Cynda (pronounced /sɪndə/) was the thorilide-rich moon of the planet Gorse, located in the Inner Rim of the galaxy. The moon was vital to the production of turbolasers in the Galactic Republic and, later, the Galactic Empire. Count Denetrius Vidian of the Empire attempted to destroy Cynda in order to further his political power, but the moon and Gorse were saved by rebels led by Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus.
Cynda maintained an elliptical orbit around Gorse, often bringing it close enough to cause minor earthquakes on the planet's surface. Cynda was almost big enough to be classified as a double planet with Gorse.
Cynda's surface was described as "icy" looking, and its interior contained vast caverns of diamond stalagmites and stalactites containing the precious and volatile thorilide, a vital resource in the building of Galactic Republic—and later, Imperial—warship turbolaser batteries.
The moon's orbit brought reflected daylight to the population of Gorse for a few days every month, the planet being tidally locked with its star and thus permanently too hot on the side closest to the sun, and permanently dark and damp on the side facing away. Discoveries of rich thorilide deposits on the sun-facing side of Gorse, kept secret by the Empire, meant that mining operations on Cynda were wound down and the moon was returned to its former status as a reserve and tourist attraction.
Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla avoid an explosion during their fight to save Cynda.
Prior to the Galactic Empire, Cynda was a pristine natural reserve whose oxygen-filled caves were popular with tourists from Gorse. This changed when the famed efficiency consultant Count Denetrius Vidian published a report claiming that Gorse had exhausted all of its thorilide reserves. During the reign of the Empire, miners from Gorse commuted to the moon for daily work shifts. In 11 BBY, Vidian attempted to detonate Cynda in order to maximize short-term thorilide yields and thereby maintain favor with Darth Sidious, the Emperor. This was in response to greatly increased demands for the substance, and Vidian hoped to pass the blame for long-term losses to his political rival Baron Lero Danthe.
Count Vidian got this idea from Skelly, a dissident miner, who opposed mining on Cynda and tried to reason with Vidian. When the Imperial Navy Captain Rae Sloane expressed concerns that detonating Cynda would damage the thorilide crystals, Vidian conducted a test result on the mine's Zone Sixty-Six, which killed many miners including Okadiah Garson. While the original test results showed that the explosion would cause the thorilide crystals to disintegrate, Vidian produced a fake set claiming otherwise. After securing the support of the Empire, Vidian used a fleet of mining ships to deliver baradium-357 explosives to the Gorse system.
Before Vidian could put his plot into action, he was thwarted by the actions of rebels Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus, with the aid of their associates Skelly and Zaluna Myder from Gorse. The rebels were also helped by Captain Sloane, who had learned about Vidian's subterfuge from Kanan and forwarded the original results to the Emperor. Following the death of Vidian during the Gorse Conflict, Baron Danthe assumed control of all mining operations in the Gorse system. All mining operations on Cynda were stopped and the moon was restored to its former status as a nature reserve. However, access was limited to members of the Imperial elite.
Many of the daily inhabitants of Cynda lived on Gorse, traveling to the moon to work in the mines. Once a month, at full moon, a number of secretive blood cultists appeared and would hunt stray domestic animals in the planet's settlements, sacrificing these to Cynda.
Cynda first appeared in A New Dawn, a canon novel written by John Jackson Miller. The author chose the name "Cynda" because it sounded like "cinder."
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