Vua Rapuung

Born within Domain Rapuung, and named to honor Vua'sa, the Yuuzhan Vong's original bestial warmaster, Vua Rapuung displayed considerable promise and was recognized as a talented and highly skilled warrior. He possessed extensive knowledge of Yuuzhan Vong military strategies and was a formidable adversary, even without weapons. Those who fought alongside him, including Tolok Naap and Rapuung's domain brother Hul, acknowledged the warrior's abilities and physical strength. Vua Rapuung's qualities eventually led to his escalation to the position of commander.

His good fortune as a warrior and Yuuzhan Vong officer, however, ended abruptly when he entered into a secret affair with a master shaper, Mezhan Kwaad, around the time of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy in 25 ABY. Relationships between different castes were forbidden among the Yuuzhan Vong, and Rapuung eventually realized his error, understanding the blasphemy and disrespect his love for Kwaad showed to Yun-Yuuzhan. The warrior ended the affair, telling Kwaad that he could not anger the gods. Mezhan Kwaad, a heretic, turned on her partner, claiming that the gods were a fiction. Despite Rapuung's assurances that he would never reveal her heretical beliefs, Kwaad was paranoid. Fearing exposure, she used her shaping skills to sabotage Rapuung's escalation implants and other scars. The warrior was forced to witness his body's decay, and as his condition became apparent, he was ostracized and demoted to the lowest Yuuzhan Vong caste, the Shamed Ones. Vua Rapuung knew what his lover had done, but his dubious claims and rants turned many against him. Even the other Shamed Ones, whom he disdained, considered Rapuung insane.

On Yavin 4, where the New Jedi Order's headquarters had been overrun by the Yuuzhan Vong, Rapuung performed tasks befitting a Shamed One. Reporting to an executor, the former commander fished in the Unnh River from a vangaak. Mezhan Kwaad, whom he occasionally remembered with mixed feelings, lived and worked nearby in one of the damuteks on the moon. Warriors like Tolok Naap and his own crèche brother Hul, with whom he had recently fought, shunned the former commander, treating him as a Shamed One, unloved by the gods, despite respecting his abilities. This frustration and exile deeply affected Rapuung, and he began to have dreams, which he believed were sent by Yun-Yuuzhan, about a young Jedi apprentice on a mysterious quest. Rapuung knew little of the events on Yavin 4 or of the captured Jedi Tahiri Veila undergoing shaping by Kwaad, but he observed search parties hunting a hidden threat. Trusting in Yun-Yuuzhan's guidance that this approaching Jedi was his only path to redemption, Rapuung faked his death in the river and set out to find the "infidel" he believed could end his torment.

Vua Rapuung established a camp in a small cave behind a waterfall, storing his meager belongings there. He had no weapons, having vowed not to use an amphistaff until he regained his honor. Using his tracking skills, somewhat diminished by his failing hearing, Rapuung located the Jedi, Anakin Solo, who was heading towards the shaper damuteks. Shadowing Solo as he moved towards the ruins of the Great Temple, Vua Rapuung killed several warriors pursuing the Jedi, allowing Solo to evade capture multiple times without knowing. Eventually, Solo was captured, exhausted, by Field Commander Sinan Mat—only the summoning of piranha beetles through the Force saved him, though he was soon recaptured. At this point, Rapuung intervened, confronting and easily defeating the two Yuuzhan Vong warriors threatening Solo. Taking a tizowyrm translation device from one of the slain, Rapuung offered to help Solo and took the confused Jedi to his cave, where he reluctantly tended to his wounds. The absence of the young Jedi's lightsaber—damaged during an earlier encounter with a tsik vai scout craft—posed a problem for Rapuung, but he was reassured that Anakin would aid him with or without a weapon.

Being in close proximity to an "infidel" created conflicting feelings of resentment, disgust, and resignation in Vua Rapuung; he and Solo argued after the Jedi inadvertently insulted the former commander. Rapuung did not reveal his quest to expose Kwaad's treachery and reclaim his honor, and claimed indifference to Anakin Solo's goal of rescuing Tahiri Veila from Kwaad's shaping process. Despite their differences, they reached an agreement, needing each other's help. Rapuung controlled his anger when his ally insulted the Yuuzhan Vong again, wary of Solo's Force abilities, and together they prepared to face the hundreds of warriors on the moon. They immediately clashed over their route; with tsik vai patrolling the forests, Rapuung believed he knew best, but the Jedi wanted a vantage point to plan their approach. After finding a ridge overlooking the damuteks, Rapuung suggested entering the compound via the Unnh River, knowing the forest was trapped. However, a tsik vai interrupted them, and although the Jedi disabled it with a whirlwind of debris and foliage, Rapuung realized the alarm had been raised. Other tsik vai began weaving lav peq nets between the trees; when his companion used phosphorous flares to burn the forest to evade the web, Vua Rapuung attacked the young Jedi, enraged by the use of machines to create fire. They fought briefly, and only when Anakin used the Force to strike Rapuung with a rock did the Yuuzhan Vong stop, still disgusted by his association with such violation and how the gods would view his actions. Reminding himself that his true target was Kwaad, Rapuung and Solo fled, evading the flames. The fire spread quickly, and they eventually collapsed from the smoke. Solo saved Rapuung's life while saving his own, and the Yuuzhan Vong warrior recognized his debt to the young Jedi, despite his reservations.

Having escaped the tsik vai and the flames, Vua Rapuung led Anakin to the Unnh River, where he had fished recently. On the way, they discussed the Force, life, death, and Rapuung's affliction, disagreeing on most topics and avoiding discussions about the warrior's appearance at his insistence. Waiting by the river, Rapuung saw Qe'u, the Shamed One who had replaced him, and called him over before killing him. Taking command of Qe'u's vangaak, Rapuung instructed Solo to enter the aquatic beast's stomach while they traveled upriver to the damuteks, but not before they argued about the value of life. Rapuung piloted the vangaak towards the damuteks with Solo hidden inside, eventually reaching the compound. There, Rapuung gave Solo a false yorik coral implant to explain his presence as a slave found in the wilderness.

With Solo disguised as a slave and the broken lightsaber hilt hidden in a damutek's succession pool, Rapuung guided him through the compound. They were spotted by Rapuung's brother, Hul, and they exchanged an awkward conversation; Hul Rapuung, respectful but pitying, offered to help Vua but was refused. Once alone, Rapuung finally revealed his plight and desire for revenge against Mezhan Kwaad, before taking the Jedi to the executor for assignment to the lambent fields. Rapuung then scouted the damuteks while performing his assigned tasks. However, the intendants at the Yavin 4 base had grown wary of Rapuung's constant rants about Kwaad's treachery; several days after his return, an attempt was made on his life at night. He killed his attackers and searched the damuteks, eventually finding Solo by the succession pool; Rapuung decided they had to act immediately.

Solo, having retrieved his lightsaber, wanted to repair it with a lambent crystal, and as the weapon was crucial to Rapuung's plans, he agreed to hide in the underground caverns beneath the ruins of the Great Temple while Solo rebuilt his lightsaber. Rapuung secured gnulliths and they descended through the damutek roots, discovering the caverns. They stayed there for two days. During this time, Rapuung argued with Solo about the Force and the nature of the Yuuzhan Vong—he believed that the Jedi, despite their claims of peace, were warriors like him. Unbeknownst to them, Mezhan Kwaad's experiments with Tahiri had become heretical, and the base commander, Tsaak Vootuh, discovered her forbidden actions. Kwaad was arrested, along with her adept Nen Yim and Veila, to be taken to Warmaster Tsavong Lah for punishment. Once Solo rebuilt his lightsaber, they crawled back through the damutek roots to confront their enemy.

Using Anakin Solo's Force-sensitivity to locate Veila, whom Rapuung knew would be with Mezhan Kwaad, they entered the shaper damutek. They were immediately noticed by a group of shapers, who attempted to poison them with toxic gas as they moved through the corridors. Solo cut through the damutek's inner walls into a laboratory, where Rapuung intimidated a shaper into leading them to Kwaad's chambers. The unexpected presence of Tsaak Vootuh's guards surprised Rapuung, but he was a deadly foe even without an amphistaff. With Solo, he quickly defeated Vootuh's warriors, saving Anakin's life. They soon reached Kwaad's private shaping chambers; however, Vootuh was already leading her to his personal craft. Interrupted by the arrival of warriors and Rapuung's old companion, Tolok Naap, the former commander confronted his former comrades. The warriors were shocked by Rapuung's alliance with a Jedi and assumed he was insane. Still, out of respect for his former rank, Naap offered him an amphistaff. Rapuung declined and fought the six warriors unarmed, killing them all in a short time. He and Anakin pursued Vootuh; Rapuung made Solo promise him protection as he confronted his former lover and regained his honor.

They climbed to the compound's roof and planned their route; seeing that Vootuh was about to board his vessel and return to the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, they moved through the shadows, emerging in a central area with parked yorik-et starfighters and other craft. The workers, Shamed Ones, and intendants tending to the vehicles did not notice the Jedi and his Yuuzhan Vong ally racing towards Vootuh's vessel, but the commander's guards spotted them at the last moment, launching a swarm of nang hul at them. Rapuung was hit, but he and Anakin killed the warriors and continued, only to be overwhelmed by another volley of the creatures. Vua Rapuung took a nang hul in the torso, causing a serious abdominal wound, while Anakin was hit in the thigh. At that moment, Commander Vootuh emerged from the shuttle with Kwaad, Nen Yim, and Veila. Despite his wounds, Rapuung stood and reminded Solo of their oath; remembering his pledge, Solo told Vootuh to force Kwaad to answer the wounded warrior's questions. With Vootuh skeptical and Kwaad refusing, Solo lacked support. Hul Rapuung, watching with a crowd of Yuuzhan Vong, shouted that Kwaad should respond if she had nothing to fear. Before the assembled masses, Vootuh forced Kwaad to answer Rapuung's questions. Finally given the chance for redemption, the wounded warrior demanded to know if Mezhan Kwaad had deliberately made him appear as a Shamed One.

Mezhan Kwaad admitted her actions and denied the existence of the gods, causing an uproar. Before Vootuh, his warriors, or Vua Rapuung could react, Kwaad's eight digits on her shaper hand extended into sharp points, lethally impaling the commander and his guards. She also speared Rapuung through the thigh and wounded Solo's weapon arm. As Kwaad tried to escape, ordering Nen Yim to drag Rapuung and Solo onto the shuttle, Tahiri Veila used the Force to lift Solo's lightsaber and decapitated the master shaper. As the warriors closed in, Hul Rapuung called out to Solo, declaring he would gain honor by dueling and killing Anakin.

His status restored by Kwaad, his goals achieved, the mortally wounded Rapuung rose and took up an amphistaff. Ignoring Solo and Hul Rapuung's pleas to stop fighting, the redeemed warrior shouted his support for Anakin and the Jedi, leaping into the midst of the Yuuzhan Vong. He knocked his brother unconscious, sparing his life. To buy Anakin time to escape on the shuttle, Vua Rapuung slaughtered many warriors; the number of Yuuzhan Vong who fell to his blade caused him to be trapped by the corpses around him. With his footwork slowed, an amphistaff to the neck ended his rampage. As he died, Vua Rapuung crushed the skull of the Yuuzhan Vong who had wounded him. His sacrifice allowed Anakin and Tahiri to escape.

Vua Rapuung's redemption and final moments were witnessed by the assembled warriors, Shamed Ones, and other lower caste members. In the days after the battle, after Jedi-aligned forces destroyed the damuteks and freed the slaves, the Shamed Ones spoke of the Jedi's role in restoring Vua Rapuung's honor. A theory had been circulating since Jedi Knight Wurth Skidder resisted breaking at the hands of a yammosk, and some believed the Jedi were the salvation of the Shamed. Vua Rapuung and Anakin Solo provided a foundation for this movement, which became the Jeedai heresy. When Warmaster Tsavong Lah arrived on Yavin 4, he ordered the execution of all who espoused this heresy. Despite this, the story of Vua Rapuung survived. Months later, it had spread among the Shamed Ones as the legend of Vua Rapuung, proving that the Jedi could restore the status of the lowest Yuuzhan Vong caste.

Two years later, the story had become distorted and inaccurate. In some versions, Vua Rapuung died at Kwaad's hands after being redeemed, and Hul Rapuung and others defended Anakin and Tahiri. Many warriors dismissed the story as a lie. However, the core message remained, and when heretical groups united under a prophet, Yu'shaa—actually the disgraced Yuuzhan Vong executor Nom Anor—the legend of Vua Rapuung became a central tenet, providing evidence that redemption lay with the Jedi. During the final battle of the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Jeedai heresy was crucial in overthrowing Supreme Overlord Shimrra and the Yuuzhan Vong Empire. True to the legend of Vua Rapuung, the Shamed Ones were vindicated and renamed the Extolled.

Vua Rapuung deeply believed in the Yuuzhan Vong gods; he trusted his dreams that Yun-Yuuzhan ordered him to fight alongside a Jedi. Religious conviction sustained him, and he often repeated his faith in redemption as a mantra, ultimately overriding his dislike of Solo and hatred of technology. However, this did not allow Rapuung to understand his ally; frequent conflicts stemmed from misunderstandings and rudeness. The warrior's pride and stubbornness often caused arguments with Solo, but he later relented and trusted the young Jedi.

Rapuung had a savage and ironic sense of humor, often being sardonic or satirical during his quest for redemption. He also challenged Solo's views on the Force and the Yuuzhan Vong, using pragmatism and cryptic morality to present strong arguments. Rapuung was secretive, refusing to discuss Mezhan Kwaad or his status until the final day with Solo. Notably, he showed pity, if not affection, for Kwaad, wanting her humiliated but not physically harmed.

This unusual combination of traits, exacerbated by his sudden loss of status, led many to believe him insane. The intensity and abruptness of Rapuung's actions made Solo consider his madness. Ultimately, the Jedi believed that the conflict within the former commander resulted in a contrast of beliefs and deeds rather than insanity. Indeed, Vua Rapuung claimed to have no interest in Anakin Solo's quest, yet sacrificed himself for the Jedi, albeit near death. Of the traits that survived his disgrace, passionate conviction and steadfast loyalty remained most apparent—loyalty to the gods, his oaths, his brother, and ultimately the Jedi he fought with.

Even after vowing not to wield an amphistaff until his honor was restored, Vua Rapuung was a deadly foe. He possessed immense physical strength, once spearing a warrior through the eyes and lifting the body by the sockets, and on another occasion hurling a shaper across a room with a single punch. Unarmed and unarmored, he killed Tolok Naap and five other warriors in eighty seconds; with an amphistaff, he held off an entire crowd of Yuuzhan Vong. Vua Rapuung also had a formidable constitution, enabling him to fight even with crippling wounds. Although his hearing and implants suffered from Mezhan Kwaad's actions, this did not significantly hinder his prowess as a warrior.

Vua Rapuung was skilled in tactics and subterfuge, and while his desire for revenge often clouded his judgment, he moved stealthily and silently, even through the dense foliage of Yavin 4. Demonstrating his fitness, Rapuung kept pace with Anakin Solo as the Jedi used Force-assisted jumps; however, he often succumbed to fits of coughing.

The character of Vua Rapuung first appeared in the novel The New Jedi Order: Edge of Victory I: Conquest by Greg Keyes, a book that centers around the destruction of the Jedi Praxeum located on Yavin 4, as well as Anakin Solo's mission to rescue his friend, Tahiri Veila. Given that the novel examined the Yuuzhan Vong's culture and belief systems in detail, Keyes believed he had significant creative license to explore the species. This freedom is apparent in his creation of Rapuung, who serves as a contrasting figure to Solo throughout the narrative. It is through Rapuung that Solo's understanding of the Yuuzhan Vong and the Force gradually changes. By the conclusion of Edge of Victory I: Conquest, the adversarial relationship between Rapuung and Solo has evolved into a relationship of mutual respect, with Rapuung ultimately sacrificing himself to save the Jedi. The repercussions of Rapuung's actions for the Shamed Ones are examined in Keyes's subsequent New Jedi Order novel, titled The New Jedi Order: Edge of Victory II: Rebirth. The warrior's involvement in the grand cycle of the Jeedai heresy, a movement that proved crucial in shifting the war's momentum in favor of the Galactic Alliance, is depicted in both The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic I: Remnant and The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic II: Refugee. Thus, despite his sole appearance being in Edge of Victory I: Conquest, Rapuung still has a significant role in the overall narrative arc of the series.