Beyond - Legends As I die - Nom Anor

Authors Note: This is the revised version of the original fic I wrote, with the intention of posting, but that was before my old computer decided to explode in a flurry of blue-smoke a while back. I've been unable to post anything substancial until now, forced to use the work computer But it's here now! This is a sort of speculative fic, so you might want to consider it slightly AU.
I know some of us at the Yuuzhan'tar thread in the EU forums have been speculating over this question for a while, so i'll pick up where The Unifying Force left off, with my theory


As I Die.

Prologue:

Domain Skell Worldship, 165 years ago.

?Above all else, what is it that you must always remember, what is it that is essential??

The sound of the aging prefect?s voice echoed out almost as delicately as the sound of dry autumnal leaves strewn on the wind. From the smallest of crèchelings ears, to those of the crèche attendants, now gathered at the back of the chamber, all listened and waited for the one who would be brave enough to speak and answer the prefect?s question. This was not a task to be handled lightly, for punishments awaited wrong conclusions and at this stage of Yuuzhan Vong education, one had not learned to fully embrace pain.

With it?s high-vaulted ceiling and it?s richly luminescent fungi-lined walls, that seemed to stretch out into the far-spun outer ganglia of the worldship, one could be forgiven for mistaking this location for something more than a domain crèche.

Herein sat the rejects of the fellow castes, deemed too inept at Priestly, Shaper or Warrior duties, they had been given a last chance at life among the true caste, as intendants. Of course the intendant caste still contained those born of this life, and as such, many looked down upon those adopted by the castes? many crèches as little more than obstacles in the way of their individual destinies. Many high prefects would have argued that this was healthy, this was the mainstay of Yuuzhan Vong life. Certainly they could not have argued that the caste was rife with political rivalry and deception through backstabbing - it was expected.

The crèchlings themselves were of mixed domain, displaying their symbols of true caste domains upon their foreheads, but the worldship it?s self - or this sector at least - belonged to domain Skell. Also here, concealed behind opaque membranous entranceways, were also the crechlings of domain Anor.

The tall, particularly lanky prefect - of domain Skell himself - drew himself up to his full and imposing height, obsidian eyes scanning above the heads of the attentive young audience who seemed to be bathing sublimely in their own silence. That was until, one such crecheling shot to their feet with an ungainly enthusiasm.

He was small in comparison to many of his peers - which, the prefect noted, would have been all it took for the shapers responsible for birthing him, to have had him sent back to the gods soon after, had that been his son - His crooked half-nose already broken, several times, out of it?s true alignment. The crècheling?s pale-blue eyes shone with a curious keenness only a crecheling could display.

So full of prospects were those of his age, so full of naivety that could ultimately see them brought to ruin, before the very ceremony that was supposed to herald their ascension into full Yuuzhan Vong society.

?Speak, Nom Anor.? The Prefect rasped with a certain lethargic tang, clearly anticipating this one?s answers before the young Yuuzhan Vong had so much as drawn breath to speak.

Keeping the wall behind the Prefect fixed in his sights - he would never have dared look this superior in the eye unless bade to do so - Nom Anor?s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and he stuck out his chest, chin raised with a rather arrogant pride.

?To do what you must by any means, in order to achieve what is most beneficial to your domain, Prefect Q?an Skell, to pray that Yun-Harla is with you on such matters, for she delights in such tri

 

great start, Blue
looking forward to learn what Nom Anor is up to

 

Please put me on your PM list for this one!

Off to a great start as usual.

 

Thanks Maggy I couldn't have him just sit there now could I?

Hello again VaderLVR! i'll certainly do that, glad you like so far!

 

Got here eventually, Blue.

Great start, especially the flashback sequences. Trust Nom Anor to have been like he was from a young age

 

Thanks Spike I have been toying with the idea of adding more flashbacks later on, not sure yet though, and yeah...people like that don't suddenly become that way lol, they are definitely born that way

 

Naughty naughty! Nom Anor snuck into the shaper nursery. I don't find it beyond certain others to hide (although being much taller than Anor at that time, a little less inconspicuous.) And that incident with Niirit, of course I remember it! (but the audiobook people sure didn't XP)

Prefects don't brush their teeth?!

 

Yeah, exactly what he was doing there might be divulged later And lol, it's easy to hide when you're short, unfortunately I've always been a tad on the tall side...but if I want to go unseen, as Spike says, i'll just turn sideways

Not brushing their teeth, maybe, this one just has poor dental hygene, probably due to some habit or another...he's old, old people do strange things

 

Note: A short update this time, but I wanted to get something up before I went away on hols A little more is revealed in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading!



Chapter 2 :

Long arterial networks of passageways and ailing door-valves had never been so difficult to negotiate. The entire interior of the ship had begun to disintegrate around him, bits of fleshy organic matter dripped and flaked free from the coral walls, the acrid smell of decay hanging heavily in the air.

The closer to Shimrra?s private chambers Nom Anor became, the worse the overpowering stench became. Millions of micro-organisms would be ravenously metabolizing, devouring the very surfaces he resided within, walked upon and required to reach his destination. These organisms would have lain dormant in every structure, every tissue that made up this vessel, the finest shapers would have seen to that and therefore the former prefect knew he had little time on his side.

No, he did not have much time, but he did need to make a detour.


Pushing through the gooey membrane sealing off the area that had once served as Shimrra?s hall of confluence, Nom Anor?s one, real eye came to rest it?s gaze upon the blood-stained and decapitated form of the Supreme Overlord?s body. There it lay, strewn out over a still-flowing moat of blood - to which Shimrra had added his own to the morbid mix. Splayed where Luke Skywalker had left him, the massive baulk of Shimrra?s ginormous corpse was already beginning to be attacked by the starving and frenzied micro organisms that assailed the vessel also.

Nearby, the rigor-mortis stiffened amphistaff the Overlord had once carried, lay severed like it?s master. Nom Anor wasted no time at all in darting for one half of the sharpened weapon, procuring it carefully as he dragged it towards the festering corpse.

The vessel around him had begun to creak and groan under the increasing pressure being placed on it?s hulking frame, then rumbling violently as the dovin basals finally gave up and died outright, forcing the former prefect to crouch in order to keep an even foothold upon the blood-slicked deck.

Grasping the amphistaff in his one remaining hand, he begrudgingly made it to Shimrra?s side, and kicked the overlord?s arm out to one side, sending a flurry of blood-engorged ngdins slithering out from beneath him.
Raising the solid weapon above his head, Nom Anor brought the amphistaff crashing down upon the joint between the overlord?s wrist and hand, almost severing the hand completely - the weapon wasn?t nearly as effective when it had expired, he thought as he discarded it.

He took hold of Shimrra?s hand then, placing one foot against the cadaver?s torso before setting his feet for leverage. Satisfied that this would work, he suddenly yanked back as hard as he could, transferring all his weight onto the foot he still had placed on the floor. Twisting the limb as he did so, the hand broke free almost cleanly, but with a sickening crunch and snap of tendons that made even Nom Anor wince in kind. Staggering back, lungs heaving in the thinning atmosphere, the former prefect held up his prize to inspect it for any damage aside from the obvious.
It would do, he noted and headed for the now stringy, ichor-coated exit.

However, Nom Anor momentarily paused when he felt the inert eyes of Shimrra?s severed head, boring into his back. A sneer played delicately across Nom Anor?s features, noting that it almost looked as if the deceased overlord was questioning what it was that the former prefect was doing.

?Giving my enemies and itch?? He rasped reverently, turning sharply on one heel, he ran towards his next destination.

Shimrra?s vessel continued to quake and groan ominously, like a gargantuan beast amid it?s death throes. Large chunks of orange-tinted phong coral, were tearing free of blastulas and, had Nom Anor been able to see it, the control spire was now part missing, venting precious air and living matter into the vacuum beyond. Once

 

?Giving my enemies and itch?? He rasped reverently, turning sharply on one heel, he ran towards his next destination.

Lol@Shimrra.

Enjoy your hols, Blue. Now who am I going to talk to on MSN with you gone?

 

Even in death he's still giving out orders lol. Still...BURN!

And You have a whole 3 days to talk to me before I go, and even then i'm sure i'll be on at some point, i'm not going overseas this time. Just as far away from the place i'm in as little cash could get me
I'm leaving my apprentice in charge of work...I expect to return to ruins *smiles and waves at them* ...I have faith in you really!

 

Dying in the void of space ain't as pleasant as those folk songs have it, he should know by now. For a moment I thought he was going to attach Shimrra's hand to his bleeding stump.
I swear these get more and more novel-worthy as time goes by (this could be an extra at the end of a Star Wars paperback). Eeeeee what is it? I need to know!

Again, "Two-Headed Boy" by Neutral Milk Hotel is perfect for Nom Anor and his views of Shimrra (and the line "his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face").

 

Geez they write folk songs about anything don't they lol. I know a good one, but i'd get told off for singing it here

And LOL! That would have been humerous, though then he'd have one hand bigger than the other - not sure if that would bother him much though Nick Cave's Red right hand comes to mind

Awww thanks very much Kecen, I'm surprised actually, it took me a long while to get in the right mood for writing this, luckily the block happened while I was computerless hehe. Strategic writers block, I love it!

 

There in the far wall of the chamber, lay a small niche containing a small nutrient tank, not unlike those the shapers used to nourish and grow Vonduun crab armour. What lay inside, Nom Anor knew, would be his salvation.

Loved it!

 

Thanks very much! I have the next chapter written up in rough, so perhaps i'll be able to type that up while i'm away, ready for posting when I get back

 

Chapter 2 :

Long arterial networks of passageways and ailing door-valves had never been so difficult to negotiate. The entire interior of the ship had begun to disintegrate around him, bits of fleshy organic matter dripped and flaked free from the coral walls, the acrid smell of decay hanging heavily in the air.

that kind of sounds nasty .. what happening to ship? dying?

The closer to Shimrra?s private chambers Nom Anor became, the worse the overpowering stench became. Millions of micro-organisms would be ravenously metabolizing, devouring the very surfaces he resided within, walked upon and required to reach his destination. These organisms would have lain dormant in every structure, every tissue that made up this vessel, the finest shapers would have seen to that and therefore the former prefect knew he had little time on his side.

so the shapers made sure of that?
must have something against him

Pushing through the gooey membrane sealing off the area that had once served as Shimrra?s hall of confluence, Nom Anor?s one, real eye came to rest it?s gaze upon the blood-stained and decapitated form of the Supreme Overlord?s body. There it lay, strewn out over a still-flowing moat of blood - to which Shimrra had added his own to the morbid mix. Splayed where Luke Skywalker had left him, the massive baulk of Shimrra?s ginormous corpse was already beginning to be attacked by the starving and frenzied micro organisms that assailed the vessel also.

ooops ...

Grasping the amphistaff in his one remaining hand, he begrudgingly made it to Shimrra?s side, and kicked the overlord?s arm out to one side, sending a flurry of blood-engorged ngdins slithering out from beneath him.

late revenge?

Raising the solid weapon above his head, Nom Anor brought the amphistaff crashing down upon the joint between the overlord?s wrist and hand, almost severing the hand completely - the weapon wasn?t nearly as effective when it had expired, he thought as he discarded it.

Hah!

The air from within the chamber whooshed out and away so fast, it almost knocked the former prefect off his feet, his ears had become painful, popping with such a virulent intensity, that he could no longer hear the shrill and loud whistling of the air venting from the crumbling control spire. Nearby, several coral spines tore away from their ornate holdings, and tumbled their way down the capillary network of tunnels ominously, through which Nom Anor had just worked his way through.

He better should get out of there ? otherwise he will be cold piece of ice

There in the far wall of the chamber, lay a small niche containing a small nutrient tank, not unlike those the shapers used to nourish and grow Vonduun crab armour. What lay inside, Nom Anor knew, would be his salvation.

Curious what there is in the tank


Great update, Blue

Looking forward to the next
Enjoy your holidays

~ Mags ~

 

hah! i like it bb. great job! and i look forward to more of Nom Anor.

...have to admit i do like the banner art on this forum

do-ro'ik vong pratte!

 

I think it's safe to assume that, yep

Hehe, no, I was thinking more along the lines of them leaving no trace of their organic technology for the enemy to examine, or indeed for their own kind to be able to determine what had actually doomed the vessel should it come to it - more something Onimi would have implemented for his own reasons.

I think he's all too acutely aware of that hehe

I promise you'll find out what that is next chapter but he's not done just yet!

Thanks very much! I'll be back in a week, and hopefully will have an update for you

Belek tiu, Nice to see you over here Thanks by the way, and as I said to Maggy, there is definitely more in store for Nom Anor - and that was completely not meant to rhyme like one of Onimi's drawls

I am loving the new banner too...especially the right hand side of it

Do'ro'ik vong pratte!

 

Authors Note: Another small update for you No regression in this one, but there is certainly a bit more reflection on the way, I am debating just how deep to go with that at present always nice to speculate on what made a person the way they are, and I do so love to delve into people's minds without asking

I've been very busy scribbling away at the next chapter as well as coming up with some new art, there is a new Nom Anor piece in my most recent post over at my art thread, so check that out if you like *shameless plug*

As always, thanks for reading, time to find out what he's up to



Chapter 3.

There was no time to contemplate weather or not the Supreme Overlord's chambers would have been protected by some form of biological weapons, much like his own plaeryin bol implant, Nom Anor would have to hastily take his chances. The air was so thin now, he found every breath a dragging effort, and the creeping cold that assaulted his joints had spread to numb the pain from his cauterised stump of a left wrist. Vision blurring, he blinked furiously, laboriously trying to focus on the nutrient tank ahead of him - and more importantly, it's contents.

Inside, floating in the deteriorating soup of minerals, plant nutrients and life-giving water, lay a fully healthy Ooglith cloaker and gnullith. Both, Nom Anor knew, had been modified for the pressures of vacuum, used more commonly by the warrior and shaper castes - those who needed to closely examine or repair breaches in the walls of Yuuzhan Vong vessels. This breed of ooglith and gnullith were hardier, and would withstand much before they died, Nom Anor was counting on that.

As fast as he could manage it, the former prefect made his way toward the niche, near crawling now, hands scrabbling to gain purchase upon any natural crevice in the surface of the ornately jagged floor.

He reached it, lungs burning with sheer effort of exertion, and plunged his one, remaining hand into the shallow tank. Hauling out his prize, he slapped the gnullith hard to his face, covering both nose and mouth as he did so. The creature responded instantly, extending it?s cilla-covered breathing tube between Nom Anor's parted teeth and plunging down into his throat.

Fighting his own gagging reflex, the former prefect had already begun to coax the ooglith cloaker to life, giving the biot a nudge with one foot to encourage it to begin to envelop his body like a second skin. Never in his entire life, had he welcomed this sensation as much as he did now. It made the pain bearable knowing it would possibly save his pitiful life.

As the fleshy gnullith filled his lungs, he suddenly felt the burning sensation leave him with a few steady breaths. His senses became acute once more and the whistling, cold shards-of-ice wind lost it's razor-sharp edge.

This was half the battle won, he could survive ket's like this now, but would need a more prudent means of escape, it was no good being alive if you had no means of leaving a doomed vessel. With the ship's yorik-trema in the possession of the solo clan, his most viable means of escape was lost to him, but loss was also an entirely relative thing, and if it was one thing Nom Anor was not, it was lost - far from it.

Knowing that the bridge of the vessel would be all but gone, decimated by now, he continued to rummage hurriedly through the contents of the alcove, hauling out handfuls of rapidly decaying protective tissue. His one, true eye shone with a momentary panic, and the former prefect was now on the verge of allowing the dread to settle a twisting knot in his stomach. Then his remaining hand hit the solid distinctly recognizable and roughly ovoid surface of a large senelak pod.

Pulling the pod free of the stringy tissue that continued, even now, to nourish and preserve it, Nom Anor's masquered arm became momentarily tangled and bogged down in soaking wet, thick strands of ichor, before they fell to the ground with a wet 'slap' that no one, not even he, would ever hear.

Cradl

 

OOOOOh Nice start! I can't wait to read what happens next.

 

Thanks TOJP More on it's way soon!

 

Hope glittering in the frost-lined pit of his soul, the Yuuzhan Vong now made his way, with haste, towards the grotto from which he had launched the Solo?s yorik-trema. This time, with everything to live for.

Wonderful! Can't wait for the next chapter.

 

continues to be a great story bb. if they ever decide to bring Nom back... It would make the most sense that it would happen the way you are describing it.

 

Thanks very much, and i'm hoping to get a bit more background history in the next chapter, been doing a bit of reading and a couple of things occurred to me

And I really hope they do...bring him back that is High praise indeed, things are going to get a bit crazy soon, but desperate times as they say Thanks for reading!

 

This is very cool, Blue_but_beautiful - good old Nom Anor. Never say die.

I love your descriptions of the YV biotech - it's wonderfully visceral. I like the possibility you're playing with here, too.

He had been a masked one - just as Yun-Harla was cloaked in borrowed skin - from the very beginning.
That comparison was really on the button.

The hand of Shimrra lives on, eh? LOL Very curious to see what happens next. Please PM me when you next post.

May I call you Blue? I'm a very lazy typer.