Yevetha

"Your wars are decided by the death of a tenth of a population, a third of an army. Then the defeated surrender their honor and the victors surrender their advantage. This is called being civilized. The Yevetha are not civilized, General. It would be a mistake to deal with us as though we were."

- Nil Spaar

The Yevetha were a lithe, skeletal species indigenous to N'zoth in the Koornacht Cluster, known for their xenophobia and death-centered culture.

Biology and appearance
"We Yevetha are skilled in matters of making. It is a gift of our very being. These hands are sure. These minds learn quickly."

- Nil Spaar

Physically, the Yevetha stood almost two meters tall, and had large black eyes and light gray skin, ghoulish in appearance and bereft of body hair. They were noted as being a mammalian species with a thin, bony humanoid form. The males of the species possessed two pairs of crests, one of which was on the upper jaw and the second one on the lower jaw. The primary crests swelled up red during mating or when a Yevetha was in combat. Female Yevetha, however, did not possess this aspect in their physiology. Their skin incorporated a vestigial form of armor that went down the back of their necks and down their spine. Yevetha brains were located in their thoraxes where they were protected by thick bone that served as brain cages. They also possessed fine hair cells that ran as indentations along their temples which provided auditory senses.

Each hand possessed six fingers, but the most notable feature of Yevethan physiology was their dew claws, housed in sheathes on the underside of each wrist. These blades extended to about a foot in length, and were used in close combat and blood sacrifices. The Yevetha also appeared to possess a greater tolerance to g-forces when compared to Human pilots.

Young Yevetha were gestated by the females laying eggs in a detachable external birth cask which were known as mara-nas. When formed, they were often kept in special rooms in order to mature. If these children remained within these casks past birth than they were referred to as nestings. The unborn children fed on blood which was typically from the mother though they could be fed by any sacrificed Yevetha. The developing Yevetha's need for blood was an essential part of their harsh culture. In rare cases, these birth casks were capable of giving birth to serial twins that were generally identical except for their age.

Yevetha were known to suffer from a disease called gray death, but the symptoms were unknown. Though it was extremely rare, some Yevetha were born genderless. These genetic curiosities were white and pale in appearance with their gender indicating them to be neither male or female.

Society and culture
Yevethan culture was organized into a strict hierarchical system headed by the Darama. Politically, Yevethan society was led by a Viceroy, who also operated as the chief of state for the Duskhan League. The Darama and Viceroy were linked positions, connecting Yevethan spirituality and politics. Departments of governance, commerce, science, and culture were led by Proctors, and supported by various guilds. This structure was mirrored in the Yevethan military and shipboard staffs led by Primates. Their technical capabilities meant that they were quite capable of simply studying mechanical readouts and not only duplicate technology but even improve upon it. This meant that their guildsmen were excellent workers and quite capable starship designers. This uncanny knack for technology was just another reason for the Yevetha to think so highly of themselves.

Within their society, blood was an important aspect of their culture and was a central focus of their religious belief system. This had resulted in them becoming a particularly violent species. For the Yevetha, death was not to be feared. They were described as being dutiful, attentive, cautious but also fatalistic in their view of the universe. When fighting against other foes, Yevetha were notable for being ruthless fighters who never surrendered even in the face of certain defeat. Due to the brutal nature of their society, the Yevetha did not possess a single jail, penitentiary or stockade as they believed there was no need for such facilities. In fact, they did not possess a word in their language for either convict or incarcerate.

Yevetha possessed a highly stratified society that consisted of a number of different castes. Those of low ranking castes were never able to ascend to the higher ranking ones though it was known that a higher caste individual was capable of being "demoted" to a lower caste. Despite the status of these subordinate castes, it was considered a better alternative to being classed as an alien. This was because of the xenophobia of the species as even a lower caste member was considered to be still a Yevethan while aliens were considered little more than vermin. Another element within their society that stemmed from the caste system was the concept of Dominance killings where murder was only accepted if a higher ranking Yevetha killed those of a lower status. The killing of a low ranking Yevetha was considered perfectly acceptable by the higher castes. This strict hierarchy that dominated their lives meant that many young male Yevetha lived in the knowledge that at any moment, their superior was capable of killing them simply because of their blood.

Sacrifice, particularly to provide blood for a birth cask of an important Yevetha, was considered an honor to the family of the sacrificed Yevetha. Birth casks were often placed in breederies which were considered to be private locations. On certain occasions, a Yevetha was known to meet with visitors by the alcoves. In support of high ranking Yevetha, there was typically a breeding assistant who administered the arrival of sacrificial Yevetha for the birthing casks in order to feed them. The Yevetha considered twins lucky and it was believed in their tradition that such individuals also passed on their blessing at will by simple breath, touch and even blood. It was common for nitakka to spar, embedding young Yevetha with a unique set of fighting instincts: "the closest threat is the greatest threat&mdash;in a fight of unequal numbers, dispatch your weakest opponent first to discourage others from joining a fight against you, charge a newcomer immediately&mdash;hold nothing back when you go to kill." These instincts were difficult to suppress, producing erratic battlefield results for inexperienced military crews.

While the lower classes were treated with nothing but contempt, the reaction of the race to other non-Yevetha was even more severe. The Yevetha were considered one of the most xenophobic and bigoted species within the galaxy. In fact, they considered non-Yevetha to be little more than vermin. This was partly attributed to the relative youth of their homeworld and its location where the stars were masked by the brightness of the Koornatch Cluster. As such, the Yevetha believed themselves to be the only intelligent beings in existence. Following contact and their initial enslavement, this attitude was only slightly altered as the race now believed that they were the only worthy species in existence and that all other races were to be exterminated. This xenophobia extended to such a level that they refused to learn alien languages such as Basic as they found it being repulsive. In order to communicate with "vermin", many high ranking Yevetha made those of the lower castes learn the language in order to serve as translators. While this was the case, there were certain cadres of high ranking Yevetha that deigned to learn alien languages as they believed there were certain things not meant to be heard by the subordinate castes.

Their sheer belief in their status as being the only intelligent life in existence centers from even ancient times on their homeworld. In fact, it was known that not even a single member of their greatest thinkers had even considered the concept of there being the presence of other forms of sentient life on other worlds. Ultimately, it was held that while they had rapidly advanced on a technological basis, their culture was still in an adolescent stage of development.

History
"I'm beginning to wonder if the greatest indignity that the Empire subjected the Yevetha to wasn't holding them to a higher standard of behavior."

- Leia Organa Solo

A relatively young species, the ancient Yevethan's had only evolved on their home planet of N'zoth around 50,000 years ago. Since that time, they had quickly advanced on their homeworld and in isolation to any other form of sentient life. The position of their planet meant that the race never knew there were other stars in the galaxy. This along with a combination of their rapid evolution, isolation and harsh environment produced a culture that was highly xenophobic. This also established an internal concept of superiority. In fact, the Yevetha believed themselves to had been the only intelligent species in existence. Eventually, their race perfected space travel and their expansion into space led them to colonize eleven other nearby worlds. This came shortly after they had developed a planetary wide governing hierarchical system. This in turn led to the establishment of the Yevethan Protectorate that consisted of the original daughter worlds settled by real space ships that operated without hyperdrive and became collectively known as "The Twelve". On such worlds, the Yevetha only encountered animal forms of life which preserved their concept of being the only intelligent species in the universe.

At this point in their history, the species was well within the information age and at the cusp of the space age on a technological level. Over the millennia, the Yevetha continued to live in relative peace and their beliefs remained unchallenged until the arrival of the Galactic Empire. At the time during the early years of the Empire, Imperial forces began to expand into the Koornacht Cluster where the Yevetha quickly fell before this invaders might. It was quickly noted by the Empire that the Yevetha had a rapid ability to learn new skills. After subjugating N'zoth and its nearby star systems, Imperial forces built the Black 15 shipyards, and put the Yevetha to work as skilled slave labor for building, repairing, and modifying vessels of the Imperial Starfleet. Despite their enslavement, the Yevetha resisted partly which led to a number of sabotage attempts at the shipyards. Even with this being the case, the Black Fleet shipyards were noted for their excellence with its reputation resulting in it being considered the finest conscript facility within the Empire.

The Imperial Governor of the Cluster took several females as pleasure slaves for his staff, and gave the males to his stormtroopers for target practice. The mutilated bodies were then put on display at schools and sacred sites. They were also broadcasted on public information channels that all Yevetha were forced to watch twice a day. When subjugation was not working as well, children were taken from their parents.

One year after the Battle of Endor, an Imperial garrison at N'zoth was ordered to destroy the repair yard. Before they could initiate the mass killing of all slaves as well as the destruction of the shipyard itself, an assault was led by Nil Spaar to counter the mass slave executions. He took advantage of the Empire's view of the Yevetha as a brainwashed, mindless species and seized control of the yards and killed or enslaved any surviving Imperials. When the Imperial garrison finally reached the the shipyards they found seven thousand freed Yevethan prisoners, as well as the remains of over fifteen thousand dead Imperial soldiers. Fearing the same fate, the Imperial garrison never returned.

Over the next decade and a half, the Yevetha developed their technical capabilities. They created new starship shielding, gravity bombs, an Aramadia-class thrustships, and D-type fighters. They also established the Duskhan League, which grew to encompass thirteen worlds. The Yevethan fleet was dubbed the Black Fleet, in a twisted version of its predecessor, the Galactic Empire Black Sword Command.

In 16 ABY, the Dushkan League came out of isolation and engaged the New Republic. A delegation, led by Viceroy Nil Spaar, arrived at Coruscant to seek a peaceful co-existence. Nil Spaar used the New Republic's lack of intelligence on the Dushkan League as well as their senatorial political conflict to his advantage. Nil extended his negotiations with Chief of State Leia Organa Solo over a period of weeks and played into her empathy towards a species subjugated by the Empire. This allowed him to cultivate assets on Coruscant, and set off a series of political machinations, sowing confusion amongst the New Republic.



Nil Spaar returned to his people, and with the New Republic in disarray, the Yevetha launched a campaign of brutal expansion and colonization. The Yevethan Purge saw the elimination of entire species, such as the Corasgh. They also destroyed communities like the Norat Sovereignty, and colonized many nearby star systems in the Koornacht Cluster. In the following weeks, foiled reconnaissance efforts by the New Republic prompted an armed conflict between the Dushkan League, its hidden Black Fleet, and the New Republic Defense Force's new Fifth Battle Group. For more details on the political and military conflict, see Black Fleet Crisis.

The conflict concluded with a Yevethan loss at the Battle of N'zoth as well as the reported death of Nil Spaar at the hands of Sil Sorannan. The victorious New Republic disarmed the Yevetha and kept them under close watch. Active Republic patrols were eventually removed by at least 25 ABY. Following their defeat, the palace of the Viceroy remained just as Nil Spaar had left it with many Yevetha holding on to the hope that their leader will return some day.

Since no one had entered the N'zoth system since the Battle of N'zoth, this allowed the Yevetha to build an even larger force than before. It consisted of more than ten thousand Aramadia-class thrustships. Once the new Yevetha fleet had been built, the Galantos Guard encountered the Yuuzhan Vong. In exchange for what the Galantos believed to be protection from the extragalactic invaders, they informed the Yuuzhan Vong of the brutal Yevetha and their eminent threat. Taking heed, the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the N'zoth system. In the subsequent battle, the Yuuzhan Vong emerged victorious. Although no records exist of the actual battle, it was inferred that every single Yevethan ship in the system was destroyed due to the nature of the combatants. The Yuuzhan Vong proceeded to orbitally bombard N'zoth, rendering the planet a molten wasteland.

The besieged Yevetha continued to refuse outside help, and were eventually rendered nearly extinct. While many believed the species to had been destroyed, it was speculated by some that their expansionist tendencies might had resulted in some colonies that escaped the notice of the Yuuzhan Vong. In fact, after the fall of N'zoth, it was estimated that fewer than ten thousand Yevetha were still alive in the galaxy.

Appearances

 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * Before the Storm
 * Shield of Lies
 * Tyrant's Test
 * The New Rebellion
 * Dark Tide I: Onslaught
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * Force Heretic I: Remnant
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * The Unifying Force

Notes and references
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