Contruum/Legends

Contruum was a planet in the Mid Rim, a brown-and-blue world with two large moons and a number of smaller satellites.

Description
Contruum was a brown and blue world circled by satellites, two fair-sized moons, and a mid-sized orbital shipyard. Contruum had a heavily populated equatorial band, though was not an ecumenopolis, with enough farms and arable land on its surface to be considered an agriworld.

An industrious planet with ore-smelting plants, foundries, a modest shipbuilding franchise, and lucrative Borium mining operations, Contruum was often touted as one of the most preeminent planets outside of the Core Worlds, and was compared to Eriadu in terms of power and prestige - though it was not nearly as ecologically devastated - with no planet able to rival it in its part of the Mid Rim.

Due to its position in industry, aspiring geologists, metallurgists, and engineers from all along the Vaathkree Trade Corridor flock to Contruum to study at its prestigious applied sciences colleges. Graduates and interns alike can easily find work-study programs and employment within the planet's foundries, shipyards, and mines, with multiple manufacturers of borium-tipped excavators and industrial drills recruiting heavily from Contruum's graduate pool.

Equally famous for their spirit of courage and sacrifice, Contruum has a rugged identity with a long history of invasions; with each invasion ending up with the inhabitants of Contruum rising up and driving invaders back into space.

History
The Human population was concentrated in the planet's tropics, although settlement had spread throughout the star system, notably in two cities on the smaller world of Contruum 6, which may in fact have been one of Contruum's moons. A battle of the Mandalorian Wars was fought on Contruum, as part of Mandalorian Triumph.

Perhaps most famous as the homeworld of Airen and Pash Cracken, Contruum was regarded in some circles as one of the most preeminent planets outside the Core Worlds, comparable in power and prestige to Eriadu&mdash;and it was certainly the most prominent center in the area of the Mid Rim in which it lay. Located a short hyperspace jump from the Perlemian Trade Route, and two jumps from the Hydian Way, Contruum was known for its borium mines and foundries, and also for its shipyards.

In some respects, however, Contruum was more like Corellia than Eriadu: the inhabitants had limited the impact of interstellar industry on their planet's ecosystem, and they were also known for their independence, with a long history of resisting interstellar invasions.

The Imperial era
After the Galactic Empire replaced the Galactic Republic, Imperial forces seized control of the borium operations, expecting that such an action would meet little resistance from the rest of the planet's largely scattered and self-sufficient population. They were proved wrong when Airen Cracken and his team of mechanics organized themselves into a guerilla group, known as Cracken's Crew. Avoiding direct attacks on the garrison forces, they wreaked havoc on the Imperial-controlled shipyards and mines, and the supply infrastructure of the occupation. As the Imperial garrison tried to deal with the saboteurs, a planetary militia was raised, and after a years-long war, the local Moff opted to withdraw his troops, unable to justify the losses that the Empire was suffering in attempting to hold the world.

With its long history of opposition to tyranny and its successful resistance to the Empire, Contruum became a bastion of the New Republic. The shipyards built sleek destroyers with names that embodied virtues like Temperance, Prudence, and Equity, and Airen Cracken and his son Pash were considered heroes of the galaxy.

The Yuuzhan Vong War
Given its background, it was somewhat surprising that Contruum remained a free world throughout the Yuuzhan Vong invasion&mdash;although in part, this may be explained by the fact that Airen Cracken, after decades as head of Intelligence for the Alliance and the New Republic, had once again taken command of his homeworld's defense. To protect the world from invasion, the orbital shipyards were abandoned, and a secret military base was established on the planet's innermost moon, using simple but effective concealment tactics not seen since the days of the Rebel Alliance. By the later stages of the war, newly-designed Hapan interdiction mines had also been deployed.

The Yuuzhan Vong did not make a serious direct assault on Contruum until the fifth year of the invasion. The Galactic Alliance, correctly anticipating a planned Yuuzhan Vong attack on their capital at Mon Calamari, concentrated half their available fleet there, poised to strike at Yuuzhan Vong controlled Coruscant while the invaders' fleet was on the Outer Rim. The Yuuzhan Vong did not directly locate the buildup, focused around icy Contruum 6, but their suspicions were aroused by the increasing numbers of Smugglers' Alliance ships passing through the system, and during the Defense of Mon Calamari, Warmaster Nas Choka ordered four of his fleet's battlegroups to break off their attack and strike at Contruum instead.

However, when Zonama Sekot came out of hyperspace above Coruscant, all Yuuzhan Vong warships were recalled to defend their home base, and the fleet at Contruum turned around almost immediately after entering the system. Subsequently, Contruum was used as a staging point for Galactic Alliance forces in the lead up to the Recapture of Coruscant.

Behind the scenes
In The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force, the map places Contruum in the Expansion Region, but the text places it in a "part of the Mid Rim."

Appearances

 * X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble
 * The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force
 * Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice
 * Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice