A phase connector was a mining tool used for breaking open asteroids and small planetoids that was sought after by the Mining Guild and the First Order. The business partners Flix and Orka kept one phase connector in their store, the Office of Acquisitions in the supertanker fuel depot Colossus on the Mid Rim planet Castilon. At some point, they sold it to a mining colony on the terrestrial astronomical object Valashar and kept it stored in their backroom.
In 34 ABY, the First Order operative Teroj Kee planned to steal the device on a day that Flix and Orka left the shop to visit the former's mother. However, the mechanic Kazuda Xiono and his astromech droid BB-8 had been left to manage the shop by the pair and attempted to thwart the thief. When Kee brought the phase connector aboard his ship, Xiono followed him aboard and sabotaged the vessel with the gorg Bitey's help. Despite the operative's attempts to save the device with two stormtroopers, he was forced to abandon the endeavor, fleeing in an escape pod before the vessel crashed into Castilon's ocean. Kee reported his failure to Commander Pyre, while Xiono planned to inform the Resistance that the First Order was seeking one of the devices.
A phase connector was a mining tool that could be used for excavating, drilling, and splitting open small planetoids and asteroids. The device was roughly cylindrical and featured a gray casing covering a glowing, light blue interior.
By the time of the Cold War between the Resistance and the First Order, phase connectors were rare and valuable devices coveted by organizations such as the Mining Guild. The First Order also sought to acquire such a device as they cored out celestial bodies in the Outer Rim as tests for their Starkiller Base superweapon. At some point, the business partners Flix and Orka acquired a phase connector and kept it in their establishment—the Office of Acquisitions—headquartered on the Mid Rim planet Castilon's supertanker fuel depot Colossus. The pair later sold the device to a mining colony on the terrestrial astronomical object Valashar, keeping a log of the sale in their database and setting the phase connector aside in their back storeroom on a hoversled.
Teroj Kee angrily confronted Kazuda Xiono when the latter refused to sell him the Office of Acquisitions' phase connector.
The First Order became aware of the device being kept on Castilon and sent their operative—Teroj Kee—to acquire it from the business. Flix and Orka refused to sell it to him, as he had attempted to steal from their store for years. The First Order's Commander Pyre then hired Kee to forcibly take the device from the pair for a sum of money, needing the item for mining operations. The operative planned to execute the endeavor on a day that Flix and Orka planned to close the store and visit the former's mother by monitoring their comlink chatter. One day in 34 ABY, however, the pair left the Office of Acquisitions in the care of the mechanic Kazuda Xiono while they were away, instructing him not to enter the back storeroom where the phase connector was held. Surprised to see the store open, Kee claimed to Xiono that he was part of the Mining Guild and had ordered a phase connector from the Office of Acquisitions several weeks ago, telling the mechanic about the rare and expensive item.
Xiono checked the business's orders and saw there were no orders for Kee, informing him that the store had a phase connector in its back room, which had already been sold to a Valashar mining colony. Despite Kee pushing for the mechanic to sell him the item by reiterating that it was present in the store, Xiono continued to refuse. Flix and Orka's pet gorg—Bitey—painfully bit the First Order operative as he began to make an offer on the phase connector, causing him to curse at the creature. Wanting to get Xiono away from his post managing the shop so that the device was left unguarded, Kee then ordered several items from the store's available merchandise, which the shop assistant gathered and went to deliver to him.
Teroj Kee stole the phase connector after locking Kazuda Xiono in a loading dock, laughing at his fortune.
While Xiono was out of the store, he left his astromech droid BB-8 to watch the establishment for him. Kee then trapped the mechanic in loading dock 23 in the Colossus's loading docks. With the mechanic out of the way, he broke into the Office of Acquisitions' locked storeroom using his blaster and stole the phase connector, laughing when he located it. The First Order operative was delighted—thinking the item would make him rich—and used its hoversled to transport it toward his ship, a Darius G-class freighter. Kee and BB-8 briefly engaged in a skirmish, with the droid failing to prevent the theft and subsequently informing Xiono of what had happened.
Kazuda Xiono pursued Teroj Kee as he brought the stolen phase connector aboard his ship.
Meanwhile, Bitey stowed away on the phase connector's hoversled, unnoticed by the First Order operative. Xiono—who had escaped from the loading dock—pursued Kee onto his ship as the thief pushed the stolen phase connector aboard and left it amongst other cargo containers. After boarding the vessel, the mechanic approached the device but quickly hid himself, realizing that First Order stormtroopers were also on the freighter.
Bitey then hopped out from under the phase connector's hoversled as Xiono approached to inspect it, biting his hand. Kee reentered the room accompanied by stormtroopers and had them prepare for the ship's launch, as they had acquired what they came for. Panicking, Xiono then started plotting ways to prevent the vessel from leaving the Colossus, hoping to reacquire the device for Flix and Orka.
As their freighter began to crash, Teroj Kee and two stormtroopers attempted to keep the phase connector stable.
As the ship departed the Colossus, Xiono tricked Bitey into biting through a wire that sabotaged the ship's electrical systems, causing the vessel to begin listing sideways. Kee and two stormtroopers rushed to the phase connector and attempted to stabilize it. However, they soon lost their balance as their freighter shuddered and plunged toward Castilon's ocean, realizing the effort was futile. Xiono, Bitey, Kee, and the stormtroopers fled the ship via escape pods, leaving the phase connector to plunge into the sea.
Afterward, Kee informed Pyre of the endeavor's outcome, and the latter indicated that Captain Phasma would not be happy with his failure to secure the critical component. Meanwhile, Xiono explained to Flix and Orka that Kee had attempted to steal their phase connector. Although initially furious at the state of disarray in their shop, Orka was impressed that Xiono brought down an entire ship rather than allow a thief to abscond with their device. The pair explained a phase connector's uses to the mechanic and informed him that he had to return the following day to compensate for the loss of the destroyed phase connector. Xiono then informed BB-8 that he would send a message to the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, informing him that the First Order was seeking a phase connector so he could notify the Resistance's General Leia Organa. The mechanic then speculated to the droid about why the First Order would want such a device, wondering whether it was to mine dedlanite or some other material.
A phase connector first appeared in "Dangerous Business," the thirteenth episode of the first season of the animated television series Star Wars Resistance, which aired on January 20, 2019.
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