A skirmish occurred at a nest of gundarks, a predatory species, on the moon Alaris Prime sometime between 39 and 36 BBY. At the time, two factions were attempting to colonize Alaris Prime—Wookiee colonists from the planet Kashyyyk and the Trade Federation, an intergalactic company. The Wookiees had previously obtained the rights to colonize Alaris Prime legally from the Senate of the Galactic Republic, while the Trade Federation had ignored the Senate's ruling and illegally landed on the moon to pursue their own interests. On Alaris Prime, both groups were attacked by the gundarks, prompting them to take action against the creatures by eliminating them.
The Federation sent a squad of Battle Droid Beta Versions from its Droid Army to the gundark's nest, while the Wookiees trained a small band of warriors under the leadership of the Wookiee Chewbacca. The Trade Federation reached the nest and began attacking, killing many of the gundarks, while the Wookiees arrived a short time later as the final gundarks were eliminated. As soon as they saw the Wookiees, the battle droids opened fire on them, but the colonists fought back and overcame the droids, destroying all of them. The skirmish rendered gundarks an extinct species on Alaris Prime and led to further battles between the Wookiees and the Trade Federation.
Both the Trade Federation and the Wookiees sought to colonize Alaris Prime after it's rediscovery.
Sometime between the years 59 BBY and 56 BBY, Alaris Prime, a moon of the gas giant Alaris, was rediscovered by explorers of the Wookiee species from the planet Kashyyyk. These explorers, represented by the Wookiee Chieftain Attichitcuk, petitioned the Senate of the Galactic Republic, the dominant government in the galaxy, for the rights to lead a colonization effort on the moon. In the political debate that followed, the Trade Federation, an intergalactic company, also expressed interest in Alaris Prime, believing it could be used as a trade center.
The moon was eventually awarded to the Wookiees after twenty years of debate, with Attichitcuk being named one of the leaders of the colonists for his role in gaining the rights. Fellow Wookiees Chewbacca and Shoran, Attichitcuk's son and nephew respectively, were also selected as colonial leaders, and Qui-Gon Jinn, a Master in the Jedi Order, was ordered by the Jedi High Council to oversee and advise the colonists in their efforts. The Wookiees set off for Alaris Prime sometime between 39 and 36 BBY; however the Trade Federation and their Droid Army, dissatisfied with the Senate's ruling, illegally launched their own colonization effort on Alaris Prime, arriving shortly before the Wookiees and establishing their initial settlements.
Multiple gundark attacks on Wookiee settlements prompted the colonists to train an army.
One of the structures built by the Trade Federation was a power core, which was attacked by gundarks, a non-sentient predatory species on Alaris Prime, driving the Federation away from that area. When the Wookiees landed on the moon, the damaged power core was discovered by Chewbacca and Shoran while they were heading to a camp built by Attichitcuk, and—acting on advice from Master Jinn—the two Wookiees destroyed the structure before continuing on their path. Once they reached the camp it was attacked by four gundarks, and Chewbacca, Shoran and Attichitcuk were forced to fight and kill the creatures. Shortly afterwards, the ruins of the power core were discovered by OOL-2, a Trade Federation B1-Series battle droid, who reported its destruction to the Federation's Viceroy, Nute Gunray. OOL-2 stated that the power core had been destroyed by the gundarks, and Gunray ordered the droid to find the creatures and exterminate them, bringing their pelts to the Federation's Trandoshan allies.
The Wookiees began to set up more bases on Alaris Prime, including one command center which was also attacked by gundarks. The multiple attacks prompted Master Jinn to teach the Wookiees to train a small army of bowcaster troopers to attack the creatures at their nest. At one of these bases, which was led by Chewbacca, Jinn instructed several Wookiee workers to build a troop center in order to train the warriors. Once more than ten soldiers had been trained, Chewbacca led his troops towards the gundark's nest to attack. The Trade Federation also ordered a squad of eleven Battle Droid Beta Versions go to the nest to destroy the gundarks.
The Wookiees destroying the battle droids
The squad of battle droids reached the nest and began firing at the gundarks with their E-5 blaster rifles, killing many of the creatures. The Wookiees encountered two gundarks at a river close to the nest and killed them with their bowcasters before proceeding. The Wookiees reached the nest and witnessed the last of the gundarks being killed by the battle droids. As soon as all of the creatures were dead, one of the battle droids, perceiving little difference between the newcomers and the gundarks, ordered his comrades to attack the Wookiees. However the colonists fought back and destroyed all of the droids.
Immediately after the skirmish, Jinn congratulated Chewbacca and the Wookiees for their combat performance and realized that their colonization effort was going to take a different turn. As a result of the skirmish, gundarks became extinct on Alaris Prime, and the Wookiees gained a new enemy in the Trade Federation as they finally became aware of their presence on the moon. Attichitcuk later began a scouting expedition to see what he could discover about the Federation, and while doing so was ambushed by a unit of battle droids. Attichitcuk was quickly rescued by Chewbacca and a small group of Wookiee soldiers, but he had sustained injuries that prevented him from undertaking his major duties in the colonization for some time. Chewbacca would later lead the Wookiees in several attacks on Trade Federation settlements on Alaris Prime, before the Wookiees drove the Federation off the moon in the Battle for Alaris Prime.
The skirmish at the gundark nest was first mentioned in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Prima's Official Strategy Guide by Steven L. Kent—published on November 7, 2001, before appearing in the 2001 LucasArts video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, released on November 11, 2001.. The skirmish is featured in the third level of the Wookiee tutorial campaign—"Building an Army"—where the player controls the Wookiees and has to train an army to attack the gundarks. The player can instantly lose the level if Chewbacca is killed at any point, though the strategy guide notes that such an outcome is unlikely. The guide also recommends that the player create ten Wookiee troopers before attacking the nest in order to complete the mission, which this article uses as a guide for the number of Wookiees present in this skirmish.