somewhat problematic when you haven’t the slightest notion of your enemy’s battle plan,” Colonel Ixidro Legorburu told the commanders of the New Republic Defense Force and a melange of high-ranking officers. “Only now, with the fall of thirty planetary systems, the destruction of Helska, Sernpidal, and Ithor, and the more recent loss of Obroa-skai, are we beginning to have some sense of the path the Yuuzhan Vong are intent on cutting through the galaxy.”
Legorburu’s upbringing on agrarian M’haeli belied a shrewd intellect and urbane wit. A former intelligence officer, he had served as a tactical aide during the Yevethan crisis and had since been promoted to director of the Home Fleet’s Battle Assessment Division.
“Let me emphasize, though, that the strategy underlying their incursion remains as much a mystery as their ultimate objective.”
Exigency had dictated that the briefing be held on Kuat rather than Coruscant, though several officers and specialists were participating via real-time hologram from the New Republic capital and a host of other worlds.
“What have we been able to conclude regarding theirorigin?” Admiral Sien Sovv asked. Fulcrum of the Defense Force command staff, the Sullustan sat at a data console adapted to his smallish hands and capable of filtering background noise, which might otherwise have proved irritating to his keen hearing.
“As you know, the first world to fall to the Yuuzhan Vong—to be razed by them, I should say—was Belkadan, where the ExGal Society had a listening post.” Legorburu manipulated a parabolic holoprojector to fashion a 3-D view of the galaxy’s Tingel Arm. “However, despite talk of an extragalactic arrival, our initial supposition was that they were native to some unknown stellar system, here, in the central Tingel, midway between the Corporate Sector and Imperial Remnant space.”
“Does that hypothesis remain viable?” Brigadier General Etahn A’baht asked. Former commander of the Fifth Fleet, A’baht had also been involved in the Yevethan crisis. A Dornean, A’baht had tough aubergine skin and eyefolds that swelled and fanned out.
Legorburu looked to the representative from the Institute for Sentient Studies, headquartered on Baraboo. But before the Ithorian could respond, Sovv rose to his feet.
“I know I speak for everyone here in expressing my extreme sorrow at what has befallen your homeworld,” the admiral said. “The galaxy is greatly diminished.”
Tamaab Moolis acknowledged Sovv’s sentiments with a motion of his long, upward curving head. “I thank the admiral,” he said out of both mouths.
Attentiveness replaced the sadness in his widely spaced eyes. “Pursuant to the supposition that the Yuuzhan Vong originated in the Tingel Arm, we conducted a thoroughsearch of our databases, but were unable to discover corroborating evidence. A protocol droid at Dubrillion stated that the Yuuzhan Vong language is reminiscent of Janguine, but that trail has led nowhere. We are continuing to investigate the possibility that the Yuuzhan Vong are a long-vanished race indigenous to our galaxy that has suddenly reappeared.”
“Was that area of the Tingel Arm once populated?” Sovv asked.
The Ithorian deferred to the virtual presence of Been L’toth of the Astrographic Survey Institute. Another Dornean, Been was the son of Kiles L’toth, who had assumed command of the Fifth Fleet after his friend Etahn A’baht had been relieved of duty.
“We reject the possibility that a species as powerful as the Yuuzhan Vong could have originated there,” L’toth’s hologram began. “Given the extent of their resources and the size of their war fleet, they would be in control of hundreds of worlds, if not systems, and would certainly have come to our attention by now. At the very least, we would have heard about them from the Trianii or some other species that inhabits that area of the Tingel.
“Granted, however, the Tingel Arm has yet
Legorburu’s upbringing on agrarian M’haeli belied a shrewd intellect and urbane wit. A former intelligence officer, he had served as a tactical aide during the Yevethan crisis and had since been promoted to director of the Home Fleet’s Battle Assessment Division.
“Let me emphasize, though, that the strategy underlying their incursion remains as much a mystery as their ultimate objective.”
Exigency had dictated that the briefing be held on Kuat rather than Coruscant, though several officers and specialists were participating via real-time hologram from the New Republic capital and a host of other worlds.
“What have we been able to conclude regarding theirorigin?” Admiral Sien Sovv asked. Fulcrum of the Defense Force command staff, the Sullustan sat at a data console adapted to his smallish hands and capable of filtering background noise, which might otherwise have proved irritating to his keen hearing.
“As you know, the first world to fall to the Yuuzhan Vong—to be razed by them, I should say—was Belkadan, where the ExGal Society had a listening post.” Legorburu manipulated a parabolic holoprojector to fashion a 3-D view of the galaxy’s Tingel Arm. “However, despite talk of an extragalactic arrival, our initial supposition was that they were native to some unknown stellar system, here, in the central Tingel, midway between the Corporate Sector and Imperial Remnant space.”
“Does that hypothesis remain viable?” Brigadier General Etahn A’baht asked. Former commander of the Fifth Fleet, A’baht had also been involved in the Yevethan crisis. A Dornean, A’baht had tough aubergine skin and eyefolds that swelled and fanned out.
Legorburu looked to the representative from the Institute for Sentient Studies, headquartered on Baraboo. But before the Ithorian could respond, Sovv rose to his feet.
“I know I speak for everyone here in expressing my extreme sorrow at what has befallen your homeworld,” the admiral said. “The galaxy is greatly diminished.”
Tamaab Moolis acknowledged Sovv’s sentiments with a motion of his long, upward curving head. “I thank the admiral,” he said out of both mouths.
Attentiveness replaced the sadness in his widely spaced eyes. “Pursuant to the supposition that the Yuuzhan Vong originated in the Tingel Arm, we conducted a thoroughsearch of our databases, but were unable to discover corroborating evidence. A protocol droid at Dubrillion stated that the Yuuzhan Vong language is reminiscent of Janguine, but that trail has led nowhere. We are continuing to investigate the possibility that the Yuuzhan Vong are a long-vanished race indigenous to our galaxy that has suddenly reappeared.”
“Was that area of the Tingel Arm once populated?” Sovv asked.
The Ithorian deferred to the virtual presence of Been L’toth of the Astrographic Survey Institute. Another Dornean, Been was the son of Kiles L’toth, who had assumed command of the Fifth Fleet after his friend Etahn A’baht had been relieved of duty.
“We reject the possibility that a species as powerful as the Yuuzhan Vong could have originated there,” L’toth’s hologram began. “Given the extent of their resources and the size of their war fleet, they would be in control of hundreds of worlds, if not systems, and would certainly have come to our attention by now. At the very least, we would have heard about them from the Trianii or some other species that inhabits that area of the Tingel.
“Granted, however, the Tingel Arm has yet
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