Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 21_ The Unifying Force - James Luceno [134]
Most Yuuzhan Vong had little conception of what had happened. Except, of course, for the heretics, who had their own ideas, most of which had been inspired by Nom Anor himself.
“Brought into being by Yun-Shuno, in defiance of the other gods,” the haggard Shamed One was saying, “the living world is a sign that the old order has come undone. And much like Yun-Shuno, we stand in defiance of Shimrra and the elite, demanding equality, freedom, and salvation!
“It is not our aim to engage the elite in contest. But we are prepared to revolt if they fail to prevail upon Shimrra to end the long war. Clearly the gods have switched sides, and now stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jeedai and the varied species of this galaxy. This galaxy Shimrra bade us invade; this promised galaxy he bade us purge and purify. In truth, this galaxy that will prove a maw luur for the Yuuzhan Vong, unless we embrace the truth!”
A professional dissembler, Nom Anor couldn’t help but have a grudging respect for what the heretics were attempting to do by playing on the fears Zonama Sekot’s unforeseen appearance had awakened in the elite. The secret supporters of Quoreal were adding fuel to the fire by disclosing information about Shimrra and how he had come to power.
Even so, Nom Anor had to wonder what the heretics expected to happen should the elite agree to ally with them. Perhaps they actually believed that Shimrra could be persuaded to make a peace overture to the Galactic Alliance, and that the Alliance would allow the Yuuzhan Vong to retain Coruscant for themselves, since the planet at least appeared to be beyond restoration. But the heretics weren’t fools. Surely they realized that the warrior caste would never acquiesce. Nas Choka’s forces would battle to the last war vessel and warrior.
Perhaps the heretics were counting on just that, if only to increase the chances of the other castes being spared. But spared for what? Eminent or Shamed, those Yuuzhan Vong who survived the war would be packed into what few worldships existed and returned to the void from which they had emerged, doomed to die in deep space, rather than on the living world they saw as the province of their nonexistent Yun-Shuno.
It was pathetic.
The heretics’ only real hope was that Shimrra would turn Nas Choka loose, and that the Alliance—and Zonama Sekot—would be defeated. Once more the heretics would be forced to accept their lot as Shamed Ones, but at least they would be alive.
Nom Anor certainly felt that way.
You did whatever you had to do to survive.
The sound of running feet echoed from the tumbled walls, and a moment later several dozen warriors rushed onto the scene. Without preamble they moved against the gathering of heretics, launching thud bugs and lashing out with amphistaffs, sending a fortunate few scurrying back into the crevasses from which they had crawled, and leaving the paving stones spattered with blood.
Struck by no fewer than four amphistaffs, the female orator was dragged roughly from her perch to the base of the rubble mound, where ultimately she collapsed in a spasming heap.
Everyone was willing to be martyred now, Nom Anor thought as he signaled his litter bearers to hurry him on his way. Word had reached the prefectory that a few bands of heretics had even forged tenuous alliances with resistance fighters. It was the duty of the intendant caste to quell the riots and put the populace at rest, but with the heretics emboldened to turn every public space into a gathering, the task had become near impossible.
As had become Nom Anor’s personal tasks.
Without doubt, Kunra was expecting him to return to lead the heretics in open revolt, just as Drathul was expecting him to join the pro-Quoreal confederates in unmasking Shimrra. The high prefect hinted that they were ready to enthrone a new Supreme Overlord—assuming, of course, that Shimrra hadn’t already