Liberation of Ix

The Liberation of Ix was a battle where Xavier Harkonnen assisted the Ixians who rebelled against the Thinking Machines occupation.

When the Jihadi forces arrived on the planet, with a cannonball shuttle. Five separate teams fought their way through the tunnels beneath the central computer nexus of the Ix-Omnius, carrying a compact, city-killer warhead designed to deliver an intense localized vaporization pulse that will wipe gelcircuitry brains. Attention was taken so that the factories left intact so that they would be later used by the League.

A rebel called Handon led Jool Noret's team through the catacombs beneath the primary machine industries and computer centers. Despite his treachery, Noret disabled Handon and energized the warhead which destroyed Ix-Omnius.

However the destruction did not cripple the autonomous machines. Xerxes wearing a pterodactyl-like cymek body, led the machine fleet against the Jihadi forces. Xavier's foremost ballistas shot defensive projectile fire, driving back the first robot assault, annihilating many of the machine suicide ships before they could get through.

This wave was followed by a squadron of neo-cymeks led by Xerxes. One ballista was lost with hundreds of lifepods ejected with survivors.

Suddenly, when all was lost for the Jihad, Hecate's asteroid hurled against the machines and shoved Xerxes in far orbit. Kinetic spheres obliterated two of their largest battleships. After destroying half of the machine fleet she veered into space and vanished, allowing Xavier's forces to continue the retreat.

The Thinking Machines would respond again later with an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Ix.

Appearances

 * Dune: The Machine Crusade
 * Dune: The Battle of Corrin