A brief battle took place near a nest belonging to the gundarks, a species of predators, located on the satellite Alaris Prime. This event transpired sometime in the period between 39 and 36 BBY. During this era, two distinct groups were vying for the right to establish a settlement on Alaris Prime: Wookiee settlers originating from the world of Kashyyyk, alongside the Trade Federation, a corporate entity operating across the galaxy. The Wookiees had previously secured the legal right to colonize Alaris Prime through a decision made by the Senate of the Galactic Republic. Conversely, the Trade Federation disregarded the Senate's verdict and unlawfully landed on the moon to advance their own objectives. Both factions experienced attacks from the gundarks on Alaris Prime, which motivated them to take steps to eradicate these creatures.
To address the gundark threat, the Trade Federation dispatched a team composed of Battle Droid Beta Versions drawn from their Droid Army to the gundark's habitat. Simultaneously, the Wookiees organized a small group of fighters under the leadership of the Wookiee Chewbacca. The Trade Federation's forces arrived at the nest first and initiated an assault, resulting in the deaths of numerous gundarks. Shortly thereafter, the Wookiees appeared as the final gundarks were being eliminated. Upon spotting the Wookiees, the battle droids immediately commenced firing upon them. However, the colonists retaliated effectively, overpowering the droids and destroying them completely. This brief conflict led to the extinction of gundarks on Alaris Prime and escalated the conflict between the Wookiees and the Trade Federation.
At some point between the years of 59 BBY and 56 BBY, Alaris Prime, a satellite orbiting the gas giant Alaris, was found again by explorers who were Wookiee species from the world Kashyyyk. These explorers, represented by the Wookiee Chieftain Attichitcuk, requested from the Senate of the Galactic Republic, which was the main government in the galaxy, the rights to lead a colonization attempt on the satellite. In the political discussions that followed, the Trade Federation, an intergalactic company, also showed interest in Alaris Prime, believing it could be used as a trade hub.
After twenty years of discussion, the moon was ultimately granted to the Wookiees, and Attichitcuk was named as one of the leaders of the colonists for his contribution in securing the rights. Fellow Wookiees Chewbacca and Shoran, Attichitcuk's son and nephew respectively, were also chosen as colonial leaders, and Qui-Gon Jinn, a Master in the Jedi Order, was instructed by the Jedi High Council to oversee and advise the colonists in their endeavors. The Wookiees departed for Alaris Prime sometime between 39 and 36 BBY; however the Trade Federation and their Droid Army, unhappy with the Senate's decision, illegally started their own colonization of Alaris Prime, arriving shortly before the Wookiees and setting up their first settlements.
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, forcing the Federation to leave that area. When the Wookiees landed on the moon, the damaged power core was found by Chewbacca and Shoran while they were going 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 remains of the power core were found by OOL-2, a Trade Federation B1-series battle droid, who told the Federation's Viceroy, Nute Gunray, about its destruction. OOL-2 said 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 started to set up more bases on Alaris Prime, including one command center which was also attacked by gundarks. The multiple attacks caused 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 squad of battle droids arrived at the nest and started shooting at the gundarks with their E-5 blaster rifles, killing many of the creatures. The Wookiees found two gundarks at a river near the nest and killed them with their bowcasters before continuing. The Wookiees reached the nest and saw 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, seeing 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.