PIUS DEA

"Here we stand, at the extremity of our exertion, having cast behind us the idols of our fathers, to once again carry to our foe the penalties due their sacrilege. Come perdition or hard vacuum, the Republic expects that every citizen will do his duty." ―Supreme Chancellor Contispex, Fourth Inaugural Oration

Pius Dea was a fanatic religious cult, most famous for their control of the Galactic Republic during the Pius Dea Era. The cult first came to power when one of their members, the man who would become known as Contispex I, became Supreme Chancellor of the Republic in 11,987 BBY after the impeachment and assassination of Chancellor Pers'lya. Through Contispex and his successors, all of whom took the name Contispex and many of whom were members of his dynasty, Pius Dea would rule the galaxy for just over a thousand years. The era of their rule was characterized by the Pius Dea Crusades: a series of over thirty bloody wars against alien species and suspected alien sympathizers. The religion was effectively destroyed by the Bureau of Ships and Services, the Jedi Order, and the Republic Navy in the year 10,966 BBY, withJedi Grand Master Biel Ductavis assuming the role of Supreme Chancellor after the ousting of Contispex XIX.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICES

The Pius Dea was a monotheistic religion that worshiped a deity known as The Goddess. Members of the Pius Dea adhered to a strict moral code emphasizing humanocentrism and spiritual purity. They associated the Outer Rim with chaos and believed that they had a divine mandate to defeat chaos in return for gaining treasures and divine secrets. While scouting of the Republic's frontiers still continued under the sect, exploration and making contact with alien civilizations was seconded to the sect's primary interests in military conquest, acquiring material wealth, and religious missionary work. Many spacers accumulated much social status and wealth by privateering for the sect.

As a Human supremacist cult, the Pius Dea regarded many alien species as "unredeemable" due to their alleged inferiority and the threat they posed to the Human civilizations of the Core Worlds. They viewed their military conflicts against their opponents as crusades with the ultimate intention of gaining spiritual merit and purification. Despite their humanocentric outlook, the Pius Dea were willing to accept alien converts but looked down upon them as "Rimkin". Religious conversion was associated with increased social mobility and unrestricted passage throughout Republic-controlled worlds for those who enlisted in the Republic's military which was then firmly under the sect's control. The sect also had religious commissars attached to military units to root out heretics and apostates.

HISTORY

FORGING A THEOCRACY

The movement that would become Pius Dea began on Coruscant several centuries before Contispex I became Supreme Chancellor in 11,987 BBY. Coruscanti began calling for communities to clamp down on corruption, purging "unredeemable" elements to restore purity. Pius Dea would rise to prominence with the help of the man known to history as Contispex I. Contispex was born on Coruscant and became a prominent member of the Coruscant Merchants' Guild, where he became a powerful figure in the Pius Dea faith. His staunch stance against corruption and his intolerance of those who did not share his high standards made him a well-loved figure in the public eye. He quickly became a member of the Senate, and he was elected by a landslide to the position of Supreme Chancellor after the impeachment and laterassassination of the Bothan Chancellor Pers'lya in 11,987 BBY.

However, very few outside of the Pius Dea's leadership circle were aware that Contispex and Pius Dea had conspired with the Malkite Poisoners to impeach and kill the Bothan, so that they could seize power. With the rise of Contispex, Pius Dea gained full control of the key political and economic machinery of the Republic's government, purging all of their opponents from power. With a generation, most important bureaucratic positions were reserved exclusively for cult members. Within two to three generations, many of these key posts became hereditary, entrenching the sect's influence at the expense of creating a culture of nepotism within the Republic's government. By the 11,500s BBY, the sect's vast fleet of Cathedral ships were crewed by descendants of Republic Navy personnel who had converted to the faith. In contrast, opponents of the sect including dissidents, heretics and apostates were designated as Proscribed: entailing a loss of civil liberties, economic assets and stiff barriers to social mobility.

PIUS DEA CRUSADES

Contispex I would launch the first of what would be later known as the Pius Dea Crusades in 11,965 BBY, as a preemptive strike against the Hutts in the Outer Rim Territories. Contispex's successors would continue these conflicts, with at least 34 crusades having been completed by 10,966 BBY. However, Contispex and his successors soon turned their attention to other alien species and sects which had been members of the Republic for millennia. Finally, the sect even targeted Humans accused of being alien sympathizers. Over the course of a millennium, the Republic was bogged down in unending warfare with several alien species that were judged irredeemable and subject to genocide including theZarracines and Teirasans. The Pius Dea Republic would also be engaged in various protracted conflicts with the Hutts throughout that millennium. 

For millennia, Alsakan and Coruscant had been rivals for dominance of the Republic. Due to the Pius Dea's origins on Coruscant, the planet became a stronghold of the sect. Religious tensions coalesced with political and economy rivalry to culminate in the Sixth Alsakan Conflict in 11,820 BBY. During that conflict the Core World of Alsakan and their territories in the Perlemian Trade Route seceded from the Pius Dea Republic. Many alien worlds subsequently aligned themselves with Alsakan in return for protection from the Republic.

THE CONTISPEX DYNASTY

Contispex I would step down after a forty-year term in 11,947 BBY, when he was succeeded by his son Contispex II. Contispex's family would continue this dynastic tradition, with each successive member taking the name Contispex by the last centuries of the Pius Dea period. Several of the Chancellors of this era, while not related to the original Contispex, would still take the name Constipex. The dynasty would end with Contispex XIX, who was captured by the Jedi aboard the Flame of Sinthara at the Battle of Uquine. Contispex XIX was taken to Caamas, where he was tried and found guilty of crimes against the galaxy, and was imprisoned there for the rest of his life.

COLLAPSE

The religious zeal of the Pius Dea Republic antagonized many species and powers within the galaxy. Following the Sixth Alsakan Conflict, Coruscant's rival Alsakan opened secret lines of communication with several alien species alienated by the Crusades including the Duros, Herglics, and the Hutts. By the 11,100s BBY, the Republic's military expansionism had stalled and the Pius Dea leadership began launching internal inquisitions to root out apostates, heretics, and unbelievers within their ranks. These inquisitions created much hardship and deaths. Caamasi emissaries came to the Jedistronghold of Ossus and succeeded in convincing the Order to end its recusal in 11,100 BBY.

The Jedi subsequently coollaborated with the Caamasi and Alsakani to engineer a heresy within the Pius Dea adherents. In 10,967 BBY, these religious heretics announced themselves during the Renunciation; creating an internal civil war which wrecked the Republic. This allowed a broad anti-Pius Dea coalition led by the Jedi to assail the Pius Dea Republic. While much of the Republic Navy defected to join the Renunciates, the Pius Dea still maintained a large fleet of thousands of Cathedral ships which they used to wage warfare on their enemies. In 10,966 BBY, the sect was militarily defeated during the Battle of Uquine when the Bureau of Ships and Services seeded the Pius Dea fleet with rogue navicomputers codes which caused much of the fleet to leap into hyperspace. Many of these Cathedral ships would remain trapped forever in the depths of unexplored space, unable to restart their engines.

The Jedi subsequent took over the machinery of the Republic with Grand Master Biel Ductavis assuming thechancellorship. Meanwhile, all members of the sect were removed from all positions of power including the Galactic Senate and their Supreme Temple on Coruscant was destroyed. The Pius Dea gradually died out within a few generations and the faith was considered extinct by the time of the Galactic Alliance. Despite the defeat of the Pius Dea, interspecies tensions between the Human-dominated Core Worlds and the predominantly alien Rimward territories lingered for millennia. These lingering tensions would be exploited by Darth Sidious during his rise to galactic dominance during the last decades of the Galactic Republic and the Clone Wars. The Pius Dea Spaceport existed on Coruscant millennia later.

SOURCE

The Great Manifest Period

The Republic's Great Manifest period (20,000–17,000 BBY) marked an increased movement into the Rimward territories of the Slice, which became known as the Expansion Region."

―From the text of The New Essential Chronology by Voren Na'al^[src]

The Great Manifest Period of the Galactic Republic was a span of time that lasted from 20,000 BBY to 17,018 BBY. It was characterized by increased movement into the Slice and the establishment of the Expansion Region in its Rimward territories. Even as the Republic expanded astrographically, the government expanded its bureaucracy. The limit of fifty systems per sector that had been set by the early Republic continued to be ignored, causing already burgeoning sectors in the newly colonized areas of galactic space to be virtually ungovernable. Additionally, the era featured the creation of the Metellos Trade Route, which connected Coruscant to Metellos and other points west of the galactic center. The new hyperspace route increased trade among the newly connected systems. Around 2,000 years thereafter, the bureaucracy expanded with the establishment of the Bureau of Ships and Services to regulate and manage transportation across the galactic community.

Culturally, the Republic was undergoing change, as well. Vianism, a religion that had developed among the Core Worlds, became non-extant on its generative planets; however, it spread into the expanding regions of the galaxy and took hold within the Kanz sector. Additionally, the famed Shawken Spire saw its destruction during the Great Manifest Period, an event that was remembered over 8,000 years later. All the while, outside of Republic space, the two planets Neona and Kamino underwent dramatic climate changes. These events, which began during the Great Manifest Period, caused extinction for the native species of Neona and forced adaption of the Kaminoan species. Nevertheless, the era and its corresponding boom were brought to an abrupt end by internal strife in the form of the First Alsakan Conflict.

Proem

See also: Expansionist Era

Following the creation of the Galactic Republic, the Expansionist Era featured steady but limited growth to Republic space until its terminus in 20,000 BBY. Most of the known galactic community was confined to the Core Worlds and other planets that lined the existing hyperspace routes of the Perlemian Trade Route and the early legs of the Corellian Run. Outside of Republic space, however, interstellar alliances, such as Hutt Space, the Herglic Trade Empire, and the Tion Cluster, existed along with numerous yet-unknown, but inhabited, worlds.^[2]
 
As the years passed, the Republic continued to expand. Exploration into the regions colloquially known as "Wild Space" and the blazing of new hyperspace routes were regarded as dangerous endeavors. The risks notwithstanding, the Republic was expanding into the area of space that later became known as "the Slice." By 100 years before the Great Manifest Period began, many worlds in the Inner Rim and Colonies had been settled.^[2] Additionally, some cultures had begun Rimward migration during this time. Among them, the Etti had fled the Core Worlds as a reaction to persecution at the hands of the what they viewed as the Republic's oppressive and tyrannical government. These people had terraformed the planet Etti IV and relocated outside of the Republic boundaries—and Coruscant's bureaucracy.^[5]

The galaxy during the Great Manifest Period

Commerce and politics

Early expansion and bureaucratic growth

The Great Manifest Period of the Galactic Republic began in 20,000 BBY. Planets such as Alsakan, Corellia, and Coruscant continued the trend of expansion and settlement deeper into "the Slice," populating the Expansion Region. The colonization and expansion had become institutionalized during this time, with companies and planets vying for resources and settlements. Corellia and Coruscant were able to stake claim to the choicest locations along hyperspace routes, however, prompting resentment to brood on Alsakan. Within the Slice proper, colonists and corporations from Alsakan and Coruscant aggressively competed for new systems in which to establish their hold, while Corellia largely staked its claim south of the galactic center.^[2]
 
About 20,000 BBY, the Core World planet Metellos was experiencing the domestic problems of overpopulation and a lack of trade. The planetary government commissioned a new hyperspace route to connect eastward, to Coruscant, with the intent of easing its struggle.^[6] Additionally, the planet hoped that the new hyperspace route would extend west of the Core in a manner analogous to the super-routes of the Perlemian Trade Route and the Corellian Run, which connected far-flung regions of space with the Core.^[2] When the route reached its completion, the new Metellos Trade Route connected eastward to Coruscant as desired,^[6] but the trail only extended westward to Orooturoo due to anomalous eddies within hyperspace west of the Core. Ultimately, trade with Coruscant marginally increased, but commercial traffic saw the most growth between Metellos and Orooturoo.^[2]
 
As the Republic burgeoned, so did its bureaucracy. With the growth of Republic space, new sectors were created and gained representation in the Galactic Senate, increasing the size of the governing body. Existing sectors also grew, in spite of the "Rule of Fifty"—a Republic law designed to limit the number of star systems in a single sector at fifty. As the growth of the Great Manifest Period continued, the rule was largely ignored, and some sectors became so large that they were rendered ungovernable.^[2]
 
The expansion of the Republic, combined with the increase in hyperspace travel and commerce among its member worlds, prompted the creation of the Bureau of Ships and Services (BoSS).^[2] The organization, created within the bureaucracy of the Republic, was designed to track movement of ships and goods through space, along with assigning transponder codes and tracking vessel ownership.^[7] The BoSS was said to have been created more than 1,000 years prior to the end of the Great Manifest Period,^[2] although it had also been remarked that the Bureau was created slightly later.^[7]

Prelude to conflict

As the Great Manifest Period unfolded, the differences between Core stalwarts Coruscant and Alsakan reached a pivotal juncture. Cultural and socio-political differences in the Core were being reflected in the Rimward reaches of the Republic. The citizens of Alsakan and daughter colonies neither viewed the Republic as the pinnacle of achievement nor aligned with large mega-corporations. They preferred and retained a more aristocratic philosophy and sought for less bureaucracy and greater local or planetary independence. At the same time, Coruscant and its corporate-political interests sought to attain a foothold as much of the Slice as possible in an effort to amass a stockpile of natural resources. The Slice largely divided into an Alsakani-dominant northern portion, including worlds along the Perlemian Trade Route, and a Coruscant-controlled southern half that became known as the "Exploitation Region."^[3]
 
The corporate conglomerates of Coruscant aggressively pushed further into the Rimward systems and acted against the Alsakani colonial efforts in their exploitation of the new-found worlds. The merchants evicted many of the colonists, who took refuge in Alsakani-aligned worlds along the Perlemian. Alsakan's envy of Coruscanti control, combined with a belief that the Republic was both too strong and centralized, prompted a deeper colonization campaign. Alsakan-led warships accompanied colonial efforts on resource-rich worlds, to which the so-called "Grand Companies" resisted. As a result, armed freighters of Duros merchants skirmished with the Alsakani vessels. The Coruscant-based Republic government backed its corporate interests and open conflict began in 17,018 BBY with the Republic assault and capture of the Alsakan colony Virujansi.^[3]

Culture

The early years of the Great Manifest Period marked the end of the religion Vianism within the Core Worlds. Vianism was an ancient belief system that originated in the Core Worlds and centered on worship of the goddess Via and her two likeness: the Beatific Countenance and the Glorious Radiance. Even though the religion died out in the Core, it was retained among the ancestors to the Argazdan civilization. These peoples then sent missionaries throughout the worlds of the Kanz sector, where the religion was revived with the conversion of the Lorrdians and Sipsk'ud.^[8]
On the Core World Shawken, the massive structure known as the Shawken Spire had reached low-orbit altitudes. Made from ancient building materials since its foundations over 700 years prior, the structure had grown in renown across the known galaxy. In 18,780 BBY, the iconic edifice that predated the Republic met its destruction.^[2] Also in the Core Worlds, the competition between Alsakan and Coruscant spilled over into linguistic usage. Alsakan was promoting the usage of the High Galactic language and alphabet, in place of Basic and Aurebesh, which were used on Coruscant.^[9]
 
SOURCE - CONTINUE READING

MEANWHILE, IN A GALAXY NOT SO FAR, FAR AWAY...

The fantasy creations of the "Star Wars" universe are strikingly similar to real planets in our own Milky Way galaxy. A super Earth in deep freeze? Think ice-planet "Hoth." And that distant world with double sunsets can't help but summon thoughts of sandy "Tatooine."
No indications of life have yet been detected on any of the nearly 2,000 scientifically confirmed exoplanets, so we don't know if any of them are inhabited by Wookiees or mynocks, or play host to exotic alien bar scenes (or even bacteria, for that matter).
Still, a quick spin around the real exoplanet universe offers tantalizing similarities to several Star Wars counterparts.

A more ancient Earth?
The most recently revealed exoplanet possessing Earth-like properties, Kepler-452b, might make a good stand-in for Coruscant -- the high-tech world seen in several Star Wars films whose surface is encased in a single, globe-spanning city. Kepler-452b belongs to a star system 1.5 billion years older than Earth's. That would give any technologically adept species more than a billion-year jump ahead of us. The denizens of Coruscant not only have an entirely engineered planetary surface, but an engineered climate as well. On Kepler-452b, conditions are growing markedly warmer as its star's energy output increases, a symptom of advanced age. If this planet (which is 1.6 times the size of Earth) were truly Earth-like, and if technological life forms were present, some climate engineering might be needed there as well.

City in the sky
Mining the atmospheres of giant gas planets is a staple of science fiction. NASA, too, has examined the question, and found that gases such as helium-3 and hydrogen could be extracted from the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune. Gas giants of all stripes populate the real exoplanet universe; in "The Empire Strikes Back," a gas giant called Bespin is home to a "Cloud City" actively involved in atmospheric mining. The toadstool-shaped city provides apparent refuge for a fleeing Princess Leia and company -- at least until Darth Vader wreaks his usual havoc.
Many of the gas giants found so far by instruments such as NASA's Kepler Space Telescope are so-called "hot Jupiters" -- star-hugging behemoths far too thoroughly barbecued to be proper sites for floating cities. One recent discovery, however, shows that gas "exogiants" can orbit their stars at distances remarkably similar to those in our solar system. An international astronomical team discovered a twin of our own Jupiter, orbiting its star at about the same distance as Jupiter is from the sun. The star, HIP 11915, is about the same age and composition as our sun, raising the possibility that its entire planetary system might be similar to ours. This not-so-hot Jupiter, about 186 light-years away from Earth, was detected using the 11.8-foot (3.6-meter) telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Bespin's atmospheric layers include a band of breathable air, ideal for floating cities. In our galaxy, emerging technology allows us to read out the components of real exoplanet atmospheres -- including gas giants (though so far none show signs of habitable layers). And tasting the atmospheres of smaller, rocky, potentially habitable exoplanets soon could be within reach. Astronomers using K2, the second planet-finding mission of the Kepler space telescope, recently detected three such planets orbiting a nearby dwarf star. The starlight shining through the atmospheres of these planets could reveal their composition in future observations.

Turn up the heat
The planet Mustafar, scene of an epic duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in "Revenge of the Sith," has a number of exoplanet counterparts. These molten, lava-covered worlds, such as Kepler-10b and Kepler-78b, are rocky planets in Earth's size range whose surfaces could well be perpetual infernos. Kepler-78b, roughly 20 percent larger than Earth, weighs in at twice Earth's mass; a comparable density means it could be composed of rock and iron. That might make it, like Mustafar, suitable for mining, although its extremely tight orbit around its sun-like star, along with scorching temperatures, provides an unlikely arena for industrial operations -- or for fencing with lightsabers.

Kepler-10b isn't much more pleasant. The first rocky world discovered using the Kepler telescope, it also hugs its sun, some 20 times closer than Mercury orbits ours. A balmy day on Kepler-10b means daytime highs of more than 2,500 Fahrenheit (1,371 Celsius), even hotter than lava flowing on Earth. The surface, free of any kind of atmosphere, might be boiling with iron and silicates.
At 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (1,982 Celsius), however, CoRoT-7b has Kepler-10b beat. This well-grilled planet, discovered in 2010 with France's CoRoT satellite, lies some 480 light-years away, and has a diameter 70 percent larger than Earth's, with nearly five times the mass. Possibly the boiled-down remnant of a Saturn-sized planet, its orbit is so tight that its star looms much larger in its sky than our sun appears to us, keeping its sun-facing surface molten.

Deep freeze
The planet OGLE-2005-BLG-390, nicknamed "Hoth," is a cold super-Earth that might be a failed Jupiter. Unable to grow large enough, it had to settle for a mass five times that of Earth and a surface locked in the deepest of deep freezes, with a surface temperature estimated at minus 364 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 220 Celsius). That most likely means no "Hoth"-style tauntauns to ride, or even formidably fanged abominable snowmen (aka "wampas"). Astronomers used an extraordinary planet-finding technique known as microlensing to find this world in 2005, one of the early demonstrations of this technique's ability to reveal exoplanets. In microlensing, backlight from a distant star is used to reveal planets around a star closer to us.

The planet lies toward the heart of the Milky Way, where a greater density of stars makes microlensing events more likely. The one-time event revealing the distant Hoth was captured by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment, or OGLE, and confirmed by other instruments.
We won't have to travel 20,000 light years, however, to visit icy worlds. Saturn's smoggy moon, Titan, where the Cassini spacecraft's Huygens probe landed in 2005, is pocked with methane lakes and socked in permanently with thick, hydrocarbon haze. The freeze is so deep that water ice is no different from rock. Another Saturn moon, Enceladus, looks like a snowball but harbors a subsurface ocean much like Jupiter's moon Europa, another ice ball with a likely ocean underneath. That ocean would be warmed by tidal flexing as the little moon orbits Jupiter.

Sunset? Make it a double
Luke Skywalker's home planet, Tatooine, is said to possess a harsh, desert environment, swept by sandstorms as it roasts under the glare of twin suns. Real exoplanets in the thrall of two or more suns are even harsher. Kepler-16b was the Kepler telescope's first discovery of a planet in a "circumbinary" orbit -- circling both stars, as opposed to just one, in a double-star system. This planet, however, is likely cold, about the size of Saturn, and gaseous, though partly composed of rock. It lies outside its two stars' "habitable zone," where liquid water could exist. And its stars are cooler than our sun, and probably render the planet lifeless. Of course, we could look on the bright side (so to speak). When the discovery was announced in 2011, Bill Borucki, the now-retired NASA principal investigator for Kepler at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, said finding the new planet might actually broaden the prospects for life in our galaxy. About half of all stars belong to binary systems, so the fact that planets form around these, as well as around single stars, can only increase the odds.

A more recently announced exoplanet, Kepler-453b, is also a circumbinary and a gas giant, though its orbit within its star's habitable zone means any moons it might have could be hospitable to life. It was the tenth circumbinary planet discovered using the Kepler telescope.

Ocean world
Kepler-22b, analog to the Star Wars planet Kamino (birthplace of the army of clone soldiers)), is a super-Earth that could be covered in a super ocean. Watery, storm-drenched Kamino makes its appearance in "Attack of the Clones."

The jury is still out on Kepler-22b's true nature; at 2.4 times Earth's radius, it might even be gaseous. But if the ocean world idea turns out to be right, we can envision a physically plausible Kamino-like planet, with the help of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. An ocean world tipped on its side -- a bit like our solar system's ice giant, Uranus -- turns out to be comfortably habitable based on recent computer modeling. Researchers found that an exoplanet in Earth's size range, at a comparable distance from its sun and covered in water, could have an average surface temperature of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius). Because of its radical tilt, its north and south poles would be alternately bathed in sunlight and darkness, for half a year each, as the planet circled its star.

Scientists previously thought such a planet would seesaw between boiling and freezing, rendering it uninhabitable. But the MIT scientists' three-dimensional model showed that the planet, even with a relatively shallow ocean of about 160 feet (50 meters), would absorb heat during its odd polar summer and release it in winter. That would keep the overall climate mild and spring-like year round.
The shallow depth, by the way, would be ideal for Kamino-style ocean platforms, allowing construction of covered cities at the ocean surface, where armies of clones could march and drill in peace.

Fly me to the exomoon
Endor, the forested realm of the Ewoks, orbits a gas giant and was introduced in "Return of the Jedi." Detection of exomoons -- that is, moons circling distant planets -- is still in its infancy for scientists here on Earth. A possible exomoon was observed in 2014 via microlensing. It will remain forever unconfirmed, however, since each microlensing event can be seen only once. If the exomoon is real, it orbits a rogue planet, unattached to a star and wandering freely through space. The planet might have hung on to its moon after somehow being ejected during the early history of a forgotten planetary system. A team of Japanese, New Zealand, and American astronomers analyzed data gathered in 2011 with telescopes in New Zealand and Tasmania, and suggested the possible exomoon. They said a small star accompanied by a large planet also could have caused the same lensing effect.

More exomoons might soon be popping out from the depths of space. The Harvard-based Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler, or HEK, has begun to scour data from Kepler for signs of them. In early 2015, the researchers examined about 60 Kepler planets and determined that existing technology is sufficient to capture evidence of exomoons.

The hunt could have powerful implications in the search for life beyond Earth. If exomoons are shown to be potentially habitable, it would open another avenue for biology; habitable moons might even outnumber habitable planets. Could they have bustling ecosystems, with life forms even more exotic than Endor's living teddy bears, swinging between trees Tarzan-style? Stay tuned.

Breaking up is hard to do
In “A New Hope,” Princess Leia’s home planet, Alderaan, is blown to smithereens by the Empire’s Death Star as she watches in horror. Real exoplanets also can experience extreme destruction. A white dwarf star was caught in the act of devouring the last bits of a small planet in 2015, observed with the help of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. White dwarfs are super-dense stellar remnants about the size of Earth, but with gravity more than 10,000 times that of our sun's surface. Tidal forces could rip a planet caught in its pull to shreds.

Observers thought at first they were seeing a black hole in the act of feeding inside a star cluster on the Milky Way's rim. X-ray observations, however, matched theoretical models of a planet being torn apart by a white dwarf.

A similar observation of a closer white dwarf was made by K2 in 2014. In this case, a tiny rocky object, probably an asteroid, was being vaporized into little more than a dusty ring as it whipped around the star every 4.5 hours.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope also picked up signs of debris from a likely asteroid collision in 2014. But rather than a sign of planetary destruction, the colliding asteroids could be part of a construction site. This young star -- about 1,200 light years away and only 35 million years old -- is surrounded by a ring of dust where such collisions are frequent. The smashed and broken bits fuse into larger and larger agglomerations, eventually forming full-sized planets.

Our own solar system might once have looked very similar, if anyone was watching.
NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, manages the Kepler and K2 missions for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, managed Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. operates the flight system with support from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope for NASA.

SOURCE - NASA

SYNED, ELSHANDRUU PICA, ANDASALA, DREXEL

Syned was an ice-covered planet in the Syned system, in Grumani sector. During the Republic Dark Age, Syned was under the control of Sith Lord Chagras, but after his death, it fell into the hands of his daughter Arkadia Calimondra.

Description

Located in a cluster of blue newborn stars, Syned was captured relatively recently, in astronomical terms, by its weak sun. Because of this, the planet's rotation period was extremely short. However, the heavy molten core of Syned counter-balanced the planet's fast rotation to produce a standard gravity environment. Syned was orbited by an adolescent star, therefore its surface was entirely covered in ice and snow. The planet had little oxygen in its atmosphere, making it necessary for members of most sentient species to don an environmental suit when outdoors. Physicists during the Republic Dark Age expected the planet to eventually tidally lock to its parent star, thawing the dayside. Its surface had a tortured appearance, with shattered ice sheets broken by ancient tectonic activity frozen into place.

Syned was home to at least two non-sentient species: giant ice lizards known as beralyxes and Synedian algae. The latter thrived in the seas beneath the ice sheets covering the planet's surface. Synedian algae were used as both a source of fuel and food, being extracted through thermal veins and then processed at algae processing plants. Without these algae processing plants, Syned would be unable to sustain any civilization. The planet's reclamation facilities were also used to extract underwater minerals at a rate of one miligram at a time.
The Dravian Starport was eventually built to serve as a waypoint between Syned and the desert world of Cotellier.

History

New Sith Wars

At some point between 1066 BBY and 1040 BBY, Syned was under the control of Sith Lord Chagras.
After Chagras' death in 1040 BBY, the world came into the possession of the Sith Lord Arkadia Calimondra and served as the capital of her realm. In 1032 BBY, the Jedi Knight Kerra Holt and Rusher's Brigade mercenary leader Jarrow Rusher escaped from Syned, damaging much of the city of Calimondretta.

Galactic Civil War

Eventually, through the use of protective domes and underground cities, a small outpost was established on the planet. This outpost eventually became a successful transfer station due to its proximity to the Duros Space Run. However, its importance eventually led to the Empire establishing a presence on the world. During the Imperial Period, each city was governed by a councilor who were very loyal to the Imperial governor. The Empire maintained a fairly tight control of the planet and a noticeable military presence.

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Elshandruu Pica

"Get us into the Quence Sector, Elshandruu Pica. I have friends there."
―Corran Horn, to Keevy Spart

Elshandruu Pica was a planet in the Elshandruu system of the Quence sector, in the Outer Rim.

Description

The planet was known as a health resort. Within an asteroid belt used as a staging area for pirates, Elshandruu Pica had a red moon and two white moons in its orbit.
Its capital was Picavil. The city was the site of a conglomerate of bars, casinos, and restaurants owned and operated by Kina Margath. Picavil also had a spaceport.
When Serv-O-Droid, Inc. went bankrupt, it operated in name only through a remainder house on Elshandruu Pica.

History

During the Galactic Civil War, the planet was ruled by Imperial Moff Riit Jandi. At some point, Captain Sair Yonka and the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Avarice went to Elshandruu Pica and fought the pirates in the neighboring asteroid belt. He later kept a suite in the 27th Hour Social Club and used it to secretly meet the Moff's wife, Aellyn.

Corellian commodities shipper Tev Driscull lost his ship, the Lantillian Short Hauler Nova Whisper, to the privateer Dharus while they were at Elshandruu Pica.

During the Bacta War, Rogue Squadron's members went to Elshandruu Pica in order to convince Sair Yonka to defect. He accepted and joined the New Republic to fight Ysanne Isard.

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Andasala

Andasala was a mining world, located on the Llanic Spice Run in the Andasala system near Svivren.

Description

A haven for criminals and pirates, the world was settled as a mining colony for Gesenix Mining. Seeing a flood of settlers after word of its lush natural resource supply spread, many colonists came from nearby Svivren.

Andasala was a notable transshipment point in the spice trade.

History

Discovered after the Ruusan Reformation of the Galactic Republic, Andasala remained outside the Republic's borders throughout its history.

Avoiding the Clone Wars, Andasala attracted attention during the Galactic Civil War, as many Imperial battles were fought along the shipping lanes surrounding the world. It wasn't until the rise of crime lord Valis Lorn that the world began to nationalize, with the settlements further developing and cleaning up, as the seeder parts were cleared out and made relatively safe. With Lorn's cartel running the government, the small time criminals were driven offworld. The Devaronian Sires Vant ran a money-lending system on the planet. Establishing the Andasala Achievement News, the inhabitants of the world stayed on top of galactic events.

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Drexel

Drexel was the sole planet in the Drexel system. It was a water world, home to the sentient Sea-dragons.

History

Old Republic era

The Jedi Knights exiled the corrupt Governor Quarg to Drexel, along with his fellow Human pirates. There, the pirates and their descendants created a unique civilization, centered around a sailing ship that was a mobile city. Quarg was succeeded by his equally corrupt son, the younger Governor Quarg. Some of the inhabitants of the city-ship revolted against Quarg's tyranny. The rebels created a new civilization. They used technology to communicate with native Sea-dragons, with whom they formed a symbiotic lifestyle, and thus became known as Dragon Lords. The Sea-dragons willingly allowed the rebels to ride them and took the rebels to dwell in underwater caves. The Dragon Lords waged constant war on Quarg. The baby Sea-dragons infested the city-ship, acting as spies. The crew of the city-ship ignored the babies, thinking them mere lizards, not realizing they were young Sea-dragons.
Imperial era

Many years later, the Dragon Lords finally defeated Quarg's son with the help of Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, R2-D2, Chewbacca, and C-3PO, during the Battle of Drexel. Han Solo defeated the pirate Crimson Jack in orbit over Drexel.
 

Meh...

·  People who live in glass houses shouldn't have sex.
·  It takes 42 muscles to frown, but only 14 to raise your middle finger.
·  I dream of a world where chickens can freely cross the road without having their motives questioned.
·  Even duct tape can't fix stupid. But it can muffle the sound.
·  Who the fuck had been cutting everybody's grass during the zombie apocalypse!?
·  When I say, "It's a long story", it really means I just don't want to tell you.
·  Don't try to explain yourself to stupid people. You're not the Jackass Whisperer.
·  Next time you fart, turn to the nearest person and say, "Did you hear that asshole talking shit behind my back?"
·  Beware of the dog. The cat us pretty shady as fuck also.
·  Paranormal Activity 4. Because people are stupid enough to pay to watch the same movie a fourth time.
·  The rising new trend is "Anal Bleaching". Usually, I oppose such activities, but I think some assholes need to lighten up
·  My bed is a magical place where I suddenly remember everything that I was supposed to do.
·  Yes, I walked away mid-conversation. You were boring me to death and my survival instincts kicked in.
·  Chuck Norris doesn't flush the toilet. He scares the shit out of it.
·  I love booze, booze loves me, Holy shit I have to pee, So drunk falling on the floor, alcoholic dinosaur
·  How much better would life be if a liar's pants actually caught on fire?
·  While running today, I thought I heard someone clapping. It turns out, it was just my butt cheeks cheering me on.
·  It is my life goal to open a milkshake shop and name it "The Yard".
·  I don't fart...I whisper in my pants. Sometimes, it's a SCREAM!
·  I did a push-up today. Well, I fell down, but I had to use my arms to get back up...close enough.
·  Listen, smile, agree, and then do whatever the fuck you were going to do anyway.
·  I pretend to like people everyday. It's called being an adult. That's why we're allowed to buy alcohol.
·  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and from time to time it may be necessary to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.
·  I know what women want. They want you to drag them to the bedroom, throw them on the bed and do dirty......dishes while they nap.
·  Sometimes, I have to tell myself. "It's just not worth the jail time."
·  It's been scientifically proven that too many birthdays can kill you...
·  In alcohol's defense, we've all done some pretty stupid shit while sober, too.
·  We will be FRIENDS until we are old and senile...then we will be NEW FRIENDS.
·  I don't have Attention Deficit Disorder, I have "This Isn't Interesting Enough to Pay Attention" disorder.
·  4 out of 5 dentists agree that lying through your teeth does not count as flossing.
·  #ThatAwkwardMoment when you think you do a silent fart and it comes out like a machine gun.
·  I got 99 problems. You're 98 of them.
·  I love everybody. Some I love to be around, some I love to avoid, and others I love to punch in the face.
·  Exercise? I thought you said, "Extra Fries".
·  If you don't have anything nice to say, say it sarcastically.
·  Washington DC is the real life version of Planet Spaceball
·  Nothing cures insomnia like the realization it is time to get up.
·  Kids have so much energy because they siphon it out if their parents like midget gasoline thieves.
·  I hate when people ask what I'm doing tomorrow... I don't even know what I'm doing now!
·  I'm taking a sick day because I'm sick of people.
·  Pack your bags! We're going on a guilt trip!
·  It's a beautiful day. I think I'll skip my meds and stir things up a bit.
·  Just got a Cheerio stuck between my toes whilst walking through the kitchen. Clearly, my dog isn't doing his part of the chores around here.
·  I'm so old I remember when a hashtag was called a pound sign. And we played tic-tac-toe on that shit.
·  Don't you wish people could be like money, so you could hold them up to the sun and see which ones are fake and who are real.
· Save energy by turning off lights. You wouldn't like if someone turned you on and left.

Werewolves

Many European countries and cultures have stories of werewolves, including Albania (oik) , France (loup-garou), Greece (lycanthropos), Spain, Mexico (hombre lobo), Bulgaria (valkolak), Turkey (kurtadam), Czech Republic/Slovakia (vlkodlak), Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia (vukodlak / вукодлак), Russia (vourdalak , оборотень), Ukraine (vovkulak(a), vurdalak(a), vovkun, перевертень), Croatia (vukodlak), Poland (wilkołak), Romania (vârcolac, priculici), Macedonia (vrkolak), Scotland (werewolf, wulver), England (werewolf), Ireland (faoladh or conriocht), Germany (Werwolf), the Netherlands (weerwolf), Denmark/Sweden/Norway (Varulv), Norway/Iceland (kveld-ulf,varúlfur), Galicia(lobisón), Portugal/Brazil (lobisomem), Lithuania (vilkolakis and vilkatlakis), Latvia (vilkatis and vilkacis), Andorra (home llop), Hungary (Vérfarkas and Farkasember), Estonia (libahunt), Finland (ihmissusi and vironsusi), and Italy (lupo mannaro). In northern Europe, there are also tales about people changing into animals including bears, and wolves.

The legends of ulfhednar mentioned in Vatnsdœla saga, Haraldskvæði and the Völsunga saga may be a source of the werewolf legends. The ulfhednar were vicious fighters similar to the better known berserkers, who were dressed in bear hides and reputed to channel the spirits of these animals to enhance effectiveness in battle; these warriors were resistant to pain and killed viciously in battle, much like wild animals. Ulfhednar and berserkers are closely associated with the Norse god Odin.

In Latvian folklore, the vilkacis referred to someone transformed into a wolflike monster which could be benevolent at times.[citation needed] A closely related collection of stories concern the skin-walkers. The vilkacis and skin-walkers probably have a common origin in Proto-Indo-European society, where a class of young unwed warriors were apparently associated with wolves.

Shape-shifters similar to werewolves are common in tales from all over the world, though most of them involve animal forms other than wolves. See lycanthropy and therianthropy for more information.

In Greek mythology, the story of Lycaon provides one of the earliest examples of a werewolf legend. According to one version, Lycaon was transformed into a wolf as a result of eating human flesh; one of those who were present at periodical sacrifice on Mount Lycaon was said to suffer a similar fate. The Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder, quoting Euanthes,[5] says that a man of Anthius' family was selected by lot and brought to a lake in Arcadia, where he hung his clothing on an ash tree and swam across, resulting in his transformation into a wolf, a form in which he wandered for nine years. On the condition that he attacked no human being over the nine year period, he would be free to swim back across the lake to resume human form. The two stories are probably identical, though we hear nothing of participation in the Lycaean sacrifice by the descendant of Antaeus. Herodotus in his Histories[6] tells us that the Neuri, a tribe he places to the north-east of Scythia, were annually transformed for a few days, and Virgil is familiar with transformation of human beings into wolves.[7] In the novel Satyricon, written about year 60 by Gaius Petronius, one of the characters recites a story about a man who turns into a wolf during a full moon.

Common Turkic folklore holds a different, reverential light to the werewolf legends in that Turkic Central Asian shamans after performing long and arduous rites would voluntarily be able to transform into the humanoid "Kurtadam" (literally meaning Wolfmen). Since the wolf was the totemic ancestor animal of the Turkic peoples, they would be respectful of any shaman who was in such a form.

According to Armenian lore, there are women who in consequence of deadly sins, are condemned to spend seven years in wolfen form.[8] In a typical account, a condemned woman is visited by a wolfskin-toting spirit, who orders her to wear the skin, soon after which she acquires frightful cravings for human flesh. With her better nature overcome, the she-wolf devours each of her own children, then her relatives' children in order of relationship, and finally the children of strangers. She wanders only at night, with doors and locks springing open at her approach. When morning arrives, she reverts to human form and removes her wolfskin. The transformation is generally said to be involuntary, but there are alternate versions involving voluntary metamorphosis, where the women can transform at will.

France had a multitude of reports of werewolf attacks -- and consequent court trials -- during the sixteenth century. In some of the cases — e.g. those of the Gandillon family in the Jura, the tailor of Chalons and Roulet in Angers, all occurring in the year 1598 — there was clear evidence against the accused of murder and cannibalism, but none of association with wolves; in other cases, as that of Gilles Garnier in Dole in 1573, there was clear evidence against some wolf, but none against the accused. Yet while belief in lycanthropy reached a peak in popularity, it was decided in the case of Jean Grenier at Bordeaux in 1603 that lycanthropy was nothing more than a delusion. The loup-garou eventually ceased to be regarded as a dangerous heretic, and reverted to the pre-Christian notion of a "man-wolf-fiend".

Some werewolf lore in France is based on documented events. The Beast of Gévaudan terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan in south-central France (it is now called Lozère). From the years 1764 to 1767, an unknown entity killed upwards of 80 men, women and children[citation needed]. The creature was described as a giant wolf by the sole survivor of the attacks, which ceased after several wolves were killed in the area.

The lubins or lupins of France were usually female and shy in contrast to the aggressive loup-garous.[citation needed]

In sixteenth century Prussia, Livonia and Lithuania, according to bishops Olaus Magnus and Majolus, the werewolves were far more destructive than "true and natural wolves", and their heterodoxy appears from the Catholic bishops' assertion that they formed "an accursed college" of those "desirous of innovations contrary to the divine law."

Wolves were still found in England as of 1600, but became extinct by 1680. At the beginning of the seventeenth century the punishment of witchcraft was still zealously prosecuted by James I of England, who piously[9] regarded "warwoolfes" as victims of delusion induced by "a natural superabundance of melancholic".

Werewolves in European tradition were often innocent and God-fearing folk suffering from the witchcraft of others, or simply from an unhappy fate, and who as wolves behaved in a truly touching fashion, adoring and protecting their human benefactors. In Marie de France's poem Bisclaveret (c. 1200), the nobleman Bisclavret, for reasons not described in the lai, had to transform into a wolf every week. When his treacherous wife stole his clothing needed to restore his human form, he escaped the king's wolf hunt by imploring the king for mercy, and accompanied the king thereafter. His behaviour at court was so much gentler than when his wife and her new husband appeared at court, that his hateful attack on the couple was deemed justly motivated, and the truth was revealed. Other tales of this sort include William and the Werewolf (translated from French into English ca.1350), and the German fairy tales Märchen, in which several aristocrats temporarily transform into beasts. See Snow White and Rose Red, where the tame bear is really a bewitched prince, and The Golden Bird where the talking fox is also a man.

The power of transforming others into wild beasts was attributed not only to malignant sorcerers, but to Christian saints as well. Omnes angeli, boni et mali, ex virtute naturali habent potestatem transmutandi corpora nostra ("All angels, good and bad have the power of transmutating our bodies") was the dictum of St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Patrick was said to have transformed the Welsh king Vereticus into a wolf; St. Natalis supposedly cursed an illustrious Irish family whose members were each doomed to be a wolf for seven years. In other tales the divine agency is even more direct, while in Russia, again, men are supposedly become werewolves when incurring the wrath of the Devil.

THE FORCE ABILITIES OF DARTH SIDIOUS

Here's just a few of Palpatine's Force feats.

*Force Storms

 
* Force-based subjugation of ~20 billion sentients and the simultaneous leeching of their life energy

 
* Corrupting an entire planet, transforming it from a neutral territory to "one of the most powerful dark side sites in the galaxy"

 
* Blunting the Force sensitivity of ~10,000 collective Jedi for over a decade
* Slaughtering trained Force Jedi with a single bursts of Force energy on one's death bed.

 
* Disintegrating highly trained Sith acolytes with a single gout of Sith lightning.
* Destroying ~50 armored stormtroopers with a single gout of Sith lightning
* Shrugging off a Force-enhanced explosion from the energy of a Force-user powerful enough to manipulate a Star Destroyer.

 
* Manipulating the minds of seasoned thousands (perhaps millions) of fleet officers and members.

 
* Mindwipe the people of Coruscant to make them forget the burial of a star destroyer.

CORUSCANT

The Galactic Center of Coruscant (pronounced /’kʊɹəsɑnt/), originally called Notron, also known as Imperial Center or the Queen of the Core, was the political hub of the galaxy for millennia. It was generally agreed that Coruscant was, during most of Galactic history, the most politically important world in the galaxy. At various times, it was the capital of the Galactic Republic, the Galactic Empire, the New Republic, briefly the Empire Reborn, the New Republic again, the Yuuzhan Vong Empire occupation, the Galactic Alliance, the Fel Empire and Darth Krayt’s Galactic Empire. These governments, that all controlled Coruscant, controlled the galaxy in the process.

A large number of the galaxy’s trade routes—including the Perlemian Trade Route, the Corellian Run, the Metellos Trade Route, the Koros Trunk Line, and the Leisure Corridor—went through Coruscant, making it one of the richest worlds in the galaxy. Tellingly, the planet’s hyperspace coordinates were (0,0,0), and the military designation was Triple Zero. Accordingly, it was the main planet of the all-important ‘Sector Zero’, a military designation for the Coruscant and surrounding systems.

The actual planet-wide metropolis of Coruscant was divided into smaller ‘cities’, (though each was the size of the average country by most standards). Among these was the administrative center, known as Galactic City, Republic City, Coruscant City or the City of Spires under the Galactic Republic, Imperial City during the rule of the Galactic Empire, and New Republic City under the New Republic, and later Yuuzhan’tar when the planet was under Yuuzhan Vong control.

Description

Surface
Geologically, the planet was composed of a molten core with a rocky mantle and a silicate rock crust. At its poles were huge ice caps that were popular spots for tourists.
The entire surface of Coruscant was covered by sprawling kilometers-high skyscrapers and cities, and boasted a population of over a hundred billion to several trillion, depending on the era. Following the end of the Clone Wars, an official census noted 1 trillion official permanent residents. The statistics did not include transients, temporary workers, unregistered populace nor residents of orbital facilities. Because of these omissions, the “real” population of Coruscant was estimated to be three times the official amount.

Night view of the Senate District from 500 Republica, c. 19 BBY.

Coruscanti skyscrapers dwarfed all the original natural features, including mountains, as well as floors of oceans which once covered a large proportion of Coruscant’s surface. Areas of Galactic City were broken up into levels, megablocks, blocks, and subblocks. Coruscant itself was divided into quadrants, which were divided into zones. Below the skyscrapers was Coruscant’s undercity, where sunlight never reached. Artificial lighting illuminated these lower levels and advertisement holograms could be seen everywhere. There were numerous establishments for entertainment, catering to a myriad of alien species. The residents were collectively referred to as Twilighters.

Water
Coruscant was once a world mostly covered in oceans. However, all natural bodies of water were drained and stored in vast caverns beneath the city as a result of years of overpopulation. The only body of water visible was the artificial Western Sea, with many artificially-created islands floating on it, used by tourists on holidays.

With no other bodies of water available to feed and water its trillion inhabitants, Coruscant’s architects, along with many others from around the galaxy, worked together to build a self-contained eco-system in the massive buildings set all over the planet. Polar cap stations also melted ice and distributed water throughout the planetwide city through a complex series of pipes.

Pipes bring water from Coruscant’s polar regions.

Manarai Mountains
One of the few pieces of Coruscant’s landmass that were left untouched were the Manarai Mountains, twin peaks that stuck up out of the ground near the famous Imperial Palace. The Manarai Mountains included the tallest peak, Umate; many floating restaurants; Monument Plaza; and were home to the Flames of Umate cult. It was beneath the Manarai Mountains that the Lusankya was hidden. The mountains were destroyed during the Yuuzhan Vong assault on Coruscant.

Neighborhoods
Galactic City was divided into quadrants, “several thousand” in number, with each quadrant further split into sectors. Each sector was numbered on official maps, but sectors often had nicknames, such as Sah’c Town (sector H-46, named for a prominent family that owned a large portion of its land) and The Works, the largest of Coruscant’s designated industrial zones. (Coruscant practiced zoning, which is the designation of specific areas of land for particular purposes, such as governmental and senatorial, financial (including banking zones), residential, commercial, industrial, and manufacturing. Manufacturing and industrial zones were typically the largest designated areas of the planet.) The Works was once one of the galaxy’s major manufacturing areas, where spacecraft parts, droids, and building materials were heavily produced during centuries, but as construction and industry became more efficient and cheaper away from Coruscant, The Works fell into disrepair. It gained a reputation as a hub of criminal activity and many locals stayed away from it. A similar, but more dangerous area, was the Factory District, which was once the industrial heart of Coruscant until it too lost out to competition from producers in other Core Worlds. By the time of the Great Jedi Purge it lay in ruins and was almost completely deserted of sentients, because of the feral droids that prowled its streets. It was located on the opposite side of the planet, and was much more dangerous than the Southern Underground, Invisible Sector, which were infamous in their own right. Another area of Coruscant was CoCo Town (short for “collective commerce”). Many diverse species lived there and worked in manufacturing. A partially enclosed open-air plaza near the Senate building, the Column Commons, was so-called because it housed most of the HoloNet and news media corporations.

The multi-layered surface of Coruscant.

Livability
Coruscant also orbited relatively far from its small star Coruscant Prime, ranging from 207 million to 251 million km. Thus, Coruscant did not naturally have a climate suitable for Humans. Coruscant’s Humans countered this by erecting a series of orbital mirrors that reflected the sun’s warmth and light. Several of these mirrors would be destroyed in the Battle of Coruscant during the Clone Wars, although it is unknown whether this had any lasting effect. It is known that thunderstorms and rain occurred during 19 BBY and 3 ABY, possibly as an effect of the altered sunlight from the remaining mirrors.

The planet produced trillions of tons of waste an hour. Though almost everything on the planet, from clothes to packaging and machinery, was recyclable, some waste was too dangerous to recycle such as worn-out hyperdrive cores were delivered to one of five-thousand garbage pits on Coruscant, there they were put into canisters and chemically shot into a tight orbit around Coruscant where garbage ships would collect them and transport them to nearby moons for storage. Some of the most dangerous materials were shot into the nearby sun and completely incinerated. Garbage not exported or destroyed was mixed into a slurry of silicone oils and processed by garbage worms who chewed it into pellets removing any remaining organics, plastic, or recoverable metals. They turned millions of tons of pellets into carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases. Another problem for a world like Coruscant was the unimaginable amount of carbon dioxide and heat energy that its trillion-being population generated each day, so thousands of carbon dioxide-reactive atmospheric dampeners were put into place in the upper atmosphere to prevent atmospheric degeneration. The first set of these planet-wide dampeners, developed by the Galactic Republic, was known as the Coruscant Atmospheric Reclamation Project.

Near the planet’s core were a number of massive power relay stations. The lowest levels were abandoned to mutants and scavengers, such as the cannibalistic, mythical Cthons. The foundations of many of the buildings, some of which weighed billions of tons, also extended deep into the planet’s crust.

Galactic Standard Time was developed on Coruscant and revolved around the hours in a single Coruscant day, 24, with 368 local days a year.

Public Safety
The Public Safety Department was in charge of preventing situations that might endanger the public’s safety. Fire fighting, rescue and cleanup was performed by the Coruscant Rescue Ops which dealt mainly with the tens of thousands of ships that were in the capital. Each planetary district maintained their own teams. Law enforcement was provided mostly by the Coruscant Police Force. They were assisted, at various times, by the Jedi Order, Judicial Forces, the Republic Security Force, clone troopers of the GAR, the Coruscant Guard, the Stormtrooper Corps, the Coruscant Planetary Defense Force, the New Jedi Order, the Galactic Alliance Guard, and Galactic Alliance Security. Police droids were also used. The CoCo District maintained its own constabulary force.

Panoramic view of the planetary cityscape of Coruscant from the High Council Chamber

Defenses
As of the Battle of Coruscant during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Coruscant had a four tier defense system. The first and “uppermost” tier was a series of mines. These were deactivated during the Battle of Coruscant at the behest of Lando Calrissian because he believed that they would do more harm than good, only to be reactivated by Calrissian later when the attacking Vong fleet was in the midst of it, thus trapping many more foes.

The second tier was a series of Golan Defense Platforms, mostly Golan II types. The command platform was dubbed “Orbital Defense One” and was larger than its cousins. Most of these were destroyed when the Vong broke through New Republic lines, including Orbital Defense One.
The third tier was a massive planetary shield, controlled by a series of relays on the surface of Coruscant. The shield seems to have worked by some kind of dispersion of energy released onto the shield. The Vong employed a tactic which involved waves of kamikaze ships crashing into the shield, overloading the relays, and effectively bringing it down.

The fourth and last tier was an array of rooftop turbolasers, akin to the point-defense systems on some capital ships. Some were operated automatically, others by Human gunners and astromech droids. Also counted was the proton bomb in the Chief of State’s office, which was detonated when Vong soldiers occupied the Imperial Palace. The explosion destroyed the building housing the office, and the data towers on Coruscant.

It is unknown as to whether the Galactic Alliance incorporated these same defenses during the rebuilding of Coruscant.

The Works landscape.

History
Pre-Republic
The very early history of Coruscant is a bit sketchy and is not well known. Coruscant was considered by many to be the Human homeworld. Millennia ago, the Celestials could have removed Humans from Coruscant with which to populate Corellia.

Around 200,000 BBY, the near-Human Taungs attempted to conquer the 13 baseline Human nations of the Battalions of Zhell. A volcano decimated the Zhell, the ash filling the skies for two years, so the Taungs adopted the name Dha Werda Verda (Warriors of Shadow) for themselves. The Human Zhell eventually recovered and drove the Taungs offworld.

One hundred millennia later, Coruscant was surveyed by the Columi, who dismissed the planet as a primitive disappointment, despite the already planet-spanning ecumenopolis of Galactic City. New buildings were built on the old. As a result, there was virtually no exposed land. In the forgotten underlevels of the city, there was darkness, pollution and crime. Higher up, there were government offices and penthouses owned by the elite. The lower fifty levels of the ecumenopolis is said to have last seen sunlight around 95,000 BBY.

Coruscant was one of many worlds conquered by the Infinite Empire of the Rakata, who used Human slaves to build the Star Forge in 30,000 BBY. Under Rakatan domination, the Humans of Coruscant’s colonization attempts were limited to sleeper ships, which ended up on Alderaan, in the Tion Cluster, Seoul 5, Kuat, Alsakan, Axum, Anaxes, Atrisia, Metellos, Corulag, and many other worlds. The Rakata were eventually decimated by a massive plague, leading to slave revolutions on Coruscant and other subjugated worlds.

Over the next two centuries, Coruscant was linked to other Core Worlds, including Corellia, Alderaan, New Plympto and Duro, by hyperspace cannons, via the Herglic Trade Empire. It was during this time that the Coruscant government peacefully absorbed the nearby Azure Imperium. During these pre-Republic years, the languages of Coruscant and its neighbors meshed to become Old Galactic Standard.

Coruscant at the time of the Great Galactic War

Early Republic
In 25,053 BBY, the Corellians and Duros invented the hyperdrive proper, allowing Coruscant to become the capital of a democratic union: the Galactic Republic. 53 years later the planet became the galactic centre, and remained the Republic’s capital for twenty five thousand years. Shortly after the formation of the Republic, the Perlemian Trade Route was mapped, linking Coruscant to Ossus and bringing the Jedi Knights into the Republic. Over the next millennium, the Corellian Run was mapped, linking Coruscant to Corellia and beyond. Blasters were also invented on Coruscant around this time, and the famous Galactic Museum was constructed in 12,000 BBY.

From the very beginning, Coruscant, as the Republic’s capital, was the primary objective in several wars. The earliest among these was the Tionese War with the Honorable Union of Desevro and Tion in 24,000 BBY, in which Coruscant was bombarded with Tionese pressure bombs. Other early battles included the Alsakan Conflicts, the Duinuogwuin Contention, the Great Hyperspace War, the Third Great Schism, the Great Droid Revolution, and the Great Sith War.

Following the devastation of Ossus, the Jedi Council took up residence in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, to which many Jedi relics from Ossus were taken. The Temple was greatly expanded, including the building of the original Jedi Council Chamber. The Temple was repeatedly expanded including in 3,519 BBY, 2,519 BBY (when the Jedi Archives were built), 2,019 BBY, and 1,000 BBY (when the Temple spires were finally fully rebuilt).

At some point, the Senate Rotunda was founded, replacing the previous assembly place. The exterior of this massive structure would survive the planet’s transformation into the new Yuuzhan’tar.

The Sacking of Coruscant in 3,653 BBY.

SOURCE