Jack stepped out of Leto's office slowly.
His mind was still catching up to what had just happened.
"That was..." Jack muttered, but he didn't finish the sentence.
His heart felt a weird sense of belonging.
He was in a bit of a daze as he began wandering the halls.
Guards, servants, and soldiers greeted him whenever he passed, yet he couldn't respond.
His mind was too preoccupied with what had happened with Leto in the office.
'I called him father...' Jack thought to himself as he kept wandering.
Walking past a section, the shutters flipped open, letting the sunlight flow inside the Palace.
'The sun is beginning to set,' Jack thought to himself as he moved closer to the shutter.
Seeing the outside view.
He took a deep breath.
On the streets of Arrakeen, Jack could still see faint remnants of the purple gas drifting through the streets.
Debris was still littered all over Arrakeen.
The sun had risen too quickly after the battle.
Cleanup teams had little time to move before the heat forced them back inside.
Several pilots and crewmen had crashed outside Arrakeen's walls.
With the help of the Fremen however, they quickly were returned even after the sun had risen.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself.
...
The Harkonnen flagship descended toward Geidi Prime.
As it entered the planet's atmosphere, the world around seemed to drain into black and white.
Baron had arrived back on Geidi Prime.
His fleet's size was nearly 1/5th of what it had been when he had left.
Baron entered his chambers in silence.
Rabban followed behind, feeling very nervous.
'He has not spoken a word since we withdrew' Rabban thought to himself as he watched The Baron arrive in front of his throne.
He walked up step by step.
Finally, he reached the throne and sat on it.
The throne overlooking the entire room.
Rabban stood at attention beside several ministers.
Feyd-Rautha among them.
Although these ministers of the Harkonnen Family are untouchable with enormous power in their hands, yet in front of The Baron, their power and control meant nothing.
Right now, they were deathly quiet, far too afraid to disturb their master.
They waited in silence.
The Baron said nothing.
The silence in the room was suffocating.
"We have lost," the Baron said.
Everybody in the room breathed in for a moment.
A bomb seemed to have been dropped in the minds of everyone except Rabban.
"Your majesty," One of the older ministers stepped forward slowly.
"how..."
"How is this possible?" he said.
But the Baron did not reply to him, rather his eyes moved through the crowd scanning each of the ministers before it landed on one.
"Krah-fau, you failed your duty," The Baron coldly stated.
"My lord?" Krah asked with confusion.
'He is the one who was in charge of handling Yueh' Rabban thought to himself as he glanced at the man.
"For failing House Harkonnen," the Baron paused for a moment, seemingly thinking of good punishment. A fitting punishment.
"You will watch your family executed."
"Then you will follow them."
Krah's eyes widened as he dropped to the ground.
His head on the floor, he bowed to The Baron,
"My lord, please!" The man shouted.
"I beg you not to do this!" Krah pleaded, but the Baron didn't even glance at him.
"Feyd, take him away and enact the sentence in the colosseum for the whole of Geidi Prime to witness." The Baron said.
Feyd nodded immediately, and although he looked young, he seemed to be around only 17 years old.
He had a cold expression as he walked towards Krah.
kneeling on one knee,
Feyd struck the man's neck with a precise blow.
Krah collapsed instantly, unable to speak. Feyd picked him up and walked out of the room.
...
Meanwhile, on Kaitain, The Imperial Palace.
Within the castle room a messenger stood in front of Emperor Shaddam IV announcing the report from the battlefield.
"Emperor, Sarduakar soldiers sent for assistance are considered killed in action according to the report from Baron Harkonnen, with the Baron's fleet also suffering a lot of damage," the messenger said as he closed the scroll.
"In conclusion, they faced a crushing defeat your majesty Emperor Shaddam," The messenger said as he took a step to the side.
Shaddam IV slowly stood up. The kind of slow that's more dangerous than fast.
"Sardaukar." He said the words quietly.
"My Sardaukar."
"They are dead?" He asked in disbelief.
Nobody in the room spoke,
His hand swept a cup from a nearby stand.
It shattered as soon as it hit the floor, spilling wine all over.
Then silence fell again.
He stood there, heavily breathing.
The anger moved through him visibly before he attempted to compose himself.
With a tight grasp of his emotional state, he sat back down on the throne of gold.
"How many?" he asked with seriousness.
The messenger felt his throat block up for a moment.
Not daring to speak.
"I asked you how many!" Shaddam exclaimed with a hard smack on the hand of his throne.
"A... All of them, your majesty," The messenger managed to squeeze out.
"All..." Shaddam muttered before he became quiet for a few moments after that.
Mohiam stepped forward.
Shaddam's eyes went towards her.
Their eyes met for just a moment but they seemed to have already communicated with each other.
"Everybody leave the room," Shaddam ordered, and the messenger and a few guards quickly left.
"Duke Leto will not let this go," Shaddam said with a pronounced frown.
"Indeed, but that is a good thing. Leto will go after the Harkonnens politically, weakening them further which will only benefit you. If all soldiers are indeed killed in action, it will be impossible for them to connect this to you." Mohiam said.
Shaddam was silent for a few moments, staring at Mohiam.
"Don't you want to protect Feyd?" Shaddam asked.
"Feyd is only one seed among many," Mohiam said coldly, "If he cannot survive adversity, he is not the one we seek." Mohiam coldly responded, causing Shaddam to nod.
"Use that little girl to find out the damage to House Atreides and what Duke Leto will try to use to attack House Harkonnen, make sure he has nothing to connect this situation to me," he said with a wave of his hand dismissing Mohiam as well.
Mohiam nodded and left the room leaving Shaddam alone in his throne.
"Useless Fool" Shaddam muttered, his fists clenched tightly as he thought of Baron's failure.