Beyond - Legends Warrior of the Gods ATTN MODS: LOCK OR DELETE (see last post)

This is the first part of the Charat Hul Trilogy about a Yuuzhan Vong warrior who not only exists in the Force, but can use it too. The Charat Hul Trilogy is a Fan Fic Alliance story, meaning that it is on the same AU timeline as the following fics:

The Battle of Yuuzhan'tar by Spike2002
The Bounty Hunter's Story by Headhunter6, posted with permission by Spike2002
Warrior of the Gods by Bobbacca
The Future Past by Jedi_Wurth_Skidder
Twilight's Ascension by Jedi_Wurth_Skidder
The New Invasion by Spike2002
The Beginning of the End by Spike2002

All characters and events from the fics listed above were used with the permission of the authors who wrote them.

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[b][color=red]Star Wars: The New Jedi Order

The Charat Hul Trilogy I - Warrior of the Gods[/color][/b]


[b][color=blue]Dramatis Personae:[/color][/b]
[b]With the [i]Jeedai[/i][/b]:
Anakin Solo; Jedi Knight (male human)
Chell Noruth; Jedi Master (male human)
Danni Quee; scientist (female human)
Devin Moonstar; Jedi Padawan (male human)
Jacen Solo; Jedi Knight (male human)
Jaina Solo; Jedi Knight (female human)
Kyp Durron; Jedi Master (male human)
Luke Skywalker; Jedi Master (male human)
Mara Jade Skywalker; Jedi Master (female human)
Skaph Antilles; Jedi Knight (male human)
Tahiri Veila; Jedi Knight (female human)

[b]With the New Republic:[/b]
Fenix Reinar; Bounty Hunter (male human)
Dark Tracker; Bounty Hunter (male HRD)

[b]With the Peace Brigade:[/b]
Andric Gandurvy; Head of Operations, Rodia branch (male human)
Cam Heatley; Chief of Operations, Bimmisarri branch(male human)
Guri; mercenary (female HRD)
Pedric Cuf; Liaison to Yuuzhan Vong (male human)
Trigger; Hunter (male human)

[b]With the Yuuzhan Vong:[/b]
Charat Hul; warrior (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Czulkang Lah; teacher (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Deign Choka; subaltern (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Hul Rapuung; warrior (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Kadlah Ku; warrior (female Yuuzhan Vong)
Kae Kwaad; master shaper (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Krag Da'Gara; intendant (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Malik Hul; commander (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Nen Yim; shaper (female Yuuzhan Vong)
Onimi; Shamed One; jester (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Shedao Shai; commander (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Shimrra; Supreme Overlord (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Tsavong Lah; warmaster (male Yuuzhan Vong)
Vergere; Jedi Knight (female Fosh)
Yomina Hul; subaltern (female Yuuzhan Vong)

 

Prologue: Scars

Malik Hul and his family arrived in the initiation chamber early on the third and final day of the Domain Initiation Ceremony. Their five-year-old son, Charat, was being initiated along with several other crèchelings today.

"Malik and Yomina, Domain Hul," said the priest, Kol Sot, rising. "What brings you here so early?"

"There is a problem with Charat's scars," Yomina began, "We fear he may be...well..."

"Shamed?" the priest finished for her, "Most interesting. Only twice in our known history have the gods marked a Yuuzhan Vong as shamed before he was even initiated into his domain. Show me his scars."

"We cannot show you his scars, your Eminence, for they are gone altogether." Malik Hul said. "Charat! Show your head to his Eminence!"

Charat Hul stepped forward and lowered the hood of his robeskin, revealing his face. Kol Sot gasped in astonishment. The day before, he had cut the symbol of Domain Hul in the crècheling's forhead himself. Today though, instead of his forhead bearing a scar where the symbol had been cut, there was no scar at all. The wounds had healed completely!

Kol Sot thought carefully about what that could mean, but when he finally opened his mouth to speak, he was still unsure of the answer.

"I..I do not know what to make of this. I do not, however, believe that young Charat is shamed. As I have said before, only twice in our entire history has anyone been marked as shamed at such an early age, and they were less...promising...than young Charat appears to be so far. Even more convincing though, is that never in our history has one been marked shamed by their scars healing too much. The mark or a Shamed One has always been scars that have not healed enough."

"Perhaps, your Eminence sir, that that means the gods like him. After all, thats the opposite of Shamed like no scar is the opposite of a bad scar, right?" Everyone turned around at the voice, startled. It came from another crècheling, a young girl named Kadlah to be initiated into Domain Ku today.

"The crècheling might actually be right....This could mean that young Charat is actually favored by the gods. More so than any other Yuuzhan Vong. Why, your son may grow up to be the greatest warrior our people have ever seen. Truly wonderful the mind of a crècheling is."

The relief was evident on the faces of Malik and Yomina. Their crècheling would be initiated into their Domain after all. And he would grow up to be a very important warrior, perhaps even a warmaster. Only time would tell.

 

Chapter 1: The Final Lesson

Charat Hul was very pleased with himself as he entered the classroom of the great Czulkang Lah for the last time. Only the most promising students were allowed to train under the former Warmaster, and Charat Hul had proven himself to be one of them. He took a seat on one of the long corral benches and focused his attention on the words of the ancient warrior who stood at the back of the room.

The former warmaster was discussing the tactical advantages and disadvantages of an amphistaff verses those of the hated abominations used by the infidel Jeedai, the lightsaber, as they were known from the few encounters their warriors had already had with the hated Jeedai. There was still, of course, plenty more to be learned, for the invasion had only started a few weeks ago. They had just learned that though a lightsaber could only kill an amphistaff with a well-placed blow to the base of the head, there were several known points on the vonduun crab armor that were vulnerable to lightsaber strikes.

"So then," Czulkang Lah said, walking back and forth behind the rows of benches, "what measures should be taken to decrease the casualty rate among our warriors in combat against the Jeedai?"

One warrior, Vua, Domain Anor, stood. "We should have the shapers develop a new armor based on a less vulnerable creature than the vonduun crab."

"That would be heresy!" Czulkang thundered, stepping behind the warrior. "You are a fool, Vua Anor!" He drew back a coil of amphistaff and snapped it forward, whipping the pointed tail into the warrior's back: a Czulkang Lah pit. The great teacher had explained on the first day that one or two such pits showed a warrior had survived training with the former warmaster, but many showed a warrior to be a fool. This particular warrior already had several of them, for he had a tendency to speak the first thing that came into his mind, rather than thinking out the correct answer. If he received many more of them, Charat knew, he would likely be dishonorably killed so that he will not plague the ranks of the warrior caste with his stupidity and incompetence. The class had already suffered two such casualties.

The warrior next to Charat Hul, a female who Charat found to be attractive enough fully dressed, but even more so in the loincloth the warriors wore to class, stood. "Sir, we should train our warriors to protect the vulnerable area."

"Kadlah Ku is correct," the old warrior said. "The fault is never with the creature, for the shaping protocols for them were given to the Master Shapers by Yun Yuuzhan himself. Therefore, it is the warrior, not the weapon, that is faulty."

Though this made sense enough, the idea of an alternate armor, perhaps one based on the amphistaff with its relative invulnerability, appealed greatly to Charat Hul. A creature covered in amphistaff blades would serve as both weapon and armor at once. Oh, the damage I could cause to the Jeedai with such an armor, Charat thought silently to himself. But such an armor could never exist, Charat scolded himself, so why waste precious class time dwelling on such heretical thoughts? He turned his attention back to Czulkang Lah.

"Who here can tell me," the great teacher was asking, "the difference between a good warrior and a great warrior?"

The same well-pitted warrior who had answered the last question incorrectly stood again. "A good warrior will fight for the gods, but a great warrior will die for them." the warrior ventured.

"No! When Yun Yuuzhan, the Creator sacrificed parts of himself to create the Universe, his sacrifice served a purpose." Czulkang said, stepping once again behind the warrior. "He was not wasteful, just giving up parts of himself for no reason. We should learn from the gods and try to follow their example." This time, the former warmaster did not give the warrior another Czulkang Lah pit. Rather, he snapped his amphistaff into its erect form and beheaded the

 

Chapter 2: Jeedai Hunt

Charat Hul was pleased with his first assignment. He was in an infantry unit on the planet the infidels called Dantooine, and so was Kadlah Ku, the attractive warrior who had been in his training class. Further more, his father, Malik Hul, was their commanding officer. They were currently scouting in the mountains along a mountain trail. As Charat moved to the front of the Yuuzhan Vong formation, taking his turn on point, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something silvery and metallic flashing through the trees in the hot midday sun; an infidel ship.

"A mechanical abomination!!!" he screamed fervently, as he rushed off the trail to do his sacred duty. The rest of the warriors in the unit picked up the cry just a moment behind him, all eagerly brandishing their amphistaffs as they charged the filthy machine. Charat raised his foot to kick the door in just as Kadlah Ku appeared beside him and did the same. Their feet struck the door together, smashing it inward. Such powerful legs, Charat thought as the two warriors exchanged a brief smile before charging into the ship side by side.

---

Malik Hul watched with fierce pride as his son led the destruction of the blasphemous infidel ship. Many commanders preferred to remain on their command ships during ground battles, but not Malik Hul. No, he considered that to be cowardly. He preferred to be in the heat of the action, fighting alongside the warriors under his command.

He stroked the villip on his shoulder to hear the reports from the other scouting units. Deign Choka's scouts had detected a pair of Jeedai on the planet, one of whom had slain two scouts. His infantry unit was now pursuing the Jeedai into the very mountains that the infidel ship was in. None of the other scouts had detected anything exceptional. Just a few encounters with groups of the nomadic natives. Malik uncoiled his officer's baton as he boarded the ship and slashed through some cables as a plan quickly formed in his mind. He then ordered a pair of transports to be sent to their location before calling his warriors out of the abominable ship to give them their new instructions.

"The Jeedai are following a mountain trail in these mountains," he explained to them. "The warriors under the command of Deign Choka are pursuing them along a trail that leads to this very ship. It is my belief that this is their ship and they are going back to it. We shall set up an ambush along their path to trap them, but they are too far away from here for us to wait here for them to arrive. I have sent for a pair of transports to carry us several days walking distance closer to where they are, but not close enough for them to see us land. Are there any questions?" The warriors shook their heads to indicate the negative as a pair of corral vessels dropped from the sky and landed behind them. "Good. The transports have arrived. Let's move out!"

[hr]

Anakin was beginning to worry about Mara as they ran along the mountain trail the second day after he discovered Yuuzhan Vong were on Dantooine. Between the hot sun beating down on them and her disease, she was beginning to weaken badly. He was doubtful that she would be able to maintain their pace for much longer, and at their current rate, it would take at least another four days to reach the [i]Jade Sabre[/i]. He turned to help Mara up the last few steps to the summit of the mountain their trail was climbing when he suddenly felt something behind him. Igniting his lightsaber with a [i]SNAP-HISS[/i], he spun around just in time to parry the blade of a Yuuzhan Vong amphistaff a mere three inches from his face.

He feinted at the warrior's leg, than leaped over his head as he blocked low, landing in time to see another warrior coming out of the copse of trees on the summit. [i]Wonderful[/i], Anakin thought to himself, [i]I get to fight two of them![/i] He had fought two together in their first encounter, but then he had been the one with surprise on his side. He ha

 

Very nice! I normally do not like Vong stories but your is very interesting.

Keep going.

 

Sup Bob, I see you followed my advice and came here. Nice to see more of the FFA come over.

 

Up!!!

Thou who worshippest thee, come here and worshippest Bob!

 

Nice story.
Interesting idea of a Vong in the Force.
Gonna be a great one.

JW

 

C'mon Bob, you ain't been around for days. And I know that even if I haven't been around either.

 

Uh Bob...you there buddy?

 

Great opening! I finally get to read this idea on paper that you've been kicking around with for months.

 

This is really good. I don't see much from the YV perspective. I'll keep my eye on this one.

lordmaul13

 

Okay, my apologies for the long wait. I've been very busy, but I'll try not to keep you waiting for so long again.

Also, I owe everyone another apology because the last scene in Chapter 2 somehow didn't post. I added it back to the end of the original Chapter 2 post, but for your convienience, I'll also post it here. Enjoy!

---

Charat Hul's eyes went wide with shock as the [i]Jeedai[/i]'s foot connected with his head and he suddenly found himself falling. Looking over to his side, he saw Kadlah Ku falling beside him. She had one of her legs cut off at the knee. [i]It's not supposed to end this way![/i] he thought desperately as he plummeted downwards. [i]I'm supposed to go on to become a great warrior and bring much honor to my Domain.[/i]

Time seemed to slow as he fell, and he reflected on his life, wondering if the gods would find it satisfactory. Then it occurred to him that perhaps he [i]was[/i] special! Perhaps the gods themselves were stepping in and slowing his descent to allow him to survive the fall! Then a sharp pain shot through him as he struck the ground and he was enveloped in darkness...

 

Chapter 3: Visions

Malik Hul's head throbbed as he regained consciousness. Though he didn't revel in the pain, as some warriors did, he didn't try to fight it either. He simply saw pain as a punishment from the gods for failure, in this case, his failure to capture the Jeedai.

Looking around the summit, he was dismayed to find the leg of one of his warriors near edge of the cliff and only the smaller footprints of infidels walking away. The footprints of a group of warriors followed the infidel footprints, but they all came from the other side of the mountain where Deign Choka's forces were pursing the infidels from; nine came from the cliff. Growling in dismay, Malik Hul took a rope creature from around his waste and rappelled down the cliff to recover the body of his soon and the other warrior who had fallen with him.

As he approached the bodies, however, he noticed that they were still breathing. In fact, they appeared to be in good condition with the exception of a few minor bruises and the female's severed leg. So, he thought, pleased, my son and his companion have not only survived a fall from a cliff that should have been fatal, but also hardly sustained any injuries from the fall. The gods truly do look upon him with favor! Before he could revive the warriors, though, his shoulder villip inverted, revealing the face of his friend and colleague, Shedao Shai.

"Commander Hul," the other commander said through the villip, "My battle group has followed an infidel refugee convoy here from Dubrillion. Though my forces and I are easily capable of handling this small group of infidels on our own, I am offering you and your forces the opportunity to share the glory and honor of our victory."

"My warriors and I shall be honored to assist you in your hunt," he replied. "But one of my warriors has lost a leg in honorable combat with an infidel Jeedai. Do you have any priests who are qualified to grant a replacement so that she may join us?"

"None of our priests have arrived in the galaxy yet," Shedao Shai replied, "but several should be arriving with the next battle group. I shall summon one for you when they arrive."

---

Charat Hul detested the Chazrach that were amassed at the front of the Commander Shai's ground forces. [i]The honor of fighting these infidels should be reserved for true warriors[/i], he thought, [i]not just mere slaves[/i]. As if summoned by his thoughts, bright balls of flame began erupting in the front lines, throwing incinerated Chazrach bodies everywhere. As the Yuuzhan Vong forces moved forward and the balls of fire drew nearer, Charat Hul spotted the source of the attacks: a small mechanical abomination with two infidels on it, one the pilot and the other the gunner. Suddenly seeing the offensive machine, zealous warriors raised their amphistaffs and charged it, only to be blown up like the Chazrach. [i]They are brave, honorable warriors[/i], Charat thought to himself, [i]but stupid as well[/i].

"Razorbugs!" Charat cried out to his fellow warriors as he removed his own stock of razorbugs from his belt. "Use razorbugs!" The first razorbug just missed the gunner's head, and Charat threw another three before the first returned to his hand. He threw it again.

"Good call, my son!" his father called, doing the same. Soon, all of the warriors in his unit, and most of the warriors in the immediate vicinity were throwing razorbugs instead of charging with amphistaffs.

"[i]Do-ro'ik vong pratte[/i]!" Charat Hul cried out as one of his razorbugs grazed the side of the pilot's head, but it was not a fatal blow. He wound his arm back for another throw, but before he could release it, a [i]rakanath[/i], a small cousin of the [i]rakamat[/i] appeared behind him, launching its own flaming projectiles at the infidels. A near-hit threw the infidels from their vehicle and they instantly had a swarm of Chazrach attacking them. Almost as quickly, they slew the Chazrach and climbed back on to their floating ab

 

Hey, I really like this.

 

Gotta love Bob's fics!

 

Chapter 4: An Alternate Path

Chaos ensued as the warriors under the command of Malik Hul reached the infidel camp. A flurry of blaster bolts and thud bugs surrounded the commander and warriors wielding amphistaffs as well. Big bright beams of energy lanced down into the Yuuzhan Vong lines, which were quickly dissolving into a frenzied rush as the puny barricades the infidels had constructed were torn down and warriors poured into the camp. In the middle of it all lay the carcass of the rakamat the infidels had killed.

An infidel soldier pointed his abomination weapon at Malik, and he knocked the weapon aside before decapitating the soldier. As he moved deeper into the camp, he suddenly spied one of the ones he sought. The infidel was tall, with brown hair and a green and blue outfit: the pilot of the abomination that killed the rakamat. He was surrounded by the bodies of dead warriors. This one is worthy indeed, Malik thought as the infidel ripped an amphistaff from the grip of his opponent with his bare hands before driving it into his opponent's face and leaving it there.

"The worthy one is mine!" Malik cried out, rushing towards the infidel.. The worthy one turned to converse briefly with another infidel. Malik caught a glimpse of his companion and saw that it was the other worthy one who had helped kill the rakamat. Malik swung his amphistaff at the neck of the first worthy one, but his companion pointed at Malik and his target ducked at the last minute as his partner disappeared back into the chaos of the battle.

Malik cursed, hitting the ground as his opponent swept his feet out from under him. As the infidel stepped forward to deliver the killing blow, Malik ordered his amphistaff into whip form. He then snapped it around his opponent's arm and threw him to the ground. The two warriors rose simultaneously to face each other again.

---

[i]
When the darkness faded, Vergere found herself back on the path with Dubrillion looming up in front of her once again. The horrors she had witnessed along the path to Bimmiel were still fresh in her mind. This time she stepped on to the path leading to Dantooine, hoping beyond hope that she would find a better fate in store for the galaxy along that path. Light swirled up around her.

Vergere was on Dantooine. Yuuzhan Vong forces were attacking a refugee camp. Among the Yuuzhan Vong forces was the same unscarred warrior that she had seen along the path towards Bimmiel, this time wearing ordinary vonduun crab armor. With a start, she realized that he was the source of the light. The refugees fled. Vergere found herself moving with one of the refugee groups. She somehow knew that the man following her was the unscarred warrior wearing an ooglith masquer, though she could feel his presence strongly in the Force. The light brightened.

Vergere was in the docking bay of a New Republic ship. The unscarred warrior stood before her wearing a Jedi robe and practicing with a lightsaber. He then practiced various uses of the Force, first levitating objects, then meditating, then propelling his jumps to double the height he would be able to achieve without the Force. Then he climbed into a New Republic starfighter and climbed in the cockpit. As the ship left the docking bay, the wings of the fighter spread out in the shape of an X. The light brightened.

Vergere was on a Yuuzhan Vong ship. The glowing warrior was masquered and sitting facing a wall. He was being held in place with blorash jelly, as were the other sixteen Jedi in the room. A Yuuzhan Vong commander sat in the center of the room with a creature she had never seen before. It was something the Yuuzhan Vong had bioengineered from vornskrs to hunt and kill Jedi. She didn't know how she knew what the creature was, she just did. It was now being used to torture and break Jedi. One of the guards removed the blorash jelly from the glowing warrior and brought him to the center of the room. Suddenly, he gave the guard and c

 

Chapter 5: Implants and Infidels

Charat barely glanced at the infidel shooting at him as he raised his amphistaff to block the attack. Almost casually, he tossed a razor bug at his attacker, still all but ignoring him. Or maybe it was a her. Charat didn't get good enough of a look to tell and really didn't care either. His attention was almost entirely focused on the fight between his father and the infidel who had killed the rakamat.

Charat was certain that this infidel was Jeedai. He fought like the Jeedai that Charat had fought earlier, blocking attacks without even seeing them. As if he had read Charat's thoughts, the Jeedai rolled out of the way just as Malik brought his amphistaff down where his head had been. When he back came up, the Jeedai had one of the infidel blasters in his hand. Red energy came from the weapon's mouth--no, Charat reminded himself, it was an unliving abomination; it had no mouth--but Malik blocked the beam with his amphistaff as he advanced on the Jeedai.

The amphistaff whirled in the hands of Malik Hul, knocking the blaster from the infidel's hand before coming around in a motion that should have opened his opponent from knee to neck, but the Jeedai back-flipped away from the attack, receiving no more than a tear in his pants. Sensing danger, Charat suddenly spun around just in time to catch the infidel equivalent of a coufee on his amphistaff as one of the honorless infidels tried to sneak up on him and stab him from behind. Charat sent a command to his amphistaff and it spat venom in the face of his attacker, who spun away screaming.

Looking back to the battle between his father and the Jeedai, Charat suddenly caught a flash of something where his razor bug had cut the Jeedai's head. Moving closer to get a better look, he saw it was some sort of mechanical abomination. Rumors among the Yuuzhan Vong suggested that Jeedai got their powers from mechanical implants; Charat now had proof that it was true. The infidel avoided another thrust of the commander's amphistaff, leaning back so far his hands touched the ground. To Charat's amazement, the Jeedai then sprang backwards, kicking his feet into Malik s face before landing back on his feet holding the amphistaff of one of the warriors he had killed earlier. Suddenly, a Chazrach backed into Charat, appearing out of nowhere. Charat turned to kill the insolent creature that had dared to bump into one of its superiors, but then ducked as a green blade of energy did it for him, bursting out of the Chazrach's back.

Charat's amphistaff was raised in an instant. The new Jeedai swung his lightsaber at Charat's head, but his amphistaff was there almost before the Jeedai began his attack. Charat spun, driving the tail end of his amphistaff at his opponent's stomach, but the Jeedai stepped deftly to the side, bringing his lightsaber up in a parry which he then angled up to become a thrust at Charat's throat. Charat went down on one knee, keeping the amphistaff over his head and spun. Being careful to keep his amphistaff tight against the energy blade, he brought his amphistaff around at the back of the Jeedai's knees, but the Jeedai back-flipped over it, landing in the middle of another group of Chazrach. Charat returned his attention to his father's fight again.

---

Malik Hul was beginning to tire. This infidel was worthy indeed. He had already killed a number of warriors before Malik reached him, he fought Malik to the point where the Yuuzhan Vong commander was beginning to tire, and yet he showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever. The infidel now twirled the amphistaff he had picked up from a fallen warrior, daring Malik to attack him again. Malik accepted the invitation eagerly.

He leapt in, slashing at the infidel's head, but his opponent parried the blow easily. Malik followed with two quick slashes to the knees, both blocked as well. His opponent's amphistaff th

 

Chapter 6: Delays

There were no members of Domain Hul over the rank of common warrior present at the funeral, so the honor of representing the domain of the deceased went to his son, Charat Hul. However, being the highest-ranking warrior present for the funeral as well as a long time friend of the deceased, Shedao Shai also had an active role.

Malik Hul's funeral was to be a special one. The funeral of most Yuuzhan Vong warriors consisted of separating the skin, bones, blood, and major organs of the body and then offering them up to the gods. Some of the remains of prominent warriors who had brought great honor to their domains, however, were preserved as relics of the domain. As both a prominent commander and a nuun, one of the few elite warriors chosen to become a true incarnation of a hunter, Malik Hul had brought much honor to his domain indeed.

Shedao was in the process of polishing the fiery red garnets that would go in Malik Hul's eye sockets when one of his subalterns entered.

"Commander," the subaltern said, "Charat Hul, son of Malik Hul wishes to see you."

"Very well," Shedao commanded. "Send him in."

The warrior who entered Shedao's chambers was utterly devoid of scars. He tried to scar himself in rituals just as fervently as any Yuuzhan Vong warrior, Shedao knew, but his scars always healed completely. The priests said it was a sign that he was Yun Nuun, a Warrior of the Gods. Shedao himself had been the first person Malik had told after the priest Kol Sot had declared him so.

"Commander Shai," the young warrior began, "The infidel who killed my father was a Jeedai. I noticed a mechanical abomination implanted in his forehead where my razorbug had cut him. I find this to be evidence that his unholy powers come from this implant. This terrible mechanistic blasphemy is a stain on my father's honor and I would like permission to hunt down this Jeedai and engage him in an honor duel to purify my dead father's honor."

All Yuuzhan Vong took their honor and purity seriously, and Domain Shai took it even more seriously than most, so Shedao could hardly turn down Charat's request. Even more so considering the honor in question was that of one of his closest friends since all the way back to their crècheling days.

"Very well Charat Domain Hul," Shedao said formally. "I grant your request to pursue an honor duel with this Jeedai under one condition."

"Anything," Charat said eagerly. "Name it and I shall comply!"

"You must wait until after your father's funeral to leave."

"But Commander! The priests won't arrive for weeks!" Charat protested.

"Then you shall wait weeks. You are needed to represent the domain of the fallen at the funeral." Shedao knew how Charat felt. He himself was eager to get the funeral over with so that he could go to Bimmiel to look into the failure of his cousins to recover the remains of his grandfather, Mongei Shai.

"You may now return to your quarters." Of course, it was more of an order than permission, and Charat Hul knew that. As the young warrior left, Shedao Shai went back to polishing his garnets for the funeral.

---

Having successfully dried his father's skin for burning in the pit of Yun Harla, Charat turned back to the bones, the gold which they had been washed in now cool and dry and shinning in the Dantooine sunlight. Commander Shedao Shai brought the vat creature full of molten platinum that he had been preparing over to where the bones sat and Charat dipped the ends of each bone into the platinum one by one unit all of his father's bones had platinum tips.

Setting the bones aside, Charat picked up the vat creature that contained his father's blood and went to where a priest of Yun Yammka was waiting beside a flaming pit holding a carving of the Slayer. As Charat poured the blood into the pit, the priest recited a long, solemn prayer to Yun Yammka for Malik's soul. The brain and skin were then thrown into a similar pit with a priestess of Yun

 

Chapter 7: The Peace Brigade

Trigger would have been much more comfortable in a vac suit than in the ooglith cloaker and gnullith that Pedric Cuf had provided him with, but it wouldn't do to offend the warrior he was escorting back to Bimmisaari by wearing something non-organic. He would probably be offended enough by Trigger's Trilon Aggressor which, though modified with dovin basals and plasma cannons, did not yet have the yorik coral armour added. That step would have to wait until the next phase of the Peace Brigade's operation, once all of the pilots who had been scammed into joining were already brainwashed.

As he stared out across the blasted, lifeless grey landscape of Zandeb, a backwater moon who's planet and even star had been long lost for well over a millenium, he saw what appeared to be a small asteroid descending towards the moon. The descent was far too controlled to be an asteroid though, and the shape was a little too consistent. Trigger realized it was a Yuuzhan Vong yorik-trema assault cruiser. The alien ships had been described to him by Pedric Cuf, but he was still amazed at just how strong the resemblance to an asteroid really was.

The ship landed at the coordinates it had been given in advance and the hatch irised open to reveal a figure a little over what Trigger had been informed was the average height for a Yuuzhan Vong warrior. Like Trigger, he was wearing an ooglith cloaker and a gnullith.

"You are Charat, Domain Hul I presume?" Trigger addressed the figure.

Charat nodded. "And you must be Trigger, Domain Hunters of the Peace Brigade," he replied.

"No, just 'Trigger'," the Hunter corrected. "Hunter is my rank, not my Domain name. I don't like to use my 'Domain' name." As he understood it, Yuuzhan Vong domain names were the equivalent of a human surname. It had been so long since Trigger had used his real name, even he himself just barely remembered what it was in the back of his head.

"I see," Charat replied. Trigger wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a bit of amusement in the other's voice.

"Well then," Trigger said irritably, "if you'll just follow me, we can get in my ship and off this blasted wasteland."

"Never tell me what to do again, infidel!" Charat snapped at him. The Yuuzhan Vong warrior's desire to kill Trigger on the spot was palpable, but Trigger wasn't worried; he was the warrior's only chance of finding this Jedi of his, and both of them knew it.

As they reached the modified Trilon Aggressor, Charat stopped dead in his tracks. Trigger snorted impatiently.

"I will not board that...that, thing!" the warrior said. His voice was a much of a mix of contempt and fear as the gnullith would allow.

"What's the matter?" Trigger mocked, all thoughts of avoiding offending the warrior gone with Charat's supposed courage. He would have been smiling were it possible to smile with that sithspawned gnullith sucking at his face. "Is the big ugly warrior afraid of the scary metal ship?" He tried to laugh, but it came out more of a gurgle due to the ever irritating breathing apparatus he had been forced to wear.

"You dare to question my courage, infidel?" the warrior roared angrily. A long, snakelike...thing...was suddenly in Charat's hand with a pointed end at Trigger, ready to tear open the gnullith and ooglith cloaker that protected him from Zandeb's hostile lack of environment. "You, a doomed infidel dare to mock the sacrifices and demands of the gods themselves???

Trigger suddenly understood the reason for Charat's fear and derision with a new clarity; by boarding the "infidel" vessel, the Yuuzhan Vong would be violating some sort of religious mandate. Not that he understood what religious fear felt like, merely the effect it produced on a person's psyche. The one thing he hated more than cowards was religious fanatics. Money and physical pleasures were the only religions Trigger knew. That, of course, meant his feelings of resentment and derision for the pa

 

If anyone is wondering why there are only four new chapters instead of the five that the subject line announced, I had the 8th chapter saved on a school network drive, and the network crashed right after I posted the 7th chapter.

Today I was able to recover almost everything except a few unsaved changes and additions, so I'll get it up ASAP.

In the meantime, I apologize to anyone who was reading this that was wondering why I stopped posting after the 3rd chapter. The thread sort of got "lost", meaning I searched throgh every page of Beyond the Saga about five times and still couldn't find it. After doing a search for it and still not finding it, I figured it got pushed so far back that the message board deleted it. It won't happen again though.

 

Let's up this thing. More readers gotta see this.

 

Chapter 8: Disruptions to Come

When his night with Guri was interrupted by his villip inverting, it was an understatement to say he was displeased.

"Guri," he said sweetly to the Human Replica Droid he had hired to work for him with the Peace Brigade by day and to keep him company by night, "Get dressed and wait in the next room. I must confer with my boss." Guri nodded and complied.

Then with a scowl, Andric Gandurvy climbed out of bed and addressed the villip that now looked roughly like the misshapen face of Nom Anor.

"Sithspit, Executor! It's the middle of the night and--" Andric cut off suddenly and fell to the floor holding his head and screaming as intense pain like none he had ever felt before, even from the worst punishments the executor had inflicted on him.

"I...I'm sorry..Mm..Master!" he stammered, whimpering. The pain subsided only slightly. "You interrupted--"

"I don't care what I interrupted!" Nom snapped at him. "What ever it was, this is surely more important than any infidel matters." Andric's face flushed. It was probably just as well that the executor wasn't interested in what he'd been doing, but Andric did like his pleasures.

"There is a ship called the Stalker that is either in impoundment on Rodia or has just been released," Nom Anor said without further preamble. "The pilot is a Human Replica Droid called Tracker. I am authorizing you to use any means necessary to keep..it...on Rodia until the warrior Charat, Domain Hul arrives to destroy it."

"You mean the ship or the droid?" Andric asked, not quite sure what the executor meant by "it."

Nom Anor's reply started off slow and harsh, rising in tone and volume as he went on. "The abomination that mocks you, your entire infidel race, and life in general by imitating your pathetic appearance, you incompetent insult to the gods! Now shut up and DO IT!" The pain in Andric's head increased steadily with Nom Anor's voice, and by the time the executor finished his rant, Andric was rolling on the ground, clutching his head, and screaming in pain.

"Of..of c..course..ex...executor!" he stammered, as the pain subsided slightly. "It wi...will be as ya..you say!"

"NOW!!!" Nom Anor roared. The pain spiked to one final peak, and for a moment, Andric thought it would kill him as his vision went white from the pain that coursed through every nerve in his body. He wanted it to kill him just so it would end. Then the pain dropped off to its usual level, the villip reverted, and Andric collapsed back to the floor in a sobbing heap.

It took him several minutes to recover and pull himself together, but eventually, he climbed to his feet and staggered to a holonet console. Doing a quick scan of Rodian security files, he found that the Stalker was out of impoundment and that it was scheduled to depart from Rodia the next morning. He muttered a curse, and used his comlink to summon Guri back. He wouldn't be able to think about how to stop Tracker until Guri took his mind off all his troubles for a while anyhow.

While he waited for her to return, he shuddered briefly, wondering what Nom Anor would do to him if he found out that Andric employed a Replica Droid, especially considering the..intamacy..of some of the tasks he assigned her.

"Something's troubling you," Guri cooed at him as she entered the room. Andric sighed.

"There's a Human Replica Droid named Tracker in the area. His ship is scheduled to depart tomorrow morning, and I have to delay that until one of the Yuuzhan Vong comes to confront him." Guri knew that the main sponsors of the Peace Brigade were a humanoid race called the Yuuzhan Vong, but not much else about them beyond that.

Guri raised an eyebrow at him. "There's male HRD who needs to be delayed and you don't know what could possibly keep him occupied for a while?" she said with a wink and a sly smile. Of course! he thought. Why didn't I think of that? He could sleep with Guri any night he wanted; Track

 

If I post on this thread often enough maybe the peeps who watch me will follow and read.

 

Chapter 9 is about half written, but I probably won't have time to finish it until after Tuesday since I have to finish writing a talk I'm to give at a retreat at my church by then. Sorry for the delay. -Bobby