Nagai–Tof War

"The more I hear about these Nagai and their allies, and the more I see of their handiwork I see&mdash;the less I like it."

- Han Solo to Luke Skywalker

The Nagai–Tof War was a conflict between the newly formed Alliance of Free Planets, the Galactic Empire, and the invaders of the Nagai and later the Tof species from the Firefist galaxy in the Unknown Regions. The actions of the Nagai very nearly stopped the formation of a new galactic government in the Alliance of Free Planets and marked the first widespread appearance of the new Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya.

The conflict started with small infiltration units of Nagai ordered to disrupt the workings of the Alliance to pave the way for the Nagai Main Fleet. Commander Ozrei N'takkilomandrife, the most talented of these Nagai agents, almost succeeded in restarting the Wookiee slave trade. The arrival of the Nagai Fleet, allied with the Galactic Empire, resulted in all out war; however, the arrival of the Nagai's mortal enemies, the Tof, resulted in the Nagai and Empire allying with the Alliance to stop this new threat.

The war also marked the first time Luke Skywalker was defeated in a duel after the death of his father, Darth Vader. The Dark Lady Lumiya defeated the Jedi with a lightwhip on Kinooine, though he was able to defeat her later while using a shoto along with his lightsaber. The war concluded with the capture of the Tof leader Sereno and the brutal maiming of Lumiya. The end of the war was the last time Lumiya was seen publicly for over 35 years.

Origins
Up to 296 BBY, the Nagai were a peaceful culture with beautiful cities of gleaming crystal and wire. The Nagai hailed from a planet of similar name, Nagi, which resided in a dwarf galaxy that orbited tightly around the galaxy. The government of Nagi consisted of social circles, into which individual Nagai were born into. These circles were broken down into series of sub-circles from which advancement was possible through tests of physical talent. At this height of their technological achievement, the Nagai had just discovered the technology of hyperspace and sent an unmanned probe to chart their five-planet star system. This act would change Nagai history forever.

A Tof warship picked up the probe on their sensors and tracked its course back to Nagi. The Tof found the Nagai unprepared for attack and immediately unleashed an invasion force against the Nagai. The Nagai were caught completely by surprise, and many were enslaved by the Tof. The Nagai system of government broke down as whole sub-circles of the government were annihilated by the Tof invaders. However, the Nagai fighting spirit proved more resilient than the Tof had realized, and the Nagai began to gain ground. They devoted all resources to improving their defenses and attack forces, and vowed to never again be found helpless by a superior force. They found an ally in the Maccabree warriors, who joined with the Nagai as ground support.

In an effort to escape from the Tof and restart their shattered civilization, the Nagai began to send scouts to find targets for conquest. One such scout was Krai H'voc, who ended up scouting the Corellian sector. She reported back to her masters that the galaxy was at war and advised to attack at the conclusion of the conflict so as to take the weakened victor by surprise. The Nagai continued to fight the Tof, and patiently waited until the time was right.

Preliminaries
"Run back to your friends, little Leia&hellip; but you have worse things to worry about than stormtroopers. Before long, you and everyone you hold dear will learn just how "pretty dangerous" a foe I can be."

- Lumiya

In 4 ABY, the Rebellion struck a huge blow to the Galactic Empire by killing Emperor Palpatine and destroying the Death Star II. The Nagai decided that this was the time to strike. Early task forces of Nagai invaded and attacked several small planets in an effort to make way for the main force of the Nagai fleet. The purpose of these early missions was to spread dissension and confusion among the members of the Alliance. The Nagai found an early ally in the cyborg Lumiya, who did her part to establish a state of chaos on Alliance worlds.

An early tactic of these task forces was to create a slave trade on a planet to terrorize the local populace. Missions to Herdessa and Kashyyyk were the first places where this tactic was used. The prospect of being sold into slavery helped keep most of the citizens from rising up against their oppressors. This tactic had a mild success before the Alliance began to crack down on the illegal operations.

The newly formed Alliance of Free Planets first discovered the Nagai on the planet of Kashyyyk where Commander Ozrei N'takkilomandrife had formed a slave trade. Commander Knife, as he was called by the Wookiees, soon had a formidable force on the planet. Allying with Mallatobuck's brother Vargi, Knife became bold enough to attempt to kidnap Alliance diplomats: Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, and Han Solo. However, a show of force by Chewbacca and the local Wookiees shattered the slaving operation. Unfortunately, Commander Knife escaped to cause further problems for the Alliance.

Knife's work continued as he sowed distrust among fellow Rebels in the Cantros system. Paying off a Rebel named Durne, Knife ensured the slow destruction of both Rebel bases in the system. Working for two different outposts, Durne convinced both groups that the other one was working for the Empire, and the groups began to slowly wipe each other out. Eventually, the wanton slaughter was stopped and Durne was captured by members of the Alliance. Unfortunately, the Nagai plot resulted in a great loss of life.

The Alliance hoped for a break from the Nagai threat, but they soon had their hands full when another Nagai task force tried to capture the leadership on the planet Kabray. Commander Knife made another appearance as he took important Alliance delegates as prisoners. However, the Nagai once again underestimated their captives, and Alliance forces were successful in defeating the Nagai forces, capturing Commander Knife in the process. The Alliance felt secure in their handling of the situation, but they were soon to have a much larger threat to deal with.

The war escalates
"The Nagai invasion fleet is here!"

- Lumiya gloats to Luke Skywalker

The Nagai alone may have been a formidable foe, but an alliance with the Empire elevated the threat of a Nagai victory in the conflict. The Dark Lady Lumiya had recognized the Nagai as a means to the destruction of her enemies and allied herself and her forces with the Nagai. Lieutenant Den Siva was assigned as an aide to Lumiya, and she made preparations for the Nagai fleet to attack the Alliance of Free Planets. Establishing an underground base on Kinooine, Lumiya and Siva prepared for the bulk of the Nagai war machine to arrive.

Platoons of stormtroopers had returned with the Nagai back to their home galaxy and helped guide the Nagai fleet back to the fresh staging point on Kinooine. Unfortunately the secret arrival of the fleet was disrupted when an Alliance task force that had been specifically trained by Luke Skywalker arrived on Kinooine to scout the area. Lumiya and Siva intercepted the group, and they were subsequently slaughtered. Skywalker investigated the disappearance of the missing team and witnessed firsthand the arrival of the Nagai fleet. Skywalker found himself in a duel with Lumiya while trying to escape the threat where he discovered her true identity as Shira Brie, Luke's former lover. Luke escaped the planet and relayed the info to Alliance command.

With the support of the Empire and their main fleet, the Nagai began to initiate all-out war against the Alliance, attacking the worlds of Saijo, Mandalore, and Iskalon. On Mandalore, Fenn Shysa and Bey formed a group to counter the Nagai threat, but after several worlds near Mandalore fell to Nagai forces, the Mandalorians allied themselves with the Alliance to defeat the advancing Nagai forces. However, worse news was to come. Examination of Nagai captives from Commander Knife's operation on Kabray revealed a shocking revelation. Hoojib operatives, reading the thoughts of the Nagai, found that the Nagai fleet was planning to attack Alliance headquarters on the forest moon of Endor.

The war had finally escalated to its height, and at the Second Battle of Endor forces led by Lumiya and the Nagai fleet nearly succeeded in eliminating the Alliance leadership and destroying the core of the Alliance navy. Due to a traitor amongst their midst, the Nagai prisoners, including Commander Knife, were released, and the battle plans of the Alliance were turned over to the Nagai fleet. During the battle, Han Solo discovered the traitor to be his old friend Bey and the tide turned. Although the Alliance had turned away the Nagai attack, they had contracted serious losses and both Lumiya and Commander Knife escaped the conflict alive. The Nagai had become a real threat, and Alliance leaders recognized a need for a plan of attack against the invaders.

Return of "the Old Enemy"
Nagai forces continued to harass Alliance worlds, and Nagai General Kob subjugated the world of Iskalon. The local populace, combined with an Alliance strike force, fought back against the invaders, resulting in heavy losses for both sides. The destruction of the Nagai forward base changed the course of the battle, but the Iskalonians, distraught at the loss of their people, requested that the Alliance evacuate the planet as well. A plan of attack had still not been formulated, but luckily for the Alliance, the plan fell right into their lap.

The Nagai's old enemies, the Tof, eventually succeeded in tracking the Nagai to Alliance space. The Tof fleet engaged the Nagai Twelfth Squadron on Trenwyth and utterly annihilated them. No prisoners were taken and officially, all lives were lost. The Nagai were unprepared for the return of their old enemy and were in a poor position to deal with them. However, the Nagai command decided to continue with their conquest and ignore the Tof threat.

On the planet of Zeltros, Den Siva led a Nagai squadron against Alliance forces where they succeeded in capturing prominent Alliance members who were attending a party on the planet. The quick victory was not to be enjoyed; however, as the Tof threat was closer than the Nagai wished to think. Caught off-guard by a large Tof force, Siva and his men were beaten and quickly captured. The Alliance were initially grateful for their rescue, but soon came to realize that the Tof were selfish beings and had no interest in siding with the Alliance. The Tofs attempted to capture or kill everyone on the planet regardless of their affiliation. Only through the combined efforts of both the Alliance, the Nagai, and a taskforce of Hiromi were the Tof beaten.

Changing sides
The return of the Tof helped dismantle the Nagai's plan for galactic domination and they allied with the Alliance of Free Planets to defeat the Tof. Lumiya was furious with this decision, as she only wished to see the destruction of the Alliance and cared little for the Tof threat. However, Lumiya's Imperial forces had a different idea, recognizing that they would not be safe in a galaxy ruled by the Tof. While Lumiya set out to join the Tof war machine, the Empire itself threw its backing against the Tofs. Days after the agreement with the Nagai, the Alliance formed the New Republic. C-3PO and R2-D2, however, were later temporarily loaned off by their owners to Star Tours in order to focus on fighting off the Tof threat.

Even with the rearranging of loyalty, the war continued to rage, this time with the Nagai, the New Republic, and the Empire grouping together to defeat the Tof war machine. With their combined forces, they slowly began to push the Tof back. On the planet Saijo, where the Tof leader Prince Sereno had established a personal base, the Tof made their final stand. Trench warfare ensued with the allied forces slowly pushing their way towards Prince Sereno's headquarters.

The bloody battle ended with a New Republic strike force infiltrating the Prince's palace, and a naval battle between Republic forces led by General Calrissian and the Tof ship Merriweather. The Battle of Saijo signaled the end of the Tof threat. The Tof fleet was substantially crippled, and Sereno was captured by Skywalker after a climactic showdown with Lumiya. Bey fired the final shot of the conflict when he disabled Lumiya with a single shot from his blaster.

Aftermath
The New Republic offered the Nagai full membership in the new galactic government and offered to rebuild the world of Saijo as a new homeworld for the Nagai so that they could live in peace. However, most of the Nagai decided to set out to find their own world, and returned to liberate Nagi from the Tofs still reigning there. The Mandalorians under Fenn Shysa joined the Nagai in their fight to liberate Nagi and left New Republic space for a time.

Several Nagai decided to stay in New Republic space and became well known for their fighting techniques in local fighting arenas. Nagai forces eventually liberated Nagi, and Fenn Shysa returned to defend his homeworld.

The Dark Lady Lumiya went into hiding. Lumiya's forces had abandoned her during the conflict, and it is unknown if they rejoined her after her apparent death in the final battle of the war. Many in the alliance believed Lumiya to be dead after the conflict, but the absence of a body left many New Republic commanders to designate her as a possible threat in the future.

After the conclusion of the war at Saijo, the New Republic launched its main liberation campaign against the Galactic Empire.

Behind the scenes
The Nagai–Tof War first appeared in the final issues of the Star Wars comic book series produced by Marvel. The conflict was never given a canon name for many years; the online Star Wars encyclopedia Wookieepedia used the title "Nagai–Tof War" for the article on the conflict. It was not until 2009, when James McFadden wrote the Hyperspace-exclusive article The Forgotten War: The Nagai and the Tofs, that the name was canonized.

Battles

 * Battle of Herdessa
 * Skirmish on Kashyyyk
 * Skirmish on Cantros 7
 * Battle of Koda Space Station
 * Battle of Mephout
 * Battle of Virgillia
 * Battle of Mandallia
 * Battle of Mandalore
 * Skirmish on Kabray
 * Skirmish on Kinooine
 * Second Battle of Endor
 * Battle of Terminus
 * Battle of Sullust
 * Raid on Saijo
 * Battle of Rutan
 * Battle of Faldos
 * Battle of Shumavar
 * Battle of Manpha
 * Battle of Berrol's Donn
 * Battle of Mon Gazza
 * Second battle of Herdessa
 * Battle of Iskalon
 * Battle of Trenwyth
 * Twelfth Battle of Zeltros
 * Conquest of Saijo
 * Battle of Fondor
 * Battle of the Thesme sector
 * Battle of Saijo

Appearances

 * Star Wars 88: Figurehead
 * Star Wars 91: Wookiee World
 * Star Wars 93: Catspaw
 * Star Wars 95: No Zeltrons
 * Star Wars 96: Duel With a Dark Lady
 * Star Wars 97: Escape
 * Star Wars 100: First Strike
 * Star Wars 102: School Spirit
 * Star Wars 103: Tai
 * Star Wars 104: Nagais and Dolls
 * Star Wars 105: The Party's Over
 * Star Wars 106: My Hiromi
 * Star Wars 107: All Together Now