Benzir Base - Several Weeks Prior
Selvaris had long been a world that had attracted the attention of the Sith. The Vongforming that had occurred on it in the distant past had turned the world into a place that reflected a core part of the Sith philosophies; The strong would survive, the weak would perish. It had partially been that philosophy that brough the world to the attention of the One Sith Empire and its Wrath. The Sith Lord known as Reverance had once overseen the planet as the Warmaster of the
Legion Yun'do, key allies and soldiers of that generation of Sith. Under the Wrath, the planet's Vongforming had accelerated until it had become the primary base of the Yuuzhan Vong
That was until the One Sith Empire began to collapse under internal struggles and attacks from the first iteration of the Galactic Alliance. The Wrath had decided that for the Vong to emerge stronger from such a collapse, Selvaris needed to be equally purged.
In a day of fire and destruction, the world had experienced significant upheaval induced by the Wrath and his most zealous followers, bathing the jungles in fire and superheated ash.
When the cataclysm ended, Selvaris was a ruined world...
But there were still survivors and parts of the planet, Vongformed as they were, that had remained untouched. Vong survivors, those that lived through the eruptions, began trying to repair their world even as settlers from other worlds came. The Vong survivors had been too few in numbers at that point to resist and retreated deeper into the jungles, content to let their creations deal with any outsiders that strayed too close to their territory while they rebuilt.
Slowly, they began to regain strength, to grow in numbers... but the invasion by the Brotherhood of the Maw changed everything. The Maw swept in and subjugated everything, attempting to obtain the research data and wipe out the outposts the second Galactic Alliance had placed on the planet for studying the Vong lifeforms and the terraforming. The two battles that took place for the planet drove the surviving Vong underground, even as their creations were co-opted by the invaders and settlers were reduced to flesh-eating monsters.
For these Yuuzhan Vong, the survivors of the Night of Fire and these battles, it was merely another challenge that they believed the Wrath set before them. Deliverance would come soon, they thought, all they needed to do was embrace the pain and suffering and strife they faced, and they would be rewarded for their loyalty.
Rewarded they were as two Sith Lords of the old One Sith had turned their gaze towards reclaiming lost resources for the coming storm. Selvaris, due to its past importance, was one such location that drew their attention. A base, jointly operated by the two Sith and their power bases, was established and the Vong received a message through old vilips... the Sith had returned for them, their test was over.
Benzir Base - Present
For weeks now, Benzir Base, a temporary base camp deep in the jungle near one of the volcanoes released by the Wrath's final act, had been a flurry of activity as supplies were brought in for experimenting and transports took recovered Vong warriors and shapers back to Dromund Kaas. The leftover Maw creations, the scattered pockets of survivors from the Maw occupation, and the volunteers among these fanatical Vong had meant Project Mekhis had also become involved, even as the primary goal was to recover Vong biotech and other artifacts left behind from the One Sith.
"Adept Lumilla, we're getting some activity in sector 4," a Blackblade guardsmen reported to the Sith Adept placed in charge of the operation by Darth Arcanix and
Darth Carnifex
. "Galactic Alliance ships have arrived in system, and we have pings from ships entering atmosphere already."
Lumilla was twisting one of her many head tendrils through her fingers as she looked over the display. The Alliance was early, but no doubt pleas from the remaining settlers had brought them here along with the reports those survivors had likely given them. The operation had already been a success, it was time to cut their losses.
"Begin evacuation procedures and inform all roving hunter-killer units to shift into a delaying stance while slowly moving back towards base. They will be the last onto the
transports. Prepare all defenses if the Alliance reach the base before we have finished."
In the jungles, teams of the
newly purposeful Vong had been testing themselves against the Maw leftovers and the settlers they encountered, under the watchful eye of several
Blackblades and a
Ravenscar Adept. It would be these teams that the Alliance would lieky encounter first as they hunted the rumors of technobeasts and cleaned up the Maw zombies that had been such convenient targets.
Kassogtha Cthylla
has been called into the Council chamber to learn what it is her role will be onward from this point.
