𝐲𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐧 ⁀➴ paul atreides

prologue

─── ･ ｡ﾟ⟡ 🌑 ⟡ ˚｡ ･ ───

prologue

'Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are in the desert.'

─── ･ ｡ﾟ⟡ 🌑 ⟡ ˚｡ ･ ───

"My planet Arrakis is so beautiful when the sun is low," a woman says, clearly fond of the serenity she finds in her home.

Sand rolls in tiny, grain-like beats over the hills of the desert, the light of the sun beaming down on them, casting shadows in some directions to provide shade for wildlife.

"Rolling over the sands..." Small flecks of orange almost invisibly dance through the air, barely visible to the naked eye. "You can see spice in the air."

Fire swirls around what looks to be the center of a machine, open-mouthed and hungry, searching for something to consume as a masked figure looks out into the desert. He's cloaked in protective clothing and colors that would blend in with the desert quite beautifully.

"At nightfall, the spice harvesters land. The outsiders race against time to avoid the heat of the day."

The fire is revealed to be from the engine of a ship, as small lights indicate its arrival as the sand forms into huge dust clouds. In the distance, a sniper is perched on a rock, eyeing through the scope to seek his enemy in the climates of the sand-filled planet.

And there's not one, but multiple. Including a woman who remains sitting up, hidden by her outfit and the clothes that protect her from the sand, as well as a tube to keep her from breathing in the dust.

"They ravage our land in front of our eyes." Her eyes glow a deep blue, as do everyone else's, and her stare is nothing but harsh as she watches the outside. "Their cruelty to my people is all I've known."

. . . 

Clad in black clothing and hidden by the shadows until they walk into the light, hundreds of soldiers quickly approach a balcony overlooking the home of the people on Arrakis. What looks to be hundreds of barrels are neatly piled in clusters, and the buildings nearby are perfectly structured to keep the heat out and the shadows and cool weather inside.

"These outsiders, the Harkonnens, came long before I was born."

The leader steps up to look out onto the world he stands before, finding hundreds upon hundreds of huge robot-like ships being controlled, all headed towards them with a mission to take the spice they came for. 

"By controlling spice production, they became obscenely rich. Richer than the Emperor himself."

The man who stands above on the balcony is paler than the colors that skin takes on during fever; his clean-shaved head is scarred, and he is nothing less than intimidating. He gives a sharp exhale as he looks out upon the progress.

. . . 

Meanwhile, the snipers all remain still, their weapons hidden by clothes to keep their location concealed, ready to fight for their planet at a moment's notice, should anything go wrong. 

The Harkonnen soldiers, with their faces hidden and weapons held out, start to stalk into the cloud of sand before a soldier emerges from the floor, seemingly out of nowhere. The greatest strategy of the desert.

Within seconds, the men are stabbed and screaming, and the ships blow up before explosives are shot at the snipers, some killed off as others flee to the caves for safety. The woman looks back at the destruction, barely able to see through the cracks of the opening as she follows the others.

"Our warriors couldn't free Arrakis from the Harkonnens, but one day, by Imperial decree, they were gone."

Thousands upon thousands of Harkonnen soldiers stand with banners on a pole in each group, and ships nearby are docked with the ability to carry all of them. They start marching toward the belly of the ship, and one of them carries a large portion of the men out of the hemisphere and into space.

"Why did the Emperor choose this path?"

Ships upon ships filled with Harkonnen soldiers depart from Arrakis, leaving the desert-filled planet to its sand-dwelling people.

"And who will our next oppressors be?"