Shola/Legends

Shola was a volcanic planet, with constant groundquakes and corrosive air. Its core was a chamber of icy gas while the outside was searing hot. The planet was also almost impossible to explore, with falling volcanic ash and dangerous mining shafts.

Due to the presence of ancient ruins on the planet, many scientists believed that a civilization once resided on Shola, but were all killed in a massive cataclysm that left the planet in its present state. Another theory held that the original inhabitants over-mined the planet and the crust collapsed. During the Galactic Civil War, the Zann Consortium established racketeering operations on the planet.

Behind the scenes
The fiery climate of Shola could be described as "hellish." Thus, it is most likely the planet's name was inspired by "Sheol," the Hebrew name of Hades (the underworld). Alternately, some fans believe the name was inspired by "Shiloh," the name of two famous places associated with war: 1) the Biblical Shiloh in Israel, a site where the Israelites gathered for war against two of their own tribes; 2) a battle site in the American civil war, named after the Biblical city.

Unused information in MasterTextFile.dat in Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption indicate that Shola was originally planned to be where Tyber Zann hid Jabba's Sith artifact, and that there would be a mission to smuggle it off-planet, but this was removed for unknown reasons, possibly because some graphic cards and/or computers will not support lava or ice Maps.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption

Notes and references
Shola