Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson - Legends of Dune 1.5- Whi

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When the armored Jihad warship arrived, the population of Giedi Prime expected news of a great

victory against the evil thinking machines. But with only a glance at the battle-scarred vessel,

young Vergyl Tantor could tell that the defense of Peridot Colony had not gone at all as planned.

On the crowded fringe of Giedi City Spaceport, Vergyl rushed forward, pressing against the

soldiers stuck there as ground troops, like himself: wide-eyed green recruits or veterans too old

to be sent into battle against Omnius's combat robots. His heart hammered like an industrial

piston in his chest.

He prayed that his adoptive brother, Xavier Harkonnen, was all right.

The damaged battleship heaved itself into the docking circle like a dying sea beast beached on a

reef. The big engines hissed and groaned as they cooled from the hot descent through the

atmosphere.

Vergyl stared at the blackened scars on the hull plates and tried to imagine the kinetic weapons

and high-energy projectiles that combat robots had inflicted upon the brave jihadi defenders.

If only he had been out there himself, Vergyl could have helped in the fight. But Xavier—the

commander of the battle group—always seemed to fight against his brother's eagerness with nearly

as much persistence as he fought against the machine enemy.

When the landing systems finished locking down, dozens of egress hatches opened on the lower hull.

Middle-ranking Jihad commanders emerged, bellowing for assistance. All medically qualified

personnel were called in from the city; others were shuttled from across the continents of Giedi

Prime to help the wounded soldiers and rescued colonists.

Triage and assessment stations were set up on the spaceport grounds. Official military personnel

were tended first, since they had pledged their lives to fight in the great struggle ignited by

Serena Butler. Their crimson-and-green uniforms were stained and badly patched; they'd obviously

had no chance to repair them during the many weeks of transit from Peridot Colony. Mercenary

soldiers received second-priority treatment, along with the refugees from the colony.

Vergyl rushed in with the other ground-based soldiers to help, his large brown eyes flicking back

and forth in search of answers. He needed to find someone who could tell him what had happened to

Segundo Harkonnen. Worry scratched at Vergyl's mind while he worked. Perhaps everything was all

right . . . but what if his big brother had been killed in a heroic rally? Or what if he was

injured, yet remained aboard the battered ship, refusing to accept help for himself until all of

his personnel were tended to? Both of those scenarios would have fit Xavier's personality.

For hours, Vergyl refused to slow down, unable to fully grasp what these jihadi fighters had been

through. Sweating and exhausted, he worked himself into a trancelike stupor, following orders,

helping one after another of the wounded, burned, and despairing refugees.

He heard muttered conversations that told of the onslaught that had wiped out the small colony.

When the thinking machines had attempted to absorb the settlement into the Synchronized Worlds,

the Army of the Jihad had sent its defenders there.

Peridot Colony had been but a skirmish, however, like so many others in the dozen years since

Serena Butler had originally rallied all humans to fight in her cause, after the thinking machines

murdered her young son, Manion. Xavier's son.

The ebb and flow of the Jihad had caused a great deal of damage to both sides, but neither

fighting force had gained a clear upper hand. And though the thinking machines continued to build

fresh combat robots, lost human lives could never be replaced. Serena gave passionate speeches to

recruit new soldiers for her holy war. So many fighters had died that the Jihad no longer publicly

revealed the cost. The struggle was everything.

Following the Honru Massacre seven years earlier, Vergyl had insisted on joining the Army of the

Jihad himself. He considered it his duty as a human being, even without his connection to Xavier

and the martyred child, Manion. At their estate on Salusa Secundus, his parents had tried to make

the young man wait, since he was barely seventeen, but Vergyl would hear none of it.

Returning to Salusa after a difficult skirmish, Xavier had surprised their parents by offering a

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waiver that would allow underage Vergyl to begin training in the army. The young man had leaped at

the opportunity, not guessing that Xavier had his own plans. Overprotective, Segundo Harkonnen had

seen to it that Vergyl received a safe, quiet assignment, stationed here on Giedi Prime where he

could help with the rebuilding work—and where he would stay far from any pitched battles against

the robotic enemy.

Now Vergyl had been in Giedi City for years, rising minimally in rank to second decero in the

Construction Brigade . . . never seeing any action. Meanwhile, Xavier Harkonnen's battleships went

to planet after planet, protecting free humanity and destroying the mechanized legions of the

computer evermind Omnius. . . .

Vergyl stopped counting all the bodies he'd moved. Perspiring in his dark green uniform, the young

construction officer and a civilian man carried a makeshift stretcher, hauling a wounded mother

who had been rescued from her devastated prefab home on Peridot Colony. Women and children from

Giedi City hurried among the workers and wounded, offering water and food.

Finally, in the warm afternoon, a ragged cheer penetrated Vergyl's dazed focus, as he set the

stretcher down in the midst of a triage unit. Looking up, he drew in a quick breath. At the

warship's main entrance ramp, a proud military commander stepped forward into the sunshine of

Giedi Prime.

Xavier Harkonnen wore a clean segundo's uniform with immaculate golden insignia. By careful

design, he cut a dashing military figure, one that would inspire confidence and faith among his

own troops as well as the civilians of Giedi City. Fear was the worst enemy the machines could

bring against them. Xavier never offered any observer reason for uncertainty: Yes, brave humanity

would eventually win this war.

Grinning, Vergyl let out a sigh as all his doubts evaporated. Of course Xavier had survived. This

great man had led the strike force that liberated Giedi Prime from the enslavement of cymeks and

thinking machines. Xavier had commanded the human forces in the atomic purification of Earth, the

first great battle of Serena Butler's Jihad.

And the heroic Segundo Xavier Harkonnen would never stop until the thinking machines were

defeated.

But as Vergyl watched his brother walk down the ramp, he noticed that the brave commander's

footsteps had a heavy, weary quality, and his familiar face looked shell-shocked. Not even a hint

of a smile there, no gleam in his gray eyes. Just flat stoniness. How had the man gotten so old?

Vergyl idolized him, needed to speak with him alone as a brother, so that he could learn the real

story.

But in public, Segundo Harkonnen would never let anyone see his inner feelings. He was too good a

leader for that.

Vergyl pushed his way through the throng, shouting and waving with the others, and finally Xavier

recognized him in the sea of faces. His expression lit with joy, then crashed, as if weighed down

by the burden of war memories and realizations. Vergyl and his fellow relief workers hurried up

the ramp to surround the lead officer and escorted him into the safety of Giedi City.

Along with his surviving sub-commanders, Xavier Harkonnen spent hours dispensing reports and

debriefing League officials, but he insisted on breaking away from these painful duties to spend a

few hours with his brother.

He arrived at Vergyl's small home unrested, eyes bloodshot and haunted. When the two of them

hugged, Xavier remained stiff for a moment, before weakening and returning his dark-skinned

brother's embrace. Despite the physical dissimilarities that marked their separate racial

heritage, they knew that the bonds of love had nothing to do with bloodlines and everything to do

with the loving family experiences they had shared in the household of Emil and Lucille Tantor.

Leading him inside, Vergyl could sense the tremors Xavier was suppressing. He distracted Xavier by

introducing him to his wife of two years, whom Xavier had never met.

Sheel was a young, dark-haired beauty not accustomed to receiving guests of such importance. She

had not even traveled to Salusa Secundus to meet Vergyl's parents or to see the Tantor family

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file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/Brian%20Her...Anderso %20-%20Legends%20of%20Dune%201.5-%20Whipping%20Mek.txtWhenthearmoredJihadwarshiparrived,thepopulationofGiediPrimeexpectednewsofagreatvictoryagainsttheevilthinkingmachines.Butwithonlyaglanceatthebattle-scarredvessel,youngVerg...

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