"What do you mean?" Ben asked.
"Exactly as we say. They have refused to live pe… peaceful lives." Jako explained.
"So they're the ones behind this illness?" Luke asked.
"I can't be exact, but most likely." Nas said.
The group sat in silence for a minute or so. "Is there a cure?" Ben asked. He desperately hoped that this question wouldn't be in vain. "Well, we have one. But it only works on those with some form of Ur-Yuuzhan Vong genealogy." Danni somberly explained.
"Well, the tumors are attached to the nervous system." Luke said, "What about the illness you all experienced?"
Everyone's eyes were wide. "Ours was just a normal virus." Sau said.
"So there's no way to remove a tumor from nerves?"
"Oh Jedi Skywalker, I am so sorry. But you can't. Not without greatly damaging the nervous system."
A look of desperation fell upon Ben's face. "So there's nothing we can do?"
"We can't guarantee that there is something." Danni said.
Ben was defeated. Luke held his son closely. He looked back up at Danni. "What exactly happened with your epidemic?" He asked.
"They don't know she's here. The original variant of the disease was released a few years before she came. And it dies out quickly before reaching a host," Jako explained, "So by the time Dahney arrived, we were all immune, and the remaining viruses were dead."
"So the one we're experiencing now has a new genetic makeup." Luke deduced.
"That would be the assumption, yes." Nas replied.
"How did you eradicate the original disease? With the cure, I mean."
"We weakened a pure form of the virus, implanted it in a few uninfected individuals, then took blood samples," Sau explained, "Once there was no source of it, we took the samples and gave it to Shapers. They concocted a universal antidote out of them, and that's how we eradicated it."
"Is it possible you can do a similar process with the tumor we're dealing with?" Luke asked.
"We can't be certain. We'd need a genetic template of the pure tumor." Danni said.
After the meeting, Luke and Ben questioned Danni 1-on-1. "You've grown so much since I last saw you, Ben." Danni acknowledged.
"Yeah. I'm thinking of adding facial hair."
Danni nodded in acknowledgement, and Luke simply smiled. "He's having girlfriend troubles."
Ben's face immediately flushed while Danni burst out laughing. "Dad!" Ben exclaimed.
"Did she say that his face was so unattractive that it needs a beard?" Danni asked.
"Something like that." Luke replied. Ben crumpled to the ground in embarrassment.
After a few minutes, they all calmed down, and Ben got back up. "So Ben, who's the lucky girl?" Danni asked.
Ben blushed and tried to hold back a smile. "Vestara. She's a former Sith."
"Oh, much like your mother," Danni remarked excitedly, "How is she by the way? Why isn't she here?"
Expressions of sorrow and grief fell upon Luke and Ben's faces. Danni immediately understood. "What happened?" She asked.
Luke and Ben told her the story of Jacen Solo's fall to the Dark Side, and how he caused another Galactic Civil War, and killed Mara Jade. Danni felt distraught that her friend could have done and committed such things and atrocities. Yet the honesty coming through the Force from the Skywalkers confirmed her worst fears. "I am so sorry for your loss." Danni said. A tear fell from her face. It was Jaina and Mara who had taught her how to use the Force.
She didn't consider Mara a mother figure, rather a really good friend. Jaina was like a sister to her. She was glad that the Solos still had a surviving child, but was sad that Han and Leia had now lost 2. "She's one with the Force now," Luke said, wiping his tears, "She is always with us, even after death."
Danni gave a hopeful smile. Then her expression grew sorrowful again. "There's more, isn't there." That wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"The Second Galactic Civil War set off a chain of events that freed the ancient being, Abeloth." Ben explained.
"Was that a part of Jacen's plan?"
"No. Jacen simply wanted to bring peace to the Galaxy through his own twisted way." Luke explained, "After Centerpoint was destroyed, that was what set off the chain of events that led to Abeloth's freedom."
Danni sensed the haunted memories of Abeloth's devastating freedom from the Skywalkers. She decided that it'd be best not to press further. "You don't have to explain what she did." She said.
Luke and Ben decided that since they told Danni about what had happened ever since the end of the Swarm War, they wanted to know how Ur-Yuuzhan Vong society had changed ever since reports last came from Zonama Sekot. "A little while before the Swarm War, the Yuuzh- Ur-Yuuzhan Vong weren't unified. How did that change?" Ben asked.
"Sekot spoke to Nas, Sau, Jako, and Harrar. It told them that the Yuuzhan Vong needed to unify if they were to ever thrive again."
"So that's why Nas Choka is the Great Prophet and his brothers are the Great Seers. What about Harrar?" Ben asked.
"Harrar refused the call. He didn't want to be in a political body, rather he wanted to help with the reformation of the Ur-Yuuzhan Vong military to aid Sekot's will." Danni explained.
"We also heard some implication of two more brothers. Why didn't they join in?" Luke asked.
Danni sighed. "We don't exactly know. They rebelled for unclear reasons, and Sekot cut them and their followers off."
"Cut them off from what?"
"From accessing the Force again. Once Nas Choka succeeded–mostly–with unifying the Yuuzhan Vong, Sekot returned their Force sensitivity. Those who maintained the malice that was rampant were denied that, and cursed."
Now Luke and Ben's interest was really piqued. "Cursed how?" Luke asked.
Danni shook her head. "I don't know. When Nas found out what it was, he claimed that it was so disheartening, that he didn't want to share what he saw."
Luke and Ben really began feeling the presence of the Ur-Yuuzhan Vong through the Force. It was weird. Like breathing in fresh air after a long time of breathing filtered, sterile air. "When did they begin going by, Ur-Yuuzhan Vong?" Ben asked.
"Shortly after society thrived, and the Ur-Yuuzhan Vong were reconnected with the Force. In fact, Nas had everyone swear an oath to Sekot, to never raise a weapon against an innocent life. And Harrar formed the military into a purely defensive force."
Luke and Ben felt impressed. Ur-Yuuzhan Vong society had come a long way. Peace, which was originally completely foreign to them, was finally established. Everyone was working together to accomplish many things. The Caste System was finally, completely abolished. No one was declared as better than the other. While there was the occasional argument and petty squabble, it wasn't as a result of old traditions trying to resurface. "How did they achieve peace?" Ben asked.
"They started small. Nas, Sau, and Jako worked with separate, small settlements. Once they began thriving, other settlements saw that peace and unity was the right way. And it went from there."
And when the blood samples were sent to the Shapers to synthesize a cure for the illness that had previously ravaged the Ur-Yuuzhan Vong, the Shapers weren't Shapers because of Caste, but because of training. Meaning that any Ur-Yuuzhan Vong can become a Shaper, whereas the old way had a Yuuzhan Vong a Shaper because they were born one.
Lamnol returned to the new laboratory Lemne and their followers had set up. "Brother! There is much news regarding our new plague." Lemne exclaimed in the Yuuzhan Vong language.
"Explain it." Lamnol ordered.
"This plague has an entirely new makeup and function. The trial run with the previous plague gave us much results. This new variant is impossible to combat against." Lemne exclaimed.
"So it can't be eradicated like the last?"
"Exactly. Our brethren gave us many things to adjust and look over. Now, we have the capability of incapacitating many Jeedai from here."
The new plague couldn't be caught naturally like other ailments. It wasn't airborne, bloodborne, or waterborne. It was contracted through the Force. What remained of the DNA of the voxyn was spliced into the new plague, which gave it that ability.
"And it won't kill them like the last?" Lamnol asked.
"On the contrary. It was specifically designed to put the nervous system in a constant state of pain in a specific region. It doesn't cause their deaths, but that doesn't prevent potential deaths."
"So what you're saying is that the new plague merely causes its host to suffer massive amounts of pain, and that any deaths aren't caused by it directly."
Lamnol's brother nodded eagerly. "Precisely."
Lamnol smiled with a sadistic glee. "Good. Once the Jeedai are weakened, we will be able to take control over this Galaxy."
Lamnol and Lemne knew that Shimrra was under the control of Onimi, and that the Galaxy wasn't really a gift from the Gods. However, they wanted control over the Galaxy because they believed that Nas, Sau, and Jako had wronged them. Their brothers were proclaiming a message from Zonama Sekot, that they had never received. Nas may have once been a Warmaster, but they were older than him. They didn't want Nas to rule over them. He and their brothers could keep Zonama Sekot. But they wanted to rule independently.
They knew that with Nas having the greater portion of the Yuuzhan Vong behind him, that they wouldn't stand a chance in a civil war. They would continue building their strength so they could conquer other planets. They knew that their brothers would find out about their conquests, and would certainly seek the help of the Galactic Alliance. But with planets under their control, they could begin whittling away the strength of the GA, thus whittling away the strength of their younger brothers.
That way, their brothers would have dwindling strength, while they would have increasing strength. Once they would be certain that Nas wouldn't stand a chance, they would strike, killing their brothers, and uniting the Yuuzhan Vong under their own regime.
"Our brothers claim that we will thrive following their way." Lemne spat.
"They're foolish, brother. But we can rest knowing that we will be under the thumb of no one." Lamnol promised, "We will not allow that our brothers be made rulers over us!"
Their followers roared out in agreement.