Revolt aboard the Tsam P'ah

"There are far more people on this ship&mdash;more slaves&mdash;than there are Yuuzhan Vong. We can take them if we're together."

- Kaye Galfridian

During the first year of the Yuuzhan Vong War, a revolt took place aboard the Yuuzhan Vong slaveship Tsam P'ah. Aboard the vessel were thousands of prisoners, taken by the Yuuzhan Vong from many worlds. These prisoners were to be used as slaves on the conquered planet Artorias. On Artorias' surface, the Artorias resistance had killed many Yuuzhan Vong guards and replacements were required from the Tsam P'ah. With the reduced number of guards aboard the slaveship, the prisoners used this opportunity to revolt. Kaye Galfridian and Arbeloa led the prisoners in their cell in an attack against their guards. Outside their cell, the prisoners continued their rebellion, freeing thousands of other captives and killing the remaining Yuuzhan Vong guards and the slaveship's commander. With the ship now under the prisoners' control, they escaped Artorias and renamed the ship Heart of Artorias.

Prelude
"You have the commander's trust?''" "Almost." "And you will use this trust against him?" "''When the time is right."

- Arbeloa and Kaye Galfridian

In 25 ABY, the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy, intent on conquering and enslaving its inhabitants. One of the planets that fell to the invaders was Artorias. Many of its people were imprisoned aboard the slaveship Tsam P'ah. Artorias' Queen, Nina Galfridian, and Princess, Kaye Galfridian, were among those captured. The Tsam P'ah remained in orbit above Artorias, as the prisoners were to work as slaves on the planet's surface after it had been Vongformed.

The slaveship's commander, Sha'kel, wanting to put his study of Galactic Basic into practice, ordered the Artorian Queen brought before him. As she was looking after a wounded friend, the Queen refused, but her daughter volunteered to go in her place. The commander told her of the Yuuzhan Vong's plans for the galaxy, and how they would teach the galaxy about pain. To illustrate his point, Sha'Kel stabbed her in the shoulder.

Back among the other prisoners, Kaye found that her mother's friend had died. Later, her mother fell in a catatonic state due to everything that she had lost.

Through her talks with the slaveship's commander, Kaye slowly gained his trust. However, she secretly worked on a plan to strike against her captors. Arbeloa was one the people who was eager to fight for her, in exchange for Sha'kel's head. He worked on overcoming his bounds to aid her when the time for a revolt was right.

The revolt
"It's lucky you like pain. Because this is going to hurt."

- Kaye Galfridian to Commander Sha'kel

Meanwhile, on Artorias' surface, the Artorias resistance had been working to disrupt the planet's Vongforming. Many of the Yuuzhan Vong sentries were killed, and replacements were needed from the Tsam P'ah. The slaveship landed on the planet to deliver the reinforcements. Realizing this was a perfect moment to strike, Kaye and Arbeloa set their plan in motion.

Acting as though Arbeloa had captured Kaye&mdash;the commander's pet &mdash;and wanted to trade her for his freedom, they managed to lure two Yuuzhan Vong guards into their cell. The two guards realized too late they had walked into a trap, as the entire population of the cell attacked them. The two guards killed and wounded many prisoners, but in the end, they were overpowered. After the battle, Kaye placed two Twi'lek women in charge of her catatonic mother and had the arm of one the guards brought to her by another prisoner. Using the device attached to the guard's arm, Kaye opened their cell.

Before venturing forth, Arbeloa and other prisoners created weapons by breaking off parts of their surroundings. Outside their cell, the prisoners continued fighting the Yuuzhan Vong guards and opening other cells, freeing thousands of other captives. Many of the prisoners died in the struggle, but with their superiority in numbers, they eventually managed to overcome their captors. After all the guards had been killed, Kaye led Arbeloa to the command center to make good on her promise: Sha'kel's head. Arbeloa cut off the commander's head, and would later fashion it into a hat.

Aftermath
"We have a ship full of people who we must see safe. And something else&mdash;we have a ship capable of helping other refugees of this war."

- Nina Galfridian

With all the Yuuzhan Vong dead, the prisoners were in charge of the slaveship. They were not safe, however, as the Yuuzhan Vong still had a big army stationed on the planet. The Queen, having recovered from her catatonic state after noticing the resistance on Artorias and realizing her husband must still be alive, assumed command of the ship through the cognition throne Commander Sha'kel had used earlier. She jumped the ship away from Artorias to help other refugees of the Yuuzhan Vong War. Eventually the ship, renamed Heart of Artorias, arrived at the Battle of Dibrook.

Behind the scenes
The plan to revolt was first mentioned in a conversation between Kaye Galfridian and Arbeloa in the third issue of the Dark Horse Comics series Invasion, released on September 2, 2009. The actual revolt, however, did not take place until the fourth issue of Invasion, which came out on October 7, 2009. The fifth issue of the series, released on November 4, 2009, continued the plotline and brought it to a conclusion. Kaye would later relate the events to Captain Ogden in the sixth issue of Invasion, the first part of the Rescues story-arc, which was available on May 26, 2010. Arbeloa later mentioned Kaye Galfridian's role in the revolt in the eight issue of the series, which was released on July 28, 2010. All Invasion issues were written by Tom Taylor, illustrated by Colin Wilson, and colored by Wes Dzioba.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Invasion 3: Refugees, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Invasion 4: Refugees, Part 4
 * Star Wars: Invasion 5: Refugees, Part 5
 * Star Wars: Invasion 6: Rescues, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Invasion 8: Rescues, Part 3