Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 21_ The Unifying Force - James Luceno [228]
“The empty eighth cortex,” Harrar mumbled. “The shapers accepted that they shouldn’t create new biots, when in fact they couldn’t.”
Jabitha-Sekot continued. “Evidently, before my parent died, it dispatched the seed of the world that would come to be called Zonama Sekot, and the seed drifted to this galaxy, took root, and grew … For untold generations I lay dormant in Zonama while the Yuuzhan Vong plundered the home galaxy, and were forced at last to embark on the search for a new home, carried on the same currents that brought Zonama Sekot here.
“Then those I originally knew as the Far Outsiders appeared—not by coincidence, but drawn genetically to Zonama Sekot, much as a creature finds its way home, as occurred a second time in the Unknown Regions.” Jabitha looked at Harrar. “It’s possible, too, that I called out to you.”
“Welcoming us home,” Harrar said, “only to be attacked again.”
Jabitha nodded. “The unprovoked attack by the Far Outsiders stirred something in me. Counter to the teachings of the leaders of the Potentium, I became aware of the existence of evil. In a sense, evil helped give birth to my awareness. Now I understand that the acts of the Far Outsiders may have been nothing more than a reawakening of the evil my parent experienced when its symbionts used its creations not merely to defend Yuuzhan’tar, but to launch an era of bloodshed that resulted in the death of countless worlds—along with many latent planetary consciousnesses.
“But I did not pursue those stirrings, those suspicions, until Zonama became lost in the Unknown Regions, and, through Nen Yim and Harrar, I comprehended that the Yuuzhan Vong had been stripped of the Force. My most grave misgivings were confirmed when I learned of the bioweapon that was being hurled at Zonama.
“I understood that a cycle of violence was being perpetuated, and that I had to make a critical decision. There was no right or wrong way to decide. There was only my choice, and its consequences. I could have accepted the Alpha Red, ending my participation in the cycle, or I could have sent it back at the Yuuzhan Vong, ending their participation. In the end I elected to sue for peace.”
“On Coruscant,” Jacen said, “when I reached out for you with my Vongsense, I sensed your conflict.”
“What are the consequences of your choice?” Luke asked.
Jabitha’s gaze fell on him. “I will tell you …”
Nas Choka sat stoically on the acceleration couch of the Alliance shuttle that was conveying him and five of his Supreme Commanders toward the gaping docking bay of Ralroost. He wore an unadorned tunic, trousers, headcloth, and pectoral. Only the command cloak that hung from his shoulder horns distinguished him from his subordinates; and, like them, his frame was thinner after long days of fasting, and his cheeks, lips, and arms bore fresh bloodletting cuts.
The world again known as Coruscant dominated the view through the shuttle’s starboard transparency, and between the planet and Ralroost floated hundreds of warships, dispersed to protect Coruscant against a surprise attack by the warriors who had once taken and occupied it. Nas Choka considered how easy it might have been to launch a final onslaught and perish in the blaze of glory the Alliance certainly expected. But what glory could be derived from a battle the gods had no interest in supporting?
No, while the reason for the gods’ abrupt abandonment of the Yuuzhan Vong was unknown, it was clear that they desired something other than sacrificial blood. Unless it was the blood of the Yuuzhan Vong they craved. Did the fault lie with Shimrra for having usurped the throne from Quoreal, or perhaps for having failed to heed the prophecies regarding the living world of Zonama Sekot? And yet, if all Yuuzhan Vong were to be punished for Shimrra’s pride, why hadn’t the gods allowed them to be wiped out by the Alliance or killed by the very bioweapon Shimrra had sent against Zonama Sekot?
It was because these