Bothawui/Legends

Bothawui was a cosmopolitan planet, located in the center of Bothan Space.

History


The planet served as the homeworld of the Bothan race as well as a major hub for information trafficking. The Bothan Spynet was widely agreed-upon to be the best in the galaxy and much of the information it carried came through Bothawui at some point. The Imperial name for the planet was Bothawui Proper. The planet was home to both industry and grain farms. The planet was mined for indigenous ores such as lidium.

The planet was an old member of the Galactic Republic: Bothese was one of the languages from which Basic developed. The Bothans colonized many nearby worlds and Bothawui became the capital of Bothan Sector.

In the years preceding the Clone Wars, the planet was represented in the Galactic Senate by Polo Se'Lab. It remained neutral during the Clone Wars. While officially a part of the Empire during the Galactic Civil War, the Imperials maintained little presence on the planet, apparently having decided that the world was little threat. A figure-head governor and a small contingent of Stormtroopers was the only outward sign that the world was under supposedly Imperial governorship. During the latter conflict, ISB Agent Mar Barezz intercepted Agent Tiree at Mesa 291 on Bothawui while Tiree was recruiting support for the Rebel Alliance, but failed to capture or kill him.



Both the Imperial and Rebel Alliance intelligence services apparently decided to let the planet serve as neutral ground, where they could both spy on one another with no open conflict. Despite its neutrality, upon learning that Bothan spies had acquired the Death Star plans and given them to the Rebels, the Emperor traveled to this planet and with only him and two Royal Guards and the might of the force, decimated hundreds of Bothans.

Shortly before the Battle of Endor, the Bothan Spynet discovered evidence revealing that the freighter Suprosa, supposedly carrying fertilizer, was transporting an Imperial information core to the Both system. Within the core were the plans to the second Death Star. Luke Skywalker, along with Dash Rendar, traveled to Bothawui to aid in the capture of the plans.

Luke organized twelve Bothan Y-wing pilots at a remote mountain base for the assault on the Suprosa. When squadron intercepted the freighter and demanded its surrender, the Suprosa unveiled its turbolasers and missile launchers. Half of the Bothan squadron was destroyed before Luke managed to disable the freighter with his X-wing. Luke managed to take the plans to Kothlis where the decoding attempt was conducted. The Empire managed to retrieve them after capturing the Razor, which was carrying the plans after a bounty hunter assault on Kothlis. Rogue Squadron managed to retrieve the plans and sent them to Rebel Alliance High Command.

The planet was a founding member of the New Republic, although long represented only indirectly by Senator Borsk Fey'lya of Kothlis, a colony of Bothawui. When Fey'lya was elected President of the New Republic, Bothawui was again represented directly in the Senate by Mak Sezala.



During the Caamas Document Crisis Bothawui was the subject of many anti-Bothan riots. Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo were caught up in one of these attacks at a record center. Han was blamed for killing one of the rioters, though it was really an Imperial agent.

As the crisis escalated, General Garm Bel Iblis was stationed over the planet. When he and the New Republic task force had to leave, the General left Corran Horn and Wedge Antilles to guard the planet's shield generator from anticipated subterfuge. The duo met with Moranda Savich, an employee of Talon Karrde, who was also attempting to stop such an attempt. The trio was only somewhat successful, as the Imperial Intelligence team led by Drend Navett managed to bring down the shields, resulting in the Second Battle of Bothawui.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Bothawui and the other worlds of Bothan Space were protected by the Fifth Fleet of the New Republic Navy. This kept the Fifth Fleet out of much of the actual fighting, as Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya wanted to make sure that his home sector was safe. Still, the Bothan people served in the war in many roles, from soldiers and naval officers in the Defense Force to intelligence operatives. Their most notable contribution to the war was the famed Bothan Assault Cruiser, a powerful warship that served in New Republic fleet and later the Galactic Alliance Navy. In 26 ABY, Kyp's Dozen moved to protect the planet following the Battle of Ithor.



The world was an important member of the Galactic Alliance, though extreme fundamentalist views of some Bothans in regards to the defeated Yuuzhan Vong would cause some friction. In 40 ABY, although originally hesitant to ally with Corellia in the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War, Jacen Solo's mass assassination of Bothans on Coruscant caused them to prepare three cruiser fleets for Corellian service. The Galactic Alliance was quick to dispatch a scout screen to the planet in order to monitor the fleets. However Sith Lady Lumiya not only persuaded intelligence chief Tathak K'roylan that the GA had conclusively been behind and backed the assassinations, but also arranged for the scout screen to be disabled. The Bothans were able to send their fleets to Corellia and there they helped break the blockade. Following this outbreak of hostilities, Bothawui became a founding member of the Confederation.

Behind the scenes

 * In earlier sources, Bothawui was only known as Bothan's Planet.
 * In the Legacy of the Force novel Sacrifice Bothawui is mispelled Bothuwai several times

Appearances

 * Cloak of Deception
 * Rebel Dawn
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Rookies: No Turning Back
 * Droid Trouble
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Shadows of the Empire novel
 * Shadows of the Empire comic
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future
 * Balance Point
 * Star by Star
 * Destiny's Way
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * The Unifying Force
 * Tempest
 * Exile
 * Sacrifice
 * Sacrifice

Notes and references
Bothawui