Thread: Eternal Sands - Closed

Leto sighed as he read though the pages of reports. So many of them were related to rebel activity that he was growing tiresome of the mere mention of the word 'rebel'. Among other matters, a town had been taken over and the mayor was looking for refuge in the Capital, food production had gone down due to theft (no doubt by the rebels), and cities hundreds of kilometres away were reporting that whole gangs of bandits were gathering together. It was at times like this when the Emperor wondered if his predecessor had retired too early. Leto still wasn't sure what sort of leader he would have to be, and he had the terrible feeling that such indecision would cost lives.

After flicking through the reports some more without any enthusiasm, Leto pressed a button on the console at the side of the throne, which projected a map of all the locations on Amara. Leto used it to check on the cities that reported the gathering of bandits. Such news was certainly a cause for concern.

Since the earliest days of the Empire's history, there had been more than a few recorded accounts of bandit hordes rampaging across the desert. One in the past had even managed to strike at the Capital City itself, which was eventually defeated after the Marutuk of that time had killed the bandit horde's leader at this very spot, within the throne room of the palace.

It seemed almost too grand to have ever happened in real life, but no Dune Emperor was ever a liar when it came to recording the Empire's true history, which Leto himself was destined to do one day when it would be time for him to retire. His predecessor had made an exception of that tradition however when he decided to leave the palace and become a general. "What would you have done, Saladin?" Leto muttered as he studied the map, trying to discern the significance of the locations where the bandits were gathering.

Issat had just entered the royal halls after debriefing a few guardsmen. The men in question had reportedly seen some strange activity on the border and Issat wanted to deal with them first hand. Spotting the Emperor and his unease Issat sighed. Emperor Leto was always worrying himself sick about all of the rebels and such. Nothing but scum. Why did the Emperor hesitate. This rebellion should not have lasted nearly as long as it has. Did the rabble pose that much of a threat? Impossible, they were nothing but fools and swine.

Approaching the Emperor he kept his hand on the pommel of his blade. His eyes scanned the room for threats. Issat was always double checking himself. Making sure everything was perfect and safe. Finally reaching the throne his cloak gathering around his feet as he knelt beside the Emperor.

"Troubles My lord?" He asked. He already knew the answer to that question but formality came first.

"There are always troubles," Leto replied as he closed the map and held up the reports. "More than a hundred food vats reporting security breaches; a mayor requesting refuge here for himself and his people after losing his town to bandits; two hoverbarges reported lost in the desert; fifteen attempts by the rebels to incite the general public to rebellion, one success on that account which my predecessor is currently dealing with; and more and more and more."

He set the reports aside and stood up to walk over to a wide window, showing the night lights of the Capital City. "Even here, there are rebels in hiding who wish to see me dead. As for beyond where the rest of the Empire is... I've trained my whole life to take responsibility of it all, and sometimes I still wonder if I'm ready."

The Dune Emperor turned to his aide, who he had raised from the grinding machine of the military, who had experienced first-hand some of the general matters in the reports that spoke frankly and clinically of the horrors they summarized. "But I must be ready," Leto said with finality. "It is my duty as a Marutuk. What concerns me the most right now is the matter of these bandit gatherings. They have no identifiable leader or purpose as of yet, but I know they will cause no end of troubles when they become a horde."

"Although bandits may have gotten into the capital before I would like to see them do anything of worth on my watch. This place, no matter how many enemies surround you, is the safest place for now. Not only am I your sword, with which you may use to strike down all who oppose you. I am also your shield, to protect you when all others have failed." Issat held his position through his speech. He felt every word of it was true. He was the only person the Emperor could truly rely on. Him and the few handpicked by him, seen to hold almost just as much loyalty as he.

Issat thought for a moment. Ideas swirled through his mind as he tried to figure out any possible way to help end this war. One sprung out at him, it was extreme, but if Leto allowed it, the possibility to kill two birds with one stone was prominent. It would have to kept a secret, if the public got word of it then it may spell disaster. Or it may not, common folk as a whole are hard to read at times.

"May I ask lord," he asked, waiting for Leto to nod. "Do you believe the rebels in the capital to have ties to the ones absent from our presence?"

Leto knew full well of Issat's hatred of the rebels, and that he would only ever speak of them for one reason. "All rebels have ties to one another, whether they acknowledge it or not," Leto replied. "But I sense there is more you would say, so say on and let me hear your thoughts. Though I must say, I feel as though you are underestimating the bandits' potential for damage. I understand that the rebels are a much more immediate threat, but there's no use in starting another purge like my predecessor did. It was assuredly an appropriate course of action given the circumstances, but ultimately a short term solution. The merest idea of the Empire being an oppressive force is enough to allow the rebels to resurface again and again, as they have always done. But these bandits, we can deal with them now and discourage another horde gathering for centuries to come."

Leto paused to check his words as they verged on spiel. What prompted this? he thought to himself. Was it urgency or annoyance, or perhaps stress? Am I still so new to being a ruler? He held his hands up in an apologetic gesture and said, "I'm sorry, Issat, I think I am being presumptuous. For all the vaunted powers of my office, I cannot say that I am able to read minds. You must understand that not a single day has gone by where I do not hear about rebels. I sometimes envy the Marutuks before my predecessor, for theirs were times of peace."

"I think you underestimate the rebels my lord. Both they and the bandits are nothing but unorganized trash they're leader, Alphonsus, can organize them. That would be very bad for the empire. I believe that the best course of action is to kill Alphonsus as immediately as possible and then deal with the bandits. To do this I propose that we find the rebels that are here in the capital and squeeze the information out of them. The common folk would not like their privacy being disturbed but they need not know, and it is for the best," Issat explained.

To do such a task he would need a small team of talented magic users and warriors who could work underneath the laws of normal society. This of course is very risky business and he wasn't sure the emperor would even agree to such a thing, but he had to try. It was now or never. Leto considered the rebels the secondary threat but Issat knew that the rebels were more of a problem than most considered.

However, Issat would honor whatever choice Leto made. If he thought that the bandits were more of a threat he was obligated to deal with them first.

Leto thought of pointing out that the bandits would not be bandits if they were fighting for a cause, but he did not doubt that Alphonsus would attempt to find recruits among them. The chances of that happening were as slim as making allies out of nomads, but that did not at all deter the audacious rebel leader. He would take any opportunity to weaken the Empire, and that included the seduction of loyal citizens to his side.

"Should I do as my predecessor would have done?" Leto wondered with resignation. "What you suggest is practical Issat, but it would mean making Alphonsus into a martyr... well, I suppose it's too late for that. Any way he dies now, he would become a martyr. The elf attacks so recklessly that I wonder if that's exactly what he wants."

The Dune Emperor sat down heavily on his throne and kneaded his forehead as he contemplated the situation. It would be possible to deal with the bandits and Alphonsus at the same time, there were certainly enough resources for it. But if the bandits were to face a direct threat from the Empire, they would either flee or strike back, united or not, and then there would be war on two fronts with the rebels taking advantage of the situation. That was too great a risk to gamble with, but dealing with either problems first meant giving the other one time to grow in magnitude, also a great risk.

As of now, the bandits posed a minimal threat while the rebels ever remained on the offensive. Leto knew from his predecessor's example that interrogating his own citizens did not ensure their loyalty at all. It was the very thing that made Alphonsus into a rebel in the first place. Killing him would certainly inflame his followers rather than discourage them, but without an icon to rally behind, they would effectively be decapitated for as long as another didn't rise to take the elf's place. A difficult prospect considering how brightly he had shone in such a short span of time. A focused persecution of the rebel leader would be better in the long term, but the rebels would have strength for years yet to rail against the Empire. In that amount of time, the bandits could have amassed themselves into a single unstoppable horde and be ready to maraud across all of Amara, causing more destruction than the rebels ever could.

On the other hand, if the bandits' potential for havoc was nipped in the bud before it could grow, it would be another century or two before they ever posed a major threat again. The problem was that seeking out any rising warlords with the potential of uniting all bandits could either take weeks or years, or even centuries. Such was the dilemma of seeking anything in the wild desert, the ultimate refuge of fugitives. And Alphonsus would have had enough time to raise all kinds of mayhem for as long as he lived. Asides from that, dealing with the bandits first would carry the risk of war on two fronts anyway, as the rebels were a constant threat whilst the bandits were not, unless provoked.

All these chances, all these risks, all of these potentially catastrophic consequences however the situation was approached. These were the burdens that Leto had been taught since childhood to expect, but the sheer enormity of such decisions demanded that every option be observed thoroughly and quickly, for delay was as damning as haste.

"If you have any suggestions, any advice, then say them and do not hold anything back, Issat," Leto said, unable to help thinking that there was something he was missing. "You mentioned that the people need not know that they were being questioned. I must know, what did you mean by that?"

Issat bowed his head lower in apology and then stood up, ready to begin his explanation. "To effectively end this squabble we must consider all possible paths of warfare and espionage. We are contending with two problems at once which means we either spread ourselves thin and deal with both or deal with one and then another. I suggest the latter as the more preferred option because if the rebels were dealt with fast enough than the bandits would have no time to amass." Issat began pacing back and forth as his explanation grew longer and longer and he tried to figure out the best words to use and best order to explain things. He knew conversation was like a minefield. You had to carefully navigate it to achieve your goal or all would be lost.

"I suggest a small team of specially trained magic users, we already have such skilled magicians in our grasp. These people would use methods that the common folk wouldn't be able to detect. Divination, scrying, thought detection, all of these methods are almost completely undetectable except for someone who has a trained mind. After the city has been thoroughly searched for the rebels we take all of them in , secretly of course, and use them to find out information about Alphonsus." Issat cringed at the name. What a horrible person Alphonsus was, creating such discontent in the Empire for absolutely no reason. He needed to be gotten rid of. Issat shook his head to continue explaining his plan.

"Part three would be the capture of Alphonsus, not necessarily his death. If we capture him alive and secretly take him back to the capital for imprisonment we can do whatever we want. I suggest a private hearing, then when he is found guilty an execution, also private. It's best if nobody knows what happened to Alphonsus, no matter if he's executed or merely imprisoned."

This seemed like a solid plan to Issat although maybe the Emperor could pick apart some flaws in it that he had not seen beforehand. Hopefully it would work, if it didn't it will have wasted precious time that they cannot spare. Issat waited patiently for the Emperors response.

"Covert operations?" Leto mused, then smiled with approval. "Yes, I hadn't thought of that. It carries its risks of course, but perhaps subtlety is the best solution. However..."

Leto activated the console on the side of his throne and flicked his hand across the holographic screen, bringing up a list of reports at a single thought. "It has been attempted before, by my predecessor no less. He managed to achieve through brute force what he couldn't with subtlety, and here we are... This was his task force, all of them the best of the best during their time."

A list of names was projected above the throne where Issat could see it, all listed as KIA or MIA. "He did not have to deal with Alphonsus during his time, but nonetheless, to underestimate the rebels is the greatest folly," Leto said in the gravest of manner. "It is a lesson all Marutuks are reminded of at one point or another. Understand that I do not underestimate the rebels. Given a choice between them and the bandits, I would naturally opt for the easier problem first. You are telling me that Alphonsus should be dealt with as swiftly as possible, I agree, but how can you assure me that your plan will succeed?"

The Dune Emperor sat back in his throne as he deactivated the console. "You cannot," he stated plainly. "But I am willing to take the risk. Assemble your team. You have my authorization to carry out this operation in the utmost secrecy, and you will report to me every step of the way." Leto leaned forward and looked at his majordomo in the eyes. "I want you to succeed in this, Issat. For the sake of the Empire, for the sake of us all, Alphonsus must be stopped before we have a full blown uprising on our hands."

The Dune Emperor has charged Issat to assemble a team and carry out his operation in the utmost secrecy. The Hunt For Alphonsus has begun.