Nek Bwua'tu

Nek Bwua'tu was a male Bothan who served as an officer in the Galactic Alliance Defense Force during and after the Yuuzhan Vong War. He was the commander of the Galactic Alliance Fifth Fleet at the outbreak of the Swarm War, having attained the rank of Fleet Admiral.

Biography
As of 36 ABY, Bwua'tu carried his flag aboard the Admiral Ackbar, a brand new pirate-hunting variant of the old Victory-class Star Destroyer design that dated back to the Clone Wars. Bwua'tu was lauded by others within the Defense Force for his victories in the Thrawn simulator; the Bothans among his crew took great pride in serving under who they saw as the greatest commander in the Galactic Alliance Fleet.

A year after the evacuation of the Qoribu nests, Bwua'tu was tasked with commanding the blockade of the Utegetu Nebula with the Fifth Fleet. The nebula had been the source of dark membrosia and the hiding place for many pirates&mdash;and, of course, the Dark Nest. The entire Fifth Fleet was diverted from its normal patrolling of the Hydian Way for the operation. During the blockade he impounded the Millennium Falcon with Barabel Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne and her apprentice, Leia Organa Solo, onboard. Both Jedi sensed that there was something odd aboard the Ackbar, but Bwua'tu brashly ignored their advice, declaring it to be simply Jedi trickery and sorcery.

The Admiral had many busts of himself mounted conspicuously aboard his ship, which were gifts from a shipping conglomerate that had benefited from the Fifth Fleet's patrolling of the Hydian Way. These busts were, in reality, sold by a company which had been allied with the Dark Nest. Full of Gorog larvae, they would eventually explode, sending the assassin bugs all over the ship. Despite ordering a task force of the Fifth Fleet to attack the incoming Killik fleet that was taking advantage of this incident, his ship was overtaken by the Killiks, led by former Jedi-turned-Joiner Alema Rar. Finally following Leia Organa Solo's advice, Bwua'tu and his surviving crew were forced to evacuate the Star Destroyer; the ship thus fell into the hands of UnuThul.

Aboard Mon Mothma, commanded by Commodore Gavin Darklighter, Bwua'tu again took command of the Fifth Fleet, though he himself doubted he would in that capacity for much longer. With many Jedi serving under his command now&mdash;including Luke Skywalker&mdash;and a bare ten-ship advantage over the Killiks, he ordered the fleet to engage the Killik ships with everything they had, thus starting the Swarm War.

While Nek Bwua'tu was removed from command of the Fifth Fleet, he continued to serve as a strategic influence all the way through until the end of the Swarm War. Many of his strategies and tactics proved instrumental in ending the conflict.

In the aftermath of the conflict, Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon allowed Bwua'tu to retain command of the Admiral Ackbar. The Bothan admiral continued to feel embarrassment from temporary capture of his flagship, causing him to work towards being more humble of his own abilities. Instead of his own likeness, Nek Bwua'tu installed busts of the deceased Mon Calamari admiral for which his ship was named across the vessel. This served as a reminder to the Admiral of this newfound humility. Assigned to command a task force of Star Destroyers, cruisers, and frigates, Admiral Bwua'tu monitored the secret Corellian fleet being assembled in the Kiris asteroid belt.

Following the Alliance receiving intelligence of a pending attack on Hapes by Corellian forces, Admiral Bwua'tu's task force was dispatched to aid Tenel Ka and her royal forces. Upon arrival the Alliance ships under his command were able to finish off the remaining Corellian forces, securing the system for the Alliance and ensuring that Tenel Ka remained leader of the Hapes Consortium.

Later Bwua'tu would command the combined forces of both the First and Sixth Fleets at the Battle of Kuat.

Appearances

 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
 * Tempest
 * Inferno