Ssi-ruuvi invasions

The Ssi-ruuk species originated from packs of carnivorous creatures inhabiting the jungle homeworld of Lwhekk. Over time, they organized into tribes, each distinguished by members sharing the same skin color. The Blue and Gold scaled tribes emerged as the most influential. The Blue scaled Ssi-ruuk held significant political authority, while the Gold-scaled initiated the Ssi-ruuvi religion. These two groups would later constitute the Ssi-ruuvi upper class. The Ssi-ruuk eventually encountered the smaller, yet more numerous P'w'ecks, leading to conflict between the two species. Ultimately, the P'w'ecks were subjugated and enslaved. The Blue and Gold tribes then formed an alliance and selected the first Shreeftut. The Ssi-ruuvi Imperium was established, and the Blue and Gold tribes proceeded to dominate the rest of Lwhekk, dividing its inhabitants into castes.

The Conclave and the Elders' Council were established, and the Ssi-ruuk subsequently expanded their empire into space. They conquered various worlds and enslaved their populations, primarily those of primitive cultures. Eventually, the Ssi-ruuk discovered the practice of entechment and began enteching subjugated species. The entechment of lower life forms became a common practice, extending even to the P'w'ecks, cousins of the Ssi-ruuk. However, it was gradually realized that prolonged containment of these 'souls' resulted in insanity, prompting the Imperium to seek further expansion of its realm. Another factor was the diminishing resources in their isolated region of space.

For thousands of years, the reptilian Ssi-ruuk had refrained from expanding beyond their cluster, partly due to the vast distances involved, partly due to their inherent xenophobia, and partly due to their religious apprehension about venturing to 'unconsecrated' worlds.

In 2 BBY, the Ssi-ruuvi's supreme leader—the Shreeftut—experienced visions through the Force of a cloaked Human who identified himself as Emperor Palpatine, the ruler of the galaxy. He offered the Ssi-ruuvi access to numerous worlds and millions of Humans for entechment in exchange for the utilization of Ssi-ruuvi technology. The Shreeftut accepted this proposition. Consequently, they decided to venture into Wild Space, where they conquered the small Human colony of G'rho, capturing a significant number of its inhabitants for entechment.

Among those captured was a Human boy named Dev Sibwarra, whom the Elder Bluescale subjected to brainwashing through mind manipulation techniques. What astonished them was the boy's possession of strange powers that allowed him to sense others. It was through this boy that Admiral Ivpikkis discovered that Humans were the dominant species in the galaxy. He also learned that humanoids had longer containment times when enteched and could endure longer than most other species. Due to Sibwarra's Force abilities and his capacity to communicate with his fellow Humans, the Ssi-ruuk employed Dev Sibwarra to pacify the subjects undergoing entechment.

In 4 ABY, the Ssi-ruuvi deployed three separate expeditionary fleets into the main galaxy and the neighboring Chiss Ascendancy with the aim of acquiring more humanoids for entechment. A substantial expeditionary fleet, under the command of Admiral Ivpikkis and Elder Bluescale—who brought along his Human protégé Dev Sibwarra—was dispatched against the remote Imperial planet of Bakura. The second fleet was deployed against the Human world of Cattamascar, which the Ssi-ruuvi only barely managed to conquer. The third fleet attacked and invaded several minor Chiss worlds, capturing several Chiss to be used as entechment subjects. Ultimately, this expedition provoked the wrath of the Chiss Ascendancy, which launched a devastating counter-attack on Ssi-ruuvi territory.

The expeditionary fleet sent to Bakura comprised five large cruisers, including the Shree-class battle cruiser Shriwirr, along with several dozen smaller support ships and thousands of tiny Swarm-class battle droids. This force swiftly destroyed half of the Imperial defense forces, compelling the Imperial Governor Wilek Nereus to attempt communication with Imperial commands at Coruscant and Death Star II in order to request reinforcements.

When these efforts proved unsuccessful, he dispatched a message drone to the Forest Moon of Endor, the nearest world with an Imperial presence and the location of the Second Death Star. However, an Alliance fleet had defeated much of the Imperial presence during an epic space battle, which also resulted in the destruction of the second Death Star and the death of Emperor Palpatine. Prior to 1 ABY, the remote Outer Rim world of Bakura had been independent of Imperial control, but its population was divided. Seeking to control the planet's industrial base and its moon's mineral resources, the Imperials had occupied the planet.

The message ship was intercepted and decoded by the Rebels. In an effort to bring Bakura to their side and establish a truce with Imperial forces, the Alliance leadership dispatched a task force to Bakura. This force was led by the esteemed Heroes of Yavin, including renowned figures such as Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo. Upon their arrival at Bakura, the Rebels managed to negotiate a temporary, albeit fragile, truce with Nereus, offering support against the Ssi-ruuvi in exchange. Simultaneously, the arrival of Jedi Luke Skywalker on Bakura—fresh from his victory over the Sith in a climactic battle aboard the second Death Star—created a disturbance in the Force. Sibwarra sensed this disturbance and promptly informed his superiors. The Ssi-ruuvi leadership, believing they could exploit Skywalker's Force abilities to drain life energies from millions of sentients across vast distances, secretly proposed a deal to Nereus. They offered a complete withdrawal in exchange for Skywalker's handover.

Nereus, driven by his animosity towards the Rebels and his secret ambition to betray his Rebel allies, accepted the offer. However, Nereus also betrayed the saurian aliens by surreptitiously introducing parasitic Olabrian trichoid larvae into Skywalker's meal. These larvae, upon hatching, were intended to consume Skywalker from within before ultimately killing the aliens themselves. Nereus planned to add the Ssi-ruuk's jaw bones to his gruesome collection. Unfortunately for the Ssi-ruuk, their plans for entechment on a genocidal scale were foiled by Dev Sibwarra, who broke free from Ssi-ruuvi indoctrination and rebelled against his masters.

He liberated Skywalker from his restraints, and together they fought their way through the stun trap-laden corridors of the battle cruiser Shriwirr. Fearing death on an unconsecrated world, Ivpikkis and the surviving crew fled the vessel in escape pods, later to be recovered by other warships. In the space above Bakura, the combined Alliance and Imperial warships launched a devastating counter-offensive against the Ssi-ruuvi fleet. The chaos aboard the flagship Shriwirr, caused by Skywalker's escape and the Ssi-ruuvi's fear of dying on an unconsecrated world, prevented them from continuing the fight, forcing them to retreat. Every ship in the fleet, with the exception of the flagship Shriwirr, fled to the safety of Ssi-ruuvi home space.

With the Ssi-ruuk defeated, Nereus moved to implement his plans to seize power and betray his Rebel colleagues. He arrested the Bakuran leadership, including Prime Minister Yeorg Captison, and ordered the Imperial commander Pter Thanas to destroy the Rebels. The former was thwarted by members of the Bakuran resistance movement under the ancient Eppie Belden, while only a portion of the Alliance fleet was destroyed. Ultimately, his efforts were undone by a popular uprising of the Bakuran people and the last-minute defection of the commander of Imperial forces over Bakura, Pter Thanas. Nereus himself was killed during a failed assassination attempt on the Alliance commander Luke Skywalker. With the defeat of both the Imperials and the Ssi-ruuvi, the Bakurans would join the Alliance and its successor state—the New Republic.

In essence, neither venture proved particularly fruitful: the Ssi-ruuvi achieved only a limited success in conquering the Human world of Cattamascar, and suffered a decisive defeat at Bakura, triggered by the revelation that Palpatine's death meant the promise he made would not be kept. Similarly, while several minor Chiss worlds were captured, the Chiss response was overwhelming and unanticipated. In retaliation for attacks on several Chiss worlds that had resulted in the entechment of numerous citizens, the Chiss Ascendancy launched a fierce campaign within Ssi-ruuvi territory, devastating the Imperium capital of Lwhekk and disrupting the Ssi-ruuvi socio-economic caste system.

Voren Na'al of New Republic Intelligence later referred to the battle as the "Bakura Incident". He suggested that the New Republic should try and suppress widespread public knowledge about the Ssi-Ruuk, a suggestion that was met with controversy. To prevent a second Ssi-ruuvi attack on the worlds bordering Wild Space, the Rebel Alliance's successor state—the New Republic—organized an invasion force for an expedition into the Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium's territory. This task force was comprised of the captured Shriwirr, renamed Sibwarra, 12 Nebulon-B escort frigates, and various escort warships.

During the expedition, several crew members aboard the Sibwarra sustained injuries or even lost their lives due to their unfamiliarity with the alien technology on board the vessel. The New Republic also provided the fragmented Imperial warlords with intelligence on the Ssi-ruuk, hoping to secure a second joint attack on the Ssi-ruuk. However, when the New Republic fleet arrived in Ssi-ruuvi space, they found an already weakened enemy.

Above the ruined Ssi-ruuvi capital world, the New Republic fleet engaged the remnants of the Ssi-ruuvi fleet under Ivpikkis. After reaching a stalemate, the New Republic attempted to negotiate with the Ssi-ruuk, but was unsuccessful. With the Ssi-ruuk unable to launch another campaign for the foreseeable future and with the growing conflict with the fragmented Imperial warlords looming, Chief of State Mon Mothma ordered the New Republic fleet to withdraw from Ssi-ruuvi space and attack Imperial-held Clak'dor VII.

The Chiss attack caused such extensive destruction that the Ssi-ruuvi did not consider resuming their expansion for many years. During this period, two significant events occurred. The first was the birth of the Keeramak, an event of great religious importance to the Ssi-ruuvi. The Keeramak himself, a mutant multi-colored Ssi-ruu, was a skilled strategist and politician. The second event was the covert takeover of the Imperium by the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong, who secretly installed one of their own, E'thinaa, as a ranking general. In terms of technology, the Ssi-ruuvi improved their entechment process by developing a method to sustain enteched souls for longer periods. They also utilized reverse-engineered captured Imperial starship technology, including shield generators and sensor array systems.

Meanwhile on Bakura, when her uncle Yeorg retired from public life, Gaeriel won the election to succeed him as Prime Minister, becoming Bakura's youngest Prime Minister. One of her key achievements was the establishment of the Bakuran Defense Fleet, which she placed under the command of Pter Thanas, the former commander of the Imperial garrison on Bakura. 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.

In Ssi-ruuvi space, E'thinaa and the Keeramak devised a new strategy to continue the invasion. They secretly conspired with the Prime Minister of Bakura, Molierre Cundertol. In exchange for achieving "immortality" through entechment into the body of a Human replica droid constructed by the company Onadax Droid Technologies, Cundertol would betray his people to the saurian Ssi-ruuk as entechment stock. In 23 ABY, they orchestrated a fake P'w'eck slave uprising by the P'w'eck Emancipation Movement led by the Keeramak and the P'w'eck leader Lwothin. As part of their plan, the fake P'w'eck rebels would make peace overtures to the Bakurans and the New Republic's successor government—the Galactic Alliance. Lwothin would also claim that the Keeramak had led a popular uprising of the lower classes which toppled the Imperium and introduced reforms including the abolition of forced entechment and slavery.

Most Bakurans welcomed these developments as a sign of improving relations with their former enemies, while others remained skeptical. To discredit the opposition and divert public attention, Cundertol arranged for his own kidnapping by members of the anti-New Republic Freedom resistance movement under Malinza Thanas. Freedom was secretly supported by Cundertol's deputy Blaine Harris as a way to undermine Cundertol and become the new Prime Minister. To facilitate a successful occupation of Bakura, Lwothin and the Keeramak arranged for Bakura to be "consecrated" during a public ceremony at a Salis D'aar podium, falsely claiming that both species feared dying on an "unconsecrated" world.

Among those in attendance were delegates from the Galactic Alliance, including former Chief of State Leia Organa Solo, her husband Han Solo, their daughter Jaina, and Colonel Jagged Fel—the son of the decorated Imperial ace Soontir Fel. The Alliance flagship Pride of Selonia and the Bakuran Defense Fleet were also present in orbit. The Keeramak soon arrived, accompanied by two powerful Sh'ner-class planetary assault cruisers which remained in orbit. However, the ceremony was disrupted by a bomb attack planted by the Deputy Prime Minister Blaine Harris, who had plotted to overthrow Cundertol and install himself as prime minister. Fortunately, heavy casualties were avoided thanks to the efforts of the Jedi Knight Jaina Solo and her mother Leia Organa Solo, who managed to apprehend Harris. Despite this, the consecration ceremony proceeded, and Bakura was christened Xwhee by the Keeramak and his entourage.

Capitalizing on the ensuing chaos, the orbiting Ssi-ruuvi ships launched a ground and space offensive, catching the Bakurans and the Alliance off guard. On the ground, Ssi-ruuvi troops quickly occupied the ruined stadium with minimal resistance. In space, P'w'eck-piloted droid fighters began using their tractor beam projectors to capture and drag Alliance and Bakuran fighters into the hangar bays of the orbiting Ssi-ruuvi carriers, where their pilots would be enteched. Cundertol then reappeared before the Imperium's prisoners and revealed his plan to betray his people to the enemy. When the Solos refused their offer of entechment, the Keeramak ordered Lwothin to execute them.

However, Lwothin instead assassinated his master, the Keeramak, with a blast from his paddle beamer. This served as the signal for a genuine P'w'eck uprising against their Ssi-ruuvi overlords. Exploiting the surprise, the P'w'ecks attacked the remaining Ssi-ruuk, who fought back fiercely despite the death of their leader. Realizing that the P'w'ecks were their allies, the Solos and the Bakurans joined the battle. Demoralized and outnumbered, the surviving Ssi-ruuk quickly surrendered, and Cundertol was taken prisoner. In space, the captured Alliance and Bakuran fighters were released by the P'w'eck-piloted droid fighters after being guided under the deflector shields of the Ssi-ruuvi cruisers. Led by Jagged Fel, the Alliance and Bakuran fighters launched a powerful counter-attack on the Ssi-ruuvi cruisers, taking advantage of their inability to lower their shields to bring in reinforcements without exposing themselves to enemy fire. Meanwhile, on the Ssi-ruuvi cruisers, the P'w'eck crew launched a full-scale mutiny in coordination with Lwothin's assassination of the Keeramak. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Ssi-ruuk were overwhelmed and defeated.

Following the battle, the Bakuran government and the P'w'eck Emancipation Movement signed a formal treaty, forming an alliance between the two peoples. The terms of the treaty included holding elections within a month, sharing all captured Ssi-ruuvi assets, and supporting a liberation program for the P'w'ecks in the Imperium. In exchange for tracing the missing credits and a promise to refrain from further illicit activities, Freedom agents Vyram and Malinza were exonerated of their kidnapping charges, and their organization was permitted to participate in the elections.

Leia predicted an influx of P'w'eck refugees from the Imperium within months and a potential Ssi-ruuvi invasion within a year. Despite these events, Bakura chose not to rejoin the New Republic's successor government—the Galactic Alliance. However, with the Yuuzhan Vong making significant advances with the destruction of the HoloNet, Bakura joined the Galactic Alliance, contributing ships to the defense of Mon Calamari and granting the Galactic Alliance Defense Fleet access to the HIMS technology for use during the retaking of Coruscant.

Meanwhile, the deceased Keeramak's body was returned on a P'w'eck shuttle bound for Lwhekk as a gesture of appeasing the Ssi-ruuvi Conclave while provoking the Elders' Council. En route, the shuttle was hijacked by Cundertol. Upon arriving at a pre-determined asteroid location, Cundertol himself was killed by E'thinaa—who revealed himself to be a disguised Vong agent. E'thinaa also claimed that the Yuuzhan Vong had launched an actual invasion of the Imperium's territory in 28 ABY in coordination with their attacks on the known galaxy. When the Yuuzhan Vong War ended in 29 ABY, they presumably abandoned all of the Ssi-ruuk Star Cluster.

• 2 BBY : Battle of G'rho
• 0 ABY : Raid on B'Knos colony
• 2 ABY : Raid on Kammia colony
• 1 BBY – 4 ABY : Battle of Cattamascar
• 4 ABY : Bakura Incident Invasion of Bakura Battle of Bakura Assault on Lwhekk Campaign in the Ssi-ruuk Star Cluster
• 28 ABY : Battle of Bakura