Battle of ThonBoka

The Battle of ThonBoka was a battle in 5 ABY between the Oswaft and the Galactic Empire. ThonBoka is a sack-shaped nebula within the Centrality that is home to the gigantic Oswaft species. The Centrality had known the species for generations but the aliens had not come to Palpatine's attention until just prior to Calrissian's arrival in Dela, the financial hub of the Centrality. Fueled by his mistrust of a sentient alien species capable of hyperspace travel and his prejudice towards alien, Emperor Palpatine issued orders to exterminate the Oswaft. The Empire blockaded the entrance to the sack-shaped ThonBoka with five hundred capital ships (mostly Carrack cruisers modified to contaiminate the "interstellar plankton" drifting into the nebula), intending to starve the entire Oswaft race into extinction. Determined to save his species, Lehesu used a transceiver provided to Lando Calrissian by Vuffi Raa to contact the Millennium Falcon and plead for help.

Calrissian penetrated the blockade, using a ruse that he was a trader plying his wares to the very ships that were his obstacle. Though the Falcon was inspected, no one below the rank of Admiral was informed of the reason for the blockade, so no one suspected that the ship's real cargo was the ordinary waste carried in its trash and toilet recyclers. After working his way to the front of the blockade, Lando made a break for the mouth of the ThonBoka. Inside, he contacted Lehesu and the Oswaft Elders, and they began making plans while other Oswaft went to negotiate with the picket fleet. However, as the Empire's goals were complete extermination, the Empire merely exterminated the negotiators; in the process, one of them "shouted" at the unshielded cruiser Courteous, destroying it with its maser voice-stream. The fleet, seeking retribution, raised their shields and entered the Nebula, but were called back by Gepta, who sought to destroy Calrissian.

When Rokur Gepta arrived, the fleet remobilized and entered the nebula. Fortunately, their pause had given Calrissian time to suggest a battle plan. The Oswaft excreted heavy metals from their pores and then hyperjumped, leaving decoys placed between the enemy cruisers and resulting in massive friendly fire casualties among the fleet; meanwhile, they "shouted" at the starfighters, destroying them with their powerful masers. After the fleet's forces had been reduced by 11%, the battle ceased, and Gepta offered Calrissian an ultimatum: engage Gepta in personal combat, or he would fire an electromagnetic torpedo into the nebula, killing all life therein.

Calrissian and Vuffi Raa (who was allowed to participate because Gepta believed he could reprogram the droid to betray his master) faced off against the Sorcerer of Tund in the vacuum of space. After much maneuvering and several ploys, and a shot from Gepta that had disabled Vuffi Raa, Calrissian landed a stray shot in Gepta's ankle. The Sorcerer's form whithered as he cried out. Calrissian searched the space suit and found an injured Croke where his shot had landed - Rokur Gepta had not been a human, but a small, nasty alien from a planet in the Unknown Regions that Lando had once visited. Calrissian squeezed the alien until the last Sorceror of Tund was little more than a stain on his gloves.

At that, the battle renewed, but for only a moment; out of nowhere, a multitude of fifty-kilometer self-aware droids appeared, demanding on all channels "Cease fire immediately or be destroyed!" They were the creators of Vuffi Raa, who had come for their offspring. The Imperial fleet, faced with thousands of gigantic ships, retreated from their genocidal mission. Vuffi Raa's progenitors repaired the little droid and departed with him into the Unknown Regions, and Lando departed the ThonBoka with a hold filled with valuable Oswaft-synthesized gemstones.

Appearances

 * Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka