Peragus II

"You know the planet with the exposed core you saw flying in?"

- Atton Rand

Peragus II was an Outer Rim planet that was a major source of low-grade engine fuel. First attempts at siphoning fuel off the planet resulted in the near-destruction of Peragus II, and in the creation of the signature hole that exposed its core. Following the events of 3,951 BBY, when the Peragus Mining Facility was destroyed, due to Darth Sion pursuing the Jedi Exile and a stray blast from Sion in the Peragus asteroid field, created as a result of the attempts at mining originally on the planet, detonating it, further mining projects were virtually abandoned.

Description
Located in the Peragus system of the Kwymar sector in the Outer Rim Territories, Peragus II was ravaged to being almost uninhabitable, but for a number of miners, and almost destroyed by attempts at siphoning fuel off the planet. A rocky world, Peragus II was devoid of any sort of tourist attractions; however, fuel was found on the planet, something that enticed many of the miners in places such as the Peragus Mining Facility, a local mining facility on the surface of the planet.

The planet was devoid of any sort of native species, with Peragus II also being devoid of any sort of Human settlements other than the Peragus Mining Facility, a Facility sealed to the planets atmosphere other than when exited when wearing a space suit. The planet was surrounded by an asteroid field, caused by the original explosive attempt at siphoning fuel off the planet, meaning that anyone wishing to visit such places as the Peragus Mining Facility needed the asteroid drift charts.

History
The first fuel mining colony established on Peragus II proved to be short of life, when an accidental blaster shot triggered an explosion of flammable substances in Peragus II's crust and mantle, so powerful that it turned a large chunk of the planet into an asteroid field, which would become the Peragus asteroid field, and exposed its core.

No more attempts were made to colonize the planet, and the newly-constructed Peragus Mining Facility instead extracted fuel from one of the asteroids, delving deeply into it. To prevent a repeat of the Peragus II disaster, blasters were forbidden in the facility; mining droids used underpowered lasers, and miners relied on safer weapons, such as sonic and ion charges, for self-defense. To allow freighters to safely dock with the facility, astrogation charts were constantly updated to reflect asteroid drifts and transmitted to navicomputers on inbound ships.

As of 3,951 BBY, Peragus was the only exporter of fuel in its sector. After the Jedi Civil War, Telos IV relied on this resource to keep Citadel Station in orbit, and with the most humanitarian elements of the Senate putting their careers at stake in the restoration project, any interruption of the work on the Peragus mining facility was likely to have greater repercussions throughout the Republic. If the fuel supply was somehow compromised, Citadel Station would risk falling onto the planet's surface, dooming the restoration efforts there and throughout the Outer Rim.

Skirmish at Peragus II
"I am your rescuer, as you are mine."

- Kreia to the Jedi Exile inside the Peragus Mining Facility.

In 3,951 BBY, the Ebon Hawk, a small freighter badly damaged by a Sith attack, headed towards the Peragus system. On board were Kreia and the Jedi Exile, both unconscious, and T3-M4, a small astromech droid who was able to get the ship through the Peragus asteroid field. The facility personnel tractored the freighter in, but neither the personnel nor the droid knew what would soon take place.

A stowaway HK-50 Jedi Hunter, who had incapacitated the Exile on the Republic warship Harbinger shortly before it was taken over by the Sith, deactivated T3-M4 and introduced himself as the Exile's protocol droid. Willing to make himself "useful", he was assigned appropriate duties while his master recovered in the medical bay. The assassin droid told the administrator of the Exile's standing with the Jedi, so the administrator tried to get her picked up by the Republic as soon as possible, fearing trouble among the miners. Eventually, however, the knowledge leaked out and miners such as Coorta advocated taking her to Nar Shaddaa to collect the bounty Goto had placed on Jedi. To keep the Exile for his own, HK-50 started to sabotage the facility by triggering explosions, staging accidents, and reprogramming mining droids to attack the miners. The maintenance officer, with whom HK-50 worked, was unable to find the source of the malfunctions and died along the rest of the miners when the droid caused an emergency lockdown to seal off the hangar and keep Coorta from fleeing the facility with the Exile.

When the Exile finally awoke, she pieced together what happened from holorecords of the miners as they were desperately yet fruitlessly trying to bypass the station's security systems. The Sith arrived aboard the Harbinger providing a means to get to the hangar, and the Exile, with the help of Kreia and Atton Rand, destroyed HK-50 and made for the Ebon Hawk, which, ironically, the droid had made spaceworthy again for his own getaway.

As they got to the ship from the docking bridge to the Harbinger, Sith Assassins stalked them and Kreia had to duel Darth Sion to allow the others to escape to the hangar through the fuel line. As the Ebon Hawk fled the facility, the Harbinger pursued, until a shot from one of the ships hit an asteroid, causing it to explode along with the rest of the Peragus asteroid field and the ravaged facility. The Ebon Hawk and Darth Sion both barely escaped the detonation.

Aftermath
The destruction of the mining station had a deeper impact than the Exile could probably imagine. The Exile was repeatedly blamed for it, first by Lieutenant Dol Grenn and later by Atris However, when the Telosian government completed its inspection of what was left of the Peragus facility, logs recovered from the wreckage indicated that the miners perished as a result of sabotage, which began while the Exile and her companions were either incapacitated or incarcerated.

To save Citadel Station and the Telosian Restoration Project, the Exile, on behalf of Grenn and the Telosian Council, persuaded Vogga the Hutt to start providing Telos with fuel from Sleheyron. This was something G0-T0 strongly opposed, believing that deals with the Hutts would bankrupt the Republic, but in the end it proved to be the only way to secure the successful completion of the project and the future of Telos.

Locations
One of two points of interest on Peragus II was the Peragus Mining Facility, designed to ship low grade fuel throughout the Galaxy. In addition, this Mining Facility was the sole supplier of shipping-grade engine fuel to the Kwymar Sector. The Facility was installed in the Peragus asteroid field, as the second attempt to siphon Peragian fuel, after the disastrous first attempt. The Mining Facility was surrounded by these asteroids, meaning the asteroid drift charts were required to safely dock at the Facility.

The Mining Facility contained a hangar, medical bay and holding cells, amongst other areas used for siphoning the fuel that the facility had been designed to siphon. The Facility meant that Peragus II was an important planet to the Telosian Restoration Project especially, and the Galactic Republic. The Mining Facility's head was the Administration Officer, the last Administrator being killed by the toxic fumes in the dormitory after HK-50 initiated the emergency lockdown.

A second point of interest was the Peragus asteroid field, a fuel rich asteroid field created after the first attempts at creating a Mining Facility on the planet. Uninhabitable, the asteroids were situated around the Mining Facility, the drift charts being used to allow anyone wishing to dock at the Facility the ability to do so, without having their ship damaged or destroyed by the asteroids. When the Peragus asteroid field was destroyed after the Jedi Exile fled the Facility, this meant that a number of areas, such as the Telosian Restoration Project lost a large source of fuel.

Inhabitants
The only inhabitants of the planet Peragus II resided in the residential Peragus Mining Facility, with the inhabitants of the Facility being composed of many species. These species were mostly humans such as the Medical, Dock, Maintenance, Security and Administration officers, although there were some other species residing in the Facility, such as Sullustans. The inhabitants of the Mining Facility, with the exception of the Jedi Exile, Atton Rand and Kreia, were all killed after HK-50 triggered the emergency lockdown or by the rampant mining droids.

Behind the scenes
In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the player character has the option to have the Ebon Hawk fire upon the asteroids itself. Choosing this action, rather than allowing the Harbinger to destroy it.

Appearances

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

Notes and references
Peragus II (Planet) Peragus II