Nuru Kungurama

Kung'urama'nuruodo was found in 33 BBY by the Jedi Order as an infant in an escape pod floating somewhere in the Outer Rim. The Jedi that found him were Ring-Sol Ambase and Dooku, prior to the latter's fall to the dark side of the Force. The Jedi misheard the capsule saying his name, and he was called Nuru Kungurama. He was then taken to the Jedi Temple on the galactic capital of Coruscant where he was raised and trained in the Jedi arts.

Kungurama was originally trained under the guidance of Jedi Master Lanchu Skaa until his master's disappearance at the start of the Clone Wars. Master Skaa was part of the Jedi task force sent to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala from the Separatist leaders just prior to the outbreak of the Clone Wars. Nuru was too young to accompany his master and was forced to remain at the Temple on Coruscant. Master Skaa fought in the Battle of Geonosis, but did not return. Kungurama was then apprenticed to Jedi Master Ring-Sol Ambase.

Eleven years after Kungurama's discovery, a squad of clone trooper "shinies" under the charge of Clone Captain Lock were dispatched from the Republic Star Destroyer Demolisher to sort through the wreckage of the Separatist heavy cruiser Malevolence, which had previously been sabotaged and crashed into a dead moon by Anakin Skywalker. Republic intelligence reports indicated that the Malevolence had been constructed at the Pammant Docks by the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps, part of the Quarren Isolation League. The clone reconnaissance and recovery mission confirmed this report. Exotic circuitry was also discovered, however, among the debris. This on-board circuitry was delivered to Jedi General Ring-Sol Ambase, who brought it directly to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine on Coruscant. It was the Jedi Master's very firm conclusion that the circuitry was manufactured by KynachTech Industries on the planet Kynachi, which was previously believed to manufacture it's unique brand of technology solely for peaceful purposes. Though Kynachi had isolated itself and severed all ties with the Republic ten years earlier, the existence of their circuitry aboard the Malevolence came as a grave surprise. Given that Ambase was born Kynachi and had studied his home planet and people extensively, Palpatine asked Ambase to undertake a secret mission to Kynachi to discover the true nature of what was going on there.

Returning to the Jedi Temple, Ambase informed his newly-appointed Padawan Nuru Kungurama of his imminent departure and that the apprentice would not be joining him. As Ambase left for the hangar, Kungurama experienced a strong sensation in the Force that this new Master, like his previous Master Skaa, would also not return from his mission. In the hopes of preventing such events from transpiring, Nuru used the Force to influence a clone trooper and stow away on the freighter the task force was using to infiltrate Kynachi. Upon its arrival, the freighter was fired upon by Separatist forces. Ambase and Kungurama went into different escape pods.

The two groups became scattered and crash-landed their escape pods and were almost immediately beset on the cold and rainy planet by native crustacean creatures and more Vulture droids. Kungurama's group attempted to continue the mission while also trying to discover what happened to General Ambase and his group. Along the way, they were assisted by grounded smuggler-turned-diner-owner Lalo Gunn and beguiled by an unusually helpful ally in the bounty hunter Cad Bane, who was under unknown orders from Darth Sidious. Gunn's navigator droid Teejay was destroyed by droid commandos, who, unknown to the Republic forces, were tipped off by Bane. After taking out the droids and based upon information of Ambase's whereabouts from the bounty hunter, Kungurama, Gunn, and the clones plotted a prison break that involved combining a droid commando body with Teejay's brain. The droid was renamed Cleaver.

By holocomm, Yoda was displeased with Nuru's unauthorized absence from the Temple and his stowing away with the task force, but asked him to leave immediately to meet a Chiss ambassador. Lalo Gunn and Cleaver volunteered take the squad in their freighter, the Hasty Harpy.

Shortly afterward, the Hasty Harpy arrived in Chiss space and received coordinates to go to Defense Force Station Ifpe'a. Once there, Breakout Squad was met by the ambassador, Aristocra Sev'eere'nuruodo, with the core name Veeren. It became apparent to her that Kungurama was completely different from a "normal" Chiss and that he didn't have any experience as an ambassador. Veeren decided to cut their conservation short and explained that the Chiss would stay neutral in the Clone Wars. Afterwards, she dismissed Kungurama and Breakout Squad, but not before telling him that the Jedi had misheard the recording which provided his name; his real name was Kung'urama'nuruodo. As the Hasty Harpy prepared to depart, the space station was attacked by forces of Confederacy of Independent Systems. Kungurama ordered the squad to return to the Hasty Harpy. Veeren was knocked unconscious and brought onboard. When she awoke, Veeren ignored the efforts of Kungurama and Gunn to explain the "kidnapping," as Veeren saw it, and would not believe that the station had been destroyed.

After some time in hyperspace an unexpected anomaly caused the Hasty Harpy to withdraw from hyperspace. After checking the notifications the crew discovered a black hole holding them, and a few minutes later they also spotted a group of pirates. Kungurama and Gunn succeeded in persuading Veeren to cooperate. But the pirates didn't want to rob them; on the contrary the pirate's leader Hethra Mcgrrrr asked them to join the Black Hole Pirates, because no one could leave the system through the pull of a nearby black hole. Gunn accepted the offer. When the pirates learned that Kungurama was a Jedi, they hoped to free their ships from the pull of the black hole which prevented the jump to hyperspace. Now the pirates wanted to use an Infinity Gate, which two marooned Sullustan archeologists had discovered to leave the system. On Kungurama activated the Gate and the Hasty Harpy jumped back to Defense Force Station Ifpe'a, where the fleet of pirate ships defeated Overseer Umbrag and his Techno Union armada. Veeren then left Kungurama and Breakout Squad.

After leaving the Black Hole Pirates, the Hasty Harpy set a course through hyperspace to return to Coruscant. En route Kungurama was meditating while the rest of the crew did other tasks; during the voyage they were contacted via hypercomm by Republic Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and Jedi Grand Master Yoda and asked them to divert to Vaced to rendezvous and escort Kynachi's Commissioner, Langu Sommilor. The Hasty Harpy was five hours from Vaced, while Sommilor's ship was six hours away. Breaker noticed an intermittent broadcast signal and thought the ship had a tracking device on it. Kungurama ordered the rest of the crew to search for it.

Once they landed on Vaced, the clone troopers and Kungurama disembarked the Hasty Harpy at Vaced Spaceport. They were confronted by a swoop gang led by Frutchoo looking to collect insurance payments, but Kungurama used a mind trick to force them to dispense. Sharp then offered to be a lookout, but Kungurama asked him to search the ship for a transmitter and sent Breaker instead. Cleaver found the tracking device but it was forgotten in the following events. When Breaker checked in later, it was to report seeing just animals and the Padawan ordered to be kept posted. Soon the others picked up Commissioner Sommilor's ship. Kungurama alerted Breaker, who responded with static. The Padawan was unaware that Breaker had been incapacitated and someone was using his comlink. The Kynachi leader and his pilots landed nearby and Sommilor greeted Kungurama; a flock of reptavians rose from the forest, momentarily distracting the Padawan. In that moment, Sommilor and his pilots were hit by a sniper as they were disembarking the TL-1800 freighter. The Commissioner fell into Kungurama's arms as the scene delved into chaos. Kungurama placed him under the boarding ramp and ignited his lightsaber. His next step was to order Chatterbox and the others on the Hasty Harpy to take cover. Suddenly unsure of what to do, Kungurama relaxed his mind and shut off his lightsaber. He ordered Sharp to secure the perimeter as he went after the sniper using Force speed. Running into the trading post, he jumped onto a parked swoop, which had belonged to a giant alien from the swoop gang. The yelled at Kungurama to get off, so the Padawan jumped onto a smaller swoop.

Kungurama zigzagged on the swoop so as not to present an easy target, but rolled upside down, and quickly regained control. Sensing movement, he looked back and saw four more swoops from the gang following him. Then he saw a white clone trooper helmet fly through the air, and spotted a grenade inside. Kungurama swung around and tried to stop the swoop bikers, but was too slow and the grenade exploded, tossing him aside and scattering the gang. The Padawan then spotteda shadowy figure on a speeder bike, so he drove his swoop toward the other figure. Kungurama then spotted Breaker tied to a tree trunk. Jumping off, he ran off to assist the clone and used his lightsaber to shear through the plastifiber bonds. The clone briefly awoke then fell back unconscious. Kungurama activated his comlink and ordered Sharp to retrieve Breaker, and informed Sharp that he was going to pursue the sniper into the forest. Suddenly the giant alien grabbed the back of the swoop and inquired if the figure on the speeder bike was a friend of Kungurama's. Shocked, the Chiss Padawan replied that he was a sniper. The giant declared he had a bone to pick with him, and swung on the swoop behind Kungurama, and then seized the controls. Kungurama tried to apologize for the loss of the swoop gang, but the other alien replied that they weren't his friends, and he was chasing after the sniper because he had ruined his swoop. As they raced through the forest, Kungurama asked if the giant had seen the speeder; he replied he was trailing him based on the bike's exhaust trail. They then introduced themselves, and the alien identified himself as Gizz. They then spotted the speeder bike, and Gizz realized he was heading toward Shattered Rock canyon, a hazardous place.

As they closed to within thirty meters of the speeder bike, the sniper released a dozen concussion grenades. Gizz sent the swoop into a climb as the grenades exploded and maintained control as they followed the sniper into the mouth of the ravine. Gizz pulled out his blaster pistol to fire as the speeder bike appeared in front of them. The sniper pulled his blaster rifle with one hand and fired at Gizz. Kungurama ignited his lightsaber and deflected the bold, and told Gizz not to kill the sniper, and then switched off his blade and pushed Gizz's wrist to keep them from hitting a tree. Gizz panicked and started babbling about Treylon II, but Kungurama reminded him they were chasing after the sniper. They had lost sight of him, but Gizz picked up the scent again and declared the sniper was trapped in a chasm. Suddenly the speeder bike drove out in front of them and shot Gizz in the chest. Kungurama recognized the sniper as a Mandalorian Death Watch member. The damaged swoop dived toward the ravine's floor, but Gizz grabbed the Padawan and fell off the swoop before it hit and exploded; the two slid into a boulder and blacked out. When Kungurama woke up, he was trapped under the giant alien. Kungurama was able to roll off Gizz and ignite his lightsaber as the sniper circled back. The bike came into view, but it was unoccupied and slowed to a stop. Sensing movement, Kungurama turned and spotted the sniper behind him with his rifle aimed at the Padawan. Kungurama leaped, and flipped off the boulder and noticed the sniper had fired a dart at him, and landed behind the sniper. The Mandalorian reached out and hit Kungurama with the rifle's butt, who responded by damaging the rifle's trigger. The Mandalorian then threw the rifle at the Padawan and used the moment to activate his gauntlet flamethrower. Kungurama somersaulted again and slapped the gauntlet away. The Mandalorian then grabbed Kungurama's right wrist; a twist caused the lightsaber to fall from his hands, then kneed Kungurama's stomach. Kungurama then grabbed Ambase's lightsaber but was shoved away, allowing the sniper to draw two blaster pistols. The Hasty Harpy then arrived overhead. Kungurama was then able to telekinetically grab his own lightsaber and ordered the sniper to surrender. His response was to fire at the ground in front of the Padawan's feet, temporarily blinding him. The Mandalorian then ran to his speeder bike; Kungurama used his senses to chase after him. Somersaulting again, he used his blades to cripple the bike. The sniper then disappeared around the boulder.

The Hasty Harpy landed nearby and Knuckles reported that they had recovered Breaker. Kungurama asked if they had seen the Mandalorian, but they had not. The Padawan then asked about Sommilor. Kunckles sadly reported that the Commissioner had died by a toxic dart. The sniper then activated his flamethrower at the dead weeds, and flames were heading toward Gizz's unconscious body. Kungurama ordered the clones to rescue the giant alien, and then told them to put him on the ship. The Mandalorian then emerged from the other side of the boulder; Kungurama Force pushed him, but the Mandalorian activated a jetpack. Kungurama was about to succumb to the smoke, but the clones dragged him onboard the Hasty Harpy. Cleaver had secured Gizz to the deck. Captain Gunn offered to shoot the Mandalorian, but Kungurama wanted the sniper alive. They then spotted the Mandalorian's transport. The Mandalorian launched a jetpack missile and damaged the transport, blowing the landing jets, the shields, and the port thruster. Kungurama tried to assure Gunn, before a fire broke out in the hold. Then the Mandalorian's ship fired on the Hasty Harpy. Gunn launched two homing missiles at it, and annihilated the other ship. Then Gunn was forced to crash near Vaced's spaceport. Kungurama then went to check on the others.

Breaker was waking up, and Kungurama said he will fill him in later; Cleaver then gave him a leather belt they had found. They then carried Gizz outside, who woke up, and asked about the guy they were chasing. Kungurama said he had been killed. Gizz then complained about a headache and went back to sleep. The spaceport official arrived, and told Kungurama that Gizz was trouble; Kungurama denied that Gizz had caused the crash. The spaceport official complained about all the other things Gizz had done and threatened to send him to Kessel, then left to get chains. When the man was gone, Kungurama told the others theye were to leave. The utility belt, Kungurama had discovered, had belong to his Master, Ambase, and had an imagecaster with coordinates leading to Bilbringi Depot. Kungurama wanted to go there to try to find his master. Sharp suggested they contact Coruscant, but the Padawan said no transmissions, because someone had been tracking them. Gunn then suggested Bilbringi Depot was a trap, but Kungurama thought since the sniper was trying to kill them, that it ruled out a trap. Gunn then said she wanted to part ways, as her agreement was to get them off Kynachi, not get stuck near black holes, and not to lose the Hasty Harpy. Kungurama said he will have the Republic reimburse her when they returned to Coruscant. Gunn then interrupted and said his promise meant nothing if he got himself killed. Chatterbox interrupted her to say that was enough. Gunn quietly apologized and turned away; Chatterbox then kissed the captain. When they were done, Gunn said goodbye and that she might call an old friend for a lift. The Republic troopers, along with Gizz and Cleaver, took the deceased Kynachi ambassador's ship off Vaced.

On the way, Kungurama and Gizz were in the cargo bay, where they had stored the bodies of the Sommilor and his pilots in an airtight storage container; the swoop biker took the opportunity to thank Kungurama for not leaving him on Vaced. Breaker then interrupted them to show the Padawan something on the nav console. Kungurama saw a green circle flash on the display and realized that Sommilor's ship carried a hidden transmitter. Breaker suggested someone on Bilbringi Depot knew they were coming. Gizz replied they would not know of him, and promised nothing was going to mess with Kungurama with him around.

Upon reversion from hyperspace, Breakout Squad found Umbrag's and several drone barges. The Republic troopers then stormed the facility and secured it, blasting apart the battle droids. Kungurama and Gizz captured Umbrag, who fainted at the sight of the large alien. After the fighting was over, the clones commented on how easy it was, even though they had not found Master Ambase. Gizz carried Umbrag over his shoulder onto their freighter at Kungurama's suggestion. The Padawan himself had sent a message to the Jedi Council to describe the situation and was told a Republic cruiser will arrive shortly. Kungurama then told the assembled troopers that he would never forget his failure on Vaced, and upon his return to Coruscant, he probably would be reassigned. He told them he would miss them. Kungurama was interrupted by the arrival of another . The Padawan ordered Breakout Squad to conceal themselves. Aristocra Veeren stepped out from the ship.

Kungurama was surprised to see her. Veeren responded by saying that his allies could reveal themselves. She divulged that it was she who had planted the tracking device which Cleaver had attached to himself on Vaced; Veeren went on to say that it appeared someone was manipulating Breakout Squad, and she wanted to inform him of this. Kungurama was confused, but Veeren left just as quickly as she arrived. As her ship was preparing to jump to hyperspace, a Kuat Drive Yards Corona-class transport arrived. Veeren's ship fired on the Corona; return fire from the Kuat transport destroyed her ship. Kungurama Force sensed that his missing Master, Ambase, was onboard the Corona. Breakout Squad could only watch while Ambase's ship fled.

A hidden battle droid then surprised them by shooting Chatterbox in the back. Kungurama bisected the droid with his lightsaber, then ordered the clones to search the depot for more droids.

Breakout Squad continued their investigation of the Depot, and Cleaver located the real Sommilor, who along with his pilots had been drugged and put in storage and replaced by Black Sun impersonators. They finished and took the freighter back to Coruscant. En route, Umbrag faked unconsciousness and managed to grab the young Jedi, but the Overseer was shot by Sharp. When they returned to Coruscant, he met Master Harro Kelpura, who had been studying the alien pod he had been found in. They left to take Chatterbox to the Jedi temple for treatment, but Kelpura ordered them to change course to his lab in the Dacho District, as someone had broken into it. Viewing the feed, Kungurama realized it was his missing master. When they arrived, their ship was damaged by an impact with another ship and crashed; Kungurama managed to get out and confront Ambase, and after a short duel, Ambase collapsed. A few days later, Kungurama visited him, and Ambase revealed he was leaving the Jedi Order. Kungurama wished him peace, and left. Breakout Squad was then assembled for another mission.

After the events on Coruscant, Breakout Squad, along with Gizz, was assigned by the Supreme Chancellor to meet Noggox, a Hutt who had requested escort for his supply convoys to Fondor. Breakout Squad arrived at Noggox's factory on Affa in a Nu-class shuttle. They disembarked and walked into the factory, noting the lack of a greeting party. Proceeding into the factory, Gizz noticed the smell of raw meat. When they reached the Hutt's control room, they found the remains of a massacre. Unbeknownst to Breakout Squad, the Nightbrother Savage Opress had recently "visited" the Hutt to kill him. Cleaver then asked Kungurama if their mission was over, but Kungurama commented that they had to find out what had happened there. They were joined by Master Kit Fisto, who ordered them to take the freighter to Fondor. Upon reversion at Fondor, they discovered the Neimoidian pirate Dool Pundar was waiting for them with his pirate ship. They boarded the ship and forced Pundar to escape. On the surface, Kungurama agreed to help Gizz escort orphaned younglings to Foless with Kuvuta Pindi. On Foless, they realized that the "blind" Twi'lek was trying to kidnap the orphans, and Kungurama chased her on a swoop. He caught up to her and forced the airbus to crash, and captured her associate Pundar. Kungurama watched as Gizz chased her into a swamp, where Pindi fell prey to a large creature. Breakout Squad then returned to Coruscant, and Kungurama went with Gizz to Dex's Diner for a "hero's meal".

Nuru Kungurama wielded a blue lightsaber. He grew more confident with leadership as he spent more time with Breakout Squad. He was excited to meet another Chiss during his meeting with Veeren, but eventually became disillusioned by her dismissal of him. He also was easily confused by her behavior and secretive nature after she tracked him down on Bilbringi Depot.

On Vaced, he regretted the demise of the biker gang even though they had been hostile.

Kungurama was an effective lightsaber combatant and could fight a Mandalorian to a standstill. In addition, he could use Mind tricks, telekinesis, and force speed.

Nuru Kungurama appears in Ryder Windham's Secret Missions young readers series as well as the 2011's Free Comic Book Day special The Clone Wars: Opress Unleashed. He is pictured on the cover of the series' second book.

After looking through a number of foreign language dictionaries, Windham chose Kungurama's name from Swahili: "nuru," meaning light, and "kungurama," meaning growl.

The original character from Windham's first draft was simply a "boy." However, when the cover art was going to be made, Rob Valois suggested that the character be non-Human. The Sullustan species was suggested by Frank Parisi. Windham suggested Nautolan and the Chiss species, because of his work on the comic adaptation of Heir to the Empire. The art director thought children would better identify with the latter, so it was chosen.

While Windham, as a freelance writer, was told what elements Lucasfilm wanted in the books, he chose to include the Big Gizz and his gang, who were in previous material, was his own decison. One of the gang members from the original material, Spiker, was a Chiss himself. As he appeared later in the timeline, Windham has suggested to Leland Chee that Kungurama grow up to be Spiker. Chee was delighted by the idea, but it is as yet non-canon.

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• The Essential Reader's Companion