On Coruscant
Nom Anor landed his coral skipper on the spot where Shimrra's citadel ship had once been anchored. Now, where the mighty ship's cradle had once been, a huge crater yawned, on whose walls the crushed remains of buildings of the Lower Levels could be made out. There had been times when he would have loved to climb the red haupolyp throne that Shimrra sat on in his lifetime. In fact, he had already done so while standing by during those few days that the court jester Onimi was out and about. If you were smart enough, it didn't matter whether you sat on the throne or stood by it, sitting or laying—as long as you weren't dead, of course. Onimi had proved that to him, and if he hadn't gotten his hands on Viqi then, Nom Anor would have even considered visiting the war loser in prison, but now that a new plan was unfolding in him, it was time to find a new place to live, when the World Brain was getting all the Damuteks and Grashals of his people ready to be shipped or departed to cross that rainbow bridge to Zonama Sekot.
Slowly but surely, the worldbrain had allowed the green moss varnish and thickets of vegetation that the Yuuzhan Vong had brought with them when they conquered the capital planet to wither and be relatively easily removed from the surfaces they covered. Alien moss and thorns rolled into huge balls that rose above Coruscant, only to leave the planet over the rainbow bridge towards Zonama Sekot. Nom Anor watched the spectacle from the tower of the LiMerge Building in The Works quarter, where they ran a restaurant and he enjoyed many of the dishes there. And with each sphere of organically created surface that rolled away, exposing the original built city beneath, something of that spirit of life returned to Nom Anor he had come to appreciate over the years, whether for short or long periods in which he had moved on the capital planet - long before his people had invaded here, or even in the galaxy. That latest surface, however, had been wrong - it should never have been planted here.
The vanishing shell revealed many buildings that were still reasonably intact, including some high-rise buildings at least thirty floors tall. Nom Anor was interested in the uppermost dwellings at this point—those with large windows and lots of see-through transparisteel—a rare commodity these days, for beneath the blanket of green covert city life had thrived and the dwellings for which the enemy's former agent would have warmed were still inhabited.
Unfortunately for Nom Anor, the landlords of the apartments he had in mind didn't want any Yuuzhan Vong to live in their blocks. One owner, while willing, required him to quietly eliminate a competitor in the real estate market in order to obtain the coveted home, but that was not why he returned from Zonama Sekot, why he came to this galaxy at all.
But then he had inspected an apartment in the Manarai district that surpassed anything he had seen before. The apartment was on two floors, quite lofty in height, and had a large glass-enclosed atrium that overlooked the capital planet. Being Yuuzhan Vong was no problem for the owner, and when he asked her if the apartment could also be bought, she gave him a steep price. Yes, he would raise funds to pay for it, since a new, lucrative professional challenge beckoned.
After about five days he was fairly settled in his new home, and so it was that in the evenings he sat in his atrium and looked out through the window at the sunset, red with the black spears of the clouds. The only thing that escaped the red-black duology was the rainbow bridge that stretched to the planet Zonama Sekot. It was completely empty, as he could see at least on the part facing Coruscant. Suddenly the bridge trembled and purred in on itself to once again become the fourth moon of the capital planet it had been before. And while Nom Anor still had the powers of the world brain - or were they even those of Zonama Sekot? – admired and looked at the resurrected moon, suddenly the sky behind it blurred and the planet Zonama Sekot was no longer visible. It occurred to him that he hadn't said goodbye to Drathul, who was now directing the fortunes of the Yuuzhan Vong in Shimrra's place, and not to the priest Harrar, who had certainly jumped with the planet into an unknown future – but Nom Anor's future would soon to be well known.
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At the same time on Mon Cala in the capital Heureka – court-martial
Commander Avke Saz'ula proudly wore his service uniform as he took his place in the dock of the medium-sized room. The young Bothan took it as a good sign that a larger room had not been chosen for the hearing. The number of spectators was moderate and he assumed that most of the people behind the barricade were police or judiciary trainees who should or wanted to gain some practical legal experience in the process, along with psychological studies of the accused or other participants in the process operated. He hadn't seen any of the press in the hallway or here in the courtroom, so he figured his superior, a Bothan like himself, would discreetly and mildly wave the matter through—there might be a small fine, maybe a few weeks of forced holiday, which he wanted to spend at home.
Admiral Traest Kre'fey was already seated in his judge's chair and two assessors were seated on either side of the judge. A swarthy furred, glow-eyed clerk was typing into her datapad and the military prosecutor was also present.
"We can begin then," Traest Kre'fey opened the procedure.
The military prosecutor spoke. "Two weeks ago, over the planet Zonama Sekot, the defendant Commander Avke Saz'ula, in his capacity as Commander of the Fifth Fleet, shelled a local vessel known to be harboring Nom Anor, a defector from the Yuuzhan Vong Imperial Order. He ordered this shelling without any overriding order or necessity, as there has been a fifteen-day peace agreement between the Yuuzhan Vong people and the Galactic Alliance, of which the Yuuzhan Vong are now a part. Since the planet Zonama Sekot is expressly recognized as the new yet ancestral homeland of the Yuuzhan Vong, and that ship, even originating from this planet, has not committed any hostile actions towards the Fifth Fleet or any other organs of the Galactic Alliance, the attack on the ship stands in diametrical opposition to the Galactic Alliance's policy of peace and reconciliation with the Yuuzhan Vong. Therefore, I request the dishonorable discharge of Commander Avke Saz'ula from service in the Galactic Alliance Forces and the stripping of all his military ranks and previous decorations. Since he also accepted taking the lives of innocent people by exceeding his authority over his tasks given, I am also requesting placement in a high-security facility of the Galactic Alliance for at least ten standard years due to the potential danger of the accused."
"Commander Saz'ula, do you have anything to say about these allegations?" asked the judge.
"In my capacity as Bothan commander, it was a point of honor for me to eliminate a designated enemy of my people," the accused began. "Nom Anor was largely responsible for the death of our then head of state, Borsk Fey'lya, on Coruscant. Such a thing must be atoned for, and the custom of the Ar'kai is to ensure that Nom Anor will never again lift even a finger against the Bothan people."
"First of all, Borsk Fey'lya judged himself," the judge disagreed. "And secondly, Nom Anor helped us a lot in forcing Shimrra and Onimi to surrender."
"Yes," Saz'ula spluttered, "And the overlord bite the dust in the process."
"Please moderate your choice of words, Commander!" the judge rebuked him.
Saz'ula clenched his right hand on the table. "And who's to say that Nom Anor's defection to us isn't as cunning a ruse as anything he's been up to since setting foot into this galaxy?"
Traest Kre'fey's white fur on his head bristled back. "With all due respect, Commander, but that's not up to you to decide. How did you know Nom Anor was on Zonama Sekot anyway?"
"I had him followed discreetly."
"Did Nom Anor do anything during your surveillance that made you suspect he might turn against the Galactic Alliance?"
The commander nodded eagerly. "Yes, he spoke to his companion about destroying the hyperdrives of the planet Zonama Sekot."
"This is a local matter of the autonomous planet Zonama Sekot, in which you need not interfere. So did Nom Anor sabotage the planet's hyperdrive or not?"
Avke hung his head. "No he didn't."
"Moreover, the video evaluation of your surveillance activities has shown that Nom Anor only made that comment about the hyperdrives after you fired on the spaceship," Kre'fey added. "What if he hadn't made such a request in the first place, if you'd just left him and his companion alone?"
"That's pure speculation!" the accused replied snootily.
The court retired for deliberation, and when the verdict was subsequently announced, Commander Avke Saz'ula realized that his inference from the size of the courtroom to the verdict he was expecting had been wrong.
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On evening in Kuat City
After a long day at work, Viqi Shesh came home tired. She had taken over a marketing company on her home planet, and since she gained a reasonable command of the Yuuzhan Vong language, she was frequently asked to procure some product of that civilization - a job that had been quite lucrative so far, but then Zonama Sekot had jumped into hyperspace for an unknown destination, taking her previous contacts away. She had been frantically phoning members of the Peace Brigade she knew all day long to make new contacts, for there were still Yuuzhan Vong on Rodia, which had also agreed to take in some of the previous invaders, but could she be sure that the new partners would keep to supply agreements and contracts too?
"Those People are lucky to be able to stay in this galaxy after defeat," her mother said. "They will certainly work hard there as well."
They were still talking about this and that when suddenly the doorbell of Villa Shesh rang. Emlée Shesh went to the intercom and when she came back to her daughter in the living room she was beaming.
"There's a visitor for you out there in the parlor, whom you already know well, he told me."
Immediately, Viqi's face brightened. So she left the living room, opened the door to the reception room - and stopped dead in her tracks.
"I'm so glad to see you again, Viqi," Thrackan Sal-Solo greeted her, holding out a large bouquet of purple donar blossoms. "Purple is your favorite color, isn't it?"
"Yes, that's right," she replied coolly, ignoring the flowers and motioning for him to sit on a chair. Then she went back into the room to fetch her mother, which from the look on his face Thrackan didn't particularly like.
"Congratulations on your re-election as President of Corellia after the departure of the Vong," Emlee Shesh greeted the guest as she took the flowers from him to place them in an appropriately sized, representative vase.
Thrackan smiled confidently. "What is really good will prevail."
The three went back into the living room and sat on the half-circle shaped couch, with Viqi's mother placing herself between her daughter and the guest.
Thrackan turned to Viqi. "I was wondering if you were even still in a known place in the galaxy, but a few phone calls cleared that up, too."
"Explain that in more detail, please," Viqi said reservedly.
Thrackan looked down for a moment. "Most of the Yuuzhan Vong migrated to Zonama Sekot, and the planet itself jumped into hyperspace three days ago with an unknown destination."
"Yes, and?" Viqi asked, deliberately disinterested.
"I've received information that Nom Anor is also there, along with a female Yuuzhan Vong shaper who seems to mean a lot to him."
Boredom showed on Viqi's face. "And why are you telling me this?"
"So you don't know," Thrackan said regretfully. "He didn't tell you."
She crossed one leg over the other in her place. "People can tell a lot."
"I'm not just telling," Thrackan announced, pulling his datapad out of his briefcase. He activated it and inserted a disc.
Viqi saw an idyllic landscape with a meandering brook. Then she became aware of the shaper wiping Yu'shaa's face with a cloth, pressing that point to remove from the former Prophet's face the mask she had known only too well back in the cave in Coruscant's Lower Levels.
It shocked her that Nom Anor wasn't mad at the Shaper at all about that revelation. It even seemed to amuse him. She, Viqi, would never have dared to do that back in the cave of the Shamed Ones if she had known that he had worn a mask. She wondered if she would at least have asked him to take it off if she had.
"I... know you," she heard the light blue shaper chirp.
"That's very flattering," Nom Anor replied harshly. "If I remember correctly, we only met once before I became a prophet. But you interrupted me. I was talking about revelations."
Viqi saw Nom Anor grab the other woman's shoulders and pull her towards him. "... what we really feel," he finished the sentence, Viqi had not heard the beginning of, then with clear intention he pushed her into the damp, comfortable bed of moss and looked her in the eyes from above.
"But Zonama Sekot. I..." the woman stuttered. "… the answer."
"I don't give a damn now," Nom Anor gasped.
Viqi narrowed her eyes as he fiddled with her organic shaper's garb.
"Turn that off immediately!" she commanded Thrackan.
Only a third of a second later he pressed the button and the image froze. Another key press and it went out. "If he didn't tell you, then I think you're definitely worth knowing," Thrackan said with emphasis. "Do you know what they do on Corellia to those faithless souls who betray a partner like that?"
"No, and I don't care either!" Viqi said louder than she intended. "And just in case you don't seem to know: Nom Anor didn't betray me, because I left him! Now pack up your things and your donar blossoms and go!"
He stood up, regret in his moist, brown eyes. "You know, the Bothan spies went to great risks to get me this information. My network might be useful to you too, if you forget your grudges and work with me."
"Thank you, but I certainly know how to contact the Bothan spy network myself... and now," she gestured toward the door, "I'm asking you to leave."
Like a beaten kath hound, the ruler of Corellias fished the bunch of donar blossoms out of the vase and went to the door.
He stopped in the doorway and turned around again. "Oh, just so you know, the shaper's name is Nen Yim. I think Onimi has already told you about her."
And then he closed the door behind him.
"How I hate those Nen Yim!" Viqi hissed. "Onimi kept telling me what a perfect shaper she was. Apparently I'm just the stopgap for everyone."
"You're not a stopgap to me," said Emlee Shesh, turning to the right and hugging her daughter. "I was hoping at first, too, that it might have been that Pedric Cuf you showed me two years ago - he had that weird chin and only one eye, but he didn't represent a planetary power the way Thrackan Sal-Solo does now for Corellia - so he wouldn't be a threat to our royal house."
Viqi raised an eyebrow. "But that's the first time you've spoken of him like that, mother."
Emlee Shesh smiled sheepishly. "Well, after that misshapen court jester you narrowly escaped, pretty much any man is better."
Viqi started to get up from her chair and her mother released her from the hug.
Viqi stood up and straightened up. "Thrackan Sal-Solo would no doubt have been happy to hear that."
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On Yavin IV
The plaza in front of the ancient Sith Temple, against the impressive backdrop of which the victory ceremonies and awarding of decorations—previously the Rebel Alliance, then the New Republic, and now the Galactic Alliance—usually took place, was already well filled when Nom Anor got there. Instead of the brown intendant's attire he'd officially worn in Yuuzhan Vong service, he now wore a dark blue two-piece suit and soft, dark brown leather boots. He had replaced the Plaeryn Bol with a prosthetic eye of the same shape and color as his good eye, though the organic helper sat in a nutrient solution in his apartment awaiting the return of its owner. Nom Anor possessed enough Shaper knowledge to keep his body's roommate alive without the help of Shapers, but if all went well he wouldn't need its service very often.
Luke Skywalker came towards him, the captain of Shimrra's former Slayer Guard at his side.
"It is unfamiliar to see you without an ooglith masquer but in a suit like the denizens of this galaxy, Nom Anor," the Jedi greeted him.
Nom Anor smiled sharply. "That's not the only thing you'll get used to, Master Jedi."
Luke smiled back boyishly. "I'm not taking that as a threat."
Mara came along, holding little Ben by the hand, who had meanwhile learned to walk.
Nom Anor looked down at the red haired child. "And so I'm seeing your son for the first time now."
"Maybe that should have happened much earlier," Mara said pointedly. "When it was your good friend Viqi Shesh who was supposed to kidnap him back when Coruscant was conquered?"
Astonishment bloomed in his good eye. "I don't know anything about that. It appears to have been an order from the Warmaster himself, and may I remind you that this woman was operating directly under Tsavong Lah's command at the time?"
"That woman," Mara repeated, her upper lip curled sardonically.
Luke put an arm on her shoulder. "Now let it be, darling. We didn't get together right away after the Thrawn crisis either, until finally," he looked down at his son, "we were richly rewarded for our patience."
Nom Anor strained to check his chrono. "I think I should go to the podium to my position."
It turned out that there was no fixed order of precedence for the awarding of the medals to recognize all merits according to rank. Those honored were called to the podium in groups of ten and received their medals. Nom Anor was assigned to the first group, which not only gave him the assurance that his accomplishments were recognized as very important, but he could turn his attention to other matters afterwards much earlier. What he didn't like was being placed right next to Thrackan Sal-Solo by the protocol master.
"I didn't think I'd get that treat," Nom Anor heard the tall Corellian say, "but when even people like you get awards here, then I don't feel so guilty."
"At least you don't have to bow down like you did to Shimrra that day, so I think you're going to pull that off reasonably well," Nom Anor replied in a shitty-friendly manner.
Thrackan grinned straight into his face. "As long as Onimi isn't here, I don't see any problems."
Nom Anor frowned and glanced sideways, as if the jester might appear against all hope at any moment. "Where you're right, you're right."
"Here we go!" the master of ceremonies said with a sharp look in their direction as the attending military band positioned their instruments.
A woman in a plain white dress mounted the podium. In her hands she carried a pillow with a silver-colored circle-shaped medal on it and walked toward Luke Skywalker, who was at the start of the line. Out of the corner of his eye, Nom Anor caught Senator Fyor Rodan of Commenor, sitting in the front row in front of the dais, hissing at his neighbor, Senator Narik of Rodia. "It's clear that the Jedi first...", the Yuuzhan Vong could hear, then he decided not to pay any more attention to Rodan's spitefulness.
The woman walked past Luke Skywalker and Nom Anor noticed Fyor Rodan flinch.
"We will never remember what the Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong would have done had he been alive," said the event's host, a blue Nautolan, "but avoiding so much bloodshed is in no small part due to the level-headed behavior of Shimrra's Honor Guard, whose leader chose the right side and, together with Luke Skywalker, caused Shimrra's rethinking. K'rekh Vonduun, the Galactic Alliance bestows upon you the Star of Alderaan."
The tan warrior looked a little uncertainly at the silver circle with the five-pointed golden star inside, then took the award in his strong hands.
"You could get that too, since your homeland no longer exists either," Thrackan Sal-Solo commented on this award ceremony in the direction of Nom Anor.
Nom Anor didn't even turn his head while answering. "Thank God I have a few more merits to show."
The military band played a fanfare and while the woman dressed in white walked back to collect a new medal, a man dressed in white stepped onto the podium to bring Luke Skywalker his medal.
"Well, hopefully I can get the woman," Thrackan Sal-Solo babbled to Nom Anor, but the latter ignored him.
The woman came back to Nom Anor.
"And for his masterful plan, which ultimately resulted in foiling not only the last moves of former Warmaster Tsavong Lah, but also putting the power-hungry court jester Onimi in his place, Nom Anor is hereby awarded the Star of Freedom," the blue Nautolan proclaimed.
Nom Anor gazed at the crystal, twinkling star, which reminded him of a snowflake—something he had only come to know here in this galaxy, since the weather on the fully air-conditioned worldships had always been humid, warm, and bright. He really liked this award. "Thanks."
The brown haired woman smiled and walked away.
A white-robed Yuuzhan Vong strode to the podium and Nom Anor's good eye winked, for he knew that one - a soothsayer of the Order of the Immortal Flame. And like the woman and man before him, he carried a pillow in his sinewy hands. Thrackan Sal-Solo's jaw dropped when he saw that one half of the man's face had been shaped like a woman's... or was it a woman with the other half of his face reshaped like a man's?
"Oh my God, I'd rather have a Quarren fishhead myself," the Corellian sighed towards Nom Anor, but the Nom Anor said nothing again.
Thrackan Sal-Solo's face froze as the hermaphrodite stopped in front of him.
"And on this memorable day, Corellia's President Thrackan Sal-Solo is awarded the Galactic Alliance Medal of Honor," announced the Nautolan announcer, "not for firing Centerpoint Station two years ago, but for this time thwarting it's firing two weeks ago."
Muted laughter erupted from the back of the audience, giving Nom Anor an incling that Thrackan Sal-Solo wasn't exactly one of the most popular politicians in the Galactic Alliance.
A white-clad Mon Calamari woman took to the podium with a pillow and medal to present the same Medal of Honor to Ambassador Dean Jinzler.
"Well, yes," Thrackan said to Nom Anor, looking at the Mon Calamari woman. "I see it could have been worse."
"I'll take that as a compliment to my species," Nom Anor deigned to reply.
Thrackan grinned. "What else could it have been? After all, we still have to get along for a while."
The task of the white-clad presenters seemed done and all the honorees had received their medals when the head of state took the microphone from the Nautolan. "And hereby I would like to announce that for his services to peace, Nom Anor will also be awarded the rank of Consul of the Galactic Alliance, within which he will henceforth be on diplomatic missions", Cal Omas made officially known.
The white-robed woman from earlier returned, and Nom Anor gracefully remounted the dais to accept his certificate of appointment from her slender hands.
"How lucky you are," Thrackan Sal-Solo said as Nom Anor with the certificate returned to his seat, which was also next to the Corellian's.
"You mean because of the woman?"
Thrackan nodded. "Never meant anything else."
The ceremony was over, and to Nom Anor's delight, Thrackan Sal-Solo pulled away from him to look for other people to talk to.
Nom Anor saw K'rekh Vonduun, the former commander of Shimrra's bodyguard, conversing with the intersex Yuuzhan Vong.
"Kol Yabu," Nom Anor greeted the Order Presenter by name. "You didn't foresee that back on Tsavong Lah's flagship with your gift, did you?"
The former servant of the Immortal Flame gave him an enigmatic smile. "Tsavong Lah would have taken some prophecies against me very badly."
Nom Anor grinned. "Who are you telling?"
"Well?" Nom Anor turned to K'rekh Vonduun. "Has this disciple of Yun-Q'aah* and Yun-Txiin* already promised you a bright career?"
K'rekh smiled confidently. "I certainly don't need a fortune teller for that."
"And beside this, I deem it a very unconventional way to keep your honor by choosing a domain name like this", Nom Anor praised the warrior.
The man bared his teeth. "True that. And thus it is good that High Priest Jakan is on Zonama Sekot now and I and my comrades are not."
Nom Anor nodded his approval. "You have a greater sense of honor than some higher-ranking Yuuzhan Vong of Shimrra's time. Should I meet Jakan later, I will pass on your words to him."
Pride covered K'rekh's face. "Do that, Consul Nom Anor."
A genuine smile flushed Nom Anor's face, than he turned away from the two and sauntered away from the Sith temple. A horned Gotal approached him from the side, and he recognized Senator Ta'laam Ranth, whom he had encountered earlier on his mission to Mon Cala to deliver Shimrra's ultimatum.
"Remarkable achievement, Nom Anor," the horned man began, "Nice to finally meet in person - also someone who doesn't particularly like droids."
Nom Anor smiled "Even binary loadlifters have their uses now and then."
Ranth scratched his bearded chin. "You mean when you can vent to them."
"I already paid the bill for the two destroyed Betty droids back on Mon Cala in a bank transfer, because it was just a maneuver to lull the Overlord and his people to safety."
The Gotal inclined his head appreciatively. "That was very clever indeed, but I reckon if you had demolished Leia Organa Solo's protocol droid C-3PO like that back on Rhommamool, you wouldn't have gotten off so cheaply."
Nom Anor waved him off. "From what I've heard, worse things have happened to that droid, but I still think there are areas where droids are very helpful and some where they really don't belong."
"Entirely my opinion. To that end, may I invite you for a drink to a place where droids are most definitely not welcome?"
Nom Anor smiled. "Gladly."
This chapter contains events from the book series "New Jedi Order", Vol. 1 "Vector Prime" by R.A. Salvatore (1999) and Vol. 19. "The Unifying Force" by James Luceno (2003)
*Yun-Txiin: Goddess of Love among the Yuuzhan Vong
*Yun-Q'aah: God of Hatred among the Yuuzhan Vong