Restoration Zone

"With this terminal I can gain access to the entire shield network..."

- Bao-Dur attempting to locate the Ebon Hawk

The term Restoration Zone referred to one such zone in a network of similar areas that were erected during the Telosian Restoration Project on Telos IV and overseen by the Ithorians in the years following the Jedi Civil War. Under their careful management, the zones prospered at first, however, once Czerka Corporation began to take over various sections through a combination of legal wheeling and dealing and outright thuggery, they began to fall under mismanagement and disrepair. Eventually, however, the project succeeded and the surface of Telos was restored.

History
In the aftermath of the orbital bombardment of Telos by Admiral Saul Karath in 3,959 BBY the surface of that world was devastated, its land left scarred and the atmosphere had been turned into an inhospitable morass of acidic vapor clouds that produced a toxic chemical rain. After the defeat of the Sith Empire under Darth Malak three years later, the Galactic Republic, in an effort to inspire a general sense of galactic recovery and to help spur the galactic economy, began funding the efforts of an Ithorian herd who wished to restore Telos to something approaching that world's former glory. As a result networks of Restoration Zones were created, overseen by workers on Citadel Station, a titanic orbital structure that covered nearly a quarter of Telos's surface.

Construction
As part of this network massive intersecting lines of shield walls were erected, which divided much of the surface of Telos in the shadow of Citadel Station up into interconnected zones managed by a single computer network. These zones would then be detoxified, cultivated and monitored on an individual basis by Ithorian and droid technicians working from land-based science stations. The process involved many steps and stages, from first isolating and containing the chemical pollutants, to introducing hearty specimens of plants and later animals into each zone. Examples of flora and fauna were taken from multiple worlds across the galaxy, including Onderon. The remains of abandoned or partially-destroyed Republic military bases could be found in a number of these zones, though they were largely left untouched by the Ithorians.

Mismanagement
By the time the Jedi Exile arrived on Telos in 3,951 BBY, the Telosian Restoration Project was in considerable jeopardy. In addition to the cutoff of fuel supplies to the station in orbit thanks to the destruction of the Peragus Mining Facility, many of the formerly Ithorian-run Restoration Zones were steadily being taken over by the local branch of Czerka Corporation, who used loopholes written into Telosian law, lobbying before the Telosian Council and a variety of underhanded and strong-arm tactics to wrest control. Led by Jana Lorso, this branch of Czerka sought to maximize profits at the expense of the project itself by focusing on the salvaging of the old defense installations that had been damaged or destroyed during the initial Sith bombardment instead of general recovery. Czerka would defend these installations from prying eyes by hiring a large force of mercenaries, some of which were stationed on Citadel Station itself; however, their salvage teams would run into trouble as some of the defenses were still active.



Once she had done all that she could on the orbital complex itself to aid the Ithorians and thwart the machinations of Czerka, including putting a stop to an attack on the Ithorian compound by Czerka's mercenaries, the Exile and her companions Atton Rand and Kreia secured transport from Chodo Habat, the leader of the Ithorian herd responsible for the project, to the surface of Telos to continue their search for the stolen Ebon Hawk. Unfortunately for them, Czerka executive Corrun Falt learned of this, taking measures to prepare Restoration Zone RZ-0031, which was the site of one such seemingly abandoned military base, for the Exile's arrival. These measures included reinforcing the mercenary group already stationed there. On their way to the surface, the Exile's orbital shuttle was shot down by an air defense tower; after the resulting crash that nearly killed them, the Zabrak Bao-Dur arrived to pull her, Atton and Kreia from the wreckage. The tech specialist, who had known the Exile from their mutual service in the Republic fleet during the Mandalorian Wars, agreed to aid the group in finding their starship so that they could finally leave the planet.

After hacking their way through a herd of cannoks and several bands of mercenaries and battle droids, the group was able to find where the Ebon Hawk had been taken to. This proved to be the least of their problems, however, because the ship had actually been taken to a previously hidden zone that had been constructed along the polar regions of the planet. While slicing into the shield network in order to locate the Ebon Hawk, Bao-Dur found that a much older shuttle was still to be found inside the nearby underground base; the Exile and her companions proceeded to enter the not-so-inactive base, fighting against even more droids all the while, in order to secure the shuttle, restore power to the facility to open the massive hangar bay doors, and get the activation codes in order to actually use the small vessel; even then, a huge tank droid attempted to stop them. Once this was accomplished and the facility cleared, the Exile left RZ-0031 behind for good. Their respite was short-lived, however, as they were shot down again while approaching the polar irrigation system, having been tracked there by a band of HK-50 assassin droids.

Future
According to Darth Traya, who used her abilities in conjunction with the Force-nexus at the Trayus Core on Malachor V to predict the future, she told the Exile that the Restoration Project would ultimately succeed, due in no small part to her and her companions' actions while on Telos; this would lead to the eventual deconstruction of the many restoration zones. She went on to elaborate that the world would eventually forget that the bombardment had even occurred.

Characteristics
Each Restoration Zone was surrounded by giant shield walls that honeycombed across the surface of Telos that was being restored, forming self-contained sections that contained a wide variety of terrain as well as assorted species of flora and fauna that had been imported from across space.

Terraain
The terrain of the various zones reflected what had been the surface of Telos before its devastation via orbital bombardment. This included grasslands, natural cliff formations, terraces, narrow passes, grassy hills, and sandy beaches that surrounded restored lakes and other bodies of water. However, beyond the translucent walls of the outer zones, the ruins were still visible in the form of scorched earth and acrid smoke clouds.

Flora and fauna
Once the various zones had been cleansed of toxins, the Ithorians filled them with many species of plant and animal life. Grasses of all kinds were planted as well as small, scraggly trees. Several species of herbivores were then imported and released into the wild zones, with predatory animals also introduced to keep their populations in check, including cannoks from Onderon. However, within the zones that had fallen under control of Czerka Corporation, the monitoring of the ecosystem that the Ithorians so carefully maintained was cut off; as a result, the cannoks devoured the herbivores en masse.

Behind the scenes
The Restoration Zone was first seen in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and was created by Chris Avellone and the developers at Obsidian Entertainment.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords