Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 21_ The Unifying Force - James Luceno [231]
“What of our childbearers and offspring?”
“They will also find a new home on Zonama Sekot.”
“And the Shamed Ones? The heretics?”
“They will need little persuading,” Harrar answered. “On Zonama Sekot our society will be able to redefine itself, without the need to abandon completely its core beliefs.”
Nas Choka’s broad forehead wrinkled. His gaze lingered on Sovv and Kre’fey, on Cal Omas and Luke Skywalker. “This seems a curious leniency.”
“We haven’t yet stated all our terms,” Kre’fey said sharply.
Nas Choka folded his arms across his chest. “Then do so.”
“Villips have been relaying the news of Shimrra’s death to occupied worlds throughout the invasion corridor. Some of your commanders have left; others remain entrenched. We don’t want to have to liberate each and every one of them at the cost of additional lives.”
Nas Choka nodded. “I will summon them to Coruscant. Those who refuse, we will help you hunt down and kill.” He held Kre’fey’s baleful stare. “State the rest of your terms, Admiral.”
“We demand that your shapers assist in the reconstruction of Coruscant, by persuading the World Brain to reverse some of the changes it wrought.”
Nas Choka almost smiled. “Will it not trouble you, Admiral, to know that a Yuuzhan Vong dhuryam rests at the center of your galaxy?”
Kre’fey sniffed. “Consider it, Warmaster, the foundation for an enduring compromise.”
FORTY-FOUR
In the weeks that followed the summit on Ralroost, Luke spent endless hours walking through the boras forests, sometimes with Mara when she and Lowbacca weren’t effecting repairs to Jade Shadow, but more often on his own, roaming and reflecting, the hood of his cloak raised against the cold, and his hands thrust deeply into the opposite sleeves. His body seemed to have struck a compromise with the traces of venom that were still circulating through his bloodstream, but his mind was still struggling to find a similar balance. Sometimes he would confront voids in the Force where there shouldn’t have been any, and at other times the Force would seem to expand infinitely around him, heightening his perceptions beyond all expectation, or surprising him with prolonged visions of possible futures. For a brief time during the summit on Ralroost he had been able to perceive Nas Choka and Harrar with the same clarity Jacen described when he spoke of his Vongsense.
Cal Omas and the Alliance leadership had expressed their gratitude to the Jedi for finding a practical solution to the war. But now that the terms of surrender had been ratified and the Yuuzhan Vong had been disarmed, the Alliance had ceased asking Luke for advice or assistance. The reconstruction of Coruscant had commenced with a great deal of fanfare, in conjunction with a grand memorial service for Admiral Ackbar, and the inauguration of a new HoloNet. Jacen had traveled to Coruscant to confer with the Yuuzhan Vong shapers who had been entrusted with mapping out an accord with the World Brain. Initially the dhuryam was averse to tampering with any of its creations, but thanks to Jacen it had agreed to allow the Alliance to excavate the sacred precinct, with an eye toward restoring those New Republic structures that had survived. In the course of the excavations, vast amounts of serviceable technology had been discovered, but it would be decades before Coruscant would be suitable for anyone other than structural engineers and construction droids.
Until then, the Galactic Alliance government was to be headquartered at Denon, a heavily populated Inner Rim world that had risen to prominence during the Old Republic era and, more important, had escaped bombardment or occupation by the Yuuzhan Vong.
Nas Choka had succeeded in recalling many but not all of his commanders from occupied worlds. Every few days, word would reach Zonama Sekot of a costly skirmish in one star system or another. On Coruscant,