Ord Mantell/Legends

"Ord Mantell. Just one big junkyard. With a couple of cantinas to keep bored spacers entertained between lightspeed jumps."

- Col Serra

Ord Mantell was a planet in the Bright Jewel Cluster. It was located near Anobis in the Mid Rim. It was originally settled in 12,000 BBY as an Ordnance/Regional Depot. Due to its acquainted location on the Celanon Spur between the Expansion Region and the Outer Rim Territories, the planet gradually became the leading financial hub and trading post of the Bright Jewel sector.

Overview
"What is it about this place and bounty hunters?!"

- Han Solo

Ord Mantell was known as the Heart of the Bright Jewel since it orbited the blue star Bright Jewel at the center of the Bright Jewel system. The planet was famous for its thick, outer cometary cloud, which glowed with a pinkish cast when viewed from space, ensuring its place as the site of the Blockade Runners' Derby for nearly 100 years.

Two large moons and thirteen other satellites orbited the planet (to which was added the Jubilee Wheel), and the cloud cover was tinged with pink when viewed from the planet's surface. This collection of natural wonders made Ord Mantell something of a tourist attraction, despite its seedier side. It was also the homeworld of the Mantellian Savrips and Mantellian flutterplumes, whose sentience was largely unnoticed or ignored.

Surface
Although Ord Mantell had two large moons, which could easily be seen during the night and daytime, the relative closeness of the two natural satellites were responsible for the elevated tidal forces that affected the palnet's dynamic landscape &mdash; groundquakes were common to observe, which resulted in the fact that the planet was volcanically more active and that almost every land mass on the planet was dotted with mountain chains. Sandy beaches were rare and the coastlines were mostly dominated by cliffs and rocks and mudflats. That is why mountains and islands were the distinct features of Ord Mantell's terrain.

Ord Mantell's continent of Worlport boasted a sprawl of cities along its southern shore and it is this part of Ord Mantell that many spacers regarded as a safeport, famous for casinos and for tourists, of which it attracted almost one billion annually. Other metropolitan areas lacked address markings and were considered not intended for outsiders. The thinking behind this was that if you don't know where you're going, then you don't belong here.

Outside of the urban sprawl, the narrow equatorial band of starports and the volcanic islands, Ord Mantell remained largely rural and low tech. Its extreme reliance on fossil fuels kept the planet quite barren, huge robotic coal yards remained to fuel the planet's cities and an immense junkyard littered a large portion of the planetscape.

Environment
Since fossil fuels were the predominant energy source throughout most of the Old Republic era, greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide were in massive amounts in the Ord Mantellian atmosphere. This resulted in the fact that Ord Mantell did not have any polar icecaps and the average global temperature was way above the pre-industrial level. Also because of the large robotic coal yards and factories, which produced tons of different gases into the planet's atmosphere, acid rain could be observed on Ord Mantell, especially in the immense junkyard fields of the planet's industrial zones.

During the New Republic era the Ord Mantellian government made substantial reforms to attract investors from the Core Worlds, which were willing to invest their capital in renewable energy sources. Since the planet had frequent groundquakes and volcano eruptions geothermal power plants were constructed to harness the energy from the planet's crust. Another solution to the planet's energy demands came from the fact that Ord Mantell had two large moons who orbited the planet in relatively close orbits. Thereby tidal energy which was produced by the two moons and stored through tidal power plants became a secondary source for renewable energy on Ord Mantell. Although these policies carried out by the government did not sove all the energy problems, it definitely reduced the carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Discovery
Ord Mantell was originally inhabited by the primitive but sentient Mantellian Savrips. Circa 12,000 BBY, Ord Mantell was settled by Corellian colonists as an advance military and scouting base for the Galactic Republic. During the Pius Dea Crusades, the planet was established as an Ordnance/Regional Depot. Due to the aggressive nature of the Savrips and the expansionist beliefs of the outsiders, violent conflict arose between the groups almost immediately. The Savrips, outmatched in technology, were ultimately forced to flee into the wilderness of their homeworld.

The settlers became mostly farmers and it became something of a free port for all manner of freighters and cargo ships. Despite the planet's diminishing stature, it remained a popular stop for traveling ships.

Ord Mantell lost its strategic significance over time due to the expansion of new trade routes, but the presence of military-quality starship yards and docks brought a thriving civilian cargo trade to the world. Another source of planetary income came from game hunters, who traveled from as far away as Rodia to hunt the Mantellian Savrips. As the number of Savrips declined, contact with the colonists became less frequent and hunters' interest in the world waned. The economy of Ord Mantell quickly recovered from these losses, while the Savrip population remained low.

Ord Mantell later became the capital of the Bright Jewel sector.

Old Republic era
During the Mandalorian Wars, Ord Mantell was the site of a battle won by the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders.

During the Cold War in 3653 BBY, a corrupt admiral sold off the local fleet, and so the military all but abandoned the planet, leading to the lawlessness Ord Mantell eventually became known for. The planet became a haven for mercenaries, exiles, murderers and smugglers coming from the Hydian Way on the galactic west.

After the Treaty of Coruscant, the local government decided to remain loyal to the Republic. Angered, many separatist residents attempted to break away, and began an armed civil war for independence from the Republic. The Mantellian Separatist Movement was primarily focused near the Republic aligned Fort Garnik in the Avilatan region. Supported by the Galactic Republic, the Ord Mantell Government sought to defeat the Separatist movement through force. In the Avilatan region, Republic and Mantellian troops claimed Fort Garnik as their headquarters, while the Separatists claimed a volcano stronghold as theirs.

During this period, corruption ran rampant throughout the Mantellian government and military. Lax ethics among both Republic and Mantellian officers damaged relations with civilians. In the local villages in Avilatan, public perception of the Republic and the Ord Mantell government was very low. Crime syndicates and smugglers utilized such corruption to operate on Ord Mantell freely. Republic and Mantellian officers did little to combat illegal trade, and some encouraged smuggling as a way to expedite shipping. One such crime syndicate, led by Rogun the Butcher, utilized Ord Mantell as a viable shipping depot. Although attempting to restore order, crime syndicates and Galactic Republic military forces destabilized the region as the local government attempted to reclaim the area. .

During the Mantellian Separatist Movement, several Republic Special Forces units were dispatched to deal with the crisis. Organized at Fort Garnik, Havoc Squad, led by Harron Tavus, was once such unit. Havoc Squad defected to the Sith Empire on Ord Mantell, stealing a prototype ZR-57 Orbital Strike Bomb.

During the New Sith Wars, Ord Mantell was the site of a battle won by the Jedi.

Circa 37 BBY, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi were assigned to investigate a missing cargo ship. The investigation led them to Ord Mantell, where they encountered a ruthless land baron named Taxer Sundown, who controlled much of Ord Mantell's moisture farming properties. The intervention of the Jedi forced Sundown to try and flee Ord Mantell, though the resulting chase ended in a crash that broke Sundown's neck. This led to the discovery of a mind-control device being employed by Sundown, which, in addition to lightsaber-wielding enforcers, had convinced Mantellian farmers that he was a Jedi.

Before the start of the Clone Wars, Jedi Knight Pablo-Jill brought peace to the lawless world. Afterward, Ord Mantell was one of the planets used as a weapons storage facility, clone trooper barracks and fleet support by the Grand Army of the Republic and Republic Navy during the Clone Wars. Ord Mantell was where the GAR regrouped after the Battle of Geonosis. During the war, Anakin Skywalker's fleet was ambushed by Separatist forces while making a supply run to the planet. During the Clone Wars, Ord Mantell became the headquarters of the Republic 8th Sector Army.

Galactic Empire
"Well, the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind."

- Han Solo

During the Imperial era, Ord Mantell was the capital of the Bright Jewel Oversector, an Imperial Priority Sector created from the area of operations of the Republic 8th Army and ruled by Grand Moff Vanko.

Following the Battle of Yavin, Renegade Squadron, Han Solo, and Chewbacca rendezvoused on the planet to repair damages sustained to their fleet. It was here that the squadron and Solo were attacked by IG-88 and Imperial forces in the Ord Mantell junkyards. However, the Rebels managed to escape. Although the planet claimed to be free of Imperial interest, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, while on a different mission, discovered an Imperial fleet on maneuvers there.

Before returning to the Echo Base on Hoth, it was here that Han had his run in with the bounty hunter Skorr. It was also at a starship scrapyard on Ord Mantell that Dash Rendar&mdash;working to locate information on Han Solo's whereabouts for Lando Calrissian after the debacle at Cloud City&mdash;ran into IG-88D and other bounty hunters trying to intercept Boba Fett, who was transporting Han Solo's frozen body to Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Rendar defeated IG-88D in a battle in the Ord Mantell junkyards.

The Wookiee Chalmun used gambling profits earned on the planet, to purchase his cantina in Mos Eisely.

New Republic
By 7 ABY, Ord Mantell was located in the heart of Imperial Space. However during the Post–Zsinj campaigns of 8 ABY, Admiral Ackbar secured a corridor to Ord Mantell and captured the planet. Ord Mantell attained membership in the New Republic in 8 ABY, and although the Republic launched extensive efforts to civilize the planet, it remained a center of illicit activities. The Republic also deployed an X-wing fighter wing to Ord Mantell to assist in ongoing skirmishes in its sector. Ord Mantell was attacked in the following year by Grand Admiral Thrawn as part of a tactic to keep the New Republic distracted. The planet was later briefly recaptured by the Empire just prior Operation Shadow Hand.

During the Disciples of Ragnos crisis, information had surfaced about a large stockpile of Rebellion-era weapons caches hidden in the wastes of the planet. Jaden Korr was sent to destroy the stockpiles so they didn't fall into the wrong hands; during the mission he battled Boba Fett, who wished to capture the weapons for himself.

Han Solo returned to Ord Mantell between 23 and 24 ABY aboard the Millennium Falcon to act as a judge in the Blockade Runner Race. During this visit, they encountered Anja Gallandro, who believed that Solo had murdered her father. Gallandro used this to try and coerce Solo in mediating a violent dispute between miners and farmers on her home world of Anobis.

Yuuzhan Vong War
During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy, Ord Mantell was approached by the New Republic to help alleviate the overwhelming rush of refugees fleeing the battle zones. Like many refugee worlds early in the war, it was eventually overrun by the Yuuzhan Vong who also caused severe damage to the orbiting space station, the Jubilee Wheel. The planet was eventually liberated by a band of soldiers wearing Mandalorian armor. It was believed that their leader was none other than Boba Fett himself, although only Han Solo had any evidence to support this rumor.

Citizens
Originally Ord Mantell did not have any intelligent species, so until 12,000 BBY when the Galactic Republic started to colonize the planet the native Mantellian Savrips were the predominat sentients on the planet. Despite being a predator and ferocious the Mantellian Savrip almost came to an extinction because of the legal hunting that took place on Ord Mantell during the Old Republic era. Fortunately in the New Republic era the Ord Mantellian government passed a chain of laws that forbided the hunting of the Mantellian Savrip in order to preserve the existence of the remaining native species.

The inhabitants of Ord Mantell were known as Ord Mantellians, which made up a variety of different species. Although Humans were the majority of the population, Ord Mantell also included large numbers of Zabraks, Ithorians, Sullustans, Rodians, Bothans, Devaronians and many more of whom most were simply farmers in the rural regions of the planet. Despite the fact that Ord Mantell was first settled by Corellian colonists as a military outpost in the Mid Rim, throughout most of its history the lawless world served as a magnet for criminals of all stripes &mdash; pickpockets and smugglers frequently enjoyed the shining casinos in Worlport, while pirates and other mercenaries prefered to stay in the barren outback. Even assassin droids were common to the planet's surface mostly lurking in the industrial junkyards of Ord Mantell.

Entertainment
Apart from gambling in the casinos of Ord Mantell, hunting the Mantellian Savrip was a popular engagement during the days of the Old Republic. Also if one was affected by speed and fame the Blockade Runners Derby provided an opportunity to enter the most prestige starship race in the Bright Jewel system. It was held annually on Ord Mantell and was considered one of the grandest and most daring races a pilot could enter. The course was run through the outer rim of the system, weaving through the outer cometary cloud. The course changed yearly, due to the orbital mechanics of the system.

Behind the scenes
The PC game Star Wars: Rebellion mistakenly places Ord Mantell in the Dufilvan sector (a misspelling of the true Dufilvian sector) of the Outer Rim Territories. The Dufilvian sector is actually located in the Mid Rim.