(D4 FMR) Stick a Boot Harkonn-in Their...

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

He clears his throat and prepares for the pain. The Mentat likely knew what he was suggesting and would use his speaking issues against him to avoid it. So Bomilcar would need to suffer.

"We are auditing the flow of spice, but our presence has been noticed and targeted for attack. The government identified this as a Fremen terrorist plot," he puts a hand over his mouth to clear his throat. His voice was becoming rougher.

"These terrorist have been known to take actions against mining operations and there has been an increase in dealing with houses that trade in military supplies." He clears his throat again, and likely to the psychopath's pleasure there is a speckle of blood on his hand.

"It will be important to the audit to understand what costs are associated with protecting the flow of spice and how effective those measures seem comp..." He coughed loudly into his hand, a small spray appearing on his palm, "... How those measures compare to the cost in lost product and logistic inefficiency."

He takes a breath, one eye watering, but otherwise still in control despite his clear physical discomfort. His voice was gravelly but still clearly understood by this point. "So an audit on cost and application of security measures for spice production is warranted."

Internally he was about as pissed off as he ever got. He absolutely hated having to explain himself in detail. But he was a professional and kept his cool.

[Kannon]

"Ah, an interesting angle." The twisted Mentat watched the show with some pleasure. Himself, he spoke quickly and effortlessly, in what could be perceived as a form of gloating. "But your argument has a conflation and thus a logical fallacy. House Harkonnen spends on security on Arrakis for at least four reasons. Deterrent military posture against possible offworld opportunists, population control, terrorism prevention and retaliatory measures against the rogue element. As you can fathom, my Baron's nephew loves the last part, and presently he's acting on it with fervour few can match. I will tell you as a Mentat that his thirst for blood, and thus for equipment that draws that blood, is hard to quantify. Hence, whatever impression you've got from weapon imports cannot be reliably tied to the spice mining situation as it represents the general way in which House Harkonnen exercises its policies as a House Major in governorship of multiple holdings in the Imperium. Those costs are thus flat-rated as per the initial siridar contract between the Padishah Emperor and House Harkonnen, and established at 15 percent of production cost. Part of our mastery in ruling this place is to balance our military expenditure over the long term so that we retain financial prudence. Hence, any disclosure of military spending, or even attrition rates of military assets, would not only be inadvisable to the House in general - we do have enemies if you haven't heard - but also in excess of whatever mandate you've been granted to be here and take our time."

Piter raised his finger and wagged it in a jest reprimand. "You think me an accountant? I can do the accounting, of course, but my Baron has put me here to commit to more worthwhile pursuits. Mentats must be generalists. If it is books you want, I suppose I can indulge you. We are rather meticulous about our statistics and no prior audit has found any important flaw in them." He reached to the desk and produced a suspensor-equipped filmbook, then pushed it toward them, it bleeping with a tiny red light as it floated, shimmering like a hunter-seeker. "Would that be all?"

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

"Not accountant. In charge of information," he says, his voice ragged, taking the books and raising them in a half-assed gesture of thanks. Any books that you could pull out of a drawer and hand to an auditor without even showing concern for getting them back were 100 percent cooked. But perhaps their own mentat might be able to reverse engineer the things covered up with information provided by Manx and others.

[Kannon]

"Mentats are only as good as the information they are provided, or obtain." De Vries said as if mockingly anticipating Bom's train of thought, and waited, tapping at the desk theatrically. The blood veins beneath the surface of the desk moved around. Bloodwood from Ecaz took years or decades to fix itself against the flow of its resins, so this desk must have been a relatively recent acquistion, a statement of wealth, but also of defiance of boundaries - Ecaz was an ally to Atreides, and an enemy of the Harkonnen. Through this item, the Harkonnen seemed to be saying: Here we are, sitting on our spoils, like the dragons of old myths. Dare to displace us at your own peril.

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

"Conspicuous absence," Bomilcar replied. "Unexpected enemy of subtlety."

It may be hard to read the Mentat's eyes, but Bom's are obvious. He knew he could not compete mentally, but De Vries was looking at a man that didn't mind working with enemies to accomplish a goal. One of the most dangerous traits in a rocky political landscape: he was cooperative.

[Kannon]

De Vries raised his brow. It seemed he wouldn't let Bom get away with half-sentences, whatever he meant.

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed. His voice had been torn up and he would likely spend the rest of the day sleeping it off if he could.

"Conspicuous absences are things that should be there but aren't. That's where hidden blades come from. Someone doesn't want you looking in that direction, they remove anything that could draw attention. Hardest thing to see, but the most telling when spotted."

The insinuation being that even fake books can give leads by intentionally omitting certain things. Especially if they don't match up with other sources that say something should be there.

[Kannon]

"Good luck. Don't waste time here then, yours and mine. I believe you're almost halfway through your audit?" De Vries ventured a smile that couldn't be considered nice or friendly by any measure.

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

Bomilcar just looked at him for a few moments. "No luck needed."

He cleared his throat, which sounded painful. Wiped the inside of his mouth with a finger and looked at it, seeing blood. "I'm sure we have the full cooperation of Harkonnen."

He looks to the others with him to see if they had anything they wished to add to that.

[Reyyan Ebrahammi]

"Just about half way. Though these constant security interruptions might extend things. Delays happen when no less than four accidents or failures of security just so happen to occur in the course of our investigations. Not to mention calling into further question the Baron and his nephew's methods for security of Arrakis if the simple task of keeping a CHOAM audit detail out of harms way is proving so taxing. Still, as you said... we won't waste anymore of your time. The Emperor and Landsraad will get the answers they need for the running of Arrakis one way or another in the end. If not from you, then from someone more intelligent."

Her tone stayed perfectly even and respectful the entire time, and the tall imposing woman gave a small polite bow at the end.

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

So much better at that than me. Assholes making me talk like that, he thinks to himself.

[Kannon]

"If anyone on this audit has expected comforts and being sheltered from stupidity and trespassing, that is a failure of intelligence House Harkonnen cannot be held liable for. They should have gone audit pundi rice on Caladan instead. I don't envy your current position of subservience to those lesser men, Levenbrech, but my hands are tied on this. What my hands are not tied on is any wishful extension of this endeavour as it would require a separate Landsraad motion my Baron will most certainly oppose. If I were cynical, I could actually encourage more transgression on the part of the auditors, the less they obey the forms the more solid the Harkonnen position in the Landsraad becomes. Some of the actions taken so far are actually Kanly material." He couldn't help a chuckle.

[Reyyan Ebrahammi]

"Cannot be held liable on a failure of intelligence? What kind of idiotic statement is that? And surveying rice fields? I assure you, mentat, that the auditors were not expecting a skip through the park on this mission; We know too much about Harkonnen to expect that. And we most certainly CAN blame House Harkonnen for failures of intelligence, whether they be ones that endanger the CHOAM mission here or Spice mining on Arrakis here, though the two have often seemed to be one and the same so far. No one expects stewardship of the most important planet in the galaxy to be a simple matter, but that just puts more responsibility on those chosen for the honor. If House Harkonnen's failures mean mines blowing up and Spice burning, then it IS part of the concern the Emperor has about what is happening on Arrakis here. That they're occasionally happening within spitting distance of where our auditing team is is a secondary concern, but one that shows that those failures can extend to even places where Harkonnen's efforts in intelligence and security should be at their most high."

A humph; The mentat's constant smiling and chuckling didn't phase Reyyan. Those used to being obeyed tended to have such affectations, doubly so if they worked for Harkonnen, she'd noticed in the past.

"As to transgressions on the part of our auditors, I shall be doubly sure to have my Sardaukar security detail keep a closer watch on where and when people go. Unlike some people, I can recognize when something wrong has happened, own up to mistakes, and work to correct them rather than hide behind bravado, threats, and smugness."

[Kannon]

"Didn't I know better, I would have assumed after this fiery speech that the Emperor needs no audit as he has already informed his troops what the verdict is going to be. Failure of intelligence is on the part of those Great Houses who have sent their representatives mostly unprepared, mere tourists onto the world they know next to nothing about, least so how to govern it efficiently. It is demeaning to be assessed by amateurs, but such is the charm of politics?" The Mentat smirked. "I suppose you can have some idea, Levenbrech, Salusa Secundus is a similar place in some respects, isn't it?" De Vries seemed unabashed. "I suppose if you discover it in yourself to go beyond your role as detail, Levenbrech, and actually add to the report, these parts can get interesting. But in the end, whatever you do or say, only one thing shall matter: if the spice keeps flowing to those in the Imperium who can't live without it. And that we ascertain."

[Reyyan Ebrahammi]

"That it shall. With that, we are in agreement."

Turning to Bom and Larra, Reyyan nodded towards the exit. "Let's go. Up to you if you want our good doctor to take a look at you Sir Thorvald; You know yourself best."

Rey started walking hoping Bom was all right really; His lack of real concern despite the pain seemed to indicate that, but appearances could be deceiving.

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

Bomilcar simply nodded, and moved to walk behind the doctor, keeping her between the two fighting types.

[Kannon]

The psychotic Sub-Bashar escorted them out along the same gruesome route, to their grouncar.

[Every player gets additional Advancement Point for surviving the ordeal]

[All unused Scene Momentum becomes Game Momentum, plus 1]

[You can continue RP in the car if you want.]