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Shedao Shai cut through the ranks of his troops and began to run through the darkened rain forest. Though he knew his people controlled this section of the planet and that he was in no danger, he could not shake a sense of hostility. No, not hostility, just opposition. We are not wanted here. We are not hated, but definitely not wanted.

For the barest of moments he entertained a flicker of doubt concerning the invasion. The gods had given them this mission because they were champions of life, yet here was a world where he felt foreign—truly felt like an invader. He did not go so far as to wonder if the priests had lied, or if their mission was a mistake. Instead he wondered if he was pursuing the gods’ wishes in the proper manner, then decided that the uneasiness he felt was from means, not ends.

He quickly found his forward force and crouched next to its leader. “Report.”

“We have movement there.” The Yuuzhan Vong warrior pointed at a sprawling white complex of ferrocrete. The building rose to three levels, with each stepped back from the one below. Towers rising from the uppermost floor provided ample advantage, and the muzzles of weapons seemed to bristle from walls and viewports. “It is defended.”

“We expected no less.”

“It is defended by automatons.” A tremor entered the warrior’s voice. “They have no respect for us. They dishonor us by letting their machines do their killing for them.”

Shedao Shai rose and stared defiantly at the white building before him. He pointed to it, allowing his tsaisi to slither into his hand and stiffen. “They mock us. They mock our gods. Let us break their toys, then they will have to come to us. And when they do, we will break them, as well.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“I copy, thanks, Range Lead.” Corran looked at the other half-dozen Jedi with him. “You heard that. General Dendo says they have taken the bait. Gavin’s flyby pinpointed the transport they’re using as a command center. Saddle up. We’re going in hot.”

Corran, clad as were the other Jedi in black combat suits, climbed aboard a speeder bike that had a brushed aluminum case strapped to the back of it. He punched the ignition but-ton and felt the engine thrum to life. A small holographic image of the darkened jungle popped up between the handlebars, painting in luminous details the trees hidden by darkness.

He smiled. Through the Force he could feel those trees and avoid them. This will just paint any Vong lurkers for me as the thermal bleed from their bodies will betray their presence even if they are hiding.

Corran looked around for a moment, then smiled at Jacen, swathed in shadow. “What are you looking at?”

The younger man pointed at the case. “That case. Kinda hard to miss.”

“It is, isn’t it.” Corran nodded confidently. “But then, having it be noticed is the purpose of this exercise. Shedao Shai is going to find himself in a fight, and with this, we can remind him once again what he’s fighting for.”

At Shedao Shai’s order, the Yuuzhan Vong ennead surged forward, breaking from the jungle to sprint across open ground at the Ithorian building. Red laser bolts began to burn out from the walls, with splinters of light streaking in every direction. Around Shedao Shai ran Chazrach, howling and barking. In their midst went Yuuzhan Vong warriors, longer and leaner than their minions, racing forward in a sea of bobbing heads.

The Yuuzhan Vong leader stalked forward, seeing his troops as silhouettes in the light of the enemy fire. Energy darts exploded through Chazrach chests, clipped limbs, spun the diminutive warriors around to drop them smoking to the ground. Some of the wounded mewed and writhed, others struggled to their feet to keep going. Shedao Shai did not waste the time to dispatch the seriously injured, instead granting them the grace of dying in pain to redeem their failure.

Concentrated though the laserfire was, the automatons controlling the weapons lacked the flexibility to shift their tactics as the situation evolved. All the variables they