The Unifying Force

by James Luceno

  Luke's silence spoke volumes. As he turned and leapt out onto the bridge, a resonant bellowing issued from the far side, and two hug eyes stood out in the gloom. As if under strobing light an enorfflj beast waddled into view around the shoulder of a ruined buildtf It wasn't the first Yuuzhan Vong creature he had seen since leavin the Falcon—the sacred precinct was literally crawling with escap animals—but it was certainly the largest.

  "A mon duul," Jacen said, yelling to be heard. "If it's been ted with a villip, the belly can function like an amplifier. It's

  imp har

  nless, either way."

  p ge kept his blaster rifle raised regardless. "If you say so, kid."

  otioned with the barrel. "But you cross first." vi0 sooner had Jacen and Luke started forward than the mon duul its haunches, with its tympanum of a belly aimed out over the r0n In a deep and menacing voice, someone began to speak in

  Yuuzhan Vong.

  « 'perish,' " Tahiri translated. " 'Perish, all of you who would and between me and exaltation, who would seek to profane me in our finest moment.' "

  "Shimrra?" Luke asked.

  Jacen shook his head uncertainly. "Could be." " T battle the gods on your behalf,' " Tahiri continued, " 'and you repay me with rebellion. Perish then. Go to your deaths and your gods, while I remake the world.' "

  "Too bad we can't answer him," Mara said. "We will soon enough," Luke assured her.

  Jacen and Tahiri walked slowly toward the seated mon duul. In eerie unison they motioned with their right arms, and the four-metric-ton beast lowered its front legs to the ground and began to trundle off. Their Vongsense, Luke thought.

  Jaina hurried forward to drape her left arm around Jacen's shoulders. "You always were good with animals."

  He responded with a wry smile, and hurried forward. The three young Jedi crossed the span together and turned east toward the Citadel. Ahead of them, clad in vegetation, a palisade of named buildings extended all the way to the western access to mrra's mountain. Luke, Mara, and Kenth had just caught up with e trio when Jacen and Tahiri called everyone to a halt. Lightning ashes disclosed the presence of a group of skeletally thin humans and Urnanoids, dressed in dripping, frayed garments and aged robeskins. Come forward," Tahiri said in Yuuzhan Vong. Two Shamed Ones approached, a male and female. "Jeeda-i," the ng rnale said, his eyes fixed on Luke's thrumming lightsaber.

  More Yuuzhan Vong began to appear, along with a doze Coruscant! who looked as if they had been subsisting on gravw since the occupation. The Shamed and the damned, Luke told h' as he deactivated his lightsaber.

  Pushing through the group came two winded and wounn human commandos, who saluted Captain Page.

  "Bacta Squad, sir," the sergeant said. "We've just come fro down below. It's a real mess, Captain. The heretics are fighting to and claw, but they need reinforcements—and fast. If you can sn anyone, sir ..."

  Page beckoned to one of his jet-packed commandos. "Congratu lations, Corporal, you've been promoted to squad leader. Take ten men and go with the sergeant. We'll regroup at the Citadel, soonest"

  The commando saluted, spun on his heel, and began choosing his teammates.

  The wounded sergeant looked from Page to Luke. "Master Skywalker, a couple of your people would make a world of difference, not only to us—" He motioned to the Shamed Ones. "—but to them, as well."

  Kenth and Tahiri glanced at Luke, who nodded.

  "Thank you," the sergeant said as the two Jedi moved to join him. "We've heard that the Prophet has reappeared, but we haven't been able to locate him. Word has it he was last seen in the Place of Hierarchy."

  "Leading them, or helping with the slaughter?" Mara asked, stepping forward.

  "Leading them."

  Luke showed Mara a skeptical look. "Maybe he's had a change of heart since Zonama Sekot."

  She snorted in derision. "Only if someone implanted a new one u his chest."

  Luke swung to the Shamed Ones who had been the first to shov themselves. "Have you or any of the others even been inside t Citadel?"

  Tahiri translated.

  male in the crowd spoke, and showed himself. He was more lv scarred than the others, and short horns sprouted from the hideout

  1S of his shoulders.

  "This one says that he arrived in the Citadel," Tahiri told Luke. -cned for a moment more. "He was a warrior before the gods— en his body rejected certain enhancing biots the shapers devised

  h'm " The former warrior pointed to the walkways that accessed •orik coral mountain. "Each caste uses a separate entrance. But all ivenues terminate at the Hall of Confluence, where Supreme Overlord Shimrra grants audience to the elite."

  u Ask him if Shimrra is likely to be in the hall now," Luke said, Tahiri phrased the question and waited for the response. "He says that you won't find Shimrra there. He'll be in his private . . . coffer." The Yuuzhan Vong aimed a thick, truncated finger at the lofty crown of the Citadel. "Up there is where you'll have to go." "Thank you," Luke said to the heretic, who asked something of

  Tahiri.

  "He has a question for the Jedi," she said after a moment. "He

  wants to know if we plan to help them or kill them. He wants to know if the Shamed Ones will be able to find salvation in the Force."

  Luke looked at the Yuuzhan Vong. "We'll help you find your way

  back to the Force."

  Tahiri's translation prompted agitation and a flurry of hushed conversations among the Shamed Ones. Then she and Kenth began to move off with the commandos.

  Mara shifted her gaze from the Citadel to Luke. 'Ready, soldier?" When he didn't respond immediately, she said,

  "What's wrong?"

  He held her gaze. "Mara, I want you to go with Tahiri and Kenth."

  She almost laughed.

  "I want you go with them," he said again.

  Her expression changed, and a twinge of fear came into her eyes. Luke, tell me this is the Force speaking to you, and that you're not Dlng it because you don't want us fighting together—for Ben's sake."

  "Would it matter?"

  She gripped her hands on his upper arms. "You promised Zonama Sekot that both of us have a lot more living to do."

  He smiled and stroked her cheek with the backs of his fin "You think I'd drop you into the midst of all this to make widow—or me a widower?"

  She shook her head. "That's not your style."

  "Then go with them."

  Reluctantly, she nodded. "Not because I want to. But becau trust you."

  Airborne at the extreme edge of the tempest that was lashing th northern quarter of the sacred precinct, the Falcon banked toward th former Legislative District. Owing to the toughness of its honeycomb and crumple zone engineering, the Senate itself had survived the Yuuzhan Vong barrage, but now the famed edifice was covered by the half-kilometer-high hemisphere that sheltered the World Brain.

  "No mystery why we're not taking flak from plasma emplacements," Han said, as he and Leia powered the freighter through a reconnaissance fly-by. "Nothing short of a planetbuster is going to crack that skullcap."

  "The yorik coral has enzymatically digested and absorbed the Senate's duracrete and transparisteel," Harrar explained from the navigator's chair. "The constituent materials have been used to fashion a new exoskeleton that goes deep underground and forms an impervious sphere around the dhuryam—the brain."

  C-3PO had a tight grip on the chair next to Harrar's, and R2-D2 was securely planted behind his counterpart. Cakhmaim was in the dorsal gun turret; Meewalh in the forward compartment.

  "How impervious?" Han asked over his shoulder.

  "Sufficient to allow the dhuryam to survive an invasion as a self-contained, and possibly self-propelled, vessel—similar to that whicl constitutes the crown of the Citadel."

  "An escape pod," Leia said.

  "But massive," Harrar elaborated. "Capable not only of p« serving the dhuryam—with all its engineered genetics and learrw skills—but also of preserving the lives of a
ny who happen to be n Well when the sphere launches."

  h, my," C-3PO remarked-

  r>2 seconded the protocol droid's stupefaction with a long "^

  o-rowled and rubbed his head. "So how are we supposed to

  jT_tl'l j2

  'de the thing, if you're telling me that bombs can't?" •a rrar leaned toward the viewport. "Complete your overflight. see if we can't locate the entrance to the secret passageway

  and Vergere used to escape from the Well." AS Han banked the Falcon to the west, Leia gazed at the sprawl of

  tion-clad structures below, then pointed toward the extreme thwest projection of the dome. "Borsk Fey'lya's office would have

  been right about there."

  Han sighted down her finger. "Right there, buried under who

  knows how many tons of yorik coral."

  Leia glanced at him. "I guess the dome has spread out since Jacen

  was here."

  "You could say that."

  "An unexpected turn of events," Harrar said.

  Han growled. "I'm getting tired of surprises. There has to be

  another way in."

  "Perhaps the front door," C-3PO said.

  "Yeah, we'll just go up and knock," Han said. "Isn't that how you got yourself into Jabba's palace?" "Actually, Captain Solo — "

  "The front entrance may prove problematic," Harrar interrupted. 'Continue your circle, and I'll show you why."

  Lit from within by explosions and flashes of lightning, the northern

  horizon was a towering anvil of black clouds. Han veered east around

  ie two-kilometer-wide dome, and a long elongated tunnel came into

  ;w, protruding from the dome. The hemispherical corridor appeared

  >e made of the interwoven branches of thousands of slender trees.

  The hedge maze," Harrar said. "The ceremonial avenue that !eads to the atrium of the Well."

  Wan laughed. "A walk in the park. Unless you're going to tell me he
  The hedge is not only as solid and fire resistant as your durasteel,

  but the trees that comprise it are studded with needle-sham that range in size from that of your thumbnail to that of yOll The thorns contain a neurotoxin potent enough to devast t nervous system of any creature hapless enough to be pricu, them."

  Han tightened his lips in frustration. "I say we see how it ha a couple of concussion missiles."

  "A waste of armament," Harrar said. "Any damage the mi 'i render, the dhuryam will quickly repair."

  "Yeah, well, since you're so smart, you think of a plan to get inside."

  "I already have. How wide is your craft, Han Solo?"

  "Twenty-five meters, give or take. Why?"

  Harrar took a breath. "A tight fit. But given your piloting skills I think it can be done."

  Leia swiveled her chair around to face him. "You think what can be done?"

  "A flight through the hedge tunnel, directly to the entry portal."

  Leia's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious."

  "Princess Leia is correct," C-3PO said as R2-D2 was mewling. "Please confirm that your statement was in jest."

  A slow grin took shape on Han's face. "He's serious—and he's right." He looked at Leia. "We can do it."

  Leia started to speak, but swallowed whatever she had in mind to say and began again. "Well, you said he'd think of something, and I guess he has."

  Han patted her left arm with affection. "Better tighten up your crash webbing. You, too, Goldenrod."

  C-3PO canted his head in apprehension. "If it's all the same to you, sir, I'd prefer to adjourn to the forward compartment win Artoo."

  "Suit yourself. But be quick about it."

  Han brought the headset mike close to his mouth. "Cakhmaitf get yourself to the forward cabin space with Meewalh."

  He sent the Falcon into a broad circle, from which they emerg staring directly down the throat of the hedge tunnel.

  «V u're sure about this," Leia said while Han was flipping

  itches on the console.

  ..v0 But luckily we don't have time to think about it." -a n dropped the freighter lower and accelerated. The thorned -'rcle of mouth grew larger and larger in the viewport. Reflex-T eia leaned back in her chair and clamped her hands on the jvelVi L'

  armrests.

  "Hang on," Han said. "Hang on . . ."

  nd suddenly they were inside the maze.

  But the Falcon wasn't even all the way through the opening when he three of them realized that the ride was going to be worse than thev had imagined. The resilient knitted branches knocked the ship harshly from one side to the other. The Falcon rattled and shuddered, in danger of being spun completely around. The longest of the thorns drew prolonged and deafening screeches from the hull. External components groaned and squealed as they were ripped away—cowlings, rectenna, fuel-driver pressure stabilizers . . . And ahead of them, the throat of the hedge maze was closing—narrowing as they watched. "Fire the concussion missiles!" Han said.

  Leia squeezed the trigger, sending one pair, then another streaking down the tunnel, tearing through the thorns and branches and ultimately exploding against whatever constituted the entrance to the

  dome.

  "Angle the deflectors!"

  Leia raised the forward shields as a boiling torrent of fire and debris came back at them, washing over the Falcon, stripping away more parts, and scoring and scorching the hull plates.

  Then, suddenly, the ship broke through to a broad, wedge-shaped

  causeway formed by the limbs of great trees, whose leaf-bearing

  branches—now aflame—tangled toward the sky on either side. The

  °°t of the causeway was a hundred meters high, but it tapered to an

  towhead as it rose, forming a thorn-hedged ramp whose point

  Lched the massive, ruined hatch sphincter that had long ago

  enveloped the Great Door of the Senate.

  Han fought to keep the ship stabilized as it skidded across the rmer plaza and raced into the second stretch of hedge. But the

  durasteel-hard branches prevailed, slowing, then snagging the ing ship. Stalled, the Falcon came to a final rest angled to one sid ten meters from the missile-damaged entrance. While two ,-landing disks were in touch with the paving stones, the entire po of the ship was upended and held fast by the interlocked branche "Guess this is as far as we go," Han said, staring straight ah with his hands still clenched on the control yoke.

  Leia blew out her breath and swallowed hard. "Nothing lik quiet arrival."

  She, Han, and Harrar freed themselves from the chairs and sta gered into the ring corridor, which was strewn with objects that had found their way there from all over the ship. "We'll clean up later," Leia said. Han uttered a laugh. "We could have Threepio do it." "I was hoping you would say just that, sir," the droid said, as he R2-D2, and the two Noghri appeared from the forward compartment leaning against the corridor's curving walls for support. "That would be a delightful chore."

  R2-D2 began to twitter and toodle in protest. "We'll have no complaints from you, Artoo. If Captain Solo wants us to remain on the ship rather than accompany him into the Well of the World Brain, the least we can do is— R2-D2 razzed loudly.

  C-3PO straightened in a huff. "Never satisfied." "All right, you two, quit arguing," Han said. "Forget the mess. Just keep the ship warmed up and stick close to the comlink."

  Han extended the landing ramp, which didn't drop far before hitting solid ground.

  "Once we are inside the Well, we will be safe from ambushes by warriors," Harrar said. "But whatever you do between here and there, Han Solo, you must not kill the shaper. We will need his or her scent markers to get us safely into the Well. I know certain things about u brain, but not enough to incapacitate it."

  Han passed out thermal charges to the Noghri, then clipped t onto his own belt. "Just in case we have any trouble persuading it surrender."

  • activated her li
ghtsaber and narrowed her eyes. "And I

  i j>d never set foot in the Senate again."

  •""'" nodded at her. "We've all had to break promises we made to

  ^

  ., £ve Of them hurried down the angled ramp and through the

  ling breach the concussion missiles had blown in the thick

  h sphincter. The hideously torn membrane opened onto a vast,

  i. lit cavern of yorik coral. Han scarcely had time to look around,

  n fiftv or more warriors armed with amphistaffs poured from a

  r0w corridor in the curved wall opposite the hatch.

  Someone shouted commands in Yuuzhan Vong that needed no

  translation.

  A flock of whizzing bugs and hurled amphistaffs flew for the

  ft/cow's company.

  "I thought you said there wouldn't be warriors inside the Well!" Han yelled as he and the Noghri were ducking and triggering blaster

  rounds.

  "This isn't the Well," the priest said. "This is merely the atrium!" Batting aside thud and razor bugs, Leia led the retreat. They

  backed through the iris hatch, firing at their pursuers without aiming.

  Stumbling into the plaza, they raced for the Falcon, only to find her

  completely enclosed by the thorned hedge.

  Despite the impetus that the Prophet's rallying cry had given the heretics, the counteroffensive was not going well. Caught in a violent storm, the Shamed Ones and their newfound allies were being sliced to pieces by coufees, knocked unconscious by thud bugs, slashed and split by amphistaffs. Nom Anor himself was bloodied, slipping on hailstones and his own black flow as he fought with coufee in one hand, amphistaff in the other. The now-drenched throng of would-be insur->erits had managed to fight their way out of the Place of Hierarchy,

  • Shimrra's avengers were attempting to herd them toward the