Kor Chokk Grand Cruiser Yammka’s Sword
Arda-2, Gordian Reach, Outer Rim Territories
Day 217, 30 ABY

The Elite of Domains Amnan and Shai were assembled in the Hall of Confluence. The Warmaster had recently returned from his latest campaign along the local stretch of the Hydian Way and Gordian Reach. None would dare admit it so long as the Warmaster proclaimed Shimrra yet lived, however the gathering of hundreds of his best warriors was all but a meeting of a new Great Council. Many were sure it was only a matter of time before the Warmaster himself admitted it, and finally became the next Supreme Overlord, but until that time such talk remained heresy.

As Supreme Overlords had done for fifteen thousand years, the Elite had gathered to bear witness to the inauguration of a new avatar of the Gods, a new khattazz al’Yun. The Hall of Confluence had been built within a fragment of the shattered worldship Baanu Amnan, and then grafted to the Yammka itself, transforming the already mighty warship into a monstrous Kor Chokk Grand Cruiser, by far the largest vessel in the armada.

The walls were built of chitin marble, with four entrances for each of the Ruling Castes; the warriors being granted the largest, and most elaborate, of the four. Pillars of bone held up the ceiling, as strands of yorik coral flowed in patterns around their columns and along the arched ribcage of the roof. High above, a swarm of rainbow qaana beetles clacked their mandibles, and around the edges of the chamber crab-harps beat their drums in harmony as a fragrant vapour blew through the air from the scent glands of a thamassh.

Varesh Shai was seated on the polyp throne, atop a raised dais at the front of the Hall. His silvery eyes glowed in the dim light from the glow lichen. The crimson robe he wore was in sharp contrast to the black blood coloured armour that was bound tight to his frame like a second skin. He scraped his finger length talons along the throbbing arm rests, as his clawed feet implants clutched the dais’s engorged veins, drawing blood.

The ceremony still sat uneasy with the Warmaster. This was not the ceremony of a warleader, but the inauguration of a new religious leader. He was not blind. He knew what they saw it as.

But it changed nothing.

His loyalty remained to the true Dread Lord. It may have been over a year, but he knew Shimrra still waited in the darkness, readying himself for his glorious return. This pomp and circumstance was a necessary sacrifice, sickening as it was in its extravagances. However if it appeased the High Priestess of Yun-Yuuzhan, who was he to question it?

That right was for the Gods and the God-Chosen alone.

The amassed warriors had already taken their seats when the Elite hierarchy emerged from their respective archways that surrounded the council chamber. First to appear was Tsaak Shai, the Warmaster’s personal advisor, who many believed to be the true religious voice in Varesh’s court. Next came Supreme Commander Romm Shai, the Yammka’s captain, followed closely by Commander Tolok Amnan of the Warmaster’s foremost allies. All alone, Master Shaper Niiriit Phaath’s solitary entrance was noticeable; the last of her caste still serving the ones the Warmaster called the true Yuuzhan Vong. The gateway for the Intendant Elite was quiet, none having stayed true to the gods. Their selfish greed had been no surprise to the Warmaster, who had long decreed politicians unfit to rule the Gods’ Empire.

After the last of the Elite were seated, the High Priestess, Seef Lacap, entered through the priests’ gateway, clad in nothing but a flimsy robeskin, her face and arms smothered in ritual markings with the blood of sacrificial Shamed Ones. In her hands she held a specially bred tsaisi which would serve as the khattazz al’Yun’s new baton of rank.

The High Priestess took her place behind the polyp throne, and then stretched out above the Warmaster, holding the fully extended tsaisi aloft. The din of the crowd fell silent and the assembled warriors stooped to their knees, prostrating on all fours towards her.

‘Behold the Warmaster Varesh Shai! Behold him!’ Seef called.

In unison the assembled warriors answered with a thunderous: ‘TCHUROKK!’

She continued, ‘I come before the Gods to present to them their Warmaster! He has managed what no other Child of Yun-Yuuzhan has! He has stood fast against the heresy of Zonama Sekot! He has stood fast against the Jeedai heresy! Behold him!’

‘TCHUROKK!’

‘He has seen the Light of the True Way! He has embraced Their Second Gift and looks forward to the day he earns Blessed Release through the Third Gift! Behold him!’

The blood soaked priestess handed the Scepter of Power to the Warmaster below her. He took it in his right claw and stood up, then turned straight upwards to the ribcage ceiling.

‘I AM VARESH SHAI! I AM YOUR WARMASTER! I AM AN AVATAR OF THE TRUTH!’

Seef stepped down from the dais.

‘Tchurokk Yun'tchilat! Witness! WITNESS THE WILL OF THE GODS! TCHUROKK!’

All of a sudden the Scepter of Power lunged towards the Warmaster’s neck and sank its fangs into his throat. He roared like the artillery barrage from a bank of yaret-kors, yet he stood defiant, as the body of the serpent pulsated, as it pumped more and more venom into his veins.

The entire Yammka quaked, chips of yorik coral sprayed from the roof, the music of the qaana beetles and crab-harps momentarily jumped, skipping a beat, as his cry shook them.

The walls of the chamber convulsed.

Then, finally, Varesh stopped.

Seef turned back to the crowds.

‘Behold the Avatar of God! Behold him! Tchurokk sen khattazz al’Yun! Tchurokk’tiz!’

‘TCHUROKK!’