Generis/Legends

"I thought you were out in Atrivis sector, baby-sitting the Outer Rim comm center.''" "''You're behind the times, Generis fell three days ago."

- Wedge Antilles and Pash Cracken

Generis was a planet with rugged, grassy plains and vast jungles located in the Atrivis sector in the Outer Rim Territories. It was once was home to an ancient civilization that built many temples, long ruined by the time of the Galactic Civil War.

Description
"The [ S9-series heavy power droid ]  is ideally suited for use on planets with rough terrain (like Tatooine or Generis); consequently, the Rebel Alliance is trying to purchase or capture as many of these droids as it can."

- Hkaeli, on Cynabar's Droid Datalog

Generis was a planet of stunning natural beauty located in the Atrivis system&mdash;sometimes alternatively known as the Generis system &mdash;a star system located in the Atrivis sector of the Outer Rim Territories. It was the primary planet in the system, which also contained Atrivis and Atrivis 7. The Generis day lasted 42 standard hours, while its year was 234 days long. Generis had gravity that was 1.1 times the Imperial standard, a Type I atmosphere &mdash;a mix of oxygen, nitrogen and other gases that was suitable for Human and comparable species' respiration &mdash;with a hot and humid climate.

The terrain of Generis was rough; there were many rocky hills and mountains, and thick lush jungle covered much of its landmass. Much of Generis remained as untamed wilderness, with thick jungle foliage soon choking any trails blazed through it. The jungles were full of indigenous creatures and flora, including grasses and dense impenetrable groves of sallap trees. Much of Generis' surface was covered by large oceans, while on the landmasses were a number of lakes and rivers filled with white-water rapids. The planet also had at least one outcrop of hiridiu crystal, located at its southern pole. Much of the planet's surface was destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong in 28 ABY.

Galactic Republic
"On distant Generis stands an especially dark, dense, and near impenetrable growth of sallap trees. For many generations it was necessary to travel a long distance around the forest to reach the glorious deep-water lake on the far side. But then a Sith Lord thought to blaze a trail directly through the trees, in the hope of providing a quicker route to the lake."

- Qui-Gon Jinn to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Generis was once inhabited by an alien species, builders of large temples. However, the species became extinct, their existence marked only by temple ruins which left no clues as to how or why they died out. The planet was lightly settled during the time of the Galactic Republic, along with another planet in the system, Atrivis 7. Generis was known to the ancient Jedi Master Yoda by 68 BBY, who used a parable based on the planet to educate his students on the dangers of the Dark Side of the Force. According to Yoda, a Sith Lord tried to blaze a path directly through a sallap tree grove to obtain a shortcut to a lake on Generis; while the path was shorter, it failed to reach its destination. This parable was later retold by Master Qui-Gon Jinn to his Padawan learner Obi-Wan Kenobi in 33 BBY.

Galactic Empire
"The place attracted wealthy travelers who wanted to experience the wilderness in comfort. For my siblings and me, that meant catering to their needs all hours of the day and night&hellip;Generis was far removed from the effects of Imperial rule, but guests at the ranch kept my family well informed of galactic developments."

- Vistal Purn recounts life under the Galactic Empire

During the period of the Galactic Empire, Generis was under the jurisdiction of an Imperial Governor, but its residents were far removed from the effects of Imperial rule. In contrast, the Atrivis sector in which Generis was located was foremost among the territories active in resisting the Empire, with many isolated groups of freedom fighters. After one such group was massacred on Mantooine, many of the resistance groups began to cooperate, eventually forming the Atrivis Resistance Group. The ARG leaders chose the Atrivis system as their base of operations, establishing a secret base on an abandoned spacestation there. From this base, the ARG harassed the Imperial forces throughout the sector. They were eventually visited by Mon Mothma, a Senator intent on forging a pan-galactic Rebel Alliance. Although hesitant at first, the leadership of the ARG signed the Treaty of Generis with Mothma, bringing the ARG into the wider Rebel Alliance.

As part of the treaty, the Alliance built a Communications Center on Generis, selecting a site at its southern pole. It was located next to a large deposit of hiridiu crystal, which, merely by proximity, had the capacity to boost modern communications signal strength by as much as 30%. The Alliance was also impressed with the rugged terrain of Generis, knowing that if the base was ever discovered by the Empire, any attempt to capture or disable the center would require an extended ground campaign. The Alliance sent a team of engineers and technicians to construct the communications base, as well as some starfighter docks in order to provide additional protection for the Communications Center. The Alliance supplied a full wing of 36 starfighters to the Atrivis forces, under the command of Wing Commander Varth. Six of these starfighters were permanently stationed at Generis to protect the Communications Center. Within six months, with an influx of Alliance training and resources, the ARG had became a fully operational Sector Force.

Some eight months after the Battle of Yuvern in the Oplovis sector, the newly coordinated communications system in the Atrivis sector bore fruit. The Imperial fleet in neighboring Oplovis sector moved to attack Rebel forces on Mantooine, moving through the Atrivis system on its way. When the Imperial forces emerged from hyperspace, three Alliance cruisers ambushed them, taking them completely by surprise. They defeated the Oplovis fleet without any major Alliance losses.

New Republic
"I thought you were out in Atrivis sector, baby-sitting the Outer Rim comm center.''" "''You're behind the times, Generis fell three days ago."

- Wedge Antilles and Pash Cracken

When the Rebel Alliance transitioned into the New Republic, they maintained their presence on Generis; its Communications Center became the prime New Republic communications nexus to and from the Outer Rim Territories. Shortly after the Battle of Endor, the Republic strengthened their base there with the Cracken Flight Group led by Pash Cracken. For a short period, the Cracken Flight Group was left under the stewardship of Wing Commander Varth, when Cracken volunteered with Rogue Squadron. Following the capture of Coruscant by the Republic, Cracken returned to Generis. In 7 ABY, all of the forces under Wing Commander Varth were temporarily moved Core-ward, to cover some of the sectors formerly used by rogue Imperial warlord Zsinj, basing themselves out of the Commenor moon, Folor.

They had returned to Generis by 9 ABY, at which time the New Republic was suffering numerous losses against Grand Admiral Thrawn, a strategic mastermind and a member of the Chiss species, who had returned from an extended placement in the Unknown Regions. As part of his campaign against the Republic, Thrawn personally planned an assault against Generis. Utilizing some of his clone troops, the Imperial ground assault won a fierce battle, capturing the Communications Center largely intact, along with most of the sector fleet supply deposits. Cracken and his Flight Group were able to provide enough resistance to allow General Kryll to sneak out Commander-in-Chief Travia Chan and her support staff, and to deny the Imperial forces any new ships; however, overall, the loss of the unique broadcasting center was a significant blow to the New Republic. Among the Imperial casualties was the stormtrooper Grodin Tierce; ten years later, Tierce was impersonated by members of the Imperial Remnant in a bid to take control of that government.

Grand Admiral Thrawn was subsequently defeated by the New Republic, who eventually regained control of Generis. The rebuilt the Communications Center, which, in addition to servicing the Outer Rim, also became an important link to the Unknown Regions. While this had some strategic importance, it was never selected for sabotage by the Imperial Remnant as they considered the Chiss&mdash;the dominant power in the Unknown Regions&mdash;to be too isolationist for the Republic to make any successful overtures.

In 25 ABY, the New Republic was again under substantial attack, this time from an extra-galactic species known as the Yuuzhan Vong. In 28 ABY, a Yuuzhan Vong fleet retreating from an assault in Imperial Space attacked Generis, having been alerted to the base by the presence of a Yuuzhan Vong spy using a communications villip. Although pursued by Grand Admiral Pellaeon aboard the Right to Rule, the Yuuzhan Vong managed to destroy the Communications Center, ravaging much of the planet's surface in the process. The Yuuzhan Vong force then continued on to the planet Esfandia, which had been established as a second Outer Rim communications base at the start of the war, to serve as a redundant link to the Outer Rim and into the Unknown Regions alongside Genaris. Esfandia almost fell to the same force, but Pelleon's ships and the arrival of a rag-tag fleet of Ryn-affiliated starships managed to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong forces. The Republic was soon able to repair the Generis facility and restore its communications capacity.

Locals
A number of large temple ruins dotted the jungles of Generis; constructed in a notably non-Human design, these temple ruins were evidence of an alien species once living on the planet. By the time of the Galactic Civil War, they were long extinct, with the temple ruins providing no evidence of what caused their disappearance.

The planet was later lightly settled by the early years of the Galactic Empire with a mix of Humans and a variety of other species, but it had no major cities; by 9 ABY, its population numbered only 2,000. There were some small population centers, as well as wilderness ranches on the planet. Wealthy travelers from off-world often visited the planet to experience its untamed wilderness, bringing along their children and staying at ranches such as that of Vistal Purn's family, located near the Atrivis River. These guests spent their time fishing, hunting, hiking, and rafting down the white-water rapids.

The inhabitants of Generis had utilized certain galactic technology, such as airspeeders, but on the whole the world was rather backward. They were distant from the effect and management of Imperial rule, and were only kept up-to-date on galactic affairs through news related by offworld guests. Even when the planet became a key Republic communications hub, the locals remained ambivalent to galactic affairs. Pash Cracken, stationed on the world for a number of years, once joked that "most folks there don't even realize the Old Republic has fallen." Purn, one of the Generis locals, eventually left the planet and became the owner of a YT-1300 light freighter, a starship that later became famous as the Millennium Falcon, captained by Han Solo, a hero of the Rebel Alliance and New Republic.

Military personnel
During the Galactic Civil War, the Atrivis Resistance Group used Generis as their headquarters, first from an abandoned orbital space station, and later from a base established at the planet's southern pole. The ARF was led by Commander-in-Chief Travia Chan, a Human invalid forced to remain near the base's medical facilities. She was often aided by Chief of Staff Loom Carplin and his Wookiee subordinate Busurra. Other members of the Generis command staff included General Kryll, an Alderaanian and former Imperial placed in charge of the Outer Rim Communications Center, and Wing Commander Varth who was in charge of the starfighter forces. Serving under Varth for many years was Pash Cracken, son of the legendary Alliance General Airen Cracken. Pash Cracken commanded the Cracken Flight Group, a crack unit of A-wing starfighters that had followed him when he defected from the Empire soon after graduating from the Imperial Naval Academy.

Behind the scenes
Generis was first mentioned in the Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, a roleplaying game sourcebook written by Paul Murphy and published by West End Games in 1990. The planet was mentioned used by Timothy Zahn in his novel The Last Command, published in 1993. Since this time, it has received numerous mentions in novels and reference books, but has yet to appear directly in a source, other than as a planet in the computer game Star Wars: Rebellion.

Inconsistencies
In both the first and second editions of the Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, its spelling alternates between "Generis" and "Gerenis." It was also originally placed in the Generis system, which has been repeated in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia and the StarWars.com Databank. However, since numerous other sources have placed it the Atrivis system, and so these names must be alternatives for the same star system.

There is also some ambiguity as to the nature of the Alliance base(s) on Generis. In the Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, the original resistance base is described as an abandoned space station. With regard to the new Rebel communications base, the book suggests it is continuous with the resistance base stating that "in its original incarnation, Generis base was not designed to house starfighters, and maintenance facilities are primitive," while at the same time referring to it as "the base on Gerenis," suggesting it is on the planet's surface. However, the Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook cites the rugged terrain as a factor in building the communications center, placing it on the ground. As such, it is not clear whether the Rebel Alliance base was first integrated into the space station and then moved to the surface, or built directly on the surface.

Appearances

 * Cloak of Deception
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * X-wing: The Bacta War
 * The Last Command
 * Vision of the Future
 * Force Heretic III: Reunion
 * The Unifying Force
 * Millennium Falcon