Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/August 20, 2009



Shedao Shai was a Yuuzhan Vong warrior and commander who, following the defeat of the Praetorite Vong advance force at Helska 4, led the fleet that attacked the Outer Rim of the galaxy during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Respected, skilled and devoted to the worship of pain, Shai had his own agenda as he drove deeper into New Republic territory. The warrior sought to recover the remains of his grandfather, Mongei Shai, who had perished fifty years before on a scouting mission for the invasion fleet. Upon his arrival on Bimmiel, the planet on which his ancestor had died, Shai discovered that a pair of Jedi had taken the remains for the purpose of biological study. The furious commander vowed revenge, hunting for the Jedi as he continued to conquer worlds. His opportunity came in the form of New Republic Senator Elegos A'Kla, who approached the Yuuzhan Vong in order to discover more about the race that had so suddenly attacked the galaxy. Shai learned much from the Caamasi senator, although their companionship caused his subordinates to question the commander's motive in inducting A'Kla in the ways of the Yuuzhan Vong.

When Shai became aware that A'Kla was well acquainted with one of the Jedi from Bimmiel, Corran Horn, he slew the senator, preparing the Caamasi's corpse for burial as he would have done his grandfather's, before dispatching the remains to Horn. This vengeful gesture incited a private vendetta between the commander and the Jedi, which would see its denouement during the Battle of Ithor. At Ithor, Shai's forces clashed with those of the New Republic and of the Imperial Remnant. His ground assault thwarted, the commander was approached by Horn with a challenge. The two would duel for the fate of Ithor, with Horn pledging to return Mongei Shai's remains to the commander if killed, and Shai promising that the planet would be spared if he fell to the Jedi's lightsaber. The duel was brutal and resulted in the end of Shedao Shai's life; the warrior fell on the surface of the planet, but his subordinate Deign Lian razed Ithor nonetheless. Following Shai's death, his domain was disgraced, its warriors relegated to tending the ships of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, far from the glory of battle.