Tyvokka

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Star Wars character
Tyvokka
Position	Jedi Master
Homeworld	Kashyyyk
Species	Wookiee
Gender	Male
Height	7'5'
Affiliation	Jedi, Galactic Republic
Portrayed by	None (EU comic character)

Tyvokka is a fictional character in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

[edit] Character overview

Tyvokka was a Jedi Master during the time of the bloodiest conflicts the galaxy had ever seen. He eventually sat on the Jedi Council, having earned the respect of every other Knight and Master.

Tyvokka's greatest (and last) victory for the Old Republic was the Stark Hyperspace War.

Iaco Stark, a smuggler and pirate, had amassed a fleet of ships and used them to steal goods from the Outer Rim and then sell them back at inflated prices, but still less than what the Trade Federation set. Stark spearheaded the forming of a coalition of smugglers and pirates, which he called the Stark Commercial Combine.

However, when a bacta shortage gripped the galaxy, Stark and his pirates became heroes in the Outer Rim as they sought out bacta shipments, which those worlds could no longer afford due to the skyrocketed price of bacta. These turns of events threatened to plunge the galaxy into war, and as the Jedi discussed the matters among their members, so did the Republic.

Tyvokka, in his lifetime as a Jedi Knight, had many Padawan learners. The most notable was Plo Koon, who would eventually go on to serve on the Jedi Council himself, following in his Master's footsteps. When an opening became available on the Council, Tyvokka expressed his wishes that Koon pursue the opportunity and apply to be accepted onto it. However, Koon was always humble and felt there were many others more qualified than he was to serve on the Council, notably Qui-Gon Jinn.

As the Senators of the Republic discussed the conflict, Chancellor Finis Valorum proposed that a meeting take place between the Stark Commercial Combine and a combination of Jedi, Republic, and Trade Federation representatives. Tyvokka was asked by the Republic to be chief negotiator. Tyvokka gladly accepted the position and asked Koon to be his aide in the matter.

In a meeting with Valorum and other Jedi Masters, Tyvokka spoke his uncertainty of the bacta shortage, and suggested that Jedi Master Tholme and his Padawan Quinlan Vos travel to Thyferra, the planet on which an apparent disaster was the catalyst for the shortage, to discover the truth.

The conference was to take place in a secret location known only to the visiting parties, and the location that was chosen was the planet of Troiken. Other Jedi Knights to accompany Tyvokka were Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as Jedi Master Adi Gallia. When the meeting began, elsewhere in the galaxy, a bellicose Senator, Ranulph Tarkin, who strongly advocated the establishment of a legitimate Republic Army and Navy, was preparing to launch into hyperspace to surprise Stark and his forces and finally utterly defeat them. Although the location of the meeting was to be secret, Tarkin obtained the location through secret dealings with a Trade Federation representative. Unfortunately, Stark learned of this, and believing the conference was just a trap to capture him, Stark took the initiative to set a trap for the Jedi, the Senators, and Tarkin as well.

Once the meeting began, Stark ambushed the Jedi with a company of soldiers armed with powerful weapons and revealed to the Jedi and Senators his plan to deal with Tarkin's fleet. Creating a computer virus that infected all Republic ships, Tarkin's fleet was scattered across the galaxy once they entered hyperspace, some sent into planets, stars, black holes, and some right into the middle of Stark's own fleet to be decimated. However, Tyvokka believed and was able to get Stark to admit that the whole thing was a trap from the beginning, a trap in order to gain power. Feeling he had the Jedi surrounded, Stark offered the Jedi a chance to surrender since he felt they had no other choice. But to a Jedi Master, there is always another choice. Literally turning the conference table upside down on Stark and his soldiers, the Jedi ignited their lightsabers and began to fight their way out of the trap. Additionally, the Trade Federation representative demanded he be allowed to bring along a number of battle droids for protection, and during the melee activated the droids and instructed them to attack. However, as battle droids are unreliable, they attacked not only Stark's soldiers, but the Jedi were targets as well. Sadly, in the chaos of it all, Tyvokka was hit multiple times by blasts from the battle droids. When most of Stark's soldiers, as well as Stark himself, had been killed or escaped, the Jedi turned to Tyvokka and his terminal injuries.

Tyvokka ordered the other Jedi to pursue Stark, lest he gain a more favorable position. Only Koon remained at his side as the Wookiee was attended to by a medical droid. But even with the best technology in the galaxy Tyvokka would not have survived. As he lay dying, he told Plo that it was Adi Gallia's charge to protect Valorum, as only he held the key to a peaceful resolution; it was Master Qui-Gon's charge to discover a solution to the virus that crippled the Republic's navicomputers, and finally he gave his orders to Koon. Plo was to rally the troops, for if they surrendered, so would the Senate. The last was more of a request than an order. Tyvokka's place on the Council would sit empty, and he wished that his apprentice take his place. With his dying words expressing to Koon how proud he was of him, Tyvokka, Wookiee Jedi Master, became one with the Force.