Core Worlds/Legends

"Those who don't live here wish they did."

- Saying among Core Worlders

The Core (also known as the Galactic Core and, during the Imperial era, the Imperial Core) were some of the most prestigious, well-developed, well-known, and heavily populated planets in the galaxy. In astrophysical terms, the Core denoted the central area of the galaxy, and in broad terms this was true enough, but the precise usage of the term was sometimes more complex.

The major Rimward hyperlanes radiated outwards around little more than half the galactic disk, and the Core Worlds occupied a C-shaped region of space around the Deep Core, the heart of the astrophysical core (generally considered to be a separate outlier area), extending outwards towards the Unknown Regions.

"Who controls Coruscant controls the Core, and without the Core, the Alliance is nothing."

- Admiral Traest Kre'fey

Pre-Republic era
For much of galactic history, little was known about the history and cultures of the Core Words prior to the formation of the Galactic Republic in 25,053 BBY. Among many prominent galactic circles, it was believed that Humans originated in one of the Core Worlds. It was widely speculated that Coruscant was the birthplace of humanity though there was little to no archaeological evidence to support that theory. Around 1,000,000 BBY, the Celestials created the Corellian system by using the massive Centerpoint Station to tractor the five planets Corellia, Selonia, Drall, Talus and Tralus through hyperspace around the star Corell. The planets were then settled with Selonians, Dralls and humans from Coruscant; resulting in the system's multi-species population. The Celestials also used similar technology to construct the Vultar system.



Around 200,000 BBY, war broke out on Coruscant between the near-Human Taungs and the 13 baseline Human nations of the Battalions of Zhell. A volcano decimated the Zhell, the ash filling the skies for two years, so the Taungs adopted the name Dha Werda Verda (Warriors of Shadow) for themselves. The Human Zhell eventually recovered and drove the Taungs offworld. Around 100,000 BBY, Coruscant and the Duros homeworld of Duro were surveyed by the Columi, who dismissed the native civilizations on these worlds as primitive disappointments.

During this period, Coruscant's surface was gradually covered by the planet-spanning ecumenopolis of Galactic City. New buildings were built on the old. As a result, there was virtually no exposed land. In the forgotten underlevels of the city, there was darkness, pollution and crime. Higher up, there were government offices and penthouses owned by the elite. The lower fifty levels of the ecumenopolis is said to have last seen sunlight around 95,000 BBY.

In 35,000 BBY, the insectoid Killiks of Alderaan built the Castle Lands of Oroboro. At some point, the Killiks colonized nearby Alsakan. They were taken away from Alderaan 30,000 BBY by the Celestials after consuming all of Alderaan's natural resources, and long believed extinct by the galaxy until re-encountered in the Unknown Regions in 35 ABY.

Between 35,000 BBY to 25,200 BBY, the Infinite Empire of the Rakata conquered and enslaved the inhabitants of several worlds within the Core region including Coruscant, Duro and the Corellian systems. Slaves from these worlds were used to build the Star Forge in 30,000 BBY. Under Rakatan domination, the Humans of Coruscant's colonization attempts were limited to sleeper ships, which ended up on Alderaan, in the Tion Cluster, Seoul 5, Kuat, Alsakan, Axum, Anaxes, Atrisia, Metellos, Corulag, Csilla and many other worlds. The Rakata were eventually decimated by a massive plague, leading to slave revolutions on their subject worlds in the Core.

Over the next two centuries, Coruscant was linked to other Core Worlds including Corellia, Alderaan, New Plympto and Duro, by hyperspace cannons, via the Herglic Trade Empire. It was during this time that the Coruscant government peacefully absorbed the nearby Azure Imperium. During these pre-Republic years, the languages of Coruscant and its neighbors meshed to become Old Galactic Standard. Before the invention of the hyperdrive, galactic civilization was limited to the Core Worlds. Densely populated and heavily industrialized, the Core Worlds gradually developed into a socio-economical power house essential for galactic domination over the millennia.

The Old Republic era


In 25,053 BBY, the Galactic Republic was born with the signing of the Galactic Constitution in the aftermath of the Unification Wars. Its founders were a number of key Core Worlds known collectively as the Core Founders including Coruscant, Alderaan, Duro, Kuat and Humbarine. />  As an early founder of the Republic, Duro entered a golden age under the leadership of Queen Rana Mas Trehalt. Later, the monarchy was abolished in favor of a collection of ruling corporations administrated by the Duros High House which was led by a Chief Representative Officer. During that period, Human and [[Duros scientists reverse-engineered the Force-based Rakatan hyperdrive; inventing the modern hyperdrive. This led to vigorous colonization in a small patch of the Core known as the Tetrahedron.

The Tetrahedron was based on the concepts of a Duros hyperspatial physicist who theorized that Coruscant, Alderaan, Corellia and the Ginn Jump were the four corners of a specific region of space. Due to its strategic location and heavy infrastructure, Coruscant was the capital of the Republic; thus bearing the coordinates 0-0-0 on hyperspace maps. The discovery of the Perlemian Trade Route linked Coruscant to the Outer Rim world of Ossus, which became the domain of the Jedi Order over the subsequent millennia and a fortress world blocking Tioneseand Hutt expansion into the Core. Over the next millennia, the Corellian Run was mapped, linking Coruscant to Corellia and beyond. The wedge defined by the two trade routes became known as "the Slice". The Core Worlds' portion of the Slice was known as the Arrowhead, and soon the Republic expanded into the Colonies. Republic worlds like Anaxes, Basilisk and Ixtlar prospered from this territorial boom.

In 24,000 BBY, war broke out between the Republic and the Union; spreading both sides of the Perlemian. The Republic won by turning the Hutts against the Tionese; ending the Union's existence as an independent state and paving the way for galactic domination by the Core-based Republic. By 23,900 BBY, the worlds of the former Honorable Union had all joined the Republic with the exception of Desevro which remained proudly isolationist. At first, the government on Coruscant wished for slow expansion, despite its promotion of hyperspace exploration. However, against the government's wishes, the membership of the Republic boomed for its first millennium of existence, mainly due to worlds wishing to join as protection against the Hutt Empire.

During the Great Manifest Period (20,000 BBY–17,000 BBY), the Republic expanded eastwards across the galaxy into the Inner Rim and Expansion Region. Despite this, the Slice would remain the heart of navigable space. Eventually, the Republic expanded past the galactic-northern and -southern borders of the Slice, though most of the galaxy was still unknown, except for outposts such as Ord Mantell (12,000 BBY) and Malastare (8,000 BBY). The space west of Coruscant still remained unexplored since analogues to the Perlemian Trade Route and the Corellian Run in that direction still had not been discovered. Worse, progress was limited to dangerous one- or two-light-year jumps into a stretch of hyperspatial anomalies. Consequently, the Republic government expanded eastward, instead.

During this period, several key Core Worlds including Coruscant and Alsakan established holdings in the Expansion Region. However, this region suffered greatly as a result of Alsakan attempting to snatch control of the Republic from Coruscant. This resulted in seventeen Alsakan Conflicts, spanning from 17,000 BBY to 3,017 BBY. However, most of the fighting took place between their holdings in the Expansion Region, rather than in the Core itself. Needless to say, Coruscant won every conflict it fought. In 15,500 BBY, after a disastrous first contact, Coruscant was assaulted by Star Dragons in the Duinuogwuin Conflict. The conflict was peacefully resolved by Supreme Chancellor Fillorean and the Star Dragon philosopher Borz'Mat'oh, who together founded the University of Coruscant.



In 12,000 BBY, the Core Worlds came under the influence of the theocratic and humanocentric Pius Dea sect which posited one of their own Contispex as the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. Over the following centuries, his descendants sanctioned several crusades against some rival alien sects in the Outer Rim which fought back; leaving the galaxy in a never-ending state of alternating hot and cold wars.

During this period, several military outposts known as Ordnance/Regional Depots were established to ostenibly protect human settlers from hostile alien threats. This further deepened interspecies tensions with the anti-alien nature of the crusades forcing an exodus into Hutt Space and turning the Rimward Slice into a militarized zone dominated by war profiteers. Though Pius Dea rule came to an end in 11,000 BBY, the repercussions of these crusades would sour relations between the Core and the Outer Rim over the millennia.

In 9,757 BBY, the Second Herglic Feud occurred. During the Great Hyperspace War in 5,000 BBY, Coruscant was invaded by the Sith Empire which quickly overwhelmed the Republic Legislative District. With the destruction of Sith Lord Naga Sadow’s Sith mediation sphere above Primus Goluud, the Sith forces were driven back by reinforcements from Anaxes. Republic forces then invaded and devastated Sith Space, ending the Sith Empire. In 4,250 BBY, the Third Jedi Schism was fought on Coruscant with the surviving Dark Jedi fleeing to the Vultar system. The Dark Jedi discovered that the system had been artificially constructed by the Celestials and attempted to use the ancient machinery including the Cosmic Turbine but ended up destroying themselves and the system during the Vultar Cataclysm.

By 4,225 BBY, Kalkielius had become impoverished and became a crime hub dominated by the Neimoidians and Hutts. A joint Jedi and Republic task force ousted the Hutts and other criminal elements, and the planet was rebuilt with Republic aid. In 4,015 BBY, the Great Droid Revolution on Coruscant was defeated but sparked an increased anti-droid sentiment among the galactic populace. During the Great Sith War, the Krath and their Mandalorian allies attacked several Core Worlds including Basilisk, Foerost, Kalkielius and Coruscant.

Following the devastation of Ossus in 3,996 BBY, the Jedi Council took up residence in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, to which many Jedi relics from Ossus were taken. The Temple was greatly expanded and rebuilt over the preceding millennia. Much of the Core Worlds largely escaped the devastation of the Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi Civil War and the Sith Civil War since much of the fighting occurred in the outer galaxy. In 3,962 BBY, the Mandalorians devastated much of Duro. During the Great Galactic War, the resurgent Sith Empire and their Mandalorian allies blockaded the Hydian Way; depriving the Core Worlds of vital supplies and raw goods from the Colonies and Outer Rim.

This sparked rioting on Coruscant and there was talk in the Senate of complete surrender to the Sith. However, the Republic’s situation was alleviated by the intervention of the Mirialan smuggler Hylo Visz who succeeded in breaking the Mandalorian blockade. The Sith then offered to negotiate a peace with the Republic on Alderaan in 3,653 BBY. With the Republic and Jedi caught off guard, a Sith fleet invaded and rampaged the galactic capital; inflicting much damage to the Galactic Senate and Jedi Temple. The Republic was forced to signed the uneven Treaty of Coruscant which ceded territories to the Sith. This set the stage for the Cold War which was marked by border skirmishes and proxy wars.

In 3,017 BBY, Coruscant won the Seventeenth Alsakan Conflict, ending a long line of conflicts with its rival Alsakan. This sealed Coruscant’s dominance as the galaxy’s political and economic center with a monopoly on sponsoring colonization and settlement of outlying systems. In 3,000 BBY, Corellia Star Drive was bought over by Corellian Engineering Systems following the death of its design team.

Rise of the Empire
By 1,100 BBY, the Republic had entered a “Dark Age” after centuries of protracted warfare with various Sith factions including the New Sith Empire .This period was marked by excessive corruption, corporate bankruptcy, rampant lawlessness and the exhaustion of mineral reserves. The Republic could no longer afford to maintain the HoloNet beyond the Core Worlds, so communications between worlds outside the Core had to be maintained through couriers. Even worse, a galaxywide epidemic of Candorian plague killed off as much as two-thirds of the population of some worlds.

The Jedi wielded greater influence in the Republic government and took control of the office of Supreme Chancellor. Although the unity of the Sith seems to have been broken by infighting, the situation wore down the Republic Navy and Army, which likewise fell under increasing Jedi control. During the Light and Darkness War (1,010 BBY&mdash;1,000 BBY, Lord Kaan’s reorganized Brotherhood of Darkness struck deep into the Core and managed to capture Chandrila but failed to take the galactic capital Coruscant. Following the Seventh Battle of Ruusan, Tarsus Valorum&mdash;the first non-Jedi Supreme Chancellor in centuries&mdash;enacted the Ruusan Reformation that reduced the power of the Chancellor, increased the Galactic Senate’s power and abolished the Republic’s military.

The Ruusan Reformation also attempted to reduce corruption and decentralize power away from a few powerful Coreward sectors that dominate representation by reorganizing the then-existing millions of sectors into only 1,024 sectors. Each of the new sectors was granted its own Senator, although a few exemptions were made for politically powerful core worlds to retain their individual representation. Other slots, such as those for species types and cultural entities were also granted. By increasing the power of the Senate however, this increased gridlock and the loss of representation for many worlds and systems.

The subsequent Republic Classic Era was marked by the lack of full-scale conflict for the Core Worlds which largely recovered and prospered. However, small short-lived conflicts and threats still occurred. Circa 500 BBY, Corellia allied with Selonia and Drall in a failed attempt to conquer the Federation of the Double Worlds. In 470 BBY, Corellia attempted to secede from the Republic; although progressing far enough to close its sector's borders and withdraw from the Senate using Contemplanys Hermi, the plan ultimately failed and the system continued as a begrudging Republic member-state.

In 380 BBY, the Corellian Jedi Keiran Halcyon defeated the Afarathu pirates, a sect of Selonian terrorists, whom were trying to kill all Humans on Corellia. The Afarathu were not gone forever, and would plague Corellia during the Galactic Civil War. In 312 BBY, the Corellian King Berethron e Solo established a parliamentary constitutional monarch, replacing his own absolute monarchy. In 150 BBY, the Royal House of Solo was overthrown by Corellia’s powerful conglomerates including Gowix Computers, the Corellian Mining Corporation and the Corellian Engineering Cooperation which then proceeded to install a pro-business government known as the Diktat.

At some point before 33 BBY but probably well after 1,006 BBY, several Human inhabitants of the Core Worlds decided that the urban sprawl of their region, the stress of urban society and the lack of peaceful coexistence with others was not for them. They decided to settle Leritor, an unimportant world in the Mid Rim near the Corellian Run. In 33 BBY, the terrorist organization The Flail, accusing the Galactic Senate of corruption, disrupted public services of Coruscant, including commerce, communications, traffic and weather, destroying property and lives while doing so. They were stopped by agents of Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum.

Following the Naboo Crisis in 32 BBY, the secret Sith Lord and Naboo Senator Palpatine became Supreme Chancellor. In 27 BBY, Coruscant was almost destroyed by Ashaar Khorda using the Infant of Shaa. Jango Fett, Zam Wesell, and Yarael Poof saved Coruscant, although Poof sacrificed himself to do so. News of this averted disaster was never widely divulged, however.

Imperial era
From 25,053 BBY to 19 BBY, the Republic dominated most worlds in the Core despite threats over the millennia from various elements including the Honorable Union of Desevro & Tion, the Krath, various Sith factions and the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

By 19 BBY, much of the Core Worlds had come under Emperor Palpatine's Galactic Empire. During the Galactic Civil War, the Core Worlds switched hands several times between the New Republic and the Empire. From 5 to 6 ABY, the New Republic had reclaimed several prominent worlds including Ralltiir, Esseles, Brentaal and Coruscant itself.

Much of the Core was re-conquered by Imperial forces under the resurgent clone Emperor Palpatine in 10 ABY during Operation Shadow Hand. With his final death in 11 ABY, the New Republic reclaimed most of the Core while the Empire was pushed backed to the Deep Core and parts of the Outer Rim.

During the later stages of the Galactic Civil War, the term "Imperial Core", or sometimes even simply "the Core", was used by supporters of both sides to denote areas of remaining Imperial control around the Galactic Center. This usage persisted even when Coruscant and most of the historic Core Worlds had joined under New Republic, and the Imperial holdouts in the area were mostly restricted to the Deep Core and the fringes of the Unknown Regions.

Until 25 ABY, the Core Worlds remained largely stable and prosperous except for brief minor disturbances like the First Corellian Insurrection in 18 ABY and the Second Imperium Crisis in 23 ABY. During the Yuuzhan Vong War (25-30 ABY), the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong invaders seized several prominent worlds in the region along the Perlemian Trade Route including Coruscant and Ralltiir. With the defeat of the Vong in 30 ABY, the Core Worlds passed backed into the hands of the Republic's successor government&mdash;the Galactic Alliance.

With the defeat of the Galactic Alliance during the Sith-Imperial War, much of the Core including Coruscant passed into the hands of the Fel Empire which was usurped by Darth Krayt's Sith Empire. As of 137 ABY, resistance to the Sith-led Empire in the Core Worlds continued in the form of the Alliance's Core Forces under Admiral Gar Stazi.

Oversectors

 * Imperial Center Oversector (in Colonies and Core Worlds)

Sectors

 * Alderaan sector
 * Azure sector
 * Bormea sector
 * Corellian sector
 * Core sector
 * Coruscant sector
 * Darpa sector
 * Dolomar sector
 * Duro sector
 * Farlax sector
 * Farrfin sector
 * Hatawa sector
 * Humbarine sector
 * Illodia sector
 * Kokash sector
 * Koradin sector
 * Kuat sector
 * Tapani sector (technically belonging to the Colonies)
 * Testarr sector
 * Weemell sector
 * Widek sector

Systems

 * Abregado system
 * Aldraig system
 * Andaran system
 * Belgaroth system
 * Cirius system
 * Craeen system
 * Darada system
 * Deneba system
 * Eeropha system
 * Fre'ji system
 * Gerrard system
 * Hemei system
 * Kidar system
 * Leemurtoo system
 * Mechis system
 * Metellos system
 * Ragoon system
 * Rakaa system
 * Ralltiir system
 * Recopi system
 * Rendili system
 * Ruan system
 * Salliche system
 * Sarapin system
 * Simpla system
 * Tepasi system
 * Vannell system
 * Velus system
 * Yulant system
 * Zug system

Other Planets of the Core Worlds

 * Aaeton
 * Ator
 * Belasco
 * Berrun
 * Columus
 * Dachat
 * Galand
 * Grizmallt
 * Hyabb
 * Iphigin
 * Isht
 * Kiva
 * Mawan
 * Necropolis
 * Nierport
 * Ord Sabaok
 * Pria
 * Scipio
 * Shawken
 * Skako
 * Sorrus
 * Talravin
 * Thracior
 * Tiisheraan
 * Trantor
 * Wukkar

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace Act 1: Treaty of Coruscant
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 26: Vector, Part 2
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Dark Rival
 * Darth Maul: Saboteur
 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * Jedi Quest: The Master of Disguise
 * Jedi Quest: The School of Fear
 * Jedi Quest: The Moment of Truth
 * Jedi Quest: The Changing of the Guard
 * MedStar II: Jedi Healer
 * Jedi Trial
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars Dark Times 11: Vector, Part 5
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * Imperial Commando: 501st
 * The Last of the Jedi: A Tangled Web
 * Rebel Bass
 * Han Solo at Stars' End comic
 * Death Star
 * The Farlander Papers
 * Star Wars: Empire 19: Target: Vader
 * X-wing: Iron Fist
 * The Emperor's Trophy
 * Fists of Ion
 * Command Decision
 * Retreat from Coruscant
 * Before the Storm
 * Edge of Victory I: Conquest
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
 * Retreat from Coruscant
 * Before the Storm
 * Edge of Victory I: Conquest
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth

Notes and references
Kerne Planeterne Kernwelten Mundos del Núcleo Galaktyka Центральные Миры Keskusmaailmat