Athus Klee existed as a planetary body situated in the Outer Rim Territories region of the galaxy. During the reign of the Galactic Empire, the Besalisk individual known as Dexter Jettster journeyed to this world. There, he uncovered an ore hub managed by the Crimson Dawn criminal organization. He discovered that Doctor Cornelius Evazan had cybernetically altered the workers. The Besalisk successfully liberated a Rodian worker from this facility and subsequently reported the situation to the Imperial Senate's Council of Labor Abuses.
Athus Klee existed as a planetary body within the Tingel Arm's stellar skirt, itself a section of the Outer Rim Territories within the galaxy. At least a portion of the planet had a dense jungle environment, populated by creatures such as vipers and gnats. The atmosphere was suitable for breathing by members of the Besalisk species.
[Maz Kanata](/article/maz_kanata], formerly a pirate Queen, identified Athus Klee as a location of interest on a map featured in a book she began writing, which later became known as the Smuggler's Guide. During the reign period of the [Galactic Empire](/article/galactic_empire], the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate operated an ore hub within a valley on the planet. They offered lucrative one-year contracts to laborers for work at that location. The syndicate engaged Doctor Cornelius Evazan to perform cybernetic modifications on the workers within a gene-mod chop shop located on-site within a group of hexagonal silos.
Dexter Jettster, a Besalisk, arrived on Athus Klee aboard a star-streamer to investigate reports of unlawful cyborg mods and bodies grown to order in the Tingel Arm's stellar skirt. When the starship docked in the morning, most passengers exited quickly, heading straight for the Spacers' District. By the time the older Jettster disembarked, every inn was fully booked. Instead, Jettster ventured out of the district into the underbrush, found a relatively dry spot on a rise, and slept under the stars.
After spending six days cutting through the jungle with a vibro-machete, Jettster, having been bitten by two vipers and numerous gnats, eventually located the ore hub. While sneaking around the hub's processing plant, the Besalisk noticed the chop shop and used his macrobinoculars to scan the workers. He then rescued a single Rodian worker from the hub, and they began their journey back toward the spaceport.
During their journey, the pair spent hours one night looking up at the stars through the jungle canopy. Upon reaching the port, Jettster contacted a politician on the galactic capital, Coruscant, a friend of his, and informed him about the hub. The politician dispatched a ship to retrieve the Rodian and Jettster's surveillance scans for presentation before the Imperial Senate Council of Labor Abuses. Jettster documented his experiences on Athus Klee throughout his journey, with Evazan and the smuggler Han Solo adding their own comments to the pages when the book later came into their possession. While still on Athus Klee, Jettster visited the Rasher's Rest cantina, where he encountered the hunter Tyro Viveca. Vivcea stole the Smuggler's Guide from Jettster while the Besalisk was in the latrine and then departed Athus Klee for the planet Kashyyyk.
Athus Klee featured a spaceport and a Spacers' District, which included inns for off-world visitors. Crimson Dawn's ore hub was staffed by laborers who had received cybernetic enhancements to improve their mining efficiency. These modifications included replacing hands with shovels, mouths and noses with biomesh for filtering toxins, and enlarging eyes to maximize light collection in the mines. Many workers did not survive their contracts, leading to frequent replacements brought in by passenger shuttles.
Athus Klee was first referenced in the 2018 reference book titled Star Wars: Smuggler's Guide, authored by Daniel Wallace and featuring illustrations of the world by Adrián Rodriguez and Studio Hive. Within the Star Wars Legends continuity, the Klee were described as a sentient species driven to extinction by Xim, as detailed in Evocar, part of the Xim Week: The Despotica article by Michael Kogge for Hyperspace. This article was added to StarWars.com between December 8 and 11, 2009.