War of the Landsraad - Sardaukar Mission 5

LOCATION: Imperial Basin, main Imperial _stronghold, Tsimpo_============__Everybody is tensioned in the imperial _stronghold. The Supreme Bashar is trying to _get his communication devices ready for a _special transmission. Thanks to the _smugglers, who provided working comm _devices, such transmissions are now _possible. The holo-screen flashes...__Incoming transmission...__GARRON: Your... highness..._PRINCESS IRULAN: Bashar, what is _happening there? I heared my father is _dead. And that the Landsraad has overrun _you._GARRON: I must admin with shame. _Everything you said is correct. Not only that, _but we fear a possible invasion of Kaitain. _Your highness, you might be in danger. We _are getting ready to move to Kaitain as we _speak._IRULAN: None of the three Houses on Dune _will be foolish enough to attempt something _like this. An invasion on Kaitain would _destabilize the entire empire. The _Landsraad council will vote against it, and _neither the Atreides, nor the Harkonnen, nor _the Ordos will be allowed to do it._GARRON: With all due respect, princess, _the Landsraad council is extremely... _ineffective lately. This is one of the main _reason your father decided to make a deal _with the Guild and join on Arrakis. He knew _the Landsraad will not intervene._IRULAN: They didn't intervene because of _fear. Fear of the Imperial Sardaukar. But the _three rebel houses do not possess you and _your men._GARRON: Landsraad's interests definitely _do not go along ours. The Sardaukar army _is weak now, if any of the three Houses _attempts an invasion on Kaitain, they know _we will have to move all our trainees from _Salusa Secundus to Kaitain to defend. ALL _our men. That would be a disaster for the _Sardaukar, our entire army could be _decimated._IRULAN: I know you have been my father's _most trusted general, Bashar Garron. That is _why I will trust your feeling. Are you able to _get here safely?_GARRON: We are preparing to lift off soon. _The smugglers have provided all the _necessary infrastructure for it. Don't worry, _princess, we are on our way._IRULAN: I am already doing the necessary _work to gather up a meeting between the _great powers of the empire. I want the _Landsraad, the Guild, the CHOAM and the _Golden Lion Throne to be all present to _discuss a cease-fire and the future of the _empire. This war must end. I received some _news from Arrakis, that the three houses _started to have... different opinions on _different matters. I am sure their alliance is _going to collapse soon._GARRON: Excuse my interruption, princess, _but we are in a hurry. We must prepare and _lift off as soon as possible. We can discuss _politics when we return to Kaitain._IRULAN: Very well then, I'll be waiting you. _Safe journey!__Transmission ended...__VARLAZ: She is... young. She doesn't _understand what's at stake. She really _believes the Landsraad is still following the _rules, with the throne being so... weak._GARRON: She might be young, but she's _beautiful and pretty experienced with _politics. The imperial advisors made sure of _that. Do not forget, she is Shaddam's _daughter. The Corrino blood flows through _her veins. And that very blood helped them _keep this throne for more than ten thousand _years. I'm sure she doesn't believe that the _Landsraad is playing by the book... which is _exactly why she wants this meeting. To put _pressure on the Landsraad, to ammend their _lack of intervention. And use this as an _example to stop a future war. As I said, she _is smart._VARLAZ: Very well said, sir.__The door opens, and Halvard enters to _address the two generals:__HALVARD: There is a complication. _Harkonnen and Atreides forces managed to _find out that you are doing... something. My _spies reported that they don't know for sure _what your plan is, but they are paranoid, and _have set up installations to strike you out. _VARLAZ: I am assuming they also did not _like the decoy in Hagga Basin. Wish I could _see Baron's face when he found out the _Sardaukar generals were not in Hagga _Basin._GARRON: If they are deploying here, it _means they know we're here, Burseg. This is _bad. They certainly deployed a _considerable amount of troops._HALVARD: You can bet on that. I won't lie to _you, the situation looks pretty bleak. Which _is why I hope you will understand why I must _retreat my men before the Landsraad _attacks._GARRON: WE HAD A DEAL!_HALVARD: Don't worry. The deal stands. _You will have the Starport and the frigates. _Once your men finish preparations, you are _free to lift off. The Heighliners are of Ixian _technology, they do not require a guild _navigator to set course to Kaitain._VARLAZ: Heighliners, able to navigate by _themselves? That ... sounds like a thinking _machine. Are the ixians violating the rules _set by the Butlerian Jihad?_HALVARD: They ensured us that it's not a _thinking machine. Anyway, don't you have _some more important things to take care of _now?_GARRON: Alright, smuggler. Nice to work _with you, now leave. We have stuff to _prepare.__A Sardaukar soldier enters the building.__SARDAUKAR: Sir, we bring news from the _field. There is a Guild base nearby. It seems _the Atreides and Harkonnen are fighting the _Guild already.__Varlaz pales. Garron screams in anger:__GARRON: This cannot be! They are _retaliating for our attacks. They want _revenge._VARLAZ: At least, the Atreides and _Harkonnen are fighting the Guild. This _MIGHT be in our advantage, sir. It might buy _us some time to take off the planet._GARRON: I really hope so. Let them fight _each other for as much as possible. Our _target is to leave Arrakis.__==========__Objective: Make sure the Smuggler Starport _remains operational until it is ready to take _us back to Kaitain. Intel reports the _Harkonnen have their atomics deployed. _Make sure you have no buildings close to _the Starport, the Harkonnen do not know _about our plan and will most likely not target _the Starport, instead picking targets that are _more stacked together. There are Guild _forces in the region, but they are fighting _everyone. Take advantage of this situation. _Make sure the Smuggler Starport remains _under Smuggler control, do not capture it. _Tactical map available, press the button to _view it.