Nas Choka

"You have the unconditional fealty of your warriors, Fearsome One. They would follow your every order—even those orders that might countermand their faith."

- Battle Tactician of Yammka's Mount

Nas Choka was a distinguished Yuuzhan Vong warrior who rose through the ranks of his caste to become the final warmaster of his species. Known more as a tactician and strategist than a martial warrior, Choka participated in the Jamaane Coup of 27 BBY, which saw the ambitious Shimrra Jamaane become supreme overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong. Having pledged his support to the winning faction, Commander Choka was eventually able to attain the position of Supreme Commander of the flagship of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, as the armada traveled to the galaxy which Shimrra avowed was a promised reward for millennia spent in the intergalactic void. When the Yuuzhan Vong finally prosecuted their invasion in 25 ABY, Choka was still with the main body of the fleet. The invaders witnessed several setbacks until Choka took command of the vanguard and managed, by manipulating an alliance with the Hutts, to mount a major offensive against the New Republic's vital Fondor Shipyards. The battle went awry, however, when Choka lost half his attack force to the destructive capabilities of Centerpoint Station, an ancient construct in the nearby Corellian system. The vengeful supreme commander descended with his warfleet upon the Hutts, who had betrayed the Yuuzhan Vong at Fondor, and over the next two years laid waste to Hutt Space, conquering the entire territory.

The lengthy campaign against the Hutts reaffirmed Choka's reputation, and thus when his superior, Warmaster Tsavong Lah, met his death at the Battle of Ebaq 9, the supreme commander was escalated to the rank of warmaster in Lah's stead. Proving to be a very different leader of the warriors than Tsavong Lah ever was, Choka made headway against the reorganised New Republic with new tactics and agendas. The vendetta against the Jedi was called off, and several threats against the Yuuzhan Vong such as the Yevetha and the Ssi-ruuk were neutralised. A strike against the enemy's communications network also bore some success, but the war's end was rapidly drawing near. Forced, against his better judgment, to carry out a final, decisive strike against the Galactic Alliance's capital of Dac, Choka departed Shimrra's court with one of the war's largest armadas, tasked with finishing off the tenacious enemy. The warmaster made a swift return, however, to Coruscant&mdash;now Yuuzhan'tar&mdash;as he realised that the enemy was planning to reclaim their lost capital. In the last battle of the war, Choka conducted a strong defense of the Yuuzhan Vong capital, but was halted in his efforts by the news of the death of Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane. The warmaster chose not to join many of his fellow warriors in ritual suicide, and acted as the spokesperson of the Yuuzhan Vong during the Sekot Accords which ended the war. Following the surrender, Nas Choka accompanied his race to the living world of Zonama Sekot, thought to be a seed of the long lost Yuuzhan Vong homeworld.

The journey to war
"We are the Yuuzhan Vong. We have been entrusted with the true way, the true knowledge of the gods. Our duty is to bring every infidel in this galaxy to heel and either send them screaming to the gods or bring them to the true path. There is no middle ground, there is no faltering. And there can be no failure."

- Nas Choka

By the year 29 BBY, Nas Choka was a commander. The Yuuzhan Vong fleet was approaching the promised galaxy, and already at least one fleet was operating in the Unknown Regions, under the auspices of Supreme Commander Zho Krazhmir. It was in that region of the galaxy, however, that Krazhmir discovered Zonama Sekot, a living planet which bore a striking resemblance to Yuuzhan'tar, the original homeworld of the Yuuzhan Vong, destroyed millennia ago during the epic Cremlevian War. Krazhmir's report disconcerted Supreme Overlord Quoreal, the leader of the Yuuzhan Vong, who came to believe that Zonama Sekot was an omen of disaster. When Quoreal attempted to retreat from the planned invasion, it was Domain Jamaane that opposed him. Choka was a member of a high-ranking group of officers who sided with the ambitious domain and its fearsome leader, Shimrra Jamaane. Having pledged their allegiance to the Jamaane, as Choka believed that Shimrra recognized that the warriors needed their war, lest Yuuzhan Vong society further decline, the commander and his cohorts helped to bring about the Jamaane Coup, which saw Quoreal toppled from his throne and killed. Nas Choka went on to take part in the execution of the warriors and intendants who had supported the late supreme overlord. To the proclamation by Quoreal's priests that Zonama Sekot was an ill-omen for the Yuuzhan Vong, Choka remained skeptical, perceiving the declaration as an attempt to deny the warrior caste its invasion. The history of the Jamaane Coup was distorted and enshadowed, erased from the qang qahsa of the Yuuzhan Vong, all rumors of Zonama Sekot smothered&mdash;without success. Choka would witness as the stories of the living planet persisted, that it had defeated Krazhmir's forces in battle, and that it would bring ill tidings to the Yuuzhan Vong. Choka believed none of this, remaining loyal to Shimrra and trusting in the supreme overlord's communion with the gods. Indeed, it would be over half a standard century before Quoreal's priests were proven correct and their prophecy was fulfilled, all before the very eyes of the commander who would rise to become Warmaster Nas Choka.

Preparation and arrival
"Welcome, Supreme Commander Choka."

- Malik Carr

Choka gained a reputation more of a tactician than a martial warrior; a highly efficient leader whose military prowess and strategies facilitated the capture of many New Republic worlds, even before his arrival in the invasion corridor. In 25 ABY, the year the Yuuzhan Vong launched their assault on the galaxy, Choka possessed the rank of supreme commander of the flagship of the entire Yuuzhan Vong fleet &mdash;a Koros-strohna replete with its complement of warships and warriors. Supreme Commander Choka answered directly to the Yuuzhan Vong warmaster, Tsavong Lah, and remained appraised of the actions of the subordinate commanders who were already fighting in the galaxy.

Not every military operation, however, went soundly. The Praetorite Vong had already failed at Helska 4, Shedao Shai and his fleet were lost during the battle at Ithor, and before long the supreme commander received word that yet another Yuuzhan Vong scheme had come undone. Although the warrior caste was conquering worlds, cutting a swathe towards Coruscant], the New Republic capital, and the Core, such setbacks were most unwelcome for Choka. On this occasion, the priest Harrar, Executor Nom Anor, and Commander Tla had attempted to coordinate a strike against the Jedi, whose order was seen to present a threat to the success of the invasion. Utilizing a deception sect priestess, Elan, and guided by the strategies of Tla's battle tactician, Raff, Harrar and Anor had staged a false defection, which saw Elan surrender to the New Republic, whereupon it was planned that, having granted the defection verisimilitude by means of a series of "re-capture" attempts, the priestess would gain an audience with the Jedi and assassinate as many of the order as possible with a lethal bioweapon. Shortly after its inception, the deception ploy came undone. Elan was killed, much to the displeasure of her father, High Priest Jakan, and Nas Choka, at the time preparing forces at the shipwomb at Sernpidal, contacted Harrar and the other architects of the plot via villip in order to deliver his judgment. Nom Anor, already despised by Choka for his union with the ambitious Praetorite Vong, and a much-discussed figure at Shimrra's court, remained, as an intendant, outside the supreme commander's jurisdiction. Thus the executor, saved from demotion and further punishment due to his birth into the caste Choka so detested, escaped the warrior's wrath. Instead, Commander Tla and his battle tactician, Raff, were summoned forward to communicate with Choka. Choka blamed Tla, but ordered Raff to appraise him of the costliness of the scheme and the progress of the invasion. The tactician suggested either cannibalizing some of the larger ships of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet to replenish the losses suffered during the defection ploy, or to divert from the invasion path to conquer new worlds for the growth of the yorik coral which formed the main constituent of Yuuzhan Vong vessels. The tactician also appraised Choka of the opportunity presented by Hutt Space to attain these worlds, as Nom Anor had already entered into negotiations with the Hutt leaders, and of the fact that the New Republic had deployed its fleets and was beginning to put to use technology which could better oppose the Yuuzhan Vong. Choka took all this information into consideration; he rebuffed the notion of cannibalizing larger vessels, and dispatched Commander Malik Carr to Hutt Space to facilitate a false alliance. Harrar and Tla were, as punishment, recalled to the Outer Rim.

While Commander Carr and Nom Anor met with the Hutts and begun their negotiations with the species' leader, Borga Besadii Diori, Choka continued his preparations. He remained appraised of the situation in Hutt Space by Carr, and of Anor's involvement in the new scheme, which entailed leaking false intelligence to the Hutts and allowing it to reach the ears of New Republic Intelligence. The supreme commander was unconvinced, as Anor's failure over the Elan debacle was still fresh in his mind. Bearing the salutations of Warmaster Lah for Malik Carr and his troops, as well as a list of warriors whose actions merited promotion, Choka eventually set off from Sernpidal with his forces, among which was a young yammosk, creatures used by the Yuuzhan Vong to coordinate their warriors in battle. The supreme commander and his fleet arrived at the world of Runaway Prince, a planet bestwoed upon the Yuuzhan Vong by the Hutts as a gesture of good faith. There, with his commanders, subalterns and other troops, a richly attired Choka departed his Koros-strohna and boarded the Yammka, Malik Carr's warship, whereupon he was received in a lavish ceremony. Ten thousand warriors lined his passage, with incense, perfumes and music filling the air, and a selection of 200 captives from the conquered planet Gyndine cowering in a corner of the reception chamber. Ceremoniously, Malik Carr approached Choka and transferred command of his forces to the superior warrior. The supreme commander took his seat on a raised dais and addressed the assembled warriors. Firstly, he passed on Tsavong Lah's congratulations for their successes in the opening stages of the invasion, as well as his own, before moving on to the matter of promotions. A subordinate proclaimed the list of those to be escalated, and before the congregation four subalterns were affixed with cloaks of command. Choka then announced the end of the escalation ceremonies before turning to the pressing matter of Executor Nom Anor. Rather than escalate the intendant, as Anor expected, Choka criticized the executor heavily, condemning his alliance with the Praetorite Vong, as well as his role in the death of Elan. The two held a brief dispute, before Choka's curiousity had him ask Anor just what was so special about Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order and why they demanded such costly attention. When Anor attempted to explain the threat posed to the Yuuzhan Vong by the Force, the supreme commander dismissed the notion, citing the True Way of the Yuuzhan Vong religion to be far superior to the "idea" of the Force. Having exhausted the conversation, Choka was informed of Carr's and Anor's plan to conquer the Core Worlds, and that there was to be a hasty departure in order to put the next stage of the campaign into effect. Before the supreme commander accompanied Anor and his subordinate, he warned the executor against the dangers of personal ambition. With that, the Gydine captives were sacrificed, and Choka, Carr and Anor set off for the world of Tynna.

To take Fondor
Tynna, whilst an important conquest in that its waters could furnish the Yuuzhan Vong with massive dovin basals with which to strip planetary shields, or creatures, such as the ychna, with which to attack constructs in space, was nevertheless only another step in Malik Carr's and Nom Anor's scheme to deal a crippling blow to the New Republic. Knowing that the Hutts would secretly communicate information on the Yuuzhan Vong to New Republic Intelligence in order to prevent themselves from making an enemy of either force, Carr and Anor had given Borga and the other Hutts details of the next locations the Yuuzhan Vong would be attacking. They stated Tynna, Corellia and Bothawui to be the three upcoming targets, whereas in fact it was the shipyards at Fondor which remained the true goal. Attacking Tynna, however, encouraged the New Republic to trust the Hutt intelligence sources which had provided information on the planet being one of the next Yuuzhan Vong targets. A New Republic spy ship was observed monitoring the conquest of Tynna, and thus Choka, Carr and Anor knew that the New Republic now awaited strikes at Corellia or Bothawui, as the Hutt intelligence on the first of the three targets had been proven correct. Having routed the 200 starfighters and other forces defending Tynna, Choka and Carr traveled down to the Tanallay Surge complex on the planet's surface, leaving their fleet in orbit.

Supreme Commander Choka, along with his subordinate, approached the Tynnan delegation outside the structure, but the Yuuzhan Vong officer was not interested in communicating with the inhabitants of the planet, who had been tricked by Peace Brigaders into handing over the world to the Yuuzhan Vong. Instead, Choka signaled a drop ship, which released a host of biotoxins into the waters surrounding the Surge complex. Within moments, the bio-forming of Tynna's oceans was underway. His task completed, Nas Choka returned with his ships to the fleet over Runaway Prince and boarded the Yammka, where a villip relay had been set up to contact Warmaster Tsavong Lah. Genuflecting before the villip's facisimile of the leader of the warrior caste, Choka apprised Lah of the Fondor ploy. To assuage Lah's doubts, Choka informed the warmaster that preparations for the attack on the shipyards were already underway; yorik-et starfighter pilots were readying themselves for the ramming tactics which would wipe out the shipyards, along with any berthed starships, and dovin basal mines were being prepared, with which to seed hyperspace routes between Fondor and its connected systems. Carr also told the warmaster of the trap at Corellia, being set up by the New Republic. The Kuati senator Viqi Shesh, who was passing intelligence to the Yuuzhan Vong, had alerted her new masters to the deception in the Corellian system, but had not specified the nature or capabilities of the trap&mdash;Centerpoint Station, an ancient construct able, with pulses of gravitic energy, to induce supernovas in stars or swat whole fleets out of space. For the time being, the Yuuzhan Vong saw fit to avoid the unknown threat of the Corellian system, but this crucial lack of knowledge concerning the New Republic trap there would almost bring about the end of Choka's career.



As the time to strike at Fondor drew closer, Choka visited Borga Besadii Diori on Nal Hutta along with Carr and Anor. The Yuuzhan Vong officer toyed with the Hutt, making unsubtle indications that Nal Hutta and its environs could fall his forces whenever he or his superior chose. Choka also rebuffed Borga's offer of transporting slaves. Thus, the meeting was conducted with a good deal of tension, as the Yuuzhan Vong and Hutt retinues faced each other while Choka intimated his dominance over the Hutt. Matters escalated when, after Choka asked the Hutt if her species could obtain a Jedi Knight for the Yuuzhan Vong, Borga announced that one&mdash;Wurth Skidder&mdash;was already aboard a Yuuzhan Vong vessel, the Crèche, in the company of her son Randa Besadii Diori. Choka grew angry at the fact that his subordinate on the vessel, Chine-kal, had failed to notify him of this and demanded that he contact the commander. Borga offered her communications device and Choka rounded on the Hutt, insulting and threatening her. The supreme commander communicated with Chine-kal, whose yammosk-bearing clustership was nearing Kalarba in preparation for the jump to Fondor. The supreme commander ordered Chine-kal to remain in the Kalarba system. Before he left Nal Hutta, he warned Borga that if the Hutts betrayed the Yuuzhan Vong, Hutt Space would be conquered. If they remained loyal, however, Choka promised that the kajidics could keep their holdings. Shortly after the Yuuzhan Vong delegation departed, Borga sent word to the Jedi that Skidder could be located along with the Crèche at Kalarba.

In the process of making the final preparations for the attack, Choka and Carr received word that the Crèche had been attacked at Kalarba and was now traveling to Fondor in advance of the main force. This development forced Choka to accelerate his plans, but with the New Republic fleets massed at other worlds, expecting a strike on Corellia, and the hyperspace routes linking Bothawui to Fondor mined, there was little risk in a premature attack. The supreme commander led his armada to Fondor. Against Choka's massive numerical advantage, the New Republic First Fleet, tasked with the defense of the shipyards, was rapidly overwhelmed. Yorik-et pilots acted as ramships in scores, obliterating the thirty berthed vessels, the shipyard annexes, orbital defenses, and driving down to the planet below. The Yuuzhan Vong fleet fanned out, commencing an orbital bombardment of Fondor and driving back the First Fleet. The Crèche was assaulted and boarded, a short distance from the main battle, Choka dispatched warships to aid Chine-kal. Then, as a Hapan warfleet emerged from hyperspace from the direction of Commenor, a column of energy blazed through the system. On distant Corellia, Centerpoint Station had been fired, and its beam punched through both the newly arrived Hapans and Choka's armada without slowing. In an instant, two-thirds of the New Republic's reinforcements were gone, along with half of the supreme commander's fleet. Choka and his confederates were astounded. In the midst of the confusion, Chine-kal contacted the Yuuzhan Vong officer and relayed the news that the yammosk was dead and that it had been the Hutts who had betrayed the location of the Crèche. Disgusted, Nas Choka ordered the remaining half of his forces to prepare to leave. Having inflicted some parting damage on the ruined shipyards and their defenders, the Yuuzhan Vong departed.

Redemption in Hutt Space
"Now we have a score to settle with the Hutts."

- Nas Choka

Although Choka believed that his forces had achieved their aims at Fondor, destroying its production capabilities, the battle was seen as a disaster by many in the Yuuzhan Vong hierachy. In an attempt to reassert his reputation, Supreme Commander Choka visited his vengeance upon the Hutts. Malik Carr, for his part, was demoted following the Fondor debacle, relegated to overseeing prisoners on the backwater planet of Selvaris, far from the forefront of the invasion. The two warriors, however, would cross paths again before the war was ended.

Warmaster Choka
After Tsavong Lah's death, Choka became Warmaster. While he had earned genuine victories in Hutt Space, Choka did not initially gain the reverence most Warmasters possessed, which Nom Anor suspected was mostly due to Shimrra's fickle nature. It may have also had something to do with his radical change of tactics: unlike past Warmasters, Choka would withdraw his forces if he felt the battle was lost, something in stark contrast with the codes of the Warrior caste. He also rewarded commanders who would do that, since he felt that most warriors had little sense of battle than to fight and die.

He also shifted priorities back toward attacking the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances rather than the Jedi, whom he felt were a mere "nuisance". While Warmaster, he engaged in considerably less politics than Lah, though he did enjoy the humiliation that the Intendant caste suffered during Shimrra's purge of the Jeedai heresy.

Dac
When Shimrra ordered an attack on Mon Calamari, Choka urged caution, saying that they should secure the planets they currently held. During the Battle of Mon Calamari, Choka's fears proved well founded, but in the last way he imagined: Zonama Sekot arrived in the Coruscant system, forcing Choka to withdraw back to Yuuzhan'tar.

The defense of Yuuzhan'tar
During the Liberation of Coruscant, Choka was ordered to escort a Slayer ship to Sekot. With the death of Shimrra, Choka became de facto Supreme Overlord. Believing the Gods had abandoned them, he ordered his soldiers to cease combat, and to either join him in surrender or Shimrra in death.

The last warmaster
He intended to kill himself after the formal surrender, but was convinced not to. While horrified at the prospect at living on Zonama Sekot, he relented, and fully enforced the terms of surrender. The living world, Zonama Sekot, took the remaining Yuuzhan Vong away, including Nas Choka.

Appearances

 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
 * Balance Point
 * Destiny's Way
 * Force Heretic I: Remnant
 * Force Heretic III: Reunion
 * The Final Prophecy
 * The Unifying Force