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.