CNN.com has a wealth of information, and a fairly decent space section. One day when perusing said section, came across an article entitled, “Hubble Spots Pipeline Between Rowdy Galactic Neighbors” and my curiosity was piqued.

For the past year or so, Star Wars fans have debated where the Vong came from and how they managed to cross the vast distance between galaxies. It is well known the interstellar distance between galaxies is no hop, skip and jump, at untold light years. In order to cross that distance, one would need fuel to last centuries, life-support, and countless other necessities for space flight. So how did the Yuuzhan Vong accomplish this daunting task?

Let’s examine the article for a moment. Not that long ago, the Hubble Telescope made an amazing discovery, two galaxies joined together by a stream of matter from one galaxy to the other. How did this happen, do you ask? The theory presented is that millions of years ago, the two collided and then separated, but that one galaxy began siphoning off matter from the other, faster developing galaxy. Despite the infusion of matter, the former galaxy has not seen an increase in its star population, though the latter has. They are destined to collide again in the future, and eventually merge into one galaxy. Some scientists theorize that the Milky Way is the product of such a merger.

Okay, now that we have that established, how does that pertain to the Yuuzhan Vong? Let’s theorize for a moment.

Let us assume that the same situation exists between the GFFA and the Vongiverse. Millions of years ago, before evolution had even taken its course on the amoeba of whatever planet humans would come from in the GFFA, these two galaxies collided, they bumped, and a pipeline was created. Matter was traded between the two stellar neighbors and stars and life began to spring up quicker because of the infusion of material. Fast-forward to the time period a few hundred generations or so before Episode 1. Humans and aliens now inhabit the GFFA, at least the explored regions. Yuuzhan Vong, Chazrach and the other species native to the Vongiverse have also formed their governments and way of life.

Then the Vong decide to look up. The Vong see the pipeline in the black of space as their primitive coral skippers and yorik coral cruisers explore their own galaxy. Being staunchly religious, they see this as a sign from the gods. The pipeline leads to the promise land, to the Great Lands or some such, and they decide they will follow it to wherever it leads. Gathering resources and personnel, a scout group heads out, exiting the galaxy with the ease of exiting a star system. They follow the pipeline for decades, nearly exhausting their supplies when they finally reached a planet orbiting a far off star, a large, young star. Created out of the matter from the pipeline, the planet is little more than an large asteroid, but it is a place to land and claim. The Yuuzhan Vong, always planning, begin to bring life to the dismal rock ball and send back for reinforcements.

Generations pass. Wars and countless conflicts with other races and inner factions lead the Vong into a great age of depression, lasting thousands of years. Little is done in the pipeline, the ladder of the gods. But still, the pipeline to the promise land was added to. Resources are steadily pumped outwards, creating a series of stations leading to the rock planet and beyond, yorik space stations and early Worldships. A literal chain of space stations between the planetoids and rudimentary systems of the systems springs up due to ingenuity and the Vong’s ability to engineer their own ships.

The Vong Civil War ends and they turn their attention outwards again, launching a near exodus of their galaxy. They travel in groups of billions, the inhabitants and conquerors and conquered of a million worlds, towards the promised living space. After decades of travel sprinkled with conflict (one must assume that in a universe where so many life forms exist in one galaxy, the pipeline must have sprung life of a kind. This life, be it humanoid or completely alien, presented the Vong with little bumps in the road, more people to conquer on the way to destiny), the Vong finally reach the GFFA. They encounter the humanoids at Zenoma Sekot, the rogue, living planet, and send scouts to explore as far as they can into the galaxy, while they buildup and send for reinforcements. Years past and they just built up, until the time was right, until the signs pointed to proceeding on the path to their paradise.

Does this pan out? Well, look at the Yuuzhan Vong mindset. They are a superstitious, religious people who believe on omens and signs of all sorts. If you were a Vong, and you saw this great celestial road, I believe the only conclusion was that it was a pathway to some fantastic place, maybe a road to the heavens. And along those lines, no gods-worshiping Vong would just ignore the pipeline; they would rush at the chance to prove themselves, launch into the breach, no matter where it took them. If the gods will it, the Vong will do anything.

It is obvious that the Vong think of the GFFA as their birthright, their lebensraum, if you will. Their gods, they would argue, deem the GFFA as the promise land, to be taken by whatever means necessary. The pipeline theory, that it provided a path, works nicely into this idea. With it, the pathway to from the “Vongiverse” to the GFFA is presented in a scientific manner. Culturally, this matter pipeline can work itself into the legend, the religion of the Vong simply by its existence. Before they noticed it, they may have though themselves alone, with only their galaxy being the sole source of life in the universe, a self-centered and very terran philosophy, but an understandable one.

Two galaxies already joined, and destined to be one in the future. One civilization sees it as their duty to possess both, by waging holy war to conquer. The means to accomplish their task is within their reach, if only the way was shown. A path is presented, a destiny is forged in the minds of a people and an invasion is begun.