The Yuuzhan Vong (+ Nom Anor, Tsavong Lah and Vergere)

[Cain]

Fearsome invaders from another galaxy, the Yuuzhan Vong are the greatest threat faced by the New Republic since the collapse of the Empire. The Yuuzhan Vong are singular in their goal of conquering this galaxy filled with infidels, and transforming it into the new Yuuzhan Vong home, as dictated by their gods. They will sacrifice anything for their religious beliefs, and many worlds have been sundered in their crusade.

The Yuuzhan Vong have a physical appearance quite similar to baseline humanity. They have thicker builds, and less hair atop their heads, and their custom of ritual mutilation helps obscure all but the most superficial resemblances to humans.

The Yuuzhan Vong glorify pain not only as a motive for action, but as a state of living. In much the same way as the Yuuzhan Vong gods resculpted themselves to create their galaxy, the Yuuzhan Vong too alter their bodies for greater purpose. The higher a social rank a Yuuzhan Vong achieves, the more his body is modified. Yuuzhan Vong skin is a mottling of scarring and sweeping tattoos, and those of lofty elevation even graft creature or bioengineered body parts onto themselves.

Yuuzhan Vong organize themselves into castes, strictly defined segments of society complete with distinct religious and social mandates. One of the most populous castes is that of the warrior. The brutal aliens greatly revere combat and pain, thus the warrior caste is believed by many to be the most favored of the gods. The vast military forces of the Yuuzhan Vong consist of frontline warriors led by subalterns, who ultimately are commanded by the warmaster.

The intendant caste works to keep Yuuzhan Vong society functioning. It handles matters of commerce, bureaucracy, trade and the management of the sizable slave work force employed by the Yuuzhan Vong. Intendent ranks include executor, consul, prefect and high prefect.

The priest caste wields considerable power in this rigidly theocratic society. The members of the priest caste are said to have direct communication with the pantheon of gods that rule the Yuuzhan Vong. There exists several sects, each for the worship of a Yuuzhan Vong deity. Ranks within the priest caste include savants, seers, and high priests and priestesses.

The shaper castes are the keepers of the intricate biotechnology employed by the Yuuzhan Vong. Together with the priests, the shapers observe arcane rituals in the development and implementation of organic technology. The shapers rank very highly in Yuuzhan Vong society, and their ranks include adepts and master shapers.

The largest yet lowliest of the Yuuzhan Vong castes are the workers. They consists of three types: those who have have failed to succeed in another caste; those born into the worker caste; those who have been conquered. Slaves and the so-called Shamed Ones (fallen members of society) are technically part of the worker castes, but even they are looked upon disdainfully by their fellow workers. It is the worker caste who performs the menial yet essential tasks of Yuuzhan Vong society, from garbage collectors to personal attendants.

The most exclusive of Yuuzhan Vong castes has only a membership of one: the Supreme Overlord. This is the ruler of the Yuuzhan Vong, and he has supreme religious and secular authority over the invading people. Though the priests may commune with the various Yuuzhan Vong deities, only the Supreme Overlord has a direct connection to the Creator, Yun-Yuuzhan. The current rank-holder is Supreme Overlord Shimrra.

Yuuzhan Vong technology is bizarre and perverse, though it is nonetheless effective. The aliens grow their technology organically. All their devices are bioengineered lifeforms, grown and shaped to fit their needs. The Yuuzhan Vong view inorganic technology -- machinery, devices and especially droids -- as an abomination and affront to their gods.

 

Among the devices used by the Yuuzhan Vong are amphistaffs, serpentine whips which can harden into rock-hard staves, or flatten to razor-sharp edges. Also used in combat are thudbugs, small thrown insects that detonate on impact. The Yuuzhan Vong wear vonduun crab armor, a living carapace that protects a warrior in combat that can even temporarily withstand blaster strikes and lightsaber blows. As the war against the Republic and the Jedi escalated, the Yuuzhan Vong began engineering new weaponry specific to their hated foes: such as the vicious voxyn creature that can relentlessly hunt down Jedi Knights.

Yuuzhan Vong starships are also living entities. Built of strong yorik coral, these vessels employ creatures called dovin basals for propulsion and defense. The dovin basals can manipulate gravity, and can project miniature black holes that deflect or absorb incoming enemy fire.

The Yuuzhan Vong invasion began insidiously, with secret agents sent to gather information about the galaxy. Sheathed in ooglith masquers, a body-wide outer skin that disguises the Yuuzhan Vong's true identity, these spies infiltrated key New Republic installations and political hotspots. The Yuuzhan Vong executor, Nom Anor, was a political firebrand, stirring up trouble in the Outer Rim and sowing discord in the New Republic. His inflammatory actions precipitated a full-scale invasion that began on the distant world of Belkaden and in the Helska system. From these points, their path of destruction has spread, even targeting the very heart of the galaxy.

Luke Skywalker's order of Jedi Knights have clashed with the Yuuzhan Vong time and again. Inexplicably, the Yuuzhan Vong are not part of the Force. Their presences do not register in the ubiquitous energy field, and they are immune to Force attacks. Furthermore, the Yuuzhan Vong refuse to acknowledge its existence, attributing Jedi feats to some perverse mechanism embraced by the Jedi infidels.

The course of action to take with the Yuuzhan Vong has split the Jedi ranks. Some, like the hotheaded Kyp Durron, believe it is the Jedi mandate to vanquish the would-be conquerors. Luke Skywalker and others feel that such aggressive actions are against Jedi principles. Nonetheless, several key Jedi -- including Corran Horn and Jacen Solo -- have scored important wins against the Yuuzhan Vong. In retaliation, the aliens have asked the battle-weary Republic to capture and deliver as many Jedi as possible, in return for a cease of hostility.

Despite heavy losses, the Yuuzhan Vong managed to conquer Coruscant, striking a deathblow to the New Republic. Now, Supreme Overlord Shimrra counts Coruscant, renamed Yuuzhan'tar, as his throne world and plots to continue his conquest of the galaxy.

The outcome of this terrible conflict is still unknown, and many valiant Republic heroes have fallen to the Yuuzhan Vong violence. A key to victory has yet to appear, but the Jedi and the remnants of New Republic -- now the Galactic Alliance -- are working tirelessly to find a way to defeat this foe.

 

 

 

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Spearheading the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy was a silver-tongued and black-hearted executor known as Nom Anor. Though that was his true name, it was only one of several he bore during his advance mission to infiltrate a galaxy of infidels.

This highly skilled member of the Intendent caste has bioengineering talents that rival the skilled Shapers of his people. He has crafted organic tools of cloak and dagger, and created an insidious virus with which he afflicted Mara Jade Skywalker. Even when stripped of weaponry, Nom Anor is not unarmed -- his eye socket conceals a plaeryin bol capable of spitting deadly venom.

Anor worked both as a subtle manipulator and a political firebrand, disrupting the politics of local systems and stirring up trouble for the New Republic and the new Jedi order. Anor pulled the strings behind Xandel Carivus, a key member of the Imperial Interim Council that replaced the Empire after the death of Palpatine's clone. His behind-the-scenes actions helped hasten the eventual downfall of the fragmented Empire.

Nom Anor disappeared for years, resurfacing on the planet Rhommamool as the leader of the Red Knights of Life extremist group. His heated rhetoric against droids, technology and the Jedi amassed a sizable following, straining the delicate peace between Rhommamool and sister planet Osarian. As the crisis escalated on the twin worlds, Nom Anor again vanished, faking his own death.

 

His advance mission was over. Shortly after the Rhommamool incident, the Yuuzhan Vong invasion began in force. This principal incursion, led mostly by members of the intendent caste, was deemed a failure, and Anor's status was tainted by association. The next Yuuzhan Vong wave consisted of the warrior caste.

Anor forged tenuous alliances in an effort to smooth differences between him and the warrior caste, who were predisposed to distrust the intendent. Anor hatched a scheme to use a defector to defeat the Jedi, but this eventually failed. Anor was able to recover by bringing the Hutts into the Yuuzhan Vong fold as allies. Knowing full well the Hutts were untrustworthy, Anor used them to sew disinformation into the New Republic ranks.

Anor was finally able to redeem himself in Warmaster Tsavong Lah's eyes by devastating and conquering the world of Duro. It was a hollow victory, as the Warmaster did not promote Anor, and the intendent then found himself competing with Vergere, Tsavong Lah's unlikely alien underling and advisor.

Upon the discovery that Jacen and Jaina Solo were twins -- a relationship of great significance in Yuuzhan Vong mythology -- Tsavong Lah tasked Anor and Vergere with the capture of the Solo children. The opportunity came when the Solos infiltrated the heart of a Yuuzhan Vong operation on Myrkr. By mission's end, Anakin Solo was dead, Jaina Solo had escaped, but Jacen Solo had been captured.

Anor intended to twist Jacen Solo into the instrument of Jaina Solo's destruction, fulfilling an ancient Yuuzhan Vong prophecy when one twin sacrificed the other. Jacen proved difficult to break, however. Aided by the traitorous Vergere, Jacen escaped his captivity into the overgrown wilds of the Yuuzhan Vong-conquered Coruscant. Nom Anor led the charge to recapture him, but ultimately failed. Jacen Solo's efforts subtly destabilized the Yuuzhan Vong transformation of Coruscant, and the Yuuzhan Vong visions of perfection and infallibility began to erode.

Despite his failure, Nom Anor continued to risk heresy in his quest for information he could use to his advantage. Donning an ooglith masquer, he infiltrated a Yuuzhan Vong heretical sect, and learned that some of the deepest tenets of the Yuuzhan Vong philosophy may have foundations as unstable as the Coruscant Vongforming process.

Now, Anor is now on the run, having failed yet again by advocating an attack on Ebaq 9 which turned out to be a trap which crippled the Yuuzhan Vong forces. He is in disguise among the shamed castes, armed with dangerous knowledge that could unsettle centuries of Yuuzhan Vong doctrine.

 

 

 

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A quintessential Yuuzhan Vong warrior completely devoted to bringing forth the will of the gods, Warmaster Tsavong Lah led the fighting forces of the alien invasion on many important campaigns. His visage was horrific, as he proudly displayed his cobbled together form, patched from a variety of living parts, much like the lesser gods were formed from fragments of the creator god Yun-Yuuzhan.

Lah stood taller than most Yuuzhan Vong. His grim face was framed by elaborate tattoos, and his sharpened teeth were revealed with the parting of his slit lips. He wore a living cape that clung to his shoulders with needle-clawed fingers. His rust-covered armor plates were seeded directly against his bones, and as they grew, they painfully stretched the warmaster's frame.

Domain Lah is a powerful family in the Yuuzhan Vong hierarchy, and Tsavong Lah had many notable relatives, such as his crèche-brother Qurang Lah, his warrior son Khalee Lah, and his respected father Czulkang Lah.

Tsavong Lah reported directly to Supreme Overlord Shimrra during his bloody campaign to take the Core. When the initial invasion masterminded by the Praetorite stalled, it fell to Tsavong Lah to continue the incursion. He saw great victories at Dantooine and Ithor. His passionate hatred for Jedi led him to capture Leia Organa Solo during the invasion of Duro. He tortured the captive Leia and intended her to be his first Jedi sacrifice to the gods, but she was rescued by her son, Jacen Solo.

Enraged, Lah called for the capture of the Jedi. He announced that peace was attainable to a beleagured New Republic, only if they handed over all the Jedi to him. A weary populace listened to the warmaster's ultimatum, and agencies like the Peace Brigade turned against the Jedi order.

Among Lah's underlings were Vergere and Nom Anor. Lah distrusted Anor, for he felt nothing but contempt for the bureaucrats of the Praetorite Vong. Vergere became a valued advisor, and Lah would quiz her or challenge her to dejarik games to learn the patterns of thought exhibited by a native of the galaxy. He quietly reveled in the rivalry that grew between Anor and Vergere.

Though he conquered Coruscant, fortune turned sour for Tsavong Lah. He continued to replace his body parts with specialized growths developed by the Shapers, adopting a radank claw in place of his left arm. The organic transplant, however, failed, and the work of diptera maggots rotted his new flesh. It was an ominous sign, and Lah fretted that the will of the gods had turned against him. A duplicitious underling, the human collaborator Viqi Shesh, suggested an intriguing and unsettling possibility. It was not the will of the gods, but rather Tsavong Lah's Shapers had betrayed and sabotaged his transplant. Furious at the treachery, Tsavong Lah later gathered a roomful of suspected traitors, and slaughtered them all by releasing ravenous captive rancors upon them.

Supreme Overlord Shimrra admonished Lah for the repeated loss of valued Yuuzhan Vong warriors following the conquering of Coruscant. Hoping to redeem himself, Lah led the attack on Ebaq 9, at Nom Anor's suggestion. Lah would personally lead Battle Group Yun-Yuuzhan into war. The Ebaq 9 scenario was a trap, however, and the Yuuzhan Vong suffered terrible losses. Furious and determined to exact vengeance on the Solo twins, Lah voyaged to the surface of Ebaq 9, hunting Jaina Solo. The two confronted one another, and despite a grueling battle, Lah lost. He died when Jaina Solo plunged her lightsaber into his throat.

 

 

 

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The path of the Jedi is often filled with conundrums and maddeningly vague riddles that test the resolve of those that follow the Jedi Code. The Jedi Vergere was herself a riddle, one of the most enigmatic of the order. She was a Jedi Knight in the twilight years of the Republic, once apprenticed to Thracia Cho Leem.

Two years after the Battle of Naboo, Vergere was dispatched to the remote Gardaji Rift to investigate reports of alien activity near the mysterious world of Zonama Sekot. During this mission, Vergere discovered the Yuuzhan Vong -- hostile aliens intent on conquering the galaxy and reforming it in their image. These Yuuzhan Vong were but a preliminary detachment for the incursion that would come decades later, and Vergere was one of the first natives of the galaxy to interact with these violent invaders.

The Yuuzhan Vong wished to seize the secrets of Zonama Sekot's bizarre organic technology. When the native Sekotans resisted, the Yuuzhan Vong opened fire. Vergere did not wish for the beautiful living world to wither under such an attack, so she surrendered herself to the aggressors in exchange for their withdrawal from Zonama Sekot.

The Yuuzhan Vong began studying Vergere in earnest, but the cagey Jedi hid her true abilities and powers from her captors. She in turn studied the Yuuzhan Vong, in the hopes of reporting her discoveries to the Republic when her captivity ended.

Vergere would become a benign amusement to the Yuuzhan Vong. Her avian countenance gave her a superficial resemblance to the non-sentient familiar of the priestess Falung. In the coming decades, Vergere herself would become a familiar of another priestess, Elan.

Vergere's capacity for deception was remarkable. She was comfortable in a twisted brand of logic that made her every utterance a puzzle. She had the ability to withdraw her presence from the Force, so she could remain undetectable to the Jedi-sensitive yammosks of the Yuuzhan Vong. She destroyed her lightsaber, concealing her affiliation to the Jedi order.

During the full Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy, decades after the collapse of both the Republic and the Empire, Vergere accompanied her mistress Elan on several missions. Elan allowed herself to be captured by the New Republic, feigning her defection from the Yuuzhan Vong ranks, in hopes of springing a deadly trap against the Republic's Jedi protectors. Vergere was by her side during her capture. Elan's plan backfired, though; Yuuzhan Vong collaborators, ignorant of Elan's true intentions, "rescued" the priestess and her familiar.

Left with few options, Elan unleashed her trap -- a cloud of deadly bo'tous spores -- only to be killed by them. Vergere escaped, but not before leaving a bizarre gift for the heroes of the New Republic. Vergere had left behind a vial of her tears, which proved to be the successful in slowing a deadly disease plaguing Mara Jade Skywalker. Vergere had the ability to control the molecular structure of her tears to her desire, creating poisons as well as salves from her ducts.

Vergere returned to the upper echelons of the Yuuzhan Vong invading force, armed with valuable first-hand intellgence of the infidels. She became an advisor to Warmaster Tsavong Lah, much to the chagrin of Nom Anor, a highly ranked Yuuzhan Vong who hated Vergere. Tsavong Lah encouraged the animosity between the two, believing that the rivalry brought out the best in his underlings. He paired the two on a mission to capture the Solo twins on the planet Myrkr.

The mission was only a partial success. It resulted in the death of Anakin Solo, the escape of Jaina Solo, and the capture of Jacen Solo. Vergere oversaw Jacen's captivity. She tortured Jacen, expanding his mind through pain in methods similarly employed by the Yuuzhan Vong. Jacen Solo came to more fully understand the way of the Yuuzhan Vong thanks to Vergere's seeming cruelty.

Vergere took Jacen Solo as an apprentice of sorts, teaching him in her frustratingly indirect ways her unique philosophies. Unlike the ancient Jedi Code, Vergere reinforced in Jacen the concept of there being no dark side. Her definitions were not nearly so rigid as the Jedi of old.

Together, Vergere and Jacen conspired to thwart the Yuuzhan Vong conquest of Coruscant. Though the once city-covered capital world had been seized and transformed into a Yuuzhan Vong world festooned with organic life, the two fugitives were able to sabotage the metamorphosis of the planet. Jacen had established a psychic rapport with the World Brain that oversaw the transformation, and he caused all manner of inconveniences to the Yuuzhan Vong on Coruscant as the World Brain would disobey.

Vergere and Jacen Solo eventually returned to the remnants of the New Republic. Branded by suspicion, Vergere was held captive and repeatedly interrogated. She even interviewed with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, and the two debated the very nature of the Force. Vergere was once again free, and drawn to Jacen Solo, who was involved in a dangerous mission to confront the Yuuzhan Vong in a pivotal battle over Ebaq 9.

Vergere, seeking to save a struggling Jacen, commandeered an A-wing starfighter, and crashed her vessel into the barren moon. The resulting explosion decimated the Yuuzhan Vong forces and killed Vergere, though her spectral form would appear to Jacen shortly thereafter.