Battle of Bakura

Despite the deep-seated hostility between the Rebels and the Imperials, the Alliance commander Luke Skywalker, alongside his Imperial counterpart Pter Thanas, swiftly established a functional defensive network. This proved crucial as the Ssi-ruuk soon reappeared, effectively imposing a blockade on the planet. Although they lost their human-operated battle droids, they received reinforcements in the form of a continuous stream of P'w'eck slaves.

Skywalker suggested that Thanas treat the Rebel forces as his own, and Thanas heeded this advice. In the finalized strategy, the more formidable Rebel starfighters assumed control of key positions, placing them at the forefront of the Ssi-ruuvi assault. Initially, General Solo opposed this deployment, but simulations revealed that evenly distributing key positions between Imperial and Rebel squadrons would result in higher overall casualties. This evidence swayed Solo's opinion.

Salis D'aar's spaceport and the orbital repair platform served as facilities for repairing both Imperial and Rebel vessels. An Imperial repair team gained access to the Alliance flagship Flurry to mend the previously damaged starboard deflector shield. Despite the limited time, Bakuran engineers successfully adapted the DEMP weapon technology and installed it on two patrol boats. General Solo requested a prototype of this technology for the Falcon, but Nereus and Thanas denied the request, citing a lack of time and necessary components.

Approximately one day after the arrival of the Rebels, preparations were complete. The plan stipulated that in the event of another attack, the defenders would destroy one or more cruisers, forcing the Ssi-ruuk to retreat. Rebel forces would lead every assault. However, should the Ssi-ruuk fail to launch another attack, Nereus ordered a counterattack to commence on the evening of the following day. Thanas preferred an earlier attack, but Nereus insisted on his timeline, driven by his own agenda.

Rebel crews were granted downtime on Bakura, although this soon presented challenges for non-Humans. Due to their isolation from the broader Galaxy, most Bakurans harbored a prejudice against alien species and struggled to distinguish between a Ssi-ruu and a Mon Calamari. This prejudice was further exacerbated by a long-standing anti-droid sentiment stemming from a previous droid revolt.

Shortly after the Ssi-ruuk were repelled, Leia Organa was permitted to address the Senate. Many of the older Bakuran senators and veterans of the Imperial invasion had opposed the Empire but had remained suppressed for years. However, Leia's speech ignited their spirits.

In the evening, Prime Minister Yeorg Captison hosted both Rebel and Imperial leaders at his residence to facilitate further discussions on neutral ground. During this dinner, the Bakura Truce was formalized after Nereus received confirmation of the Emperor's death and the absence of any incoming reinforcements. However, he cautioned Organa that any instigation of rebellion would still be met with punishment.

To amplify the animosity between the Bakurans and the Rebels, Nereus incited a group of thugs to 'inspect' landing Pad 12, where a Rebel Corellian gunship was stationed, under the guise of preventing any Ssi-ruuk infiltration through the blockade. The thugs assaulted several Mon Calamari, who then defended themselves. Only the prompt intervention of Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca prevented further escalation, but two Bakurans were killed in the ensuing altercation.

Skywalker later discovered that Nereus had encouraged the Bakurans to gather at the location. The following day, Leia Organa issued a formal apology to the Bakuran Senate regarding the incident. Organa also offered the assistance of two Alliance droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, to aid in translating intercepted Ssi-ruuk transmissions.

During the morning of the next day, Skywalker visited the elderly Eppie Belden and utilized his abilities to initiate her mental healing process. Although this act of compassion primarily aimed to reassure Gaeriel Captison of the benevolent nature of the Force and the Jedi, it would prove crucial in the subsequent battle.

Despite Nereus's warnings, Organa attempted to persuade the Bakurans to secede from the Empire and join the Rebellion. She accompanied Captison and senator Orn Belden on a private airspeeder tour. Employing a Disruption bubble generator to prevent Imperial eavesdropping, they discussed the status of the Bakuran resistance, as well as the likelihood of Bakura revolting against Imperial rule. However, Nereus monitored their activities, leading to their arrest and imprisonment.

Organa was confined to Nereus's private residence, awaiting transfer to the next Emperor. These arrests, coupled with Belden's death during interrogation, triggered widespread unrest among the populace. A curfew was imposed, but preparations for an uprising commenced.

Gaeriel was present at the Beldens' home when the Bakuran resistance mobilized, en route to inform Eppie of her husband's death, which occurred after his capture by the Empire on charges of sedition. Instead, she was astonished to find a recovered Belden, successfully healed by Skywalker, leading the resistance effort and already aware of her husband's demise.

Following some persuasion from Belden, Gaeriel consented to assist the resistance. Belden provided Gaeriel with a computer chip that granted her access to Imperial stormtrooper communications, which she used to transmit false distress signals to Imperial forces across Salis D'aar. She then destroyed the chip and proceeded to warn Skywalker of the impending Ssi-ruuk attack.

Meanwhile, Han Solo had received word of Organa's arrest. With the assistance of C-3PO, he deactivated any proximity sensors surrounding Nereus's residence and incapacitated the two stormtroopers guarding his room. He dispatched C-3PO, disguised as a Stormtrooper, to alert Skywalker of the attack before joining Chewbacca and the Falcon, before he departed to rescue Organa in a stolen speeder. As Salis D'aar descended into chaos, Solo was intercepted by an armored security speeder, but through skillful maneuvers, Solo evaded his pursuer in the city's streets.

Following their initial defeat, the Ssi-ruuvi fleet returned to the perimeter of Bakura's defense grid and initiated a blockade.

The fact that the Human slave Dev Sibwarra and Skywalker established telepathic contact during the battle sparked an intriguing theory for the Entechment Master Firwirrung: Skywalker, possessing greater strength than Sibwarra, might be capable of enteching thousands of individuals simultaneously, even across vast distances. To realize these plans, he constructed a specialized entechment rig, designed to sustain the occupant's life while maintaining control. This rig was tested on Sibwarra, who used the Force to entech a captured human male a few meters away and a human female on another deck.

To secure Skywalker's capture, the Ssi-ruuk secretly contacted Governor Nereus, proposing a deal. In exchange for the Jedi, the Ssi-ruuk fleet would withdraw. Nereus agreed but exercised caution, distrusting the saurians. Suspecting that Skywalker would be kept alive during his capture, he revived an old plan and infected the Jedi with three olabrian trichoid larvae. During the transfer, one of the larvae infected Senator Gaeriel Captison.

As Skywalker awaited his transport to the Flurry, Nereus dispatched a shuttle to the Shriwirr to collect the Ssi-ruuvi delegation. This delegation comprised Sibwarra, Sh'tk'ith, Firwirrung, two pilots, and another Ssi-ruuvi soldier. While the pilots remained with the shuttle, the rest, accompanied by four Stormtroopers, confronted Skywalker, his astromech droid R2-D2, and Gaeriel Captison in a cantina near Pad 12.

In the ensuing skirmish, Skywalker initially used the Force to cause the stormtroopers to stun themselves, before engaging the non-humans. Skywalker severed Firwirrung's claws and decapitated the other soldier, but sustained a leg injury from the exotic weapons. Sibwarra attempted to attack Skywalker with an Imperial rifle, but the Jedi employed a powerful mental push with the Force to break Sibwarra's brainwashing. Captison, lacking any combat experience, tried to attack Bluescale, but missed and was stunned in return. R2-D2 pulled the helpless senator to safety and returned as soon as possible to help his master, but Skywalker, distracted by the situation, had been taken out by a tail-kick and a stun beam.

To cover the escape of the shuttle, now entirely under Ssi-ruuvi control, the remaining expeditionary fleet launched an attack on the grid. The shuttle was able to depart from the nearly deserted spaceport, as Rebel and Imperial crews hastily returned to their ships. Sibwarra, despite being free from brainwashing, feigned loyalty and hoped for an opportunity to escape with Skywalker. If necessary, he was prepared to kill the Jedi to thwart his former masters' galaxy-threatening plans.

Within minutes, Solo had arrived at Nereus's mountain residence. Solo successfully evaded the ten Navy troopers and a Security droid as he infiltrated the compound. However, Leia had already initiated her own escape. As they attempted to flee in a stolen Kishh'tih Airspeeder, Nereus's trap was sprung, and they were pursued by three Tracker-4 Military Airspeeder. However, two X-wings from Rogue Squadron, led by Gayla Riemann and dispatched by Skywalker, deterred them. Solo and Organa reached the city and joined Chewbacca and Threepio aboard the Falcon before heading into space.

Admiral Ivpikkis launched several simultaneous attacks on the defensive web to divert the defenders' attention from the captured shuttle. One starfighter managed to launch an attack, but was swiftly destroyed by a squadron of Swarm-droids before reaching the shuttle. Other starfighters attempted to reach the shuttle and managed to destroy several droids, but were repelled by rapidly approaching swarms that formed a corridor to the Shriwirr.

While the attack initially caught the defenders off guard, Thanas's strategy and skills enabled the Rebels and Imperials to maintain their positions. Nine Ssi-ruuvi picket ships moved into attack formations, as the Millennium Falcon, along with three TIEs, moved to its designated position. Rogue Squadron engaged the enemy on the opposite side of the planet. During the initial wave, the Ssi-ruuk launched their D'kee-class landers. However, these sluggish ships proved to be easy targets for the more agile defending starships. The battle brought the Falcon relatively close to the Shriwirr, and Solo and Organa had to fend off dozens of battle droids and were able to destroy another picket ship.

Once the shuttle, now in their possession, had docked with the Shriwirr, Dev transported the unconscious Skywalker to the specially altered entechment laboratory. Using the Force, he attempted to send telepathic messages to awaken Skywalker, but there was no response. However, the Ssi-ruuk had detected Sibwarra's deception through Sibwarra's actions, and upon their arrival at the lab, Firwirrung offered Sibwarra the promised reward: entechment. When discovered, Sibwarra succumbed to panic and attempted to choke the Jedi.

Meanwhile, Skywalker, who only appeared to be unconscious, had managed to seize control of the mind of a simple P'w'eck slave. Using this slave as a distraction, he extinguished the lights, liberated himself, and summoned his lightsaber with the Force. After instructing Sibwarra to conceal himself, he eliminated all the P'w'ecks and Ssi-ruuk in the room, except for Firwirrung and Bluescale, who managed to escape. Skywalker gave chase, but was halted by three security droids.

Having dealt with the droids, Skywalker returned to the lab and destroyed each and every entechment rig, preventing any further Ssi-ruuvi schemes. Together with Sibwarra, he made his way to the engine room on Deck 18, where they encountered another group of six security droids. Skywalker employed the Force to communicate with the enteched souls within the droids, freeing them with his lightsaber. As he and Sibwarra triggered a stun trap en route to the engine room, they inadvertently revealed their location to the Ssi-ruuk.

With a Jedi at large on their flagship, the majority of the Ssi-ruuk abandoned their cruiser, utilizing every available escape pod and vessel, including the Imperial shuttle. Admiral Ivpikkis was among those who fled, continuing to command the battle from an escape craft. Only Firwirrung and Bluescale remained onboard, still determined to capture the two Force-sensitives. Firwirrung and his P'w'eck assistants swiftly modified another rig for Skywalker, while Bluescale dispatched three squads of P'w'ecks from Deck 16 after pinpointing Skywalker's location.

Sibwarra and Skywalker navigated through stun traps and a final ambush orchestrated by Bluescale, eventually reaching the engine room. During the ambush, Dev Sibwarra successfully eliminated the imposing Ssi-ruu, subsequently revealing their plans to Skywalker. Understanding Sibwarra's motivations, the Jedi proceeded to the engine room, where Skywalker destroyed numerous consoles and released all the trapped souls on the ship.

Simultaneously, the two Olabrian trichoid larvae inside Skywalker had matured and began to move through his body, inducing a worsening coughing fit. Unaware of the true cause, Skywalker attributed it to an allergic reaction to something in the Ssi-ruuvi ship's atmosphere. As they traversed the deserted bridge of the Shriwirr, the pair were attacked by a lone P'w'eck wielding a blaster and grenade.

Skywalker severed the P'w'eck's fore-claw and used the Force to propel the grenade out of the bridge, sealing the exits in the process. He then instructed Sibwarra to inform the P'w'eck that they meant no harm if it agreed to assist them. However, the P'w'eck refused to cooperate and reached for its blaster, prompting Dev to fatally shoot it. Skywalker reprimanded Sibwarra for killing in cold blood, to which Sibwarra responded that the P'w'eck would have killed them if given the opportunity.

Concurrently, Pter Thanas received news of Skywalker's capture. He also received further instructions to destroy the Shriwirr and any escape pods, due to the contagious nature of the olabian trichoids. At this point, the Shriwirr had only four picket ships remaining for its defense. Solo urged Thanas to question these orders, but the Captain proceeded to order squadrons Eight through Eleven to attack the pods. Manchisco, Organa, and Solo voiced their objections, but the ongoing battle prevented further action. Chewbacca had managed to repair C-3PO, enabling the Alliance to decipher the Ssi-ruuvi communications.

The Flurry and a patrol craft engaged a Wurrif-class cruiser, attempting to force it into the range of the Dominant's tractor beams. However, the Dominant was attacked by another squadron of battle droids, but quickly destroyed two of them. The attackers managed to severely damage the cruiser's engines, leaving the Dominant with only maneuvering thrusters and unable to attack the Shriwirr. The Falcon faced another squadron of battle droids as the Ssi-ruuvi cruisers launched more battle droids as soon as the old ones were destroyed.

The combined forces of Imperial and Rebel ships soon managed to encircle two more cruisers. Rebel forces seized key positions and came under concentrated Ssi-ruuvi fire, while the Falcon led four X-Wings from Red Group and five TIE fighters into the fray. A patrol craft, Digit/Bakura VI, sustained heavy damage and used its remaining energy to ram a cruiser.

An hour later, the channels were filled with Ssi-ruuvi chatter, as a hasty retreat was ordered. All ships retreated, except for the Shriwirr and its four escorting pickets. Solo, distrusting the Imperials, ordered all Rebel ships to disengage and regroup around the Falcon. The Flurry, however, was within range of the Dominant and became the first casualty of the broken truce. All hands were lost, but the Dominant did not escape unscathed, as the Flurry returned fire before its destruction.

With the Ssi-ruuvi threat neutralized, the Imperials revoked their earlier truce with the Rebels and initiated a new offensive to eliminate the scattered Rebel starships. Before Red Group could regroup, numerous TIEs forced them into dogfights. Rogue Squadron remained trapped on the opposite side of the planet and had barely received Solo's warning. The Dominant continued to decimate Rebel forces, and only a few survivors managed to gather around the Falcon.

Once again, Thanas demonstrated his tactical prowess and surrounded the remaining Rebel forces in a globe formation. TIE Fighters and patrol boats drove the Rebels into the Carrack's tractor beam range. Faced with this situation, Solo devised a desperate plan involving using the Falcon to ram a patrol craft in a kamikaze attack on the Dominant. With the cruiser removed, the Alliance fighters would be able to disperse.

Amidst the fighting, Gaerial received medical attention at the Salis D'aar Imperial base, where an Imperial medic diagnosed her condition as a form of nervous ionization. She quickly learned of the Ssi-ruuvi attack on the orbital station. Due to her collaboration with the Rebels and her prominent position in Bakuran politics, she was confined to a bare chamber with no windows and a high ceiling to prevent escape.

After recovering, she was brought into Governor Nereus' private office, which was decorated with trophies of various animal species that he had hunted throughout his career. Nereus had been attempting to ally Captison with his faction within the Bakuran Senate. Initially repulsed by his mannerisms and plans to seize full control of Bakura, Captison maintained a diplomatic facade and attempted to gain the governor's approval for a public funeral for the late Orn Belden. Nereus refused, citing a curfew that prohibited all public gatherings.

She then inquired about the nature of Eppie Belden's illness. Nereus calmly revealed that he had used a parasite to weaken Belden years earlier as punishment for her seditious activities. Sensing Gaerel's increasing fatigue, Nereus disclosed that he had introduced Olabian Trichoid larvae into her meal with Skywalker as part of a scheme to infect the Ssi-ruuk. However, because she was essential to his plans, Nereus had her immediately treated with pure oxygen to eliminate the larvae.

The governor then revealed his intentions to eliminate and destroy the Alliance ships once the Ssi-ruuk attack had been repelled. With the Ssi-ruuk in full retreat, Imperial forces had begun firing on Alliance ships, inflicting heavy casualties. An outraged Captison voiced her objections to Nereus' actions, arguing that the Alliance had risked their lives to repel the Ssi-ruuvi invaders.

Nereus countered that the Rebel assistance was in the past and that the Coruscant government would punish Bakura for accepting aid from the enemy. He also reminded Gaerial that she should be grateful to the Imperials, as they had subsidized her education and that Bakura had benefited from its ties to the Empire. Meanwhile, an illegal protest organized by the Bakuran resistance was gathering near the complex.

Sensing victory, Nereus attempted to coerce Gaeriel into approving himself as the new successor Prime Minister. He then threatened to shoot Yeorg Captison, whom he accused of treachery, unless the two yielded to his demands. These demands included compelling them to tell the Bakuran populace to cease resistance and submit to Imperial rule with Nereus in charge.

At this moment, the Bakuran resistance sprang into action. They incapacitated his Stormtrooper bodyguards by unleashing a painful electronic alarm system through their helmets. The elderly 123-year-old Eppie and several other resistance members entered the room. Much to Nereus' surprise, she was fully recovered, leading the resistance effort, and already aware of her husband's death. Outnumbered, Nereus surrendered to the resistance fighters, ending his bid to seize power over Bakura.

Capitalizing on the Imperial garrison's preoccupation with the Ssi-ruuvi threat, resistance agents had managed to infiltrate the Imperial military base. The resistance was also greatly aided by approximately 24 high-placed sympathizers within the Bakuran government who had provided them with access codes. They had also been helped by R2-D2, who had alerted Eppie after Imperial forces had taken Gaeriel into custody. Initially, the Bakuran resistance wanted to try Nereus for his crimes, but Belden persuaded them to hand him over to the Rebel Alliance.

Despite feeling increasingly weak due to the parasites in his body, Skywalker attempted to summon the Force to establish a mental connection with the Imperial captain Thanas. Simultaneously, Sibwarra managed to activate one of the Shriwirr's ion cannons and use it to destroy a picket ship. However, they were then attacked by Dev's former master Firwirrung and a group of P'w'ecks.

While Luke managed to immobilize the P'w'ecks, he was cornered by the Ssi-ruu, who aimed his paddle beamer at him. At that moment, the damaged Dominant broke formation and opened fire on the Shriwirr's bridge, killing Firwirrung but severely wounding Dev in the process. He placed the wounded Sibwarra in a Jedi sleeping trance and then used the Force to eliminate the olabrian trichoid larvae by exposing them to oxygen.

Soon, Han, Leia, and Chewie boarded the wrecked Shriwirr's bridge and managed to evacuate Skywalker and the mortally wounded Dev. While aboard the Falcon, Luke used the Force to mentally communicate with Thanas, persuading him to abandon his mission of destroying the Dominant by sending feelings of peace and serenity. Admiring the heroism of his former foes and recognizing the underlying flaws in his superior Nereus, Thanas made contact with Skywalker.

The Jedi assured him that he had dealt with the parasites and that he needed a medical crew to treat the wounded Dev. As a gesture of goodwill, the Imperial commander agreed to come in person. Thanas also agreed to surrender himself and the Dominant to the Alliance authorities in exchange for his men being sent to a neutral pickup point and allowed to return home, and that Sibwarra be put on trial. When the local Imperial Security Bureau operative among the bridge crew attempted to intervene, Thanas quickly stunned him.

Thanas dispatched an unarmed two-man evacuation pod to the Falcon and placed Captain Dren Jamer in de-facto command of the vessel. While aboard the vessel, they received news from Bakura that Madam Belden's resistance fighters had captured Nereus and that Gaeriel was well and alive at the Bakur complex. Having taken command over the Dominant, Skywalker ordered the crew to move into firing position over the Imperial garrison at Salis D'aar. The Alliance B-wings were dragging it into place, and the vessel was escorted by a pair of X-wings.

The Millennium Falcon landed on the Bakur complex and were greeted by Yeorg and Gaeriel, along with a captive Nereus. During a brief exchange, Nereus announced to Leia and her companions that he still commanded 3,000 ground-based troops and claimed that Imperial survivors were landing on Bakura in escape pods. Leia responded that the Dominant had submitted to Rebel control and that its weapon systems were aimed directly at the garrison.

In the midst of the spat, Skywalker stepped onto the scene. Horrified and believing that Skywalker was still infected, Wilek Nereus yanked a blaster rifle from Gaeriel and tried to kill Skywalker. Unfortunately for him, the Jedi merely deflected the laser blast with his lightsaber back at Nereus, killing him.

The Battle of Bakura resulted in the neutralization of the Ssi-ruuk, the liberation of Bakura from the Empire, and the immediate Alliance to Restore the Republic being reorganized into the Alliance of Free Planets, the precursor to the New Republic, with Bakura immediately joining. The New Republic historian Voren Na'al later referred to the battle and surrounding events as the Bakura Incident to downplay public fears of the Ssi-ruuk. Unfortunately, in the following day, the Ssi-ruuk threat was replaced with the Nagai-Tof threat and would last a month, before ending with their defeat and the subsequent formation of the New Republic, while still based in Bright Tree Village on Endor. 2 years later the New Republic would take Coruscant from Imperial rule and thus the New Republic, had officially replaced the Galactic Empire.

To prevent a second Ssi-ruuvi attack on the worlds on the edge of Wild Space, the Rebel Alliance's successor state—the [New Republic](/article/new_republic-legends]—organized an invasion force for an expedition into the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium's territory. This task force consisted of the captured Shriwirr which had been renamed Sibwarra, 12 Nebulon-B escort frigates and several escort warships.

The New Republic also provided the fragmented Imperial warlords with intelligence on the Ssi-ruuk in the hopes of a securing a second joint attack on the Ssi-Ruuk. However when the New Republic fleet emerged in Ssi-ruuvi space, they discovered that the Chiss Ascendancy had already launched a blistering campaign in Ssi-ruuvi territory; devastating the Imperium capital of Lwhekk and fragmenting the Ssi-ruuvi socio-economic caste system. The Chiss had attacked in retaliation for attacks on several Chiss worlds which had seen several of their citizens enteched.

Above Lwhekk, the New Republic fleet clashed with the remnants of the Ssi-ruuvi fleet under Ivpikkis. Having reached a stalemate, the New Republic attempted to negotiate unsuccessfully with the Ssi-ruuk. With the Ssi-ruuk unable to mount another campaign for an unforeseen period and with the growing conflict with the fragmented Imperial warlords looming in the horizon, Chief of State Mon Mothma ordered the withdrawal of the New Republic fleet from Ssi-ruuvi space for an attack on Imperial-held Clak'dor VII.

The devastation of the Chiss attack was to a degree that it was not until many years later that the Ssi-ruuvi contemplated renewing their expansion. Two major events occurred in that time. One was the birth of the Keeramak, an event of major significance in the Ssi-ruuvi religion. The Keeramak himself, a mutant Ssi-ruu, was a skilled strategist and politician. The other event was the secret takeover of the Imperium by the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong, who secretly placed one of their own, E'thinaa, into the ranks of the Ssi-ruu as a ranking general.

Meanwhile on Bakura, when her uncle Yeorg retired from public life, Gaeriel won the election to succeed him as Prime Minister, and had the distinction of being Bakura's youngest Prime Minister. One of her main accomplishments was the establishment of the Bakuran Defense Fleet; she placed Pter Thanas, the former commander of the Imperial garrison on Bakura, in command of it.

In 18 ABY, Bakura withdrew from the New Republic in protest of the misuse of its Defense Force during the attack on Centerpoint Station during the Corellian Crisis. Unwilling to make the same mistakes as the Old Republic which adopted a hard-nosed attitude towards the Separatist movement, the New Republic did not interfere with Bakura's decision.

In Ssi-ruuvi Space, E'thinaa and the Keeramak devised a new strategy for continuing the invasion. They made a secret deal with the Prime Minister of Bakura, Molierre Cundertol, and engineered a faux P'w'eck slave uprising by the P'w'eck Emancipation Movement under Lwothin, positing the Keeramak as its leader. Together, they succeeded in consecrating Bakura and launching a second invasion of the planet in 23 ABY during the devastating Yuuzhan Vong War, but when the P'w'eck's actually did revolt and managed to kill the Keeramak, all was lost. Cundertol himself fled back to Lwhekk, where E'thinaa—revealing himself to have been a disguised Yuuzhan Vong agent—killed him.