DUNE-A False Haderach (OC X Shishakli) (OC x Alia)

Part 24

Chapter 15

SHISHAKLI

Shishakli had been away from their base of operations for several months now as she accompanied Inzal on the journey to nearly every corner of Arrakis as they completed the final step of his plan. Their journey had taken them to places she had only ever heard of in legends, from the ruins of Jacarutu to the ice-covered peaks at the poles. She believed that apart from Inzal, she was perhaps the only Fremen to have traversed nearly all of Arrakis.

Their base of operations, their sketch, had changed quite a bit in this time. Their organization grew rapidly, and though they had bases all over Arrakis, this sketch, the one where it had all begun, was still one of the largest and most important headquarters for their operations.

With a formidable force of nearly twenty thousand Fremen, most of them in their prime, always prepared for battle, this sietch housed their most elite fighters, and could act as the vanguard force in any emergency, though they had only ever been used as such a few times when the Harkonnens would launch simultaneous attacks on their Sietches.

And now as she sat in Inzal's solar after receiving a heartfelt welcome from their members she could feel their whole plan coming together, years and years of effort, pain, sacrifice, and much more had all cumulated into this.

"Was it truly necessary to call a Council of the Naibs?" she asked, skeptical of his decision. Not that she would ever question him in the open, but still, she wished to know his thought process as Inzal tinkered with the massive map that spread all behind him.

"We have enough men, and enough resources to deal with the Atreides on our own, we do not need the rest of the Fremen, and they would never join hands with the Harkonnens," she added, and Inzal shook his head.

"It is not the Harkonnen who would seek their hand, no it is someone else," he answered as he looked her in the eye.

"What I fear is the deep-seated prophecy and the one it entails. I fear they could all be led away by one who would claim himself to be the Lisan-al-Gaib," he answered and she tried to connect the dots.

"The Duke's son," she ventured, and he acquiesced.

"Indeed, much like myself, he is someone who may well fit that damned prophecy, and cause a rift in the Fremen. If Arrakis is to be free from the shackles of colonization and Imperial control, then they must believe to be through their own blood and sweat and not through a religious conquest headed by proclaimed diety, for if that were to happen, we would have absolute carnage in our hands," he added.

And though she knew that she should warn him that while he had discouraged others from calling him the Mahdi, many still did it in secret, for they believed him to be too humble, believed him to be their promised savior.

"So, you plan to unite the Fremen behind yourself, eliminating any such chance of fractionization," she guessed his intentions and he nodded.

"Indeed, and for that, we need this. I need to gain the support of a majority in this council before the attack on the Atreides commences," he added as he backed off, dusting off his hands.

"I will be leaving for the Grand Conference in an hour, but in the meantime, I want you to do something for me," he said, making her frown.

"Won't I be accompanying you?" she questioned, and he shook his head.

"We do not have enough time. What I am about to ask of you is much more important," he said as he looked her in the eye.

"I want you to issue a full mobilization and have our forces ready to dispatch at a moment's notice. Have some of them move to the encampments near the city, but make sure that they are not seen," he added, surprising her.