Christophsis/Legends

"The only Jedi we can spare are Skywalker and Kenobi. They just captured the planet Christophsis."

- Mace Windu, to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine

Christophsis was the sole inhabitable world of the Christoph system in the Savareen sector of the Outer Rim Territories. A planet covered by blue-green, hexagonal crystals and the cities based out of them, Christophsis was located amongst the mineral-rich asteroids of its system. Although its position close to various asteroid belts made it a target for stray rocks, the planet was refined by use of investments made by Tepasi nobles circa 600 BBY and later, the world's native humanoid Christophsian inhabitants. Christophsis was eventually protected from the asteroids and transformed into the center of a mining hub. By the time of the Clone Wars, the Christophsians ruled their homeworld in a mercantile oligarchy and had established Chaleydonia as their planet's capital. Various species also immigrated to the world, including Rodians, Kerkoidens, and Humans.

All of the Christophsians' hard work was ultimately crippled when the Confederacy of Independent Systems and its Retail Caucus conglomerate seized Christophsis in the first year of the Clone Wars. Although the Grand Army of the Republic&mdash;based out of Crystal City and led by the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano&mdash;eventually liberated Christophsis, the costly Republic victory reduced much of the world to rubble. Later in the war, the Separatists returned to the planet to mine for its crystals to fuel their new superweapon, the Devastation. The plot was halted by Senator Padmé Amidala and the Jedi Order. Eventually, under Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's Declaration of a New Order, Christophsis became a reluctant member of the Galactic Empire but resolved to ignore all of the following galactic governments in power.

Description
Situated on the major Corellian Run hyperlane and close to the planet of Rodia, the Outer Rim world of Christophsis was the only planet in the Savareen sector's Christoph system with an atmosphere that could support life. Christophsis orbited the star of Christoph, and had a temperate climate and a terrestrial terrain. The planet was famous for the beauty of its nearby asteroid belts&mdash;the Barren, the Hammers, and the Halo&mdash;but its location close to the asteroids often made it a target for stray rocks. Foodstuffs were one of the planet's few imports, but the asteroid belts of the system were abundant in raw materials. Among the planet's other exports were artwork and industrial goods.

Christophsis was covered in massive green-blue hexagonal crystals, which were also suitable for use as lightsaber crystals. The inhabitants of Christophsis took advantage of the natural spires, building cities into and around the crystalline formations and using the crystals' solid structures for foundation and support; the size of the world's buildings often varied with the size of their supporting crystals. Some of the world's cities were so large that they could be seen from space. From time to time, solar storms ripped through the upper atmosphere of Christophsis.

The mining hub
Christophsis was ruled by a mercantile oligarchy, and for milennia, the planet's asteroid belts proved beautiful to observers and dangerous to those that tried to profit from mining them. The belts were chaotic, and stray rocks regularly found their way to Christophsis, often with abrupt and destructive entrances. Around 600 BBY, a family of Tepasi nobles made the investments necessary to transform the star system into a worthwhile mining concern. Over the course of a century, the planet's native Christophsian inhabitants hired Givin mathematicians to plot the courses of numerous asteroids asteroids in order to eliminate those that proved a threat to their homeworld. The Christophsians also paid Verpine technologists to refine starship and mining technologies that would allow people to work in the dangerous asteroid belts.

Both came at a massive expense, but the Christophsians' investment in the aliens' services paid off when repositories of chanlon, hfredium, quadrillium, and Nergon-14 minerals were found to be abundant in the surrounding asteroids. Unwilling to share their profitable materials with their accomplices, the Christophsians hired the best Vippit lawyers to disenfranchise their Givin and Verpine partners. The planet's inhabitants renamed the system to "Christoph" in their own honor, and the system's richness in raw materials eventually transformed it into a mining haven. The world's natural crystals were also used as exports.

Clone Wars
By the time of the galaxy-wide Clone Wars, the Christophsis oligarchs' mining expertise and manipulation of mineral markets had, albeit grudgingly, won admiration from the rest of the galaxy. However, the Christophsian rulers were also viewed with suspicion for their secrecy and self-absorption. High-ranking members of the Mining Guild that visited the system were rarely invited to Christophsis itself, and were instead received in the Halo's utilitarian space habitats. The Christophsians' ways became so developed that the planet's populace was rumored to live luxurious lives and enslave Rodian and Kerkoiden immigrants and lower-caste Humans. The city of Chaleydonia was the capital of Christophsis during the Clone Wars.

Confederacy invasion
"You be listening to the voice of the Confederacy o' Independent Systems. Yer planet, it belongs to us now. We have taken over yer communication systems. Yer planetary leadership has abandoned you. They've ceded yer world to our cause&hellip; You are no longer in the Republic. You are no longer beholden to their laws. Yer world's resources will be transferred to the Confederacy. We wage this war for yer independence. Do not resist our efforts. Remain vigilant for Republic reprisals."

- Whorm Loathsom, to the Christophsis populace

In 22 BBY, after the Clone Wars had begun, the Confederacy of Independent Systems invaded Christophsis, seeking to force the crystalline planet into joining its cause. The oligarchy abandoned the population, and over a massive holotransmission, the Confederate General Whorm Loathsom &mdash;the leader of the army of the Retail Caucus, a conglomerate of the Confederacy &mdash;ordered the planet's inhabitants to submit to Separatist rule. At some point after the Confederacy's invasion, a squad of clone troopers was sent to Christophsis to retrieve datapacks before the Separatists could get their hands on them.

As the Christophsians unsuccessfully attempted to defend their home against the Separatist Droid Army, they appealed to the Jedi High Council for assistance, and a faction of the Grand Army of the Republic was dispatched under the command of Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to liberate the Outer Rim world. By the time the Jedi had broken through the Separatist blockade surrounding Christophsis and landed their ground troops on the planet, the civilian population had already fled. The Republic forces landed in Crystal City and set up a base, and Clone Sergeant Slick and his squad of clone troopers were sent to reconnoiter a suitable location from which to ambush the Separatist battle droids. Locating two parallel towers that faced the north and south and overlooked a major plaza, Sergeant Slick and his men headed back to the Republic base.

On its way back, the squad came across B1 battle droids that were attempting to clear one of the city's main boulevards of Christophsians. The battle droids discovered a crippled refugee and discussed killing the man, but the Christophsians diverted the droids' attention to the clones, who intervened and eliminated the droids. After returning to the base, however, Slick&mdash;who had become fed up with his position in the Grand Army as a virtual slave to the Jedi and become a Confederate spy&mdash;secretly transmitted the Republic's intended battle plan to General Loathsom and Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress, who had arrived on the planet. Preparing to ambush the Confederate droid forces, Kenobi, Clone Commander CC-2224, and Slick stationed their men in the South tower, while Skywalker and Clone Captain CC-7567 were based in the parallel North tower. Acting on Slick's information, a squad of B1 battle droids ambushed Kenobi in the South tower, and Skywalker's men used grappling hooks to traverse the gap between the buildings and enter the adjacent South tower.

The Republic forces were able to escape from the roof of the South tower via clone pilot Hawk's LAAT/i gunship. Back at the Republic base, CC-2224 and CC-7567&mdash;nicknamed Cody and Rex, respectively&mdash;examined the stolen cranial unit of a Confederate tactical droid, but the droid only confirmed that the Confederacy had been aware of the Republic's plan before it stopped processing. Suspecting that their was a traitor amongst their troops, Skywalker and Kenobi left on a mission to infiltrate enemy lines to search for the instigator behind the ambushes, while Rex and Cody stated to find the Confederate spy. Arriving at a 23-story mansion that the Separatists had taken over and made headquarters out of, Skywalker and Kenobi were greeted by Ventress, and engaged the Dark Acolyte in a lightsaber duel. Luring the Jedi to the roof of the building, Ventress revealed a massive battle droid army in greater size than the Republic had originally believed, stating that the Confederacy was preparing to assume control of the world.

The two Jedi briefly continued the duel before fleeing on stolen Single Trooper Aerial Platforms, and Ventress relayed orders through a tactical droid to Loathsom. Ordering the Kerkoiden general to march on the city, the Dark Acolyte left the planet in her ship, the Trident, to execute a mission for her Sith Master, Count Dooku. Meanwhile, having traced an irregular wavelength to a terminal in Sergeant Slick's barracks, Cody and Rex proceeded to individually interrogate Slick's men, believing that one of them was the traitor. Slick himself was eventually revealed to be the spy, and managed to sabotage the Republic's weapons depot, gunship landing platform, and AT-TE walkers with several pre-planted explosives. Cody and Rex fought the Separatist spy in the base's command center and apprehended the clone turncoat. As dawn broke on Christophsis, the Jedi returned, and although the Republic forces were only able to salvage their artillery guns from the destroyed weapons depot, they regrouped and prepared to fight the Confederacy.

The Confederacy launched an attack on the Republic forces in Crystal City, and Kenobi and Skywalker fought the first wave of Loathsom's battle droids. After several days, the Confederacy was forced to retreat, but the initial stages of the battle caused many Christophsian civilian casualties. Soon after the Republic Star Destroyer Hunter&mdash;under the command of Admiral Wullf Yularen&mdash;was dispatched for supplies, Loathsom and his droid forces launched another assault, marching straight through the main street of the city toward the Republic forces. While Skywalker, Rex, and the Torrent Company unit made their way through sidestreets and behind the droid lines, surprising several advancing tri-droids from above, Kenobi led Ghost Squadron in a charge on the Separatists' front lines. With the Republic's artillery cover, Loathsom was forced to retreat once more.

A shuttle arrived from the galactic capital of Coruscant and landed in City Plaza, but in place of the Republic's expected reinforcements was young Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano, who had been recently apprenticed by Jedi Grand Master Yoda to Skywalker. From the cruiser that had delivered Tano, the Jedi contacted Master Yoda&mdash;who had been unaware of their predicament of being stranded on Christophsis&mdash;and requested reinforcements, but the Star Destroyer was damaged under increasing fire from the Confederate blockade surrounding the planet and was forced to retreat. Loathsom launched yet another attack, this time advancing his forces in two groups from the south and the east. Kenobi and Alpha Squad halted the south force's approach, but Bravo Squad was unable to stop the east force's advance. The Separatists advanced behind an expanding deflector shield, which effectively negated the Republic's use of long-ranged artillery. Kenobi and Rex marshaled a defense of the Republic base, while Skywalker and Tano infiltrated the droid lines to destroy the shield generator.

The shield soon passed over the Republic forces in Crystal City, and Kenobi led the clones to attack the droids, attempting to draw the Confederacy into the buildings and gain an advantage over them. While Kenobi pretended to surrender to Loathsom in order to gain time for Skywalker and Tano, Captain Rex retreated to defend the heavy cannons with the rest of the troops. After fighting LR-57 combat droids that were guarding the generator, Skywalker and Tano were able to plant explosives and destroy the generator. As the shield receded, Kenobi captured Loathsom and took the Kerkoiden captive. Returning to Christophsis in the Spirit of the Republic and several other Star Destroyers, Admiral Yularen finally arrived with reinforcements and was able to break through the Confederate blockade, forcing the enemy armada to retreat. The Republic cruisers landed, and several clone trooper units as further reinforcements on the liberated Christophsis. However, the costly Republic victory had reduced several key cities to rubble, leaving many in the galaxy secretly cheering the damage that had been done.

Crystal mining
"There's definitely something suspicious happening on Christophsis. The Separatist Army appears to be mining for something."

- Padmé Amidala, to the Jedi Council

Later in the war, the Separatist Droid Army set up a base near the planet's core to mine for its crystals. Because Christophsis's crystals could be used to power lightsabers, the Confederacy planned to use them to power its new superweapon, the Devastation, which was powered by Force-activated crystals. After the Republic starship Sedawan supply of lightsaber crystals was raided, the Jedi Council began to come onto the Confederacy's plan. During the analysis of data provided by the turncoat Nightsister Ros Lai, the Jedi Council enlisted Senator Padmé Amidala's help. Traveling to Christophsis with Captain Rex, the astromech droid R2-D2, and the protocol droid C-3PO, Amidala discovered that the Confederacy was mining for something and reported her findings to the Council. Before the group could leave the planet, however, their ship was shot down, and Captain Rex was injured in the crash. The group was taken captive and placed in a holding cell inside the Separatist base.

A team of two Jedi was sent with Clone Commander CC-1004, nicknamed "Gree," and an LAAT/i gunship to rescue Senator Amidala. However, the gunship was shot down over the planet as well and skidded toward the edge of a cliff. Gree told the two Jedi to continue the mission themselves, and the LAAT/i soon dislodged from the cliff and plummeted into the depths of Christophsis. Unable to help Gree, the Jedi entered the Separatist base and began to search for Amidala. Fighting DSD1 dwarf spider droids and several of the dark side–wielding Nightsisters themselves, the two Jedi discovered that a few of the Christophsis crystals were harnessing the Force itself. On the exterior of the facility, the two Jedi fought a group of Nightsisters before Commander Gree&mdash;having recovered his gunship&mdash;and his vessel arrived and opened fire on the dark side practitioners, defeating them. The Jedi ordered the clone commander to find a nearby landing site while they continued the search for Senator Amidala.

Re-entering the Separatist base, the two Jedi fought more Nightsisters before finding and freeing Senator Amidala, Captain Rex, R2-D2, and C-3PO from their holding cell. Amidala reported that they had overheard the Separatists confirming that they were harvesting crystals from the planet core, and the Jedi questioned why the Confederacy was after lightsaber crystals&mdash;first the Sedawan cargo of lightsaber crystals had been stolen, and now the Confederacy was mining on Christophsis. While Amidala took Rex, who had been injured when the ship crashed, to Gree's transport, R2-D2 and C-3PO stayed with the Jedi to assist in the continuing investigation. The two Republic droids went to find the facility's central computer, but were discovered by B1 battle droids and forced to pose as configuration droids. R2-D2 and C-3PO regulated the temperate of a large crystal, but were also able to gain and transmit the coordinates of Gree's gunship&mdash;which had been forced to relocate itself&mdash;to Amidala.

Elsewhere in the facility, the two Jedi were ambushed by battle droids. From a computer terminal, R2-D2 and C-3PO opened a door and provided the Jedi with an escape, and also discovered the location of the Devastation, which they immediately sent to the Jedi Council. The pair of Jedi were then confronted by B1 battle droids, and the two Republic droids accidentally stumbled across a boss miner droid. R2-D2 and C-3PO trapped the mining droid in the hallway it was advancing through before activating a mechanism that squashed the B1 battle droids attacking the Jedi. With their battle droid adversaries disabled, the two Jedi found the Sedawan stolen lightsaber crystals before Count Dooku himself appeared and escaped with the supply of crystals. Thanks to the discovered location of the Devastation, a team of Jedi managed to infiltrate and destroy the battleship.

Post–Clone Wars
In 19 BBY, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine transformed the Republic into the first Galactic Empire, and Christophsis became a reluctant but compliant member of the new government. However, the Outer Rim world remained independent of the New Republic and any future governments, all but ignoring the following galactic powers.

Inhabitants
The native inhabitants of Christophsis were the brown-skinned Christophsian humanoids. An arrogant people, the Christophsians hired aliens to help make their homeworld safer and advance mining-related technologies, but in an attempt to preserve their own profits, the Christophsis natives marginalized their partners after the surrounding asteroids were discovered to be rich in minerals. A commercially-concerned Christophsian oligarchy ruled Christophsis, and the world's leaders displayed their prowess in both manipulating the mineral markets and mining.

Humans and alien species&mdash;including Rodians and Kerkoidens&mdash;were among the sentients that immigrated to Christophsis. Rumors spread through the galaxy that the immigrants were little more than prisoners of the dominant and wealthy Christophsians, catering to their every need and doing their menial work. The people of Christophsis spoke Galactic Standard Basic and Rodese.

Locations
Several of Christophsis's cities could be seen from space as green, branching-out networks. The planet's cities included Chaleydonia, the capital of Christophsis during the Clone Wars, and Crystal City. As its name suggested, Crystal City appeared to be carved out of glittering gems. With the majority of its buildings built using crystals, the city was home to skyscraper residences and apartment buildings, as well as a few plazas. The main site of the Battle of Christophsis, the Confederacy and Republic were eventually both based in the city, with the former making headquarters out of a 23-story mansion. However, many parts of Crystal City were reduced to ruins during the Republic's liberation of the planet. Several bridges ran through the city, but many collapsed in the Separatist invasion. Numerous buildings, particularly along the city's central street, were also toppled and destroyed during the intense battle on the world.

During the initial stages of the Battle of Christophsis, the Republic set up a networked base on the planet before later moving directly into Crystal City. The base included a command center, a mess hall, and barracks for the Republic clone troopers. When the Separatists returned to Christophsis to mine for lightsaber crystals, they set up a base that ran deep underneath the surface of the world. Located close to the planet's core, the large facility was guarded by several battle droid squads.

Behind the scenes
"I thought that when these people developed this area, they treated the crystals as trees, so some parts would be cut down and some parts would be integrated into the actual structure, like wood. Because of time and budget constraints, we were only able to develop one structure&mdash;a hexagon. We made each side unique, turned it, and stacked them side by side. When combined, there would be an unlimited number of structures."

- Thang Le discusses modeling Christophsis's appearance

Christophsis was a planet created for the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. It was originally to appear in a first season "flashback" episode entitled "The New Padawan," but after George Lucas decided to debut the series in a feature-length film, the episode was moved to its proper chronological placement. The site of Anakin Skywalker's first meeting with his newly assigned Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, Christophsis appears in the movie's promotional material, including the online Live Fire game and several young reader adaptations of the film.

The episode entitled "The Hidden Enemy" was later produced at Lucas's request to expand Christophsis's backstory and was aired with the television series' first season. Christophsis also appeared in the web comic Shadowed, which led into the episode. The planet was given roles in the 2008 Nintendo DS video game Jedi Alliance, as well as in the Nintendo DS edition of the 2009 Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes game, which expanded the events of The Clone Wars film and television series. Elements of Christophsis and its history were published in 2009's The Clone Wars Campaign Guide and The Essential Atlas.

The crystalline appearance of Christophsis was based upon previously abandoned concepts of the planet Mygeeto made during pre-production for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Republic Heroes Nintendo DS edition inconsistencies
One of the two missions depicting the Battle of Christophsis in the Nintendo DS version of Republic Heroes greatly contradicts The Clone Wars film and television series. The mission features Senator Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker arriving at Crystal City to investigate droid activity in the sector recently lost by the Republic. Skywalker and Amidala travel through the city until they face a force field blocking their way. Master Yoda then assists them by deactivating the field, and the two continue their way, eventually confronting Count Dooku inside a Christophsian building. After a duel with Skywalker&mdash;whom Amidala assists with her blaster&mdash;Dooku retreats.

During the duel with Dooku, however, Skywalker informs the unaware Count that the Confederate General Grievous plans to obtain a superweapon from beneath an ocean of lava on the planet Mustafar. Skywalker finds out about Grievous's plans only during the Mission to Skytop Station, which takes place after the Battle of Christophsis has been already won by the Republic. Because of such confusing storyline that would take too much speculation to implement into the pre-existing story, this article assumes that the video game's mission is non-canon.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Live Fire
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
 * The Clone Wars: Shadowed
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars film / novel / junior novel
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The New Padawan
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Operation: Huttlet
 * The Clone Wars: Decide Your Destiny: The Way of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Meet Ahsoka Tano
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Forces of Darkness
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi in Training
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars Official Movie Storybook
 * The Clone Wars: Wild Space
 * The Clone Wars: Cold Snap
 * The Clone Wars: Covetous
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth

Notes and references
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