Dustig Trace

The Dustig Trace, alternately known as the Dustig Trade Route, was a short but useful hyperlane known as a praedium. It ran from the Kath system to the Demos system, passing through the Malastare system in the process. By 0 ABY, all three star systems constituted a part of the Dustig sector in the Trailing Sectors portion of the Mid Rim, with the hyperspace route additionally sharing its name with the sector's Dustig system.

Galactic Republic scouts searched the southern quadrant of the galaxy for analogues to the northern quadrant's Perlemian Trade Route hyperlane, and consequently the planet Malastare became a member of the Republic in 8000 BBY. Eventually, the establishment of the Dustig Trace gave rise to the Republic's Wild Space enclave known as the Dustig Pocket. The westward portion of the area in which the Dustig Trace would eventually be located was explored by the Republic between 5000 BBY and 3000 BBY, while the eastern section of that region was explored by 1000 BBY.

The Dustig Trace had been formed by the time period between the Old Sith Wars and the New Sith Wars, specifically by 3705 BBY. That year, the scout Freia Kallea began charting new hyperspace routes in order to better connect the galaxy's northern and southern quadrants. Between 3703 BBY and 3702 BBY, she connected the mostly Core- and Colonies–based Brentaal–Denon Route to the Demos system.

Later, as part of the Seswenna Expansion of 3701 BBY–3699 BBY that took place while Kallea spent years stranded on the uncharted world Nuvar, the Malastare system was further linked to the Outer Rim Territories' Colu system on the Rimma Trade Route. In 3693 BBY, the Dustig Trace was merged into the resultant super-hyperroute known as the Hydian Way, which resulted in a further boost to Malastare's status as a hub of trading. Over the subsequent millennia, the Hydian Way shifted away from the Demos system to instead run through the Pax system of the Expansion Region and the Mid Rim's ZeHeth system before passing through Malastare.

Around 3643 BBY, three trading consortiums vied for a monopoly on the Dustig Trace. In order to achieve that, each of them offered secret deals to an individual associated with one of the two sides in the ongoing struggle between the Republic and the reconstituted Sith Empire. A companion of that individual subsequently made secret overtures to all three consortiums—thus maximizing their own benefits—before ultimately assisting one of the organizations acquire the monopoly.

The Dustig Trace was introduced in the 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas by Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry. The hyperlane was subsequently mentioned in a Diplomacy Crew Skill mission of the 2011 BioWare video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, which introduced an alternate name for the route, the Dustig Trade Route. However, information on the mission's outcome was eventually removed from the game.

• The Essential Atlas