Skor II

Skor II was a terrestrial planet far from the Core Worlds in the Outer Rim reaches just west 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 Airam sector.

Although small, Skor 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, although these were often localized: abundant timber was available in temperate zones, while salt was plentiful in sweltering coastal planes, and precious metals were concentrated in areas with mountainous terrain. 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.

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 around 5500 BBY, traders from the 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 progressively 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. Squibs spread across the galaxy; one group crash-landed on the planet Holador and was forced to eke out a living there. The Jedi trainee guidebook The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force, first published as early as the year 990 BBY depcited Skor II in a star-chart of the galaxy.

More than 40 years before the Battle of Yavin, a Squib named Ebareebaveebeedee ascended the planet's throne to become king. Sometime before 20 BBY, Skor II joined the Galactic Republic.

Beginning in 23 BBY, sectors along the Rimma seceded one after another to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Like other rimward systems on the hyperlane, Skor II found its trade with the Republic cut off. In 22 BBY, an issue of the CoCo District Edition of the HoloNet News stated that 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 Separatist side emboldened the separatists, and in 21 BBY, a Core Edition issue of the HoloNet News communicated that 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 counter-attacked, recapturing the spaceport and routing 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." Skor II remained in contested space for the remainder of the war.

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. The world remained neutral after the Empire's defeat at Endor in 4 ABY. That same year, 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. Still, Skor II remained in neutral space through the Thrawn campaign of 9 ABY. The world eventually fell within the influence of Darth Krayt's Sith Empire by 137 ABY.

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 world's 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.

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.

The Squib homeworld was first described in the West End Games adventure Scavenger Hunt by Brad Freeman published in January 1989. It was unnamed until Troy Denning elaborated on the Squibs and their background in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races that same year.

The 1995 roleplaying supplement Heroes & Rogues misspells the world's name as "Skorr II." The 1998 computer game Star Wars: Rebellion and the accompanying Star Wars: Rebellion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide place Skor II in the Calaron sector. The StarWars.com Online Companion to the 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas, authored by Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry, later overrode this placement by establishing the Squab system to be located in the Airam sector. Rebellion also 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, so this is assumed to be an error.

The Official Star Wars Fact Files 138th issue, published on August 18, 2004, 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 Skor II, this is assumed to be a mistake rather than a change in canon. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Squab system, and therefore Skor II itself, in grid square M-20.

• Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races
• Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, Second Edition
• Heroes & Rogues
• Star Wars: Rebellion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Alien Encounters
• Alien Anthology
• Ultimate Alien Anthology
• The Official Star Wars Fact File138
• The New Essential Chronology
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Essential Atlas
• The Unknown Regions
• The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force
• Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 18