Nek Bwua'tu

The male Bothan Nek Bwua'tu was born on Ruweln, a planet in the Bothan sector of the Mid Rim. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, a conflict that saw the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong invade the galaxy, Bwua'tu was a member of the Galactic Alliance Defense Fleet and saw action in numerous battles. By 36 ABY, Bwua'tu had married three times and held the rank of admiral, having been promoted in the peacetime period after the Yuuzhan Vong War. He was assigned to command the Fifth Fleet and flew his flag from the Admiral Ackbar, a Victory-class Star Destroyer that had been outfitted with an asteroid tug tractor beam and classified as a pirate-hunter. Although he was noted for his tactical skill in defeating the Thrawn Simulator consistently, and was also the only Bothan who had succeeded in defeating the simulation, Bwua'tu had yet to command a military engagement as a fleet commander.

In 35 ABY, the Killiks, a hive-minded insectoid species that citizens of the galaxy had believed were extinct, began to aggressively expand their territory in the Gyuel system of the Unknown Regions, and in doing so, came into conflict with the isolationist Chiss. The Killiks were under the influence of the Gorog, an invisible "Dark Nest" that kept its presence hidden from the other Killik nests, but nonetheless subconsciously directed them. The nest was controlled by a pair of Dark Jedi who had been absorbed into the Killik hive-mind during the Yuuzhan Vong War and became Joiners. However, their innate Force-sensitivity led them to dominate the Killik hive-mind rather than submit to it. In parallel, a Jedi Knight by the name of Raynar Thul, had been absorbed by another nest at the same time. His proclivity in the Force led him to unite the other nests under his leadership, but he was not immune to the suggestions of the Dark Nest, which pushed for war against the Chiss. A series of battles between the two forces was waged in the Gyuel system until the Jedi Order intervened and settled the conflict by seemingly destroying the Dark Nest and offering the Killiks the coordinates to the Utegetu Nebula, a shell nebula containing fifteen planets. Raynar Thul, now styled as UnuThul, leader of the Colony, accepted the offer, and the Killiks were transported from the Gyuel system to the Utegetu Nebula.

Bwua'tu, commanding the Admiral Ackbar, and the Fifth Fleet were assigned to patrol the Hydian Way, one of the galaxy's major trade routes. During the deployment, the Gorog nest, which had not been destroyed as previously thought a year earlier, had arranged to deliver spinglass busts of Bwua'tu to the Admiral Ackbar, using a third party shipping company who were grateful for Bwua'tu's actions in keeping the Hydian Way safe for traders. The busts were placed on pedestals all over the ship by Wurf'al, a relative of Bwua'tu's serving on the vessel, as a sign of respect and devotion to their commander. Unknown to the Alliance crew, the busts contained large amounts of thumb-sized insects allied to the Gorog. Several weeks later, Chief of State Cal Omas ordered the Fifth Fleet to blockade the Utegetu Nebula. Omas's reassignment of the Fifth was in response to increased Killik activities outside the nebula, including the shipping of an alcoholic beverage called membrosia which was addictive to other insectoid races, and harboring pirate bands that were raiding Alliance shipping. The Dark Nest was still pushing for war with the Chiss, and these moves were designed to keep the Alliance occupied and unable to interfere with their affairs. The Chiss believed that the Alliance was in league with the Killiks, and the blockade enacted by the Fifth was an effort to appease the Chiss government. Bwua'tu led his fleet to the Nebula.

Alongside the Mon Mothma, an Imperial-class Star Destroyer fitted with gravity well projectors to function as an interdictor, the Admiral Ackbar took up station in the Murgo Choke. Consisting of a pair of binary stars, the Choke was a complicated area of space to navigate due to the multiple mass shadows that connected the Rago Run to the Utegetu Nebula. The presence of a single interdictor effectively blockaded the main hyperlane into the Nebula. Shortly after the blockade was established, the YT-1300 light freighter Millennium Falcon attempted to run it to reach the planet Woteba in the Nebula. Piloted by Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne and her Padawan, Leia Organa Solo, the Falcon—accompanied by Master Mara Jade Skywalker and three Jedi Knights in StealthX starfighters—were attempting to rescue Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker and Captain Han Solo from Woteba, where they were being held prisoner by the Killiks. Organa Solo attempted to prevail upon her friendship with the Mon Monthmas commander, Commodore Gavin Darklighter, to allow the ship to pass. However, Darklighter was under orders from Bwua'tu and could not allow the Falcon to enter the Nebula. When Organa Solo attempted to run the blockade, Bwua'tu maneuvered the Admiral Ackbar into position, and used the tractor beam to ensnare the light freighter, taking it aboard the Star Destroyer. With the Falcon safely inside, Bwua'tu ordered a boarding party to enter the freighter and arrest the Jedi. The troopers failed to breach the Falcons security system, but Sebatyne and Organa Solo exited of their own accord, attempting to use the Force to defuse the situation. Bwua'tu, however, had anticipated that the Jedi would attempt to use their powers; he ordered two of the soldiers in the docking bay to be armed with Czerka Arms HeadBangers set to maximum. When the two Knights used the Force to redirect the boarding party's weapons away from them, the troopers—previously hidden behind their commander—used the HeadBangers, knocking the two Knights unconscious. Bwua'tu had, however, overestimated Jedi resiliency, and the two Knights were unconscious for four days in the Admiral Ackbars detention level.

During Sebatyne's and Organa Solo's incapacitation, Bwua'tu ordered that the Millennium Falcon be searched. Fuel cells, stowed aboard with the intention of using them to refuel the Jedi StealthXs before reaching Woteba, were confiscated and moved to a separate location on the Admiral's order. However, the two Noghri on the Falcon, Cakhmaim and Meewalh, managed to evade capture. When the two Jedi regained consciousness, Bwua'tu met with them in a briefing room. Although the Admiral was quite sure that he would soon be receiving orders from Chief of State Omas to release the pair, he attempted to bargain with the two Jedi to ensure they did not disrupt the operations of the Admiral Ackbar with an escape attempt. Initially, Bwua'tu threatened to hole the Falcons drive nacelles to prevent the ship from leaving the Star Destroyer unless both Organa Solo and Sebatyne gave their words to not attempt an escape, an offer that they grudgingly accepted. Secondly, he tried to prevail on the pair to call in the StealthX fighters that were still in the Murgo Choke. Organa Solo refused to call in the Jedi, stating that she had felt through the Force that there was danger on the ship, and that she would not jeopardize the lives of the pilots. Bwua'tu assured them that the Jedi had nothing to fear from him; Organa Solo agreed, revealing that there was danger on the ship itself, but she could not be more specific. Believing that the Jedi were trying to use their aura of mysticism to frighten his crew, Bwua'tu had the two Jedi returned to the vessel's detention block.

With the Jedi incarcerated, Bwua'tu ordered the starfighter squadrons aboard the Admiral Ackbar and the Mon Mothma to deploy in a double screen formation between the two vessels and conduct a search for the missing StealthX fighters. While Bwua'tu supervised the operation, both Sebatyne and Organa Solo staged separate escapes from their cells. Sebatyne moved to secure the fuel cells and the Falcon, and Organa Solo proceeded to the bridge of the Admiral Ackbar. Organa Solo demanded to see Bwua'tu, a request that the Bothan allowed as he believed that she had come to assist him in finding the StealthX squadron. Instead, she relayed information to him that she had received through the Force by her brother, Grand Master Skywalker, that a Killik fleet was preparing to break out of the Utegetu Nebula and attack the Fifth Fleet. Bwua'tu believed that Organa Solo was attempting to stall his efforts to find the Jedi StealthXs, until a sensor officer reported that fifteen contacts had dropped out of hyperspace, outbound from the nebula, and were approaching their position. Bwua'tu immediately began recalling the Admiral Ackbars fighters while ordering his turbolaser crews to acquire firing solutions on the Killik vessels. He also gave orders to begin withdrawing the Admiral Ackbar toward the Mon Mothma, while simultaneously ordering the other Star Destroyer to close with them.

As the Killik capital ships launched thousands of dartships, the Admiral Ackbars turbolaser batteries scored direct hits on several enemy ships. With battle underway, the Killiks enacted part of their plan to capture the Admiral Ackbar. Organa Solo, who had been sensing danger through the Force since her arrival on the Admiral Ackbar, localized the feeling to one of the busts of Bwua'tu that had been delivered to the ship several weeks prior and placed on the bridge. Using the Force, she attempted to drop it down a disposal chute, but was stopped by Wurf'al, who caught the item as it was being lowered into the chute. The bust shattered in his hands, and the tiny insect assassins within it attacked and killed him, before attempting to do the same to rest of the command crew. Bwua'tu, Organa Solo, and the bridge crew managed to fight off the initial attack, but sustained casualties. Bwua'tu placed the ship on an infiltration alert on Organa Solo's advice, and ordered all statuary to be dumped into the nearest disposal chute.

Turning his attention to the battle, Bwua'tu noted that while the majority of the Killik force was heading for the Mon Mothma and the middle of the Choke, five ships and thousands of dartships had targeted the Admiral Ackbar. With the aid of Organa Solo, Bwua'tu commandeered the Jedi StealthXs—including a new squadron under the command of Jedi Master Kyp Durron, which had arrived to rescue Organa Solo and Sebatyne—and used them to augment his forces, ordering them to destroy the hyperdrives on the nest ships. In addition, Organa Solo identified the Dark Nest's ship through the Force. Bwua'tu ordered the ship to be targeted, and designated as "Bug One," although he held off from attacking the ship, preferring to keep their information a surprise. The Mon Mothma began to take serious damage as the battle intensified, although the Admiral Ackbar fared better; the Star Destroyer's position with its back to the binary stars of the Choke caused much of the enemy fire to miss its target, as the Killik gunners could not adjust their firing solutions to compensate for the gravitational fluxes. However, despite its positioning, the Admiral Ackbar was trapped between the stars and the oncoming Killik force. Bwua'tu, recognizing the futility of his position, ordered the Mon Mothma and all remaining starfighters to disengage and head for Rendezvous Alpha. He then gave his gunnery crews the order to target and open fire on "Bug One." Despite registering successful hits, Organa Solo implored Bwua'tu to cease fire. Through the Force, Master Jade Skywalker told her that Master Skywalker and Captain Solo were aboard the vessel. Bwua'tu accepted the explanation, but did not cease fire, although he did reduce the amount of turbolaser batteries targeting the vessel. His reasoning was that if Master Skywalker and Captain Solo were on the ship, then they were captives or stowaways. If the former, then their attack would give them the best chance of escape. If the latter, then ceasing fire could conceivably betray their presence to the Killiks.

As the assault on "Bug One" continued, the Admiral Ackbars sensors noted that a contact had detached from the Killik ship. Initially believing it to be a missile, it was identified as a Lancer-class frigate. Organa Solo sensed danger from the vessel, and that Raynar Thul was aboard, prompting Bwua'tu to designate it as a priority target. As turbolaser fire lanced toward the vessel, the barrage veered away from the ship at the last moment. Another barrage suffered the same fate, and Organa Solo suddenly realized that Thul planned to capture the Admiral Ackbar rather than destroy it. Bwua'tu attempted to set the ship's self-destruct mechanism, but was forced to evacuate the bridge when Killik assassin bugs entered through ventilation ducts. Bwua'tu managed to retrieve Organa Solo's lightsaber from his wardroom vault, and the pair—along with the remaining bridge crew and other surviving members of the crew they encountered along the way—attempted to reach remote access terminals on other decks in an effort to trigger the ship's destruction. However, the Killiks were ahead of them, and destroyed every access terminal while they constantly harassed the survivors in a lengthy running battle through the Admiral Ackbar. The small band eventually reached the ship's capture bay, where both a working access terminal and the Millennium Falcon were located. At that point, the battle was joined by Alema Rar, a Jedi Joiner who served the Dark Nest. While dueling with Organa Solo, Rar attempted to kill Bwua'tu with Force lightning, but his aide, Grendyl, intercepted the attack in his stead. A second burst of lightning destroyed the access terminal, to Bwua'tu's frustration. The attack on the survivors was routed when Master Sebatyne, along with the Noghri, exited the capture bay and used overwhelming firepower to drive the attackers back. Bwua'tu evacuated the Admiral Ackbar on the Millennium Falcon, leaving the Star Destroyer in the hands of the Killiks.

Bwua'tu was delivered to the Mon Mothma after the Millennium Falcon rescued Master Skywalker, Captain Solo, and two traders, Jae Juun and Tarfang, from "Bug One." With his flag transferred to the Star Destroyer, Bwua'tu ordered the ship, along with a small task force of cruisers and frigates, to return to the nebula. The Jedi StealthXs had performed admirably during the battle, destroying the hyperdrives on eleven of the nest ships, including "Bug One." Four ships and the commandeered Admiral Ackbar had escaped, and the remainder formed a blockade in the Murgo Choke that prevented Alliance ships from entering the Nebula. Bwua'tu discovered that the traders Juun and Tarfang had been the ones to deliver the Killik filled busts to the Admiral Ackbar. However, they had not known what they contained, and once they did, had endeavored to warn the Alliance by assisting the captive Skywalker and Solo on Woteba. Skywalker and Solo both gave testimony to the pair's innocence in the matter, and Bwua'tu, impressed by their knowledge of the Killiks, signed them on as Intelligence Affiliates. With only a ten-ship advantage over the Killik forces, Bwua'tu ordered Commodore Darklighter to launch all starfighters and deploy to an attack position. Despite the shocked reaction of Darklighter and the assembled representatives from the Jedi Order, Bwua'tu wanted to keep the Killiks off-balance. Reasoning that Jedi involvement had scuppered their plans and made them unsure of the force that they were arrayed against, Bwua'tu planned to take the initiative and attack when logic dictated that he should not. With that move, the Admiral hoped to make the Killiks even more unsure of their position and force them into retreat. The risky assault was successful, and the Killiks were deterred from further aggressive action in the Choke. Despite the loss of the Admiral Ackbar, Bwua'tu was not removed from command of the Fifth Fleet as he had expected, and was allowed to retain his command by Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force. Bwua'tu remained on-station at the Utegetu Nebula, where he directed Jedi in reconnaissance missions, and assigned intelligence missions to his newest recruits, Juun and Tarfang. He felt that the Killiks' actions, including their subsequent assaults on Roche and Thyferra, were signs that they intended to make another attempt at breaking out of the nebula.

During the final battle of the following conflict that was known as the Swarm War, the Chiss launched a massive assault on Killik forces at Tenupe. A Galactic Alliance fleet, under the command of Grand Admiral Pellaeon and including a task force led by Bwua'tu, headed to Tenupe to support the Chiss. They intended to destroy the Killik fleet and persuade the Chiss that the Alliance was not siding with the Colony. Since the Admiral Ackbar was leading the Killik fleet, the Chiss believed that the Galactic Alliance had arranged for the Killiks to capture it, leading to strained tensions between the two governments. However, Grand Master Skywalker convinced Pellaeon to switch tactics upon their arrival, pointing out that the only sure way to end the war was to recapture the Admiral Ackbar and neutralize both Raynar Thul and Lomi Plo, the Dark Jedi leading the Gorog nest. To that end, the Alliance force would concentrate on the Admiral Ackbar, while leaving the Killik and Chiss fleets to engage one another. Skywalker hoped that the casualties that would be suffered by both sides, coupled with the loss of the Killik leadership, would be enough to end the war.

Skywalker, accompanied by a unit of space-capable YVH 5 Bugcruncher war droids known as Stomper Brigade, assaulted the Admiral Ackbar with the intention of eliminating the threat posed by Raynar Thul. Several Alliance Star Destroyers of the same class as the Admiral Ackbar held her in place with their powerful tractor beams while Skywalker's force made their approach. Although Thul attempted to stop their advance, Bwua'tu had predicted much of Thul's response. He correctly believed that Thul would hold his dartship screen back to counter Task Force Stomper rather than send it out to engage his captors. As Alliance bombardment caused the Admiral Ackbars shields to collapse, the dartship screen pulled back even further to defend the ship. Bwua'tu had also predicted that move, and Alliance starfighter squadrons blew through the dartship screen, strafing the weapons emplacements of the Star Destroyer and clearing the way for Task Force Stomper. When Thul launched the starfighters that had been aboard the Admiral Ackbar at the time of its capture, Bwua'tu countered by using the elite Rogue Squadron to destroy them quickly in several attack passes. Finally, the dartship screen moved to intercept Task Force Stomper directly, at which point Bwua'tu used the tractor beams on the Alliance pirate catchers to send them tumbling off course, clearing the way.

Prior to Stomper's arrival at the Admiral Ackbar, Thul began using the Force to tear apart the assault shuttles. Although Bwua'tu had not predicted that tactic, he had insisted that the YVH droids be fully capable of maneuvering in space, a modification that allowed the entire squad to board the Admiral Ackbar despite their loss of transport. Skywalker, who had donned an enviro-suit to survive the loss of his shuttle, Stomper One, located and engaged Raynar Thul and Lomi Plo in combat. With them both defeated and at Skywalker's mercy, Plo ordered the Killik forces to attack the medical ship Healing Star. The leader of the Dark Nest intended to trade calling off the attack on the vessel for her life. Bwua'tu had also predicted that move, and the Healing Star was instead a decoy, staffed by mouse droids. With no recourse, Plo attacked Skywalker and was killed by the Jedi Master. Thul was taken into custody, and the Admiral Ackbar returned to Alliance control. With Thul removed from the head of the Colony, the Swarm War was officially ended.

In 40 ABY, Bwua'tu still served the Galactic Alliance and retained command of the Admiral Ackbar. In the same year, rising tensions between the Galactic Alliance and Corellia erupted into armed conflict, with other planets, including Bothawui, the Bothan homeworld, poised to join Corellia's fledgling Confederation. Bwua'tu nevertheless remained loyal to the Galactic Alliance, having sworn an oath of krevi—a Bothan pledge that rendered loyalty to the Galactic Alliance above his allegiance to Bothawui or his species—upon being promoted to fleet admiral. Such a position meant that Bwua'tu faced the prospect of having to engage his own kind in battle, since he believed that Bothawui's participation in the war was more a question of "when" than "if." In addition, Bwua'tu was pressured by the Bothan government to resign his commission and return home. Although Bwua'tu refused, the government continued their efforts and supplied him with intelligence that Jedi Knight Jacen Solo, now serving as a colonel in the newly formed Galactic Alliance Guard, was assassinating Bothans on Coruscant, the galactic capital. Colonel Solo believed that Reh'mwa, leader of the True Victory Party who had sworn to eradicate the Yuuzhan Vong entirely, was responsible for poisoning the World Brain on Coruscant. Colonel Solo used the World Brain to track Corellian terrorists on the capital, and its potential loss would have hindered Solo's efforts.

As part of the escalating crisis, Admiral Bwua'tu was ordered to take his fleet and prepare an ambush of the Kiris shipyards, a secret Corellian construction yard located in the Kiris Asteroid Cluster of the Corellian system. Stationing his fleet three light-years from the edge of the system, Bwua'tu employed Jedi Knights in StealthXs to spy on the activity in the shipyards. Following one such mission, Jedi Knight Jaina Solo reported that a transport had been detected leaving the asteroid cluster and heading toward the Hapes Consortium, which had allied with the Galactic Alliance. Jedi Solo stated her belief that any attempt by a Corellian delegation to sway Hapes to Corellia's side was doomed to failure, until Bwua'tu pointed out that he believed that they were not going to negotiate with Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo, but her political opponents. Djo's support of the Galactic Alliance was unpopular with the nobility, and the Admiral was of the opinion that Corellia intended to assist in a coup of the Consortium and gain Hapes as an ally under new leadership. Solo was adamant in her belief that was not the delegation's mission. Bwua'tu countered with his belief that the transport was in fact the Millennium Falcon, ferrying Han and Leia Organa Solo to Hapes, and that Solo's belief stemmed from the fact that she believed her parents would not do anything to harm or betray the Queen Mother, whom they counted as a personal friend. Jedi Solo confirmed his belief, and Bwua'tu conceded that Solo indeed knew her parents better than he did, but did not relinquish his theory that the Corellians intended to support an insurrection within the Consortium.

Bwua'tu theorized that the secret fleet under construction in the Kirises would not be used to break the Alliance's blockade of the Corellian system, but rather to support the coup at Hapes. The Admiral realized that his fleet was badly out of position to stop such a move, but baulked at Jedi Solo's suggestion of moving the fleet. Admiral Cha Niathal, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force, had ordered the trap set, and Bwua'tu knew that she would not abandon it without good cause. While he intended to relay the information to her, he would not redeploy his forces without authorization. Studying a tactical starmap, Bwua'tu came to the conclusion that Thrackan Sal-Solo, former leader of the Corellians and architect of the Kiris fleet, had been intending to assault the planet Duro in several weeks' time. At that time, the Kiris Asteroid Cluster would have been positioned between Duro and Corell, Corellia's sun. With electromagnetic interference in the background, Duro would have been unable to detect the launch of the Kiris fleet. The assault made sense since Duro had large deposits of explosive baradium and lightsaber-resistant cortosis. Returning to the current matter, Bwua'tu requested that Jedi Solo and her partner, Zekk, travel to Hapes and warn the Queen Mother personally of the danger.

Bwua'tu's suspicions proved to be correct; three Corellian Dreadnaughts that had been constructed at Kiris were dispatched to the Hapes Consortium, and rendezvoused with a fleet allied to the Heritage Council—an alliance of Hapan nobles opposed to the Queen Mother's rule—just outside the Hapes system. Bwua'tu followed the fleet to Hapes, and maneuvered his own so that they would exit hyperspace behind Megos, one of Hapes' moons. The Heritage Fleet engaged the Hapan Royal Navy; despite the surprise assault, the Queen Mother's forces had the upper hand due to Han Solo, who had infiltrated the Heritage Fleet and had broadcast their reversion coordinates prior to the fleet's arrival. As the two Hapan forces battled one another, Bwua'tu carefully chose his time to strike; he regarded the destruction of the Corellian forces to be his primary goal, as crippling their war effort could effectively end the insurrection. Bwua'tu's fleet of Star Destroyers, cruisers, and frigates dropped out of hyperspace, rounded Megos, and assaulted the flank of the Heritage Fleet, punching a hole through its formation.

As the battle continued, another Hapan fleet, led by the Ducha Galney, entered the engagement. Galney was counted as an ally of the Queen Mother, but was secretly a member of the Heritage Council and intended to use that ruse to pose as reinforcements for Djo's forces, then attack them. Ben Skywalker, son of the Masters Skywalker and member of the Galactic Alliance Guard, managed to warn Djo of the danger after receiving information from Jedi Knights Solo and Zekk regarding Galney's duplicity. Galney's flotilla was decimated by a loyal Hapan fleet commanded by Jacen Solo, which had just returned to Hapes from attempting to engage the Heritage Fleet at Relephon, while Bwua'tu's fleet assaulted the Corellian Dreadnaughts directly. The combined Hapan–Galactic Alliance force succeeded in defeating the enemy.

As the conflict escalated into open warfare between the Alliance and the Confederation, Bwua'tu was transferred from the Fifth Fleet and given command of both the First and Sixth Fleets, and took the Star Destroyer Welmo Darb as his flagship. Jacen Solo, who had ascended to the post of Joint Chief of State alongside Cha Niathal following the arrest of Cal Omas, hoped that the Admiral could stop the combined Corellian and Bothan forces from reaching the planet Kuat. Bwua'tu predicted that the Confederation combination of Corellian, Bothan, Commenorian, and Hutt fleets would assault the Kuat shipyards at its densest part. The Admiral's battle plan called for the enemy fleet to be drawn into the shipyards and surrounded on all sides by allied formations, while Jedi forces, using StealthXs, utilized shadow bombs to decimate the Confederation warships. Bwua'tu pre-positioned thousands of starfighters within the docks, laid ambushes and traps throughout the shipyard, and stationed both the First and Fourth Fleets within the shipyards themselves. The Hapan Home Fleet was hidden on the far side of Ronay, one of Kuat's moons, while the Seventh and Fifth Fleets were positioned to flank the enemy. Six squadrons of Jedi StealthXs were berthed on the Anakin Solo, flagship of Jacen Solo, under the command of Grand Master Skywalker himself.

The Confederation forces acted as Bwua'tu predicted, driving for the most clustered area of the shipyard. The Corellians led the assault, with the Bothans in a support role. The Commenorians, Hutts, and a flotilla of allied vessels acted as a rear guard. The enemy fleet dispatched scouts throughout the shipyard to determine the Alliance's position, and were quickly destroyed in turn by the starfighters that Bwua'tu had arrayed earlier. The First and Fourth Fleets took the brunt of the assault, drawing the Confederation fleet in. The Corellians directly engaged the Fourth while the Bothans attempted to flank the Alliance forces, although their progress was blunted by the traps and ambushes that Bwua'tu had carefully laid out. With the Confederation fleet fully engaged, Bwua'tu requested that the Hapan Home Fleet be committed to the battle. As the Hapans emerged from behind Ronay, they engaged the rear of the Confederation fleet's formation. At the same time, the Seventh and Fifth Fleets converged from the flanks, surrounding the enemy completely. Bwua'tu called for the StealthXs to begin their attack runs, but he discovered that Grand Master Skywalker—disgusted by Chief of State Solo's leadership of the Alliance, possible involvement in the recent death of Cal Omas, and orders placing Galactic Alliance Guard troops at the Jedi Academy on Ossus to ensure the Jedi's cooperation—had departed the combat zone after withdrawing Jedi support to the Alliance. Solo asked Bwua'tu if his plan was still workable if the Alliance pressed the assault against the Confederation. Without the Jedi StealthXs, Bwua'tu had to reply in the negative.

The battle at Kuat dragged on for a week. Both sides were evenly matched, and it became a game of attrition, with both forces losing several capital ships and thousands of lives a day. The situation worsened when Chief of State Solo took his personal Star Destroyer, the Anakin Solo, to the Kashyyyk system along with the Fifth Fleet. The Wookiees were still to choose a side in the war, but the Jedi had been sighted on Kashyyyk. Solo knew that the Wookiees would not join the Alliance after supporting the Jedi, so he chose to engage their forces in an effort to draw Confederation forces away from Kuat. Solo reasoned that the Confederation needed allies, and would be willing to offer assistance to the Wookiees to gain their support. His plan worked, and Confederation forces from Kuat disengaged and headed to Kashyyyk. Although Bwua'tu and his forces were meant to pursue, and were expected by Solo to help reinforce his position, he was ordered to remain and defend the Core Worlds by Admiral Niathal. Without his support, the Fifth Fleet was badly mauled and barely managed to escape from the Kashyyyk system.

As the war drew to a close, the Galactic Alliance was sundered when Admiral Niathal broke away from the government after Jacen Solo, who had taken the mantle of Darth Caedus, had ordered the murder of Grand Admiral Pellaeon during a battle at Fondor, which was the latest in a series of actions that underscored his descent into darkness and tyranny. Several weeks later, forces loyal to Caedus engaged Jedi and Confederation forces at Roche. Although the battle was initially commanded by Jacen Solo, other duties forced him to delegate command of the Alliance forces to Bwua'tu, who traveled to the Roche system to oversee the battle. Bwua'tu subsequently defeated forces loyal to Niathal during the battle, then trapped the remaining Confederation forces at Carbos Thirteen. Shortly afterward, the war ended with the battle of Shedu Maad, which saw the death of Caedus at the hands of his own sister, Jaina Solo. In the aftermath, Bwua'tu was offered the position of Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance, but turned it down, believing that he was not cunning enough to last long in office. He did, however, suggest Admiral Natasi Daala, who had returned from obscurity to assist Grand Admiral Pellaeon and had subsequently allied her forces with Niathal, for the job. She was the only universally acceptable candidate, and was installed as the new Chief of State.

By 43 ABY, Bwua'tu had ascended to the position of Chief of Naval Operations and commanded the Galactic Alliance Navy. He was also involved in a personal relationship with Chief of State Daala, although it was kept extremely private. Bwua'tu counseled Daala over the problem of several young Jedi Knights who had succumbed to a mental illness, but held the belief that the Jedi were a beneficial force with the Alliance's best interests at heart. He also told her, when asked, that there was talk amongst naval officers that Daala was not tough enough on enemies of the state. Daala, along with Jagged Fel, the Head of State of the Galactic Empire, became the target of a conspiracy involving Kuati Senator Haydnat Treen, Imperial Moff Drikl Lecersen, Coruscanti Senator Fost Bramsin, and General Merratt Jaxton, Chief of Starfighter Command. The conspirators sought to replace both heads of state in an effort to create a new political entity. During a meeting to discuss their plans, Jaxton noted that Bwua'tu was extremely loyal to Daala, and that his loyalty may have been the result of more that just a professional relationship rather than personal ethics. Since the conspiracy depended on getting the Chiefs of the Armed Forces on side, Jaxton was attempting to find reasons to force Bwua'tu into retirement. However, he did propose that killing Bwua'tu would work just as well. During the same period, Bwua'tu's uncle, the respected lawyer Eramuth Bwua'tu, was hired to represent Tahiri Veila in court when the Alliance prosecuted her with the murder of Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon during the battle of Fondor several years previously.

As more Jedi fell prey to the mental illness and began to act in an irrational and dangerous manner, Daala ordered them to be arrested and incarcerated. The Order, however, refused to turn over any Jedi suffering from the malady, which led Daala to authorize a raid on the Jedi Temple by Mandalorian commandos to retrieve the Jedi in question. The raid was repulsed by the Jedi, but a siege of the Temple ensued. The Mandalorian commander of the siege, Belok Rhal, ordered the Jedi to turn over the two latest sufferers, Sothais Saar and Turi Altamik. When the Jedi attempted to negotiate, Rhal killed their representative, Kani Asari, on the steps of the Temple.

With the Jedi in shock, Bwua'tu privately contacted the acting Grand Master, Kenth Hamner. During the initial raid on the Temple, holorecordings of the battle had revealed that the assembly of a large StealthX fleet was taking place within the Temple. Bwua'tu bluntly inquired as to whether or not that was true, and Hamner confirmed it was. The Bothan was curious if the vessels were intended for use against the Galactic Alliance, to which Hamner guaranteed they were not; they were being readied to deal with another threat, but did not elaborate. Bwua'tu revealed that Daala knew nothing of the buildup since he had not told her, and assured Hamner that if Daala knew about it, she would draw the conclusion that the fighters were intended for use against the Alliance and launch a massive assault on the Temple. Wanting what was best for the Alliance, which in his belief was a united Alliance and Jedi Order, Bwua'tu offered Hamner a deal. If he refrained from launching the StealthXs until Bwua'tu specifically allowed him to, then he would use his personal relationship with Daala to help mollify her and improve relations between the Alliance and Order. Furthermore, as long as the ships were not to be used against Alliance assets, the fleet would have support from the Navy in their operations, even if Bwua'tu had to deploy them covertly. Hamner agreed to Bwua'tu's plan.

Several days later, Bwua'tu visited Daala in her personal quarters. He intended to gauge her opinion about the Jedi as part of his promise to Hamner, but as the political talk turned to reports of slave uprisings, Bwua'tu knew that she would not be interested in talking about the Jedi situation. Leaving her apartment at three-fourteen in the morning, he planned to go to his office and talk to Master Hamner. On his way, he was attacked on a walkway by two individuals—one in street clothes wielding a blaster, and another in Jedi robes wielding a lightsaber—who demanded to know where the "real" Bwua'tu was. One of the symptoms of the mental psychosis that the Jedi suffered was the belief that those around them had been replaced with imposters, and Bwua'tu initially thought that he was being attacked by psychotic Jedi. In actuality, the attackers were agents of the conspiracy headed by Senator Treen and Moff Lecersen. The Admiral responded by firing repeatedly from the handheld blaster he had concealed in his pocket, while triggering an emergency signal. Diving off the walkway to one below, one attacker was wounded in a fall as Bwua'tu fired wildly above him, The second assailant followed him and landed on the walkway behind him. Bwua'tu attempted to shoot him, but his arm was severed and cauterized by the attacker's blade. During the ensuing struggle, Bwua'tu suffered lightsaber wounds to his back and stomach, but managed to kill his attacker by triggering the blaster that was still locked in the grip of his severed arm. The shots struck the man's face, killing him. As he started to lose consciousness and lapse into a coma, Bwua'tu realized that the pair could not have been real Jedi, as he would not have been able to last as long as he had against them. The emergency signal that Bwua'tu had triggered had been received by his Bith aide-de-camp, Rynog Asokaji, who immediately dispatched help that reached the Admiral shortly after he lost consciousness.

Bwua'tu was taken to the Galactic Senate Medcenter, where a 2-1 BXS combat-trauma surgical droid took thirty hours to treat the Admiral's stomach wound, repairing and replacing his internal organs. His amputated arm was shaved to above the elbow, and it was noted that in Bothan physiology, cauterized nerves were difficult to regenerate. A Bothan by the name of Ysa'i, a specialist in his species's physiology, was the Admiral's primary physician. At Daala's request, the Admiral was to be fitted with a prosthetic arm, as she did not want him waking up to a stump. During a visit at this bedside—which included Daala's Chief of Staff, Wynn Dorvan, and Rynog Asokaji—it was noted that Bwua'tu began to respond to the sound of Daala's voice and her touch. Encouraged to talk to Bwua'tu, Daala demanded that he report on his attackers. Bwua'tu's eyes, which were open so that visual stimuli could attempt to assist in his recovery, were locked on a viewscreen showing a news report from reporter Madhi Vaandt covering revolts on Blaudu Sextus. Although Dorvan and Asokaji implied that Bwua'tu was fixing on Vaandt due to her attractiveness, Daala instead surmised from the Admiral's reaction that there was a connection between the attack on him and the reporter. With Bwua'tu's reaction to the viewscreen, Asokaji sought permission from the doctors to have news reports playing constantly in an effort to stimulate the Admiral. The doctors agreed. An investigation into the attack led nowhere; the wounded assailant was never found, and the one wearing Jedi robes that had been killed was not identified as any member of the Order on record.

Shortly thereafter, Bwua'tu was successfully fitted with the prosthetic appendage, which was indistinguishable from his real arm except for the lack of fur where the prosthesis met his natural limb. In Bwua'tu's absence, Admiral Sallinor Parova, a member of the conspiracy headed by Senator Treen and Moff Lecersen, ascended to the post of Chief of Naval Operations. Several weeks after the attack, Bwua'tu came out of his coma. His uncle, Eramuth Bwua'tu, was at his bedside, and his aide, Rynog Asokaji entered the room shortly after. Despite being lucid and in control of his mental faculties, Eramuth advised his nephew to pretend that he was groggy and incoherent. When Bwua'tu's doctors arrived, the Admiral remained silent while Eramuth expressed his concern that his nephew could have suffered brain damage. Bwua'tu answered a few questions by blinking, but acted confused and agitated. Doctor Ysa'i and his colleague, Doctor Javir, expressed puzzlement at Bwua'tu's state since the medical readouts indicated that the Admiral had fully recovered. Eramuth assured the pair of them that he would attempt to reach his nephew and jog his memory, and the doctors departed. Eramuth then filled his nephew in on recent events—the various slave uprisings, the Jedi coup that had removed Chief of State Daala from power and replaced it with a triumvirate, and Daala's subsequent escape from the Armand Isard Correctional Facility. Along with Wynn Dorvan—who was currently serving as a member of the triumvirate and had joined the conversation via holographic receiver—the small group sensed a larger force at work behind the recent events, and formed a secret "club" to unravel the conspiracy that seemed to be in play. As part of the plan, Admiral Bwua'tu's recovery was kept a closely guarded secret.

With Chief of State Daala being deposed, Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker was allowed to return to Coruscant. Skywalker, as part of an arrangement with Daala, had been exiled from the capital for ten years to discover the reason behind Jacen Solo's fall to the dark side, and how to prevent future occurrences in his Jedi. As part of the agreement, Skywalker relinquished command of the Order, which had led to Kenth Hamner's appointment. With Daala removed from power, the decision had been overturned. One of Skywalker's first acts was to declare his intention to remove the Jedi from Coruscant entirely and to have no active role in the politics of the Galactic Alliance. The triumvirate was dissolved, and many expected that Wynn Dorvan would be elected as interim Chief of State until a formal election could be called. However, Senator Treen and her allies conspired to have Padnel Ovin, the newly elected senator from Klatooine, installed as Chief of State, hoping to use him as a puppet ruler while they controlled the Alliance behind the scenes. Ovin was elected, but was savvy enough to recognize Treen's motivations, and retained Dorvan as his Chief of Staff.

Dorvan met with Bwua'tu in his hospital room and they discussed the recent events and the fact that a Senate subcommittee had been formed to investigate possible abuses of power by the Jedi Order while they were partially in charge of the government, sparking a fresh outpouring of anti-Jedi sentiment. Club Bwua'tu investigations into the conspiracy had created list of suspects they believed were tied to the attack on Bwua'tu and a plan to remove Chief of State Daala from office which included Moff Lecersen, Senator Treen, General Jaxton and Senator Bramsin. Brainstorming between Bwua'tu and Dorvan also linked Admiral Parova to the conspiracy when the pair realized that a recent bout of poisoning in the Senate had discredited Galactic Alliance Security, leading Daala to assign responsibility for the protection of the Senate to Fleet Intelligence, which was under Parova's command. Since the three affected individuals—Lecersen, Jaxton and Bramsin—were all suspected of being involved in the conspiracy against Daala, Bwua'tu ordered Asokaji to find out if Parova and Lecersen had ever met.

At the same time, Dorvan noted that the subcommittee dealing with the Jedi was staffed by newly-elected senators and surmised that there was a second conspiracy going on since they could not have been involved in the original conspiracy due to the fact that they had only recently arrived on Coruscant. Shortly after the meeting, Jedi Leia Organa Solo—the only Jedi officially remaining on Coruscant since the Order's departure—was arrested on trumped-up charges by order of the subcommittee. Dorvan met with her husband, Han Solo, and revealed the existence of Club Bwua'tu to him; Solo joined the group to help in the rescue of his wife. Meanwhile, Eramuth met with Organa Solo in prison, posing as her legal advocate, informing her of the club and gaining her support and membership.

With Rynog Asokaji's assistance, Han Solo kidnapped Admiral Parova from her residence on Bwua'tu's orders. Asokaji commed Parova, informing her that Bwua'tu was lucid and wanted to speak with her, claiming to know who had sent the fake Jedi after him. Worried by how much Bwua'tu actually knew, she hailed a hovertaxi, and upon entering it she scratched herself on a needle that contained a potent drug that knocked her out. Her last memory was of Solo driving the taxi. Parova came to in a cell in the Jedi Temple's Asylum Block. Asokaji and Wynn Dorvan were physically present with her, and Bwua'tu, via holocomm, confronted Parova about her ties to the conspiracy. She denied his accusations, stating that meeting with two senators, a Moff, and a fellow military officer was not unusual behavior. Eventually, the Bothan called a halt to the meeting, and dismissed Dorvan and Asokaji, leaving Parova alone in the cell. Shortly after, Parova was found dead, killed by a lightsaber. Although the media blamed Tahiri Veila for the killing—she had escaped from the Armand Isard Correctional Facility at the same time as Daala and was currently on the run from the authorities—Parova had actually been killed by members of the Lost Tribe of Sith. Many of the newly elected senators on the anti-Jedi subcommittee and their staffs were members of the Lost Tribe, and other members of the Tribe had infiltrated the Jedi Temple after it had been abandoned during the Jedi's pull-out.

Not long after, Chief of State Padnel Ovin was made aware of the existence of Club Bwua'tu, shortly before he was recalled as Chief of State. Citing the murder of Admiral Parova, the recent death of Fost Bramsin—who had been murdered by Senator Treen so that he would not betray the conspiracy although the autopsy had been inconclusive—and Treen's subsequent resignation, Senator Kameron Suldar nominated Rokari Kem, a new senator from the planet Qaras, as his replacement. Kem had been target by Club Bwua'tu as a possible member. During the deliberations in the Senate surrounding the election of the new Chief of State, Han Solo and other members of the club successfully rescued Jedi Organa Solo from incarceration. During the deliberations, Chief of State Ovin delayed the vote by over an hour by addressing the Senate, giving Club Bwua'tu time to rescue Organa Solo. During his oration, he suddenly collapsed and was taken away to a medcenter, where he was later pronounced dead. Unknown to all save for members of the Lost Tribe, Senator Kem—who had been elected to the position of interim Chief of State—was, in actuality, the dark side entity Abeloth.

For a month after the departure of the Jedi, Bwua'tu and his compatriots ran Club Bwua'tu as a secret intelligence network, feeding information to the Order and assisting them in infiltrating into Coruscant. Since Kem's election, members of the Lost Tribe and ascended into key governmental positions, and were using BAMR News to spread anti-Jedi propaganda. With Club Bwua'tu's assistance, the Jedi were able to position themselves and eliminate twenty-five percent of the Lost Tribe's forces in a simultaneous strike. The remaining forces, including Abeloth, retreated to the Jedi Temple. for the next stage of the plan, Bwua'tu contacted several thousand space marines that had served under him and asked them to volunteer to assist the Jedi in overthrowing Chief of State Kem and the Lost Tribe. The marines agreed, and three brigades were assembled in an industrial hangar to receive a briefing from the Admiral. He explained that the marines would launch an assault on the Temple at thirty different locations to draw the bulk of the Sith forces to the building's perimeter. While the Sith were engaged, a strike force led by Grand Master Skywalker would infiltrate the Temple and deactivate the shields from the inside. Then, Jedi forces would push out from the Temple, driving the Sith into the waiting force of marines. If the assault failed for any reason, Bwua'tu made it clear that he would order a baradium strike on the Temple, and that the marines should be prepared to fall back immediately when the order to retreat was given since the missiles would already be airborne if the command was issued.

The assault began, but ran into trouble immediately as the Jedi infiltration team were ambushed upon entry into the Temple. Abeloth, with her ability to see into the future, had foreseen the attack and countered accordingly. The strike team were trapped in the Temple for several days fighting a running battle with the Lost Tribe. Bwua'tu was in constant communication with Skywalker, coordinating efforts with him and attempting to create an entry point for reinforcements to support the Jedi. Finally, the strike team were able to create a breach in the Temple's exterior that allowed elite Void Jumper marine reinforcements to pour into the building and start securing the Temple level by level. However, during the assault to create the breach, the Jedi learned of Abeloth's presence in the Temple. Abeloth almost routed their efforts, but she abandoned the fight for reasons unknown to the Jedi. The team were successful and subsequently med-evaced by the marine reinforcements.

With the assault dragging on, a meeting was held in the offices of Sullustan Senator Luewet Wuul between the Jedi Council and their military and political allies. The Jedi relayed the news that Abeloth was present in the building, and that she could apparently inhabit multiple bodies and control them even if they were several light years distant since they had received a report from Tahiri Veila that she and Boba Fett had killed a manifestation of Abeloth on Hagamoor 3 at the same time as the strike team encountered Abeloth in the Temple. The destruction of Abeloth's form on Hagamoor 3 was presumed to be the reason that the Abeloth form fighting the strike team had abandoned the battle, as the loss of one part of her had weakened the whole. Information obtained from the Thuruht Killik hive shed light on Abeloth's origins, and it became clear that she had to be stopped by any means necessary. Bwua'tu suggested an immediate baradium strike on the Temple since it contained two manifestations of Abeloth—the one that fought the Jedi strike team, and another that had apparently merged with the Temple computer core. The second entity had been witnessed by Wynn Dorvan, who had been a prisoner of Abeloth's until rescued by marine teams storming the Temple. Admiral Darklighter pointed out that there were still marines and Jedi inside the Temple, and Bwua'tu pointed out that withdrawing their forces would tip off the enemy to their plan. Grand Master Skywalker vetoed the plan, however, and Dorvan expressed his opinion that any strike would be ineffective as Abeloth was able to see the future and would plan for the attack accordingly. At the conclusion of the meeting, Skywalker sensed that one of the Abeloth manifestations had fled Coruscant, taking his son, Ben and a young Sith named Vestara Khai with her.

Skywalker and newly-promoted Jedi Master Jaina Solo pursued Abeloth with the intention of stopping her, while Master Sabatyne led a force of Jedi and Void Jumpers into the Temple to deal with the Abeloth manifestation in the computer core. Both missions were successful, and the threat posed by Abeloth was abated. However, the Senate voted to remove the Jedi from Coruscant. Grand Master Skywalker acceded to their wishes as he did not want to plunge the galactic capital into war again. Preparations were made for the Order to leave Coruscant; three months later, Bwua'tu was present aboard the Super Star Destroyer Megador in Coruscant's orbit. On the flight deck sat the Millennium Falcon as it prepared to ferry Master Solo to the Hapan cruiser Dragon Queen II for her wedding to Jagged Fel. Admiral Darklighter had arranged for several thousand Void Jumpers to form an honor guard for the Solos in gratitude for five decades of service to freedom. As Captain Solo requested permission to depart the vessel, Bwua'tu personally granted them clearance, wishing them a safe journey.

Nek Bwuat'tu engendered a fierce loyalty and devotion among those under his command during his time commanding the Admiral Ackbar, and when busts of the Admiral were placed all over the ship by his relative, Wurf'al, the Admiral allowed them to remain. After the loss of the Admiral Ackbar to the Killiks, Bwua'tu realized that it was his own pride and arrogance that had cost him the ship, and Killik infiltrators had been able to stow away aboard the vessel in the busts. He was surprised to be allowed to keep his command and, for a short time, became the laughingstock of the navy. When he regained the Admiral Ackbar following the end of the Swarm War, Bwua'tu replaced the busts of himself with ones of Admiral Gial Ackbar, the respected Mon Calamari who had served the Rebel Alliance, New Republic, and Galactic Alliance before his death, and for whom the ship was named. While many thought that they were placed there to curry favor with Admiral Niathal, the current Supreme Commander and a Mon Calamari like Ackbar, Bwua'tu used them to remind himself to remain humble, and to remember what his ego and arrogance had cost him several years previously.

A being of honor, Bwua'tu held his vow of krevi—a Bothan oath that he had sworn to place loyalty to the Galactic Alliance above his own interests and that of his species—in high regard. The vow kept him with the Galactic Alliance even when the Bothans sided against the Alliance and joined the Confederation during the Second Galactic Civil War. The strength of the krevi also led him to try to reconcile the tension between the Chief of State and the Jedi Order since he believed that what was best for the Alliance was for it to be supported by the Order, despite his personal feelings toward some of their practices. Once he had heard of Daala's deposition as Chief of State, he held the opinion that she deserved a fair trial.

Nek Bwua'tu was an extremely competent and skilled naval commander, well-versed in tactical scenarios. Known for consistently defeating the Thrawn Simulator, Bwua'tu was confident of his own abilities despite not having commanded a fleet action until 36 ABY. A skilled tactician, Bwua'tu had the ability to accurately predict the enemy's projected battle tactics and counter them efficiently. Jedi Master Kyp Durron believed that the Admiral was Force-sensitive, but Bwua'tu simply knew not only how his enemy thought, but how the enemy thought their enemy thought. Such intuition afforded Bwua'tu the ability to formulate effective defenses and counter tactics that were a step ahead of his enemy. The skill was crucial to Alliance battleplans during the battles of Tenupe, Hapes, and Kuat. Bwua'tu was also skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and was physically fit.

Nek Bwua'tu was created by Troy Denning for the Dark Nest Trilogy. Bwua'tu first appeared in the second book, The Unseen Queen, and was referenced in the third book, The Swarm War. Bwua'tu later appeared in three novels of the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series—Legacy of the Force: Tempest, Legacy of the Force: Inferno, and Legacy of the Force: Invincible—which were all written by Denning. Aaron Allston included the character in Fate of the Jedi: Backlash, the fourth novel in the Fate of the Jedi series, marking the first time that the character had been used in a non-Denning written novel. He subsequently appeared in Fate of the Jedi: Allies, Fate of the Jedi: Vortex, Fate of the Jedi: Conviction, Fate of the Jedi: Ascension and Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse.

• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Essential Reader's Companion