Flitter (planet)

Flitter was the codename for a Rebel Alliance safe world in the Tierfon system during the early part of the Galactic Civil War. Flitter became a graphic example of why the Rebellion needed to keep its safe world locations secret after an Imperial starship captured a Rebel transport bound for Flitter and subsequently discovered the planet's existence. The Empire responded by leveling Flitter's cities and poisoning its ecosystem with air-dropped toxins. Because the Imperial attack occurred in the dead of one of Flitter's harsh winters, the Empire, rather than dispatching ground forces, merely stationed a pair of corvettes in orbit and left the rest of the planet's refugees to die. By the next spring, 95 percent of Flitter's population of over 40,000 had succumbed to starvation or exposure.

Description
The planet Flitter, one of the Rebel Alliance's safe worlds, was located in the Tierfon system, within the Sumitra sector of the galaxy's Expansion Region. Flitter was a temperate world with a cool temperature, a moist hydrosphere, very cold winter seasons, and terrain primarily comprising mountains, plains, forests, and glaciers.

The planet featured a Type I atmosphere breathable for Humans, and standard gravity. A day on Flitter lasted twenty-five standard hours, and a year 378 local days. Flitter's fauna included grubs.

History
During the Galactic Civil War, agents of the Galactic Empire, when politically expedient to do so, routinely eliminated family members of known Rebel Alliance personnel as a form of terror. In response, the Alliance Support Services branch established a number of remote safe worlds, where Rebel sympathizers and their families could safely live free of Imperial oppression. "Flitter" became the codename for one of these safe worlds, located in the Tierfon system, which also included the planet Tierfon, home of the Tierfon Rebel Base.

Eventually, Flitter's population swelled to over 40,000 men, women, and children, more than twice the average population of a Rebel safe world, and the planet became a prominent producer of ores for conversion into fuel. However, an Alliance Support Services transport was captured by an Imperial starship en route to Flitter, and the vessel's pilot broke under Imperial interrogation, revealing the safe world's location to the Empire.

Within one month's time, an Imperial fleet laid waste to Flitter, destroying many of the planet's cities, including Flitter's one major city, and poisoning all of the nearby land and forests with air-dropped toxins, contaminating much of Flitter's ecology. The Imperial attack came in the dead of winter. Instead of dispatching ground troops to the planet surface, the Empire simply posted a pair of corvettes in orbit and let Flitter's elements take their toll&mdash;by the time spring arrived, more than 95 percent of the safe world's population had died from starvation or exposure. The remaining survivors scattered and hid in caves, subsisting on grubs and tree bark.

By circa 2 ABY, Flitter's population numbered only 1,000. The Rebellion desperately wished to rescue the Flitter survivors but as of that year was unable to muster enough firepower to challenge the Imperial blockade around the planet. Flitter thus became a graphic example of the Rebellion's need to keep its safe worlds secret.

Inhabitants
Flitter's refugee population ranged from Humans to many other species, and the populace lived at a feudal technology level, with no starports. Following the Imperial attack on Flitter, the planetary government degraded into anarchy, and Flitter itself afforded no major imports or exports.

Locations
Flitter hosted one major city for its refugee population, which was summarily turned into rubble following the Imperial attack on the planet. A number of other cities were similarly destroyed.

Behind the scenes
The planet Flitter was first mentioned in the October 1990 first edition of the West End Games Rebel Alliance Sourcebook as an example of a Rebel Alliance safe world, providing it with a basic background description. Flitter's backstory was repeated in the sourcebook's April 1994 second edition, which also provided the planet with basic geological and societal statistics for roleplaying purposes. Flitter was subsequently provided an entry in the 2008 The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.