Right after the storm, once the landing field was cleared enough, one of the Sardaukar got a thopter ready for a flight to the Harg Pass where one of the auditors had been stranded in some cave. There was a chance he'd survived.

It was still early into the storm's aftermath; the damage was being assessed, the sand brought in was being ploughed through. Landscape was unrecognisable, and quite apocalyptic, but whoever had witnessed the terror of the winds that had been rattling their shelters for the last half a day was likely already desensitised.

Dorian was the first to join the Sardaukar as they prepared the thopter for the rescue mission. He liked the Throvald man, not to mention Edwell's own preferences of working with him. Plus, he felt personally responsible for the safety of the Fremen girl Ahmina, since he had specifically requested her presence here from the Count. This was a very personal mission for Dorian.

Cuyler had joined Dorian, but had remained quiet and distant. She was not her usual self, lost in thought and staring out at the sand. There was little doubt as to why.

The Sardaukar nodded to their timely boarding, somewhat begrudgingly, and took the machine off the sanded-in Chin Rock. They were heading west across the Erg. The view of moonlit dunes, reformed into fabulous patterns of sparkling silver, looked like a sand garden of God. There was something about the desert that made most people think of religion.

"They entered a bat-smelling cave." The Sardaukar broke the spell. "Hard to find, especially now."

"A little difficult to find a cave by scent..." he looked towards Cuyler and thought to himself, maybe not impossible though.

"Our Mr. Bomilcar is a capable man and Ms. Ahmina knows how to survive in the desert. They may be more versed in how to remain unseen, but surely they can manage to make themselves known when we get close enough."

"As long as they survived whatever was in that cave. They were after some hideout of the nomads. Seemed like a vagary to me, little connection to your mandate, but maybe there is a method in the madness of this audit." He shrugged. "No-one has exactly pinned down the Harkonnen before."

"Perhaps everyone was looking in the wrong places before. The Fremen have been here all along, observing and waiting for their time, it's the slow blade that pierces the shield. Now they choose to act out against the Harkonnens, it can't be a coincidence."

"Perhaps. I can't see how they are anything more than rabble. If they had the strength to fight back, they would have done so long ago. Rabban isn't running the place for the first time." The Sardaukar sneered, indicating what he thought of any force than couldn't defeat the Harkonnen. He himself considered them pariahs in the realm of fighting.

"Check the sand on the right side. I think there's a worm there, some dozen miles from us." He said suddenly.

"Let me ask you, what do you suppose would happen if the Fremen wiped out the Harkonnens here on Arrakis? More Harkonnens would be sent? Other Houses would come together to secure Arrakis? Maybe even the Emperor would have to step in and send in Sardaukar to quell them? The Fremen are survivors, they do not fight the desert, they live with it, like a reed, they bend with the wind. They may not be an overwhelming force, but they have proven to be more than effective in their attacks on the Harkonens, even if not all the losses attributed to them are true."

Hearing the call of wormsign, Dorian looked out the window to see if he could spot the sandworm.

Cuyler remained silent. focusing on the sands and looking for any sign of the others. She had already been watching for worms, as well.

"We'd quell them alright. At least there'd be some sport if they are half as good as you give them. On most planets, killing the enemies of the Emperor is like culling cattle."

Cuyler saw not one, but two worms, heading northwest, in close distance from one another. They were no less intimidating than the one she'd seen a few days back, though the distance was peeling off some of the terror, leaving some space for logic next to the awe. That doubleness seemed odd to her, for some reason.

For Dorian, it was hard not to be awestruck. He hadn't seen a larger creature ever before. It was like the stuff of legend, the fire-breathing wyrms from the time when humanity had been young and had believed in the supernatural more. They were the callback to that primal fear of monstrosity ingrained in human genes, lost at some point, but regained when the Butlers reasserted humility over technological hubris that had led homo sapiens to near-extinction.

[Understand 2, 3 for Dorian because he hasn't had the worm experience before.]

"Is it normal to see two?" her voice was quiet. If it weren't for the fact that it was the first she had spoken since they took flight, it might not have been noticed.

The Sardaukar shrugged.

Dorian was dumbstruck by the sight of the worms, he couldn't think of anything more intimidating, he couldn't think of much of anything at the moment.
-----
FMR6, There she blows, Understand 4 + Truth 5, TN9: 2#1d20 14 10
Failed 0 successes

Cuyler Gray wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 15, 2021 3:24 pm

"Is it normal to see two?" her voice was quiet. If it weren't for the fact that it was the first she had spoken since they took flight, it might not have been noticed.

[Waiting if Cuyler rolls here]

She continued watching the worms with some fascination.

- - -
Sorry. I misread that.

[FMR 6] Call of the Cielago, Understand (6)/Truth (8), Deductive Reasoning: 2#1d20 11 6
3 successes

Cuyler Gray wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 17, 2021 1:02 pm

She continued watching the worms with some fascination.

- - -
Sorry. I misread that.

[FMR 6] Call of the Cielago, Understand (6)/Truth (8), Deductive Reasoning: 2#1d20 11 6
3 successes

[+1 Momentum]

If sandworms were anything like apex predators on other planets, they should be solitary and fiercely territorial. That would make two travelling alongside in relative proximity extremely weird.

"Are they... could they be... mating?"

Sardaukar laughed. "So much heat around here." Perhaps he was trying to joke off his own disquiet because of their monstrous manifestations.

"Has anyone even seen them... mating? I mean, I heard it's a big mystery how they come about. You might be witnessing a huge scientific breakthrough Ms. Gray." Dorian had momentarily forgotten the significance of their mission given the awe inspiring sight below them.

No filmbook they had ever chanced upon had anything to say about how sandworms of Arrakis reproduce. No known specimen had ever been kept in captivity, kept as a trophy, or dissected. Biologically, they were an enigma.

"Or, maybe they're just racing." she shrugged. "If we didn't have other concerns, it would be interesting to look into."

"No detours." Iqbal said firmly. "You've come here to audit, not to study fauna. The Emperor already has a planetologist on this world."

She nodded. "I doubt I'd be inspired for any new dishes, anyway."

"I can't think of anything more extravagant than a sandworm steak... but even you may not be able to make that palatable. That being said, our Sardaukar friend is right, we need to stay focused on the task at hand. Maybe we'll run into this planetologist to ask about sandworm mating slash racing behavior."