Utapau/Legends

"Chancellor Palpatine thinks Grievous is on Utapau..."

- Ki-Adi Mundi

Utapau was an arid sinkhole world in the Utapau system of the Tarabba Sector in the Outer Rim Territories. Utapau was the homeworld of the Pau'ans and the Utai, more commonly referred to collectively as Utapauns. These species lived in the many giant sinkholes that dotted the planet's scrub-covered surface.

Geology and geography


51,000 light years from the core, Utapau orbited a single sun and was itself orbited by nine moons. It was composed of a small molten metallic core, with a rocky mantle and rocky, calcerous crust. Surface water made up only 0.9% of the planet, although most significantly, a vast subterranean ocean encircled the planet below the crust. Although, extensive surface oceans once covered the planet, they leaked away to the subterranean ocean through the readily eroded crust through vast caverns that were once giant magma chambers. In turn, the erosive sea has contributed to the giant sinkholes throughout its windswept and grassy habitable areas. The resulting vast mineral deposits below the ocean are a great source of wealth for the planet.

Sinkholes
Sinkholes on Utapau were a common geological feature that appeared in areas where the rock below the surface of the land is made from substances like salt beds, limestone, carbonate rock (which is referred to as a karst landscape) that can be dissolved by ground water flowing through them. This rock can also be weakened by acidic rain. When these rocks dissolve, large spaces develop underneath until it gets too big and the land above the gap collapses. Naturally-occurring sinkholes are also created by long periods of drought, or when caves with underground streams naturally give way.

History


Utapau was a peaceful world that attempted to remain neutral in times of galactic conflict. The sinkhole world was shared by two symbiotic near-Human races whose ancestors settled the planet in 57,019 BBY. The languid, gray-skinned Pau'ans comprised only thirty percent of the planetary population, but served as the port masters, bureaucrats and patricians of the world. The stubby, humble Utai comprised the Utapaun labor class, maintaining the windmills of their sinkhole cities and serving as handlers for the native varactyl and dactillion dragonmounts.



Originally, the Pau'ans and the Utai lived separate lives; the former on the unremarkable surface, the Utai deep underground. However, thanks to the efforts of Utapaun nobles such as Timon Medon and the Fey family&mdash;in conjunction with a natural climate change causing stronger and stronger hyperwind storms&mdash;the two species were united. The Pau'ans moved underground, and added their own, unique touch to the Utai cities. The sinkhole communities soon became a mix of Pau'an and Utai architecture, such as the form known as Ossic. These cities were built into the crevasses and rocky ledges that lined the edges of the sinkholes. In 50 BBY, offworld water-miners discovered supposed healing elements in the water of Utapau; the export of this water brought Utapau into the Galactic community. The planet was headquarters of Buuper Torsckil Abbey Devices.

Clone Wars
"What brings you to our remote sanctuary?"

- Tion Medon to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Utapau never joined the Galactic Republic. During the Clone Wars, Utapau remained neutral, but allegiance was forced upon the current Master of Port Administration, Tion Medon, when General Grievous and the Separatist Council took the world as their own, at the command of Darth Sidious. Grievous threatened to destroy Pau City should Tion attempt to call for help, though luckily, Jaing and Kom'rk located Grievous on the planet. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi landed in Pau City, and was greeted by Tion Medon, who secretly gave Kenobi the location of Grievous's hideout. With the help of Commander Cody's forces, including a detachment of the 501st Legion, and local Utapaun warriors and pilots, Obi-Wan defeated Grievous and the droids, although the Confederacy probably controlled other sinkhole cities, as to have a grasp on the entire planet.

Galactic Civil War


Unfortunately, trouble on Utapau did not end there. The clone troopers, following Order 66 and the Declaration of the New Order, turned on Obi-Wan, nearly killing him and forcing the Jedi Master to flee Utapau. The clone troopers then rounded up members of the resistance movement including Tion Medon and deported them to Byss, where they would be used as slaves in the "recolonization efforts". The Galactic Empire would later establish a secret storehouse on Utapau, holding artifacts such as the remains of Grievous's body and his starfighter.

In 0 BBY, Utapau was predominately governed by the Fey family, and there was some rebel influence on the remote world. The Zann Consortium had the option to corrupt this world by sending Silri and a detachment of Defilers, MZ-8 mobile pulse cannons, and Mark II droidekas to kidnap a member of the Fey family and force the Utapau government to meet the Consortium's demands.

Following the Battle of Endor, Utapau was one of the first worlds to become part of the New Republic, a move designed to prevent the likelihood of once again being attacked and occupied by invading forces.

Interestingly, certain texts speculate that Utapau may have been one of the birthplaces of the Jedi Order.

Military


From before the Clone Wars, Utapau was one of the worlds restricted by a Trade Federation arms embargo on remote galactic regions. Because of this, the local defense fleet was based around downscaled warships only, many of which were designed and built on Utapau itself.

The largest vessels in Utapau's defensive fleet was a version of the Rendili StarDrive Dreadnaught. It was capable of offering some protection against marauding pirates, but as a battleship, it was outclassed by those put out by rich, industrialized sectors. The vessel was only one-fifth the size of a Lucrehulk-class battleship.

Utapau's primary starfighter, the Porax-38, was a tough, long-range snubfighter, designed for Utai pilots and capable of extended interstellar patrols of up to twenty days.

Fauna

 * Varactyl
 * Nos monster
 * Dactillion

Behind the scenes
Utapau was a name for one of the planets (with Aquilae/Townowi and Ogana) that became Tatooine in the rough draft and second draft of A New Hope and was the original name for Naboo in the early drafts of The Phantom Menace.

Artist Ralph McQuarrie envisioned a sinkhole planet during pre-production of A New Hope in 1976, and this artwork was approved by George Lucas during pre-production of Revenge of the Sith. Digimatte artist Brett Northcutt who designed Utapau said that he succeeded in creating "the wheat-colored savannah that George and the art directors were looking for."

The look of the planet itself may also have been inspired by the sinkhole caverns of Gir Kybo Ren-Cha’s mountain base on the planet Tarnoonga, as seen in the Star Wars: Droids episode "The Pirates of Tarnoonga". Author Daniel Wallace has also pointed out that Utapau is reminiscent of the City of Bone in the Marvel Star Wars issue Star Wars 69: Death in the City of Bone.

In real life, Utapao is the name of a city in Thailand where the US Air Force and other military branches conduct training and repatriation missions.

In an official interview with TheForce.Net in 2002, author Curtis Saxton described the regional variances with respects to military hardware: "Like a handful of wealthy sectors, Kuat Sector is able to manufacture and maintain sectorial defense fleets which are supposed to be comparable in size and power to the ships of the Imperial Starfleet found more widely in the classic trilogy. However because of frustrating trade limitations imposed by the Trade Federation, little of this equipment can be sold elsewhere in the galaxy, and they mostly have short-range hyperdrives. Outer Rim sectors make do with a diminutive scale of "dreadnaughts" which are so ubiquitous in the old West End Games sourcebooks. They're hundreds of meters long instead of kilometers long."

- Curtis Saxton

Three years later, this point was repeated in Revenge of the Sith: Incredible Cross-Sections with the description of Utapau's largest dreadnaught compared with a battleship from a more powerful authority. Although generating some controversy, statements made in this interview were official information and had to be approved by the Director of Publishing at Lucasfilm before TheForce.Net could publish it.

The Utapau Porax-38 starfighter bares a resemblance to the American P-38 Lightning WWII fighter.

The two native species, the Utai and the Pau' ans, derive their names from each part of Utapau's name. This was probably a sign of good will between tribes.

Appearances



 * Republic Commando: Triple Zero
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Evasive Action: Reversal of Fortune
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Grievous: Getaway
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars: Republic Commando: Order 66
 * Star Wars Republic: The Hidden Enemy
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption