A Dune / Star Wars Crossover

(just unlocking this, I hope it is continued!)
Julie

DISCLAIMER : We don't own Star Wars, nor do we Dune, as much as we'd like to (nah, someday I'll become a milliardaire and buy the rights for both )

**

I am the anchor of two multitudes.
The thought was striking the old woman to the core, as she was readying herself for the upcoming ceremony she would be leading. And, in fact, the sentence was a truthful one : the Reverend Mother was the spiritual anchor of a Fremen tribe as well as the physical anchor of the memories of those who had come before her - the Second Memory, an alley of mirrors filled with the reflections of persons long dead and yet still alive, inhabiting the mind of the woman who had chosen to host them.
We Reverend Mothers may be privileged, but we have to carry a heavy burden.
Is it weariness I am sensing, Ramallo ? a voice from the Second Memory asked.
Yes, I am tired. And I long for a woman who could carry us altogether. None of the tribe is willing to follow my teachings, now that Khalehla failed the test. Fremen do not fear death, but they are afraid of this kind of death.
Perhaps Fremen have grown a little too Fremenish - and the Reverend Mother saw a grinning face with her Second Sight. They regard this death for what it is : a result of failure. We do not like failures.
You know as well as I do that the girl was ready for this test.
We have failed nonetheless. I don't know what caused her demise. Perhaps it has to do with the awakening of her own Second Sight ; she may have drowned into the pond of her ancestry's memories. History had always been her passion. Our warnings may not have been enough.
Yes, this may have happened. But she was so disciplined !
The tribe is waiting, daughter. The time for mourning has passed ; now is the time for planning.
I am a servant to the Fremen.

The old woman stood, using a stick to prevent herself from falling. She was a wrinkled and shrivelled ancient woman, dressed in a black gown with hood thrown back to reveal the tight knot of grey hair and a stringy neck. Wisdom could be read in her deep blue eyes, that of a woman who had lived long past a century and had memories from several more millennia. Her voice was rasping, but it was still strong enough to be heard across the wide cavern where more than twenty thousand Fremen were massed.

'We are the people of Misr !' she boomed. 'Since our Sunni ancestors fled from Nilotic al-Ourouba, we have known flight and death. The young go on that our people shall not die.'
'Bi-lal kaifa' intoned the crowd.
'Our ancestors fought for the right to survive.'
'We honor their fight.'
'We went into exile, and God sent us to Arrakis for our final test.'
'Our journey has ended.'
'God created Arrakis to train the faithful.'
'We accept the trial.'
'God told us to wait for the Lisan al-Gaib, the Voice from the Outer World.'
'They will bring us freedom.'
'A Bene Gesserit chosen by God will stand by His side, and her protégés will lead us to true freedom.'
'Bi-lal Kaifa.'
'There shall be pain and death, and the water of our lives will run down the sands.'
'They are the price of freedom.'
'But in the end we shall shatter our bonds, and the faithful will spread the word of God across the Galaxy that had hunted them down.'
'That is the will of God.'

Silence fell down in the room, and a tall, robed man stood, facing the crowd. He had a thin nose and a full-lipped mouth in a glistening black beard ; topping these features were two deep blue eyes with no whites, which was typical of the Fremen, a testimony to the saturation of their blood by the spice melange. The man was Stilgar, brother of Liet-Kynes and leader of the tribe assembled in front of him.

'The Harkonnen have just received word that their rule over Arrakis will cease twenty years from now ! When the time has passed they will be replaced by another Great House.' There was a mumbling among the crowd, and Stilgar pursued his tal

 

Great beginning, now I am waiting for more.

 

Hmm... This sounds interesting! I definitely can't wait for more! Keep up the great work!

AngelQueen

 

Wow! glad to see you guys finally got this off the ground. Your off to an excellent start might I add! Keep it up!

 

Yay!! We've started...

--Mr. P

 

Nice! Keep it up.

 

Yea! I'm so happy to see this idea wasn't abandoned! I have a feeling I'm going to be slightly confused through all of this, since I've only watched the two Dune movies, but that's okay!

More soon please! (I'm hoping the more I read, the clearer this will all become - as is generally the way with stories...)

 

Wonderful start. I'm impressed. Can't wait
for more.

 

Great writing, Lordban. I love the way you did that.
I'm so pleased to see that this idea is off the ground. I must say, I was concerned that it would be little more than whisperings on the wind. It seems it isn't, though!

Can't wait to read more. Will Luke be put in the breeding program? That is, if Luke is in the story...

Hugs.

 

Here comes the next part.

I won't be writing the following one, if you've read the Story Index it's a Round Robin. Either Mr.P or Liz Skyalker will go next, I don't know yet which one of them will.

**

BOOK ONE : DUNE

**

Rulers seldom have interest in commonfolk. My father used to call them 'rabble' when he was in private with other nobles, most of which agreed. He had forgotten that there are always a few special beings among the commonfolk, and that when one of those acts, there is always a slight chance that his actions will reshape the entire universe. This is the lesson taught us by the events we have faced.

- from 'Analysis : the Arrakeen Crisis' by the Princess Irulan

**

The last sunset I may be witnessing on Tatooine. I'm off, uncle Owen, with or without your agreement !

As he was sitting in front of the Lars farm, Luke Skywalker's eyes were being offered one of the most beautiful spectacles in the entire galaxy, one of those wonders of nature that flourish under the harshest of conditions, reminding all sentient beings that there are marvels their hands will never be able to create.
Luke didn't really mind, though ; his thoughts were in a deep turmoil, and if one could have seen his face at that time, he would have guessed the boy was up to something.

Luke's traits were partly sharpened by the planet he had spent his life on, but there were soft features that proved there was outworlder blood running in his veins. He had come to accept the fact : his father and mother were both outworlders, and it fact having some of the looks of Tatooine was a reason to be proud for him (even if his friends had burst into laughter when he had told them). Sandy was his hair, and longer than usual for a man ; a few meshes ended in front of his ice-faceted eyes, and he wiped them away with a quick gesture of his hands. He was rather small, but he was only seventeen, so he could hope to gain a few more inches before having reached his full height. And his muscles had been strengthened by his life as a farmboy, so he was stronger than quite a few outworlders. He didn't like challenges, however, and he often ended up in disagreeable situations for this reason. An outworlder trait he was uneasy with : he was way not aggressive enough to meet the Tatooine standards.
Why should I mind ? he thought. I'm off this dustball as soon as possible. I can thank Uncle Owen for not going to the academy, but I'll become a great pilot anyway. And when I'm meeting with Biggs and the others again, we'll still all be playing in the same league. I may even be better !

He was angry at his uncle. Owen had refused to let him join the Imperial Academy to be trained as a pilot, claiming he needed him badly for the next harvest. This year's harvest has been our best ever, and we've made enough money to buy droids to do my job. He's trying to ground me just to earn a more comfortable pay than he would without me. But I won't comply !
His thoughts wandered back to the conversation that had just taken place at this evening's meal. It was still burning his mind, its words carved into his memories with fiery letters. And I know why I asked. And I was polite. He had no good reason to refuse !

He really had asked politely. At first, he was unable to ask the question, while Owen and Beru were discussing the consequences of the last harvest.

'The income was really good this season' Beru had said.
'Yeah, I'm glad my work has brought rewards at last. And it'll be better next season.'
'Any news yet from those Jawa droid sellers ?'
'Nope, scared off by Tusken raiders lately. Won't see them until things cool down. But we can afford having new droids a week later than expected. The next sowing won't come before next month, we've still got plenty of time.'
'Yes, Owen, you've got plenty of time for sure. What do you plan for next season ?'
'Well, my mind isn't made up yet. Got a few ideas.'

Luke had felt the time to ask his uncle was then.

'Um, Uncle Owen ?' he said.
'Yes, Luke ?

 

This is good. Always nice to see Irulan's introductions.
More posts soon?

 

I think I like this.

 

Interesting...

 

What's Dune??? Intersting story even if I don't understand some of the parts.

 

Dune is an epic science-fiction novel written by Frank Herbert. A movie has been shot, based on the novels, which appeared on screen in the early 80's.

Well I'm working on another post, it's online tonight or tomorrow (couldn't before 'cause I've been quite busy... sorry)

 

Here it is !

**

When my father learned about the elite force Duke Leto Atreides had begun to train, he discussed a lot about the choice he would soon have to make. House Atreides was not among the richest Great Houses by far, and the environment in which the Atreides thrived was not comparable at all with the environment in which our Sardaukar were trained. But he also knew that the Duke had two of the best armsmasters and possibly the best mentat in the known universe to train them. Facing this potential threat, he had to choose between allowing a Great House to play a more prominent role in the Landsraad or to plot the demise of that house. And when Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's spies learned about the threat too, the Padishah Emperor found himself with one less choice.

- from 'In My Father's House' by the Princess Irulan

**

'Gurney, bring them in' Thufir Hawat commanded.

Halleck led the file of men into the room, the staff officers looking fairly relaxed followed by the younger aides and specialists, an air of eagerness among them. Brief scuffing sounds echoed around the room as the men took seats ; some of the latter were laughing softly at a joke one of them had made to one of his comrades before they had entered. It was morning on Caladan and, as the Duke looked at the skies above their heads, sighted through the transparent, light blue metaglass roof, he felt that the sunny weather accorded perfectly with the good news his mentat Thufir Hawat had brought him. I am confident and in a good mood today he thought, and I have good hope that this strategic conference will allow our house to remind our good Emperor that the Landsraad is not to be underestimated.

As the men took seats, the Duke recalled memories from the last Landsraad meeting he had attended, four months ago. The Emperor's Sardaukars had just wiped out a House about to go Renegade. He had undertaken that operation without a warning message to the Landsraad and Count Tryst Haydel of Hagal had issued an open protestation. Shaddam's response had been swift and clear : "Those who hinder our efforts in the accomplishment of our Imperial duties will know the same fate as House Pander." The message had been understood, but also interpreted as a disguised threat to the Landsraad : the Emperor had reminded them that would his whim be to get rid of one Great House, he had all the military power he needed to do so. His Sardaukar were equal to ten regular soldiers from the Great Houses ; he had only sent seven batailions against House Pander, and those had suffered minimal casualties.

But today would perhaps allow change to occur.

The Duke stood and cleared his throat as silence fell in the conference room. He spoke in a clear, sharp voice :

'The best cheops players are those who bend the rules without playing against them. A new game's just begun, pitting the Landsraad against the Sardaukar.'

He looked at all the visages of the men sitting around the oval, white blue marble table, noting the confidence in him their visages expressed as well as much interest about what today's main topic would be. A lot of able men here. He resumed with his speech :

'His Glorious Majesty has recently sent a warning to all of the Great Houses. "Our Sardaukar can crush any Renegades" he stated. He did forget to state his meaning of the word "Renegade".'

There were a few laughs around the table. Everyone knew by now that House Pander had gone Renegade thanks to Count Fenring's influence - the Emperor's reach had assured Baron Pander that four other Great Houses were taking steps to attack him and that his only chance was to make a careful use of atomics, and then pretend they had been using laser-shield interaction to get rid of their opponents. Baron Pander had seduced one of His Majesty's favorite concubines and had taken her away from Kaitan ; the entire plot had been devised by Shaddam to avenge the outrage he had faced.

'There is a serious problem arising behind his statements, however' and the laughter ceased, 'a

 

Good work! So this is where the Dune AU begins? Hope to see more soon!

 

That was very well done. Can't wait for more.

 

That's going to begin soon, another two or three posts to take Luke in the Dune universe and settle things down and the show begins (I hope it'll be worth the wait)

 

I can hardly wait for more. It is a great start.

 

Good stuff...

 

Wow! That was a very complex post and you pulled it off nicely! Thank god for those introductions! They really help me get a better picture of what's going on.

Also, I forgot to tell you, Lordban - I really like the fact that you're using a younger ANH Luke in this crossover, as opposed to EU Jedi Master Luke. It will make this story a lot more interesting for Paul and Luke to go through the 'growing up' process together!

 

I finally got a chance to start reading this, and I love it! Already ya'll have captured the mystic and seriousness of Dune in just a few parts! Wow! And I second the approval of a young Luke. Luke at that age will be lots of fun even though he hasn't learned to use the Force - yet.

Will there be a new part tonight? Please?

 

Won't have time to write another post tonight (I'm also working on my own universe) but there's a really good chance there's one up tomorrow by 9:00 or 10:00 am board time.

Thanks to you all for your replies, it's always good to read them

(and yes Luke is younger for some good reason but... nah, you'll see soon enough )

 

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