Rewriting the Yuuzhan Vong invasion

Hey guys,

I want to do the New Jedi Order invasion by the Yuuzhan Vong but I'm interested in doing in a slightly different manner than canon. More or less, I want to accomplish the following things....

1. Establish that the New Republic is not the biggest group of morons that have ever stepped foot into the universe. As soon as they begin destroying worlds, the New Republic is no longer interested in doing much business with them. Collaborators are along the lines of Vichi France in that they are loathed and hated creatures.

2. The ridiculous levels of causalties are reduced. The Yuuzhan Vong are a thoroughly ruthless and hateful race. However, their war with the galaxy is not one that renders the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War pointless. Causalties by the end of the conflict will be roughly even to these two. Some worlds destroyed, a lot of military causalties, and a whole lot of brutality.

3. Force Powers still work AGAINST the Yuuzhan Vong even if I like the idea they're Force Blind except for Omni and the Slayers.

4. Ways of reducing the silliness of Vong technology. It should be somewhat halfway between Stargate SG-1 and the Covenant.

I'm open for other suggestions but I'm interested in conveying these elements and how to properly express them for the game.

Also, what to change from the 'canon' history.

 

I've never understood why the Vong were introduced in the first place. Next to a resurrected and cloned Palpatine they seem like the worst and lamest idea ever introduced in the Star Wars EU.

I salute anyone who wants to change that part of Star Wars, even the slightest.

 

Throw out anything written by Kevin J Anderson.
That should be a good starting point.
Then anything written by Jetter (I think that's how you spell his name).
In fact, there are very few novels that are actually worth reading.

Most of Zahn (though Visions of the Future was horrible, because he had to include the excrement written by Anderson), Stackpole, Daley, and Hambly are worth while. There are a couple others (the Wraith Squadron books).

I had to give up on SW novels, because most of them were garbage, and I wasn't interested in separating the wheat from the chaff.

 

1. Kevin J Anderson wrote for the NJO?

2. What?

3. I'm not interested in rewriting any of the Bantam era (The Dark Forces Saga shows even Hethrir can be cool)

4. Is there anything about the NJO here?

 

I have no idea who wrote for NJO.
Seeing as how he wrote for other eras, however, it seemed a safe be that Anderson had found some way to infect NJO.

If I'm mistaken, my apologies.

 

No, he was busy infecting Frank Herbert's Dune.

 

hmmm...

I liked a few of the NJO books, but there were a lot of crappy ones mixed in their too.
And i also didn't care at all for the swarm war/ dark nests trilogy

I do like the Legacy series so far though

Of course in my NJO campaigns I never use the vong invasion, it just never happens in my games as i have far better ideas then that. not mention my njo games include two Incredibly Advanced "Elder Races".

I can give you stats on at least one of them including a history, but the other all i could give u his a hastily typed summary as i havent gotten around to writing them up yet.

 

My current ideas for revising the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion are as followed.

1. The Yuuzhan Vong have been at war with the Chiss Ascendency for millenium by this point. They're the threat that Grand Admiral Thrawn warned the galaxy about and I'm thinking that they might have also been the threat that Darth Revan was warning the galaxy about that he felt the Republic had to ready themselves for. They're well established in the Unknown Regions right now and have several thousand worlds underneath their dominion that the control.

2. The Yuuzhan Vong aren't from another galaxy but Otherspace. Specifically, they're building massive stargates to enter this universe from their dimension. Thus, the Yuuzhan Vong invasion is limited primarily by how many of their kind they bring over as opposed to the numbers of actual forces that they can field on the levels of battle.

3. The Average Yuuzhan Vong Warrior is roughly equivalent to a Stormtrooper in skill and his armor is about as protective as that. However, "Elite" Yuuzhan Vong Warriors exist that are much more dangerous.

4. I'm debating whether or not to actually remove the Yuuzhan Vong "force blind" qualities and instead have them actually worship the Dark Side of the Force with their Priestly class including many Force Adepts.

5. The Yuuzhan Vong are still a theocracy but pretty much leave most of the worlds alone that submit to their rule and worship their gods. They're here on a war of conversion and conquest as opposed to one of wholesale technological destruction.

6. The Yuuzhan Vong Shamed Ones are their title for anyone whom is not actually part of their elite caste. Its composed primarily of those who refuse to have their bodies altered through bio-science to become Yuuzhan Vong.

I'm still developing other ideas.

 

i would question the force blindness being removed because it was that which screwed the Jedi so badly. I mean Anakin solo will happily plow through squad after squad of stormtrooper level enemies. But with the Force blindness, it makes it more difficult, and the Jedi would be able to sense an arrival, especially if they worship the dark side and don't seem to be bothered about hiding their presence, which is why the sith could hide.

 

Well that actually strikes me as a very good thing. Why not have the Jedi mow through Vong after Vong? It'll be like the Clone Wars where the Jedi can tear through the enemy but it's just there's A LOT of them.

 

The unknown regions eh?

In one my games this would lead them into the middle of a war between the Hagan Star Cluster and the Trolian Empire... WOW what a three way fight that would be, one side using Advanced Energy weapons, another solid matter projectile(advanced ones of course) and the vong using Bioweapons.....

I like the idea about them coming from another dimension rather then a different galaxy, meaning that they likely cant just send all their guys in at once which sort of semi-levels the playing field.

 

Well the thing that made them so daunting to me personally was that they were blind to the Force.

I don't do enough writing or thinking about how things would pan out differently, or started off differently, so I'm not a good authority on the matter

 

like jedi matt im not sure about removing the force blindness, but it's your game, and hey, it might be a good thing.

 

Things I'd like to see:

1. The big three and assorted hangers-on take a HUGE step back. This would be an opportunity for the next gen to take a step forward and prove themselves. Also, there is a need for some non-Jedi, non-military heroes. One of the problems in the novels I saw was that the NR had NO politicians who weren't scheming or idiots. And now we are reaping the fruits of that with no interesting political characters in LotF.

2. Re-write some of the deaths. I actually thought killing Chewie was a good idea, but the death just wasn't very meaningful of immediate to me becuase of the circumstances. He got a moon dropped on him...it was almost too comical to be tragic. Better if he dies fulfilling his lifedebt, taking one meant for Han and getting the one who felled him in a Wookiee rage before sucumbing to injuries. Make the moment personal.

3. I would love to see the Solo kids all survive but be changed by the experience. It molds Anakin into the Jedi the Order needs him to be, a leader of the future. For Jaina she becomes the pure warrior, stick with the prophecies as outlined in earlier material. And Jacen can be changed by the war into looking for a deeper meaning and the power to understand everything, set the stage for his fall and eventual duel with his twin sister (thus incorporating some of the YV's own prophetic lore) and turn to the Dark Side.

4. Keep the galaxy changing events to a minimum. Do not foliate Coruscant, etc.

5. Personlly I hate the GA. The movies and Bantam were about the the effort to restore the Republic. I'd like to see it survive more than a few years. Maybe they might drop the 'new' though. The Empire would have been nothing more than a hiccup in a 25K long history.

 

1. The Chiss are finally routed in their brutal war with the Yuuzhan Vong as they successfully open a giant gate to Otherspace/their galaxy and begin conquering/pillaging destroying across the Unknown Regions while building their Zerg-like hideous compounds. I'm debating whether to have the Yuuzhan Vong practice cloning as a matter of course.

2. Vector Prime has the Yuuzhan Vong discovered by Luke Skywalker and they blow up a base. Serendipal is testing a Vong superweapon.

3. The New Republic largely chooses to stay out of this coming conflict.

4. The Yuuzhan Vong dispatch their diplomat, Nom Anor to the New Republic to refute "Chiss lies" about them and point out their conflict with Thrawn's race and his allies is a generational one that they're the innocents in.

5. Borsk Fey'lya does the Chamberlain thing and chooses to appease the Yuuzhan Vong while secretly starting to get the Republic ready for war.

6. The Yuuzhan Vong then begin attacking unaligned planets on the edges of space ala the Mandalorian Wars. Hoping to goad the Republic to War as they continue to solidfy their claim.

7. The Yuuzhan Vong start making their own alliances with the locals and basically do the Persian Empire thing. "Make an offer of submission to us and our gods, offer reasonable tribute to us, turn over any traitors, and we shall leave you alone. Do otherwise and you will suffer enslavement or death."

8. The New Jedi Order and Leia cooperate in aiding refugees while setting up resistance as Kyp Durron says "screw this" and convinces an Admiral to go rogue with him (probably Krefey)

9. The war is on.

10. The Yuuzhan Vong display their supernatural powers and continue building their shipyards with slave labor while conquering world after world. Their gates bringing over more and more of their race from Otherspace.

11. Borsk Fey'lya attempts to get Anakin Skywalker to blow up the Vong homeworld with Centerpoint and he refuses. Leia convinces the Hapans to join the war.

12. Ithor is a wake up call for the galaxy and turns almost everyone in the universe against them.

13. Warmaster Tsavong Lah decides the only way to bring an end to this conflict is to decapitate the Republic. He successfully launches an offensive on Coruscant.

14. Impeached by the government and indicted for war crimes, Borsk Fey'lya commits suicide on Coruscant before blowing up the capital city with a series of bombs he laid around it.

Millions are killed by both humans and Vong.

15. Jacen Solo falls into the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong's Sith allies and is presumed dead. Anakin Skywalker is killed as he destroys the Mykyr Worldcraft and sends it spiralling down into the planet. The Vong's entire bio-warfare research division is wiped out along with all Vong weapons development research.

16. Fyor Rodan suggests a negotiated surrender to the Yuuzhan Vong with Coruscant and other planets returned to the New Republic and a recognition of their sovereignty over any worlds that claim allegiance (i.e. those they've intimidated into surrendering).

Elbaq 9 gives Luke Skywalker and Ackbar the political clout while raising morale for everyone to vote Cal omas in and continue supporting the war.

17. The war continues.

18. The Vong make an alliance with the Ssiruuk as they approach the Empire about dividing the Galaxy between the three of them. They're getting pretty desperate. The Empire instead allies with the Republic as they've already had vast numebrs of NR worlds defect to them for protection. The Yevetha become Vong allies but if the PCs disrupt the peace process then the Yevetha are wiped out.

19. Luke Skywalker goes to the Vong home dimension and frees one of their enslaved Worldcraft. With it's help, he begins to cause the enslaved platenoid like race to rebel against the Yuuzhan Vong.

20. Luke and company retake Coruscant with the Vong surrendering.

 

Yevethan notes...

The Yevetha don't care about anything outside the Koornacht. They really don't. They're not planning on invading the galaxy, they don't wish the total destruction of the Republic, from the Yevethan POVs we saw they just want "their" cluster. They think the All is the real universe and everything outside is...hmmm...not worth caring about?

I think the NJO seriously underestimated the tenacity of the Yevetha. They've got at -least- 19 worlds plus the ones they took during BFC (not just N'zoth!!!), and many of these are fully industrialized. They're also active colonizers. Considering the relevant cultural priorities, they're probably half to a third the threat of Hapes, though perhaps not so much while they're rebuilding. It's known that they've rebuilt their shipbuilding capacity by the NJO. We know they built 90+ cruisers and Star Destroyers warships in 10 or so years before, and they have 16 years of NR neglect to work with. With the number of shipyards the Imps decided to put in the Koornacht, they probably have no lack of resources. The NR didn't make an effective enough sweep to ground the Yevetha permanantly.

The Yevetha would not ally with the Vong. The Vong really have nothing to offer them. They're too bloody minded to surrender in a position of weakness. They could arguably be conquered and subdued, but as the Imps learned, that is a bad plan in the long term.

 

I imagine vengeance on the Republic is enough of a reason for the Yevetha to ally with the Vong. Specifically, their "allying" being so much as they are going to attack the Republic and have the Vong supply them with information while recognizing their territorial rights.

As stated, it doesn't take that much to have the Yevetha TURN on the Vong during the "peace negotiations"

And I'm sure the Vong whup their asses from here to Sunday. I think it'd be a pretty kriffing epic quagmire for the Vong and one of the big reasons they end up losing the war.

 

Except the Yevetha wouldn't attack the Republic. They're isolationist xenophobes, not stereotypical sci-fi alien invaders. Their obsession is with maintaining their territorial integrity, and they consider the Koornacht to be the full extent of their territory. They would mercilessly attack any fleet that violated the Koornacht, but they're not going to be leaving the cluster and picking fights.

The whole Black Fleet Crisis was completely avoidable from the standpoint of New Republic military involvement. The Yevetha would have been happy to sit on the results of the Purge indefinitely. They didn't want to fight the NR. They wanted to kill the Imperial-era colonists. It just quickly turned into an interstellar game of chicken that Leia didn't back down from, and the NR went in to drive the Yevethans off the Koornacht worlds they'd genocided. Yevethan warships never left the cluster except a brief foray to capture Han on his way in.

Seriously, Leia tried to enlist the Yevethans against the Empire, who brutalized them much more than the NR ever did. No dice. They don't -care- about the universe outside the cluster except insofar as it comes into the cluster and attacks them.

 

Well Sabarte, I'm saying they would in my games. Their code of honor requires them to avenge themselves for the humiliation by the Republic.

I don't consider them to be quite so deep or peaceful as you do.

Especially since...

1. The Koonatch Cluster is something they don't have.

2. They lost all the colonies they had established.

 

They're not peaceful. They're isolationist-territorial! It's a difference!

The Koornacht has religious significance to them. The darkness beyond doesn't.

Seriously, C19, we saw BFC from Yevethan POV. I've reread it in the past week for gaming research. Their overriding obsession is to get the Fifth Fleet out of the cluster. That was the point of all the diplomacy beforehand - to make Leia withdraw the Fifth Fleet well away from there so the Yevethans could sterilize the (non-New Republic) worlds that they thought were part of their birthright - which is all the stars visible from N'Zoth. The Koornacht cluster(too bright for other stars to be seen) and that alone.

If extra-cluster vengeance was that much of a motivator, they'd have gone after the Empire, and they never even considered it.

That may not be as stereotypically sci-fi alien invader as you prefer, but hey, your game, your rules. I'm just noting it's not canon.

 

That may not be as stereotypically sci-fi alien invader as you prefer, but hey, your game, your rules. I'm just noting it's not canon.

No and neither is what you said.

I read the same books as you did and not once did I think of anything remotely resembling what you said. Frankly, I think you've read way too much into what they did. Especially, given they DID take revenge on their prisoners for YEARS.

You've also not commented on the In-Koonatch reasons.

So, I disagree with you in-canon and would like to move on.

 

I really like what you've come up with so far, Charles; however, as a GM myself trying to work-out a slightly modified version of events for a campaign setting that will be shortly moving into the NJO time frame, I'd would certainly suggest having Sense Force powers not be of any use against the Vong, except of course against their Dark Side elite. This should really keep it a struggle for any of your Force-using PCs to keep from using not only Dark Side techniques, but just using the Force to attack in general.

Also, another way to do it, if you still want the Jedi to be able to sense the Vong, yet keep the temptation alive, is to have much of the elite warrior caste -- while Force blind themselves -- extensively trained by the Dark Side adepts to block-out psychic powers, like the Sith assassins from KOTOR.

 

I like the NJO books and most everything that happened with the Vong and would not change a thing. Yes some important charters died Anakin, Chewie, I would rather have had Lando instead of Chewie but overall they were good books.