Public Infestation

[Kor-Et Vaal]

Life is Suffering, Death is Release
Nothing Earned Except Through Pain
~ Kor-Et Vaal ~

-
​

A noble endeavor to sequester the remaining Yuuzhan Vong in the galaxy to the Outer Rim, trapped within the atmosphere of Zonama Sekot. The living planet had sacrificed itself for the good of the galaxy. It had worked for centuries - the better part of a millennia. Constant storms and the passing of time had seen the Children of Yun-Yuuzhan wither away, falling backwards in time and surviving on only a few small pockets of traditionalists. Those who clung to the way of pain and suffering in service to their gods. It was among this remnant Kor-Et Vaal found himself. From the moment of his birth he had been destined for great things, a twin birth heralding a new age for the Yuuzhan Vong - though the galaxy at large knew nothing of it. As was tradition the twins were raised in preparation for their eventual culling. One would kill the other, the sign of great things to come. Kor-Et had emerged the victor.

It was through this gauntlet that he had risen and endured, become the alpha of his own enclave of remaining Yuuzhan Vong. It had begun from the moment of his birth but what had truly propelled his destiny forward could only be explained as miraculous. A vision. A divine endowment of wisdom even Kor-Et still struggled to fully understand but that hadn't kept him from acting.

<< Keep up. >>
​

Kor-Et's voice was deep, the guttural language of the Yuuzhan Vong simultaneously sounding like a cough and a growl. For the small cadre of priests behind him however this was normal. Standing at over seven feet tall Kor-Et had little difficulty traversing the overgrown jungle terrain. The planet had done its best at keeping the Yuuzhan Vong from leaving, from thriving - soon that would change. Their gods demanded it, Kor-Et demanded it. They would change the direction of their fate, they would defy their fate in search of glory. Their legs carried them forward, deeper and deeper into the jungle. Branches grew tighter, undergrowth threatened to entangle their feet with every step. They were headed to the Maw, a vast sinkhole in the very middle of the jungle which descended beyond comprehension into the crust of Zonama Sekot. It was there where this story would begin in earnest, it was there where the Yuuzhan Vong would grasp their future and make it theirs.

 

[Kor-Et Vaal]

The Maw.

Cresting a ridge Kor-Et stood motionless for a moment, not out of respite but out of wonder. The vastness of the jungle splayed out before him was unlike anything he'd ever experienced despite his many years living on the planet itself. Perhaps it was new purpose, perhaps it was revelation, perhaps it was nothing more than genetic predisposition. The surviving Yuuzhan Vong of the galaxy were a mere shadow of their former selves. Time had proven again and again that their traditional values and intentions were flawed, that they were inferior. In the past, that idea might very well have thrown him into the caste of the Shamed Ones. The Godless. The galaxy had changed. If the Yuuzhan Vong didn't change with it, they were worthless.

It hadn't been easy, collecting higher minded Yuuzhan Vong. Years in the wilderness and struggling to survive had almost devolved them to a more base state, ferals beyond saving. They'd had to dispatch several small groups of ferals along the way and Kor-Et knew there would be more dead Yuuzhan Vong before they were able to achieve their ultimate goal. Their rebirth had to start somewhere and that somewhere was here - an ancestral home steeped in history but not beholden to it. Zonama Sekot would be theirs, they would bend it to their will.

<< We draw closer. Be on the lookout for ferals. >>
​

The guttural tones carried behind the Yuuzhan Vong towards the priests and shapers that followed in his footsteps. It was going to take time, energy, and most of all it would be painful. Anything worth doing usually was. They would press on. Beginning the deep descent to the jungle valley, Kor-Et began weaving through the trees. They would arrive soon at the pace he'd set. A human might consider it a withering pace, one designed of desperation rather than dedicated intent. It was one benefit of their physiology, the Yuuzhan Vong were bred for war. A pace that would kill a normal human being was an afterthought to the alien species.

 

[Kor-Et Vaal]

They had arrived.

The Maw beckoned.

-​

An unspoken choreography began to form as Kor-Et took up position near the uneven and vine covered edge of The Maw, priests and shapers slowly weaving their way around its circumference. Their pace which had been near break-neck suddenly warped into something different, a cohesive dance almost as their voices rose in a chorus of guttural and foreign sounds. Some rattled bones, others raised their arms, their eyes blinking rapidly till they snapped open to a vacant stare, their bodies carrying on. Smooth sweeping movements punctuated by almost seizure-like jerks and twitches and at the center of it all stood, no, knelt Kor-Et Vaal - still as a stone. His own eyes opened unnaturally wide, rolled back into his head as if communing with some spectral being...

-

Unnatural cold. Darkness, not merely the absence of light but something ancient. Something evil. It's tendrils lurked beneath the surface like some unknown leviathan waiting for its chance to consume, a hungry leech aching for the taste of blood to satiate its ancient thirst. Starved. The gnawing hunger scratching at the very bowels of its own existence and yet its name remained ever elusive. From where Kor-Et rest... or was it resting? Sightless eyes sought out their own perilous existence here, met with nothing but... nothing. Then, a voice. No, not a voice but a whisper. << What is this? Who dares trespass upon our slumber? >> Another cracked whisper joined the conversation, different in tone. << Is this the one. The one for which we have waited so long... >> a quiet rasp echoed as the words came to cease. For his part, Kor-Et remained silent not of intent but of restriction. Little more than air passed a cracked, dry throat. Yet another voice joined the quickly growing cacophony in his mind, this time speaking directly to the wayward Yuuzhan-Vong. << It is you. Great things lie ahead, great and terrible things. Go now and see them realized. >>
​

-

With a shudder Kor-Et's body shook, violent twitching sending his arms to and fro as the voices of the Yuuzhan-Vong nearby filled the air. It began as a quiet whisper, barely audible beneath the deep tenors of their exclamation but quickly grew to something more. A whistle. A cry. A moan. A scream. Wind borne of unnatural power swept through the trees sending them astir, the violent energy shaking each Yuuzhan-Vong to to its core. The pressure built, steadily increasing until it was nigh unbearable - until the Children of Yun-Yuuzhan joined the haunted chorus with their own utterances.

 

[Skajin var Imret]

The meaning of ritual varied within and across civilizations. Supplication, unification, subjugation-

Regardless of the meaning, nobody truly liked their rituals observed, let alone interrupted. Skajin kept to thick jungle, maybe thirty yards uphill from the pit and the nearest Yuuzhan Vong he could see.

That last bit was the kicker. While his ghost-spider camouflage cloak offered decent concealment, these people had a reputation for innovative bioengineering. For all he knew, some mutated rodent had already taken down his vital statistics.

Kor-Et Vaal