Vagh Rodiek

Vagh Rodiek
Biological classification
Designation	Nonsentient
Physical characteristics
Skin color	Dark shades of green and brown
Eye color	Black
Distinctions	Four to six pointed, crab-like legs Pair of arms ending bone skewers Head-spines bristled puncturing quills
Sociocultural characteristics
Point of origin	Rodia (during Yuuzhan Vong War)
Language	Yuuzhan Vong (understand only)

The Vagh Rodiek (Yuuzhan Vong for "Rodian Slaves") were the offspring of the dreadful Yuuzhan Vong bioengineering and the result of genetic manipulation, vivisection, and brutal selective breeding. At the beginning of their conquest campaign, the race of invaders, the Yuuzhan Vong, subjugated the planet Rodia. The native Rodians were chosen to be radically altered and transformed into a new kind of mindless slave soldiers, like the Chazrach before them.

Appearance and biology

The former Rodians had been perverted beyond recognition and had lost the slightest trace of reason. The Yuuzhan Vong shapers merged Rodian biological material with parts of other creatures. The result of this horrific experiment was the creation of crab-like monstrosities known as Vagh Rodiek. The creatures moved on six or four pointed legs resembling those of arthropods; their thin arms had been replaced with half-meter bone hooks, and their small heads, the only feature that could reveal the terrible story of their creation, were now crowned with a sharpened crest of ossified bristles.

The slave-soldiers, created to be obedient and silent, were destined to go to the battlefields soon after their birth. The Vagh Rodiek fought under Yuuzhan Vong command alongside the Chazrach, a race of reptilian servitors who had shared a fate similar to that of the Rodians. The disfigured Rodians had lost the gift of speech; however, their new masters had endowed them with an understanding of the own language.

History

Rodia project

"My homeworld is about to suffer the most terrible depredations—"

―The rules of Rodia, Navik the Red

In 25 ABY, the extra-galactic race of invaders, the Yuuzhan Vong, launched a massive conquest campaign directed against all worlds of the Galactic community. Less than a year later after the beginning of the war, as part of the campaign to divide the Corellian Run, the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the planet Rodia. With the world broken, the invaders were free to do whatever they pleased: the planet’s polluted cities were obliterated with metal-eating microbes, and damutek laboratories were planted in the open jungles.

The Warmaster Tsavong Lah who ordered the experiments on the Rodians to begin

Although the Yuuzhan Vong occupied their homeworld, many Rodian fighters continued to put up fierce resistance from the dense forests. The invaders developed a grudging respect for the violence-loving Rodians. This opinion became so common that some believed the Rodians might be able to assume a role within Yuuzhan Vong society as favored slaves – once they had been subdued and properly shaped. The Warmaster Tsavong Lah personally ordered that the reshaping of the planet should not be limited to its environment but should also focus on the native Rodians. The Master Shaper Taug Molou was instructed to lead the Rodia project and to breed a new generation of tractable slave-soldiers. However, Molou did not merely wish to control the Rodians through coral implants – he sought to create an completely new biological species and was not afraid to violate religious protocols to achieve it. Thousands of Rodians died in vivisection chambers before the first Vagh Rodiek emerged from its birthing blister.

Further fate

The new race of slaves, little more than animals without the guidance of their Yuuzhan Vong masters, joined the ranks of the countless conquering horde. Nevertheless, Molou's creations found little practical use until the fall of Coruscant. The Vagh Rodiek were often made available to military commanders, particularly those operating near Hutt Space, where they replaced the Chazrach. A typical Vagh Rodiek strike unit consisted of three to twelve individuals. Presumably, the Vagh Rodiek, like other Yuuzhan Vong bioengineered creatures, were destroyed under the terms of the surrender or, just as likely, became part of the Yuuzhan Vong reshaped biosphere of Rodia.

Behind the scenes

"The Vagh Rodiek are awful, crab-like monstrosities created by Yuuzhan Vong shapers through the mutation of Rodian slaves. I created these things for the article "Being Yuuzhan Vong" (illustrated by Anthony Waters) in an issue of Star Wars Gamer, and I love referencing them when I can."

―Daniel Wallace's comment

The Vagh Rodiek first appeared in Daniel Wallace’s article "I, Yuuzhan Vong" in Star Wars Gamer 8 (2002). The creature was illustrated by artist Anthony Waters. Later, while working on The Essential Atlas (2009), Wallace added a mention of the Vagh Rodiek to the entry about Rodia.

Sources

• "I, Yuuzhan Vong" — Star Wars Gamer 8 (First mentioned)
• The New Essential Chronology
• The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. III, p. 290 ("vagh rodiek")
• The Essential Atlas

Notes and references

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