Skor II

"Skor II is a world of apparently unlimited resources, but, due to the varied nature of its climate and its planetary composition, these resources tend to be concentrated in different parts of the world."

- Obo Rin

Skor II was a planet in the Squab system and the homeworld of the Squibs. It was located in the Outer Rim Territories along the Rimma Trade Route. The world was small, but its varied terrain and climate provided it with vast natural resources. The planet's system of government, known as the polyanarchy, was headed by a king. One major population center was Metrobig City, site of the Metrobig Interplanetary Blastport.

Early tribes of Squibs were forced to wander Skor II to find resources. As some tribes founded villages, others traded from settlement to settlement, and haggling became an ingrained part of the Squib psyche. It was this bargaining instinct that allowed the Squibs to trade for hyperspace technology and bring their world to galactic prominence. Skor II remained loyal to the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. When the Confederacy of Independent Systems invaded the world n 21 BBY, the Battle of Skor II was won by Mace Windu and Clone Commander Cody. Although the government of Skor II later negotiated rubbish management contracts with the Galactic Empire, the king declared a pact of mutual support with the Alliance to Restore the Republic sometime before the Battle of Hoth.

Description
Skor II was a terrestrial planet far from the Core Worlds in the Outer Rim reaches of the Rimma Trade Route. It orbited a small, red star called Squab as part of the Squab system. The world and its system were located in the Calaron sector.

Though small, Skorr II was dense, and its terrain and climate differed greatly from one region to another. The result was that the planet had seemingly boundless natural resources but that these were spread out helter-skelter. For instance, precious metals were concentrated in areas with mountainous terrain, salt was plentiful in sweltering coastal planes, and timber was found in temperate zones. Native fauna included a bird species that had green body feathers, red plumage on its head, yellow legs, and a long, yellow beak. Despite the fluctuations in climate, most beings found the world pleasant.

History
"Our ultrastrong loyalties and royalties to Republicness and whatever it may stand for will not let splitty-types coax-haggle Squibbish into leaving, no matter the size of the haggleprize."

- King Ebareebaveebeedee

A sentient species known as the Squibs evolved on Skor II. The diminutive beings, split into various tribes, had to wander the world in search of daily necessities due to the uneven distribution of the world's natural resources. Nevertheless, they evolved an innate curiosity and proclivity for collecting that eventually forced some tribes to settle down and found villages. Other tribes kept up their traditional nomadism and took on the added mantle of traders, bringing goods from far-flung regions as they wandered the globe. Haggling attained a heretofore unseen importance in Squib culture and was perfected to an artform. Technology on Skor II advanced to early mass production.

Beginning c. 5,500 BBY, traders from Tapani sector began blazing new hyperlanes in the galaxy's southern reaches. Sometime during this process, Skor II received its first offworld visitor, a Dorcin merchant vessel. The Squibs negotiated for the technical specifications of hyperspace technology, and the Dorcin gained mineral rights to an arctic region of the planet. The Squibs took to the stars, and their world became more and more linked to the outside galaxy. The Tapani merchant hyperlane, which came to be known as the Rimma Trade Route, grew to be one of the most heavily trafficked in the galaxy. Inflows of trade and the Squibs' mastery of bargaining helped the planet prosper. Sometime before 20 BBY, Skor II joined the Galactic Republic.

More than 40 years before the Battle of Yavin, a Squib named Ebareebaveebeedee ascended the planet's throne to become king. Beginning in 23 BBY, sectors along the Rimma seceded one after another to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS). Like other rimward systems on the hyperlane, Skor II found its trade with the Republic cut off. Nevertheless, the king proclaimed that the Squibs were "going nowhere" and staunchly placed Skor II on the Republic side of the dispute. The defection of Sullust to the Separtist side emboldened the separatists, and in 21 BBY, CIS battle droids invaded Skor II and seized Metrobig Interplanetary Blastport for use as a base from which to launch proximity mines along the outer Rimma. A force of Republic clone troopers led by Commander Cody and Jedi Master Mace Windu recaptured the spaceport and routed the invaders in the Battle of Skor II. The Republic then left a contingent of peacekeepers on the world. Ebareebaveebeedee held a ceremony in Metrobig City where he unveiled a bronzium statue of Windu and declared him a "Big Time Hero of Beyond-Squib Eliteness".

Although Ebareebaveebeedee largely kept his planet out of galactic politics during the Galactic Civil War, he did sign contracts with the Galactic Empire to place Squib laborers aboard capital ships to work in waste disposal. After a group of Rebel agents aided the Squib government in vandalizing the Paradise system, home to the rival Ugors, the king signed a pact of mutual support with the Alliance to Restore the Republic. In 4 ABY, an Imperial warlord named Delvardus asserted his control over the systems of the Rimma Trade Route, but New Republic forces pushed him into the Deep Core by the middle of the year.

Inhabitants
Skor II was the homeworld of the Squibs, a species of meter-tall humanoid rodents known for their irrepressible temperaments, uncontrollable curiosity, and love for collecting and trading items of every description. The worlds native languages included Squibbian and its ancestral form, Old High Squibbian. Most Squibs knew Basic, although few spoke it with any fluency.

After its discovery by a Dorcin trader, the world's native technology advanced to the galactic standard. The planet was located on the Rimma Trade Route, and by the time of the New Order, it had grown into a prosperous trade world.

Since its first encounter with the galactic market, Skor II was an exporter of raw materials. As the world advanced in technology, the major imports were salvage and garbage from across the galaxy. Squib corporations reorganized, refurbished, repackaged, and resold this "junk", especially on less populated worlds away from major trade routes. Goods of Squib design included highly efficient tractor beams and weapons based on them, known as tensor weapons. Despite the technical aptitude of its inhabitants, however, Skor II was best known as an exporter of labor. Squibs from the world toiled across the galaxy as trash collectors and garbage workers.

The planet was governed by the Squib Polyanarchy, a loose coalition of autonomous communes. The head of state was known as the king, although this individual rarely intervened in local affairs. Skor II was the headquarters of the Squib Merchandising Consortium, a state corporation that operated waste disposal services across the galaxy. Every Squib was at least a nominal employee. The head of the SMC was known as the Illustrious Chieftain of Junkyards. King Ebareebaveebeedee held this post during the Galactic Civil War, but it is not known whether the Squib king was always necessarily the same individual as the Illustrious Chieftain of Junkyards.

Locations
"His Mace Windship will forever haunt Squibbish poems and jingles, and future fuzzlings will hear of the valiant Knight with his koovy purplish blade."

- Ebareebaveebeedee

Metrobig City was a major population center on Skor II. During his reign, the Squib king Ebareebaveebeedee made numerous official proclamations from the city, in a location notable for its dilapidated appearance. The city was the home of a major spaceport known as Metrobig Interplanetary Blastport. A bronzium statue of Mace Windu stood there, a testament to the Jedi's deeds during the Battle of Skor II.

Behind the scenes
The Squib homeworld was first described in the West End Games adventure Scavenger Hunt by Brad Freeman in 1989. It was unnamed until Troy Denning elaborated on the Squibs and their background in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races that same year. Pablo Hidalgo, in another roleplaying supplement called Heroes & Rogues, added a few other details about the world, such as the name of its major population center, Metrobig City. Hidalgo has since added to the history of the world by including it in two editions of HoloNet News and detailing the Battle of Skor II.

The computer game Star Wars: Rebellion (1998) places Skor II in the Calaron sector, along with Akrit'tar, F'tral, Fwillsving, Ithor, Jerijador, Kessel, Kubindi, Morvogodine, and Norval II. This designation is problematic, as later sources have located some of these worlds in entirely different regions of the galaxy. A map in Star Wars Insider 65, for example, shows Ithor on the north side of the galaxy in the Mid Rim. However, as established in "Republic HoloNet News Core Edition 14:9:01", in Star Wars Insider 69, and The New Essential Chronology, Skor II lies on the Rimma Trade Route, far to the galactic southwest. No source has yet clarified the planet's ambiguous location. Nevertheless, according to Holocron continuity database keeper Leland Chee, Rebellion sector designations are taken as canon until contradicted by another source. The Official Star Wars Fact File claims that the Squib homeworld is in the Paradise system along with that of their galactic rivals, the Ugors. As this conflicts with all other references to the species and Skor II, this is assumed to be a mistake rather than a change in canon.

Rebellion depicts Skor II as a cold, ice-covered world, using the same generic planet graphic as that for such ice worlds as Hoth and Rafa IV. This contradicts the description of the planet as pleasant and varied in terrain as established in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, Ultimate Alien Anthology, the "Squib" Databank entry, and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, so this is assumed to be an error. Heroes & Rogues misspells the world's name Skorr II.

Appearances

 * Republic HoloNet News Core Edition 14:9:01
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Scavenger Hunt
 * Scavenger Hunt