kova moves through the exit now that the frostbite isn't an immediate danger anymore, so that he can walk to the edge of frostbite once more. It's kind of an art for his people.

[Efren Lanville]

Efren nodded affirmatively, “We will trust in your abilities and in your confidence.”

Efren then posed his concerns and thoughts, “From what we gathered it seems the Slaughterhouse remains the most likely place for the Harkonnens to be holding Gurney… that of course remains our first priority.”

He continued, “The secondary site… needs further reconnaissance before we can commit to it fully… Where is it, what is it located by, can it be targeted while still considering the wishes of the locals…?”

[Ambrose Pantazis]

"Given the timeframe we are estimating to get to this second location and back, I don't think we have the luxury of reconnaissance. At least not a round trip. Someone could possibly scout it out and then report back, waiting for the others to catch up if its actionable. I don't like the idea of someone splitting off for such a long timeframe either. We'll need everyone at Slaughterhouse. Any diminishing of our forces threatens its success...

No, I think more than likely we'll have to enact our primary mission and conduct a followup direct after on to this mysterious locale on the ice shelf.

Perhaps with this additional intel, command will adjust our plans. Otherwise we prioritize what is most certain and most obtainable.

As for the locals. I wish them all the ability to pursue their history in peace. But sometimes when you are carving out diseased flesh, some healthy flesh must go with it else all your efforts will be in vain and the disease will take hold again."

[Efren Lanville]

“From what the commander mentioned above… we’ll need to move on both simultaneously if we seek to get extracted with the greatest chance of survival.”

He tilts his head, “Without eyes on the secondary target it seems unwise to wantonly drop bombs that may have little to no effect on the target but most definitely would cause problems for the locals on whom we are trying to prove our worth. We need more intel before making a decision like that… can’t do surgery with a blindfold, sir.”

He continues, “If we are all to go to the Slaughterhouse, we may need to abandon the secondary target altogether. If that is our course then we should act on that as quickly as possible.”

[Ambrose Pantazis]

Ambrose furrowed his brows as he considered their options. "You're right, we can't change mission parameters. At least not without updating the commander...

If only we could figure a way to do both. Our priority is the primary. Perhaps we could all go out on the ice, make some arrangements there, and come back before it becomes apparent. Remaining undetected would be paramount. And we'll need to recieve approval for the revisions.

We can wait a bit for the others before sending off a burst transmission, see if there's any other factors to weigh in."

Some options using one of the eyes to send a remote signal were playing out in Ambrose's mind. There were additional risks involved, but greater risks brought greater rewards. He didn't know the man personally, but Gurney's reputation suggested he at least would approve of the plan.

[Kannon]

Their trackers blipped, receiving a holo-packet over their encrypted channel. Hawat showed himself.

"The latest record of the transmission indicates increased chances of Halleck remaining at the Slaughterhouse - the only facility with sophisticated torturing infrastructure on planet."

"If the spice vault site is correctly designated, the thopter routes would align with inbound or outbound spice hauling. The vector of spice movement would be a crucial datum in discerning Harkonnen strategy. The hauler is likely the most vulnerable during its mid-transit landing."

[Efren Lanville]

Efren took in the information for a good moment before trying to present the information on their options out clearly.

"So... we could attempt to apprehend one of the haulers flying out to the spice location at its midway point... We could continue on to try and collect as much data as possible... Or focus on finding access to the Slaughterhouse and rescuing Gurney."

He asked Kova, "How would one get access to the Slaughterhouse? Do locals move in and out at all?"

[Kiran Alsahar]

Kiran sat back, listening. Since they'd been helping the locals to let their guide do his thing, they weren't up to date quite yet, so they settled for taking the information in for now.

[Ambrose Pantazis]

After listening to Hawat's, Ambrose realized he hadn't even considered the possibility they were moving spice out of that location to a new one. His assumptions and preconceptions might have cost them dearly and caused him to start second guessing his decisions.

Efren's assertions cut through back to steps needed for the mission. "You're very right. If we can intercept them at the midway point, that will give us the data needed to move forward. Despite Harkonnen arrogance, they should be observing some level of operational security. If we are swift enough and cautious enough, we can take them before they can alert anyone else and their absence shouldn't be noticed before we do what we need to. The thopter might also give us intel on entrances to their Slaughterhouse facility and a way in." He gave an approving nod to Efren.

While his deeply curated hatred for Harkonnens had been pulling him to go on the offensive and strike a blow to their corrupt power, his Atreides honor and his admiration for the Warmaster Halleck had compelled him to put those inclinations aside to focus on the rescue. However, this approach could offer them both options and one could argue that Gurney himself would take a similar route for the opportunity to deal a crippling blow to the Harkonnens.

[Kiran Alsahar]

"If we use a thopter, that'll be game over as far as stealth goes. Whatever plan follows from that, we're only gonna get one shot at it," Kiran observed.