The Last Beacon

The Last Beacon
Type	Contract
Contract Chain	Factions: Operational Deployment
Contract Group	Settlement - Arrakeen
Issuer	Duke Leto Atreides
Repeatable	No
Rewards	13,000 500 (Atreides)
Added in Version	1.3.0.0

Captain Moser was lured into a Harkonnen trap. His squad lies dead or scattered, and an intelligence asset of great value has been taken. Locate and recover the asset before the enemy can move or silence them. Enemy anti-air turrets protect the site — disable them to clear the skies for extraction. Proceed with caution; survivors may remain inside the outpost. Mercy honors the soul, but victory preserves the House.

Objectives

• Travel to the Arsunt Garrison from the Overland Map
• Sabotage the AA guns
  • Sabotage the first lower level AA gun
  • Sabotage the second lower level AA gun
  • Sabotage the upper level AA gun
• Find Captain Moser
• Talk to Captain Moser
• Locate the informant
• Proceed deeper into the outpost
• Find the prisoners
• Disable the cell's pentashields
• Return to the prisoners
• Leave through the landing pad and return to Duke Leto
• Report back to the Duke

Dialogue

Receiving mission from Duke Leto

Duke Leto: I have heard of your efforts in the field. Our influence in the Landsraad remains strong. Well done. Player: [1] Thank you, Sire. [2] The work is far from done. I assume this is why I'm here. Duke Leto: We have a problem, agent. Duke Leto: A unit of Gurney's Own led by Captain Moser was escorting a high-value intelligence asset through contested ground. Player: [1] Sounds like a cut-and-dry 'thopter extraction. What went wrong? [2] A dangerous mission, sire. What befell the Captain?

Duke Leto: (2) Reports say that Moser went off-course. A distress beacon pulled him from the path. Player: A trap would've been obvious. Captain Moser would have seen it coming. Duke Leto: Knowing where the trap is located is the first step in evading it, but foresight alone does not sanctify a choice. Duke Leto: There was a time I believed a clever commander could sidestep every snare, steer a clean course through war. Duke Leto: But storms don't bend. They break the vessel... or swallow it whole. Player: [1] Captain Moser acted as any honorable officer would. [2] Moser was reckless to risk the asset. [3] It swallows us, sire. Nothing ever changes. Victories and defeats are the same. [4] The Fremen live in storms, and build lives in what you call destruction.

Duke Leto: (1) TODO

Duke Leto: (2) TODO

Duke Leto: (3) TODO

Duke Leto: (4) The Fremen belong to the storm. The storm is not their enemy; it is their home. Much in the same way, we claimed the wild seas of Caladan. Duke Leto: 'Sea Power', my father called it... Perhaps we require 'Desert Power'. Player: Maybe it isn't the storm that breaks us - it's our refusal to adapt. Duke Leto: A lesson the Fremen have mastered. There was a dream once, to parlay with them and gain that very knowledge. Alas. Player: Dreams are worth keeping, my Duke - but the mission before us can't wait.

Duke Leto: The enemy lured Captain Moser to a remote outpost. His men were struck down by an unknown gas agent. Duke Leto: Sudden. Brutal. We don't know if Moser or the asset survived. Player: (Accept contract) We cannot delay. What are your orders? Duke Leto: Scouts report the outpost is covered by Harkonnen anti-air turrets. Duke Leto: If the asset is still viable, you'll have to clear those defenses before extraction. Player: It shall be done.

During the mission

Arsen Demo makes contact (Objective Travel to the Arsunt Garrison from the Overland Map)

ARSEN: Ah, there you are. You're approaching the target location. ARSEN: You can probably smell those Harkonnen ghouls. You heard what they did, right? ARSEN: They lured our soldiers with a distress call, used their own valor against them, then killed them all with chemical weapons. Bad way to go. Bastards! ARSEN: Sorry. They were my old unit. It's why I volunteered for this mission. ARSEN: Ah, enough of that. We have to focus. Keep it simple. Disable the turrets so you can extract the informant via ornithopter. ARSEN: Turrets, informant. Ornithopter. Go!

After completing objective: Sabotage the AA guns

ARSEN: Good work. With the turrets disabled, you should have clear airspace for an escape. Now go find the informant before it's too late. ARSEN: Just one other thing... Don't know if I should be telling you this, but word is that Halleck's protege, and my good friend, Captain Moser is alive. ARSEN: The Harkonnen are keeping him breathing, just barely, to dissuade any future attacks. ARSEN: Maybe you can find him. He deserves better than this. He's a war hero, dammit! They are mangling his flesh and soul as we speak.

Talking to Captain Moser (Objective Talk to Captain Moser)

Captain Moser: Are you... Are you flesh, or just the shadow that comes before the end? Player: [1] [Next] [2] Goodbye <ENDS DIALOGUE> Captain Moser: Y-your face drips like water... can't hold it still. Makes me think of the... of the cistern back home, leaking drop by drop by drop... Player: [1] Captain, you're not at the cistern, you're here. Let me help you. [2] Stay with me Captain. Where is the informant? [3] Goodbye. <ENDS DIALOGUE> Captain Moser: (1 and 2) Thought you were one of mine... It's past saving for me... my thread's cut. Player: [1] One of yours? Are there other survivors, Captain? [2] Goodbye. <ENDS DIALOGUE> Captain Moser: Aye... aye. Fake distress beacon... lured us inside... then... gas and... nothing... Captain Moser: Failed... the troops... Player: [1] You were deceived, Captain. Answering the call wasn't a failure - it was proof of your strength. [2] You put your mission at risk. But I can help you make it right again. [3] Goodbye. <ENDS DIALOGUE> Captain Moser: (1 and 2) He was here... I saw him... then gone... in Harkonnen chains. Player: [1] Who was here? The target asset? [2] Goodbye. <ENDS DIALOGUE> Captain Moser: 'Thopter waiting... They dragged him away, laughing... chains in the sand. Player: [1] Who, Captain? Who did the Harks drag away? [2] Goodbye. <ENDS DIALOGUE> Captain Moser: The asset, the asset for fuck's sake... follow the trail, make it all matter. Don't let us... die... for nothing. Player: [1] [Next] [2] Goodbye. <ENDS DIALOGUE> Captain Moser: The last spark of life fades from Moser's body. Silence settles over the outpost, broken only by distant echoes. Captain Moser is gone.

Arsen decides to save the survivors (Immediately after Moser dies)

ARSEN: What's this then? There are Atreides survivors? I... ARSEN: We have to save them. The Harkonnens will be cleaning up their messes and will likely exterminate them all shortly. ARSEN: I know time is of the essence. I know we are commanded to find the informant before they hide him away, but... I say mission be damned. I say Housed be damned! ARSEN: All those lofty plots and campaigns may as wel be as far from us grunts as the stars. ARSEN: Loyalty, REAL loyalty is what we give to the people standing next to us. ARSEN: I say we honor Captain Moser's death. I say we save as many of our people as possible. Do it! Do it and tell them that Arsen Demo takes full responsibility. ARSEN: I'll proudly take the brunt.

Arsen's third dialogue (after completing objective Disable the cell's pentashields)

ARSEN: Still alive? Good. Help is on the way. Hold out a little longer. Save as many of our folk as you can.

Arsen's congratulations (after completing objective Return to the prisoners)

ARSEN: Made it through did you? From hell and back. The lives of those soldiers was worth it. You did good. ARSEN: Your superiors might not agree, but an angry superior is not the mark of a bad soldier. In my experience, it's often the mark of a good one.

Reporting back to Duke Leto

Duke Leto: I often recall the great myths and sagas of Old Terra - Achilles at Troy, Leonidas at Thermopylae, Prometheurs, who gave fire to mankind. Duke Leto: Men who paid dearly for choices they could not escape. Player: [1] They chose sacrifice for the sake of others. [2] They were swept along by a tide too vast to resist. (RESPONSE TODO) [3] Nice stories, Sire, but myths don't bleed. (RESPONSE TODO) [4] I'm... not certain, Sire. I saved lives, but the cost feels heavier than victory. (RESPONSE TODO) [5] [GIEDI PRIME] What the myths call honor often costs lives. We know that all too well on Giedi Prime. [6] [CULTURED] I see it, Sire. The stories weight duty against desire, loyalty against consequence.

Duke Leto: (`) Yes. And every choice cost them something they couldn't reclaim. I see that same truth here. Duke Leto: Our courage isn't measured in what we keep, but in what we lose and still endure. Duke Leto: But speak freely - I would hear your reckoning of the mission. Player: [1.1] [...] the moment required. (QUESTION TEXT TODO/RESPONSE TODO) [1.2] I couldn't abandon my brothers in arms, even if it meant the mission was lost. [1.3] I followed[?] orders, Sire. Doing so let the asset fall into enemy hands. (RESPONSE TODO) [1.4] I saved lives, Sire, but the cost feels heavier than victory. (RESPONSE TODO) Duke Leto: (1.2) I understand. Loyalty is no small thing. But even noble acts bleed consequence. Duke Leto: You acted with spirit - but remember, compassion for the few may come at the cost of the many.

Duke Leto: (5) The Harkonnen do not hesitate. They do not weigh cost against conscience. Duke Leto: And yet, in their ruthless freedom, they achieve what we struggle to accomplish with careful hands. Duke Leto: I fear the world rewards their savagery more than our virtue. Player: On Giedi Prime, results always come before conscience. Duke Leto: Yes, agent. We've survived because we measure risk and consider consequences. That is our edge - and it may yet be our only one.

Duke Leto: (6) And none of it spares us the cost. I've seen valor become tragedy. I've seen my best intentions drown in circumstance. Player: How do you bear it? Duke Leto: As one bears a wound that will not close. Duke Leto: With attention, regret, and a constant awareness that every choice carries echoes I cannot undo.

Duke Leto: Tell me, agent. If the moment came again, would you do the same? Duke Leto: But before you answer, consider this: the lost intelligence asset may have carried knowledge that could have ended the war. Player: [1] Even so, Sire. I would not leave my comrades to die. [2] I should have stayed on mission, no matter the cost. (RESPONSE TODO) [3] But I knew I could save them... Isn't certitude the better choice? (RESPONSE TODO) [4] It... It all went so fast. Can it be so easy to doom millions? (RESPONSE TODO)
Duke Leto: (1) I understand both your heart and your hindsight. You acted from loyalty and conscience, yet the consequences of duty remain. Duke Leto: Saving lives is noble, and honoring orders is necessary - the challenge of leadership is to reconcile both. Duke Leto: Now, agent, the question remains: who bears the burden of this outcome? Duke Leto: Speak freely - do you claim this weight alone, divide it, or place it entirely elsewhere? Player: [1] I take responsibility, Sire, but I would make the same choice again. [2] The failure was Arsen Demo's and mine alike. (RESPONSE TODO) [3] It was Arsen's orders that bound my hand - the course was his, not mine. (RESPONSE TODO) [4] The fault was mine alone. (RESPONSE TODO)
Duke Leto: (1) So be it. My great-great-grandfather, General Aurelius Atreides, once bore blame not entirely his own, yet acted according to conscience. Duke Leto: Reckless, perhaps, but courageous. The consequences are yours to bear, as they were his, but I will not deny the weight of principle you have chosen. Player: [1] Forgive the impertinence, sire, but are we winning? [2] What if this war demands actions beyond the letter of our rules? [3] Thank you for your consel, Sire. I will not waste more of your time.

Duke Leto: (1) Winning? No. We hold the line. The Barons leans too hard on his fiscal blade, and debts blunt even the sharpest edge. Duke Leto: But clandestine war is another matter. Piter De Vries thrives in shadows - and shadows do not tire. <RETURNS TO PREVIOUS BRANCH>

Duke Leto: (2) I ask myself that more nights than I care to say. Principle is a burden when one slip could mean all we protect burns. Duke Leto: Sometimes, I fear the rules may be a luxury we cannot afford. Player: So, even you might use tactics we'd otherwise call dishonorable? Duke Leto: If pressed, perhaps. My father faced the bull - sometimes courage meant bending when the beast left no other choice. Duke Leto: But one can bend too far, and then there is no getting straight. <RETURNS TO PREVIOUS BRANCH>

Duke Leto: (3) Thank you, agent. You may take your leave. Player: Goodbye, my Duke.

Findings

When sabotaging AA guns (Objective Sabotage the AA guns)

AA gun sabotaged!