Arbiflux was a forest planet located in the Outer Rim Territories along the Veragi Trade Route. The future archaeologist Chelli Aphra and her mother Lona moved to the world after leaving her father. During that time, the Galactic Empire's Coalition for Progress manufactured the threat of raider attacks, pushing the inhabitants to turn to Imperial support. Lona Aphra was killed in one such attack, calling Galactic Empire forces in to rescue her daughter. With the ruse of attacks successful, the Empire occupied Arbiflux, industrializing the planet, ruining its environment. As an adult, Aphra returned to her home on Arbiflux, hiding from the Empire, but she had been tracked to the planet, and was forced to escape.
Arbiflux was found near the fringes of the Outer Rim
Abiflux was a terrestrial planet in the outer reaches of the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories, in a portion that intersected with the New Territories. Situated at the coordinates L-3 on the Standard Galactic Grid, it lay along the Veragi Trade Route between the planet Oru and the astronomical object Sernpidal. Arbiflux was covered in forests, plains of dirt and grass, as well as mountain ranges. The planet was orbited by at least four moons, and its Type I atmosphere was breathable to humans, though it had an unpleasant smell. Rain and storms could also occur on Arbiflux. The planet was home to creatures such as the nuna bird, as well as the chatterplant, a plant able to make sound that could be utilized as a warning alarm.
Arbiflux during the early Imperial Era.
In the early years of the Galactic Empire's reign, Arbiflux was an obscure world that was mostly uninhabited. Lona Aphra, the wife of the professor Korin Aphra, feeling that her husband's work got in the way of their family, took her daughter Chelli from their home on the Second Moon of Thrinittik and lived on Arbiflux, constructing a house and a farm. Over the two years that they lived on Arbiflux, the younger Aphra came to dislike living on the planet, which she saw as simple and boring. The Imperial Coalition for Progress, led by Minister Pitina Voor, wishing to force the natives of Arbiflux into requesting Imperial protection, created the threat of raiders, staging false attacks on various settlements. One of the attacks took place at the Aphra farm, fatally wounding Lona Aphra.
Chelli Aphra fought off the raiders using her mother's blaster, but could not prevent her death. Before dying, Lona Aphra contacted the Galactic Empire, who sent a garrison to survey the area. The troopers discovered the young Aphra, who they rescued and sent home to her father. According to the Imperial officer who took care of Aphra, the planet's natives had formally asked the Empire to intervene. With the scheme devised by the Coalition for Progress successful, the Empire occupied the planet, claiming to have dealt with the raiders.
Arbiflux while under Imperial occupation.
Twenty years after originally moving to Arbiflux, Doctor Chelli Aphra returned, hiding out in her old home, accompanied by the orphan Vulaada Klam, who Aphra had unofficially taken in as her ward. By that time, Arbiflux's environment had been partially ruined by the occupation of the Empire, who had built cities and Star Destroyer construction facilities, filling the air with smog. However, the Empire knew Aphra was on Arbiflux, having tracked her after she stole the Farkiller, an ancient Jedi weapon.
The Empire sent several bounty hunters to capture her, but one of the hunters, the Wookiee Krrsantan, recognized Aphra, incapacitating the other hunters as she owed him a large amount of money. Evading a platoon of stormtroopers, Aphra, along with Klam and Krrsantan, returned to her starship, the Ark Angel, leaving the planet. They were pursued by TIE fighters, but managed to escape into hyperspace.
A number of farms and settlements existed on Arbiflux. The homestead constructed by Lona Aphra was located on the edge of one of the planet's forests, near several mountains, in between which the Empire would later construct a sprawling city.
During the early Imperial Era, Arbiflux had a native population, as well as a number of settlers, at least two of whom were humans, Lona Aphra and her daughter. Despite this, the younger Aphra never saw any other sentient beings on Arbiflux for the two years that they lived there. The Galactic Empire's eventual occupation brought more inhabitants to the planet.
Arbiflux was first mentioned, albeit indirectly, in the comic Darth Vader (2015) 10, written by Kieron Gillen and published on October 7, 2015. It was not given a name until Doctor Aphra (2016) 32, written by Simon Spurrier and published on May 8, 2019, in which it appeared in a flashback sequence penciled by Caspar Wijngaard.