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Star WarsThe New Jedi OrderThe Unifying Forceby James Luceno###############################################################################In memory of my compadre, Tom Peirce, who understood that being accepting of death is not the same as being resigned to dying. A true warrior to the last.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe Unifying Force owes something to everyone who has helped give shape and continuity to the Expanded Universe-from Alan Dean Foster to Tim Zahn to Matt Stover; and from Bill Smith to Stephen Sansweet to the hundreds of fans who have devoted countless hours to detailing the esoteric. I would, though, like to single out a few people whose help and encouragement were invaluable: Shelly Shapiro and Sue Rostoni, for their editorial magic; Greg Bear, Greg Keyes, Sean Williams, and Shane Dix, for their commitment to keeping things consistent; Troy Denning, for his many suggestions; Dan Wallace, Rick Gonzolez, Mike Kogge, Helen Keier, Eelia Goldsmith Henderscheid, and Enrique Guerrero, for their tireless work on the entire New Jedi Order series. Most of all, thank you, George Lucas, for creating a universe that continues to expand...DRAMATIS PERSONAENom Anor; executor (male Yuuzhan Vong)Wedge Antilles; general (male human)Nas Choka; warmaster (male Yuuzhan Vong)Kyp Durron; Jedi Master (male human)Jagged Fel; pilot (male human)Harrar; priest (male Yuuzhan Vong)Traest Kre'fey; admiral (male Bothan)Cal Omas; Chief of State (male human)Onimi; Shamed One (male Yuuzhan Vong)Danni Quee; scientist (female human)Supreme Overlord Shimrra (male Yuuzhan Vong)Luke Skywalker; Jedi Master (male human)Mara Jade Skywalker; Jedi Master (female human)Han Solo; captain, Millennium Falcon (male human)Jacen Solo; Jedi Knight (male human)Jaina Solo; Jedi Knight (female human)Princess Leia Organa Solo; diplomat (female human)PART ONEACROSS THE STARSONE.Selvaris, faintly green against a sweep of white-hot stars, and with only a tiny moon for companionship, looked like the loneliest of planets. Almost five years into a war that had seen the annihilation of peaceful worlds, the disruption of major hyperlanes, the fall and occupation of Coruscant itself, the fact that such a backwater place could rise to sudden significance was perhaps the clearest measure of the frightful shadow the Yuuzhan Vong had cast across the galaxy. Immediate evidence of that significance was a prisoner-of-war compound that had been hollowed from the dense coastal jungle of Selvaris's modest southern continent. The compound of wooden detention buildings and organic, hivelike structures known as grashals was enclosed by yorik coral walls and watchtowers that might have been thrust from the planet's aquamarine sea, or left exposed by a freakishly low tide. Beyond the tall scabrous perimeter, where the vegetation had been leveled or reduced to ash by plasma weapons, rigid blades of knee-high grass poked from the sandy soil, extending all the way to the vibrant green palisade that was the tree line. Whipped by a persistent salty wind, the fanlike leaves of the tallest trees flapped and snapped like war banners. Standing between the prison camp and a brackish estuary that meandered finally to the sea, the jungle combined indigenous growth with exotic species bioengineered by the Yuuzhan Vong and soon to become dominant on Selvaris, as had already happened on countless other worlds. Two charred yorik-trema landing craft, not yet fully healed from recent deep-space engagements with the enemy, sat in the spacious prison yard. Shuffling past them came a group of humans, bald-domed Bith, and thick-horned Gotals, carrying three corpses wrapped in cloth. His back pressed to one of the coralcraft, a Yuuzhan Vong guard watched the prisoners struggle with the dead."Be quick about it," he ordered."The maw luur doesn't like to be kept waiting."The camp's prisoners had argued vehemently to be allowed to dispose of bodies according to the customs of the deceased, but graves or funeral pyres had been expressly forbidden by order of the Yuuzhan Vong priests who officiated at the nearby temple. Their ruling was that all organics had to be recycled. The dead could either be left to Selvaris's ample and voracious flocks of carrion eaters, or be fed to the Yuuzhan Vong biot known as a maw luur, which some of the more well-traveled prisoners characterized as a mating of trash compactor and Sarlacc. The guard was tall and long-limbed, with an elongated sloping forehead and bluish sacs underscoring his eyes. The light of Selvaris's two suns had reddened his skin slightly, and the planet's hothouse heat had turned him lean. Facial tattoos and scarifications marked him as an officer, but he lacked the deformations and implants peculiar to commanders. Bound by a ring of black coral, his dark hair fell in a sideknot to below his shoulders, and his uniform tunic was cinched by a narrow hide belt. A melee weapon coiled around his muscular right forearm, like a deadly vine. What made Subaltern S'yito unusual was that he spoke Basic, though not nearly as fluently as his commander. The prisoners paused briefly in response to S'yito's order that they hurry."We'd sooner see their bones picked clean by scavengers than let them be a meal for your garbage eater," the shortest of the humans said."Make the maw luur happy by throwing yourself in," a second human added."You tell him, Commenor," the Gotal beside him encouraged.Shirtless, the prisoners were slick with sweat, and kilos lighter than when they had arrived on Selvaris two standard months earlier, after being captured during an abortive attempt to retake the planet Gyndine. Those who wore trousers had cut them off at the knee, and likewise trimmed their footwear to provide no more than was needed to keep their feet from being bloodied by the coarse ground or the waves of thorned senalaks that thrived outside the walls. S'yito only sneered at their insolence, and waved his left hand to disperse the cloud of insects that encircled him. The short human cracked a smile and laughed."That's what you get for using blood as body paint, S'yito." S'yito puzzled out the meaning of the remark."Insects are not the problem. Only that they are not Yuuzhan Vong insects." With uncommon speed, he snatched one out of the air and curled his hand around it."Not yet, that is."Worldshaping had commenced in Selvaris's eastern hemisphere, and was said to be creeping around the planet at the rate of two hundred kilometers per local day. Bioengineered vegetation had already engulfed several population centers, but it would be months before the botanical imperative was concluded. Until then, all of Selvaris was a prison. No residents had been allowed offworld since the internment camp had been grown, and all enemy communications facilities had been dismantled. Technology had been outlawed. Droids especially had been destroyed with much accompanying celebration, and in the name of benevolence. Liberated from their reliance on machines, sentient species might at long last glimpse the true nature of the universe, which had been brought into being by Yun-Yuuzhan in an act of selfless sacrifice, and was maintained by the lesser gods in whom the Creator had placed his trust."Maybe you should just try converting our insects," one of the humanoids suggested."Start with threatening to pull their wings off," the short human said. S'yito opened his hand to display the winged bug, pinched between forefinger and thumb but unharmed."This is why you lose the war, and why coexistence with you is impossible. You believe we inflict pain for sport, when we do so only to demonstrate reverence for the gods."He held the pitiful creature at arm's length."Think of this as yourselves. Obedience leads to freedom; disobedience, to disgrace." Abruptly, he smashed the insect against his taut chest."No middle path. You are Yuuzhan Vong, or you are dead."Before any of the prisoners could reply, a human officer stepped from the doorway of the nearest hut into the harsh sunlight. Thickset and bearded, he wore his filthy uniform proudly."Commenor, Antar, Clak'dor, that's enough chatter," the officer said, referring to them by their native worlds rather than by name."Carry on with your duties and report back to me.""On our way, Captain," the short human said, saluting."That's Page, right?" the Gotal asked."I hear nothing but good things.""All of them true," one of the Bith said."But we need ten thousand more like him if we're ever going to turn this war around."As the prisoners moved off, S'yito turned to regard Captain Judder Page, who held the subaltern's appraising gaze for a long moment before stepping back into the wooden building. The body bearer had spoken the truth, S'yito thought. Warriors like Page could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The Yuuzhan Vong held the high ground in the long war, but only barely. The fact that a prison camp had had to be grown on the surface of Selvaris was proof of that. Normally a battle vessel would have served as a place of detention. But with the final stages of the conflict being waged on numerous fronts, every able vessel was deployed to engage hostile forces on contested worlds, patrol conquered systems, defend the hazy margins of the invasion corridor, or protect Yuuzhan'tar, the Hallowed Center, over which Supreme Overlord Shimrra had now presided for a standard year. In any other circumstance there would have been little need for high walls or watchtowers, let alone a full complement of warriors, to guard even such high-status prisoners as the mixed-species lot gathered on Selvaris. At the start of the war, captives had been fitted with manacles, immobilized in bloras... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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