Ssi-ruuvi invasions

"You must go. If you do not attend to the matter&mdash;personally, Luke&mdash;Bakura&mdash;and all worlds, both Allied and Imperial&mdash;will know a far greater disaster than you can imagine."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, warning Luke Skywalker

The Ssi-ruuvi invasions were a series of incursions into the known galaxy and the Chiss Ascendancy by the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium between 1 BBY to 28 ABY. The Imperium sought to expand its territory beyond the Ssi-ruuk Star Cluster into the surrounding space due to the dwindling resources in their region. The saurian Ssi-ruuk powered and controlled their technology through a process called entechment; a means of electronically transferring the life-energy of a person into a power source for a mechanical construct.

Between 2 BBY to 4 ABY, the Ssi-ruuk launched expeditionary forces against several Rimward worlds including G'rho, Cattamascar and Bakura. The former two were marginally successfully whereas the latter ended in disaster and exposed the presence of the Ssi-ruuk to the rest of the galaxy. A further campaign into the Chiss Ascendancy brought even more disaster on the Imperium. This was followed by a second punitive raid by a New Republic task force.

So great was the devastation of the Chiss attack 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&mdash;a mutant Ssi-ruu of mixed ancestry with all the colors of the different castes&mdash;an event of major significance in the Ssi-ruuvi religion. The Keeramak himself was a master strategist and politician. The Imperium's leadership organized a faux P'w'eck slave uprising by the P'w'eck Emancipation Movement under Lwothin, positing the Keeramak as its leader in 23 ABY.

The other event was the secret takeover of the Imperium by the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong, who secretly placed made one of their own, E'thinaa, a ranking general. In 28 ABY, the Ssi-ruuvi launched a second invasion of Bakura which failed due to an uprising by the P'w'ecks and a counter-attack by the Galactic Alliance. The Imperium itself appeared to have been invaded by the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong who had already launched a massive campaign of conquest against the known galaxy.

Background
"The gulfs of space are not home to us and neither are the barren worlds. The worlds of fire and the worlds of ice are not home to us. Where oxygen burns and water flows, where carbon bonds and ozone protects&mdash;there we plant our roots. The seed of our species is fertile; all we require is the soil in which to plant it."

- The Keeramak closing the ceremony via translation by C-3PO

The Ssi-ruuk evolved from packs of carnivorous animals on their jungle homeworld Lwhekk. Gradually they formed tribes, each consisted of members with the same skin color. The most dominant were the Blue and Gold scaled tribes. The Blue scaled Ssi-ruuk possessed a great deal of political power, while the Gold-scaled began the Ssi-ruuvi religion. These two would form the Ssi-ruuvi upper class. The Ssi-ruuk eventually encountered the smaller yet more common P'w'ecks and conflict arose between the two species. Eventually, the P'w'ecks were subjugated and enslaved. The Blue and Gold tribes then made an alliance and selected the first Shreeftut. The Ssi-ruuvi Imperium was born and the Blue and Gold tribes then subjugated the rest of Lwhekk and divided them into castes.

The Conclave and the Elders' Council were formed and eventually the Ssi-ruuk expanded their empire into space. They conquered several worlds and enslaved their inhabitants, most of which were primitives. Eventually the Ssi-ruuk discovered the art of entechment and began enteching subjugated species. The practice of entechment of lower life forms became common; even the P'w'ecks, cousins of the Ssi-ruu were used. But gradually it was learned that containment of these 'souls' for long periods would result in madness and it was decided that the Imperium needed to expand its realm once again. Another reason was due the dwindling resources in their isolated region of space.

Sometime around 25,000 BBY an experimental Ssi-ruuk hyperdrive vessel crashed on the planet Garos IV. For millennia, the reptilian Ssi-ruuk had never dared to expand beyond its cluster, partly because of the large distances involved, partly due to their xenophobic nature, and partly because of their religious fear of traveling to 'unconsecrated' worlds.

Early Incursions
"Bakurans be glad! The joy that we bring goes beyond mere sensory happiness. Yours is the privilege of assisting the Ssi-ruuk to liberate the other worlds of the galaxy. You are the first, the spearhead! What an honor! As Humans, you have inestimable value to my masters. From them, you will receive lives without pain, without need, without fear."

- Dev Sibwarra

In 2 BBY, the Ssi-ruuvi's supreme ruler&mdash;the Shreeftut&mdash;received visions through the Force of a hooded Human who revealed himself to be Emperor Palpatine, ruler of the galaxy. He offered the Ssi-ruuvi dozens of worlds and millions of Humans to entech, in exchange for the use of Ssi-ruuvi technology. The shreeftut agreed. In response, they decided to venture into Wild Space where they conquered the small Human colony of G'rho; capturing numerous members of the populace for entechment.

Among their captives was a Human boy named Dev Sibwarra, whom the Elder Bluescale brainwashed through mind manipulation techniques; what astounded them was the boy possessed strange powers to sense others. It was from this boy that the Admiral Ivpikkis discovered that Humans were the galaxy's dominant species. He also discovered that humanoids had longer containment time when enteched and could last longer than most other species. Due to Sibwarra's Force abilities and his ability to communicate with his fellow Humans, the Ssi-ruuk used Dev Sibwarra to calm the subjects being enteched.

Exploration
"Bakura is under attack by an alien invasion force from outside your domain. Estimate five cruisers, several dozen ships, over 1000 small fighters. Unknown technology. We have lost half our defense force and all outersystem outposts. Holonet transmissions to Imperial Center and Death Star Two have gone unanswered. Urgent, repeat urgent, send Stormtroopers."

- Wilek Nereus

In 4 ABY, the Ssi-ruuvi dispatched three separate expeditionary fleets into the galaxy proper and the nearby Chiss Ascendancy as a means of capturing more humanoids for entechment. A sizeable expeditionary fleet led by Admiral Ivpikkis and Elder Bluescale&mdash;who had brought along his Human protégé Dev Sibwarra&mdash;was deployed against the outlying Imperial planet of Bakura. The second was deployed against the Human world of Cattamascar which the Ssi-ruuvi only narrowly succeeded in conquering. The third fleet attacked and invaded several minor Chiss worlds; capturing several Chiss as entechment subjects. Ultimately, this expedition incurred the wrath of the Chiss Ascendancy which launched a devastating counter-attack on Ssi-ruuvi space.

The expeditionary fleet to Bakura consisted of five large cruisers including the Shree-class battle cruiser Shriwirr, several dozen smaller support ships and thousands of tiny Swarm-class battle droids was. This force quickly destroyed half of the Imperial defense force; forcing the Imperial Governor Wilek Nereus to attempt communicating with the Imperial commands at Coruscant and Death Star II to seek more reinforcements.

When these failed, he sent a message drone to the Forest Moon of Endor; the nearest world with an Imperial presence and the site of the Second Death Star. However, an Alliance fleet had defeated much of the Imperial presence during an epic space battle which also destroyed the second Death Star along with Emperor Palpatine. Prior to 1 ABY, the remote Outer Rim world of Bakura had been independent of Imperial control but its populace was divided. Seeking to control the planet's industrial base and its moon's mineral deposits, the Imperials had occupied the planet.

Defeat at Bakura
"A pipeline to Humans. We could own all known space, not merely this empire."

- Admiral Ivpikkis

The Rebels intercepted and decoded the message ship. Seeking to entice Bakura into their camp and to secure a truce with Imperial forces, the Alliance leadership dispatched a task force to Bakura led by the Heroes of Yavin including Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo. Arriving at Bakura, the Rebels were able to secure a temporary albeit shaky truce with Nereus in exchange for support against the Ssi-ruuvi.

Meanwhile, the arrival of the Jedi Luke Skywalker&mdash; who had just triumphed over the Sith during a heated duel on the second Death Star&mdash;created a disturbance in the Force which was sensed by Sibwarra who informed his masters. Believing that they could use the Force-strong Jedi to drain the life energies of millions of sentients from light years away, the Ssi-ruuvi leadership decided to make a covert deal with Nereus by proposing a full withdrawal in exchange for the handover of Skywalker.

Nereus accepted the offer; given his hatred of the Rebels and as part of his secret plan to stab his Rebel colleagues in the back. However, Nereus also double-crossed the saurian aliens by secretly inserting parasitic Olabrian trichoid larvae into Skywalker's food during a meal. The larvae would eat into Skywalker's body upon hatching before killing the aliens themselves. Nereus would then add the Ssi-ruuk's jaw bones to his collection of animal bones. Unfortunately for the Ssi-ruuk, their plans for entechment on a genocidal scale was thwarted by Dev Sibwarra who threw of the shackles of Ssi-ruuvi indoctrination and rebelled against his masters.

He freed Skywalker from his bonds and the pair fought their way across the stun trap-littered corridors of the battle cruiser Shriwirr. Fearful of dying on an unconsecrated world, Ivpikkis and the surviving crew escaped the vessel in life-pods and were recovered by the other warships. In the space above Bakura, the joint Alliance and Imperial warships launched a devastating counter-offensive against the Ssi-ruuvi fleet. Due to the chaos onboard the flagship Shriwirr cause by Skywalker's escape and their fear of dying on an unconsecrated world, the Ssi-ruuvi were unable to continue the fight and were forced into a retreat. Every ship in the fleet fled for the safety of Ssi-ruuvi home space except the flagship Shriwirr.

With the Ssi-ruuk defeated, Nereus put his plans of seizing power and stabbing his Rebel colleagues in the back. He arrested the Bakuran leadership including Prime Minister Yeorg Captison and ordered the Imperial commander Pter Thanas to destroy the Rebel. The former was thwarted by members of the Bakuran resistance movement under the ancient Eppie Belden while only part of the Alliance fleet was destroyed. Ultimately, his efforts were thwarted by a popular rising of the Bakuran people and the last-minute defection of the commander of Imperial forces over Bakura, Pter Thanas. Nereus himself was slain 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&mdash;the New Republic.

Setback
"In fact, our former masters were assessing more than just their tactics in the wake of their defeat."

- Lwothin

In summary, neither expedition was very successful: the Ssi-ruuvi only narrowly succeeded in conquering the Human world of Cattamascar, and were utterly defeated at Bakura, when it became known that Palpatine, having just been killed, would no longer be able to fulfill his promise. Likewise, although several minor Chiss worlds were taken, the Chiss retaliation was massive and unexpected. In retaliation for attacks on several Chiss worlds which had seen several of their citizens enteched, the Chiss Ascendancy had launched a blistering campaign in Ssi-ruuvi territory; devastating the Imperium capital of Lwhekk and fragmenting of the Ssi-ruuvi socio-economic caste system.

Voren Na'al of New Republic Intelligence later referred to the battle as the "Bakura Incident", and believed that it would be best if the New Republic attempted to prevent widespread public knowledge about the Ssi-Ruuk, advice that was taken controversially at best. To prevent a second Ssi-ruuvi attack on the worlds on the edge of Wild Space, the Rebel Alliance's successor state&mdash;the New Republic&mdash;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.

During the expedition, several crew onboard the Sibwarra were injured or even killed due to their unfamiliarity with the unfamiliar alien devices onboard the vessel. 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 an already weakened foe.

Above the wrecked Ssi-ruuvi capital world, 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.

Resurgence
"The Keeramak was the one who led us to victory over our former masters. It conceived our revolt and consolidated the aftermath. Within a year, Lwhekk was ours and the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium a thing of the past. And now, five years on, the Keeramak still guides our destiny''" "''Impressive, throwing off an oppressor is only the beginning of a long and difficult journey."

- Lwothin and Leia Organa Solo

So great was the devastation of the Chiss attack 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 multi-colored Ssi-ruu, was a master strategist and politician. The other event was the secret takeover of the Imperium by the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong, who secretly placed made one of their own, E'thinaa, a ranking general. In the fields of technology, the Ssi-ruuvi made advances in entechment by developing a means of sustaining enteched souls; allowing them to last longer. 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, 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 First Corellian Insurrection.

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. In exchange for gaining “immortality” by being enteched 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 engineered a faux 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 strategy, the faux P'w'eck rebels would make overtures of peace to the Bakurans and the New Republic's successor government&mdash;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.

Consecration
"You knew about the Ssi-ruuk. You betrayed Bakura. You're no better than Harris!''" "''You're wrong on that score, I assure you. I am in every way better than Harris."

- Malinza Thanas and Molierre Cundertol

Most Bakurans welcomed these recent developments as a sign of developing relations with their former enemies while others were skeptical. To demonize the opposition and to deflect public attention, Cundertol arranged for himself to be kidnapped by members of the anti-New Republic Freedom resistance movement under Malinza Thanas. Freedom was secretly backed by Cundertol's deputy Blaine Harris as a means of reaching his goal of thwarting Cundertol and becoming the new Prime Minister. In order to allow 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 under the pretext of both species' religious fear of dying on an "unconsecrated" world.

Among those present were delegates from the Galactic Alliance including the former Chief of State Leia Organa Solo, her husband Han Solo, their daughter Jaina and Colonel Jagged Fel&mdash;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 mighty Sh'ner-class planetary assault cruisers plan which remained in orbit. However, the ceremony was interrupted by a bomb attack planted by the Deputy Prime Minister Blaine Harris who had plotted to overthrow Cundertol in order to install himself as prime minister. Luckily, heavy casualties were averted by the efforts of the Jedi Knight Jaina Solo and her mother Leia Organa Solo who managed to apprehend Harris. Despite this, the consecration ceremony concluded and Bakura was christened Xwhee by the Keeramak and his entourage.

Taking advantage of the ensuing chaos, the orbiting Ssi-ruuvi ships launched a ground and space offensive; taking the Bakurans and the Alliance by surprise on land and space. On land, Ssi-ruuvi troops quickly occupied the ruined stadium with little opposition. Meanwhile in space, P'w'eck-piloted droid fighters began using their tractor beam projectors to capture and drag the Alliance and Bakuran fighters into the hangar bays of the orbiting Ssi-ruuvi carriers where their pilots would be enteched. Cundertol then reappeared in the presence of the Imperium's prisoners and revealed his intentions to betray his people to the enemy. When the Solos rejected 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 proved to be the signal for a genuine P'w'eck uprising against their Ssi-ruuvi overlords. Taking advantage of the shock, the P'w'ecks attacked the remaining Ssi-ruuk which fought back doggedly despite the death of their leader. Realizing that the P'w'ecks were their allies after all, the Solos and the Bakurans entered the battle fray. Demoralized and outnumbered, the surviving Ssi-ruuk quickly capitulated while Cundertol was taken prisoner. In space, the captured Alliance and Bakuran fighters were freed by the P'w'eck-piloted droid fighters after being led under the deflector shields of the Ssi-ruuvi cruisers. Led by Jagged Fel, the Alliance and Bakuran fighters launched a fierce counter-attack on the Ssi-ruuvi cruisers; capitalizing on 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.

Aftermath
"We have destroyed the machine that made you and purified the hands that made you with the blood of a thousand captives. We would never deign to deal with dead stuff such as you are made of. Life is tissue; it is soil; it is blood. It is death."

- E'thinaa

Following the battle, the Bakuran government and the P'w'eck Emancipation Movement signed a formal treaty which formed an alliance between the two peoples. Some of the terms of the treaty included holding elections in 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 not to engage in anymore illicit activities, Freedom agents Vyram and Malinza were exonerated of their kidnapping charges and their organization was allowed to participate in the elections.

Leia predicted that there would be an influx of P'w'eck refugees from the Imperium within months and a possible Ssi-ruuvi invasion within a year. Despite this turn of events, Bakura chose not to rejoin the New Republic's successor government&mdash;Galactic Alliance. However, with the Yuuzhan Vong making new strides with the destruction of the HoloNet, Bakura joined the Galactic Alliance, contributing ships to the defense of Mon Calamari and giving 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 arousing the Elders' Council. En route, the shuttle was hijacked by Cundertol. Upon arriving at a pre-scheduled asteroid location, Cundertol himself was slain by E'thinaa&mdash;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.

Known battles

 * 1 BBY: Conquest of G'rho
 * 4 ABY:
 * Attacks on the Chiss Ascendancy
 * Conquest of Cattamascar
 * Keeramak Revolt
 * Invasion of Bakura
 * First Battle of Lwhekk
 * Second Battle of Lwhekk
 * 28 ABY: Battle of Bakura

Appearances

 * The Truce at Bakura
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee