Invasion of Bakura

For countless years, the reptilian Ssi-ruuk maintained control over a secluded interstellar domain situated far within the Unknown Regions. Their advanced technology depended on entechment, a process involving the extraction of a sentient being's soul into a mechanical framework. By 1 BBY, however, their isolated territory faced dwindling resources.

In 1 BBY, the Shreeftut, the Ssi-ruuvi's supreme leader, received Force-induced visions of a hooded Human identifying himself as Emperor Palpatine, the ruler of the galaxy. Palpatine proposed providing the Ssi-ruuvi with numerous planets and millions of Humans for entechment in return for access to their technology. The shreeftut accepted this offer, leading them to venture into Wild Space, where they conquered the small Human colony of G'rho, capturing many inhabitants for entechment.

Among the captured was a human boy called Dev Sibwarra, whom the Elder Sh'tk'ith subjected to mind manipulation for brainwashing. They were astonished by the boy's strange powers to sense others. From him, they discovered that humans had a longer entechment containment time than other species.

Over the subsequent years, the invaders assaulted various other colonies and enteched the small populations. The Empire concealed these events, attributing them to Rebel activity or classifying them as disasters. The Ssi-ruuvi armada was heading towards another small colony when Sibwarra sensed the Emperor's death during the Battle of Endor. With Palpatine's pact now null, the Ssi-ruuk altered their course to Bakura, a highly industrialized and populated world located in the Shiritoku Spur.

This fleet represented only a small advance force of the main Ssi-ruuvi fleet, facing resource shortages. A victory was vital for the future invasion. While the battleships engaged Imperial forces, the planetary attack carrier and construction ship remained near Arden.

The Imperial fleet stationed at Bakura experienced complete surprise. Having only dealt with pirates before, the fleet was unprepared for a full-scale invasion. Commander Pter Thanas followed orders and defended the planet, while governor Wilek Nereus requested reinforcements.

HoloNet requests to Coruscant and the Second Death Star received no response, prompting Nereus to attempt a different approach: launching an outdated messenger drone towards Endor, aware of the Emperor's presence there but unaware of his demise.

In the meantime, Bakura's defense forces suffered heavy losses: TIE/LN starfighters were routinely destroyed, while capital ships were initially disabled, then captured, and their crews enteched. All system-wide colonies and outposts, including the one on Bakura-6, were destroyed. Recovery teams found no bodies or survivors, but most of them were captured, too. Only a few returned to Bakura. Governor Nereus - an expert on non-human parasites - tried to wipe out the Ssi-ruuk by infecting his men. However, the bodies of enteched prisoners were disposed too fast for this tactic to have any effect.

By the time the Rebels arrived, only the Dominant, a pair of gunships, and a limited number of damaged patrol boats and TIEs remained. The populace prepared to evacuate the cities and seek refuge in the mountains as the Ssi-ruuk launched their final assault.

To fulfill the demands of entechment, all bodies, including those wounded or captured alive, were taken back onboard to the entechment labs onboard the Ssi-ruuvi capital ships. This practice baffled the local Bakuran and Imperial recovery crew. Due to his ability to communicate with the predominantly human prisoners in their native language, Dev was pressed into service at the entechment rig on deck 16 throughout the night shift.

Accompanied by Master Firwirrung, Dev played an active role in "calming" the entechment subjects while Firwirrung carried out the mechanical process of "transferring" life sources. These life sources would be used to power battle droids. Among those enteched was a wounded male Imperial officer who attempted to persuade Dev to not carry out the procedure. Brainwashed into believing in the benefits of entechment, he merely brushed aside the man's pleadings. Later, a female prisoner was killed during an escape attempt. Thoroughly indoctrinated, Dev merely sighed at the loss.

In an attempt to persuade the Bakurans to capitulate, the Ssi-ruuk transmitted a holo-recording from Dev Sibwarra, who told them of the fate they would soon experience—that of entechment—and although Sibwarra described it as an eternal release, the Bakurans knew that was a lie.

The messenger drone reached Endor as the Alliance re-established its sensor perimeter, just a day after the Battle of Endor. Although the message originated from a relatively insignificant world, it presented a significant opportunity for the Rebels. Bakura had only been occupied for a short time, so the people could still remember their independence. Bakura also had a large repulsorlift industry, and the Imperial garrison only had outdated equipment available. The Alliance also aimed to demonstrate to the galaxy's citizens that they were not the brutal terrorists portrayed by Imperial propaganda. With the Imperial fleet disorganized after Endor, Bakura could only anticipate reinforcements in weeks, too late for the planet.

A small carrier group was assembled, consisting of the Flurry, an Alliance Escort Carrier fresh from the Virgillian Civil War equipped with the experimental Battle Analysis Computer, five Corellian Gunships, a Corellian Corvette, 20 X-wings, three A-wings, four B-wings, and the Millennium Falcon. Princess Leia Organa was assigned as diplomat, and Commander Skywalker, despite his injuries, as military leader. Early the next day, the fleet departed for Bakura to defeat the unknown attacker and bring Bakura over to the Alliance.

Despite Captain Tessa Manchisco's impatience, the task force first dropped out of hyperspace outside the system to scan the area. After contacting the Imperial commander, Commander Pter Thanas, Skywalker decided to intervene, but sent the Falcon to wait at Bakura-6, since the security of the only diplomat had a higher priority.

Skywalker microjumped to Bakura at the same time that the Ssi-ruuk attempted their final push towards the planet. Starfighter groups Rogue and Gold attacked a lone Wurrif-class light cruiser while Red Group split up: One through Four secured an escape corridor for the advancing squadrons while the rest protected the Flurry. While the Alliance fighters tried to lure the enemy away from the planet, Skywalker reached out with the Force and sensed two presences being extinguished aboard the Ssi-ruuvi droid fighters by Wedge Antilles. This startled the Jedi Knight and he opened himself to the Force once more: when Gold Leader eliminated several fighters at once, Skywalker felt human force signatures.

Moments later, the BAC identified the Ssi-ruuvi cruiser as vulnerable, forcing Skywalker to refocus on the battle. He ordered Rogue Squadron to engage, but they aborted as the cruiser launched another wave of fighters. Meanwhile, Imperial Commander Pter Thanas capitalized on the respite and reorganized his ships into a counter-offensive formation.

Suddenly Skywalker felt danger in the force and he saw an enemy picket ship approaching Rogue Squadron as they made another attack run on the cruiser. Skywalker tried to warn Antilles and sent the remaining fighters of Red Group into battle, but due to heavy Ssi-ruuvi jamming, the orders were garbled. Rogue Squadron still managed to evade, but two X-wings flew right into the cannons of the picket ship and were destroyed. With the Flurry lacking a starfighter screen, the Ssi-ruuk sent masses of their droid starfighters against the Alliance cruiser.

Leaving the defense of the ship to Captain Manchisco, Luke Skywalker once again opened himself to the Force. He gained an insight how the droid fighters operated and felt the constant agony of the enslaved souls. He found one specific fighter and planted the suggestion in it that it was better to die than to live in enslavement. The enteched soul understood and rammed itself into another one, a maneuver that allowed Antilles to escape.

Shortly after, the Flurry lost its shields. Skywalker recalled all starfighters, but last-minute help came from another side: After escaping a few remaining battle droids near Bakura-6, General Solo had decided to join the main fleet and jumped to Bakura. The Falcon emerged from hyperspace near the Flurry and destroyed several fighters and a picket ship.

Following the Falcon's intervention, the battle subsided. Red Squadron, guided by Skywalker and the BAC, finally destroyed the cruiser. Meanwhile, Sibwarra sensed the arrival of a powerful Force-strong Jedi among the new arrivals—later revealed to be Skywalker. However, he refrained from telling his superior Bluescale since it meant confessing a guilty "secret habit". Faced with these unexpected losses, the Ssi-ruuk retreated to the edge of the system.

The Ssi-ruuk had severely underestimated the Rebel forces and were compelled to make an emergency jump into hyperspace, the first time since Cattamascar. They suffered significant casualties, including a cruiser and numerous drone fighters. Furthermore, they lost almost all superior human-enteched starfighters and without new prisoners were unable to power up, or even build new ones. This unexpected shift forced the Ssi-ruuvi leadership to analyze the newcomers' different tactics, starships and command style.

Having aided in repelling the Ssi-ruuvi assault, the Alliance ships maintained their position near the planet. The few surviving Imperial patrol craft and half of the TIEs needed extensive repairs at the Orbital Station, but were later integrated into the combined defense grid. Following the Ssi-ruuvi retreat, Leia Organa contacted the planetary government and arranged a meeting between the Rebel Alliance delegation and Governor Nereus, as well as the Bakuran Senate.

With the enemy's departure, an uneasy truce was established between the Empire on Bakura and the Rebellion. The political climate on Bakura remained unstable, and Governor Nereus exploited the situation. He infected Skywalker with parasites and handed him over to the Ssi-ruuk, hoping to wipe them out. This led to a second Invasion only two days later.

The Invasion of Bakura was first presented in The Truce at Bakura novel. The battle was created and written by Kathy Tyers as a component of a step-stair plot structure. Tyers utilized this battle to introduce the nature of the Ssi-ruuvi threat, alongside two other significant Expanded Universe characters: the Imperial commander Pter Thanas and the Force-sensitive Human slave Dev Sibwarra.

During an interview with Ilene Rosenberg for Star Wars Adventure Journal 4, Tyers stated that her editor, Janna Silverstein, requested five storyline concepts. Tyers' preferred concept involved an alien threat that would necessitate a temporary alliance between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire.

Discrepancies exist between The Truce at Bakura and The Truce at Bakura Sourcebook regarding the IR-3F Patrol Craft: The Sourcebook states that two of the five were destroyed during the siege with Digit/Bakura II, III and V remaining, but the book mentions Digit/Bakura VI being destroyed in the final battle.