The APC rocked as the wind struck its iron clad hull. The 21st advance patroll of Juno had long since been dispatched to the lands south of New Xexoria to locate any signs of township, life, or resources. What had started out as a massive convoy of APc's and soldiers ended up with only one APC, and the surviving soldiers. Nine men in all including the APC crew survived, and in truth the harsh deserts of the other continent, had caughts the trained soldiers of Juno off guard. One man a Corporal sat in the back of the apc, his armor like his companions was covered in sand. The wind howled out side as the field of vision was cut down to only a few feet infront of their remaining convoy.

"I cant see shit! we are lost, and only got 2 more weeks of food and water left!" The driver howled above the ruckus the sandstorm was providing.

Another privite piped up hugging his gun and looking to the Junoian Corporal. "Hey jules..how the hell did we get suckured into this damn mission..the whole fuckin company is getting their bones bleeched and shaved down in this godforsaken land!"

Corporal jules piped up, and looked around at his famashed men. "Well the bad news is..the Colonial died 2 weeks ago....we are lost..and our radios are broken..and the food and water wont last for ever..not to mention we havent found shit out here..not even any sand leapers.."

Another cocky young man looked over with a lazy smile on his face. "So whats the good news?"

Jules spoke softly, and adjusted his helmet(Several grains of sand empied onto his sholdiers as he does this.) "Well we are still alive...the guns dont mined the heat and sand..and.." He looked at the mechanic on board the apc who was monitering the armored monster's engine. "The APC can handle the desert right? "

The Engineer looked at the entire group with a wild eyed expression. "Oh belle can handle any thing, this little dirt devil wont slow her down..been in servace for 15 years an not a leak..them new APCs yall had with us..couldent take the sand for hsit..why ya think we striped em down back north?!"

Jules' heart leapt at he engineers words. A 1st Gen APc was what they were cruising in.Other groans leapt out of mouths at the announcement as well, and the driver merely laughed, then smacked the roof twice. "How is the weather out there?!"

The top hatch opened, and a dirt ball of a man stuck his armored head in, along with a large plume of sand. "Clear as day...but i think we might be bein followed...or it could be the cargo carrage..i dunno i havent seen it for nearly 2 hours..and the storm be only getting stronger, if tha empress thinks people can live out here she may be right, kause as far as i can tell we are the only ones who have even come close to surviven!" He said with a loight cackle.

Jules merely slapped his face. APC crews were notoriously zealious..and crazey. But that zeal and lack of sanity was all that was holding him and his men together. The APC named Belle trudged on through the Sietch desert, Zig zagging aimlessly accross it insearch of...anything.

Unfortunately for the crew from Juno, the sandstorm was the least of their worries. They’d inadvertently wandered right into Sietch Impiam territory, and were actually being watched. Lucky for them, they were nearing the Shield-Wall which was nothing more then a massive stone formation designed to keep sandstorms such as this out of the Sietch. Only moments after the interaction within the vehicle took place, they’d find themselves in an area of the desert completely devoid of the raging winds which created the storms. In fact, they’d find themselves driving right toward a stone wall, a wall which held several squads of Sietch warriors. The wall was the only discernable defense of the Sietch, and it had been built with multiple tiers and corridors inside it, creating a small outpost.

Within that outpost a Sietch officer was looking out at the approaching vehicle. Beside him was a Reverend Mother who had already observed the APC. Her face was blank, a Bene Gesserit mask which none would penetrate. However the officer beside her was grinning. He looked up at one of his aids and spoke quickly, “Go, inform the workers to prepare an Ornithopter. We have a possible fuel source.EThe aid saluted and ran off through the corridors. The Reverend Mother looked toward the officer, a bemused smile on her features, “A combustion engine, you saw it too. Take your men and learn all that you can of these people. I will go with you, but I will not speak with them.EThe officer saluted and turned, barking an order to his men. The group moved out of the fort, and down toward the vehicle which must have stopped by now, seeing not only the wall but the soldiers training rifles down on them.

Within moments of the scene within the command chamber of the Shield-Wall, the officer and his men marched out onto the soft sands which made up the interior of this part of the Sietch. Their shieldbelts were all active, in case of an attack. They marched right up to the vehicle and the officer shouted out in Gallic, “Identify yourselves! You are trespassing on sovereign territory!.EHe’d wait for the soldiers within the vehicle to respond before giving his next order via hand signal.

Indeed the Apc had cruised right through the shield wall, the sandstorm suddenly dying out almost as suddenly as it had begun. The driver drove on for a little more looking back to the crew and stating "Sand storm is over..hell we can probley camp!" He then turned and let out a loud falling toned whistle as he marvled at the massive stone wall. "Whooooaaa doggy..looks like we got us a challenge." It was then when a hammer smacked one the iron clad roof letting the troop know their gunner had something to say.

The APC was at a hault when the man walked up to it and began shouting them at them in a strange language. The Hatch to the APC opened and the sand covered gunner shouted down below. "Hey we got a person out here..he seems kinda pissed..and i think their are more in the rocks..but I
got sand in my goggles..so i cant really see...."


"What..a person?" Jules said looking around inside of the APC, "GUNNER CHECK YOUR MAN IM COMING UP!" The Gunner did as he was commanded, the bolt of the gun was yanked back, prepping it to fire, jamming was at a low and the weapon could deal in the harshed of weather conditions, including sand. The APC gunner sat atop the iron hulk and leveled his weapon at the approaching men"Locked and loaded sir..I cant get what they are saying it sounds like they are speaking under water or sumthin!". They wore shield belts, but even they would know this archaic high calibur weapon would chew them and their shields up if they remained in the open.

Jules looked to his crew. "Ok Im going top side..you boys hang tight me and gunnie will see if we can come to a peaceful agreement..I think if they wanted a fight they would have already fired on us..My guess is they have been watching us for sometime now to just stroll up infront of the APC and start talking..So hang tight.. 2 men at the doors if i scream..or you hear shots fire..you boys know what to do..Mech gun on the left..tali's one the right." Nodds and agreeing speeches followed, and Jules stood up in a croach, and headed up through the top hatch. Suddenly he found him self looking down on several armed fellows. Jules leveled his own 5 shot rifel to the speaking man and spoke him self in a slow and steady form of Commen. "I am Corporal Jules Montague..of the Junoan armed forces..we come in peace...andrequest you identifie your selfs!"

The Gunner smiled as he continued pointing his gun at the approaching men. "That was pretty good man!" He said with a slight giggle.

"Gunnie..in situations like these you will call me sir.." Jules replyed in a very cold voice

Guns were leveled at the approaching Sietch soldiers, something which was just another sign of ignorance and aggression. These people must not have known much about shieldbelts, lest they would stow their projectiles and draw more sensible weapons. For the same thing which made their guns so devastatingly affective was also what would ruin them. For the shieldbelts stopped items above a set speed from penetrating, this speed would halt the majority of projectiles, including fire-arms, from penetrating. Of course, this is why the Sietch soldiers wore them in situations such as this. They had no desire to end up massacred by a rapid fire assault weapon. Nor did they enjoy having that weapon leveled at them, and loaded. It was a bad sign, a sign that this civilization preferred to fight first, talk after.

The officer who had first spoken regarded the situation calmly. He understood the protection the shieldbelts offered. It was obvious that there was a language barrier. What was common to these people, was a butchered version of Gallic. It was understandable, but barely. It was like trying to speak with a caveman who only knew a few key words. But the tone was clear, it seemed these people believed they had the right to demand that the Sietch soldiers identify themselves. How quaint. The officer motioned to a soldier behind him, speaking again in Gallic, “Call an Ornithopter. I want it prepped and ready to wipe this vehicle out should they prove hostile. The soldier saluted and spoke into a radio, sending the message back to the base where the airstrike was being prepared. Turning his attention again onto the APC crew who were facing him the officer seized on the minor similarities in their languages and called out, “Identify selves! You on our territory!EWell, that was how the broken Gallic would be received. The real message was something like this, “Identify yourselves! you are in the territory of Sietch Impiam!

The Reverend Mother kept her Bene Gesserit mask upon her features, observing the interaction. If the crew proved to be hostile to the Sietch, she would be the first to die. She had no shieldbelt, nor any firearms. Perhaps the crew of the APC would shoot at the soldiers first, choosing not to attack a woman who they might view as weak. And perhaps she did look weak, for she was garbed as a conservative woman might be. A long black dress, hiding most of her body. In fact, she didn’t appear to be a threat at all, at least that’s what the message was supposed to be. But they were dealing with barbarians, no telling how they’d react to her.

Gunnie servayed the situation and listined to the speech of the strange new men. "Man these boys are strange..sir..they talk like they are morons!" He said not taking his his eyes off of them. "Boss look is that a...woman?! She aint all protected like the warriors are!" He said noting the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother. Jules nodded as he slowly lifted his bayonetted rifel to the air. He reached over and jerked the auto cannon up in the air as well. "Keep to the triggers if they get iffy..but id rather not let this go into a fight..we are a long way from home and I think I heard him say we were on his..tell the men im approaching them.." Gunnie loked at Jules like he was insane "SIR?!" he said loudly "Sir you dunno what how they are gonna take that i mean" Jules cut him off "Shove it privite just follow my orders.." Jules flipped his legs over the ege of the iron clad roof of the APC, and pushed off landing softly in the sand. He slung his rifel over his sholdier, and fastined his helmet to his head.

He then turned to the sietch soldiers and presented his hands. He held them out slightly palms facing the sietch men showing he ment no harm. As he made his approach he spoke in a loud slow tone as if the sietch people were idiots. "I AM A CORPORAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF JUNO, I COME IN PEACE!" what the seitch men problem heard was similar to "I coppla Reputa o Juno, Peace."

His approach was slow and steady, Jules thought what he was doing was crazey, but he suddenly beleived he had found what the Empress wished for him to find. Gunnie looked on from his purch atop the APC, he shouted to his fellows down below "Hey fellas the corporal has lost his brains, he is actually walking up to these crazeys with his hands showing!" he said laughing nerviously. The dangers of this situation had not been lost to him, nor had it been lost to Jules.