Halcyon 🪐⋆｡°✩ Paul Arteides ✩⋆｡°🪐 / A Star Wars Story

1.

Arrakis.

A planet made of the universe's most important mineral. A desert laced with Melange, commonly known as the Spice, Arrakis is the very source of every species' continuation. Space travel relies on the Spice, but it was also a performance enhancing drug. 

It increases physical and mental ability, awareness, and slows the ageing process on the average species. It's favourable that Arrakis is covered in the mineral, but its supply is not what makes it so precious.

Amongst the Spice, are behemoth sandworms. They will devour anything that moves on the surface. With a mouth full of monstrous teeth, sandworms make the harvesting of Melange difficult and dangerous. They are known to grow the sizes of star ships, and their senses are attuned to the desert.

With no eyes or sense of smell, the predators sense the vibrations of footsteps and machinery from below. They are lethal, territorial, and to the rest of the universe, a nuisance.

In order to keep up with demand, the harvesting of the Spice needs to be delicate and effective. To ensure the universe's survival, an army and a structure of order is needed. The universe was at no shortage of armies, but their soldiers need to withstand Arrakis' dangerous climate and inhabitants.

House Harkonenn had been at the reigns for years. But all of a sudden, they were pulled from its operations. 

With no explanation, the brutal house were told to leave the harvest and return to their planet, Giedi Prime. This was a move that no one suspected nor dared to question, and the Spice harvest was left in a momentary limbo.

The operations eventually fell to House Atreides. Originally from the planet Caladan, they were known for having the most loyal, and fiercely-trained army. 

The Duke, Leto Atreides I, was merciful, but not to be underestimated. Leto was a fierce leader, but a soft man to those he cared for and respected. That included his son, Paul, who was born unexpectedly to the duke and his mistress.

Lady Jessica, who was part of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, was presented to the duke as part of the breeding program. The sisterhood had the goal of creating a male offspring that would be a combination of the most powerful, sufficient and strong genes possible. This was in the making for generations, and Lady Jessica was just another link in the chain.

But the child that was born to the Atreides duke, was a boy. Paul was born a generation too early. There was no bride for the House Harkonnen, whose son was set to create the prophesied Kwisatz Haderach. 

The Great Houses were outraged. The Bene Gesserit had weaved itself into the mix with promise of a superior being. But the Atreides had broken the prophecy, a boy born by the willpower of Lady Jessica.

Despite the diversion of the Bene Gesserit's plan, House Atreides continued their reign, and found themselves in control of Arrakis' Spice.

That was until House Harkonnen returned in the dead of the night, and everything changed in the desert.

---

While Arrakis sat on the Outer-Rim, The Core of the universe was where the geopolitics took place. Emperor Palpatine was struggling to keep the peace throughout the galaxy, and with the clone wars raging, the core planet of Coruscant was the last frontier.

Count Dooku, a newly exposed Sith Lord, was at the root of all the conflict. His army of droids and his alliance with rebel planets made him a dangerous opponent. 

The Galactic Senate spend most of their days discussing how to battle Dooku, while trying to form more connections with powerful and resourceful planets. But the droid army were relentless, and the Emperor needed his own army.

The Jedi Order were put to the test with their army of clones. Originally peace keepers, the Jedi were wielders of the Force, the life and energy that ran through the universe. 

With their lightsabers and their intricate training, the Jedi were skilled, fierce, and now serving the Galactic Republic to take Count Dooku into custody.

Arrakis was part of the Republic. Its resources were valuable and the Emperor believed he had it under control. Its vast desert made it difficult to completely conquer, so the worry of Dooku taking over was not a priority. With the Artreides in charge, the Emperor was able to focus on the clone wars elsewhere.

---

'House Atreides is no more. House Harkonnen have regained their right to Arrakis. Our first order is to call for reinforcements against the Fremen. 

The natives have made the harvesting of the Spice tiresome and difficult, and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen demands for change. The Atreides were weak, and they would have never been able to uphold the Spice trade to serve the Republic. They would have been soft against the natives, and their fall was only a matter of time.

Emperor Palpatine, we need the Fremen destroyed. They're pests, rats, vermin. We can battle the worms, but the Fremen are what stands in the universe's way of a limitless resource of Spice.

House Harkonnen will make the universe have power.

Spice is power, and the Harkonnen will wield it as such.'

---

This was the transmission that was sent to the Emperor. Because of the Republic's democratic base, he gathered his representatives and played the recording to the Senate. 

To hear that House Atreides was no more was no less than terrible news. Their relations with the Senate and the Republic was strong, but their rivalry with House Harkonnen was not unknown to the Senate.

'They want to wipe out the Indigenous!' the representative for the moon, Pandora, had exclaimed. 'They've already committed genocide, and they want to do it again!'

'These are war crimes! We should intervene!' the representative for Aldeeran had exclaimed.

The Emperor knew that the Harkonnen were not liked by many, and the uproar from their actions could not be ignored. But Arrakis is delicate, and with it in the hands of the brutal, erratic, merciless Harkonnen, the Senate had to be careful with how they acted.

'Something will be done,' the Emperor had said. 'We will not send aid to the Harkonnen. But we have peacekeepers, so let's use them.'