Bakura/Legends

"In many ways, Bakura reminds me of Alderaan."

- Leia Organa

Bakura was a rich, green and blue planet in the Bakura system of the Shiritoku Spur, located on the isolated edge of the Outer Rim, formally a part of Wild Space.

It was the site of a historic truce between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic immediately following the Battle of Endor, shortly before the Invasion of Bakura. The Ssi-Ruuk called the planet Xwhee.

Description
Bakura, which orbited the star Bakura, was the third of eight planets in the Bakura system, which was itself part of the Bakura sector of the Wild Space region of the galaxy. It was situated on the Shiritoku Way, a hyperlane that connected it to Timora, and was on the outer edge of the Shiritoku Spur.

Bakura, a terrestrial world with a diameter of 21,400 kilometers, possessed two moons, a moderate hydrosphere, and gravity 1.05 times standard, and was the only world in its system with a breathable atmosphere. Its climate was temperate and tended to be mild, with abundant cloud cover and high levels of rainfall.

Bakura's terrain included forest, plains, mountains, and some urban centers. The planet's three major continents were Braad, Prytis, and Kishh'daar; in the western hemisphere, Prytis and Braad both featured namana plantations, and Prytis also boasted an abundance of arable land, extensive agricultural regions, and mountain ranges with mines and quarries. Kishh'daar was in the eastern hemisphere.

Bakura's primary industry was the manufacture of repulsorlift coils; the production of tools and furniture using these coils was a secondary industry. The refinement of raw metals and minerals mined from the planet's two moons provided another industry, while the native namana tree helped the planet develop a significant agricultural sector. The world exported repulsorlift coils and namana-based products while importing medicine and technology.

General disapproval of droids, combined with high tariffs, led to a nearly total absence of droids on Bakura; droid technology was prohibited, and the possession of droids was only allowed with official permission and several permits. Repulsorlift generators were extremely common on Bakura.

Bakura's terrain mostly comprised mountains, valleys, plains and small seas, all of which received a great deal of rain; Leia Organa viewed Bakura as being very similar to a wetter Alderaan. Bakura's primary exports included strategic metals. The planet was also the origin of a disease called Bakuran fever bumps.

History
"We have come to restore you to your natural place in the galactic balance, and hope you will help us achieve this goal."

- Captain Brellar welcomes Bakura into the Galactic Empire

Around 150 BBY, Bakura was first settled by the Bakur Mining Corporation, an exploratory mining consortium that sought to develop the planet's crystal and metal deposits. The first Bakuran settlers arrived equipped with food, seed, tools, and some advanced building materials, although they hoped to use the planet's considerable natural resources to survive.

As was typical in colonization efforts, the Bakurans relied on droids, especially labor drones, to assist in the construction of homes and buildings. However, the droid complement of the colony ship had been sabotaged by the H'Lokk Consortium, a rival of the Bakur Corporation that aimed to cause enough hardship for the Bakur Corporation's colonists to force their withdrawal from Bakura, allowing a nearby H'Lokk colony to annex the planet.

The H'Lokk Consortium's saboteurs introduced a minor virus into the Bakuran colonists' labor droids. The virus program was intended to force the droids to sabotage as many colony operations as possible, but an error in the program's code removed many of the droids' failsafes, wiping out non-aggression mandates. During the early weeks of colonization, the droids successfully planned and carried out a revolt, killing nearly 40% of the original colonists. The uprising was ultimately put down, and Deredith Arden, the captain of the original colony ship, served as the first head of the Bakur Corporation government.

Deredith Arden served as Prime Minister for eight years, and under his leadership, the Bakura colony overcame a shortage of labor, established a mining operation, and constructed processing and manufacturing facilities. In 146 BBY, the Bakur Corporation chartered Bakura as a self-sufficient mining community. Initially, Bakura exported few goods to the rest of the galaxy and its significant trading partners were limited to a small number of nearby worlds; nevertheless, it achieved a favorable economy.

The Bakur Mining Corporation's colonization of Bakura was considered the official founding of the planetary civilization. At first, the Corporation directly controlled the planet, but after Arden's death and faced with lessening returns of the mining operations and an increase of both population and wealth, a government comprising a Prime Minister and a Senate was established. However, this system of government was not truly representative; the titular head of government was always one of Arden's descendants and the Senate elected its own members. The Prime Minister, however&mdash;at least after the reforms following the Invasion of Bakura&mdash;was elected by popular vote.

In 97 BBY, there was a major droid uprising on the planet, thus explaining the aversion many of the planet's inhabitants felt for the automata.

In 22 BBY, during the Clone Wars, although neutral in the conflict and independent of both the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, a Separatist base was, for a time, established on Bakura. Shortly after the First Battle of Geonosis, Count Dooku hid on Bakura, where he was engaged by Jedi Masters Tholme and Sora Bulq, with the latter falling to the dark side of the Force. Around this time, the Separatist forces also defeated the Republic on Bakura using the Force Harvester.

Seven standard weeks after the Battle of Geonosis, Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker fought on Bakura against Separatist forces led by the cyborg General Grievous. A traitor in the Bakuran government made it possible for Grievous to slay the entire Ruling Synod. Bakura was opened to outside settlement during the final years of the Clone Wars, after which immigration caused the population to triple within a decade. In spite of Bakura's demographic and economic advantages, political infighting prevented the Bakuran Senate from governing effectively, and for decades Bakura's social and economic issues went ignored.

Bickering among the ruling upper class of the Corporation and the local Senate had always been an issue, but grew stronger as years went on. It reached the point where the Bakuran Senate could not agree on matters as simple as school schedules, and it was believed that the planet was near to civil war. Combined with the fact that the Senate directly controlled the small planetary military, and that there was a sense of unrest among the people, Bakura was an easy target for Imperial forces.

Bakura eventually became known as a successful producer of repulsorlift coils, which attracted the attention of the Galactic Empire. In 0 ABY, early on the night of 36:1:1, two Imperial Star Destroyers and supporting vessels neutralized the planet's defense grid. Subsequently, Imperial troops shuttled to the planet's surface and moved to seize strategic assets, facing negligible resistance. Several Imperial troopers became casualties as they attempted to secure the Bakuran Senate, but resistance ceased as members of the Senate were placed under house arrest.

The Human inhabitants of Bakura maintained a modest economy by exporting repulsorlift coils to the Empire. Annexation by the Empire allowed Bakura to send more goods to the Outer Rim Territories and other regions, greatly improving Bakura's economy, and caused the cost of importing goods to fall. The government of Bakura remained intact, but Prime Minister Yeorg Captison and the Senate were made answerable to Imperial Governor Wilek Nereus. Purges and two brief rebellions, which prompted further purges, ensued, but the Empire was entrenched as the true authority on Bakura. Much of the output of the planet's mines was diverted to the Death Star project at Endor.

An Imperial Orbital prison was also stationed around Bakura. In approximately 3 ABY, it contained miscellaneous enemies of the Empire and several Rebel prisoners from the planet Hoth. Thanks to the intervention of Rogue Squadron under Wedge Antilles, flying a B-wing starfighter, he was able to disable several Imperial transports with the B-Wing's ion cannon and allow for an Alliance GR-75 transport to evacuate the prisoners. However, one of his wingmen was hit by a TIE starfighter, whose laser cannons shredded his T-65 X-Wing's stabilizer, causing him to crash land onto Bakura, inside Imperial territory. Antilles, thinking quickly, infiltrated the prison and commandeered a TIE/sa bomber and flew down to rescue his wingmate. The two returned to orbit, just in time to see an Imperial escort carrier leap into hyperspace with some scientists captured from rebel transports. General Crix Madine extrapolated the escort carrier's course and estimated that the craft would head for Geonosis, leading to a battle there.

Although there was a short period of violent resistance to the Imperial occupation, and there were several Imperial purges of suspected (and actual) Rebel partisans, the vast majority of Bakurans were ambivalent about the Imperial occupation (perhaps partly fuelled by their passive religion). They acknowledged that Imperial control had ended their near-disastrous infighting, and their major gripe was the increased taxation. At the time of the Invasion of Bakura, the formal (and not very active) Bakuran resistance numbered only about one hundred individuals.

The day following the Battle of Endor, which saw the death of Emperor Palpatine and the shattering of his Empire, Rebel forces stationed on the Sanctuary Moon received a message droid from Bakura requesting help. Bakura was being attacked by the Ssi-ruuk&mdash;a saurian species from the most distant reaches of the galaxy, which attempted to establish a beachhead for an invasion of the known galaxy. The Rebel Alliance dispatched a small task force led by Luke Skywalker to assist in the defense of Bakura. Once the task force reached Bakura, a temporary truce was agreed to between the Rebels and Imperials. In the end, the Ssi-ruuk were repelled, the Imperials in control of the planet were overthrown, and Prime Minister Yeorg Captison resumed control of the government. After his resignation, Gaeriel Captison, niece of Yeorg and an important figure during the Ssi-ruuk invasion, was elected to replace him.

Though the Ssi-ruuk had been defeated, Bakura could not let down its guard against another invasion, and the Bakuran Defense Fleet was formed as a result. They also developed four powerful warships. These were the three Bakura-class Destroyers Watchkeeper, Defender, and Sentinel, and the Namana-class Light Cruiser Intruder. These warships were equipped with Hyperwave sustainers that allowed them to move through interdiction fields. These four warships were essential in maintaining a New Republic presence in the Corellian sector during the First Corellian Insurrection. Though this mission was successful, half of the fleet&mdash;the Watchkeeper and the Intruder&mdash;was destroyed, and Gaeriel Captison was killed.

During the Disciples of Ragnos crisis, Jaden Korr went on a mission with Kyle Katarn to Bakura to prevent a terrorist takeover of a power station. Kyle, however, did not show up, so Jaden decided to investigate the station alone. He found out that the Imperial Remnant was operating in the area, and had armed several bombs throughout the station. Jaden battled the Remnant troops and deactivated the bombs before they could go off. Having completed his mission and reclaimed the station, Jaden left the planet in one piece.

Bakura briefly joined the New Republic and was represented in the New Republic Senate by Molierre Cundertol during the Black Fleet Crisis. However, the planet withdrew itself from the New Republic and reasserted its independence prior to 18 ABY.

Later, during the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Ssi-ruuk once more attempted to invade Bakura, armed with new entechment technology. They would use the deception that the P'w'ecks under the mutant Ssi-ruuvi the Keeramak had toppled the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium and had come to Bakura to form an allegiance with the Bakurans. The Keeramak "consecrated" Bakura during a ceremony at the Bakuran Senate, thus allowing the Ssi-ruuk to fight on Bakura since they feared dying on unconsecrated worlds. However, their plan backfired when the P'w'ecks under Lwothin revolted against the Ssi-ruuvi and joined forces with the Galactic Alliance to drive away the Ssi-ruuvi during a second battle. It was revealed that Bakuran Prime Minister Molierre Cundertol, the former Senator, had betrayed his planet. Despite this turn of events, Bakura initially chose not to join the Galactic Alliance. However, with the Yuuzhan Vong making new strides with the destruction of the HoloNet, Bakura joined the Galactic Alliance, contributing ships to the defense of Mon Calamari and giving the Galactic Alliance Defense Fleet access to the HIMS technology for use during the Battle of Yuuzhan'tar.

Society


Bakura's only native sentient species was the Kurtzen, a pale, hairless humanoid species, although its most populous sentient species was Humans (who composed the other 95% of the population). Most Bakurans were independent minded and proud of their planet. Much of the population followed the Religion of the Cosmic Balance. The Balance flowered as a faith under the hierophant Dif Istuvi. Dif wrote its sacred text, Fulcrum. He also founded the order of priest prophets known as Zanazi.

Families who counted themselves among the Faithful had pairs of children close in age that followed the Rule of the Feather and Bowl. When each pair were teenagers, they underwent tests. The most promising youth obtained a small feather, while the other was given a golden bowl. The Child of the Bowl left home to join a communal Simple Home, serving the Zanazi. The Child of the Feather stayed as a part of Bakuran society and was given Zanazi funds for a more prestige education. Some Children of the Bowl left the Faith, but most submitted to a lifetime of service.

The native Kurtzen, however, followed their own mystical faith, which featured totems and symbolism.

A droid rebellion engineered by the H'Lokk Consortium caused the death of many Bakurans. This left them with a distrust of machinery, which were banned from public use. Despite this, Bakurans were known for their repulsorlift industry, Bakur RepulsorCorp. Besides the Kurtzen, Bakurans did not know of any other alien species in the galaxy. This made many Bakurans fearful and prejudiced against non-human species, a tendency only perpetuated during their time under Imperial rule.

Bakurans were masters of organ replacement, explaining why so many of them lived far longer than most Humans throughout the galaxy; for example, in 4 ABY Eppie Belden was 132 years old and still young enough to personally lead a guerrilla uprising.

Locations
Salis D'aar, the capital city of Bakura, was located atop D'aarmont, an immense outcropping of quartz at the confluence of two rivers. Bakura's main spaceport was located just south of Salis D'aar and on D'aarmont, and an Imperial garrison base identical to those found on many worlds was located a kilometer south of the spaceport.

Behind the scenes
Many sources seem to place Bakura in the Outer Rim Territories&mdash;the The Truce at Bakura Sourcebook identifies Bakura as being "on the outer edge of the Outer Rim Territories," the Star Wars Encyclopedia and the subsequent The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia claim Bakura is "located on the isolated edge of the Rim Worlds," The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons names Bakura as a "colony world in the Outer Rim" and "the Outer Rim planet Bakura," and The New Essential Chronology places Bakura "at the edge of known space." However, Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds explains that Bakura is located in the Shiritoku Space, an "area [that] remained formally part of Wild Space" following the Bakura Incident. The PC game Star Wars: Rebellion mistakenly places Bakura in the Orus sector, which is actually a sector located in the Inner Rim.

Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds states that Bakura's gravity is "standard," while The Truce at Bakura Sourcebook rates it at "1.05 standard."

In George Lucas' rough draft script for Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Grievous refers to Anakin Skywalker as "the young hero of Bakura".