Dune II

The Second Spice War

by Dranden

Pre-History from Dune
In the first war for control of the Spice, the Smugglers team seized control of the Golden Lion throne by defeating the native Fremen and the Atreides lord of Calladan. They were assisted in their Conquest by their allies, the Harkonnen lords, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesseritt of Wallach IX, and the Salusa Secundus forces of the Corrino family. It was a bloody war on Dune and would plant the seeds of more conflict to come…

Secret Pacts and Agreements of Mistrust
Seeking to break from the dominion of the Emporer, a secret alliance was formed at the outset of the Second Great Spice War between the Spacing Guild and the Witches of Wallach IX. Working together, they planned to make war and seize control of the Spice from the Dranden, Padishah Emperor of a Million Worlds and holder of the Golden Lion Throne. The Smuggler team once again allied itself with the Harkonnen faction in an effort to maintain its rule over the lucrative spice fields of Arrakis.

In order to lull the Emporer into a sense of security, the Witches and the Guild both sent representatives offering peace to the Emporer. As a renegade Navigator himself, Dranden entered into a hallucinogenic spice-induced trance in order to untangle the webs of time and steal a glance into the future. The twisted plans within plans that were set against him revealed, Dranden agreed to peace terms with the traitorous teams, but set his own plans in motion for their destruction. And so the battles began…

Fall of the Fremen
Having some degree of peace amongst themselves, it appeared that all the Great Houses were determined to rid the face of Arrakis of its native inhabitants first. The Fremen were ruthlessly persecuted by Smugglers, Harkonnens, Guild Navigators, and Witches alike. No quarter was asked for or given. In rapid sucession, Ducky004, Abraxas, RedHeart, and Einar all fell within four cycles of each other to the various teams. Little did anyone know at the time, but the Smugglers team had also killed a Reverend Mother masquerading as a Fremen Wise Woman in the process…

The Planetologist
While the genocide of the Fremen was taking place, the Admiral of Geidi Prime's navy, Squidlord, was battling the Salusa representative on Arrakis, Jodyman. With knife to his thoat, the Baron of Geidi Prime, Lord Rolston, agreed to spare the life of the planetologist Jodyman in exchange for his pledge to support the Baron's claim to the throne. Since his loyalty to the Salusa team was but a facade for his secret loyalty to the Fremen people, the planetologist agreed and began making preparations to avenge his Fremen brothers' deaths at the hands of the Guild.

Changing of the Guard on Calladan
Early in the war, the Lord of House Atreides, NwarDezir was murdered by a Bene Gesseritt assassin, Tyrus. Sneaking into his fortress, she struck him down with one prick of her Gom Jabbar. The reigns of House Atreides were then thrust onto Prince Clueless, heir of House Atreides and a male Bene Gesserit in his own right. Not seeking conflict with the Witches, Prince Clueless made peace with his father's killers while secretly vowing to exact revenge.

At the same time this occurred, the Smugglers' commanders Fire Warrior II and Mythris were closing in on the Atreides battle lord, Overlander. Seeking peace for his embattled commander, Prince Clueless struck a bargain with the Smugglers team to support their claim to the Golden Lion Throne in exchange for sparing Overlander. This decision would send unforeseen ripples throughout the universe.

Battle Lines are Drawn
As battles rages across the face of Arrakis, Emporer Dranden sensed the time was right and informed the Wallach team that peace with the Witches was no longer an option. Having given notice of Kanly, Emporer Dranden and Lord Yoshiwara prepared for battle. Across Arrakis, Smugglers and Witches sharpened their blades and made ready for war. Several cycles later, as the Smugglers and Witches began their conflict, the foreseen alliance of Witches and Guild members finally came out into the open. Lord Mandos of the Guild served Kanly on Emporer Dranden, setting the stage for the final conflict which would engulf Dune. All had gone according to his visions up till this point, but the unexpected occurred.

The Trechery of the Planetologist
Now freed from conflict with the Smugglers, Lord Overlander had set his sights on the last remaining Fremen on Dune, the planetologist Jodyman. Now being attacked on all sides by the Guild and the Atreides, the planetologist sent an urgent communication and plea for help to his masters on Geidi Prime. Somehow the transmission was intercepted and his pleas failed to reach Lord Rolston. Sensing his impending demise, the planetologist made another secret bargain and pledged his eternal loyalty to the Bene Gesseritt faction. Now outed a member of the Wallach team, the planetologist took advantage of the peace between the Witches and the Atreides and laid in his plans to join his brethren in attacking the Smugglers team.

Caught off guard from this turn of events, Emperor Dranden and Lord Rolston made a desperate plea to the Atreides lord for his support. Putting aside the past history between these three houses, they made a final pact to seal the fate of the Guild and the Witches together. Prince Clueless would have his revenge on his father's killer at last. The deadly Atreides air forces under the direction of Rishib put an end to Jodyman and his mighty armies.

The Fall of the Witches
At the onset of battle between the Dranden and Yoshiwara, the Smugglers had strategically made peace with their other neighbors and concentrated their resources on supporting Dranden. The Witch team was spread out and fighting on many fronts. The outcome was decided before swords were even crossed as a mighty worm was raised from the Sands to strike the death blow on Yoshiwara. As the Worm captured Honshu, home of the Witch Lord, another worm summoned forth by the Smuggler's Military Commander Mythris braught an end to the Witch kingdom of Grimjack. As these battles raged on, the other Witches, Catiea and Tyrus, were fighting the forces from Salusa Secundus. With the discovery that Navigator Zoldar was a traitor for the Salusa team, Tyrus's fate seemed to be sealed. While the fighting raged onward, the power of the witches was clearly broken.

The Breaking of the Space Guild
With the Witches safely out of the way, the Smugglers and the Guild faced off. This was clearly going to be a fight to the death as both sides appeared evenly matched. Seeking to confuse Dranden, Mandos raised a temple on Dranden's border while cloaking the real threat - a hidden temple nearby. The bait was taken and Dranden wasted resources defending the feint. But the bigger mistake was made by Mandos as the hidden temple brought forth a mighty giant to protect Mandos's main army and he suckermanned Dranden's border fort hoping to slaughter the Smuggler lord's armies. The border fort turned out to be empty and therein lay the seeds of Mandos's destruction. For the remainder of the conflict, Dranden would exploit his resource advantage to stall Mandos's advance. The mighty giant never got a chance to enter the fray.

As the conflict began, Dranden terraformed a mountain range and sent a small expeditionary force stright toward Mandos's command center. This force met little resistance at first and began closing in. Two regions from Mandos's home, Dranden's resource advantage became overwhelming. Mandos sent forces to cut off Dranden, but they were misdirected. Ten troops entered the region adjacent to the Guild Headquarters as the Smugglers concentrated all their fury on the fight against Mandos. The two sides taunted each other in an attempt to psych the other out. Who would blink…

Mandos summoned a second giant to defend his home. Knowing that there was only one chance, Dranden risked all and made a play for Mandos's home (a 321 fury suckerman to the side region, a 322 optic terror on the 10 men, and a 321 karash on Mandos's fort to overcast an expected hydromine). The aggressive ploy worked and the Spacing Guild's demise became inevitable.

The following cycle, Martin Tenbones of the Guild was eliminated. The cycle after that, Mythris murdered Bill Korbecki in a feat of daring and skill. Over the next two cycles, the last two steersmen, Jblue and Lorddeath, were brought down by the Harkonens and the Salusa team. The Guild was smashed.

Jihad
The outcome of the Second Spice War all but decided, the Smugglers began to work on the process of ending the game. Despite calls from the Landsraad to show mercy, Emporer Dranden decreed that his enemies must perish and personally delivered the death blows to the remaining witches, Tyrus and Catiea, in the waning days of the war. The Smugglers retained the Golden Lion Throne and Emporer Dranden rewarded his allies well.

-Entered into the Annals of History at the Command of Emporer Dranden II, Padishah Emperor of a Million Worlds, Holder of the Golden Lion Throne

Citadel presented by The Library of Midia