DUNE-A False Haderach-Ch.20 (Patreon)

Chapter 20

PITER DE VIRES

Kazab was an enemy unlike any faced by the Baron, and as his Mentat, it came to him to either dispose of or protect the Baron against such enemies. A task in which he had failed.

The Baron had suspected the infamous freedom fighter to be an agent of the Padishah Emperor, one set to discredit the House Atreides. He had wished to leverage that by denying the Emperor a chance to chastise the Atreides, trying to force his hand into a full blown attack.

Yet that did not mean. He did not wish the threat of the so-called freedom fighter neutralised, a task which had proven itself to be more difficult than they had imagined. The strange contraption used by him had allowed Kazab to fly through their cities at speeds unimaginable, and in the desert he walked into and through thick and heavy storms as if they meant nothing to him.

They had thought him to be a very well-trained Saradukar, one of the elites specifically trained for this mission.

Yet it seems they had been wrong.

“You lie,” he replied coldly, even as he took out his daggers, his mind refusing to believe the wild statement of the enemy that had alluded him to this day.

“Ohh, but it is not Piter,” he replied, and though, unlike the Bene Gesserit, Mentats had little affinity to probe out the truth, he was beginning to realize that his words might not be false.

And if they were true, then many things would come into question.

“Then why would your mother...” suddenly, it clicked as his eyes landed on Lady Jessica, and he wet his lips.

“Ohhh, so that is what it is,” he realized that this probably had something to do with their rather secretive sisterhood, and he smiled as he imagined what the Baron would make out of this information.

“Truth or not, it seems I must deliver you the Baron alive,” he replied as he spun his daggers in his hand and ordered the men to surround him.

“The future is about to become very exciting,” he said as the men surrounded him and raised their guns.

“I thought you were going to take me alive,” Kazab teased as he pulled up his mask. Finally, he realized that his eyes were not the deep green they had always thought them to be. No, they were blue, a bright blue. His hair was different as well, a striking silvery or whitish color that quite matched the colorings of the Royal House.

“I just need your mouth, I could easily make do with an absent limb or two,” and with that his eyes tightened.

“Atta...” but before the words had truly left his mouth, he saw Inzal blur from his position and it was only through sheer instincts that he raised his dagger enough to block the blade coming for his neck.

CHINK!

Metal slides on metal as that damned Duncan Idaho slew two of the men, but he had little time to focus on him as he felt pain ripple through him and saw his other blade piercing his side.

He tried to cut his head, yet he lowered himself even as other soldiers descended upon him, and Piter reached for his sword, trying to pin him down. But he he saw him click and felt the weight behind his blade disappear as he jumped up.

“It is over, Piter,” and with that, he suddenly spun as he came crashing down again. The heads of the other soldiers were cut clean off, and he felt a blade pierce through him as he felt his arms grow weak and limp.

“GUGHH!” he vomited out blood as his daggers fell to the ground, and his body fell to the ground as Kazab stood over him, looking down at him imperiously with those blue orbs of his.

“Do not worry, though,” Kazab spoke as he heard the other soldiers die, and he felt the Baron’s plan unravel in front of him.

“Your Baron shall be joining you soon enough,” and with that, Kazab raised his foot and brought it down as Piter’s vision became dark.

0000

INZAL KAZAB CORRINO

Inzal was not fond of letting himself become emotional. The constant abuse of his powers and the sheer amount of responsibility resting on his shoulders meant that he had to make cold, hard decisions at a moment’s notice.

Yet as he stared at the crushed head of Piter de Vires, a small sense of elation and relief ran through him at having completed his revenge. His feelings about his mother were complicated. Anirul Corrino had done little for him, yet he could not deny that she and Lady Jessica were the reason he was alive to this day. Lackluster they may be, but their actions had given him a life.

And for that, he held a soft corner for them.

And so, years ago, when in a Spice trance, he had felt his mother’s signature vanish from the galaxy, a pang of sadness rippled through him. Her own consciousness buried deep in the sea of consciousnesses in his mind had riled up at that, emerging as nothing more than a small whisper.

‘I am sorry.’

And on that day, he vowed to exact his revenge, and now, it was half complete.

He took out a small transmitter probe from his pocket and let it fly as he turned toward the others in the room.

“Shishakli, you know what to do next,” he ordered, and he nodded.

“I will be,” and he could see Paul and Duncan looking at him with a thousand questions.

“You are the Emperor’s son,” Paul gasped out as he stepped back.

“I am,” he answered. There was no need to lie anymore.

“How?” Duncan Idaho gasped out, surprised by the revelation,” and his gaze landed on Lady Jessica’s limp form as he felt the transmitter’s signal connect with all receivers in the area.

“She will be able to answer all your questions. But you need to get you and your men out of here. I have my men waiting for you in the desert. Leave the city discreetly. Shishakli shall lead you,” he ordered, and after some hesitation, the young ducal heir nodded.

Inzal saw the transmitter’s light turn green, and he turned to face the camera and looked straight into it. Just like that, he closed his eyes as he sighed, and then, with the practise of years, pushed his powers to the limits as he felt the fruit of his labor over the past two years show.

Across Arrakis, thousands upon thousands of little pods rose into the skies. Pods that had been placed by him and Shishakli with painstaking effort would formulate the last part of his elaborate plan.

He felt them power up, as each pod began to connect with the other, and he saw a countdown begin to flash over his screen.

~60 seconds~

He could keep the Baron entertained for that long, and so fighting through the pain, he opened his eyes and smiled into the camera which was now transmitting to all screens on the Baron’s big ship.

“Hello there, Baron.” And he could feel the man’s rage even with no screen.

“I believe it is time we had a little heart-to-heart after all. I have just kinda destroyed your plan of eradicating the Atreides.” With that, the drone’s camera moved as it focused on the bloody remains of the Harkonen soldiers around him before focusing on the most important body.

The body of his Mentat.

0000

BARON VLADIMIR HARKONNEN

The baron felt his whole plan collapse the moment he laid his eyes on the bloody remains of his Mentat, a mental tasked with recovering the body of the Duke.

He had made a miscalculation along the way at some point, a miscalculation that had cost him everything. This plan, one which he had spent years making was going up in smoke infront of his eyes.

He recognized the training room inside the castle.

And turned to one of his servants.

“Have a message sent to our men. Have them covered in the training room inside the castle,” he ordered.

“Baron, the transmission..”
“MAKE IT HAPPEN!” he shouted as that damned Kazab continued.

“But do not worry so much, Baron. You will soon be joining your precious Mentat,” Kazab continued, and for the first time, he noticed that his hair and eyes were different.

His eyes, as he had expected, were a bright blue, gleaming in the dark, though what was most striking was his hair. Even while covered with Harkonnen's blood, he could make out the silver looks drenched in caked blood.

“...Corrino...” he gasped out as he felt a shiver run down his spine. He felt that the man could stare at him and look at him through the camera.

“Get the ship in the sky!” he ordered.
“But Lord Baron the engines are down, we....”
“I said get it flying!” he screamed as he threw the food tray at the servant and it cut into his head and he fell down as blood burst from his head.

“GET IT FLYING!”

“And if you are thinking of getting away, then I am afraid we might have a little problem....” the man cut in, and Baron felt dread grasp his heart as he saw that man smile.

With that, he saw him click a finger and frowned, yet suddenly he heard an electric buzzing sound and looked out the window to his side as he saw a blue sphere form around up in the skies.

And he recognized it to be a shield. Yet from what he could see, it had ended, as it continued to envelop the Arrakis skies.

“...because that is no longer an option.” That damned cretin continued as Baron felt fear entrench him, as sweat dripped down his face.

“I am coming for you. Baron. I am coming...” and with a small laugh, he disappeared from the screens, leaving behind a sweating and perplexed Baron.

0000

As the transmission shut down, Inzal felt his senses pick up all of the enemy forces converging toward his location. He stepped forward and looked at the swarm of enemies surrounding the building.

He put up his mask and cloak before reaching for a button on his computer.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions once more rocked the city, this time destroying what little secondary power stations there were. Others basked the area around the building into a thick black smoke as screams of soldiers filled the air.

He closed his eyes as he stepped forward and let the gravity take his body.

“Let us end this!”

For in this darkness, where eyes were blind, he saw more than anyone else.

0000