Chapter 285: Mission! The fisherman benefits from the quarrel between the snipe and the clam! The real winner!
Not long after, Leto and Hawat arrived at the command center on the ground in a flapping-wing aircraft.

After entering the control room, Hawat immediately asked his subordinates: "What's the situation? Have you found out the number of the enemy's fleet?"

The most urgent task now is to find out how many people the other side has. If the Colino royal family and Harkonnen are mobilized in full force, then more preparations will be needed.

"We haven't gotten a completely accurate number yet, but according to preliminary investigations, the size of the fleet coming from the other side is not very large, just a little strange."

The base commander reported to Hawat, saying, "This fleet does not have the logo of the Space Guild, nor does it have any high-class ships belonging to the Space Guild."

"The other side seems to be a fleet that does not belong to any family or guild organization."

As soon as he finished speaking, clearer image data came from the front line. Through this clearer image, Hawat saw that the scale of the incoming fleet was not as large as he had imagined.

This made him feel a little relieved.

If there were only this number of warships, the Atreides family would be able to cope with it.

Immediately, Hawat walked to the central console and told the troops stationed at the front line through the communication device: "I am Duffy Hawat. I will now take over the defense of Kaladan."

"No one is allowed to act rashly without my order!"

At this moment, more front-line image information was transmitted to the headquarters command room.

When Hawat saw the fleet of the Universal Corporation in the picture, as well as the various styles of paint and huge warships, he was obviously stunned.

"Global Giant Enterprise... Which family's private company is this? I have never heard of it!"

Hawat ran his brain CPU frantically, trying to think of a family power related to the world's giant enterprise, but after thinking about it, he couldn't remember which family owned this company.

What's more, although the fleet of this universal giant is small in number, each one is quite large in size.

This fleet consists of 52 warships of various types, ranging from flagship aircraft carriers to cruisers, destroyers, and battleships. It can be said that it has everything.

From the Sojourner Dreadnought, the Long Night, the Infinity-class to the ordinary Phoenix, the fleet formed was exceptionally grand and spectacular.

"Are all their warships this big? Which family can have such wealth?"

Hawat's brain suddenly froze. You know, even the long-distance high-class ships of the Space Association were only 25,000 meters in length at most.

But the Long Night in the picture has a staggering length of 30,000 kilometers.

But the Space Guild's long-distance high-class ships are merchant ships used to transport goods, while the Long Night of the Universal Corporation is a real warship.

To build an interstellar battleship to an astonishing size of 30,000 meters and to meet various war needs, the technical content required is several orders of magnitude higher than that of a merchant ship of the same size!
To be honest, Hawat has lived for so long, but he has never seen any family build such a large warship. This is simply unbelievable!
"The other party sent us a communication signal. Do you want to connect with them?"

At this time, the communicator below turned around and reported.

"Get in!"

Hawat did not hesitate for a moment. He wanted to see who the other party was and why he dared to run wild in the territory of the Atreides family.

Immediately, accompanied by a hissing sound, the communication between the two parties was officially connected successfully.

[This is the advance team of the Universal Corporation. We are carrying out the escort mission. Our delegation will arrive here soon. Please be prepared to receive them.]

[Repeat it again...! ]

Unlike previous decapitation operations or directly sending troops to fight, this time the Universal Corporation's actions were quite mild. It planned to use courtesy before force and negotiate with the Atreides family.

After hearing the request from the Universal Corporation, Duke Leto and Hawat subconsciously frowned. The other party's tone was a little arrogant. In comparison, their Atreides was like a small family.

The other party is the big family of the Galactic Empire!

"I've never heard of any giant enterprise."

Lord Leto could not help but swear, but the other party seemed to have no ill will towards Carradine, and only asked to visit so that he could prepare himself.

This request is not excessive.

"Give orders to have people prepare to welcome the guests, but we also need to arrange our fleet and ground forces to guard against sudden attacks from the other side."

"Also, find out which family they are from as soon as possible."

For a moment, Leto wondered if this so-called Universal Corporation was a fake force of the Corino Royal Family and the Harkonnen Family.

But this kind of behavior of covering one's ears and stealing the bell is too ridiculous.

"Yes, Your Excellency the Duke, I will arrange it!"

Hawat nodded and passed Leto's orders to the various divisions.

Leto frowned, wondering why the warships of the Universal Corporation were built so large. This was completely unnecessary and a huge waste of resources.

After all, the human civilization in the Dune universe would never build such large warships, because this is a completely loss-making and prodigal act.

Thanks to the emergence of a technology called Holtzman shield, when a kinetic weapon hits the Holtzman shield, the shield will instantly reduce the kinetic energy to zero, rendering the bullets and artillery shells ineffective.

If an energy weapon is used to attack the Holtzman shield, a subatomic fusion reaction will be immediately triggered, causing a nuclear explosion at the shield end and the energy weapon launch end.

This is equivalent to that once the laser cannon hits the shield, both sides will explode at the same time.

Using ordinary energy weapon turrets to exchange for an enemy warship is a huge loss for the warship side no matter how you look at it.

Therefore, the emergence of the Holtzman shield directly changed the underlying logic of war in the Dune universe.

Small, sophisticated and fast spaceships are the mainstream weapons in interstellar wars. Some spaceships can even be as small as a car.

Spacecraft such as flapping-wing aircraft are the most common micro-warships.

These spacecraft will carry a certain amount of missiles, mainly used to fight for air supremacy on the ground.

It can be said that the interstellar warfare in Dune, to a certain extent, does not involve any fancy naval tactics.

In this situation, everyone is competing to see who has a richer fortune. You shoot down one of my spaceships, and I shoot down one of yours. Whoever runs out of spaceships first loses.

This type of warfare, which is the favorite method of big-money players, has led to the civilian uprising in the Dune universe, making it hell-level difficult.

After all, how could their wealth compare to the huge funds passed down by slave owners for thousands of years?

……

Half an hour later, a Skyhawk shuttle, escorted by several Stormhawk gunboats, slowly landed on a large estate of the Atreides family.

Looking at these exotic buildings in front of him, Andrew, as a representative of a global giant, couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"They are all ancient castles and open-air manors in the Western European medieval style. The powerful families here look really wealthy!"

Andrew Del Rio, the former captain of the Carthage-class aircraft carrier in the 004 "Halo" universe, has now been transferred to become a temporary mission officer in the Universal Corporation.

Although there is a risk of being taken advantage of for venting anger during his first diplomatic mission, if he can complete the mission excellently, he will be rewarded with a step-by-step promotion.

At this moment, a large number of people had surrounded the manor. Most of them were guards of the Atreides family, and the other part were members of the Atreides family.

The guards remained vigilant the entire time, carefully surrounding the shuttle, while the Atreides people stretched their heads curiously and looked over here.

Of course, Duke Leto would not be among this crowd, after all, he is the core figure of the Atreides family.

Without fully understanding the other party's background, he would never take the risk to personally deal with the delegation of the global giant company.

Here, the door of the shuttle slowly opened, and a group of Spartan warriors stepped out first. They quickly took position and provided all-round protection for Andrew who was about to come out.

Immediately afterwards, members of the giant corporate delegation, led by Andrew, walked out of the shuttle one after another.

Andrew walked at the front, exuding confidence and composure. He came in front of Hawat and nodded to him.

As for why they just nodded and didn't shake hands, it was mainly because they were worried that there might be some different tiny germs in different universes.

Looking at the other party's sharp eyes, Hawat immediately realized the identity of the visitor. He was most likely an officer, and a commander of a high rank!
"I am Andrew, the representative of the Universal Corporation."

After introducing himself to Hawat, Andrew got straight to the point and said:

"Mr. Hawat, the Atreides family is about to be destroyed. I think you should make plans early."

As soon as these words came out, the members of the Atreides family and the guards around them were immediately furious. Even Hawat, who was always calm, couldn't help but have his veins bulge and his breathing quickened. "Mr. Andrew, I don't understand what you mean. Are you trying to say that you want to go to war with my Atreides family?"

Hawat's face darkened, and even his tone became cold. He thought that the other party had come here specifically to issue a challenge and provoke their Atreides family.

Facing the anger of the Atreides family members around him, Andrew just smiled calmly and said:

"There is no conflict of interest between us, the Universal Corporation, and the Atreides Family. On the contrary, we will help the Atreides Family escape danger."

Before Hawat could ask a question in return, Andrew spoke first: "It won't be long before your Duke Leto will receive a transfer order from Emperor Shaddam."

"The entire Atreides family will be transferred to the planet Arrakis. In that vast expanse of sand dunes, the Harkonnen family will work with the powerful Sardauka Legion to kill all the Atreides."

"And we, the Universal Corporation, are the only force that can help the Atreides family escape the brink of death!"

The Sadoka Legion that Andrew mentioned is actually the most powerful elite force of the Corino royal family, equivalent to the imperial guards of Emperor Saddam.

These Sadokar warriors are trained all year round on the harsh planet Salusa II. As the most cruel prison planet in the Galactic Empire, the people there are all extremely vicious criminals.

The Sadokas are the best among the criminals. To get a chance to survive, they will do everything they can to stand out and eventually become elite warriors who are capable of fighting ten enemies at once.

As the sharp knife of the Corino royal family, the Sadoka Legion has done all kinds of dirty and tiring work for the royal family, and their terrifying reputation has spread to every corner of the empire.

Although the guards and warriors of the Atreides family are also the best among the major families, they are still much weaker when facing the Sardauka Legion.

Hearing this, Hawat looked hesitant. It was obvious that he was thinking about whether the information Andrew said was true. If so, then wouldn't it be...!
Seeing this, Andrew struck while the iron was hot and continued to instill information into the other party: "Our Universal Corporation is a powerful civilization that integrates multiple universes."

"Please tell your Lord Duke to give us an answer as soon as possible if he does not want the Atreides family to be destroyed in his hands."

"If the Atreides are unwilling to cooperate with the Universal Corporation, then we will look for other families."

After saying that, Andrew didn't care about Hawat's reaction. He turned around and left with his men, returning to the cabin of the Skyhawk shuttle.

Hawat just stared blankly at Andrew who was leaving. His lips moved slightly, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Soon, the Skyhawk shuttle took off quickly under the escort of the Stormhawk gunship and returned to the low-Earth orbit of the planet Caladan.

During the entire negotiation process, Andrew only mentioned two key pieces of information, that is, the Atreides family was in danger, and Universal Corporation was the only force that could help them.

As for whether Duke Leto believes it or not, it doesn’t matter. He will naturally know the truth when the time comes.

If you want a large and powerful family like the Atreides to willingly obey the orders of the giant corporation, it is not very effective to use temptation and threats.

Because people will definitely not be interested in small amounts of money, and if you give too much, it will damage the interests of the world's giant companies. After all, if you want to give such a big family enough benefits to attract the other party, you can only give the position of emperor.

But the position of emperor is given to the boss Li Ang, who dares to promise it easily?

Therefore, by taking advantage of the information of the Colino royal family and the Harkonnen family's attack on Atreides and saving the lives of Atreides' entire family, there would be an opportunity to bring the two sides closer together, so as to facilitate the formation of an alliance later.

Soon, when Hawat brought this information back and told Duke Leto, Leto was also a little confused.

"Do you think their words are reliable? How did they know about this?"

Leto looked at Hawat, hoping he could give him a suitable answer.

Immediately, Hawat's eyeballs rolled upwards, revealing a large area of ​​white in his eyes. This was a conditioned reaction caused by Mentat's brain calculating at high speed.

After a while, Hawat returned to normal. He searched for information about the Harkonnen family from the information he had seen recently.

"Recently, the Harkonnen family replaced all the old employees who mined spices, as well as a large number of machines. What remained were new people and old, broken equipment."

As soon as these words were spoken, Duke Leto immediately understood that at this critical juncture, the Harkonnen family's strange behavior must be wrong.

You know, Arrakis is the only place where spices are produced.

Over the years, the Harkonnen family has made a fortune from this shining Dune Star, and at one point the property value has surpassed that of the Atreides family.

Under normal circumstances, there is no need for the Harkonnen family to suddenly replace all the workers and means of production when they are having a great time making money.

Doesn't this delay making money?

So the only explanation might be that it is really as Andrew said, the Atreides family is about to replace the Harkonnen family and go to the planet Arrakis to take over that precious land.

"Could it be... that the Colino and Harkonnen families are really preparing to take action against us!"

Leto began to imagine the scene that was about to happen.

In the endless sand dunes, the Atreides Family faced siege from the Corino Royal Family and the Harkonnen Family. With nowhere to escape, the Atreides Family was likely to be destroyed in one fell swoop.

Once the matter is settled, even if other families are dissatisfied with the royal family's actions, it will be of no avail.

After all, without the leadership of a leader, the other small families are weak, and with the Harkonnen family aiding and abetting the evil, what else can they do to resist the royal rule?

After imagining the most dangerous possibility, Duke Leto couldn't help but feel a chill.

In fact, it is absolutely impossible to say that Duke Leto had no idea why the Colino royal family targeted the Atreides family.

He understood better than anyone why Atreides was jointly punished by the Corino Royal Family and Harkonnen.

Over the years, Leto Atreides has led other powerful families to join the Lansgard Federation. As the head of the federation, Leto has also worked hard to bring benefits to everyone.

But the power pie of the Milky Way had already been distributed among the major families according to their merits long after the end of the Holy War.

This system of rewarding according to merit has already clearly arranged the future potential of each family.

Everyone should live an honest life and be a good landlord.

Are you dissatisfied with your small share? What were you doing before?
Their current status and power were gained by their ancestors who sacrificed their lives and shed their blood. This is what they deserve.

As a result, your TMD Atreides family set up some shitty federation, stepped on the Colino royal family, and took the lead in redistributing the cake.

Even though it's not much, it's still the power resource of the Colino family. Why should we give it to you guys who do nothing and still get the benefits for free? I'm so angry!

Shameless!
This is equivalent to the Atreides family, with the help of the so-called Lansgard Federation and the resources of the Colino royal family, distributing welfare.

It was done, and everyone was grateful to the Atreides family. If the royal family had not agreed, the other families would have united to protest.

Isn’t this just disgusting!

The BYD Atreides family is nothing but beasts for being generous to others! The laws of the ancestors cannot be changed. The royal foundation of the Galactic Empire was infiltrated and rotten by this kind of aristocratic family!
This is the fundamental reason why Emperor Saddam really wanted to kill the Atreides family. He was challenging the authority of the royal family and dividing the royal power pie.

Isn't the purpose of playing all these tricks of courtesy and humbleness to win over more powerful families and fight against the Colino royal family?

But from the perspective of the Atreides, Duke Leto's actions would strengthen the family and revive the great Atreides.

His position is determined by his butt, and he has no other choice.

"If the Harkonnen family really wants to leave Arrakis, then we are the only family qualified to take over their place."

Hawat's expression was very heavy. Faced with this difficult decision, he felt helpless.

"If we really settled in Arrakis, and the two families of Corinor and Harkonnen sent a large army to besiege us."

"Then we have no chance of winning!"

As a professional military consultant, Hawat is very familiar with the geographical environment of the planet Arrakis.

Once the war starts, even if the Atreides family has made sufficient preparations in advance, it will be difficult to withstand the attack from the two families.

After all, there is nowhere to defend the dunes, and there are weak points in defense everywhere. There are no fortresses, population resources, or grain warehouses that the Atreides family has operated for many years.

If they go, the Atreides will surely perish.

Not going would be tantamount to openly violating the emperor's will, which would be deliberate rebellion.

If a war breaks out with the Colino royal family, even if we unite with other families and go through untold hardships to overthrow Emperor Saddam.

The final winner would not be the Atreides family, but the Harkonnen family which did not have to put in much effort throughout the whole process!
While the snipe and the clam quarrel, the fisherman benefits. No matter which path Duke Leto chooses, the ultimate winner will be the people of Harkonnen.

(End of this chapter)