Second skirmish in Cuipernam

"Get over there. Take whatever you need. Hire whomever you need. Maybe, just maybe they're too tired to ask questions and will retire for the rest of the day. If not&mdash;if it appears they are coming out and heading for the Cuipernam municipal complex&mdash;stop them. Do whatever you must. But keep them from reaching the complex. They must not be allowed to interfere with the vote of the Unity delegation."

- Soergg the Hutt, to his majordomo Ogomoor

In 22 BBY, during a diplomatic mission to the planet Ansion undertaken by several members of the Jedi Order, a skirmish took place in Cuipernam, capital city of the planet Ansion. This skirmish occurred shortly after Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padawans Barriss Offee and Anakin Skywalker returned to Cuipernam to deliver word of their success in reaching an arrangement&mdash;in which the Alwari clans would share domain over half or more of their lands with the Unity of Community, as well as allowing the development of some resources within their lands&mdash;with two Alwari clans, the Situng Borokii, a subclan of the Borokii overclan, and the Hovsgol Januul, a subclan of the Januul overclan. The Jedi and their companions, Ansionians Kyakhta and Bulgan and the Gwurran Tooqui returned to the inn they had stayed at before leaving Cuipernam in search of the Alwari, nomadic groups of Ansionians, and learned that the vote for secession was taking place that same day.

Three minutes after the Jedi and their companions set out for the municipal building where the Unity of Community, the government of Ansion, was having the vote, the inn exploded. While heading to the municipal building, they were attacked by mercenaries sent on the order of Soergg the Hutt, a Hutt Bossban allied with Shu Mai presidente of the Commerce Guild. These mercenaries eventually drove the Jedi into a building, while snipers prepared to eliminate the Jedi whenever they tried to leave the building. However, the Jedi were saved by the timely appearance of warriors from both the Hovsgol Januul and the Situng Borokii, who eliminated the snipers and began eliminating the remaining mercenaries.

Prelude
"The Unity delegation is voting on the matter of secession from the Republic today."

- A Dbarian inn manager, speaking to the Jedi

During the growing Separatist Crisis in 22 BBY, in which many star systems seceded from the Galactic Republic to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Shu Mai, presidente of the Commerce Guild, led a plot to have the planet Ansion secede from the Republic. Ansion lay at the heart of several treaties, meaning if it seceded from the Republic, this would in turn cause the secession of many other worlds. To prevent this, the Jedi Order dispatched Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, and their Padawans Barriss Offee and Anakin Skywalker on a diplomatic mission to convince the Unity of Community, the government of Ansion which was based in the capital city of Cuipernam, to stay within the Republic. The Jedi succeeded in negotiating an arrangement with two of the Alwari clans, the Situng Borokii and the Hovsgol Januul, subclans of the Borokii and Januul overclans, in which the Alwari, nomadic groups of Ansionians, would share domain over half or more of their land with the Unity.

After negotiating this arrangement, the Jedi and their companions returned to the inn they stayed at prior to leaving Cuipernam. While there, they were informed by the Dbarian inn manager that the vote for secession was scheduled to take place that day. After trying to contact several members of the Unity via comlink, they discovered all communications in the city had been shut down by United Ouruvot Communications, a company that handled communications in Cuipernam. At this point, the Jedi and their companions, Ansionians Kyakhta and Bulgan, and the Gwurran Tooqui headed towards the municipal hall where the vote was taking place. Meanwhile, Soergg the Hutt, a Hutt Bossban allied with Shu Mai, ordered his majordomo, Ogomoor, to prevent the Jedi from interfering with the vote by any means necessary.

The skirmish
"The Jedi are retreating! Let them all back out onto the street before you resume fire. We don't want even one of them to get away."

- Ogomoor, speaking to the snipers

Three minutes after the Jedi left the inn, it exploded. Despite this, the Jedi continued heading towards the municipal hall. On the way there, Unduli sensed a disturbance and silently warned Kenobi, Offee and Skywalker. Kenobi then alerted Kyakhta and Bulgan, though the Jedi decided not to tell Tooqui, as it would only panic him. The moment snipers on the rooftops opened fire, though their shots were deflected by the Jedi who quickly ducked into a large trading establishment with their companions. Ogomoor ordered his mercenaries to follow the Jedi into the building with the intent of driving them out into the road where his snipers could pick them off. Dozens of professional killers swarmed into the building and opened fire, unconcerned with civilian casualties. One Vrot tried to attack Unduli from behind, though he was stopped by Tooqui, Kyakhta and Bulgan.

At this point Unduli and Kenobi decided that to protect the civilians in the building, retreating into the street was the best option. Ogomoor ordered the snipers to let the Jedi back into the street before resuming fire. One assassin inquired about killing Tooqui, Kyakhta and Bulgan, though Ogomoor said they would be taken care of by people on the ground and to kill Kenobi and Unduli first, followed by their Padawans. Before the snipers could open fire though, warriors from the Situng Borokii and the Hovsgol Januul led by Bayaar, a member of the Situng Borokii, descended upon them. As the Alwari overpowered the remaining snipers and began eliminating the rest of the mercenaries, Ogomoor fled.

Aftermath
"What is this?" "Your honor guard, noble Obi-Wan. Don't you remember being promised a present by the twinned Council of Alwari Elders? This is it. They didn't want anything to happen to their new offworld friends. Especially not before the formal treaty between the Alwari and the Unity is put in place."

- Bayaar explains the Alwari presence in Cuipernam

As the remaining mercenaries fled, Bayaar revealed to the Jedi that he had been sent with warriors from both the Borokii and the Januul to protect them. After failing to eliminate the Jedi, Ogomoor, weary of reporting failures to Soergg, later burst into the municipal building while the Jedi were meeting with the Unity of Community, claiming to have information that would be useful in the rendering of their decision. Before he could hand over the recording containing information though, he was shot dead by Soergg who claimed he had no way of knowing Ogomoor's intentions when he reached into his pocket for the recording. The shot that killed him also destroyed the recording.

Behind the scenes
This skirmish first appeared in the 2002 novel, The Approaching Storm, written by Alan Dean Foster. The skirmish would later be mentioned in the The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, published in December 2008, under the entry for Bayaar.

Appearances

 * The Approaching Storm