User:501st dogma/Workbench 2

"Voxyn. They hunt us."

- Tesar Sebatyne

Voxyn were genetically engineered creatures created by the Yuuzhan Vong to hunt Force users, particularly Jedi. They were developed from vornskr stock from the planet Myrkr and that of the fero xyn which was native to the Yuuzhan Vong galaxy. Voxyn were multi-legged, dragon-like creatures that fought by spitting acid, screeching powerful sonic blasts, or stabbing enemies with a venomous tail barb.

Biology and appearance
Created by the sentient Yuuzhan Vong species, voxyn were a genetic cross between a fero xyn, a ferocious hunting animal from the Yuuzhan Vong's homeworld of Yuuzhan'tar, and a vornskr, a hound that was native to the planet Myrkr. All voxyn were genetically alike, as they were all clones of the voxyn queen, which was the first voxyn to have ever been created by the Yuuzhan Vong. As such, all voxyn were females. The cells of voxyn deteriorated at a rapid rate, and as such, voxyn typically did not survive for more than a few months after their release. Despite the fact the voxyn could lay eggs, these were sterile, and as such, the creatures could not naturally reproduce, and relied on the Yuuzhan Vong cloning of them to keep up a population.

Standing about as high as an average Human's waist at one meter, mature voxyn measured over four meters in length. A pair of yellow oval eyes graced the voxyn's flattish head, which had a broad snout over six inches long filled with fangs, and its lithe body was covered in black scales and sported eight legs with claws. Voxyn torsos possessed a rib cage that protected the internal organs, the body of a voxyn gave off heat, allowing it to be tracked by beings who had access to the infrared spectrum. The paws of the legs were round, and the toe pads housed a hundred deadly retroviruses, whose medium was the green slime that covered the voxyn's claws.

Down its spine ran a series of sensory bristles, and the voxyn also possessed a whip-like tail that had a white barb on it. The tail of a voxyn could be used to deliver a neural shock, as well as poison, and the sensory bristles along the spine were coated with a powerful neurotoxin. According to the shapers who designed the voxyn, the effect of the sensory bristles' neurotoxin was not the same on all species. Some of those affected fell into convulsions and then into an endless sleep, while others weakened over many hours before losing the ability to breathe or swallow. Yet others drowned in their own saliva.

Voxyn also had long forked tongues, and were able to shoot a jet of acid-like brown saliva that burned anything it touched from their mouths via an efflux tube. This saliva could kill a humanoid easily if it landed on vital spots such as the face, and some voxyn drooled this saliva when not in combat. The creatures were also armed with the ability to make a sonic blast from their snouts, and this blast sent a compression wave that could knock out a person's hearing temporarily and make them feel noxious. Voxyn blood was purple in color, and when exposed to air, became a neurotoxin that smelled like smoke and ammonia and had a detrimental effect on humanoid lungs that could take over a day to heal fully. Voxyn were also fast and agile on their feet, and could swim in water. Voxyn could also submerge themselves underwater for extended periods of time, though the blast effect of a concussion grenade could stun them while they were under water, and cause them to rise to the surface.

Voxyn were designed to hunt Jedi, beings who were sensitive to the Force. As such, voxyn possessed the ability to sense Jedi, or other Force-sensitives, through the Force, an ability that vornskrs had as well. Voxyn were unlike the rest of Yuuzhan Vong created organisms in their ability to sense the Force, as members of the Yuuzhan Vong species and their other creations were completely devoid of the Force and could not touch it in anyway. Voxyn could sense Jedi through the Force even if the Force-sensitives diminished their presence in the Force, preventing Jedi from hiding from the hounds.

Jedi could sometimes feel Voxyn through the Force as well, and to them, voxyn were a hungry or feral presence. Through the Force, voxyn could sometimes sense the emotions of Force-sensitives, and, occasionally, Force-sensitives could sense other things about voxyn rather than just the creatures' hunger. However, voxyn could, if they wished, hide their presence from Force-sensitives, preventing them from being able to detect the voxyn. Force-sensitives skilled with animals could sometimes convince the voxyn through the Force to do certain things by imparting ideas to them, such as attacking their Yuuzhan Vong minders, though this was difficult to do.

The genetically created creatures were remarkably durable, and hard to kill. Voxyn could survive being pinned beneath a metal bulkhead, even if their torso was crushed almost flat. Additionally, they could survive the blast caused by thermal detonators, and could function well even with the loss of limbs and chunks of flesh. A Jedi's lightsaber, which could typically cut through most things, had trouble cutting through a voxyn's foot. The scales of voxyn could also occasionally deflect a blaster bolt. When exposed to a decompression, voxyn were able to make scale cocoons that allowed the creatures to survive for a time in vacuums, as long as they went into a deep hibernation. However, if voxyn remained in a vacuum to long, they would freeze to death, with every cell in their bodies bursting.

Behavior
"The shapers cannot understand why, but ysalamiri drive voxyn mad. The voxyn lose their natural cunning. In experiments similar to this, I have seen them tear their own legs off to get the ysalimiri."

- Commander Duman Yaght, on voxyn

Although voxyn were classified as non-sentient, they were quite intelligent, and possessed a natural cunning. They were smart enough to tap the activation stud of a lift tube if they wanted to use it, and could occasionally sense when a trap was being laid for them, which would make them cautious. They also learned from their mistakes if they survived making it the first time, making them even better predators.

Voxyn had no fixed habitat, as they were taught by their Yuuzhan Vong creators on the Baanu Rass worldship to be able to hunt in almost every habitat imaginable that existed in the galaxy that the Yuuzhan Vong were invading. Because of this, Voxyn could survive on a vast number of worlds, such as Kuat, Chiron, and Corellia. They were also comfortable hunting in and around mechanical things, despite the aversion most Yuuzhan Vong had to them, as voxyn were conditioned from birth to be able to hunt Jedi anywhere. The creatures were carnivorous predators, and they would eat ysalamir, humanoids, and even lone Yuuzhan Vong. Food eaten by voxyn would eventually be put back into the environment as droppings. Feral voxyn aboard the Baanu Rass laired in a series of caves near the best source of food, which was the city of the slaves on the worldship.

Like the fero xyn, voxyn could be controlled by Yuuzhan Vong warriors, and would obey commands given to them by their keepers. All voxyn, save the voxyn queen, were trained to stalk Jedi; the queen herself was trained to preserve her own life, to insure the survival of voxyn as a species. The creatures typically hunted in packs of four when they tracked Jedi or Force-sensitives for the Yuuzhan Vong. Warriors were in enough control of voxyn that they could have the beast stay stationary while the Yuuzhan Vong tortured other individuals with the variety of dangerous abilities that the creatures possessed, such as their saliva. In the event that the Yuuzhan Vong lost a voxyn, the creature would still able to survive on its own, and became feral. Even feral voxyn would attack and harass Force-sensitives, despite not being ordered to do so.

For a reason that the shapers who created the voxyn could not understand, voxyn hated ysalamir, who were creatures that were able to repel the Force. Voxyn lost their natural intelligence when ysalamir were near, and would try to eat the ysalamir; in experiments where voxyn's legs were bound to the ground with blorash jelly and a ysalimir was placed out of reach in front of them, voxyn would sometimes tear off their own legs to get at the other creature. When certain voxyn could not reach the ysalimir to eat it, they would eventually resort to killing it. Ysalimir were given to voxyn be some Yuuzhan Vong warriors as treats.

While hunting for Jedi, voxyn would occasionally circle other non-force sensitives to investigate them, and would cock their heads at loud noises. Voxyn would also lick the air with their tongues while on the hunt, and would keep their eyes fixed on the floor while their tails waved about. The creatures were resilient in their hunting, and Jedi found them hard to shake off of their tails. Additionally, voxyn would continue to hunt their prey even after sustaining heavy injuries, such as the loss of limbs. Occasionally, voxyn would use their acid to melt holes in which to hide in.

Even though voxyn were sterile and could not reproduce, some feral voxyn still created nests and guarded them in a territorial style, bringing in corpses to the nests to feed the young that they would never have. Voxyn would not leave their nests unless they felt threatened, and would defend the nests from both other voxyn and beings not from their species, though nesting voxyn were more inclined to stay in their nest than attack a passerby, unless otherwise provoked. In some instances, voxyn would starve themselves to death rather than leave the nest to hunt. While guarding a nest, agitated voxyn would ruffle their neck scales and scratch the ground. Nestless hunting creatures would become excited if they found fresh corpses that could potentially nourish their young, and they would drag them back to a voxyn nesting area.

Creation
In the year 25 ABY, the sentient Yuuzhan Vong species invaded a galaxy other than their own. The Yuuzhan Vong, who were gifted in the use and creation of biotechnology, engaged multiple governmental organizations, foremost of which was the New Republic, in battle. In the Yuuzhan Vong War, the invading species came into conflict with the Force-using Jedi Knights, and seeing them as worthy adversaries and thus a problem, work commenced on a project that was meant to deal with the threat of the Jedi. Master Shaper Yal Phaath was placed in charge of this, and shortly after the Yuuzhan Vong took the Jedi-controlled moon of Yavin 4, the Yuuzhan Vong shapers became aware of the vornskrs of the world of Myrkr, who were able to detect the Force.

The project was moved to the planet of Myrkr, and the decaying worldship of the Banu Rass in orbit of the planet, was used as the base of operations. After traitorous New Republic Senator Viqi Shesh provided the Yuuzhan Vong shapers with multiple vornskrs, Phaath and his shapers began to attempt to shape the vornskr into something that could hunt Jedi for them. The initial experimentations with just vornskr genetic material proved only partially successful, as the resulting beast was not ferocious enough. However, after the genes of the fero xyn were added, the perfect beast was created: the voxyn queen. However, as she was unable to reproduce, and the shapers could not replicate their success with the queen, Phaath and his shapers were forced to clone the beast to be able to supply pack upon pack of voxyn.

After creation, voxyn were taught to hunt Jedi on special training courses on the Baanu Rass that prepared the creatures for the galaxy at large. Numerous different training facilities, each shaped to look like a different location that a voxyn could hunt a Jedi in, were used to condition the creatures, and the Yuuzhan Vong used captured Force-sensitives to help train the new beasts.

Jedi-killers
By 27 ABY, voxyn had been introduced to the galaxy that the Yuuzhan Vong were invading and they were deployed on a multitude of worlds ranging for Corellia to Kuat. Typically used in conjunction with a group of Yuuzhan Vong warriors, voxyn were used to search for the presence of Jedi on starships such as the Nebula Chaser, or to track down Jedi and other Force-sensitives on plants and moons. Voxyn were quite successful in hunting an killing Force-sensitives, and many Jedi fell to the beasts, including the Chiron Luca and the Human Eelysa. There was even a failed attempt to smuggle voxyn onto the New Republic's capital of Coruscant so that those hunters might be able to slay the Jedi leaders located there.

The threat of the voxyn drew the attention of the New Jedi Order, and after the Jedi discovered that the Yuuzhan Vong relied on the voxyn queen to create more voxyn, and that the queen's current location was Myrkr, a strike team was made to deal with the voxyn.



Appearances

 * Star by Star
 * Dark Journey
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
 * Traitor
 * Destiny's Way
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * The Final Prophecy
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
 * Tempest
 * Exile
 * Inferno
 * Fury
 * Crucible