Outer Rim Territories/Legends

"The Republic doesn't exist out here&hellip;we must survive on our own."

- Shmi Skywalker



The Outer Rim Territories, simply known as the Outer Rim, were located outside the Mid Rim. The Outer Rim was the last widely settled expanse of the galaxy before Wild Space and the Unknown Regions. It was strewn with obscure worlds, and rugged, primitive frontier planets.

History
"...See, that's the problem with the Republic. In the Core, everything's great: people are healthy, wealthy and happy. But out here on the Rim things aren't so easy"

- Dessel

Pre-Republic era
For much of galactic history, little was known about the history and cultures of the Outer Rim until the formation of the Galactic Republic in 25,000 BBY. During this period, the Gree Enclave reached its apex while the reptilian Kwa developed the Infinity Gates which allowed them to teleport between worlds. Between 30,000 to 25,200 BBY, the far-reaching Rakatan Infinite Empire ruled a number of Outer Rim including Tatooine, Dantooine and Honoghr. By the dawn of the Republic, these civilizations had faded into history and little remained of their former power.

Around that period, the worlds of the Tion Cluster were colonized by Human settlers from an ancient Core Worlds sleeper ship. Between 25,130 to 25,100 BBY, the tyrannical Tionese dictator Xim the Despot conquered much of the Tion Cluster including the Livien League. Eventually, his empire stretched from the Radama Void to the Maw.

However, his incursions into the Si'klaata Cluster brought him into conlict with the growing Hutt Empire. During the Third Battle of Vontor in 25,100 BBY, Xim was finally defeated by Kossak the Hutt's newly acquired army of Klatooinian, Vodran and Nikto mercenaries. Xim died a slave in the dungeons of Kossak on Evocar, but Tionese history claimed that he was treacherously killed at Vontor. The Tion Cluster split into several competing states including the Honorable Union of Desevro & Tion.

The Old Republic era
Circa. 25,000 BBY, the discovery of the Perlemian Trade Route linked the budding Republic with the Outer Rim world of Ossus which became the domain of the Jedi Order over the precceding millennia. Eventually, the Republic began colonizing other worlds within the vicinity of Ossus. While the Republic expanded in the Core Worlds and the Colonies, Ossus became a fortress world blocking Tionese and Hutt expansion into the Perlemian.

In 24,000 BBY, war broke out between the Republic and the Union; spreading both sides of the Perlemian. The Republic won by turning the Hutts against the Tionese; ending the Union's existence as an independent state and paving the way for galactic domination by the Core-based Republic. By 23,900 BBY, the worlds of the former Honorable Union had all joined the Republic as a means of protection against the Hutts with the exception of Desevro which remained proudly isolationalist.

In 12,000 BBY, the Republic came under the influence of the theocratic and humanocentric Pius Dea sect which posited Contispex as Supreme Chancellor. Taking advantage of the unpopularity of the Hutts among the Republic's citizens, Constipex sanctioned a crusade against the Hutts. Over the following centuries, his descendants sanctioned several crusades against some rival alien sects in the Outer Rim which fought back; leaving the galaxy in a never-ending state of alternating hot and cold wars. Though Pius Dea rule came to an end in 11,000 BBY, the repercussions of these crusades would sour relations between the Core and the Outer Rim over the preceeding millennia.

At the end of the Hundred-Year Darkness in 6,900 BBY, several Dark Jedi were defeated at Corbos and banished into the uncharted expanses of the Outer Rim. The Jedi exiles fled to the remote world of Korriban. After conquering it, they interbred with the native Sith species through the art of Sith Alchemy and began a long period of building and expansion. The Sith Empire developed in complete isolation in the Outer Rim for two thousand years before it eventually rediscovered the Republic.

Under the Sith Lord Naga Sadow, the Empire invaded Republic space in 5,000 BBY, during the Great Hyperspace War, but it was defeated. The Sith Empire was believed to have been destroyed by Republic forces during the Second Battle of Korriban, but in fact survived due to a single Sith Lord who escaped to the Unknown Regions. There, this new Sith Emperor, whose rule lasted for well over a thousand years, rebuilt the Sith Empire in preparation for a Great War against the Republic. With the Sith threat apparently vanquished, the Republic continued exploring and colonizing worlds in the Outer Rim.

In 4,800 BBY, the spice ryll was discovered on the Outer Rim world of Ryloth; home of the humanoid Twi’lek species. However, the Neimoidians seized exclusive distribution rights to the spice and sold them to the newly-discovered Porporite species. Unfortunately, the spice drove them into a homicidal frenzy. Terrified, the Neimoidians hired several Gank mercenaries to protect them. Instead, the Ganks exterminated the Porporites and then embarked on a full scale war against the Republic, but were eventually put down by the Jedi.

The Old Sith Wars era
During the Great Sith War in 3,996 BBY, the Krath under Aleema Keto destroyed the Republic jump station of Kemplex IX in the Auril Sector. Shortly afterwards, the Krath and their Jedi pursuers were destroyed in a massive supernova which engulfed the Cron Cluster, a nearby stellar body of ten densely packed stars. The ensuing blast devastated the surface of the ancient Jedi outpost of Ossus and created the Cron Drift.

During the Mandalorian Wars (3,976-3,960 BBY), the Mandalorians chose the Outer Rim to begin their campaign against the Galactic Republic.In 3,976 BBY, the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders under Mandalore the Ultimate embarked on a campaign of conquest along the Outer Rim Territories, on the edge of Republic space. Conquering worlds as varied as Althir and Cathar, the Neo-Crusaders had carved out a clan territory larger that the space ruled by the Hutts in less than a decade. Weakened by the Sith War, the Republic and the Jedi Council refused to intervene at first.

In 3,970 BBY, Provisional Governor Myrial of Argazda seceded from the Republic and established a military dictatorship in the Kanz Sector. Her military forces invaded worlds in that sector that resisted her rule including Lorrd. For three hundred years, her successors ruled the sector as an independent fiefdom&mdash;enslaving many peoples including the Lorrdians. In 3,670 BBY, the "Kanz Disorders" came to an end when Jedi/Republic efforts toppled the regime and restored Republic rule to the sector.

In 3,963 BBY, the Mandalorians invaded the Galactic Republic proper; forcing the Republic to enter the war. In defiance of the Jedi Council, the Jedi Knights Revan and Malak led the Republic Navy in a fierce counter-offensive against the Neo-Crusaders; winning key battles at Taris, Jaga's Cluster and Althir. During the cataclysmic battle of Malachor V, much of the Mandalorian fleet was destroyed and the planet was fractured to the core. Defeated, the Mandalorians capitulated and destroyed their weapons and armor.

In 3,960 BBY, during the Jedi Civil War, Telos IV was devastated by a Sith fleet under the command of the renegrade Jedi&mdash;turned&mdash;Sith Lord Malak and former Republic Admiral Saul Karath. Later, in 3,956 BBY, Sith forces leveled the surface of Taris; destroying the world-spanning city and killing billions. By 3,950 BBY, much of the Rim had fallen into chaos as a result of infighting amongst the various surviving Sith warlords. Thus, the Republic was able to reclaim much of the Rim that had been under Sith control since the Great Sith War.

In approximately 3,756 BBY, the resurgent Sith Empire struck back against the Republic in the Great War. Catching the Republic by surprise, the Sith seized many worlds in the Outer Rim Territories, destroyed the shipyards at Sluis Van and cut off the Rimma Trade Route. The Republic suffered further defeats at Agamar and Utapau, and was constantly harassed over the century.

By 3,656 BBY, the Republic had been driven back to the Core Worlds; leaving the Sith in control of much of the Rim. Following the Sacking of Coruscant, the Republic was forced to give up many outlying systems to the Sith in the punitive Treaty of Coruscant. The end of the Great War set the stage for a Cold War between the Sith Empire and the Republic in the years that followed. This cold war saw a number of border skirmishes and proxy wars, pushing the two super powers to the brink of another war.

The New Sith Wars era
In 3,000 BBY, the female pioneer Freia Kallea discovered a new hyperspace route which became known as the Hydian Way. Spanning the width of the galaxy, the Hydian War ran from the Outer Rim world of Bonadan and continued through the Core Worlds to Eriadu on the other side. The Hydian helped open up much of the galaxy beyond the region known as the Slice, fundamentally altering the scale of galactic civilization. As a result, the Republic established new colonies in the Mid Rim and Outer Rim Territories.

In 2,000 BBY, the Republic once more faced the menace of the Sith, who had formed a Sith Empire that was far larger than any of its three predecessors. Over the centuries, the Republic continuously fought various Sith factions across the galaxy including the Rim. The losses for the Republic were so catastrophic that a dark age began in the 1,100 BBY, with widespread social unrest and economic collapse. The collapse of the Holonet and interstellar commerce precipitated a breakdown in communication and trade between the Core and the Rim.

The Republic itself shrunk to a mere rump state surrounding the Core Worlds, with the Sith Empire encompassing virtually the rest of the entire galaxy. The Jedi took over absolute authority, ruling the remainder of the Republic directly. In 1,000 BBY, the Sith were finally defeated in 1,000 BBY at Ruusan in the Mid Rim although much of the galaxy was left scarred and devastated by the attritional warfare. Tensions still lingered between inhabitants of the Outer Rim and the Core Worlds due to the former's perceived exploitation by the latter, as in the case of Apatros which was controlled by the Outer Rim Oreworks company.

Rise of the Empire era
In 124 BBY, the Galactic Senate declared the Outer Rim to be a free trade zone. In 19 BBY, the Outer Rim Sieges were the last battles of the Clone Wars. Immediately after the formation of the Galactic Empire, three stormtrooper batches were grown in the Outer Rim.

Much of the Outer Rim was consolidated under Oversector Outer. Due to its distance from the Core Worlds, the region was home to many supporters of the Rebel Alliance. The Empire's Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin was assigned the difficult task of bringing and keeping the Outer Rim Territories in line.

Moff Sarn Shild considered seceding from the Empire and carving out his own empire in the Outer Rim territories once he tapped into the wealth of the Hutt clans.

Trade languages were common in the Outer Rim.

Oversectors

 * Bright Jewel Oversector (also in Mid Rim)
 * Oversector Outer
 * Quelii Oversector
 * Twelfth Sector

Nebulae

 * Cauldron Nebula
 * Crombach Nebula
 * Cron Drift
 * Dreighton Nebula
 * Extrictarium Nebula
 * Marcellus Nebula
 * Metharian Nebula Territories
 * Moonflower Nebula
 * Phosphura Belt Nebula

Star Clusters

 * Bi-Borran Cluster
 * Granita Cluster
 * Skustell Cluster
 * Tion Cluster
 * Vallusk Cluster
 * Zenox Star Cluster

Behind the scenes
In the first and second drafts of the Star Wars script, the Outer Rim was called the Outlands, and stretched from "the celestial equator to the farthest reaches of the Great Rift". It was the center of resistance to the Empire.

Non-canon appearances

 * Tag & Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Kowakian Monkey-Lizard
 * "Giant spiders are awesome"
 * "Always count your clones before take-off"
 * Old Wounds
 * Best Birthday Ever
 * In the Beginning
 * Tag & Bink Are Dead
 * Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * Spare Parts comic
 * Skippy the Jedi Droid
 * Melvin Fett
 * Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars: Yoda Stories
 * Skreej
 * Star Wars Infinities: Return of the Jedi
 * The Revenge of Tag & Bink
 * The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition
 * The Secret Tales of Luke's Hand

Notes and references
Outer Rim Territories Äußerer Rand Territorios del Borde Exterior Bordure Extérieure Peremvidék Outer Rim Territories Внешнее Кольцо Yttre Randen Ulkokehän alueet