ACT ONE ━━ CHAPTER TWO
Salusa Secundus

LOVISA WAS DECLARED GUILTY BY HOUSE GINAZ, and later transported to Salusa Secundus, a prison planet established by the Emperor. It was meant to serve as a place to detain criminals who were guilty of violating imperial law, and faking her identity fell within that category.

Salusa Secundus was often glazed over, never brought up in conversation. Tauno never fully explained what occurred on the prison planet to Lovisa, partially because he never thought it was necessary — and partially because no one other than its rulers and inhabitants truly knew what went on there.

Depending on who you asked, Lovisa lucked out in regards to her punishment. Because of her experience with the Ginaz School, she was immediately ordered to begin Sardaukar training. The Sardaukar were the imperial military force, and despite being the only female trainee, Lovisa was seen as an ideal candidate based solely on her incredible skill set.

When she was transported to the designated training location, where the Sardaukar were raised in an entirely separate environment, Lovisa quickly learned that she was indeed an outsider, even amongst criminals. Most soldiers were taken from their families young and raised on the planet, half dying from the extreme environment before they even reached eleven years old. However, the few that did survive grew into impeccable soldiers. Lovisa's instructors said that the Sardaukar were equivalent — if not more skilled than — a Ginaz Swordmaster. Like Swordmasters, their precision was nearly mechanical. So while she would be serving a different organization, Lovisa would be achieving the same level of finesse she always intended to.

Albeit not without difficulty.

The Ginaz School seemed to be a breeze in comparison to Salusa Secundus. At least Ginaz's environment was relatively neutral; the prison planet's extreme temperatures on both ends of the scale were unbearable. One day would be scolding hot and the next would pose a risk of acquiring hypothermia. The unforgiving terrain surrounding the planet didn't do the trainees any favors either, land contorted into both risen hills and dipped ravines. A believed to be dormant volcano erupted during training one morning, and the trainees were simply instructed to carry on but mind the lava. In a sense, Salusa Secundus was the perfect training ground for soldiers since, within battle, circumstances will be unpredictable. And "unpredictable" was surely one way to describe the prison planet.

Lovisa expected her preliminary training to consist of simple conditioning and sword fighting techniques — and to an extent, she was correct. For the first week or so of residing on the planet, Lovisa felt that perhaps this training would be nothing compared to Ginaz's.

Then, the storm came.

Like her fellow trainees, Lovisa was lying on her uncomfortable cot as they were supposed to be catching the smallest wink of sleep that they could muster since they were worked to the bone the past few weeks. Ever since she arrived at Salusa Secundus, Lovisa had never slept through an entire night. Her old life occupied her thoughts: Ginaz...Duncan...Tauno...

The Sardaukar are told — ordered — to forget what they believe their lives were before being called to serve the imperial army. Becoming a member of the force is seen akin to a calling from a higher being, like it's one's destiny to serve the throne. The veteran soldiers wholeheartedly believe this, it having been reiterated into their skulls long enough for it to finally stick. Lovisa struggled to forget her old life, and didn't intend to for as long as she was able, even if that meant lying to her superiors.

Their instructors barged into their bunks, heavy off-white suits and boots clobbering on the concrete floor of the room. They ordered everyone to wake, even grabbing onto trainees' top collars to physically pull them upright. One gripped onto Lovisa's hair — the longest out of all of her peers' — and kept a grasp on her like an animal, utilizing her hair as a leash.

Lovisa ripped the man's hand away from her, earning her an unimpressed scoff in response.

"Well then," the instructor said, grabbing onto her shirt collar, "looks like we've got ourselves our first volunteer." Lovisa was unsure of what he meant, but was forced to comply as he essentially dragged her out of their bunks, his tall legs moving too swiftly for her shorter ones to keep up with at that odd hour of the morning.

The pelting rain drenched Lovisa and the others, coming down so roughly that their exposed skin began to burn from the stinging impact. The instructor with his hold on Lovisa held her in place as the other trainees were instructed to encircle her, forcing her to feel small. Vulnerable.

Once everyone was in position, the instructor adjacent to Lovisa yelled over the rain, "You will approach your peer one by one, and fight until someone yields! Whoever wins will take their predecessor's spot in the center, and the process will continue." He pointed out towards one of the trainees who was obviously reaching into his pocket for some type of advantage, "No weapons. Show how strong you are when it is just you, alone." He released Lovisa's collar as he began walking towards the outskirts of the manmade circle, pausing behind a tall, bulky man more or less around Tauno's age. The instructor pushed the man towards Lovisa, "Commence!"

Lovisa's eyes darted around the man's body, looking for weak spots. She noticed how he favored his left side over his right, making his first mistake by not evenly distributing his weight. He was also reeking arrogance, believing that this would be an easy victory since he evidently towered over Lovisa's five foot, five inches frame and most likely weighed twice as much as she. He switched his advance from a leisurely walk into a run, planning to knock Lovisa over by sheer force.

She began running in his direction, breaking out into a sprint. The man was obviously confused as to why she was also running towards him, but quickly recovered his temporary loss of momentum due to his confusion. He poured too much weight into his upper body, almost tipping over as he prepared to swing towards Lovisa's neck. She seamlessly slid underneath his legs, pulling his right leg down with her, causing him to fall onto the ground. His body emitted a subtle splash as it collided against the wet earth that was as unforgiving on the skin as concrete. Lovisa regained her posture in one fell swoop, using a somersault to propel her body back into a standing position. While everyone experienced impaired vision due to the pouring rain and Lovisa's swiftness, the next thing her peers saw was her on top of her opponent's back, his legs and arms pinned under her various body parts as her hands were in prime neck-snapping position.

Her chest rose and fell from the physical exertion, but her face remained emotionless as she glanced up towards her instructor. He was watching with arms latched behind his back, his features creating an unreadable expression, as if he was expecting more. Lovisa contorted the man's limbs inwards, causing pain as he yelled out in surrender. Lovisa stood up with ease, allowing the man to limb away as the others feigned disappointment to hide their surprise.

Lovisa's instructor was unfazed, yelling out, "Again!"

Like with her first opponent, all of Lovisa's peers were far too cocky for their own good. They overlooked their own weaknesses, leaving an open opportunity practically begging to be taken. All of her fellow trainees were men (boys), so Lovisa couldn't say that she was too surprised that they hadn't devised better strategies of attack. Granted, her opponents — for the most part — increased in difficulty as she forced them to yield one after the other, but Lovisa remained on top, literally.

Facing her final opponent, she got them into the same position as she did her first. Looking towards her instructor for approval, there was now a different expression across his face.

Without hesitation or remorse, he ordered, "Finish it." Lovisa's grip wavered for a second, but she quickly recovered as she readjusted her grip around her opponent's neck. Her instructor nodded, "Finish it." Her eyebrows flinched inwards, in disbelief that he would ask her to kill a fellow Sardaukar trainee right here, right now. The instructor audibly sighed and visibly showed frustration, unlatching his arms from behind his back to come over in long, forceful strides. He bent down in front of Lovisa's face, the combination of his loud voice and shock of his hot breath on her freezing body causing her to subtly flinch as he told her, "When I relay to you an order, you obey! Understand?!"

Lovisa didn't even have the chance to respond before he put his hands on top of hers, snapping the young man's neck within her grasp. Her opponent's body went limp from underneath her as her instructor removed his hands and stood up, beginning to bark more orders at her peers.

"Later today, half of you will be admitted into the Sardaukar. You will be ordered to continue this process — except instead of fighting until someone yields, you will be fighting to the death. The defining aspect of Sardaukar training is this very moment. When you are ordained, you are painted with the blood of human sacrifices — your human sacrifices."

Lovisa stared at the man — hell, he could even be considered to be a boy — underneath her as her instructor's voice resounded in her ears, the boy's unmoving head still lying in her hands.

"Half of you will join the imperial army and serve under the Emperor," the instructor continued. "The other half of you will be sacrificed for the same purpose: to serve the throne."

At the Ginaz School, they would stop before any true injury occurred. While they were training to kill, they didn't kill in training. And frankly, despite being "the ideal Swordmaster candidate," the fear of potentially killing another has always weighed over Lovisa. As much as she wanted to succeed in becoming a top-ranked Swordmaster, only the dueling aspect appealed to her; becoming a murderer, however, did not.

Alas, she just became one. Albeit against her will, Lovisa Koskinen was now a murderer, and she would soon commit enough to become numb to the feeling.

long time, no see!! i've been in a writing slump for all of my fics and am trying (keyword trying) to write for all of them recently. these pre-dune chapters will be shorter than my normal chapter length bc 1) less things happen in them and they're mostly just to give context and 2) i have to make up what happens on my own and 🤡 i literally hate not having a basis of events to follow and having to make everything up myself...but the dune fandom wiki is coming in clutch 🤞🏼

anyway hopefully we won't be going months without an update again! thank you so much for reading as always 🤍