Skirmish on Ambria

"Now go! The smell of you is making K'triss ill! Bring my pretty crystals..and bring me the remains of the Jedi creature who calls himself Master Thon!"

- Great Bogga the Hutt to Finhead Stonebone

The Battle of Ambria took place in the year 4,000 BBY, two years before the Freedon Nadd Uprising. Under direct orders from Great Bogga the Hutt, a gang of pirates and thugs was dispatched to the planet Ambria, to retrieve both the Tchuukthai Jedi Master Thon, and the precious Adegan crystals in his possession.

The battle saw the total defeat of Great Bogga's brood, and was the second conflict in which Master Thon's padawan Nomi Sunrider wielded a lightsaber. As a result of Nomi's courageous actions, Thon declared her a Jedi: Knight of the Republic.

A Jedi's training


Jedi apprentice Nomi Sunrider, wife of the late Jedi Andur Sunrider, had been studying the Jedi arts fervently for months now under the Tchuukthai Jedi Master Thon. In the year 4,000 BBY, Nomi came to Thon after surviving a robbery attempt which resulted in her husband's death. To save herself, Nomi picked up Andur's lightsaber, and struck down two of the assailants. Though successful in driving the remaing pirates off, Nomi was mortified in knowing that her actions resulted in the deaths of two individuals. As a result, she vowed to never handle a lightsaber again. Even after the pirates managed to locate Nomi and her daughter on Ambria and attack Master Thon's camp, Nomi still refused to handle the Jedi weapon. The pirates were ultimately beaten by Master Thon himself, and sent back along with their Hutt master in shame. Thus, Thon chose to focus on other areas of Nomi's training.

Meanwhile, Great Bogga, the Hutt crimelord of the Stenness system, sat in his fortress while he awaited the return of his pirate-minions, whom of which were earlier dispatched to pilfer a set of precious Adegan crystals from a travelling Jedi man and his wife. His lackeys managed to kill the Jedi man, but returned empty-handed because the woman had taken up arms in retaliation. Bogga was displeased with the gang, particularly his chargmen: the pirate Gudb, and captain Finhead Stonebone.

Realizing that one must do a thing themseves if they want it done correctly, Great Bogga this time acompanied Gudb and Stonebone to Ambria, in pursuit of Master Thon, the Jedi woman, and her precious crystals. He was unprepared for the strength of Master Thon however, and was easily defeated and again unable to acquire the Adegan crystals. The Hutt gangster and his pirates returned to his privte moon, where they could rethink their strategy. Bogga was not entirely out of ideas though. He had furnished a set of custom shackles forged of Mandalorian iron, strong enough to restrain even a Jedi Master. He then gave them to Finhead and Gudb, and sent them back to Ambria telling them to capture Thon with them. The Hutt also ordered them not to return without the Adegan crystals.

Enforcer ambush
"I have but one enemy I cannot forgive. A lowly beast who calls himself "Master Thon". This so-called Jedi has something precious that rightfully belongs to Bogga!"

- Great Bogga, about Thon and his Adegan crystals.



Nomi Sunrider had been training as a Jedi and learning the Force for several months now, and though the training was tedious, she excelled nonetheless. The time came one day that Master Thon felt his apprentice was ready to construct her own lightsaber. When he told Sunrider this, she immediately refused, saying that she would learn the Jedi arts, but would never take up the blade again. Try as he may, Thon could not persuade his apprentice otherwise. He decided then that it was time for a different trial of her apprenticeship. He told Nomi to gather her child and her things, and join him for a ritual he must perform. Thon led Nomi and her daughter Vima (who was also his apprentice) to a great canyon in the mountains of Ambria. In the midst of the ceremony, Thon presented his own personal lightsaber to Nomi as a gift. Even still, she refused to handle her Master's weapon. Suddenly, Nomi heard the sound of explosions nearby.

Attack at the Meditative Canyon
"Ngrth. Enemies! I was wondering how I could trick you into beginning the lightsaber training. It looks like my enemies are about to provide the opportunity!"

- Master Thon, to Nomi Sunrider



Gudb and the enforcer gang returned to Thon's camp with Stonebone and his pirates, only to find that the Jedi beast and the woman and child with him were gone. They destroyed Master Thon's hut, and then used their hovercraft scanners to quickly locate the Jedi trio on the precipice of a nearby canyon. The Weequay enforcers fired their salvos at them, but Thon deflected the projectiles with the Force. Then the beast Jedi and his companions attempted to flee, as Stonebone and Gudb continued their pursuit.

Master Thon had noticed the sail barge some time ago, and was unsurprised when the pirates began to attack. He saw the impending battle as a final test for his apprentice; if an actual threat could not force Nomi into battle, then nothing would. He again ordered his padawan to take up his lightsaber in defense, and again she refused him. Thoroughly cross, Thon refused to take the woman seriously, but she was adamant in not wielding the Jedi weapon. Realizing the steadfastness of Nomi's conviction, he gave up on the lightsaber, and ordered Nomi to exercise her natural ability with Battle meditation. Nomi still refused, and Thon gave up all together. He told the woman to find shelter for herself and the child. Thon then approached the thugs in seeming submission. Bewildered, Nomi could not believe her eyes as Thon allowed himself to be imprisoned with Mandalorian manacles by the Hutt's minions.

A trial of courage
"Now&mdash;A warrior's test! If you won't use the lightsaber...then use your Jedi power as you did to protect your daughter!"

- Master Thon, telling Nomi to defend herself

Nomi Sunrider did just as Master Thon had instructed. Racing towards her ship the Lightside Explorer, she and Vima met up with her protocol droid A-3DO. The droid informed her that the Lightside Explorer was primed for departure, but the pirates were situated between them and the starship. Nomi thought of Thon, and how he had surrendered so willingly to the Hutt's thugs. She then thought of the Jedi power of hers that he spoke of; the Battle meditation technique she used against the dragons. of Lake Natth. Concentrating on the Force, Nomi reached out to the minds of the pirates, and caused them to quarrel amongst each other. Wit the pirates at each other's throats, she then cast aside her fear, took up Thon's lightsaber, and charged to his rescue.



The majority of Bogga's enforcers and Finhead's pirates were loading Master Thon onto the barge, while Gudb located the Adegan crystals in one of the camp tents. As he announced his findings, he was confronted by nearly every other member of the gang, who sought to either hold the crystals for Bogga or claim them for themselves. They never saw the Jedi woman rushing them from behind as the first of them fell under her blade. The enforcers were completely caught off guard as Nomi cut her way through to Master Thon. The enforcer gang was terrified of the lightsaber-wielding woman and scurried off, managing to put some distance between them. Meanwhile, Nomi cut Thon free of the manacles, and told her Master that she had overcome her fear, and had finally accepted her destiny. Thon's reply was thus:


 * "It is your nature, child. You are Jedi."

The pirates realized however that there were still twelve of them alive, and that was more than a match for only two Jedi. Gudb regrouped his gang, and they turned back towards the beast and his woman companion. Upon sight of this Nomi faltered in confidence for a moment. Thon reassured her, saying that he and his apprentice would now join together in battle. They were then met head on by the gang. Nomi displayed her natural prowess with the lightsaber as she cut swathes of Nikto and Weequay enforcers down, and Thon his blasted the remaining thugs with concentrated waves of Force energy. The thugs trained their blasters on Thon, but he erected a Force barrier that repelled the blaster shots with ease. When the dust settled, five of the enforcers were dead, and the rest injured. Gudb and Stonebone were beaten yet again. They gathered their remaining forces and boarded the sail barge, gone to return to their Hutt master in complete humiliation.

Aftermath
"Master...they're running away!" "Let them go. The Hutt will complete their humiliation."

- Nomi and Master Thon, after successfully defeating Bogga's gang



Master Thon and his apprentices retired to the camp, where they reflected on the days events. Bogga had been defeated, and his pupil had finally understood the necessity of a lightsaber. Thon was proud of his student for overcoming her fears, and knew that she was ready to begin her new life as a Jedi. Nomi, now a full fledged Jedi Knight, Nomi sat with her daughter as Thon began to talk of the unrest on the distant planet of Onderon. Oss Wilum, another of Thon's padawans, had already left months ago for the Onderon system in response to a call for aid from the Jedi already entrenched there. Not quite ready for join her colleagues, Thon and Nomi would assist them by first travelling to the galactic capital of Coruscant, where they would meet with the senators of the Defense Ministry, and request military intervention on behalf of the Jedi Order. Then would Nomi be sent on her first true mission as a Jedi; to join her fellow Jedi on Onderon, and battle the rising darkness there, an enemy far greater than the Hutt Bogga and his brood. Nomi Sunrider had just taken the first real steps onto the path of her new life, the path of a Jedi Knight.

Behind the scenes
The Battle of Ambria was written and conceived by author Tom Veitch, and first appeared in the the third issue of the 1994 Tales of the Jedi, the Saga of Nomi Sunrider storyarc. The battle was also recounted in the Tales of the Jedi audio drama. Veitch used this battle to show the transition from padawan to Jedi Knight in the character of Nomi Sunrider.

It is interesting to note that the comic version introduces the character Finhead Stonebone as the henchman that Bogga sent in pursuit of Nomi Sunrider on Ambria. In the audio version however, Bogga's primary henchman is Gudb. Finhead Stonebone is nowhere present in this version of the story.

Appeareances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Saga of Nomi Sunrider
 * Tales of the Jedi (audio)
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith (audio)