>>29134702

You turn your face away from the shifting sand. This planet was a death world, in the truest sense. You hailed from Salusa Secundus, a death world in its own right, but at least there, there was water. There were plants, and great thunderstorms, and beasts that roamed the canyons and valleys. Inimical to human life, perhaps, but they thrived. Here, there was only sand, and spice, and the great worms of the desert.

You walk through the narrows between the mud brick hovels that the natives called their homes. Cloth canopies fluttered overhead in deep reds and browns. You need to speak with your commander about fortifying the village against another Fremen raid. The last one took the lives of ten of your men, and a dozen more were wounded. They would not survive the week. It was ludicrous to think that the rebels could match your soldiers, but those were the facts.

You hear a cry of pain coming from inside one of the buildings – you can’t discern if it is male or female. Your meeting can wait. The lives of one of your men may be at stake.

[2/3]

>>29134723

You unholster your maula pistol – a slender-looking gun that fired poison darts – and entered the building. The scene was what you expected – a native Arrakeen woman half-dressed, a small knife in her hand, her back against the wall. A Sardaukar you didn’t recognize with a fresh cut across his face. Perhaps he was under another captain’s command. He’s certainly not one of yours. Even so, you can’t just stand by. The woman had attacked one of your fellow Sardaukar. You would be well within your rights in taking her life.

How do you proceed?

>>29134740

Disarm and neutralize the female. Once she has been subdued, question the soldier on whose command he's from and what he's doing in your area.

File: 1388273754475.jpg-(112 KB, 800x328, 1339894012844.jpg)

112 KB JPG

Do we outrank him?

De-esculate the the situation and ask her who the hell she thinks she is.

>>29134740

What are our orders regarding civilians?

Immediately we need to know what happened first. In our best parade ground voice, call the soldier to stand at attention and order them both to freeze where they stand or we shoot. Then we can figure out what happened.

>>29134794

Your eye catches the insignia at the man’s breast. It marks him as a corporal. You tap your foot loudly, and two pairs of eyes turn to you. Your weapon remains trained on the woman. Even the natives were vicious beyond compare.

“Hold, corporal. You, lady, put away your knife.”

The woman grimaces, but obeys your order, lowering the knife slowly. The corporal touches his hand to his face to wipe away the blood.

“Stand at attention. What is your name, Corporal?”

He drops his hand immediately, and snaps out an answer. “Corporal Jara Bihi, sir, under the command of Captain Adab Khahri of the 49th Legion.”

His commanding officer’s name was only vaguely familiar to you, but that wasn’t surprising. This one appeared to have excellent discipline. But if his discipline was that well-honed…

“Explain to me how you received that wound, Corporal Bihi.”

“She requested my assistance, sir. She wanted me to help her look for her children. I agreed, I came inside-“

“Why did you enter her house?”

“Because she asked me to, sir. She wanted to offer a portion of her water ration as payment.”

“And why didn’t you decline?”

“I don’t kn- no, I was greedy, sir.”

At least he was honest, if naïve. You wonder how he could have possibly made it into the Legion. The woman spits out a native invective after he’s finished talking.

“You bastard pig Harkonnen scum! You took my children from me! You took my husband from me! Now you take all I have left!”

You let out a long, slow sigh.

How do you proceed?

>Harkonnen

Hit her for mistaking us with our employer.

And then hit her again, for tempting a Sarduakar with bribery.

Then leave with the Corporal.

>>29135133
Kill her

>>29135133
knock her out and arrest her.

>>29135133

He's no Saurdaukar. A Saurdaukar taking bribes? A Saurdaukar not noticing the woman was armed? A Saurdaukar deserting his duties? Madness.

Ask him to name 3 major predators from Salusa Secundus and how to recognize their approach. Watch him carefully and be prepared for him to try for a weapon.

>>29135267
seconded

>>29135267
>>29135348

Going ahead with this one.

I like this woman's spirit. Give the stupid corporal a dressing-down in front of her. A Sardaukar is supposed to be the equal of ten soldiers, and this one was shamed by one townie woman.

>>29135391

Something doesn’t add up. Even unaware, a Sardaukar could never be wounded so easily.

“Corporal. What are three major predators of Salusa Secundus, and how do you recognize their approach?”

“With all due respect, sir, what does that have to do w-“

You cut him off with your pistol. The dart lands in his throat, and the poison acts quickly.

“You’re no Sardaukar. If you were, you would have answered without question.”

The woman stares at you in shock. You walk up to her. She starts to speak.

“He was-“

And you slap the butt of your pistol against her face. “That was for me. Do not mistake the Sardaukar for our employer. We are the holy soldiers of the Padishah himself, and we follow the Baron Harkonnen only under the Padishah’s order.”

She leans against the wall, her hand up to her face. You bring out a coil of shigawire from a pocket on your stilsuit.

The woman raises her balisong, and you easily trap its edge in the wire. With a flick of your wrists, her knife is flung out of her hands, landing in the wall behind you. You strike her again with the blade of your hand. “And that is for attempted assassination of a Sardaukar officer. I am hereby placing you under arrest.”

You wrap the shigawire around the woman’s wrists, cinching them tight behind her.

You wished you had backup. Night would be falling soon, and the rebels would be attacking. You have precious little time to lose. You set the woman kneeling, facing the wall, ignoring the endless stream of curses erupting from her throat, and examine the body of the false Sardaukar.

Harkonnen pig indeed. But why would he act as a Sardaukar?

[1/2]

>>29135672

You left the body as it lie. There was no time for these musings.

You haul the woman up, and lead her to your headquarters, a prefabricated building of gleaming metal worn dull by the sand. She was transferred into the prisoner holding cells and out of your mind. You enter your commander’s office.

“Captain Avan. I’ve been expecting you. In fact, I was a little worried when you didn’t show up ten minutes ago.”

“Apologies, Commander Pahlai. There was an incident. A Harkonnen soldier disguised as one of ours had accosted a native.”

“As one of ours? And he still draws breath? No, probably not, given your reputation. You should have taken him alive, captain. He might have said something of interest.”

“Again, my apologies. My instincts won out over my reason.”

Commander Nousha Pahlai steeples his fingers on his desk. “It matters not, I think. Knowing the Harkonnen, the instant we took him into custody, he would have been killed remotely. Now, you mentioned you had some ideas in mind for the defense against tonight’s raid. I’ve taken the liberty of assigning additional lookouts to the city walls. You have a better feeling for this than I do. Where do you think they will strike next?”

“The water processing equipment is an obvious target. Without it, this entire village would dry up in a fortnight. Their leader is wise, however. They will not strike at such a tempting facility, knowing it will be heavily guarded. Instead, I am afraid that they will target this building, our headquarters, instead. If they cut off the chain of command here, the village is as good as theirs.”

“And what do you propose, captain?”

[2/3]

>>29135952

“There is a weakness in the south wall that my men have meticulously ignored. The Fremen will exploit that weakness and destroy the wall to enter the village. From there, the path to our headquarters is a series of bottlenecks to reduce the strength of their numbers. My men will fight them every step of the way.”

Pahlai raises his hands. “It is a good plan, Ferdi. A good plan! But I think you underestimate the will of these rebels. I think they will not hesitate to destroy the water processing plant, even if it means dooming their own to death by dehydration. But I leave this decision to you. I have asked that you be my advisor, and you have not given me reason yet to regret it.”

How do you proceed?

>>29136089

"I doubt very much if the Fremen would waste the water. They do not leave bodies behind, any bodies, when they can help it. The still-suits we wear were originally of their design. The stories of them say their women do not even weep for the dead. I do not believe they will spill water upon the sand, whatever the provocation."

Provocation? Perhaps that's why a Harkonnen would impersonate a Saurdaukar? "Perhaps we should ask our prisoner? She may have some dealings with the rebels."

>>29136188
This seems like a good course of action. Not having read Dune I don't really have any input.

>>29136188
But what if they only destroy the processing equipment, and steal the water?
Perhaps we can more obviously increase security around the water processing plant, as if daring the Fremen to attack there. Then the weakness will be an even more tempting target.

And if they do attack the plant, then our increased security will pay off.

>>29136377

Possible. However water is hard to carry in any great quantity, and until they reach the open desert we can pursue them, were positions reversed I would not want my men weighed down.

If we have the manpower we should do it though; those at the water processing plant or the command centre can act as a reserve force to support whichever is engaged when the Fremen do attack.

>>29136481

You pause a moment before speaking.

“Commander, if this were any other planet, if these were any other group of rebels, I might agree with you. But this is Arrakis, and these are Fremen. Water is the currency here, water is sacred and water is life. You have seen how they never leave bodies behind. They take them back to process their water. I have heard that their women do not shed tears for their dead, it is so precious. To spill it upon the sand is a heresy. No matter the provocation, they will…”

Provocation? The Harkonnen imposter… no, there’s no time for it.

“Captain?” Commander Pahlai inquires.

“I was thinking that the Harkonnen might have something to do with this. The woman likely knows nothing, but it may not do any harm to interrogate her.”

“Indeed.”

“I believe I am correct in my assumption. But perhaps… how many men do we have available?”

“No more than fifty. Nine of them under your command.”

“I see. Then we do not have the numbers to spare. I was hoping we might place some more conspicuous defenders near the processing plant to make the south wall more attractive. At any rate, water is also difficult to carry through open desert. They will not attempt such a risk-filled venture. We lead them into the south wall, we bottleneck their numbers, and we prevent them from reaching our command center.”

“This is why I value your judgment so, Ferdi. I will have orders issued to the other commanding officers. We estimate that the raid will begin in two hours. Until then, you are free to do as you like.”

“Sir.” You snap off a salute to your commander, and step outside of the office.

How do you proceed?

[Speak to your men. Prepare them for combat.]
[Speak to the woman. Follow up on your suspicion.]

>>29136858
Trip dropped.

>>29136858
>[Speak to the woman. Follow up on your suspicion.]
She may be Fremen, she may not. Either way, we should follow up on our suspicions.

>>29136858

Battle must come first; we should prepare the men for combat.

However, ask the commander to take a trustworthy man and assign him to thoroughly search, imprison, and guard the woman and ensure is available for interrogation in the morning. If she imagines she's going to be in the hands of the Harkonnens she may attempt to take her own life.

>>29136858
Speak to the woman. We are a crazy death trooper from a death world. When we have a hunch, we follow it.

>>29137070
>>29137029

You head off towards the holding cells.

The Arrakeen woman is contained in the cell closest to the door. Your lieutenant greets you as you enter, standing at attention. “Captain Avan. I didn’t realize you were going to be the interrogator.”

“At ease, Lieutenant Fari. How was processing?”

Boza Fari grimaces, his wide shoulders stiffening. “Difficult. She was wholly uncooperative. She held a number of weapons on her person, including a line of shigawire hidden in her hair and a knife of some sort.

He directs you to a table. He pulls out a drawer, and hands you the knife. You unsheathe it. It is twenty-five centimeters long, milk-white, glistening like crystal, glowing with a faint light. You test one of its edges on your finger, and it cuts instantly.

“If you unsheathe it, it must draw blood.” The woman’s voice behind you.

“So this is a crysknife,” you whisper. It was a carved and polished tooth of the great sandworm, an item sacred to the Fremen. A thin line was forming through the center of the blade. Away from a human body’s electrical field, crysknives disintegrate over time. You let it taste a drop of your blood, then place it back into its sheathe.

“Whosoever sees that knife must be cleansed or slain.” A quiet threat. A promise. No, a warning.

“You’ve given yourself away, Fremen.” You slip the knife under your belt.

“It matters not.” The woman turns away, moving to the back of the cell.

How do you proceed?

>>29137375
"You will find that it does, sand whore. I never expected the noble Fremen to act as sows for a house of pigs..."

[get her mad if we can. If we can't, we leave.]

>>29137375
"Why did you allow yourself to fall for the Harkonnen trickery? What is your goal here?"

>>29137375

"You say that like it's a law of nature. But here you're under our law. And I can make it matter to you. I can make it the only thing that matters."

>>29137375

Say nothing for a long while. Observe the woman and how she reacts. Always, always watch her carefully. After some time has passed ask her one question.

"Why are you here?"

She must be here voluntarily. We've fought enough fremen to know that that trick with the wire would not have disarmed any of them.

Then there's the risk she's running, the Baron and Feyd will pay dearly for a crysknife. Allowing one to fall into the hands of those she believes to be Harkonnen so easily?

(If this is too meta-gaming please let me know, I figured the reward would be common knowledge on Dune)

So why is she here?

>>29137679
The wire trick might have disarmed a Fremen.

We are Sardaukar, anon. We're pretty big badasses.

>>29137699
>We are Sardaukar, anon. We're pretty big badasses.
Well, we're Sardaukar, but we're not at our height, as was noted in the Index in the back of the book. I'd give it more a 50-50 shot of it working, rather than the 80-20 chances of a Sarduakar soldier at their height.

>>29137375
If you are a Fremen, then why was that man alive and why did you let yourself be captured?

>>29137699
>>29137812

The Fremen are pretty hard themselves. They do kind of curb check the Saurdaukar at the end of the book. It's not until Children Of Dune that we get to the point where the Saurdaukar are the equal to the Fremen. It always seemed like it was part of a whole Herbert thing of victory spawning laxity and corruption that destroys the traits that lead you to victory in the first place.

>>29137503
>>29137538
>>29137679

“You say that as if it were a law of nature.” You walk towards the bars of the cell. “Here, you are under the Emperor’s law. Our. Law.”

Your words punctuated by slow, predatory footsteps. “I can make it matter to you. I can make it the only thing that matters.”

The Fremen woman says nothing. She continues to stand, staring into the wall.

“I never expected the noble Fremen to become breeding sows to a house of pigs. This is how low you have fallen?”

No response. No hint that she had even acknowledged you. You may have to resort to non-verbal methods.

“Why are you here, Fremen? You could have gotten away easily. You could have killed the Harkonnen quietly instead of drawing attention to yourself. You’ve even allowed a crysknife to fall into our hands. I’m sure you’ve heard of how much the Baron Harkonnen is willing to pay for one.”

You pace in front of the cell. “So you must have a reason to be here.”

You stop. “It will go much more smoothly if you tell us.”

Perhaps you were wrong about the Harkonnen imposter. You have heard rumors about the Baron planning to usurp the throne of the Padishah. Perhaps this was one of his machinations, then, a person wholly unrelated to the matter at hand.

“What is your name?”

She speaks at last. “I have no words for the dead to hear, Harkonnen lackey. Do what you will with me. It matters not.”

You give another long sigh. This could take hours, even with torture, and the raid could come and any moment. How do you proceed?

[Press her for more information.]
[You don’t have time for this. Prepare for battle.]
[Write-in]

>>29137952
>[You don’t have time for this. Prepare for battle.]
Getting more information out of a freaking Fremen without lots of time is going to be impossible. Make sure she's well guarded

>>29137952

We should be ready for the fight. Leave her for now.

Call for your subordinate. "Fari! Watch her. Watch her like she were a hungry Laza Tiger"

Hide the knife in your uniform. "We will have more words tomorrow." Go to leave. Pause. "And if you call me a servant of house Harkonnen again, then when we are done, I will cut your tongue out of your head with your own damned knife for the insult."

>>29137952
[Address the guard]

"Break her if she attempts to escape. Do not kill her."

[Take the crysknife and the weapons from the table. If she does manage to escape she will not have them to rely on.]

[Address the woman]

"If you prefer the company of the dead so, I can accommodate you milady."

[Take trophies in the coming battle and bring them back with you for future sessions.]

>>29138092
>>29138122
>>29138200

No more time to waste. You had a battle to fight.

You walk away from the cell, beckoning you lieutenant to follow you. Once out of earshot, you speak to him.

“Boza, bring Corporal Ahland up to the cell. Have him watch her as he would a hungry Laza tiger. She will try something during the raid. We cannot let her succeed.”

Even among the Sardaukar, Kheria Ahland was particularly cruel. Boza smiles a little.

“Just Ahland, captain?”

You think it over for a second. “No, you’re right. Private Zadi Abband. Have him watch her as well.”

“You can’t be serious. Two Sardaukar against a mere woman?”

“No, Boza. Two Sardaukar against a Fremen. We cannot take chances here. Tell them to break her if she attempts to escape, but do not kill her.”

“Understood, captain.” The lieutenant speaks into his radio.

“And you, Fremen. If you so enjoy the company of the dead, I can accommodate you.” You shout back at the cell, patting the new knife at your waist. You gather her weapons from the table. Another coil of shigawire, a steel balisong, a few small razors.

“You will regret naming me a Harkonnen lackey, Fremen. Before we are done, I will cut your tongue out of your head for the insult.”

“Raha bint Ah’ma al-Qud.”

You pause, turning slowly.

“I have changed my mind. A man should know the name of his killer.”

“Well, we’ll see.”

[1/2]

>>29138521

The night sky over Arrakis is filled with stars. One of its two moons shines brightly overhead with the image of a desert mouse. Muad’Dib. Your radio buzzes. “Here they come, captain. There’s two hundred, two hundred twenty of them. This is no mere raiding party.”

“Stay to the plan, lieutenant. Wait until they breach the south wall.”

“Understood.”

You relay orders to your men.

“Some would say that the Sardaukar are past their days, that we have grown weak and complacent, that our arrogance and our cynicism has blunted our might. Tonight, we prove them wrong. Tonight we show the vermin Fremen why we are the most feared armed force in all of the Imperium! Tonight, we drive off these rebels and reclaim our glory! For his royal majesty! For the Padishah!”

“Hut! Hut! Hut!” They respond vigorously.

You check your weapons. Your maula pistol, loaded and ready to fire. All you’d need to do is draw and flip the safety. Your stunner rifle, firing long darts much like your pistol, in hand. Your kindjal, a long knife three times the length of the crysknife you took, strapped to the side of your leg.

“Ahyan! Kamsha! Take the corridor up by the second blockade. Ghangiv, Ressa, Kami, join up with Captain Doli’s fighters at the first blockade. The rest of you, follow me. We move to join up with Lieutenant Fari at the breach.”

They act quickly, without hesitation. Model Sardaukar. Fanatic-warriors unparalleled in the art of death and cruelty, fighters with a suicidal disregard for their personal safety. Against a force of outnumbering your own four to one at least, against a people whose harsh background mimicked your own, you can only pray for success.

[2/3]

>>29138945

The south wall explodes inwards, chunks of stone and mortar flinging themselves through the thin walls of the mud hovels closest to it.

The raiders pour in, long rifles in hand, cloaks and daggers drawn close.

“First wave. Fire at will!”

---

Roll 1d100s

Rolled 32

>>29138999
inb4 all 1s

Rolled 48

>>29138999
Luck be a lady tonight

wait, do fremen even use shields? Why aren't we using lasers?

Rolled 76

>>29138999

Rolling.

>>29139049
because using lasers is suicide in an age of shields.

And do you REALLY trust the fremen to not bring a shield in case we start using lasers?

>>29139049
>>29139076
Personal shields in Dune are basically force-field generators that only allow materials traveling at fairly slow speeds through. If they're hit by lasers, they fail catastrophically, exploding in a wide radius around both the shield-user and the shooter. On top of that, the vibrations they generate attract giant sandworms.

>>29139076
Did they even know about shields and lasers? I remember the fight between Paul and that one Freemen where Paul kept attacking slowly because he was so used to fighting against shields and the freemen thought he was just playing with his enemy

>>29139155

They know about lasguns, IIRC Stillgar calls a Saurdaukar cowardly for using one while retreating.

>>29139151
we know that. and because of the worms, shields dont get used on Arrakis, so he was asking "no risk of I accidentally a nuclear explosion so why not use lasers" to which my response was "do you really trust the fremen to not keep one at hand in a group that size just in case?"

>>29139155
They know about them, but because of the worms they dont have much experience with them. Mua'dib definitely knows about them though, so they'd have access either way

>>29139042
>>29139048
>>29139057

Your Sardaukar fire their stunner rifles freely into the mass of Fremen, but they keep advancing. A small number of them fall, but the rest keep on moving, firing back. You catch a glimpse of something gleaming under their cloaks. One of your men takes a dart between his eyes. He spasms as he goes down, the poison taking fast effect. You kick him forward, away from you. No need for him to interrupt your aim.

“They’re armored! Ignore center of mass, target their heads!”

You peer down the sights of your rifle, taking careful aim, and fire several times in quick succession. Five Fremen fall forward into the sand.

---

Roll 1d100s

Rolled 40

>>29139306

Rolled 96

>>29139306
Damn it all.

Fucking Arab Space Magic.

Rolled 23

>>29139306

Rolled 40

>>29139306

Rolling

File: 1388288855367.gif-(1.4 MB, 256x269, BLOODBATH IMMENENT.gif)

1.4 MB GIF

Rolled 59

>>29139325
>96

you know, considering the fremen don't use shields, what if we got our hands on that artillery the good baron used when driving out the Atreites? I'd like to see the fremen survive a saturation bombardment

>>29139375

They live in the deep desert, most of there settlements are hidden because the guild won't let anyone have weather satellites, so you'd have to find them first.

Also, the Shai Hulud are attracted to vibrations. Artillery might not be a good idea.

It's actually one of the things I like about Dune, all the tech is reasonably thought through.

Rolled 94

>>29139473
Yeah, but we aren't attacking are we? Arty makes a good defensive weapon

>>29139318
>>29139325
>>29139327

You continue firing, and your men do the same. More of them are falling, now, but the rebel onslaught charges forward regardless. The weight of men and the fury of jihad drive them on. It will be too close to use the rifles soon.

“Drop guns! Group up, move in for close combat!”

Your men obey swiftly, driven by the same fury. They form into the signature combat formations of the Sardaukar, triangles backing one another, long knives lashing out, maula pistols firing.

“Lieutenant!”

“Captain! We can’t hold this position!” He plants his blade into the forehead of one of the screaming rebels, kicks him to the ground, and snaps his pistol up to fire at another. The needle penetrates through the rebel’s throat, and he falls.

How do you proceed?

[Have your lieutenant gather your men while you cover him as he heads to the first blockade.]
[Have your lieutenant cover you while you gather your men and head to the first blockade.]
[Write-in]

Rolled 75

>>29139501
>[Have your lieutenant cover you while you gather your men and head to the first blockade.]

>>29139501
>[Have your lieutenant gather your men while you cover him as he heads to the first blockade.]

>>29139501

[Have your lieutenant gather your men while you cover him as he heads to the first blockade.]

>>29139487

True. There may be logistics issues with keeping artillery in the field though.

>>29139621
true, probably wont have too many rounds for them.


What if we re-made mortars instead?

File: 1388289790920.png-(62 KB, 212x160, 1337655274146.png)

62 KB PNG

>>29139501
>[Have your lieutenant gather your men while you cover him as he heads to the first blockade.]

I'm sure there's a reason against it, but couldn't we bring in some heavy air support, like a gunship or something? Or are the sandstorms to heavy for that?

>>29139647

Mortars would work. IIRC though in the book the fremen's big attack attack was during a zero visibility sandstorm. So they may find ways around that as well.

The problem that the Harkonnen and Saurdaukar faced in the novel was that they could hold the capital and settlements but the Fremen could always retreat into the desert, and they could never follow effectively to strike back. That's why the Baron wanted a Crysknife, it'd let his Mentat-Assassin infiltrate Fremen settlements.

>>29139556
>>29139663

“Take the men, Borza! Reform at the first blockade! I’ll hold them off, now get moving!”

“Hut!” He flings his kindjal into yet another attacker. “You heard the captain! He’ll cover us, now get your sorry asses up and running!”

They take off, and you come in behind them. “Come, Fremen! I will take your heads! I will spill your blood, in the name of the Emperor!”

You step backwards into the alley. It was just wide enough that three men could stand abreast. It would be difficult. You would likely die in the attempt, but you would die gloriously.

---

Roll 1d100s

>>29139750
>That's why the Baron wanted a Crysknife, it'd let his Mentat-Assassin infiltrate Fremen settlements.
I think you'd need more than a knife to infiltrate the Fremen

Rolled 59

>>29139762
RULES OF NATURE

>>29139501
>[Have your lieutenant gather your men while you cover him as he heads to the first blockade.]

Rolled 44

>>29139762
Rollin.

File: 1388290365889.gif-(1.95 MB, 173x130, HOLD THE LINE.gif)

1.95 MB GIF

Rolled 31

>>29139762
>stading alone against a wave of space kebab

Rolled 59

>>29139762

>>29139797
>>29139824
>>29139842
>>29139843
Welp.

Rolled 45

>>29139762

If we're desperate pull the crysknife; it might be enough of a shock to give us an opening.

>>29139782

That's the explanation from the book.

>>29139860
that's it, quest over. go home folks this sadurkar is dead and fallen.

At least we managed to avoid the waifu the first girl rule /tg/ seems to love

>>29139782
mentat. dude probably just needs to interview a couple captives and he'll have the mannerisms down

Rolled 17

>>29139762
For Shaddam IV!

>>29139860

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syXj9ad-1m0

---

The first one comes, screaming and charging, firing his pistol madly. So slow, you think. Darts plink against your armor. You step into his gait, your knife cutting into his throat. You spin around, firing a backhand shot into his skull for good measure. Two more coming. You shoot, and your needle glances off of his armor into the eye of the man behind him. You shoot again and hit your mark. Your target crumples in front of you, ruining the pace of the one beside him. You fire again – he dodges by sheer chance, but someone falls far behind him. No more ammo now. You throw the gun at his head, and he falls unconscious.

“This is all you have, Fremen!”

You draw the crysknife you’d taken earlier. The sight only seems to drive them into a further rage.

You walk into the throng of men, each blade in hand eagerly drinking blood. Your kindjal stabs deep through the armpit of one Fremen, piercing the heart. Your crysknife plunges into the eyes of another. Blood and vitreous fluid splatter onto your mask. With each stroke, another kill. A glowing white knife arcs through your field of vision, and you slice it away. It falls, the bloody stump of the Fremen’s hand spurting on your armor.

You fling your kindjal and it lands in the forehead of yet another Fremen. Your open hand catches the dismembered Fremen’s crysknife before it falls, and its blade pierces through the armor of a third. You draw it out with a wet squelch, and your other knife rams upward through the jaw of one more opponent.

The wind around you swirls. A sand storm was coming.

---

Roll 1d100s

Rolled 67

>>29140087
Let's do this.

Rolled 38

>>29140087

Rolling.

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Rolled 59

>>29140087
remember the basics of CQC

Rolled 10

>>29140087
For House Corrino!

I motion that we move to a roll under system, do I have a second?

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Rolled 38

>>29140087
I don't have shit for Sardaukar pics.

Rolled 11

>>29140087

>>29140139
>>29140171
>>29140179
My god.

Rolled 73

>>29140305

GG team.

>>29140104
>>29140131
>>29140135
>>29140139

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syXj9ad-1m0

---

You pay the wind no heed. Let the storm come. It will swallow your enemies. Let the sand come. It will scour away the vermin.

You bring your knife up to bear, and another knife meets it. You step backwards, letting him walk forward into your blade. He obliges.

Weak.

A fanatic follows close behind. His pistol roars. The impact staggers you – ballistic pistol? You haven’t seen one in years. You charge up, leaping into his chest with your knees, bringing your knives down around his ears as he falls. You launch yourself from the corpse, forward into the fray.

Weak.

Your crysknife finds its way into the open mouth of a screaming Fremen, skewering his tongue and cutting through his vertebrae. The blade snaps as he falls back.

Weak.

You fling the hilt forward, grab another Fremen by the throat, and take his knife arm off at the elbow. You pull him to the side, and lash out with a kick. It connects with the falling arm, sends it spinning, blinding one opponent and opening the throat of another.

Weak.

Still they pour forward. Your strength flags. You bring your elbow down into the face of one man, crunching his nose and driving the bone into his brain. You kick him forward with a roar, sending the next man stumbling. The alley is drenched in blood. Your hands dart forward, fingers extended. They find their way into the blue-within-blue eyes of one more opponent, and you finish him off by cutting his throat.

Weak.

[1/2]

>>29140418

The sand clinks against your armor with a sound like a waterfall. It stings your eyes. You ignore it. Another sharp report. Another ballistic pistol shot. A searing pain in your arm. You ignore it. Your bring your arm up and-

- Your knife is gone, along with most of your hand.

One last Fremen charges forward at you, slamming you to the ground. The back of your head strikes something hard. Your vision goes black.

You’re not sure when you’ve awoken. The harsh desert sun burns your eyes.

“Do you remember my name?” A soft woman’s voice in your ear.

You say nothing.

“A man should know the name of his killer. I will repeat it so you do not forget in your final moments. Raha bin Ah’ma al-Qud.”

You smile grimly. “Weak.”

The crysknife pierces into your heart.

---

END

>>29140533
uhh.... when did we last save?

>>29140533

Cool beans, man.

I liked this quest.

>>29140533

Ahh well. Thanks, and it was a good run while it lasted.

>>29134702
>A Sardaukar Quest
My dick.
Muuuh dick
Is rock hard right now.

Well, that's all. Thanks for playing, guys. I'll be here for a little while longer to hear your thoughts.

This quest was intended from the start to be a one-shot, so don't feel too badly about dying. At least you took down one.. two.. three... I'm going to stop trying to count how many Fremen you killed.

Your death wasn't necessarily inevitable. In fact, I had a very different idea in mind about how it would end. If you'd gone to the blockade instead, you probably would have held off the Fremen and later find that Raha had killed off most of the officers in your command center. You would have had a final confrontation with her, and if you survived you'd get called back to the capital and the quest would end there instead.

My issue with Dune has always been that the Sardaukar were never portrayed as the badass killing machines that the books kept saying they were, so I thought I'd do something about it.

If you really liked this, I might do another one-shot featuring Ferdi Avan on Salusa Secundus and how he became a Sardaukar in the first place.

>>29140741
>If you really liked this, I might do another one-shot featuring Ferdi Avan on Salusa Secundus and how he became a Sardaukar in the first place
Do it sir.

Also, I reccomend that the thread soundtrack be the Emperor: Battle for Dune OST and not RULES OF NATURE, awesome as it may be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_deOe3fpXc

>>29140741
I liked this quest and I'd like to see more, but when is the next Deadman Adventure Quest? The third thread 404'd before you could get back to it.

>>29140814
I'll pick it back up after New Year's. The next Adventure Seeker Deadman will be on Thursday, January 2nd, 20:00 server time. You can follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/MARS_ASCENDANT. I'll post there with the time, and if anything changes I'll let you guys know.

>>29140741

I can see that. They did kind of only exist to get curb-stomped in the books. They've also been handled really badly in the adaptations.

Was the idea of a Harkonnen plot to provoke attacks on the Saurdaukar something you'd intended or did that come out of the thread?

The Baron can't have been comfortable knowing that there were Saurdaukar on planet.

>>29140976
Sweet. Thanks for running, OP. See you then.

>>29140976
The Harkonnen thing was a huge red herring, actually. The Harkonnen impersonator wanted information on Sardaukar tactics, battle language, etc, to feed back to the Baron, but it wasn't particularly important to what was going to happen in this quest. He was accosted by Raha purely out of coincidence, and you just happened to intervene.

>>29141040

Interesting. Thanks again for running this.

>>29141078

Absolutely, and thanks again for playing, anon!

>>29140976
Thats because they suffered from the stormtrooper|avatar of khaine syndrome. Be always spoken of as the elite and most dangerous army.
So when someone kicks them down, it's shown just how amazing said person is.

>>29142628

To be fair it's not like they exactly held up on the Fremen anywhere else. It wasn't just a worf barrage, we saw that whatever they faced they were likely to do well. Plus the book had a very big deal with riffing on religion, politics, and society. The Fremen were kinda the product of that mongrel strength, whereas the Sardukar weren't. A warrior who fights because it is in his innate nature will lose to a warrior with the same nature, driven by religious rage.

>>29143186
Well it depends - I'd wager that in the end, the society of warriors looses to a society of soldiers. Which the sardaukar somewhat were.

of course, the thing was, that by the time of dune, many sardaukar were long decadent. Sure they went trough their own death world stint, but afterwards tended to be given riches, sometimes even becoming small lords themselves.

>>29143282

>that by the time of dune, many sardaukar were long decadent.

Yeah, very true. I seem to remember something to the effect that there was a lot of political generals at least. Or at least Shadam was seriously buttering them up for political gain.

>>29143353
Of course I did always prefer the fish speakers to either fremen or Sardaukar

>>29143477

Pity we never got to see any of them. Of course them turning into Honored Matres kinda puts a different spin on it.

>>29143509
I thought honored matres were a spin off bene gessirit chapter which was stuck in isolation a little bit too long.

Mars, would you mind writing a epilogue as to what happened after the battle? AS in what happened to our troops and what not?

>>29143581

That as well. They were a combination of rogue Bene Gesserit from The Scattering, Tleilaxu females, and Fish Speakers.

The Sardaukar could have easily won if they'd turned on their shields.

Really, Imperial forces should have been invincible within their bases and within sietches, vulnerable only in the open desert where shields couldn't be used.

>>29145305

I think by that stage there were enough Fremen about trained in shield fighting. And apparently shields didn't like the dust and sand very much either.

Next time: The warriors of the sand: A Fremen quest

>>29145116
Will admit I definitely don't recall the tleylaxu women. Assume those are some that escaped bieng turned into Daemonculaba

>>29145644

They WERE the Ghola Tanks. Some rehabilitated, others mercy killed.

>>29143820
Sure, I suppose. I'll have post it here later toay.

>>29147388
Sweet, thanks

>>29147388
>I'll have post it here later toay.

I wot.

I think I was still half-asleep at the time. Oh god, I have to look this thing over again.

EPILOGUE

---

The remnants of the portable command center smoldered behind Raha bint Ah’ma al-Qud.

The tide of battle only turned once the villagers joined battle. Three hundred Fremen against a force of fifty Sardaukar were good odds, but not unmatchable, especially not after seeing the Sardaukar captain slay dozens of your veterans in combat combat. But a thousand villagers… no skill at arms could overcome such impossible odds.

The captain was dead now. His men had shared his fate to the last, each one screaming and bathed in the blood of his enemies.

Your men were excellent, trained by the apostles of Muad’Dib himself. The prophet had guaranteed that they were the equal of any fighting force in the Imperium, and indeed they were. You had led many raids against Sardaukar occupiers, and you had succeeded with little injury in all of them save this one. Only these few men rose to the legend of the Sardaukar, and only these few men surpassed it.

You stare at the dead captain. His knife arm was ruined – a lucky shot, nothing more. Had that bullet not hit its mark, you fear that he would have held the alley to the last. Had he been shielded, he might have killed you all. His face was locked into a grin, even in death. Your knife still stood in the middle of his chest.

[1/2]

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>>29149007

Escaping from the cell was an easy matter. The two guards could not watch you forever, not when there was a battle to be fought. They were called away, and in that time you extracted a lockpicking device from under your skin and opened it. From there, all you had to do was plant a blade in the back of everyone in the building. A simple task, with their attention focused on the raiders and the natives who joined them. Another village liberated from the tyranny of Harkonnen rule. They lavished you in what offerings they could muster.

One of your raiders notices you looking at the dead Sardaukar.

“We should burn his corpse, Raha. That one is Shaitan, the adversary himself.”

“No, Zaahiy. He was merely a man.”

He was your enemy, but he deserved respect all the same. His strength demanded it. You walk to him and extract your knife at last, then spit into the wound it left.

A final gift of water for the Emperor’s finest.

[2/2]

>>29149028
>>29149007
Sweet, thanks.

fremen were here
sarduakar suck

>>29150529

Fremen a shit. Their plot armor could defend them from orbital bombardment.