Late at night on the capital world of Kaitain five conspirators discussed the final preparations for the takeover within the fortified Ordos Embassy. In the dimly lit underground chamber the Ordos ambassador/Landsraad representative and his four co-conspirators spoke quietly in near whispers.
For two thousand years House Ordos had prepared for the coming day by amassing wealth, bribing others for their silence, buying and producing weapons and forming a secret army. The takeover would be the biggest gamble in the history of the Imperium. Failure would mean the destruction of House Ordos but success would more than triple the wealth of House Ordos. After the takeover, order would need to be restored immediately. The Ordos could not afford to have a long period of chaos. Therefore the takeover needed to be swift and well-organized. The Ambassador felt a great burden to fulfill the two thousand year old plot. There would be no room for error. The Executrix would not give the green light for the takeover unless they were absolutely sure that there would be no mistakes. If there was a flaw in the plan, they would just order their men to back down and wait anything from a week to another hundred years. The Ambassador then proceeded to go over the preparations one last time.
"This is the last time we will go through this checklist so we must make sure we do not miss any details. On orders from the Executrix, we will strike in precisely forty eight hours. Now tell me, are our men on Arrakis ready?"
"Our agents have infiltrated important locations in all cities and major towns on Arrakis and will activate the meks in forty eight hours as ordered. Yes we are prepared to strike swiftly on Arrakis" replied one conspirator.
"Excellent. What of Caladan? Are we prepared to strike there?" The Ambassador knew that Caladan would be the hardest part of the takeover. Recent events had proven that the Atreides were not to be underestimated. Even the Emperor feared that the Duke was a threat to his power. Such a potential enemy must be eliminated.
"The Atreides army is too powerful to fight by direct force. Our agents disguised as fishermen have brought canisters there to gas the population as well as the meks. But we must act quickly. The Duke's Mentat Hawat will soon suspect our infiltration. We are taking a calculated risk there but the odds are with us" The ambassador then had the co-conspirator go through all the details of the Caladan plot to make absolutely sure they had done all they could to ensure the plot succeeded.
"Good. Now I have asked personally to the Executrix if the Bene Gesserit will interfere and they assure me that those sluts have been bought. The Spacing Guild will not interfere as long as there is always as steady flow of spice. All that's left is for us to do is to distribute the canisters to our agents in the city before dawn. That concludes our meeting. Now go forth, and remember; you will all be paid a year's worth in mélange. You have six hours and five hundred people waiting. Hurry!" The conspirators then entered tunnels leading to various locations of the city each carrying canisters of Ixian nerve gas enough to kill thousands of people. But there was more to this gas than mere death…