Suboid Revolt

The Suboid Revolt was a rebellion in which the suboid population of the planet Ix, secretly incited by the Bene Tleilax and backed by the Emperor's Sardaukar, rose against the ruling House Vernius over perceived violations of the commandments of the Butlerian Jihad. The uprising drove the young heir Rhombur Vernius and his guest Leto Atreides I into flight and ended with the Tleilaxu conquest of Ix.

Background#

In 10153 AG the highly religious suboid lower class of Ix grew uneasy with what the Vernius family was ordering them to create, fearing they might violate the prime commandment of the Butlerian Jihad against producing thinking machines. Leto Atreides I, then a guest on Ix, witnessed their unrest at a rally and tried to warn the ruling house, but he was largely unsuccessful in prompting any effort to quell the disturbance.

Meanwhile the Bene Tleilax proposed to Padishah Emperor Elrood Corrino IX the scheme that would become Project Amal, an effort to create synthetic melange and end the Imperium's dependence on Arrakis, by then the only source of the spice in the Known Universe. The project was in fact organized by Crown Prince Shaddam Corrino and his friend Count Hasimir Fenring. To carry out the work the Tleilaxu needed an existing, well-defended industrial base, and to destroy his old rivals at the same time, Elrood and the Tleilaxu privately settled on Ix. A group of Tleilaxu led by Master Researcher Hidar Fen Ajidica resolved to exploit the suboid unrest, secretly stirring up rebellion among them for months beforehand.

The revolt#

The suboids, backed by the Tleilaxu, blew apart two of the diamond columns supporting Vernii, collapsing part of the planet's overhead crust and seriously damaging the city. Leto Atreides I and Rhombur Vernius were escorted by Commander Zhaz through a secret corridor and railcar toward the crust caverns. Another explosion destroyed a walkbridge and sent pedestrians to their deaths, and command learned that the Tleilaxu were involved, their engineers having blown the recycling lines and the pipelines feeding heat from the planet's molten core. An explosion in the Guild Embassy Building killed S'tina Pilru.

The courier Yuta Brey was rushed to Kaitain to notify the Emperor, and with ambassador Cammar Pilru she sought an audience opposing Mofra Tooy of the Tleilaxu, who claimed the Ixians had violated the Jihad. Elrood gave the Tleilaxu two days to compile their evidence before any halt to hostilities, citing the Jihad Appendix of the Great Convention. Enraged at the Emperor's indifference, Cammar planned to call a Security Council meeting within the Landsraad. The Ixians, meanwhile, could not hold their ground. Through well-planned sabotage and carefully arranged bottlenecks the Tleilaxu seized most of the underworld, and the manipulated suboids vastly outnumbered the defenders.

Flight of the heirs and the fall of Ix#

When Rhombur and Leto were moved to a secret security chamber, they were visited by Dominic Vernius and Kailea supporting the injured Shando, who had been wounded by a maula pistol while protecting Kailea. The couple told the children that their House would go renegade, and Duke Paulus Atreides sent a rescue mission for the three heirs. The revolt peaked with a full-scale invasion of Ix by the Tleilaxu, aided by the Emperor's Sardaukar, completing the seizure of the planet.