Ssi-ruuvi Imperium

As the Ssi-ruuk began their expansion into space, they proceeded to conquer multiple planets, turning the inhabitants into slaves, many of whom were quite primitive. Eventually, the Ssi-Ruuk discovered the technique of entechment and commenced the entechment of subjugated species. Entechment of lower life forms became a widespread practice; even the P'w'eck, relatives of the Ssi-ruu, were subjected to it. However, it was gradually discovered that prolonged containment of these "souls" resulted in insanity, leading to the decision that the Imperium needed to expand its territory once more. Contributing to this decision was the depletion of resources within their isolated region of space.

Before this point, the Imperium had never considered expanding beyond its own cluster. This reluctance was due in part to the vast distances involved, the xenophobic tendencies of the Ssi-ruuk, and their religious fear of venturing to worlds they deemed 'unconsecrated'. In 2 BBY, the Ssi-ruuvi's leader, the Shreeftut, experienced visions through the Force of a hooded Human who identified himself as Emperor Palpatine, the ruler of the galaxy. Palpatine offered the Ssi-ruuvi numerous planets and millions of Humans for entechment in exchange for access to their technology. As a result, they resolved to explore Wild Space, where they conquered the small Human colony of G'rho, capturing and enteching many of its inhabitants. Because of their clandestine agreement with the Ssi-ruuk, the Imperial leadership concealed the incident and falsely blamed the Alliance to Restore the Republic for the attack.

Among those captured was a Human boy called Dev Sibwarra, whom the Elder Bluescale subjected to brainwashing through mind manipulation techniques. The Ssi-ruuk were astonished to discover that the boy possessed unique abilities to sense others. It was from this boy that Ssi-ruuk Admiral Ivpikkis learned that Humans were the dominant species in the galaxy. He also discovered that humanoids could be enteched for longer periods than most other species. Due to Sibwarra's Force abilities and his capacity to communicate with other Humans, the Ssi-ruuk used him to pacify the subjects undergoing entechment.

However, in 4 ABY, Emperor Palpatine perished during the Battle of Endor aboard the Second Death Star. With the Emperor unable to fulfill his promises, the Ssi-ruuvi initiated an invasion of the edge of the known Galaxy. Expeditionary forces were dispatched against both the galaxy proper and the neighboring government in the Unknown Regions, the Chiss Ascendancy. However, neither expedition proved very successful: the Ssi-ruuvi barely managed to conquer the Human world of Cattamascar, and were completely defeated at Bakura.

Similarly, while some minor Chiss planets were captured, the Chiss retaliated with overwhelming force, devastating the Ssi-ruuvi capital, Lwhekk. Following the Chiss raid on the Imperium, a small Rebel Alliance task force arrived in Ssi-ruuvi space. This force had come to halt the Imperium's expansion into the known galaxy. Observing the Imperium in ruins, the Rebel Alliance believed that the threat from the Ssi-ruuk had ended.

Many years passed before the Ssi-ruuvi were able to rebuild sufficiently to consider resuming their expansion. Two significant events occurred during this time. The first was the birth of the Keeramak, an event of great importance in Ssi-ruuvi religion. The Keeramak itself, a mutant Ssi-ruu, was a skilled strategist and politician. The second event was the secret takeover of the Imperium by the Yuuzhan Vong, who secretly installed E'thinaa, one of their own, as a high-ranking general. During these years, the Ssi-ruuk discovered new methods for preserving enteched souls.

Together, E'thinaa and the Keeramak developed a new strategy for continuing the invasion. They formed a secret alliance with the Prime Minister of Bakura, Molierre Cundertol, and orchestrated a fake P'w'eck slave rebellion, positioning the Keeramak as its leader. Together, they succeeded in consecrating Bakura and launching a second invasion of the planet, but their plans were ruined when the P'w'eck actually revolted and killed the Keeramak.

Meanwhile, the Keeramak's body was sent back to Lwhekk on a P'w'eck shuttle as a gesture of appeasement toward the Conclave while provoking the Elders' Council. En route, the shuttle was hijacked by Cundertol. Upon reaching a pre-arranged asteroid location, Cundertol was killed by E'thinaa, who revealed himself to be a disguised Vong agent.

The ultimate fate of the Ssi-ruuvi remains unknown, although it is believed that the Yuuzhan Vong empire launched an actual invasion of their territory in 28 ABY in conjunction with their attacks on the known galaxy. In doing so, they suppressed the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium of the Ssi-ruuk Star Cluster and initiated a brief new reign of terror within that sector of the Unknown Regions. Regardless, it is likely that the Imperium was too weakened to continue its invasion plans for the foreseeable future.

The Ssi-ruuvi Imperium was headed by His Potency, the Shreeftut, an elected monarch who held absolute authority for life. The Shreeftut possessed executive powers over the Imperium and was elected by both the Conclave and the Elders Council. The Conclave oversaw religious matters and was dominated by the gold-scaled priestly caste, while the Elders' Council managed the socio-economic aspects of the Imperium and was dominated by the blue-scaled aristocratic class.

Both councils held judicial and legislative powers and frequently competed for control of the empire. Only the authority of the Shreeftut could prevent civil war. The punitive attacks by the Chiss and New Republic in 4 ABY not only devastated the infrastructure of the empire but also reduced the bureaucracy to a fraction of its former size. Around this time, the multi-colored Ssi-ruu known as the Keeramak was born, fulfilling an ancient prophecy that one born with many colors would liberate the oppressed lower castes—particularly the brown scaled Ssi-Ruuk, which were lead from a union between two Ssi-Ruuk from different castes, and the lowly P'w'ecks and would lead the lower masses against their upper-class oppressors.

In 23 ABY, the Imperium staged a fake coup by the P'w'eck Emancipation Movement led by the Keeramak, who was then installed as a figurehead Shreeftut. However, he was manipulated by a disguised Yuuzhan Vong agent known as General E'thinaa, who negotiated with the Bakuran Prime Minister Molierre Cundertol to hand over his people as entechment subjects and slaves in exchange for being installed in an Human replica droid body. In 28 ABY, the Imperium used a Consecration Ceremony as a cover for an invasion but were thwarted by a genuine P'w'eck uprising and a Galactic Alliance counter-attack.

The Ssi-ruuvi Imperium's military was composed of the red-hued warrior caste, which controlled both its fleets of starships and its ground forces. Their unique trichoid physiology and strong religious convictions made them formidable opponents in battle. However, due to their fear of dying far from their consecrated home space, the Ssi-ruuvi military rarely ventured beyond their Star Cluster. To compensate for this limitation, the Ssi-ruuk employed large numbers of droids and P'w'ecks - a smaller species enslaved by the Ssi-Ruuk - to support them in their fleets. They were thus adept at quick strikes designed to secure rapid victories and capture as many prisoners as possible, using entechment to strengthen their forces.

Consequently, the Imperium's military was designed to engage technologically-primitive adversaries, as demonstrated during the Invasion of Bakura, where the Imperium fleet decimated half of the Imperial garrison before the arrival of Rebel Alliance reinforcements. However, the Imperium's military performed poorly against technologically-advanced foes such as the New Republic, Chiss Ascendancy, and even the Yuuzhan Vong. Following an invasion of Chiss space, the Chiss launched a retaliatory attack that crippled much of the Imperium's military strength. During these engagements, Ssi-ruuk-piloted V'sett-class fighters were encountered by Chiss pilots, as noted by Jagged Fel.

If the Imperium aimed to annex a planet outside their home territory, Ssi-ruuk priests of the golden-hued caste would conduct an hour-long ceremony to consecrate the new planet. According to their religious beliefs, if a Ssi-ruu died outside their "consecrated" star cluster, their soul would be condemned to wander the universe for eternity, denied access to the fourth egg that represented the Ssi-ruuvi afterlife. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Ssi-Ruuk would dedicate the planet to the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium, and give it a Ssi-Ruuvi name. The only known instance of this was the planet Bakura, which was consecrated as Xwhee in preparation for an invasion in 28 ABY.

For thousands of years, the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium had never dared to expand beyond its cluster due to the vast distances involved, their xenophobic nature, and their religious fear of traveling to 'unconsecrated' worlds. As a result, the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium had minimal interaction with other civilizations within the Unknown Regions and the wider galaxy. The Imperium only engaged with foreign entities to advance their own interests.

Despite possessing hyperdrive technology that allowed their starships to enter hyperspace, gravitational anomalies in their region of space hindered navigation, making space travel outside their star cluster dangerous. Thus, the Imperium had limited knowledge of other powers in the galaxy for millennia.

Another factor limiting foreign relations was the cultural xenophobia of the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium and the Ssi-ruuk themselves. The Ssi-ruuvi believed themselves to be inherently superior to all other species (even their own relatives, the P'w'eck). In the Imperium's view, all other species they encountered were only suitable for slavery and entechment, which used the life energies of sentient beings as a power source for their technology.

This xenophobia was evident in their treatment of various species, from their lowly saurian P'w'eck cousins to the advanced mammalian Human and Chiss civilizations. Consequently, the Ssi-ruuk sought to conquer and subjugate other civilizations to exploit their labor and resources. As a result, relations between the Ssi-ruuk and neighboring powers like the Chiss Ascendancy, Galactic Alliance, and Yuuzhan Vong were virtually non-existent as of 28 ABY.

More significantly, their religious fear of dying on an 'unconsecrated' world away from their home space played a major role. According to their beliefs, if a Ssi-ruu died away from Lwhekk, their soul would be doomed to wander the universe endlessly, unable to reach the fourth egg that represented the Ssi-ruuvi afterlife. Therefore, the Imperium used a large number of "disposable" P'w'eck slaves and droids on their starships to minimize Ssi-ruuvi losses during expeditions.

To mitigate this, Ssi-ruuk priests would conduct an hour-long Consecration Ceremony to consecrate another planet. At the end of the ceremony, the Ssi-Ruuk would dedicate the planet to the Imperium, and give it a Ssi-Ruuvi name. The only consecration ceremony witnessed by non-Ssi-Ruuk was when Bakura was consecrated as Xwhee by the Keeramak, during the Ssi-Ruuvi attempt to re-conquer Bakura.

• Lwhekk—the jungle-covered homeworld and political center of the Ssi-ruuk, located in the Ssi'kaat system. It is the location of Cree'n'aak Palace, the primary residence of the Shreeftut, as well as Mount Skar'lak and the Caves of Ss'laath.