Quelii sector - Planet Dathomir
The Blue Desert City had once been truly blue - at least when viewed from a distance. Now, from the same distance, it is a green hilly landscape that looks peaceful and natural. But when you get closer, you recognize the green as a strange moss - a rapidly growing, not to say rampant, growth, on whose carpet star-shaped, equally organic buildings rise up. Beneath the moss, however, the ruins of the once bustling city are buried, which, while nominally considered the capital of the planet Dathomir, was never accepted as such by the vast majority of Dathomir's population, much less today, when the Yuuzhan Vong occupiers on their way have set up their command center onto the rubble. Out in the swamps in front of the Vong-shaped city, reptilian slaves do their work in the amphistaff and villip orchards, because the weapons and communicators of the Yuuzhan Vong also first need a breeding place in which they are looked after and cared for by hard-working hands before they can fulfill the tasks assigned to them.
Khalee Lah stands on the bridge of the command ship, around which the shapers of the Yuuzhan Vong have built a cradle on which the Miid-Ro'ik can rest on Dathomir and also eat through a specially designed root system.
"Commander Khalee Lah, we are honored by the presence of our Warmaster's son on Dathomir," Commander Niiriit Esh greets the other commander.
"This mission is top secret and absolute secrecy must be maintained until it is completed," Khalee Lah tells his fellow commander. "It's about observing Jeedai activities and finding out what the Jeedai are planning next without attracting attention."
Esh raises an eyebrow. "Jeedai, you said? That would explain a lot."
Something flickers in Khalee Lah's yellow maa'its. "What exactly?"
"In total, thirty of our warriors have disappeared without a trace," says Niiriit Esh. "We haven't found their bodies, but we haven't found any other clues either about how or why they disappeared."
"And the locals? Were they interrogated?"
Esh shrugs her horned shoulders. "They won't admit anything for the life of them. They seem scared."
"Scared? And not because of us?" Khalee Lah wonders. "When did the last of your missed warriors disappear?"
Her dark eyes look down in shame. "Two days ago."
"Then we will use decoys in the future," decides Khalee Lah. "In the future, all warriors will carry Nisbat implants that will allow them to be tracked anywhere."
"Nisbat implants?" Esh fumes. "Like the slaves? I might as well become a Shamed One instantly!"
"Only until the mission is completed. And if we succeed, we may be able to kill two flitnats with one stone – get our warriors back and take out more Jeedai."
༺༻
It had not been difficult for Tenel Ka to pass the occupiers' cordon around Dathomir with Jaina's living ship. The Trickster proved just as willing to carry out her orders as she had done for Jaina Solo. So the Hapan princess has parked the ship far from the enemy's base - on a bare rock where it can feast, while Tenel Ka goes into the jungle, towards the settlement of the Singing Mountain Clan, from which her mother Teneniel Djo comes. After an hour of brisk walking, she has reached her destination. Mother Augwynne, who has led the Singing Mountain Clan for many years, hugs the daughter of the clan member who has not been seen for a long time.
"The resemblance is unmistakable, even if your eyes are gray and not the copper brown like your mother's. So tell me what brings you to us."
"My mother is not feeling well and the Yuuzhan Vong have reached Hapes," says Tenel Ka. "First they tried to intimidate us with armed force. When that didn't work, they sent two negotiators – a priest and a warrior commander to come after me – and my grandmother allows it."
Augwynne's warm brown eyes smile. "Surely Ta'a Chume knows you're man enough to help yourself."
Tenel Ka shakes her head. "I know it, my grandmother knows it, only he doesn't understand it. I just need a break from the war, from the intrigues in the palace on Hapes. But I'm just talking about myself, how are you?"
Augwynne lowers her voice as if no one but the two of them should hear. "The Nightsisters have returned."
"Where are they?"
"On the other side of the planet – in the former Nightbrother settlement. The area there is so inhospitable that even the Yuuzhan Vong don't want to go there. Ideal for those like the Nightsisters who want to cook their soup undisturbed."
Tenel Ka's finely arched eyebrows rise. "What kind of soup are the Nightsisters cooking?"
"You have to see it with your own eyes, child!" whispers Augwynne. "Tomorrow I'll get the Ubrikkian speeder ready to go and then we'll jet it to the other side of the planet."
The next day
Tenel Ka sits next to Mother Augwynne in the Ubrikkian speeder, with its old-fashioned design with large spikes on the side that look like fangs. The old vehicle makes a huge noise when Augwynne starts it.
"Hopefully the Yuuzhan Vong don't hear this," Tenel Ka jokes, "otherwise our journey will already be over because of noise pollution plus the use of nefarious technology."
"We never really liked this technology," Augwynne replies reassuringly, "but I'll never get on this organic ship of yours."
The sun is rising in the firmament and the large, red flowers that hang like balloons from the fleshy stems along the side of the path have lost their night luminescence. With the young and the old woman inside, the long Ubrikkian speeder flies away from the Singing Mountain. In front of Tenel Ka's eyes the flowers on the right and left blur into red stripes. The young Jedi feels the need to cover her ears because of the noise the speeder is so loud. How much quieter Jaina Solo's ship had been - silent as a bird, almost as silent as the commander of the Yuuzhan Vong who had sneaked up behind her on the roof of the royal palace two days ago. Tenel Ka shakes spontaneously. That had been scary - almost scarier than the assassination attempt on her father.
༺༻
Khalee Lah has gone with a small squad into the forests on the other side of the planet Dathomir, because an evaluation of the places, where the last four warriors disappeared, has revealed a trapezoid that suggests that the point, at which the next warrior will disappear, together with the trapezoid shape already determined, a perfectly equilateral and equiangular pentagon will result.
The trees here are lower than where the Yuuzhan Vong base is, but they are much denser and in places the undergrowth is downright impenetrable. In such moments, the warriors have to use their amphistaffs to cut their way.
An extremely ugly noise reaches the commander's ears. It's the sound of a speeder powered by electricity generators!
"I hear disgusting technology humming, blasphemously polluting this beautiful planet with its noise!" growls Khalee Lah. "And they're heading straight for us."
"We will destroy this disgustingness and thus distinguish ourselves as Yuuzhan Vong in this field too," says his subordinate – one of six.
Khalee Lah nods. "That's exactly how we'll keep it."
There, a noise from the side. A woman with red hair braided in four braids and wearing scaled clothing walks through the thicket. Tenel Ka! I will silently pursue her and surprise her as I did on Hapes above the roofs of their palace.
"You can handle the speeder alone," says Khalee Lah, and without waiting for an answer, he rushes into the thicket, slowly and silently cutting his way with the amphistaff.
The woman is fast and Khalee Lah can only see her as a blur. He pushes further through the thicket, raises his amphistaff again, cutting through the bushes – faster and louder this time – when the woman stops and turns to him. She really looks similar to Tenel Ka, but a little bigger - and she has two arms! Both arms grab a bow, place an arrow and the woman pulls the arrow. Khalee Lah grabs a thud bug from his weapon belt and ... hiss, the round, brown disc cuts its way through the bushes and catches the arrow in flight. The thud bug splits the enemy's projectile into two halves of equal length. The delay in flight remains minimal. Nevertheless, it is enough for the huntress to have enough time to duck the approaching thud bug while the two arrow halves fly past Khalee Lah on either side. What an accurate warrior I am!
Khalee Lah hears his warriors screaming from just a few hundred meters away, he hears thud bugs shooting through the air, but there is also a hissing sound - one he has never heard before.
༺༻
Mother Augwynne drives the speeder towards the Yuuzhan Vong's group, who wants to block their way.
"Attention! Traffic control!" shouts one of the warriors. "Stop immediately and show us your driver's license that allows you to commit such a disgrace…"
"You shouldn't be here," Mother Augwynne replies in eerie calm… and continues driving – straight towards the group of six intruders.
Tenel Ka's turquoise blade flies in an elliptical arc over the vehicle, splitting a thud bug in half, then flying on in a sharp right turn and taking out two more of these weapon animals, which would otherwise have slashed the body without any difficulty. A second later, the weapon is back in Tenel Ka's hand and the Jedi stabs downward to fend off a cheeky attacker who tries to jump and land on the speeder from the front. The man is stabbed in the neck and falls behind the speeder into the red dust of Dathomir. Mother Augwynne swings the speeder low to knock down two Yuuzhan Vong approaching from the side. There is a slight rumble as the speeder's hull hits the plates of the Vonduun crab armor, then the vehicle gains altitude again. Augwynne gives the young Jedi a grateful look, as Tenel Ka is still standing upright in the speeder and continues to spin her turquoise blade in order to intercept the last thud bugs that the surviving warriors angrily throw after them.
༺༻
Khalee Lah feels a sting between his shoulder blades and turns around, the next thud bug already in his black-clawed hand, ready to throw it. There... another huntress, this time dressed in black. One of her long, dark brown strands of hair got caught in the bushes, but it doesn't seem to bother her. In the dim twilight of the thicket, Khalee Lah can clearly see the red glow in her otherwise dark eyes. Some of the veins in her face have burst, leaving dark patches on her cheeks, which, together with some tattoos, form a pattern on her pale face that portends impending disaster. The witch lowers her bow and her tattooed face grins as the warrior falls to the ground, weakened by the poison. The thud bug wriggles out of his hand. He can no longer keep his eyes open and closes them against his will. Before he loses consciousness, Khalee Lah hears in the distance as the nefarious speeder passes him and the now leaderless group of his warriors... unstoppable... unmolested, but how could he blame them in his condition. Once again, the hapless commander curses the explosive device, which simply did not want to detonate over Hapes in order to spare him this disgrace.
༺༻
Tenel Ka and Sister Augwynne arrive at the Nightbrothers' former settlement. Here, where General Grievous carried out a great massacre fifty-two years ago, the land is being cultivated again; fruits are being harvested from nearby trees and... Tenel Ka can discover a Nexu rotating on a grill spit over an open fire. It could be such a peaceful, idyllic picture if the tillers and fruit harvesters weren't Yuuzhan Vong warriors. Not far away, some black-robed Nightsisters sit lazily in the midday sun under a shady canopy, having a leisurely chat as they watch the warriors at work.
One of the Nightsisters turns around. "Hey Raynar, please get us some cassis tea," she calls.
A blonde man emerges from behind a hastily assembled wooden shed. Tenel Ka catches her breath, she knows this man, it's...
Raynar stops in his tracks and the Nightsister scolds: "What's the point, Raynar?! Why …?"
The Nightsister stands up and turns in the same direction as Raynar before her - in the direction of Tenel Ka. The princess looks into a pale face with yellow eyes framed by short, black hair. Sensing Tenel Ka's inner turmoil, Augwynne begins to fiddle with the speeder's controls to get it started again, but her passenger gently places her hand on the much older one. "They've discovered us. We will face them. Don't be afraid, I'll take care of it. I know the blonde guy there."
Tenel Ka leaves the speeder and Augwynne follows suit.
"Raynar Thul – so this is where you ended up," Tenel Ka greets the blonde Jedi.
"What are you doing here?" hisses the short-haired Nightsister.
"Mother Augwynne told me about you Nightsisters. I'm here visiting the Singing Mountain Clan, where my mother Teneniel Djo comes from. I am Tenel Ka."
"Well, I'm Sister Escia," the Nightsister introduces herself. "And over there is Mother Kyrisa."
Tenel Ka examines the new leader of the Nightsisters. She is as pale as Escia and has many veins in her face that have burst from the wrath of the Dark Side. Too much use of black magic, as Tenel Ka knows. A gray headdress frames the narrow face. "If Raynar is here, Lomi and Welk can't really be far, can they?" Tenel Ka ventures a little further in her exploration of the situation.
"On the hunt, they should be back any moment. But sit down," says Escia kindly. "I'm sure you'll want some cassis tea too."
Augwynne looks at Tenel Ka suspiciously, but the princess nods. "We know each other, old friends of Myrkr," says the princess with a smile and introduces her companion to the Nightsisters. "This is Mother Augwynne."
"Please don't be suspicious," Escia says to the old witch from the Singing Mountain Clan. "We Nightsisters have now become so strong again that we no longer have to be afraid of anyone, neither you nor the other eight clans nor the Yuuzhan Vong!"
Augwynne smiles skeptically. "Truly strong words."
They have taken a seat. The blonde Raynar Thul comes and serves cassis tea. Only now does Tenel Ka see how disfigured her fellow Jedi's face is. Red burn scars cover his face and a piece of his nose is missing.
"How are you, my friend?" Tenel Ka asks the server. "And where did you get all those scars?"
"Well, the Tachyon Flier made quite a crash landing on Dathomir. The old box had already been shot to pieces over Myrkr; you might remember." Raynar twists his mouth into a crooked grin. "I made the best of it."
"One can see it," Tenel Ka replies pointedly.
The pounding of a rancor shakes the place where the canopy stands.
On the approaching predator, Tenel Ka recognizes the Dark Jedi Welk, a red-haired Nightsister who wears scale clothing like Tenel Ka herself. And then there is a Nightsister with long, dark brown hair and eyes that have a red shimmer blazing from the use of the Dark Side up to the brim. The three people have heaved a large bundle onto the rancor - you can see that the massive animal has a lot to drag, it's breathing so heavily.
"You already know Welk and Lomi," Escia introduces those arriving to her guests. "And the redhead is Sister Shelish!"
Tenel Ka's attention shifts to the impressive bundle that the two Nightsisters and Welk are dragging with them.
"A Yuuzhan Vong like that is pretty heavy," the red-haired Shelish snorts with exertion. "Look!"
They place the sack at Escia and Kyrisa's feet and pull back the hood. Tenel Ka's gray eyes widen in horror as she sees who lies before her.
"You know him?" asks Lomi Plo, as if she had read Tenel Ka's mind.
"This is a Yuuzhan Vong commander!" says the princess urgently. "Don't you see the commander's hooks implanted into his shoulders? This one will certainly be looked for and then we will all die!"
Lomi grins. "I see a fancy horn on his head. Like a Nightbrother. Do you want him? I mean, if you already know him?"
Tenel Ka holds out her one hand defensively. "Absolutely not!"
Lomi smiles sweetly. "I wanted to let our princess go first, but now that you don't want to, I'll take him."
"You?" Tenel Ka exclaims.
Mother Kyrisa nods and her impressive dark gray headdress, which reminds Tenel Ka of the headdresses of the shapers she saw on the world ship above Myrkr, wobbles. "Just take him, the dashing commander. You truly deserve it, Sister Lomi."
"Thank you, mother." Lomi Plo bows her head gratefully, her thick brown hair flowing like a cascade over her right shoulder. She pats Khalee Lah's strong upper arm. "The guy is strong! Truly a wonderful gift from this other galaxy."
"You and Welk, you stole the Tachyon Flier, our ship, on the world ship above Myrkr and ran off with it!" Tenel Ka hisses.
Lomi Plo's dark brown eyes glitter mockingly. "I see you got another ship, so what's the problem?"
"The problem was that after that, a lot of Jedi had to die when we were trapped without a ship. The Yuuzhan Vong had killed Anakin and kidnapped Jacen." Tenel Ka's voice becomes even louder. "And now you have stolen this warrior! But you can't just enslave men and sleep with them as you please!"
Lomi Plo twists her black-painted mouth. "Oh, please stop this Jedi babble. But don't worry, Tenel Ka, you too will find a man – even with just one arm."
Tenel Ka feels anger rising within her. Augwynne recognizes the provocation and makes a calming gesture to send calm to the younger clan daughter.
"You have always been a Nightsister and follower of the darkness," Tenel Ka says with the utmost contempt she can muster. "You yourself were tortured by the Yuuzhan Vong on the worldship above Myrkr. We had to free you and Welk from their organic bonds back then. Now how can you and your kind let these men work for you?"
Lomi smiles broadly. "That's just what Nightsisters like me do," she explains solemnly. "We steal warriors and produce decent offspring with them. Just look over there, mother Kyrisa, she had twins from one."
Tenel Ka looks at the other Nightsisters under the canopy and - sure enough, the head of the Nightsisters has two small gray babies on both breasts.
"The Yuuzhan Vong will be very proud of that," Tenel Ka snorts. "Does he also insist that the two of them fight against each other later in order to fulfill the oh-so-significant fate of one of them?"
"What nonsense," says Lomi disdainfully. "Furthermore, according to custom, the warrior was killed immediately after the children were born."
"So you started that again," says mother Augwynne reproachfully.
"So far there have been no decent warriors with whom we could have created proper offspring again," mother Kyrisa chimes in. "For reasons unknown to us, the Zabraks who previously bestowed that on us, have been avoiding our planet for some time, but the Yuuzhan Vong invasion has brought in some fresh blood."
Tenel Ka puts her remaining arm on her hip. "So far you are the only ones I have heard talk such nonsense. What do the captured warriors actually think about that?"
Lomi crooks a sharply clawed finger and beckons one of the Yuuzhan Vong to approach. The man leaves the fruit tree he is harvesting and comes to the women with a humble gesture.
"At your service, Sister Lomi. What can I do for you?" asks the two-meter-tall giant, whose gray face has many scars in a diagonal pattern.
"This is Kasdaq Kraal, you can ask him anything," says Lomi Plo proudly.
"Do you like it here with the Nightsisters?" Tenel Ka asks the warrior.
"Yes, extraordinary," says Kasdaq Kraal with a blissful smile. "The Nightsisters cook much better than our shapers. There is a real sun here and not an artificial ball of light like on the world ship. And there is no nefarious technology here like on Borleias, for example, where I was last stationed. The Dathomiri Winged Goddess and the Claw God roughly correspond to Yun-Yammka and Yun-Harla; and so my spiritual needs are also well taken care of."
"But picking fruit," Tenel Ka drills, "isn't that beneath the dignity of a trained and accomplished warrior like you?"
Kasdaq Kraal's black eyes shine. "If I behave well, Sister Escia will take me with her to hunt rancors later. And these Prisht fruits here taste really wonderful." He turns to the Nightsister. "May I get some fresh from the tree for our guests?"
Lomi Plo nods slowly and the man storms towards the tree.
"How do you do that?" Tenel Ka asks suspiciously. "Yuuzhan Vong are usually self-possessed, domineering, arrogant, and dismissive of all people in this galaxy. These warriors here are way too emotional. They're not themselves. It's like they're under a spell."
Lomi Plo bursts out laughing. "Of course they are. The Nightsisters have been doing this since ancient times. Didn't you know that? How do you think Asajj Ventress managed to get Savage Opress to kill his own brother?"
Spontaneous pity for the manipulated warrior gives way to controlled anger in Tenel Ka. "Do you really think you can get away with this? Aren't the Vong looking for their people?"
Lomi Plo shrugs. "The Yuuzhan Vong have so many warriors, they probably don't even notice. Falls under natural combat manpower attrition, I suppose."
Mother Kyrisa looks again at the two gray twins on her chest, who are happily smacking their lips and keeping their eyes closed. "You'll have company soon," murmurs the head Nightsister and the other Nightsisters nod.