The Fall of the Proteus

The Fall of the Proteus
Quest Type	Journey
Journey Arc	The Fall of the Proteus
Rewards	100
Next Getting Equipped

Description

After completion

"Find the Fremen. Wake the Sleeper." The Reverend Mother who gave me my mission used her voice to sear these words into my mind. When the Proteus was shot down, I believed it was over. When Zantara was butchering prisoners, I believed it again. And when I piloted that ornithopter into the oncoming storm, I believed it one last time.

And yet, I live. "Find the Fremen. Wake the Sleeper." I will.

Dialogue

Unconscious player being dragged to safety by Zantara after the crash of the Imperial Penal Transport, Proteus:

Zantara: Adab... You're wrong, it's just an offworlder! No, not the Alshaahid Akadhib. No, Ariste said it was just a dream. I agree, but she is almost Sayyadina...

Player exits the cave:

Zantara: So then, you're not quite dead. Now you will know a thing that few but the Fremen have seen... For many, the last thing they saw before they were slaughtered.
Sardaukar ships deploy a large shield barricade enclosing the player and Zantara.
Zantara: Come. Let us speak of our escape.

Player speaks to Zantara:

Zantara: Twin comets in the sky. A rebirth from fire and death. And a Sardaukar net closing around us. Your survival heralds interesting times, offworlder.

Player: Who are you?
Zantara: Is this what you wish? To waste time in idle chatter. Your first lesson on Arrakis, then: every exhalation is a waste of water.
Player: Name yourself and we can move on.
Zantara: I am Zantara. My companion is Noctua. Now, shall we discuss our escape?

Player: What is this place?
Zantara: The Fremen name for it translates as the 'Valley of Echoes'. A sacred place to the Fremen. A place of death and prophecy.
Player: Is this why you saved me?
Zantara: It is the miracle and inimitability of prophecy. I will speak on this no further.

Player: How did we come to crash?
Zantara: A portable rocket, I surmise. Based on the damage.
Player: 1. Why attack a prison ship? 2. [MENTAT] You were clearly not on the ship. The data heavily implies that you were involved in it being shot down.
Zantara: [1] No doubt the work of some desperate, and dangerous outlaw. One with a burning hatred for the Emperor and all he represents. But there are so many fitting that description. [2] So you have mentat training? Then compute your chances of survival without my help and review whether the questions you are asking are useful.

Player: I must find the Fremen.
Zantara: You found them, offworlder. They stood watch over you while you slept.
Player: "The dead in the cave?"
Zantara: When the Sardaukar began their jihad, they hounded us across the desert.
Player: "Us" - are you Fremen?
Zantara: I am not Fremen, offworlder. Though I have been fortunate to know them and to share their water and their customs.
Player: What happened?
Zantara: Some of my people were caught out by a passing wing of Sardaukar 'thopters. All they could do was take refuge in the cave and be ready for the assault to come.
Player: What happened?
Zantara: The assault never came. The Sardaukar used... ancient weapons to collapse the cave entrance.
Player: Your people were trapped?
Zantara: With damaged stillsuits and dwindling supplies. We toiled for days to free them. Digging until our fingers bled. And all the while we could hear their death chants. "Red the night, dusky sky, Bloody death, didst thou die." An auspicious place for your rebirth, offworlder.
Player: Rebirth?
Zantara: Whatever black fate awaited you in the Harkonnen slave pits waits for you no more. You are free from the bonds of servitude. Free to pursue a new destiny. Whatever that might be.

Player: You mentioned escape?
Zantara: There's a way through the barricade, if you do as I say.
Player: Why would I trust you?
Zantara: Because I dragged your corpse from the wreckage and sealed you in that cave while you recovered. Because you owe me your life, offworlder.
Player: I see.
Zantara: Do not be concerned, offworlder. I expect very little of you, beyond your help to escape this trap.
Player: Tell me what to do.
Zantara: We're going to need one of their ornithopters. Their protocol is to remain aloft and kill anything that moves from above.
Player: 1. How do we get one down? 2. [TROOPER] Standard Sardaukar tactics. Contain and observe. So we'll need to lure them down?
Zantara: [1] That's where you come in. If you can slip back onto the Proteus and locate the command module, you can activate the Captain's personal emergency transmitter. He's a noble - they aren't allowed to let him die. Leave the rest to me. [2] Well, you aren't completely new to this, I see. If you can slip back onto the Proteus and locate the command module, you can activate the Captain's personal emergency transmitter. He's a noble - they aren't allowed to let him die. Leave the rest to me.

Player: Aren't the Sardaukar here to protect us?
Zantara: His Majesty's Imperial Sardaukar care for naught but the Emperor's interests. And certainly not an errant prison crew bound for the slave pits of Neo-Carthag. We are as vermin to them, offworlder.

Player: What about the other prisoners?
Zantara: You must kill them. In other circumstances, their water would be a valuable resource. But with the Sardaukar here, we do not have time to claim them.
Player: Kill them all?
Zantara: Only those that get in your way. Think of it as a kindness, they will not survive Arrakis for long.

Player: Enter the ship, Find the captain. Activate the transmitter. Anything else?
Zantara: Here. Take this communinet transceiver. It's essential for planetary communication. Now go! And be quick, the mother storm is upon us.
Player: Goodbye.

Player speaks to Zantara again:

Zantara: What is it now?
Player: Remind me what I need to do.
Zantara: You test your fate, and my patience, offworlder. Find the Captain, and activate the transmitter. This is our only hope.
Player: Goodbye.

Player heads to the Proteus to locate the pentashield key:

Zantara: Stick to the shadows, offworlder. The heat of the sun is deadly to the unprepared.
Zantara: The guards have sealed themselves inside. Search the prisoners for a cutterray. And offworlder, be careful!
Zantara: The cutteray is primarily a mining tool, offworlder. You'll need it for harvesting resources. Using it to cut open ships is an added benefit.
Zantara: The captain's room is blocked by a pentashield. You'll need a pentashield key to pass though. See if there's another way forward.
Zantara: Ready your weapon offworlder. The guards won't hesitate, neither should you!
Zantara: Parry your opponents just as their strikes will hit you. This should stagger them, giving you a window of opportunity.
Zantara: A swift attack can force your enemy off balance, but only a slow blade penetrates a shield.
Zantara: That's the pentashield key. Once you equip it, you can pass though the shield. Get to the captain and activate that transmitter. I'll be there soon.

The plan succeeds in luring the Sardaukar to them in ornithopters:

Zantara: We only need the leader.
Zantara shoots the lead ornithopter down.
Zantara: I hear I'm a wanted man!
Bator Dakkar: (Translated) You! Outlaw scum! I watched your men take their last tortured breaths as they hung on the walls of Arsunt. They died badly.
Zantara: I know! That's why I brought you here.
Zantara defeats the Sardaukar Bator, but his leg is injured.
Zantara: The 'thopter will have the codes to get us through the barrier. Ever fly an ornithopter? It's simple enough, but my leg is bad and I won't be able to work the pedals.
Zantara: Get ready! They'll be on us as soon as we break through.
Player pilots the ornithopter and breaks out of the barricade.
Zantara: There's too many! Turn us into the storm. They won't follow.
Player flies the ornithopter into a sandstorm.
Zantara: Hang on! We're going down!