"By God, Sir Tomigh," Henli shouted, "you'll either fight or hang!"
"By God, Sir Regent, I'll neither fight nor hang!"1
And with that Tomigh returned to the Landsraad Council and disbanded the Landsraad forces. True to the quick-witted nature of the Sardaukar, Henli did not try to enforce his orders. Many observers believe he welcomed Tomigh's protest: caught between the Landsraad and the Lion, he had to satisfy both. Without the Landsraad units, he could end hostilities and blame the concession on the Landsraad. Tomigh was satisfied, the Sardaukar were satisfied, and Corrino supremacy was upheld without more massacre. Thus Lishash was scoured, but many of its allies survived to see another year.
After the LC rebellion, armed revolt occurred only among civilizations much farther from the Imperium's center, and was carried out mainly by those who never knew of the grand feudal order rather than by those who did not wish to partake of it. The Landsraad itself generally welcomed the Sardaukar because the Imperial troops allowed the Great Houses to expand without disturbance from their rivals. Warfare among Landsraad members was strictly regulated by the Convention, and the regulations were enforced by the Sardaukar. So they expanded, at the expense of peripheral planets that sometimes did not know of the Imperium until told of it by an invasion force from a Great House.
Similar expansion by the Corrinos became the relief-valve for the Sardaukar. It brought economic benefits, kept the Sardaukar combat-ready, and sated the military desire for action on conquest instead of intrigue. Now that the Imperium was stable, the Lion needed to be given leash beyond it.
The campaigns of expansion tested the soldier-fanatics against a variety of adversaries, terrains, weapons, and tactics. As Sardaukar conquests added victory after victory to the list, the myth of invincibility was created. Concurrently, the duration and scope of Padishah predominance caused the Imperium to be widely perceived as the natural order. Pharaonic rulers would naturally be supported by military supermen. As a result, the indomitability of Sardaukar arms impressed itself on the Imperium until even dissidents shared and sustained the Sardaukar's belief in themselves. Fact reinforced myth, and vice versa.
As the centuries passed, the lowly origin of the Sardaukar as a cattle-herding tribe on an infertile jungle planet was forgotten. Salusa Secundus became notorious as the prison planet of the emperors, not as the world from which they had escaped at the first opportunity. Yet both planet and tribe, one may feel, deserved each other. And 8,700 years after their separation, they were reunited, by the order of Muad'Dib.
S.T.
NOTE
1Otto Aramsham, Sardaukar Victorious, tr. Daiwid Gwilivz (Kaitain: Varna).
Further references: SALUSA SECUNDUS; Otto Aramsham, The Sardaukar Strike, tr. Sir Daiwid Gwilivz (Kaitain: Varna); Iilprad Maian, The Influence of Space Power on History (Salusa Secundus; Gravlak); Rakol rai Fonzek, "The Influence of the Landsraad in the LCR Settlement," Studies in Imperial History (Old Series) 3440-68-115.
SARDAUKAR TITLES, ORDERS, AND AWARDS
Among the proud and ferocious Sardaukar, medals and other awards remained a basic method for instilling unit pride, for insuring that soldiers gave their utmost efforts in combat, and for guaranteeing obedience under the most trying circumstances. So total was the involvement of the average Sardaukar in his unit's history that the decorations of that unit were a constant object of interest, and a highly decorated private soldier gained a measure of respect not accorded to any outsider, regardless of his rank. All Sardaukar decorations were authorized by the emperor and were awarded by him personally. An award could be granted in the field or while on campaign by a Sardaukar commander of sufficient rank, but was not official until presented by the emperor.
Decorations fell into three general categories: Titles and Orders of Distinction, Medals, and Badges.
The most common decorations and badges are listed here in order of precedence.
TITLES AND ORDERS. Guardian of the Empire was the ultimate Title of Distinction, and was awarded to all ranks for a personal deed of surpassing heroism. Recipients were also awarded the Star Cluster Medal and the Order of the Imperial Hero. Only eighty were awarded in the entire history of the title, and there is only one case of a recipient winning more than one award.
The Star Cluster Medal was awarded only to recipients of the title Guardian of the Empire. The silver medal was worn on a white-on-black ribbon around the collar and was always displayed on the front of the tunic.
The Order of the Imperial Hero was awarded upon retirement or death in recognition of an exemplary career, in addition to being awarded with the title of Guardian of the Empire.
The Order of the Protector was awarded both for outstanding courage on the battlefield and for exemplary service in a command position. This Order was also occasionally awarded to entire units, which granted every man in the unit the lifetime privilege of displaying the Order (regardless of later transfers to other units), and listed the honored unit as "Emperor's Guards" so long as any of the original recipients of the award remained alive.
The Order of Victory was awarded to members of the Sardaukar High Command for successful conquests of entire planets. It was worn on the right breast to the left of all other awards.
The Order of Corrin was in three classes. It was awarded to officers at all levels for outstanding leadership, organizational ability, and perseverance leading to decisive victory in battle. The three classes were Diamond, to legion commanders and heads of planetary-scale operations; Ruby, to regimental and battalion commanders; Emerald, to company commanders.
The Order of Pyrrhus was given to commanders of operations which inflicted heavy losses on any enemy while maintaining the battle readiness of the commander's forces. The operation need not have resulted in victory.
The Order of Valor was awarded to commanders of any unit larger than a platoon for personal bravery and skillful leadership of troops in combat.
The Order of Bravery was awarded individually to all ranks and collectively to units for outstanding' performance in action. A unit honored with this award was listed as a "Guards" unit so long as any of the original recipients remained alive.
The Order of Honor was awarded individually and collectively for exemplary performance in vital noncombat areas in support of combat troops.
The Order of Glory was awarded to noncommissioned officers for spectacularly valorous actions while in combat. This order was granted in three classes, depending upon the nature of the action being honored.
MEDALS. The Medal for Valor was awarded to all ranks for personal valor in the service of the emperor. It was one of the few medals which could be awarded to noncombatants, and was of three classes: 1st class, to officers; 2nd class, to other ranks; 3rd class, to civilians.
The Medal for Battle Merit was awarded to all ranks for providing a material contribution towards the success of an operation at unusually high personal risk.
Service Medals in six categories were given for ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and seventy-five years of exemplary service in the active forces.
Campaign Medals: Every campaign which involved more than one legion of troops had a corresponding Campaign Medal. They were far too numerous to list here.
BADGES. Badges were awarded to all ranks to denote status, achievement, and weapons proficiency.
The Emperor's Guards Badge was worn by all members of any unit designated as "Emperor's Guards." Those who were attached to the unit at the time that the designation was proclaimed could continue to wear the badge, regardless of future assignments, but such transferred personnel wore the badge on the lapel instead of on the shoulder, where active Emperor's Guards wore it.
The Guards Badge was worn by all members of any unit designated as "Guards," under the same conditions as the Emperor's Guards Badge, above.
Proficiency Badges were earned by evidencing exemplary skill in any of the number of military arts, including weapons use, material repair, and so on.
Wou
nd Strips: Wounds were classified as either "Serious" or "Minor," though the classification is misleading, as the Sardaukar did not consider a soldier wounded at all if he was able to continue fighting. A magenta stripe indicated a "serious" wound, and a blue stripe a "minor" one.
W.D.I.
Further references: SARDAUKAR UNIFORMS; Otto Aramsham, The Sardaukar Strike, tr. Sir Daiwid Gwilivz (Kaitain: Varna).
GUARDIAN
OF THE EMPIRE
(Ribbon never folded)
ORDER OF THE
IMPERIAL HERO
ORDER OF THE
PROTECTOR
ORDER OF VICTORY
ORDER OF PYRRHUS
ORDER OF CORRIN
ORDER OF VALOR
ORDER OF BRAVERY
ORDER OF HONOR
ORDER OF GLORY
WOUND STRIPES
MEDAL FOR
BATTLE MERIT
MEDAL FOR VALOR
SERVICE MEDAL
GUARDS
BADGE
EMPEROR'S GUARDS
BADGE
star is embossed with unit designation if unit award
or with a black "G" if individual award
SARDAUKAR UNIFORMS
The uniforms of the Sardaukar were differentiated only between officers and ranks, and even then the differentiation was not extensive, with specifications of rank, unit, and other matters being shown mainly by shoulder boards or patches.
The basic Sardaukar uniform consisted of the following elements (see illustration):
Beret: the velvet black beret was worn with the soldier's Legionary symbol in front, and the rank symbol on either side. Officers had a silver cockade around the Legionary symbol.
Tunic: the tunic was black, single-breasted, with a low, stand-up collar and five black fabric buttons. The gorget patches showed the Legionary insignia: these patches were striped with silver for noncommissioned officers, and with gold for higher ranks. The shield belt was a part of the tunic, and could not be removed; the Legion's insignia was repeated once again on the control face of the shield's buckle. The soldier's sword scabbard also depended from his shield belt: the Sardaukar never made any rules whatsoever about the design of the scabbard, hence they were decorated in any way imaginable (though usually bearing the regimental colors).
Shoulder Boards: the background color of the detachable shoulder boards was black for standard units, gold for Emperor's Guards, and red for Guards: the design on the shoulder boards was the battle flag of the Legion to which the soldier belonged, bearing his rank insignia.
Breeches: the black breeches were worn tucked into the boots, and had piping to match the background color on the shoulder boards, bordered with silver braid for officers.
Boots: the high, glossy black boots had no buckles or snaps, and were made of leather.
Uniforms were the personal property of the soldier who wore them, and were purchased by him. When off-planet, Sardaukar wore their uniforms at all times when in the public view.
W.D.I.
Further references: SARDAUKAR TITLES, ORDERS, AND AWARDS; Otto Aramsham, Sardaukar Victorious, tr. Sir Daiwid Gwilivz (Kaitain: Verna).
SAREER
(also, "Last Desert of the Sareer"). A replica-in-miniature of the planetary desert which once covered the surface of Arrakis. It was established by Leto II in the third century of his reign (approximately 10500). The ecological transformation of Arrakis dictated that no desert would exist within another twenty-five years; the complete elimination of the desert was never part of Leto's accelerated ecological plan. The Sareer was his way of ensuring that some part of the old Fremen's "sea of sand" endured.
The cost of the venture would likely have been prohibitive to any but the God Emperor. Indications show that the landsculpting carried out during the project's first two years — the creation and diversion of an artificial river, the Idaho, the complete destruction of one mountain and the reduction of two entire ranges — could not have been accomplished at an expense of under five hundred billion Solaris. The Ixian weather-control satellites, placed in orbit during the third year, cost half as much again and represented an ongoing expense: the Sareer would be very much a maintained desert, a delicate system which could not survive on its own in a world thoroughly gone to greenery and open water. As Pardot Kynes and his Fremen had once tended their palmaries, hoping that the tiny patches of green would eventually take over the planet, Leto was obliged to tend his desert, perhaps with the same hope.
Because of the difficulties involved with maintaining that balance, the border of the Sareer was constantly shifting. The satellites, which kept precipitation in the region to a minimum and maintained the area's high temperature, could only divert unwanted water and cold air masses, not destroy them. This diversion led to the accumulation of cold zones along the boundaries, zones where small packs of ice were not uncommon, less than a kilometer from the edges of the dunes, which further complicated the process. The Sareer's average size, however, remained constant, containing some 250,000 square kilometers. To anyone, such as Duncan Idaho, who remembered the Dune days, the Sareer was only, as Leto referred to it at times, a "pet desert." Its very existence was endangered by its size, for two reasons: it was a fraction of the size required to be self-perpetuating and free of the need for the Ixian control devices; and it was not large enough to pass unscathed through the frequent geologic upheavals that occurred on Arrakis. When the entire surface was composed of desert, the sudden upthrust of a mountain or the shift of an outcropping of rock made no difference in the overall ecology. In an area the size of the Sareer, however, and one so delicately held back from destruction, a single such episode could be disastrous. Part of the function of Leto's "eyes" in the desert was to keep him apprised of any changes so that he could arrange for the necessary counter-measures.
Because of the nature of his Golden Path, the God Emperor knew that the Sareer had to endure. It was also, as he was to learn millennia after he had ordered it protected, the one place on Arrakis where he could feel comfortable in his last stages of evolution from human to sandworm. Leto and his plans for humanity were as dependent upon the Sareer for their survival as the desert itself was upon Leto.
C.W.
Further references: ATREIDES, LETO II; ARRAKIS: ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION; Th. Zed, Ghralic, Arrakian Climatological Studies firm Atreidean Times to the Present, Meteorological Forum, 59; Pardot Kynes, "Atmosphere of Arrakis," Bull. Planet. NS 127:135-55 (10127); Pardot Kynes, Ecology of Dune tr. Ewan Gwatan, Arrakis Studies 24 (Grumman: United Worlds).
SCYTALE
(10160-10209). The stage name of Shuurfak rai Shedler, a master face dancer from Tleilax, and the prime mover in the plot in 10209 to assassinate Paul Muad'Dib. He was recognized as the most skillful and intelligent face dancer the Tleilaxu operated, and his value was evidenced by two considerations: first, he was the offspring of Shrafka ir Kaarla, Minister for Foreign Trade for Tleilax, and Dr. Garik L. Nouh, the inventor of the distrans-implantation process for humans; second was his possession of a birth name: all face dancers were conceived in vitro; they customarily bore only a single name, and records did not list "father" and "mother," but rather "donors." Certain prospective face dancers in each year's crop were different, however, the products of stock that had demonstrated not only the physical qualities desired but also creative intelligence of a high order. Scytale was one such.
In recognition of his services in the Nicodemus Affair of 10197, Scytale was received by his parents, the equivalent of legal adoption, and awarded the patronymic and matronymic of the Tleilax elite. (The particles rai or ir indicate "son" or "daughter.") That Scytale was employed on the plot against Muad'Dib indicates the seriousness of the Tleilaxu participation.
As the cleverest and most farsighted of the conspirators, it is ironic that Scytale was betrayed; but for an accident he would have died some weeks earlier than he did. Although not all the details of the plot are understood, Scytale's part, at least, seems
clear: impersonating the daughter of an old war-companion of Paul's, Scytale was to lure Paul and Chani to the Fedaykin's house. Using the dwarf Bijaz (who had been prepared by the Tleilaxu for this purpose), Paul would be gotten out of the way while Chani was murdered. As the ghola Duncan Idaho proved, the Tleilaxu had the ability to recreate the dead. The conspirators would then offer Paul the restored Chani in return for their dominance over him.
None of this occurred. Scytale (in his disguise as Lichna) was detained by Paul's guards, Chani was left behind, and Paul lost his sight in the stoneburner explosion. The source and purpose of the stoneburner has been the subject of endless historical arguments. Using the device served the ends of neither the Bene Gesserit, who needed to preserve the Atreides genes for their breeding program, nor the Tleilaxu, who could not regenerate Chani from radioactive ash. The favored school of thought is that the bomb was emplaced by agents of the Spacing Guild, who were betraying their partners — especially Scytale, who would have been caught in the blast — to achieve the death of the emperor and the advancement of still another force in the drama, the Qizarate. With the plan fallen awry, Scytale had to improvise. His imprisonment through the next seven months gave him plenty of time, but it must be remembered that he maintained his disguise as Lichna through that whole period. This was an astonishing physical feat — the equivalent, say, of running a distance race every day, week after week, month after month.
Scytale knew that the dwarf had been programmed to trigger the ghola's post-hypnotic suggestion to kill Paul. Should Duncan Idaho follow these orders, Scytale resolved, the face dancer would amend his plan to offer the restoration of Paul in the axolotl tanks. If, as he believed, the tension in Idaho would bring him to memory of his pre-ghola existence, then he could offer a more precious Chani to Paul, one fully aware of her earlier existence and possessed of the fullness of her personality. Scytale must often have been close to despair in his cell, knowing that Chani had not gone to the rendezvous.
The Dune Encyclopedia Page 96
