Inside the Throne room.
A hologram of The Baron stood in front of Shaddam while Mohiam stood to the side.
"Vladimir, House Atreides has made their position clear," Shaddam said, but the Baron did not reply.
The moment of silence stretched for a long while before Baron Harkonnen finally spoke.
"The payment towards House Atreides." He paused, not speaking any further, "Your contribution?"
"House Harkonnen has managed the outer territories and Giedi Prime's industrial output for decades. That industrial capacity feeds Imperial contracts. If House Harkonnen is affected financially, those contracts will be as well."
"So what will be your contribution to this payment?" Baron Harkonnen asked.
Shaddam was silent for a moment.
His eyes hovered on Baron as his thoughts ran.
'My CHOAM shares have been essentially frozen...'
"None." The words escaped Shaddam's mouth.
A frown appeared on Baron's face.
"House Harkonnen can't make such a payment," He said as he stared at Shaddam.
But Shaddam shook his head, a frown clung to his lips.
"I am not in any position to support this payment."
"That is a matter of House Harkonnen to handle," Shaddam said, shirking all responsibilities for this.
"House Harkonnen can very quickly make it a situation where House Corinno will be forced to handle."
Shaddam frowned.
"Do not threaten me for your failure Baron," Shaddam said shortly.
'I cannot touch the Sardaukar deployment without burning myself with it. He knows that.' Shaddam thought to himself.
"You coordinated with my Sardaukar knowingly. If I fall, you fall harder. House Harkonnen has no successor, no political allies willing to touch you with a 10-foot pole, and barely any treasury. At the moment, you are a great house falling, do not make it a disgraced house that fell." Shaddam said.
Baron paused for a moment as his eyes hovered on Shaddam for several moments.
His breathing was slightly unsteady as he glared at Shaddam with cold eyes.
"A paper throne"
Baron finally said.
Shaddam clenched the throne's armrest.
His jaw clenched.
"Careful Baron, I can make it hell, Giedi Prime's industrial output means nothing if it can't move," Shaddam said, but Baron did not deign himself to respond anymore.
In Baron's mind, Shaddam had become useless.
Like he said.
Shaddam sat on a paper throne, he himself knew that.
Baron did not even bother further conversing with Shaddam as he quietly shut off the projection, leaving Shaddam in silence.
Taking a few breaths, he calmed his mind.
'Blocking Imperial shipping lanes and implementing tariffs on Harkonnens will only further damage CHOAM... but that's the only thing I can do right now...' Shaddam thought as he grit his teeth.
'...'
'Paper throne...' Baron's words flashed through his mind as he took a deep breath and his eyes sharpened.
'Paper burns quickly.'
'But so does everything built on top of it.' The thought appeared in his mind as a frown tugged at his lips.
"Mohiam, how do you see this playing out?" He asked.
But Mohiam did not respond instantly, her eyes hovered on Shaddam for several moments.
'He expects truth, yet truth may lead to him taking radical actions further impacting the Bene Gesserit plans, we need time.' Mohiam thought to herself as she decided what to say.
"House Atreides has bitten off more than it can chew. Paul is riding the waves of success however, soon, he must face reality, and time will reveal flaws he could not have predicted."
"Fifty years is a long time."
"Long enough for House Atreides to make enemies of its own." She said.
"Long enough for one mistake to unravel everything Paul has done..." Shaddam spoke his thoughts out loud and Mohiam nodded in agreement.
'But mistakes like those come rarely... unless someone architectures it.'
'My time on the throne...' Shaddam hesitated even thinking of further.
As if his own thoughts brought fear within him.
His teeth clenched.
'If my time on the throne is soon up... I must ensure I wipe out the threats to House Corinno before I go' he thought as his teeth clenched.
'Paul is untouchable, he holds Arrakis... but his allies, House Richese, Ecaz, and House Vernius are much easier to get to.'
'Paul could not have done what he did at Landsraad, without these houses, so it is essential to make cooperation between Paul and these houses difficult...'
Mohiam on the side, stared in silence at Shaddam, and she noticed a look in his eyes that sent her thoughts spiraling.
She saw determination... she saw a fire.
And she did not know what it meant.
Was it good or was it bad.
'If need be... the throne must change.' Her eyes stared at Shaddam in silence, analyzing him for several moments as a thought appeared in her mind that she put away for later.
...
A singular frigate landed on Arrakis.
The gate slowly opened, and Paul who was standing at the front with Thufir and Gurney standing behind him.
As the slope lowered.
The familiar heat of Arrakis hit Paul.
Shutting his eyes instinctively to block the rays.
He paused.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and...
The bright shining sun hitting his eyes after being in the dark cabin did not affect him.
He barely felt the piercing of the sun rays on his face.
'This is not right.' He panicked internally but maintained a confident front,
The sight outside of Atreides became clear.
Paul saw Gurney standing at the center of the red carpet.
Eyes squinted as Paul began to descend, and the rest followed behind him.
Stepping off the Frigate, Paul smiled slightly as he walked up to Gurney.
"You look terrible," Paul exclaimed over the strong winds.
A smile appeared on Gurney's face.
"You look alive" he said with a chuckle as he stepped forward and hugged Paul tightly.
"Come, let's go," Gurney said as he began to lead Paul towards an area not too far away with a few Ornithopters, the others left with pilots inside for the crew inside the frigate.
All of a sudden, the winds picked up causing sand to be swept towards them,
Covering their eyes, Gurney, Duncan, Thufir, and Paul entered one of the Ornithopters with Gurney sitting at the pilot seat.