Prologue

Yuuzhan Vong breaker, Kulah Tayr, stood by an organic computer terminal. Known as a myysk, it had several lights on it. Each light was, in fact, an insectoid creature, buried face down in the console, their lighted behinds in view. Each insect, called myyskars, was connected to the console by neural 'wiring', which connected it to other torturous apparatus around the cell. At the moment, Tayr was contenting himself with an experiment he was doing, experimenting on the limp body that currently hung to the organic yorik coral wall by some sort of crab creature, which gripped to the coral, and to the prisoner's appendages. There were small rows of holes in the figure's arms, where something should be, but was not, and blood dripped down it's arms and onto the cold floor, collecting around it's naked feet. It had slash marks on it's torso and arms, where Yuuzhan Vong had 'practised' precision use of their amphistaffs. Their were scar marks on the figure's eyes and cheeks. The figure remembered nothing of it's past life and it must have been staring at it's keeper for the past ten months, although it no longer had a concept of time. It was only released from it's bonds once a month for only a few minutes, then put back up in the claws of the 'Framooh' crab, as it had heard the Yuuzhan Vong call it. It was the closest thing the figure had to a friend, wrapped up in it's harsh embrace. Not even this diabolical living cell knew what it's purpose in life was. It wasn't smart enough for that.

"Yun Yammka must be smiling down on you," the figure wheezed within the restraints.

"Ha!" Kulah Tayr burst out in a fit of laughter. "What would you know, infidel?"

The figure knew from the culture of the Yuuzhan Vong that Kulah Tayr was easy to twist, as he had few disfigured body parts, which meant he was low ranking… and that he could fall into traps.

"You're right. What would an infidel like me know? Perhaps I'll just concentrate on my escape plan instead." It smiled politely. Tayr glared at it in confusion.

"What escape plan?"

"Well," The figure continued. "You see that console over there?" It looked over towards the myysk in the corner, where Tayr had just come from.

Tayr turned his head to look at the console. "Yes. What about it?"

This was the tortured creature's chance. It had little strength, but it used what it could to make every single one of the holes in it's arms grow a spine. Before Tayr turned, it used the spines to gently caress the inside of the crab's restraining limbs, which were quite soft and flesher. A few spines punctured it's skin and went into the soft white flesh, making it gargle. Tayr spun around just in time to see the figure drop to the floor, then use all it's strength to tear the crab from the yorik coral wall and slam it into the side of the breaker's head. He rolled as he hit the ground, drawing his coufee from his shimmersilk cloak. He span around, ready to attack his assailant, but the figure seemed to have made a run for it. He contemplated calling in the incident and then decided it would be a fatal mistake on his part to admit he had one over on him by a lesser being. Instead he grabbed an amphistaff off the wall and went in pursuit. He span out of the room and into the yorik corridor beyond. Spinning left and right, he stared at the floor for any indication as to which direction his little plaything had gone. There was nothing. But he could hear distant voices of two young officers down one way. The prisoner wouldn't risk it. Tayr strode the other way down the corridor.

The creature hobbled as fast as it could, it's naked form hugging the rough wall for support, before it fell over. It's hair covered it's face, the darkish blue tint of the hair merging with the dark blue of it's skin. It struggled to maintain balance, the task of hitting Tayr around the head with the crab had drained all strength from it. It needed medical attention, and it needed it quickly. It knew it too. It had never felt so tired. Yet it had a purpose. Escape. But what after that? It didn't know who it was or what it was. Or where it was from. It only knew the Yuuzhan Vong way of life.

"Funnily enough," it wheezed to itself. "I don't think I'm welcome here much."

"Got that right," the voice called from behind it.

Tayr had caught up with the creature, and he hadn't even broken into a run. The Yuuzhan Vong weren't know for patience, but Tayr had enjoyed his little 'hunt'.

"But now the hunt must end," he finished allowed as he drew his amphistaff.

He struck with a precise accuracy that only a trained professional who had spent many months 'practicing' on a dummy could achieve. The amphistaff's blades struck home, the fangs imbedding into the figure's chest. Soon the poison would be in effect and…

Tayr froze in his place. The figure hadn't fallen over. It just clutched the head of the amphistaff to it's chest as it hacked and coughed in pain. It's head was looking down at it's chest, it's long shoulder length mane of hair covering it's eyes.

The figure watched in horror as the amphistaff head towards it at full strike. The fangs lunged at it, and it only had a second to react. Instinctively, the spines on it's arms fired at it, the poisonous barbs intending to tear the amphistaff apart, but due to it's lack of strength, the figure's spines -which for some reason it knew should have been bigger- were no bigger than needles and was lucky to hit the weapon. The staff's fangs imbedded into the creature's chest, narrowly missing it's hearts and it's spinal casing. An explosion erupted into his head, like a shower of sparks, from a blaster erupting against it's skull. It could see a large burly man in a field. But it was like looking out through water. Of all the times for this to happen, the creature was having a dream. Or was it a memory? It couldn't care less, it didn't want it to happen now. But the memory/dream wouldn't stop. There was the man in a field, his hair a wonderful deep and rich blue in the sunlight, his body silhouetted by the low sun. He held some sort of farming apparatus and looked out into the half red, half blue sky, using his arm to shield his eyes from the star's glare. There was a woman, near a small house, here skin an dazzling white, even in this weather, she had no tan whatsoever. She stood there cradling a baby, it thrashing in her arms as she too looked up into the sky. The small baby had two rows of small needles running down each of it's arms, and, as the creature looked at the farmer, he too, had much larger spines that rippled in the breeze. They looked soft, like thick fibres, but then they tensed and became sharper looking. More deadly. A tail was also whipping around the farmer, with what looked like a barb or blade on the end. The baby began to cry as a shadow descended upon the land, blocking out all light, so that it seemed like a starless night sky. The worldship had com. The woman looked down at the baby, and he immediately stopped crying, it's bright black eyes blinking at her. Her bright black eyes welled with tears as she spoke to him softly.

"Remember this moment," she said, choking on the words. "Remember this moment and tell all you find. The Yuuzhan Vong have come for all life. They consume it. You are young, but you will remember little one. You will remember. Tell others." she stifled a cry as the farmer took the baby from the mother, who walked along with him, where other children were being carried from their neighbouring homes. The whole group of people walked as the first ship began to descend, and they all walked into a large building at the foot of the farmland.

"Remember this moment…Raimeth."

The figure snapped out of it and glared at Tayr, a look of shock on the breaker's face.

"You should be dead boy!" Tayr practical commanded this as he hissed.

The figure never answered. Instead, he spun around used his new strength to pull at the amphistaff, still coiled around Tayr's arm. The breaker was flung across the room and found himself slamming into a wall at an incredible speed. He dropped to his knees and pulled the coufee from his cloak, lunging into the figure as he did so. The figure had side stepped the blow easily and the breaker ended face first in the opposite wall he'd been flung into.

He span round on his shaken legs, his nose honourably broken, disfiguring his face even more so, to receive a punch to the throat. There were two more blows that the breaker felt, most likely kicks. He couldn't tell anymore, his vision blurred. But he felt the fourth and final blow, the cold hard barb on the end of a thin yet powerful tail as it punctured one of his lungs.

"I suppose you're going to kill me," he managed to gargle.

"Yun Yammka will not be pleased," the figure replied as he sliced Tayr's leg open with his tail blade. "Now you cannot hope to follow me. Hope you bleed to death. Better to die honourably than to be found as incontinent, correct?" He put the coufee in his waistband and picked up the cowled Yuuzhan Vong cloak made of shimmersilk and put it on. It didn't matter if the others saw him as he was quite disfigured, just as long as he hid his face and concealed his hair and skin. He heard the sound of Yuuzhan Vong warriors walking casually down one of the corridors.

"Oh well," he said casually. "Better luck next time, infidel." After checking Tayr for anything else of use, which he could use to aid in his escape and finding little, he made his way to what he knew was a coral skipper launching pad…