DUNE-A False Haderach-Ch.19 (Patreon)

Chapter 19

BARON VLADIMIR HARKONNEN

“The shields are down,” remarked Pieter, and he smirked as he raised his hand.

“Then let the attack commence,” and with his command, the end of House Atreides as they knew it began as ships began to descend one by one, taking to the Arrakeen skies as the assault on the city began.

He could see the progress of the attack from the various screens displayed right infront of him, and he saw panic and turmoil spread through the Atreides rank and file as their ships destroyed laid waste to their weapons giving them little time to regroup.

“Hahahaha,” he laughed as he watched his men slaughter the Atreides men, and just as the Atreides regrouped the Saradukar joined the attack and broke them.

It was mayhem and the Atreides were being pushed back, their chain of command hampered by the explosions.

And then he felt his own frigate move as they entered teh Araakeen skies as well, hence completing their mobilization.

“It is time for me to leave now, Baron,” Piter added as he gave him a bow.

“I want the Duke alive. Incapacitated but alive,” he reminded his bloodthirsty, Spice-addicted Mentat.

“Only then you may claim the spoils as you wish. Do not disappoint me, Piter,” he chided and his Mentat smiled cruelly.

“I will not fail you, my Baron,” and with that, he left, leaving him alone with his servants to enjoy the doom of the Atreides.

They were putting up a fight, or at least trying to put up a fight, yet they were outnumbered and in disarray, and the less he said about the Saradukar’s cruelty, the better.

Even looking at them slaughtering unit after unit of Atreides men as if they were but mad beasts made a shiver run down his spine, yet he laughed. Laughed as he saw the of Atreides drawing near with every passing second.

“AHahahaha,” and then it happened.

BOOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the city behind him, and the lights of the room went off, as he fell down on the seat with a heavy thud.

“AGHH!” he grunted in pain, his legs too weak to carry his weight because of that  damned Bene Gesserit curse.

“What is going on?” he questioned in a raspy tone as he pushed himself up.

The lights began to flicker on, and he felt his suspenser orb activate once more.

“I WANT ANSWERS!” he screamed, as a soldier entered the room and knelt

“My lord, whatever that was, it eradicated our primary generators. We are running on emergency power at the moment. We will have to make an emergency landing!” and he felt a shiver run down his spine.

This was not part of the plan.

What was going on.

Was this a doing of the Atreides? Had the Emperor betrayed them.

And then he saw one of the screens infront of him light up, making him frown as he found himself staring at an all too familiar figure.

“YOU!” he snarled in rage as a million thoughts ran through his head.

“Hello there, Baron!”

“KAZAABBB!”

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SHISHAKLI

The wind pushed back her hair, yet over the years she had learnt enough that for her to better use Inzal’s little contraption it was better for her to keep her hair rather on the short side for better vision during their tyrists through the skies.

Though her short hair was doing her little good as she blurred through the city, pressurized gas guzzling from behind her in a neat stream as she followed the lead of Inzal, who tore through enemies as if cutting through butter.

His movements had been refined to perfection, his actions unhindered by the lack of light around them, for he did not need his eyes to see. Any enemies missed by him would soon enough fall to her blades as they sped through the city like demons, and the Atreides soldiers had been shocked at first, yet when they had continued to ignore them and attack only teh Harkonnen soldiers, they began to ignore them as they took this opportunity to regroup.

Explosions and screams filled the city as she tore through a couple of Harkonnen soldiers, her movements fast enough that no blood splattered on her clothes, as Inzal’s voice rang out.

“There,” he said as he pointed towards one of the top floors of the castle, and she immediately pulled on her hooks before redirecting, already knowing what this meant.

She did not miss how several Harkonnens soldiers were entering the keep through the massive hole in the wall, and she clicked her tongue hoping that they would not be too late.

Inzal seemed to have the same worries as herself as she felt him speed up, taking nearly a vertical path as he ran along the wall of the keep, right under the enemy soldiers who did not see him coming and were cut down in an instant as he jumped in the centre of the group of three and spun around cutting their heads off.

“ARGH!” they screamed as their lifeless bodies were down, forcing her to avoid them as she whizzed past them and jumped into the castle itself.

There, she found Inzal standing over half a dozen enemy soldier corpses, his blade pinning two of them to the ground.

His eyes, though, were focused on the person standing infront of him, huffing and bleeding, grasping a dagger in one hand and glaring at Inzal.

“Hello there, cousin,” Inzal spoke as he lowered his mask, and she saw the young ducal heir’s eyes widen.

“You,” he said, and it was only then she noticed the body of a person lying behind him, a person she immediately recognized to be the mother of the young duke as Inzal plucked out his blades and swung them to wipe off the blood from them.

WHIZZZ!

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INZAL KAZAB CORRINO

Inzal threw his blade behind him without a glance and felt the flicker of light he had felt earlier dissipate as the soldier tried to sneak behind himself, and Shishakli was killed in an instant.

“Huh,” Shishakli’s head whipped behind her, and she gasped as she saw the Harkonnen soldier behind her falling to his knees as Inzal pulled back his blade with a pull of his hand.

“Check her,” he asked Shishakli. She walked past him and Paul, who eased up as he looked him in the eye.

“Cousin?” he confirmed, sounding a bit perplexed.

“Didn’t Lady Jessica tell you?” he confirmed, sounding a bit hurt as he shook his head.

“We are related in more than one way,” Inzal cleared up as he tapped the young Duke on the shoulder.

“She has been poisoned by a paralytic of sorts, but she is out of danger,” Shishakli told him, much to his relief.

“Good,” he said. Just then, the door opened as he had expected it to, and a familiar face, clad in full Atreides armor, walked in. He perked up immediately upon seeing Shishali and him, and seeing her close to Lady Jessica, he blurred towards her and swung his blade at her.

Yet Inzal was much faster and made to intercept, deflecting the punch so that Duncan Indaho found his sword embedded into the ground as Inzal blocked his punch.

“Calm down, Ser Duncan, I come in peace,” he told him as he stared the most skilled warrior of the Atreides in the eye.

“Duncan!” Paul called out, and he felt the man ease up. Paul raised a hand.

“They are allies,” he told the man whose eyes narrowed before he pulled himself back.

“My lord we are under attack, the Harkonnens and the Saradukar are attacking and have somehow shut down all primary power...”

“Actually that second part was our doing,” Inzal cut in with a smile.

“That blast,” Paul caught on as he took out teh broken EMP generator, he had given to Lady Jessica.

“You call yourself our allies, yet you sabotage us like that!” Duncan roared in rage.

“Ahh, but you see my dear knight, you are not the only one without power,” Inzal elaborated as he stepped beyond the man, eyes perking up as he felt and heard men approach them.

“Paul, have the Atreides army move out of the city. My men are out there with ornithopters ready to fly you and your men to safety. Leave this city to me,” he said as he glanced back at teh ducal heir, who had a conflicted look on his face.

“But this is our city....” he muttered as his fists balled up.

“...we cannot just abandon it...and I cannot make such a decision without my fathe...”

“Paul,” he called out as he took out his blades.

“Trust me, if not for my actions, then for the fact that your mother did. I told you, didn’t I? We are related in more than one way. That signal you used signaled the formation of an alliance between my people and House Atreides. I will not abandon you, your family, or your people,” he assured the young ducal heir, who nodded after a second.

“But we need to find our father...”

“You do not need to worry about that,” he said as the doors to the room slid open once more, and he found himself face to face with about a dozen Harkonnen soldiers, being led by a man he had sought to meet for a long time.

“You!” the man gasped, his thin, lean figure stilling as his gaze landed on him.

“Duke!” Duncan gasped as he saw the duke being carried by the Harkonnen soldiers, yet Inzal was not concerned with the Duke or the Harkonnen soldiers that had begun to surround him.

No, his gaze was locked onto the man infront of him. The man who was responsible for the death of Queen Anirul Corrino, his mother.

“Do you have any idea how long I have wished to meet you, Piter?” and his bloodlust must have seeped out, for he saw the Mentat still as he took out a pair of daggers from his belt and got into a stance.

“What are you doing here, Kazab? I thought we had no more quarrels!”

“Ohh, we have quite a quarrel, Piter de Vires. After all, you killed someone quite dear to me,” Inzal said as he pushed up his mask.

“I have killed many a people. You will have to be more specific,” he taunted.

“My mother...”Inzal answered sharply.

“...or as you would know her, the Queen Anirul Corrino.”

He saw Duncan and Paul gasp at those words, and Piter de Vires’ eyes widened in shock.

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