Yammosk

This bio-creation was one of the most distinctive within the bestiary of the Yuuzhan Vong empire. Yuuzhan Vong biotechnology was generally not self-aware, but yammosks were at least partially sentient. Physically, yammosks resembled huge brains, kept in vats, which trailed thousands of tentacles. Its only solid bodily structure was its single tooth, which was hidden within its boneless flesh. The tooth was capable of burying itself against an object with incredible force, allowing it to break through rock and ice, which it did by the secretion of acids. After breaking through an obstacle, the yammosk began the process of burying itself in a crevasse which served as its "home."

A yammosk was spawned rather than created. Immature members of this species were required to be partially submerged in nutrient liquid, but in time they became full air breathers. When they were young, they were quite pliant. On certain occasions, yammosks were placed on covert missions, where the creature linked the minds of Yuuzhan Vong commandos. This provided such operatives with a secured means of communications as their thoughts were linked to one another.

A yammosk was considered the physical form of the Yuuzhan Vong god Yun-Yammka, the Slayer body manifested onto the mortal plane. In addition to forming a friendship with a commander, they were also tended to by a yammosk keeper.

A yammosk was an incredibly powerful organism that served as a type of biological Battle Analysis Computer. It did this through empathic abilities that bordered on telepathy, and the creature was capable of communicating by the manipulation of gravitational waves. Using this, it was typically given control over a brood of dovin basals which were slaved to it. The yammosk typically saw its charges as its children and attempted to protect them and when endangered, coordinated their actions in battle.

As such, these war biots had a single goal: the coordination of the Yuuzhan Vong's invasion forces. Its abilities allowed it to coordinate landing operations, starfighter battles and even long full-scale sieges. The capacity to sense gravitic signatures allowed it to keep track of other Yuuzhan Vong vessels. If the yammosk was destroyed or badly injured, a Yuuzhan Vong war force typically descended into chaos without the guiding influence of its yammosk.

These creatures were described as possessing limitless energy and had enormous battlefield advantages. In at least one case, the intense energies used to control its forces meant that enemy ships were rendered inoperative if they flew too close to the planet where the yammosk resided. This same yammosk was capable of projecting powerful energy beams, though this specimen was later described as being "defective."

When spawning a new yammosk, the parent entered a mental link with its offspring, whereupon all its knowledge was transferred to the new war coordinator. Each yammosk was carefully protected and pampered—unusual for a war biot. To further enhance a growing yammosk, slaves were often confined in a yammosk vat with orders to massage its tentacles. This provided the yammosk with companionship but was a terrifying experience for the slaves, because the yammosk could mentally manipulate and communicate with them. Growing yammosks were kept in fluid that smelled like a combination of garlic and nlora perfume.

To further their effectiveness in battle, high-ranking Yuuzhan Vong commanders were required to develop a rapport with their yammosks, allowing them to command their forces in battle. This was done by gently touching the thick blue vein that ran between the yammosk's eyes. Through this means, a yammosk was capable of influencing the minds of all Yuuzhan Vong combatants within range by the use of gravitic waves.

Their unique nature meant that a yammosk was perfectly capable of recognizing a Jedi in its midst, as it sensed the presence of the Force. However, it was stated that this was due to the yammosk parent's previous experience with the Jedi.

A yammosk's control over its forces was capable of being disrupted through the use of gravitic amplitude modulators. This essentially jammed the gravitic spectrum of the yammosk, making it difficult for it to control its brood. However, if a second yammosk was present in the battlefield, it could take over command without any hindrance to the Yuuzhan Vong forces.

Over the course of the Yuuzhan Vong War, when the New Republic developed a means to disrupt the war coordinator's control, the Yuuzhan Vong's shapers were tasked with developing a yammosk species immune to the enemy's technology.

The yammosk had a number of species which were distant kin to it. These included the telepathic jamming shreeyam'tiz, the world coordinator dhuryam and the Grotto of Yun-Ne'Shel.

The Shamed One Onimi gained the ability to connect to the Force by grafting yammosk cells onto his brain, which resulted in his deformed appearance.

The first yammosk was said to have taken centuries to create and perfect, but the resultant war-biot was so valuable that it became an integral asset to the Yuuzhan Vong's war machine. Before the Yuuzhan Vong War, Executor Nom Anor procured a yammosk for the Praetorite Vong in order for them to gain a stronghold in the galaxy. This creature was later described as "defective."

In 25 ABY, the Praetorite Vong worldships under the command of Prefect Da'Gara possessed a yammosk within their ranks. After they made their entry through Vector Prime, the invasion force settled in the Helska system, where they made a base on the fourth ice world. The yammosk itself later departed its craft, cracked the ice with its mighty tooth and established a base for itself deep underwater, where it nested near the heart of the world, which kept it warm. This creature was later used during the Breaking of captured Jedi Knight Miko Reglia, where it projected countless visions of him dying. This war coordinator was instrumental in commanding the Yuuzhan Vong forces against the New Republic military that attacked them and easily repelled these forces. At the time, the yammosk was also ready to spawn with its offspring and planned to settle on the neighboring world of Dubrillion. However, the war coordinator was ultimately killed during the Battle of Helska IV.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, the next reported sighting of a yammosk was during an experiment that was being conducted by the Yuuzhan Vong. This involved a number of captured members of numerous species being placed on board the Cluster Crèche, where the slaves were taught to soothe the war coordinator present on the ship. While unknown to many, this yammosk was vital in a plot to devastate the Fondor system and its important shipyards. The Jedi Wurth Skidder had infiltrated the Clustership and sought to influence the yammosk by forming a rift between the Yuuzhan Vong and their new Hutt allies by making it inform its commander that the Hutt were going to betray them. However, the creature's parent had experience with Jedi before, leading to his discovery and capture. Ultimately, this war coordinator did not participate in the Battle of Fondor due to an operation planned by Kyp Durron to rescue Skidder. Kyp Durron later slayed the yammosk as revenge for the Breaking of his friend Skidder, leading to the death of the Clustership, as it was linked to the creature, which in turn brought about the death of the vessel's crew.

A single yammosk was captured by the New Jedi Order and was transferred to Eclipse Station, where Cilghal attempted to study it. However, when the planet Eclipse was attacked by a Yuuzhan Vong armada, the yammosk signaled a coralskipper to attack it and destroy the captured yammosk to prevent it being interrogated by the enemy. A yammosk's ability to manipulate gravitational waves as a mode of communication was discovered by Danni Quee, which allowed the New Republic to locate yammosks in capital ships and target them during battles. Later it became possible to jam the yammosk's communication, dramatically lessening the efficiency of the Yuuzhan Vong fleets.

In 28 ABY, the New Republic Intelligence Service determined that Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane was heading to the library world of Obroa-skai in order to consult a vital piece of information for the war. This led to a plan to kill the Yuuzhan Vong leader, which was led by Jaina Solo, who attempted to use the captured enemy ship known as the Trickster to sneak into the enemy lines and cause chaos within their fleets. This also included a jamming of the war coordinator on the planet Obroa-skai, to shatter the enemies' coordination. However, initially, there was no diminishment within the Yuuzhan Vong forces, until it was realized that the suspected ship carrying the Supreme Overlord was carrying its own yammosk, which had taken command of the warriors after the primary one had been jammed. Ultimately, this yammosk was killed during the battle.

As a result of the enemy jamming efforts, Yuuzhan Vong pilots were given training to better themselves in combat in case their commanding yammosk was destroyed in battle. After the war, it's possible the yammosks were reincorporated into the wildlife on Zonama Sekot.

• The Essential Guide to Alien Species
• "Who's Who in the New Jedi Order" — Star Wars Insider 57
• The New Jedi Order Sourcebook
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Essential Guide to Warfare