Nek Bwua'tu

Nek Bwua'tu was a Bothan male from the planet Ruweln, located in the Bothan sector of the Mid Rim. Bwua'tu joined the Galactic Alliance Defense Force and served against the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong during the Yuuzhan Vong War. In the peacetime period that followed the conflict, Bwua'tu was promoted to the rank of admiral and assigned to command the Alliance Fifth Fleet. He took the Admiral Ackbar, a Victory-class Star Destroyer outfitted with a powerful tractor beam to operate as a pirate-hunter, as his flagship. On the day he was made an admiral, Bwua'tu swore an oath of krevi to always place the interests of the Galactic Alliance above those of himself and his species. He was considered to be a masterful tactician as he constantly defeated the Thrawn Simulator despite never having actually commanded a fleet engagement.

In 36 ABY, Bwua'tu was at the center of the Swarm War against the insectoid Killiks when he was ordered to institute the blockade of the Utegetu Nebula which contained the planets on which the Killiks lived. During the subsequent battle of the Murgo Choke&mdash;where the Killiks attempted to breach the blockade&mdash;Bwua'tu lost the Admiral Ackbar to Killik forces who commandeered the vessel. The Bothan Admiral's tactical insights later assisted in recapturing the ship and ending the war during the Battle of Tenupe. Bwua'tu continued to serve the Galactic Alliance during the Second Galactic Civil War, which pitted the Alliance against a Confederation of governments led by Corellia and including Bothawui. Despite pressure from his government to resign, Bwua'tu stayed true to his krevi, and commanded Alliance forces during the Battle of Hapes, the Battle of Kuat, and the Second Battle of Roche. By 43 ABY, Bwua'tu had risen to the post of Chief of Naval Operations under Chief of State Natasi Daala's administration and commanded the entire Alliance Navy. During the government's troubles with the Jedi Order, Bwua'tu was attacked by two assailants wielding lightsabers. The assault left the Admiral in a coma.

Early career
"Admiral Bwua'tu knows what an inspiration he is for the crew of the Admiral Ackbar. They feel privileged to serve under an admiral who has risen from the obscurity of a birth on Ruweln to become the finest fleet commander the Galactic Alliance has ever seen.''" "The finest? Really? I wasn't aware that Admiral Bwua'tu has actually seen fleet action as a commander." "''He hasn't. But he defeats the Thrawn simulator every time."

- Wurf'al and Jedi Leia Organa Solo

Nek Bwua'tu was born on Ruweln, a planet in the Bothan sector of the Mid Rim. During the Yuuzhan Vong War&mdash;a conflict that saw the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong invade the galaxy&mdash;Bwua'tu was a member of the Galactic Alliance Defense Fleet and saw action in numerous battles. By 36 ABY, Bwua'tu had married three times and held the rank of admiral, having been promoted in the peacetime period after the Yuuzhan Vong War. He was assigned to command the Fifth Fleet and flew his flag from the Admiral Ackbar, a Victory-class Star Destroyer that had been outfitted with an asteroid tug tractor beam and classified as a pirate-hunter. Although he was noted for his tactical skill in defeating the Thrawn Simulator consistently, and was also the only Bothan who had succeeded in defeating the simulation, Bwua'tu had yet to command a military engagement as a fleet commander.

Blockading the Utegetu Nebula
"Nek Bwua'tu? The Bothan who beatz the Thrawn simulator?''" "He is in command of the Fifth Fleet. But it doesn't matter. They're bluffing." "And if they are not?" "''They are. And, anyway, there's a big difference between simbattle and the real thing."

- Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne and Jedi Leia Organa Solo discuss Admiral Bwua'tu as they prepare to try to run the Blockade of the Utegetu Nebula

In 35 ABY, the Killiks&mdash;a hive-minded insectoid species that citizens of the galaxy had believed were extinct&mdash;began to aggressively expand their territory in the Gyuel system of the Unknown Regions, and in doing so, came into conflict with the isolationist Chiss. The Killiks were under the influence of the Gorog, an invisible "Dark Nest" that kept its presence hidden from the other Killik nests, but nonetheless subconsciously directed them. The nest was controlled by a pair of Dark Jedi who had been absorbed into the Killik hive-mind during the Yuuzhan Vong War and became Joiners. However, their innate Force-sensitivity led them to dominate the Killik hive-mind rather than submit to it. In parallel, a Jedi Knight by the name of Raynar Thul, had been absorbed by another nest at the same time. His proclivity in the Force led him to unite the other nests under his leadership, but he was not immune to the suggestions of the Dark Nest, which pushed for war against the Chiss. A series of battles between the two forces was waged in the Gyuel system until the Jedi Order intervened and settled the conflict by seemingly destroying the Dark Nest and offering the Killiks the coordinates to the Utegetu Nebula, a shell nebula containing fifteen planets. Raynar Thul, now styled as UnuThul, leader of the Colony, accepted the offer, and the Killiks were transported from the Gyuel system to the Utegetu Nebula.

Bwua'tu, commanding the Admiral Ackbar, and the Fifth Fleet were assigned to patrol the Hydian Way, one of the galaxy's major trade routes. During the deployment, the Gorog nest, which had not been destroyed as previously thought a year earlier, had arranged to deliver spinglass busts of Admiral Bwua'tu to the Admiral Ackbar, using a third party shipping company who were grateful for Bwua'tu's actions in keeping the Hydian Way safe for traders. The busts were placed on pedestals all over the ship by Wurf'al, a relative of Admiral Bwua'tu's serving on the vessel, as a sign of respect and devotion to their commander. Unknown to the Alliance crew, the busts contained large amounts of thumb-sized insects allied to the Gorog. Several weeks later, Chief of State Cal Omas ordered the Fifth Fleet to blockade the Utegetu Nebula. Omas's reassignment of the Fifth was in response to increased Killik activities outside the nebula, including the shipping of an alcoholic beverage called membrosia which was addictive to other insectoid races, and harboring pirate bands that were raiding Alliance shipping. The Dark Nest was still pushing for war with the Chiss, and these moves were designed to keep the Alliance occupied and unable to interfere with their affairs. The Chiss believed that the Alliance was in league with the Killiks, and the blockade enacted by the Fifth was an effort to appease the Chiss government. Bwua'tu led his fleet to the Nebula.

Alongside the Mon Mothma, an Imperial-class Star Destroyer fitted with gravity well projectors to function as an interdictor, the Admiral Ackbar took up station in the Murgo Choke. Consisting of a pair of binary stars, the Choke was a complicated area of space to navigate due to the multiple mass shadows that connected the Rago Run to the Utegetu Nebula. The presence of a single interdictor effectively blockaded the main hyperlane into the Nebula. Shortly after the blockade was established, the YT-1300 light freighter Millennium Falcon attempted to run it to reach the planet Woteba in the Nebula. Piloted by Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne and her Padawan, Leia Organa Solo, the Falcon&mdash;accompanied by Master Mara Jade Skywalker and three Jedi Knights in StealthX starfighters&mdash;was attempting to rescue Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker and Captain Han Solo from Woteba, where they were being held prisoner by the Killiks. Organa Solo attempted to prevail upon her friendship with the Mon Monthma commander, Commodore Gavin Darklighter, to allow the ship to pass. However, Darklighter was under orders from Bwua'tu and could not allow the Falcon to enter the Nebula. When Organa Solo attempted to run the blockade, Bwua'tu maneuvered the Admiral Ackbar into position, and used the tractor beam to ensnare the light freighter, taking it aboard the Star Destroyer. With the Falcon safely inside, Bwua'tu ordered a boarding party to enter the freighter and arrest the Jedi. The troopers failed to breach the Falcon security system, but Sebatyne and Organa Solo exited of their own accord, attempting to use the Force to defuse the situation. Bwua'tu, however, had anticipated that the Jedi would attempt to use their powers; he ordered two of the soldiers in the docking bay to be armed with Czerka Arms HeadBangers set to maximum. When the two Knights used the Force to redirect the boarding party's weapons away from them, the troopers&mdash;previously hidden behind their commander&mdash;used the HeadBangers, knocking the two Knights unconscious. Bwua'tu had, however, overestimated Jedi resiliency and the two Knights were unconscious for four days in the Admiral Ackbar detention level.

During Sebatyne and Organa Solo's incapacitation, Bwua'tu ordered that the Millennium Falcon be searched. Fuel cells, stowed aboard with the intention of using them to refuel the Jedi StealthXs before reaching Woteba, were confiscated and moved to a separate location on the admiral's order. However, the two Noghri on the Falcon, Cakhmaim and Meewalh, managed to evade capture. When the two Jedi regained consciousness, Bwua'tu met with them in a briefing room. Although the Admiral was quite sure that he would soon be receiving orders from Chief of State Omas to release the pair, he attempted to bargain with the two Jedi to ensure they did not disrupt the operations of the Admiral Ackbar with an escape attempt. Initially, Bwua'tu threatened to hole the Falcon drive nacelles to prevent the ship from leaving the Star Destroyer unless both Organa Solo and Sebatyne gave their words to not attempt an escape, an offer that they grudgingly accepted. Secondly, he tried to prevail on the pair to call in the StealthX fighters that were still in the Murgo Choke. Organa Solo refused to call in the Jedi, stating that she had felt through the Force that there was danger on the ship, and that she would not jeopardize the lives of the pilots. Bwua'tu assured them that the Jedi had nothing to fear from him; Organa Solo agreed, revealing that there was danger on the ship itself, but she could not be more specific. Believing that the Jedi were trying to use their aura of mysticism to frighten his crew, Bwua'tu had the two Jedi returned to the vessel's detention block.

Battle of the Murgo Choke
"Grendyl, tell Commodore Darklighter to withdraw. Have all surviving Fifth Fleet starfighters disengage and meet him at Rendezvous Alpha.''" "Even our fighters, Admiral?" "That's what I said, blast it! Is something wrong with those little pink flaps you call ears? [&hellip;] I apologize, Grendyl. That was uncalled for. Our unfortunate situation has put me rather on edge, I'm afraid." "It's quite all right, sir. I'll send the message at once." "Thank you. And make it a direct order, to both Commodore Darklighter and the starfighter squadrons. I won't have them wasting valuable Alliance resources on pointless displays of bravery. The Ackbar'' is lost."

- Admiral Nek Bwua'tu to his aide, Grendyl, during the Battle of the Murgo Choke

With the Jedi incarcerated, Bwua'tu ordered the starfighter squadrons aboard the Admiral Ackbar and the Mon Mothma to deploy in a double screen formation between the two vessels and conduct a search for the missing StealthX fighters. While Bwua'tu supervised the operation, both Sebatyne and Organa Solo staged separate escapes from their cells. Sebatyne moved to secure the fuel cells and the Falcon, and Organa Solo proceeded to the bridge of the Admiral Ackbar. Organa Solo demanded to see Bwua'tu, a request that the Bothan allowed as he believed that she had come to assist him in finding the StealthX squadron. Instead, she relayed information to him she had received through the Force by her brother, Grand Master Skywalker, that a Killik fleet was preparing to break out of the Utegetu Nebula and attack the Fifth Fleet. Bwua'tu believed that Organa Solo was attempting to stall his efforts to find the Jedi StealthXs, until a sensor officer reported that fifteen contacts had dropped out of hyperspace, outbound from the nebula, and were approaching their position. Bwua'tu immediately began recalling the Admiral Ackbar fighters while ordering his turbolaser crews to acquire firing solutions on the Killik vessels. He also gave orders to begin withdrawing the Admiral Ackbar toward the Mon Mothma, while simultaneously ordering the other Star Destroyer to close with them.

As the Killik capital ships launched thousands of dartships, the Admiral Ackbar turbolaser batteries scored direct hits on several enemy ships. With battle underway, the Killiks enacted part of their plan to capture the Admiral Ackbar. Jedi Organa Solo, who had been sensing danger through the Force since her arrival on the Admiral Ackbar, localized the feeling to one of the busts of Bwua'tu that had been delivered to the ship several weeks prior and placed on the bridge. Using the Force, she attempted to drop it down a disposal chute, but was stopped by Wurf'al, who caught the item as it was being lowered into the chute. The bust shattered in his hands, and the tiny insect assassins within it attacked and killed him, before attempting to do the same to rest of the command crew. Bwua'tu, Organa Solo, and the bridge crew managed to fight off the initial attack, but sustained casualties. Bwua'tu placed the ship on an infiltration alert on Organa Solo's advice, and ordered all statuary to be dumped into the nearest disposal chute.

Turning his attention to the battle, Bwua'tu noted that while the majority of the Killik force was heading for the Mon Mothma and the middle of the Choke, five ships and thousands of dartships had targeted the Admiral Ackbar. With the aid of Jedi Organa Solo, Bwua'tu commandeered the Jedi StealthXs&mdash;including a new squadron under the command of Jedi Master Kyp Durron, which had arrived to rescue Organa Solo and Sebatyne&mdash;and used them to augment his forces, ordering them to destroy the hyperdrives on the nest ships. In addition, Organa Solo identified the Dark Nest's ship through the Force. Bwua'tu ordered the ship to be targeted, and designated as "Bug One," although he held off from attacking the ship, preferring to keep their information a surprise. Mon Mothma began to take serious damage as battle intensified, although the Admiral Ackbar fared better&mdash;the Star Destroyer's position with its back to the binary stars of the Choke caused much of the enemy fire to miss its target as the Killik gunners could not adjust their firing solutions to compensate for the gravitational fluxes. However, despite its positioning, the Admiral Ackbar was trapped between the stars and the oncoming Killik force. Bwua'tu, recognizing the futility of his position, ordered the Mon Mothma and all remaining starfighters to disengage and head for Rendezvous Alpha. He then gave his gunnery crews the order to target and open fire on "Bug One." Despite registering successful hits, Organa Solo implored Bwua'tu to cease fire. Through the Force, Master Jade Skywalker told her that Master Skywalker and Captain Solo were aboard the vessel. Bwua'tu accepted the explanation, but did not cease fire, although he did reduce the amount of turbolaser batteries targeting the vessel. His reasoning was that if Skywalker and Solo were on the ship, then they were captives or stowaways. If the former, then their attack would give them the best chance of escape. If the latter, then ceasing fire could conceivably betray their presence to the Killiks.

As the assault on "Bug One" continued, the Admiral Ackbar sensors noted that a contact had detached from the Killik ship. Initially believing it to be a missile, it was identified as a Lancer-class frigate. Organa Solo sensed danger from the vessel, and that Raynar Thul was aboard, prompting Bwua'tu to designate it as a priority target. As turbolaser fire lanced towards the vessel, the barrage veered away from the ship at the last moment. Another barrage suffered the same fate, and Organa Solo suddenly realized that Thul planned to capture the Admiral Ackbar rather than destroy it. Bwua'tu attempted to set the self-destruct mechanism, but was forced to evacuate the bridge when Killik assassin bugs entered through ventilation ducts. Bwua'tu managed to retrieve Organa Solo's lightsaber from his wardroom vault, and the pair&mdash;along with the remaining bridge crew and other surviving members of the crew they encountered along the way&mdash;attempted to reach remote access terminals on other decks in an effort to trigger the ship's destruction. However, the Killiks were ahead of them, and destroyed every access terminal while they constantly harassed the survivors in a lengthy running battle through the Admiral Ackbar. The small band eventually reached the ship's capture bay, where both a working access terminal and the Millennium Falcon were located. At that point, the battle was joined by Alema Rar, a Jedi Joiner who served the Dark Nest. Rar dueled with Organa Solo; during the battle, she attempted to kill Admiral Bwua'tu with Force lightning, but his aide, Grendyl, intercepted the attack in his stead. A second burst of lightning destroyed the access terminal, to Bwua'tu's frustration. The attack on the survivors was routed when Master Sebatyne, along with the Noghri, exited the capture bay and used overwhelming firepower to drive the attackers back. Bwua'tu evacuated the Admiral Ackbar on the Millennium Falcon, leaving the Star Destroyer in the hands of the Killiks.

The war begins
"If I am right, this is going to be a very interesting war."

- Admiral Nek Bwua'tu

Bwua'tu was delivered to the Mon Mothma after the Millennium Falcon rescued Skywalker, Solo, and two traders, Jae Juun and Tarfang, from "Bug One." With his flag transferred to the Star Destroyer, Bwua'tu ordered the ship, along with a small task force of cruisers and frigates, to return to the nebula. The Jedi StealthXs had performed admirably during the battle, destroying the hyperdrives on eleven of the nest ships, including "Bug One." Four ships, and the commandeered Admiral Ackbar, had escaped, and the remainder formed a blockade in the Murgo Choke that prevented Alliance ships from entering the Nebula. Bwua'tu discovered that the traders Juun and Tarfang had been the ones to deliver the Killik filled busts to the Admiral Ackbar. However, they had not known what they contained, and once they did, had endeavored to warn the Alliance by assisting the captive Skywalker and Solo on Woteba. Skywalker and Solo both gave testimony to the pair's innocence in the matter, and Bwua'tu, impressed by their knowledge of the Killiks, signed them on as Intelligence Affiliates. With only a ten-ship advantage over the Killik forces, Bwua'tu ordered Commodore Darklighter to launch all starfighters and deploy to an attack position. Despite the shocked reaction of Darklighter and the assembled representatives from the Jedi Order, Bwua'tu wanted to keep the Killiks off balance. Reasoning that Jedi involvement had scuppered their plans and made them unsure of the force they were arrayed against, Bwua'tu planned to take the initiative and attack when logic dictated that he should not. With that move, the admiral hoped to make the Killiks even more unsure of their position, and force them into retreat. The risky assault was successful, and the Killiks were deterred from further aggressive action in the Choke. Despite the loss of the Admiral Ackbar, Bwua'tu was not removed from command of the Fifth Fleet as he had expected, and was allowed to retain his command by Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force. Bwua'tu remained on-station at the Utegetu Nebula, where he directed Jedi in reconnaissance missions, and assigned intelligence missions to his newest recruits, Juun and Tarfang. He felt that the Killiks' actions, including their subsequent assaults on Roche and Thyferra, were signs that they intended to make another attempt at breaking out of the nebula.

The Battle of Tenupe
"There's nobody aboard Healing Star but a few mouse droids. Admiral Bwua'tu said you were going to attack it."

- Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker reveals the extent of Admiral Bwua'tu's tactical predictions just prior to killing Lomi Plo

During the final battle of the following conflict that was known as the Swarm War, the Chiss launched a massive assault on Killik forces at Tenupe. A Galactic Alliance fleet, under the command of Grand Admiral Pellaeon and including a task force led by Bwua'tu, headed to Tenupe to support the Chiss. They intended to destroy the Killik fleet and persuade the Chiss that the Alliance was not siding with the Colony. Since the Admiral Ackbar was leading the Killik fleet, the Chiss believed that the Galactic Alliance had arranged for the Killiks to capture it, leading to strained tensions between the two governments. However, Grand Master Skywalker convinced Pellaeon to switch tactics upon their arrival, pointing out that the only sure way to end the war was to recapture the Admiral Ackbar and neutralize both Raynar Thul and Lomi Plo, the Dark Jedi leading the Gorog nest. To that end, the Alliance force would concentrate on the Admiral Ackbar, while leaving the Killik and Chiss fleets to engage one another. Skywalker hoped that the casualties that would be suffered by both sides, coupled with the loss of the Killik leadership, would be enough to end the war.

Skywalker, accompanied by a unit of space-capable YVH 5 Bugcruncher war droids known as Stomper Brigade, assaulted the Admiral Ackbar with the intention of eliminating the threat posed by Raynar Thul. Several Alliance Star Destroyers of the same class as the Admiral Ackbar held her in place with their powerful tractor beams while Skywalker's force made their approach. Thul attempted to stop their advance; however, Bwua'tu had predicted much of Thul's response. He correctly believed that Thul would hold his dartship screen back to counter Task Force Stomper rather than send it out to engage his captors. As Alliance bombardment caused the Admiral Ackbar shields to collapse, the dartship screen pulled back even further to defend the ship. Bwua'tu had also predicted that move, and Alliance starfighter squadrons blew through the dartship screen, strafing the weapons emplacements of the Star Destroyer and clearing the way for Task Force Stomper. When Thul launched the starfighters that had been aboard the Admiral Ackbar at the time of its capture, Bwua'tu countered by using the elite Rogue Squadron to destroy them quickly in several attack passes. Finally, the dartship screen moved to intercept Task Force Stomper directly, at which point Bwua'tu used the tractor beams on the Alliance pirate catchers to send them tumbling off course, clearing the way. Prior to Stomper's arrival at the Admiral Ackbar, Thul began using the Force to tear apart the assault shuttles. Although Bwua'tu had not predicted that tactic, he had insisted that the YVH droids be fully capable of maneuvering in space, a modification that allowed the entire squad to board the Admiral Ackbar despite their loss of transport. Skywalker, who had donned an enviro-suit to survive the loss of his shuttle, Stomper One, located and engaged Raynar Thul and Lomi Plo in combat; with them both defeated and at his mercy, Plo ordered the Killik forces to attack the medical ship Healing Star. The leader of the Dark Nest intended to trade calling off the attack on the vessel for her life. Bwua'tu had also predicted that move, and the Healing Star was instead a decoy, staffed by mouse droids. With no recourse, Plo attacked Skywalker and was killed by the Jedi Master. Thul was taken into custody, and the Admiral Ackbar returned to Alliance control. With Thul removed from the head of the Colony, the Swarm W`ar was officially ended.

Watching Kiris
"Whatever your parents are doing in Hapan space, their trip has something to do with a coup attempt. Perhaps they are only going to warn Tenel Ka about the consequences of supporting the Alliance.''" "You mean, to threaten her?" "A threat is a warning. At the moment, that is what we must assume. It's really Corellia's only hope." "Which means the Corellians aren't going to send the Kiris fleet against our blockade. They'll use it to support the Hapan coup." "''"Exactly. My fleet is badly out of position."

- Admiral Bwua'tu and Jedi Knight Jaina Solo

In 40 ABY, Bwua'tu still served the Galactic Alliance and retained command of the Admiral Ackbar. In the same year, rising tensions between the Galactic Alliance and Corellia erupted into armed conflict, with other planets, including Bothawui, the Bothan homeworld, poised to join Corellia's fledgling Confederation. Bwua'tu nevertheless remained loyal to the Galactic Alliance, having sworn an oath of krevi&mdash;a Bothan pledge that rendered loyalty to the Galactic Alliance above his allegiance to Bothawui or his species&mdash;upon being promoted to fleet admiral. Such a position meant that Bwua'tu faced the prospect of having to engage his own kind in battle, since he believed that Bothawui's participation in the war was more a question of when than if. In addition, Bwua'tu was pressured by the Bothan government to resign his commission and return home. Although Bwua'tu refused, the government continued their efforts and supplied him with intelligence that Jedi Knight Jacen Solo, now serving as a colonel in the newly formed Galactic Alliance Guard, was assassinating Bothans on Coruscant, the galactic capital. Solo believed that Reh'mwa, leader of the True Victory Party&mdash;a group of Bothans who had sworn to eradicate the Yuuzhan Vong entirely&mdash;was responsible for poisoning the World Brain on Coruscant. Solo used the World Brain to track Corellian terrorists on the capital, and its potential loss would have hindered Solo's efforts.

As part of the escalating crisis, Admiral Bwua'tu was ordered to take his fleet and prepare an ambush of the Kiris shipyards, a secret Corellian construction yard located in the Kiris Asteroid Cluster of the Corellian system. Stationing his fleet three light years from the edge of the system, Bwua'tu employed Jedi Knights in StealthXs to spy on the activity in the shipyards. Following one such mission, Jedi Knight Jaina Solo reported that a transport had been detected leaving the asteroid cluster and heading toward the Hapes Consortium, which had allied with the Galactic Alliance. Solo stated her belief that any attempt by a Corellian delegation to sway Hapes to Corellia's side was doomed to failure, until Bwua'tu pointed out that he believed that they were not going to negotiate with Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo, but her political opponents. Djo's support of the Galactic Alliance was unpopular with the nobility, and the Admiral was of the opinion that Corellia intended to assist in a coup of the Consortium and gain Hapes as an ally under new leadership. Solo was adamant in her belief that was not the delegation's mission. Bwua'tu countered with his belief that the transport was in fact the Millennium Falcon, ferrying Han and Leia Organa Solo to Hapes, and that Solo's belief stemmed from the fact that she believed her parents would not do anything to harm or betray the Queen Mother, whom they counted as a personal friend. Solo confirmed his belief, and Bwua'tu conceded that Solo indeed knew her parents better than he did, but did not relinquish his theory that the Corellians intended to support an insurrection within the Consortium.

Bwua'tu theorized that the secret fleet under construction in the Kirises would not be used to break the Alliance's blockade of the Corellian system, but rather to support the coup at Hapes. The Admiral realized that his fleet was badly out of position to stop such a move, but baulked at Solo's suggestion of moving the fleet. Admiral Cha Niathal, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force, had ordered the trap set and Bwua'tu knew that she would not abandon it without good cause. While he intended to relay the information to her, he would not redeploy his forces without authorization. Studying a tactical starmap, Bwua'tu came to the conclusion that Thrackan Sal-Solo, former leader of the Corellians and architect of the Kiris fleet, had been intending to assault the planet Duro in several weeks time. At that time, the Kiris Asteroid Cluster would have been positioned between Duro and Corell, Corellia's sun. With electromagnetic interference in the background, Duro would have been unable to detect the launch of the Kiris fleet. The assault made sense since Duro had large deposits of explosive baradium and lightsaber-resistant cortosis. Returning to the current matter, Bwua'tu requested that Solo and her Jedi partner, Zekk, travel to Hapes and warn the Queen Mother personally of the danger.

Defending Hapes
"I think your fleet showed up. And in the wrong place!''" "That's Bwua'tu!" "Figures. What Bothan makes a straightforward attack when he can try something tricky like coming out from behind a moon instead?" "''Well, at least they cared enough to send the best."

- Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo comment on Bwua'tu's choice of battle tactics

Bwua'tu's suspicions proved to be correct; three Corellian Dreadnaughts that had been constructed at Kiris were dispatched to the Hapes Consortium, and rendezvoused with a fleet allied to the Heritage Council&mdash;an alliance of Hapan nobles opposed to the Queen Mother's rule&mdash;just outside the Hapes system. Bwua'tu followed the fleet to Hapes, and maneuvered his own so that they would exit hyperspace behind Megos, one of Hapes' moons. The Heritage Fleet engaged the Hapan Royal Navy; despite the surprise assault, the Queen Mother's forces had the upper hand due to Han Solo, who had infiltrated the Heritage Fleet and broadcast their reversion coordinates prior to the fleet's arrival. As the two Hapan forces battled one another, Bwua'tu carefully chose his time to strike, regarding the destruction of the Corellian forces to be his primary goal, as crippling their war effort could effectively end the insurrection. Bwua'tu's fleet of Star Destroyers, cruisers, and frigates dropped out of hyperspace, rounded Megos, and assaulted the flank of the Heritage Fleet, punching a hole through its formation.

As the battle continued, another Hapan fleet, led by the Ducha Galney, entered the engagement. Galney was counted as an ally of the Queen Mother, but was secretly a member of the Heritage Council and intended to use that ruse to pose as reinforcements for Djo's forces then attack them. Ben Skywalker, son of the Masters Skywalker and member of the Galactic Alliance Guard, managed to warn Djo of the danger after receiving information from Jedi Knights Solo and Zekk regarding Galney's duplicity. Galney's flotilla was decimated by a loyal Hapan fleet commanded by Jacen Solo, which had just returned to Hapes from attempting to engage the Heritage Fleet at Relephon, while Bwua'tu's fleet assaulted the Corellian Dreadnaughts directly. The combined Hapan-Galactic Alliance force succeeded in defeating the enemy.

Kuat
"The time has come to end this war. Send in the StealthXs, please.''" "My pleasure. And, Admiral?" "Yes?" "Thank you for your loyalty." "That's nothing to thank me for, sir. A krevi can't be broken, no matter who takes command." "''All the same, I'm glad to have you on our side."

- Admiral Bwua'tu and Darth Caedus during the Battle of Kuat

As the conflict escalated into open warfare between the Alliance and the Confederation, Bwua'tu was transferred from the Fifth Fleet and given command of both the First and Sixth Fleets, and took the Star Destroyer Welmo Darb as his flagship. Jacen Solo, who had ascended to the post of Joint Chief of State alongside Cha Niathal following the arrest of Cal Omas, hoped that the Admiral could stop the combined Corellian and Bothan forces from reaching the planet Kuat. Bwua'tu predicted that the Confederation combination of Corellian, Bothan, Commenorian, and Hutt fleets would assault the Kuat shipyards at its densest part. The Admiral's battle plan called for the enemy fleet to be drawn into the shipyards and surrounded on all sides by allied formations while Jedi forces, using StealthXs, utilized shadow bombs to decimate the Confederation warships. Bwua'tu pre-positioned thousands of starfighters within the docks itself, laid ambushes and traps throughout the shipyard, and stationed both the First and Fourth Fleets within the shipyards themselves. The Hapan Home Fleet was hidden on the far side of Ronay, one of Kuat's moons, while the Seventh and Fifth Fleets were positioned to flank the enemy. Six squadrons of Jedi StealthXs were berthed on the Anakin Solo, flagship of Jacen Solo, under the command of Grand Master Skywalker himself.

The Confederation forces acted as Bwua'tu predicted, driving for the most clustered area of the shipyard. The Corellians led the assault, with the Bothans in a support role. The Commenorians, Hutts, and a flotilla of allied vessels acted as a rear guard. The enemy fleet dispatched scouts throughout the shipyard to determine the Alliance's position, and were quickly destroyed in turn by the starfighters that Bwua'tu had arrayed earlier. The First and Fourth Fleets took the brunt of the assault, drawing the Confederation fleet in. The Corellians directly engaged the Fourth while the Bothans attempted to flank the Alliance forces, although their progress was blunted by the traps and ambushes that Bwua'tu had carefully laid out. With the Confederation fleet fully engaged, Bwua'tu requested that the Hapan Home Fleet be committed to the battle. As the Hapans emerged from behind Ronay, they engaged the rear of the Confederation fleet's formation. At the same time, the Seventh and Fifth Fleets converged from the flanks, surrounding the enemy completely. Bwua'tu called for the StealthXs to begin their attack runs, but he discovered that Grand Master Skywalker&mdash;disgusted by Solo's leadership of the Alliance, possible involvement in the recent death of Cal Omas, and orders placing Galactic Alliance Guard troops at the Jedi Academy on Ossus to ensure the Jedi's cooperation&mdash;had departed the combat zone after withdrawing Jedi support to the Alliance. Solo asked Bwua'tu if his plan was still workable if the Alliance pressed the assault against the Confederation. Without the Jedi StealthXs, Bwua'tu had to reply in the negative.

The battle at Kuat dragged on for a week. Both sides were evenly matched and it became a game of attrition, with both forces losing several capital ships and thousands of lives a day. The situation worsened when Solo took his personal Star Destroyer, the Anakin Solo, to the Kashyyyk system along with the Fifth Fleet. The Wookiees were still to choose a side in the war, but the Jedi had been sighted on Kashyyyk. Solo knew that the Wookiees would not join the Alliance after supporting the Jedi, so chose to engage their forces in an effort to draw Confederation forces away from Kuat. Solo reasoned that the Confederation needed allies, and would be willing to offer assistance to the Wookiees to gain their support. His plan worked, and Confederation forces from Kuat disengaged and headed to Kashyyyk. Although Bwua'tu and his forces were meant to pursue, and were expected by Solo to help reinforce his position, he was ordered to remain and defend the Core Worlds by Admiral Niathal. Without his support, the Fifth Fleet was badly mauled and barely managed to escape from the Kashyyyk system.

Final battles
"According to Hapan Intelligence, Bwua'tu is on his way to take over operations in the Roche system."

- Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker comments of Bwua'tu's movements during the Second Galactic Civil War

As the war drew to a close, the Galactic Alliance was sundered when Admiral Niathal broke away from the government after Jacen Solo, who had taken the mantle of Darth Caedus, had ordered the murder of Grand Admiral Pellaeon during a battle at Fondor, which was the latest in a series of actions that underscored his descent into darkness and tyranny. Several weeks later, forces loyal to Caedus engaged Jedi and Confederation forces at Roche. Although the battle was initially commanded by Jacen Solo, other duties forced him to delegate command of the Alliance forces to Bwua'tu, who traveled to the Roche system to oversee the battle. Bwua'tu subsequently defeated forces loyal to Admiral Niathal during the battle, then trapped the remaining Confederation forces at Carbos Thirteen. Shortly afterward, the war ended with the Battle of Shedu Maad, which saw the death of Caedus at the hands of his own sister. In the aftermath, Bwua'tu was offered the position of Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance, but turned it down, believing that he was not cunning enough to last long in office. He did, however, suggest Admiral Natasi Daala, who had returned from obscurity to assist Grand Admiral Pellaeon and had subsequently allied her forces with Admiral Niathal, for the job. She was the only universally acceptable candidate, and was installed as the new Chief of State.

Head of the Galactic Alliance Navy
"I'm afraid that Admiral Bwua'tu is not proving as amenable as we had hoped.''" "We always knew that his quirky personal ethics might make it difficult." "''Well, it's more than that. My psychological warfare officer, who is doing analysis on Bwua'tu's mental profile based on the assumption that he's evaluating a captain of industry in the Corporate Sector, sees a pattern of loyalty to Daala that goes beyond the professional."

- General Merratt Jaxton and Senator Haydnat Treen discuss Bwua'tu

By 43 ABY, Bwua'tu had ascended to the position of Chief of Naval Operations and commanded the Galactic Alliance Navy. He was also involved in a personal relationship with Chief of State Daala, although it was kept extremely private. Bwua'tu counseled Daala over the problem of several young Jedi Knights who had succumbed to a mental illness, but held the belief that the Jedi were a beneficial force with the Alliance's best interests at heart. He also told her, when asked, that there was talk amongst naval officers that Daala was not tough enough on enemies of the state. Daala, along with Jagged Fel, Head of State of the Galactic Empire, became the target of a conspiracy involving Kuati Senator Haydnat Treen, Imperial Moff Drikl Lecersen, Coruscanti Senator Fost Bramsin, and General Merratt Jaxton, Chief of Starfighter Command. The conspirators sought to replace both heads of state in an effort to create a new political entity. During a meeting to discuss their plans, General Jaxton noted that Bwua'tu was extremely loyal to Daala, and that his loyalty may be the result of more that just a professional relationship rather than personal ethics. Since the conspiracy depended on getting the Chiefs of the Armed Forces on side, Jaxton was attempting to find reasons to force Bwua'tu into retirement. However, he did propose that killing Bwua'tu would work just as well. During the same period, his uncle, the respected lawyer Eramuth Bwua'tu, was hired to represent Tahiri Veila in court when the Alliance prosecuted her with the murder of Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon during the Battle of Fondor several years previously.

Jedi under siege
"We are military, you and I. We are beings of honor, beings of duty."

- Nek Bwua'tu convinces Kenth Hamner to hear him out

As more Jedi fell prey to the mental illness and began to act in an irrational and dangerous manner, Daala ordered them to be arrested and incarcerated. The Order, however, refused to turn over any Jedi suffering from the malady, which led Daala to authorize a raid on the Jedi Temple by Mandalorian commandos to retrieve the Jedi in question. The raid was repulsed by the Jedi, but a siege of the Temple ensued. The Mandalorian commander of the siege, Belok Rhal, ordered the Jedi to turn over the two latest sufferers, Sothais Saar and Turi Altamik. When the Jedi attempted to negotiate, Rhal killed their representative, Kani Asari, on the steps of the Temple.

With the Jedi in shock, Bwua'tu privately contacted the acting Grand Master, Kenth Hamner. During the initial raid on the Temple, holorecordings of the battle had revealed that the assembly of a large StealthX fleet was taking place within the Temple. Bwua'tu bluntly inquired as to whether or not that was true, and Hamner confirmed. The Bothan was curious if the vessels were intended for use against the Galactic Alliance, to which Hamner guaranteed not&mdash;they were being readied to deal with another threat that could potentially be a greater menace to the Alliance, but did not elaborate. Bwua'tu revealed that Daala knew nothing of the buildup since he had not told her, and assured Hamner that if Daala knew about it, she would draw the conclusion that the fighters were intended for use against the Alliance and launch a massive assault on the Temple. Wanting what was best for the Alliance, which in his belief was a united Alliance and Jedi Order, Bwua'tu offered Hamner a deal. If he refrained from launching the StealthXs until Bwua'tu specifically allowed him to, then he would use his personal relationship with Daala to help mollify her and improve relations between the Alliance and Order. Furthermore, as long as the ships were not to be used against Alliance assets, the fleet would have support from the Navy in their operations, even if Bwua'tu had to deploy them covertly. Hamner agreed to Bwua'tu's plan.

Ambush
"What have you done with Admiral Bwua'tu?"

- One of Bwua'tu's attackers

Several days later, Bwua'tu visited Daala in her personal quarters. He intended to gauge her opinion about the Jedi as part of his promise to Hamner, but as the political talk turned to reports of slave uprisings, Bwua'tu knew that she would not be interested in talking about the Jedi situation. Leaving her apartment at three-fourteen in the morning, he planned to go to his office and talk to Master Hamner. On his way, he was attacked on a walkway by two individuals wielding lightsabers who demanded to know where the "real" Bwua'tu was. One of the symptoms of the mental psychosis that the Jedi suffered was the belief that those around them had been replaced with imposters, and Bwua'tu initially thought that he was being attacked by psychotic Jedi. The Admiral responded by firing repeatedly from the handheld blaster he had concealed in his pocket, while triggering an emergency signal. Diving off the walkway to one below, Bwua'tu managed to dispatch one attacker while firing wildly above him. The second assailant followed him and landed on the walkway behind him. Bwua'tu attempted to shoot him, but his arm was severed and cauterized by the attacker's blade. The assailant attempted another strike with his weapon, but Bwua'tu blocked with his other arm, sending the man flying and the lightsaber skittering along the walkway. Bwua'tu sprang for the man as he tried to retrieve his lightsaber, using his good arm to choke the assailant while sinking teeth into his shoulder. The man retrieved his saber, and blindly struck over his shoulder, wounding Bwua'tu's back. The Bothan switched his attack, moving his arm from his attacker's throat to his weapon arm, slamming it into the durasteel walkway. The man got loose and landed a punch on the side of Bwua'tu's head, dazing him. As he stood over Bwua'tu ready to deliver the killing blow, the Admiral wrapped the fingers of his good hand around the fingers of his severed hand and squeezed, triggering the blaster that was still locked in its grip. The shots struck the man's face, killing him. The attacker fell on Bwua'tu, and his lightsaber fell and slashed across the Bothan's stomach. As he started to lose consciousness, Bwua'tu realized that the pair could not have been real Jedi as he would not have been able to last as long as he had against them.

Bwua'tu lapsed into a coma, and was taken to a medcenter. A 2-1 BXS combat-trauma surgical droid took thirty hours to treat Bwua'tu's stomach wound, repairing and replacing his internal organs. His amputated arm was shaved to above the elbow, and it was noted that in Bothan physiology cauterized nerves were difficult to regenerate. A Bothan by the name of Ysa'i, a specialist in his species's physiology, was the Admiral's primary physician. At Daala's request, the Admiral was to be fitted with a prosthetic arm as she did not want him waking up to a stump. During a visit at this bedside&mdash;which included Daala's Chief of Staff, Wynn Dorvan, and the admiral's aide, the Bith Rynog Asokaji&mdash;it was noted that Bwua'tu began to respond to the sound of Daala's voice and her touch. Encouraged to talk to Bwua'tu, Daala demanded that he report on his attackers. Bwua'tu's eyes&mdash;which were open so that visual stimuli could attempt to assist in his recovery&mdash;were locked on a viewscreen showing a news report from reporter Madhi Vaandt covering slave revolts on Blaudu Sextus. Although Dorvan and Asokaji implied that Bwua'tu was fixing on Vaandt due to her attractiveness, Daala instead surmised from the Admiral's reaction that there was a connection between the attack on him and the reporter.

Shortly after, Bwua'tu was successfully fitted with the prosthetic limb, which was indistinguishable from his real arm except for the lack of fur where the prosthesis met his real arm. In Bwua'tu's absence, Admiral Sallinor Parova&mdash;a member of the conspiracy headed by Senator Treen and Moff Lecerson&mdash;ascended to the post of Chief of Naval Operations.

Personality and traits
"Waste no time fretting over my loyalty. I swore a vow of krevi the day I became a fleet admiral. Even when Bothawui finally enters the war, I'll continue to serve the Galactic Alliance."

- Admiral Bwua'tu

Nek Bwuat'tu engendered a fierce loyalty and devotion among those under his command during his time commanding the Admiral Ackbar, and when busts of the admiral were placed all over the ship by his relative, Wurf'al, the admiral allowed them to remain. After the loss of the Admiral Ackbar to the Killiks, Bwua'tu realized that it was his own pride and arrogance that cost him the ship, and Killik infiltrators had been able to stow away aboard the vessel in the busts. He was surprised to be allowed to keep his command and, for a short time, became the laughingstock of the navy. When he regained the Admiral Ackbar following the end of the Swarm War, Bwua'tu replaced the busts of himself with ones of Admiral Ackbar, the respected Mon Calamari who had served the Rebel Alliance, New Republic, and Galactic Alliance before his death, and for whom the ship was named. While many thought that they were placed there to curry favor with Admiral Niathal, the current Supreme Commander and a Mon Calamari like Ackbar, Bwua'tu used them to remind himself to remain humble, and to remember what his ego and arrogance had cost him several years previously.

A being of honor, Bwua'tu held his vow of krevi&mdash;a Bothan oath that he had sworn to place loyalty to the Galactic Alliance above his own interests and that of his species&mdash;in high regard. The vow kept him with the Galactic Alliance even when the Bothans sided against the Alliance and joined the Confederation during the Second Galactic Civil War. The strength of the krevi also led him to try to reconcile the tension between the Chief of State and the Jedi Order since he believed that what was best for the Alliance was for it to be supported by the Order, despite his personal feelings towards some of their practices.

Skills and abilities
Nek Bwua'tu was an extremely competent and skilled naval commander, well versed in tactical scenarios. Known for consistently defeating the Thrawn Simulator, Bwua'tu was confident of his own abilities despite not having commanded a fleet action until 36 ABY. A skilled tactician, Bwua'tu had the ability to accurately predict the enemy's projected battle tactics and counter them efficiently. Jedi Master Kyp Durron believed that the Admiral was Force-sensitive, but Bwua'tu simply knew not only how his enemy thought, but how the enemy thought their enemy thought. Such intuition afforded Bwua'tu the ability to formulate effective defenses and counter tactics that were a step ahead of his enemy. The skill was crucial to Alliance battleplans during the battles of Tenupe, Hapes, and Kuat.

Behind the scenes
Nek Bwua'tu was created by Troy Denning for the Dark Nest Trilogy. Bwua'tu first appeared in the second book, The Unseen Queen, and was referenced in the third book, The Swarm War. Bwua'tu later appeared in three novels of the Legacy of the Force series&mdash;Tempest, Inferno, and Invincible&mdash;which were all written by Denning. Aaron Allston included the character in Backlash, the fourth novel in the Fate of the Jedi series, marking the first time that the character had been used in a non-Denning written novel. He subsequently appeared in Christie Golden's Allies, Denning's Vortex and Allston's Conviction.

Appearances

 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
 * Tempest
 * Inferno
 * Invincible
 * Backlash
 * Allies
 * Vortex
 * Conviction

Notes and references
Nek Bwua'tu Nek Bwua'tu