Bestine IV, a planet largely covered by water, was situated within the Bestine system of the Inner Rim Territories. During the [High Republic Era](/article/high_republic_era], it held significant importance as a member of the Galactic Republic. Functioning mainly as an agricultural world, Bestine IV also featured starship production facilities. Furthermore, it formed a part of a shipping route for lommite ore, linking Eriadu with the Core Worlds. As the Separatist Alliance began its rise, Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatists, threatened the lommite route's security via Bestine to Wilhuff Tarkin, the governor of Eriadu.
Throughout the Clone Wars against the Separatists, Bestine IV remained loyal to the Republic, accommodating a fleet of the Republic Navy. Following the end of the war and the Separatists' defeat, the Republic transformed into the Galactic Empire, which then annexed Bestine with force. The new Imperial regime constructed a naval shipyard on the island of Jahnae in order to suppress potential uprisings in the Inner Rim. This base was met with disapproval from the local population, causing many, including the merchant Jek Porkins, to seek refuge elsewhere. As part of a coordinated rebel operation during the Galactic Civil War in 3 ABY, the Twenty-First of the Rebel Alliance journeyed to Bestine.
In Bsellis City on Bestine IV, Sergeant Mey Kilrow of the Bestine Security Force maintained a protection agreement with the Nova Razors, the planet's most dangerous gang. A warrior arrived in the neighborhood controlled by the gang and attacked their headquarters, defeating the gang leader along with many of his henchmen. Discovering Kilrow's corrupt dealings, the warrior then sought to put an end to them.
Between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, the Crimson Dawn criminal organization enlisted a crew of bounty hunters under the leadership of T'onga to assist insurgents on Bestine IV in disrupting an Imperial munitions shipment. The Empire caught wind of the syndicate's intentions, and a team led by Beilert Valance, a cyborg mercenary, was dispatched to set a trap for the would-be attackers. When the trap was sprung during the assault, Valance and T'onga, former comrades, found themselves facing each other. It was then that T'onga revealed to Valance that the people he was protecting for the Empire had already been either captured or killed.
Enraged by the Empire's deception, Valance eliminated the shoretrooper security detail guarding the Imperial shipment and directed the transport to crash into the base on Jahnae, resulting in its destruction. Valance used the base's destruction to lure Darth Vader, the Sith Lord, who arrived on the planet to confront the mercenary. A battle ensued, with Vader ultimately overpowering Valance, and TIE/sa bombers proceeded to bomb the village on Jahnae. Lieutenant Jyala Haydenn of the Empire then shot the mercenary, causing him to fall off a cliff. T'onga and her crew located Valance alive and extracted him from the planet.
Bestine IV, sometimes shortened to Bestine, was a terrestrial planet occupying the fourth orbital position within the Bestine system of the [Inner Rim Territories](/article/inner_rim_territories], located near the Kestic Station trading post. Its location in grid square M-14 of the Standard Galactic Grid placed it along the Corellian Trade Spine, between the astronomical object Foless and the planet Mechis III. Exhibiting blue and brown-green hues from space, Bestine was a water-covered world dotted with various islands. Its agricultural potential was complemented by a terrain featuring hills, cliffs, caves, expansive plains, and distinctive island spires. The atmosphere was type I, making it breathable for humans and other species, and its weather patterns included thunderstorms.
By the time the High Republic Era had arrived, Bestine IV had risen to prominence as a vital member of the Galactic Republic. At the Republic Fair held on Valo in 231 BBY, these key members were symbolized by World Pavilions, with Bestine's island spires representing the Republic's offerings. The fair was attacked by Nihil pirate marauders, who destroyed the World Pavilions.
During the Republic's reign, Bestine IV served primarily as an agricultural world but also housed starship manufacturing facilities. Furthermore, it played a role in a shipping route that facilitated the movement of lommite ore from Eriadu to the Core Worlds via Fondor, with Bestine situated along the route, thereby enhancing its strategic importance. An alliance of pirate gangs in the Seswenna sector, under the leadership of Q'anah of Q'anah's Marauders, launched raids on convoys transporting lommite, until the Outland Regions Security Force, aided by Lieutenant Wilhuff Tarkin, crushed them in 46 BBY. Q'anah's defeat and subsequent execution ensured the security of the space surrounding Bestine IV.
Following the Raxus Address in 24 BBY and the establishment of the Separatist Alliance, Eriadu, which had grown into a major trading hub in the years following the Naboo Crisis of 32 BBY, faced pressure to join the new faction as neighboring sectors progressively seceded from the Republic. In a final attempt to recruit Tarkin, who had become Eriadu's governor, Count Dooku, the Separatist Head of State, demonstrated his understanding of the shipping route's significance via Bestine by warning that the secession of key planets, such as Fondor, would soon sabotage the route.
Just weeks later, in 22 BBY, the Clone Wars commenced between the Republic and the Separatists. Eriadu and Bestine remained loyal to the Republic, and a fleet of the Republic Navy was stationed at the latter. In 21 BBY, while hunting the Separatist General Grievous at his fortress on the moon Vassek 3 with the Jedi Kit Fisto and Nahdar Vebb, Clone Commander Fil instructed clone troopers Bel and Niner, who were guarding their squad's shuttle outside the fortress, to notify the fleet at Bestine IV that they had engaged Grievous and needed reinforcements. However, Grievous's IG-100 MagnaGuards destroyed the shuttle, along with the two clones, before they could transmit the message. Fisto was the sole survivor of the mission to Vassek 3.
The Clone Wars concluded in 19 BBY with the defeat of the Separatists and the Republic's transformation into the Galactic Empire. The Empire initiated a forceful annexation of Bestine IV and established a military base on the island of Jahnae to suppress potential rebel activity in the Inner Rim following the Separatist presence during the war. While officially a major naval [shipyard](/article/shipyard], rumors circulated that the installation also served as a research and development center for weapons.
The local population resented the Empire's presence, and many inhabitants were ultimately driven away from Bestine IV. One such individual was the independent merchant Jek Porkins, whose long-standing disdain for the Empire's authoritarianism reached a breaking point after witnessing the government's abuses during the base's construction. After departing his homeworld, Porkins joined the Rebel Alliance as a pilot. A village remained on Jahnae, providing residence for the military base's personnel. An insurgent group also remained to fight the Empire, reportedly hiding within the village. As a result, the Empire struggled to maintain order on Bestine IV.
In 3 ABY, during the Galactic Civil War between the Alliance and the Empire, the Alliance's Twenty-First was present on Bestine IV as part of a coordinated effort to divert forces and enable the Alliance fleet to complete its withdrawal from the Mid Rim Territories. News of these operations reached the Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry, where Sergeant Maximian Ajax informed First Sergeant Hazram Namir about the activities of the Twenty-First and other rebel units.
Elsewhere on Bestine IV, the Bestine Security Force was active in Bsellis City. However, the spice gang known as the Nova Razors, the most ruthless criminal organization on Bestine, operated from a tenement building called Blue Garden Homes in the city's market district, enslaving locals and forcing them to refine their spice. The leader of the Nova Razors had a protection agreement with the corrupt Sergeant Mey Kilrow, allowing the gang to operate without interference from the security force.
At one point, a warrior passed through the neighborhood, learning about the troubles caused by the spice gang and the corruption within the Bestine Security Force. The warrior was approached by a child named Hawk, a resident of Blue Garden Homes, who offered them low-grade spice. During their conversation, Kilrow arrived, dismissed the boy, and introduced herself to the warrior, explaining Hawk's background and the dangers of gang activity in the area, which made it too risky for the Bestine Security to patrol.
Within hours, the warrior saw Hawk selling spice again, leading them to Blue Garden Homes and the Nova Razors' headquarters. They fought their way into Blue Garden Homes, defeating gang members and freeing those enslaved by them. Ascending through the floors, the warrior encountered the gang leader and his lieutenants. After defeating the leader, who revealed his protection deal with Kilrow, the warrior sought to ensure that the corrupt security officer would not create a similar situation again.
Between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, a shipment of munitions was en route to Bestine IV's military base, with the intention of finally suppressing the local insurgent activities. Having learned about the shipment and the unrest on the planet, the criminal syndicate Crimson Dawn hired a crew of bounty hunters led by T'onga to intercept the transport, hoping to ignite chaos between the Empire and the local populace.
Simultaneously, the Empire had also received intelligence about Crimson Dawn's plans to attack the transport. Darth Vader, the Sith Lord, dispatched the cyborg mercenary Beilert Valance and the Revengers, a trio of fighters seeking revenge on Crimson Dawn, to thwart the attack as a test of their loyalty. Vader was blackmailing Valance, knowing the locations of Yuralla Vega and Cadeliah, two individuals the mercenary wanted to protect. The group of four were told that the transport was carrying medicine and supplies to the village, leading them to believe they were assisting the locals.
T'onga and Valance briefed their respective crews and arrived on Bestine IV. T'onga and her team met with the local insurgents, while Valance and the Revengers arrived aboard the Imperial transport, preparing to defend it. T'onga's strike team launched their assault on the transport using the insurgents' speeder bikes, eliminating several Imperial shoretrooper sentries before the Revengers engaged the bounty hunters in combat. The shoretrooper force also sprung a trap on the insurgents, resulting in a firefight. The insurgent leader attempted to reach the transport's bridge with T'onga, but Valance shot him down. The mercenary, however, recognized T'onga as a former ally.
Valance and T'onga spoke, surprised by their opposing allegiances. After Valance explained his situation with Vader, T'onga revealed that Crimson Dawn had captured Cadeliah, while Vega had been killed in an Imperial attack, causing Valance to break down over his failure to protect them. Meanwhile, the Revengers and the Imperial security forces captured the remaining members of T'onga's bounty hunter crew and awaited further orders from Valance. However, Valance had changed his mind about working with them, and upon returning to the security detail, he began massacring them in a fit of rage. He further revealed to the Revengers that the transport was carrying explosives instead of medicine.
Two TIE fighters arrived to intervene, but Valance used a thermal detonator to destroy one. The other was destroyed by the Edgehawk, the starship of T'onga's crew, piloted by the droid bounty hunter 4-LOM. Meanwhile, Vader and Valance's commanding officer, Lieutenant Jyala Haydenn, were aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Righteous Fist in Bestine IV's orbit. Valance contacted Haydenn, with whom he had a romantic relationship, confronting her about lying to him about Vega being alive. Afterward, the mercenary allowed the Imperial munitions transport to accelerate toward Bestine's military base, with himself, the Revengers, and the bounty hunters all escaping to the village.
The base reported the transport's acceleration shortly before it crashed into the facility, destroying it in a fireball that was cheered on by the village's residents. Valance, however, had also intended for the explosion to serve as bait for Vader. The Sith Lord indeed arrived on a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle with Haydenn by his side. Valance confronted and fought Vader, with the skirmish visible from the village, where the Revengers had taken refuge. Having sent her crew back to the Edgehawk, T'onga attempted to intervene with a speeder bike but was quickly stopped by Vader, and one of her crew had to rescue her when Haydenn attempted to pursue.
The fight ended with Vader throwing Valance to the ground using the Force. At that moment, TIE/sa bombers arrived and bombed the village, forcing the Revengers to flee into a cave. The Sith Lord moved in to kill Valance, but Haydenn intervened to do it herself. Despite Valance's pleas for them to flee together, she shot the mercenary in the head, causing him to fall off the cliff and into the burning village. Displeased that Valance's body was out of their reach, Vader ordered Haydenn to send a recovery unit to search for the mercenary's body. However, Valance had survived the shot and the fall and escaped on the Edgehawk after T'onga's crew found him first.
With the recovery team failing to locate Valance, Vader spoke with Haydenn again aboard the Righteous Fist above Bestine IV, advising her to dispatch the Empire's best trackers to find the mercenary. At Vader's request, she summoned the special forces unit Inferno Squad and briefed them on a mission to find Valance and wipe his memory to remove any classified Imperial secrets he might have witnessed. In 34 ABY, a partial map of the galaxy indicating Bestine's location was displayed on several screens aboard Chandrila Star Line's Star Cruiser Halcyon.
Bestine IV was inhabited by humans like Jek Porkins, as well as a Dowutin, a Twi'lek, and Yipsit, a Shahkirin mechanic who grew up on Bestine's cliffs before joining the Resistance. The Bestine Security Force operated in Bsellis City during the Imperial era, with Sergeant Mey Kilrow being one of their corrupt officers. Bestine IV's Imperial base maintained a contingent of security forces, including shoretroopers.
Originally known as simply Bestine, Bestine IV made its debut in a deleted scene from George Lucas' 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, specifically the "Tosche Station" scene. A year earlier, in 1976, Alan Dean Foster's novelization of the film incorporated the line that referenced Bestine.
The full designation of Bestine IV was first established in Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope, a Star Wars Legends supplement for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, which saw publication in 1989. Within that continuity, the world initially appeared in the 1993 LucasArts video game, Star Wars: X-Wing.
Within current Star Wars canon, Bestine was initially referenced in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television show's first season episode, "Lair of Grievous," which was the tenth episode and aired first on December 12, 2008. The full name, Bestine IV, was canonized via Jek Porkin's card in Base Series 1 of the Topps mobile game Star Wars: Card Trader, which launched on March 11, 2015.
An adventure idea that unfolds on Bestine IV, tailored for a group of player characters that includes a Warrior class representative, is featured in Knights of Fate, a 2018 Fantasy Flight Games sourcebook for the Star Wars: Force and Destiny roleplaying game system. The scenario culminates in a multi-faceted objective: confronting Mey Kilrow to halt her ongoing corrupt dealings. Approaches to this confrontation include intimidation, arranging for her arrest by local authorities, or direct combat. Should the player characters choose to attack, Kilrow will immediately summon reinforcements, potentially drawing the attention of the Imperials if Force powers are used openly, compelling the characters to flee. Kilrow herself is inclined to escape rather than engage in a fight to the death. This article operates under the assumption that the adventure plays out as described.
The 2019 video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order allows players to unlock a light-blue-and-white cosmetic skin named "Bestine" for the droid companion, BD-1. This collectible is found within the Ice Caves on the planet Zeffo and is protected by both a Purge Trooper and a scout trooper commander. Bestine IV's initial appearance in canon occurred in Marvel Comics' Star Wars: Bounty Hunters comic books series, specifically in the twenty-eighth issue. Ethan Sacks wrote the issue, Paolo Villanelli provided the illustrations, and it was released on November 2, 2022.
According to the twentieth issue of De Agostini's Star Wars: Build Your Own X-Wing magazine series, which was published in January 2019, Bestine IV was situated in proximity to Kestic Station. However, "Pilots of the Rebel Alliance," an issue of De Agostini's Star Wars Encyclopedia magazine series that came out on March 4, 2022, claims that Kestic Station was actually a location situated on Bestine itself. This article operates under the assumption that the former source provides the accurate information.