if they might eventually be of service to the emperor7 Wallach therefore ordered the prisoners to be provided with training in the most ruthless fighting techniques and with an adequate supply of weapons In the meantime, they were shielded by Sardaukar troops Al though the Sardaukar were later withdrawn, the prisoners never forgot the cold, hard men who had taught them so well and had saved their lives while they learned Descendants of the prisoners admired rather than hated the Sardaukar And when the colonists were given the opportunity to join them and thus leave Salusa Secundus forever, the choice was easily made The penal development program was continued and augmented during the reign of Sheuset n Costm II (r 416-445), who kept a close eye on mortality rates, which were high at first Such was Sheuset's scientific curiosity, however, mat he waged several campaigns for the sole purpose of gathering prisoners to offset the losses The new transporters were fierce, semi-civilized captives from outlying planets, who challenged and tested tile descendants of the original concentration camps The barbarians gained control of the colony after sharp but brief struggles Therefore prison populations were largely composed of "far-worlders," as they were called When the penal colonies appeared to have stabilized, the protective Sardaukar force withdrew, and the colonists were beset on all sides Their bloody trial was the more severe because it was not training, but the reality of the planet which they now faced Eventually, the colonists, led by the strongest and constantly reinforced by desperate, warlike captives, managed to fight off tribal raids In the process they had to become trueler and more merciless than then* attackers, finally initiating then* own pre-emptive or plundering raids It was no accident, but a carefully administered plan, that made the colonists, like the Sardau before them, the strongest force on Salusa Secundus It was precisely the controlled anarchy of the planet that produced superior warriors Tribal aggressions thus became Imperial schools For both the old and new Salusa Secundans, the Impen-um might as well not have existed as far as their day-to-day lives were concerned The Impenum allowed no central authority to evolve on the planet, maintaining the anar chy that had tempered the Sardau The Sardaukar religion was promoted, infusing the colonists with its martial spirit, and fostering the belief that they were an elite who suffered as a test of their fitness to rule The finest wamors forged in this smithy were drafted into the Sardaukar, filling the Imperial need for soldiers through thousands of years And the chief irony of this very successful plan was that in time the colonists supported with their lives the very monarchy that had imprisoned their ancestors S T Further references SARDAUKAR HISTORY Otto Aram sham Sardaukar Victorious lr Sir Daiwid Gwilivz (Kaitain Varna) Nestor Haiyarzol The Fis! of Varna From Tro\e to Salusa Secundus to the Throne tr Kutpar Milag (Salusa Secundus Gravtak) SANDMASTER On Arrakis in the Fremen times, a superintendent of spice operations, normally a Fremen who arranged a meeting place with spice traders marked off an area where sand crawlers might be stationed, and where ormthopters, might land The sandmaster was expected to be responsible first for his cargo and his men's lives, and second for the SANDSNORK 440 SARDAUKAR successful completion of the exchange His major responsibilities included posting scouts to observe the approach of storms or sand-worms and making preparations for attacks by smugglers or Hatfconnen raiders in the days of the Harkonncn ascendancy on Dune Frequently, the samlmaster was the leader of die sietch, but not invariably, since the decisiveness required IB a sandmaster did not always reside in the more politically astute mind of a naib The sandmaster might be, and often was, however, a naib, one who would not be taken alive, since a spice exchange might well turn into a battle in old Fremen times, and the spice handlers were more likely to follow a naib as sandmaster than someone else However, die safidmaster's primary concern was always for the safety of his men It is said that Duke Leto Atreides* desire to save the lives of his own men and Fremen spice handlers when they were confronted by a sandstorm, early convinced the Fremen tribesmen of his superiority to the Harkonnens, and helped to establish the rapport between House Atrrades and the Fremen that was later so valuable to Paul Muad'Dib Further references: MELANGE Hang al Ada The Dtate Catastrophe tr Mugal Reed (Mttkan Lothar), Janet Oslo frfmOT.