Battle for Alaris Prime

The Battle for Alaris Prime was fought between 39 BBY and 36 BBY. The battle occurred between the Wookiee colonists and the Trade Federation and was the deciding battle of the conflict between the two sides over the rights to the moon Alaris Prime. The Wookiee leader Chewbacca had been attacking Trade Federation settlements and targeted the Trade Federation's main base in a final push to remove the enemy presence, aiming to destroy the Federation's fortress per the advice of his Jedi advisor, Qui-Gon Jinn. At a base established near the Federation one, Chewbacca and the Wookiees, including his cousin Shoran and father Attichitcuk, upgraded their defenses and technology while the Trade Federation commander SRAM-13 initiated the battle by sending attacks on Wookiee sentry posts.
Once the Wookiees built their own fortress, Jinn arrived at the base to participate in the battle. SRAM-13 sent light droid starfighters to scout the Wookiee base, prompting the latter to strengthen their air defenses. The Wookiees eventually built up their forces, including starfighters and energy pummels, and broke into the Trade Federation base and destroyed its fortress. The company's Trandoshan ally Pekt escaped from the ruined fortress, and the Wookiees were finally able to continue their colonization of Alaris Prime, turning the moon into a successful technological hub for the Galactic Republic.
==Prelude==
Between 39 BBY and 36 BBY, the moon Alaris Prime was engulfed in a war between the competing colonies of the Trade Federation and the Wookiee colonists. The Wookiee Chewbacca had taken leadership of the colonists following a near-fatal ambush by the Trade Federation against the previous leader, his father Attichitcuk. With the help of an advisor appointed by the Jedi Order, Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Chewbacca led attacks on Trade Federation settlements, including an outpost and a listening array. Noting the success of his strategies, Chewbacca decided to stage an assault on the Trade Federation's main base on Alaris Prime after it had been discovered by Wookiee scouts.
The Wookiees established a base to the south of the Federation settlement, with Chewbacca's cousinTyrant's Test Shoran building a portion of the defensive walls. Jinn remarked that the Wookiees could win the upcoming battle by destroying the Trade Federation's fortress. The Jedi also requested permission from the Jedi High Council to personally participate in the battle, which was granted on the condition that the Wookiees build a fortress of their own. The base was initially defended by several Wookiees, including a recovered Attichitcuk, Chewbacca, Shoran, seven bowcaster troopers, two HummBike speeder scouts, and two dragon troopers. The Wookiee workers at the base then began filling in gaps left in the walls and gathering the resources available to them, including muja fruit, carbon from the dense forests, nova crystals, and ore.
==The battle==
===Trade Federation offensives===
The Trade Federation Droid Army commander SRAM-13 commenced the first strike of the battle by sending a force of battle droids—five beetle droids and a droideka—to attack the Wookiee sentry posts, which had been built to warn them of the Federation's movements. Jinn recommended that the Wookiees build turrets to fortify their defenses and a War Center to research upgrades to weapons and armor. After gaining the required resources, the Wookiees upgraded their level of technology to allow them to build their own fortress. SRAM-13 sent a trio of light droid starfighters to scout the Wookiee base. Although Jinn warned the Wookiees to brace themselves, the fighters only performed a reconnaissance mission and did not attack the base.
To prepare for a potential air attack, Jinn recommended the Wookiees create their own aerial defenses before the fighters returned, including building anti-air turrets as well as an airbase in which to build their own aircraft. Four droid starfighters then attacked another sentry post, and another fighter flew over the Wookiee base. After the fortress was completed, Jinn headed for the Wookiee base aboard a Naboo Royal Lifter. Upon his entry, Jinn observed several Trade Federation starships, which he correctly suspected belonged to the Federation's Trandoshan allies, who were plotting to enslave the Wookiees.
===The storming of the base===
Studies of a Jedi holocron previously found by Shoran on Alaris Prime revealed the location of an ancient grove, which the Wookiees uncovered after finding a hidden path through a treeline near their base. Jinn traveled to the grove and uncovered the ancient knowledge of Jedi Concentration, a Force power that allowed him to take control of enemy buildings and use them for the Wookiees' benefit.
The Wookiees constructed additional military structures in their base, including factories to build mechs and heavy weapons. Eventually, they prepared a force of ten Agr starfighters, three Heavy Blade bombers, three energy pummels, five Sentinel mechs, and five heavy bowcaster troopers before the Wookiee leaders and Jinn headed for the Trade Federation base. After destroying the turrets outside of the base, they used the bombers to destroy the base's outer walls and turrets while the fighters picked off the droids inside it. Having a clear path, the Wookiee ground troops marched into the base and used the pummels, which had armor that could resist the fortress's turret-fire, to destroy the building and end the battle.
==Aftermath==
Jinn celebrated the Wookiee victory, but noticed two Neimoidian transports flying from the ruins of the fortress; the same ships he had seen earlier. Inside one of them, the Trandoshan leader Pekt swore the Wookiees had not seen the last of him. The Battle for Alaris Prime decisively ended the Trade Federation's colony on Alaris Prime. While still present on Alaris Prime, Jinn reported the victory in a transmission to the Jedi Council in which he reflected that he had taught Chewbacca successfully and that the Wookiee was ready to explore the wider galaxy. Under Wookiee control, Alaris Prime became a thriving technological hub within the Galactic Republic and enjoyed economic success under Chewbacca's leadership.
However, in 22 BBY battle droids would return to the moon in multiple incursions during the Clone Wars, in which the Trade Federation joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems in its fight against the Republic.The New Essential Chronology Pekt's words came to pass with the rise of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, which allowed him to participate in the mass enslavement of the Wookiees of Kashyyyk. However, he was ultimately stopped by Chewbacca during the Liberation of Kashyyyk in 4 ABY.
==Behind the scenes==
The Battle for Alaris Prime features as the seventh and final level, titled "The Battle for Alaris Prime," of the Wookiee tutorial campaign of the LucasArts video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, which was released on November 11, 2001. The battle was first mentioned in the Prima Games' strategy guide for the game by Steven L. Kent, which was released on November 7, 2001. Steven L. Kent, author of the Prima guide, wrote that the battle serves as a perfect conclusion to the tutorial campaign, giving the player a full range of technology and units while remaining in a relatively safe level. In the level, the player controls the Wookiees and must destroy the Trade Federation fortress to achieve victory. The battle is lost immediately if any of the player's unique hero units—Chewbacca, Shoran, Attichitcuk, or Qui-Gon Jinn—are killed. The Trade Federation may create additional forces if given enough time to gather the necessary resources, including a bio cannon and additional battle droids.
If the player finds the ancient grove, they can use Jinn to gain the ability of Jedi Concentration, which can be researched by certain civilizations in the standard game mode but is otherwise inaccessible in the level as the player cannot build a Jedi Temple to research it. Cut dialogue by Jinn suggests that the player would originally have had access to additional Jedi units during the battle but that, in contrast to the standard game mode, the player would then be unable to create any more Jedi—a restriction that is justified in-universe by Jinn who states that Jedi law prevents too many Jedi from being assigned on any given mission.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds 
*Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns
==Sources==
*Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Prima's Official Strategy Guide 
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==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of the Alaris Prime colonial war